Hawaiian cemetery prank, a shaking car, and bite marks
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Northern California, relays a story they say their former Boy Scout leader told them about ten years earlier. The leader was a Hawaiian man named [name withheld]. As a teenager in Hawaii, [name withheld] and a friend took two girls to a cemetery as a prank. The parked car they returned to was shaking violently, with the girls screaming and “red eyes” at the windows. [name withheld] is said to have found a bite mark on his ankle that night. His older brother mocked the family’s warning, and the two returned to run over graves and kick over food. The brother is said to have had more than 200 bites counted on his body and to have needed hospital stitches. The caller ends by saying they were shown [name withheld]’s lasting bite marks years later and by discussing Hawaiian cemetery customs.
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1999.mp3”, starting at 2:17:21). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], who says they are from Northern California and listening on KSRO 1350, first describes driving from Eureka to Santa Rosa on US 101 while listening to the broadcast. Unnerved by earlier callers’ talk of red eyes, they saw red lights in their mirror. They turned out to be a California Highway Patrol stop, and no ticket was issued. [name withheld] then relays a story they say they were told about ten years earlier by a former Boy Scout leader of theirs, a Hawaiian man named [name withheld]. [name withheld] told it on an 80-mile trek at Philmont, New Mexico, on the fourth or fifth night of the trip. According to the caller, [name withheld] was a teenager of about 14 to 16 when he took two girls on a date in Hawaii. With a friend, he drove them to a cemetery to frighten them. When the two boys ran around to creep up on the car, they found it rocking so violently that its tires left the ground. Once the door could be opened, the girls were screaming about red eyes in the windows. The boys are said to have driven home immediately, where [name withheld] found a bite mark on his ankle. The next morning his grandfather, described as an old Hawaiian medicine man, is said to have called it “bad stuff” and told him to make amends. His older brother dismissed it. That night, the caller says, the brother persuaded [name withheld] to return. They ran over graves and kicked over food. Afterward the brother was in pain, their mother counted over 200 bites on his body, and he went to the hospital for stitches. A doctor is said to have suspected abuse and called the local police chief. The chief was Hawaiian, recognized the marks, and pressed no charges. The caller says [name withheld] was also bitten on the hip, still has deep bite marks on his ankle that they were shown, and that the brother will not wear shorts because of the scars. Asked why such stories come from the islands, the caller says Hawaii has a much older culture. The host then closes the call.
Reported events, in order
- 0:16
[name withheld] says they were driving from Eureka to Santa Rosa on US 101 while listening to the broadcast. They felt unnerved by earlier callers’ talk of red eyes and saw red lights in their rearview mirror. They turned out to be a California Highway Patrol stop, and the officer did not ticket them.
- 1:00
They say the story they are about to tell was told to them about ten years earlier by a former Boy Scout leader of theirs, [name withheld], on an 80-mile trek at Philmont, New Mexico, at 11,000 to 12,000 feet on the fourth or fifth night.
- 1:43
[name withheld], then about 14 to 16 and newly licensed, is said to have taken two girls on a date in Hawaii. With a friend, he drove them to a cemetery to scare them.
- 1:59
The caller describes the cemetery customs they say apply there. Food is left for the deceased, and you do not touch the food or walk on the graves.
- 2:12
The two boys are said to have left the car and run around the far side of the cemetery to sneak up behind it.
- 2:27
Approaching the car, they are said to have first thought the girls were laughing in the back seat while the car rocked, then realized the girls were screaming.
- 2:40
The car is said to have been pitching end to end and side to side, with its tires coming off the ground.
- 2:49
They are said to have been unable to open the car door for minutes until the shaking stopped. The girls were frantic and said there were red eyes in the windows.
- 3:04
They are said to have driven home immediately.
- 3:07
At home, [name withheld] is said to have found a bite mark on his ankle under his sock. He first assumed he had hit something.
- 3:22
The next morning [name withheld]’s grandfather, described as an old Hawaiian and something like a medicine man, is said to have told him it was “bad stuff” and that he had to make amends.
- 3:42
[name withheld]’s older brother, described as disliking being Hawaiian, is said to have dismissed the grandfather’s words as nonsense.
- 4:04
That night the brother is said to have talked [name withheld] into returning. They ran across the cemetery, over graves, kicking over the food.
- 4:18
Afterward the brother is said to have been in a lot of pain. Their mother was woken and counted more than 200 bites over his body.
- 4:34
The brother is said to have gone to the hospital to have some of the bites sewn up.
- 4:44
A doctor from the continental United States is said to have suspected abuse and called the local police chief. The chief was Hawaiian and, according to the caller, recognized what the marks were. No charges were pressed.
- 5:06
The caller says [name withheld] was also bitten on the hip and needed several stitches. The passage is unclear about whose hip.
- 5:17
The caller says [name withheld] still has deep bite marks on his ankle, that they were shown them, and that they show individual tooth indentations.
- 5:33
They say the brother still avoids wearing shorts because of scars on his legs.
- 6:14
The caller adds their own memory of a family trip to Hawaii at age 10 or 11. A guide told them to stay on the path and never touch the food, and they saw fast-food bags left at graves.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:51
The caller reports red lights in their mirror on US 101 that turned out to be a California Highway Patrol stop, not anything paranormal.
- hearsay· 2:32
In the story as relayed, [name withheld] and his friend approached their parked car and found it rocking, then heard the girls inside screaming rather than laughing.
- hearsay· 2:40
The car is said to have been rocking so violently that its tires came off the ground, and the doors could not be opened for minutes.
- hearsay· 2:54
The two girls are said to have described red eyes filling the car windows.
- hearsay· 3:14
After driving home, [name withheld] is said to have found a bite mark on his ankle under his sock.
- interpretation· 3:33
[name withheld]’s grandfather, described as an old Hawaiian medicine man, is said to have called the incident “bad stuff” and told him he had to make amends.
- hearsay· 4:34
After the second cemetery visit, the older brother is said to have had over 200 bites counted on his body and to have gone to the hospital for stitches.
- hearsay· 4:52
The doctor is said to have suspected child abuse and to have called the local police chief, who was Hawaiian and, according to the caller, recognized the cause.
- hearsay· 5:02
The caller says no charges were pressed after the police chief’s involvement.
- observation· 5:17
The caller says [name withheld] still has deep bite marks on his ankle and that they were shown them.
- observation· 5:26
The caller says the marks they saw showed distinct tooth indentations.
- hearsay· 5:33
The caller says the brother avoids shorts because of scarring on his legs from the bites.
- observation· 6:14
From their own family trip, the caller describes cemetery etiquette they were told in Hawaii.
- host statement· 8:03
The host says glowing red eyes recur repeatedly in listener stories.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
The story is clear and fairly detailed and sounds firsthand, but it comes secondhand from a named source. There are no checkable names, dates, or places for the Hawaiian events. The components add up to 55, and the secondhand cap of 60 does not apply.
Evidence for and against
- A named, close source for the story: their own former Scout leader, called [name withheld].
- Concrete details: Philmont, New Mexico; an 80-mile trek; 11,000 to 12,000 feet; the fourth or fifth night of the trip. The caller says, [quote withheld]
- A sequence with sensory detail: the car rocking, tires off the ground, and the delay in opening the door. The caller says, [quote withheld]
- The caller says they personally saw the claimed lasting marks ([quote withheld]) and cites their own experience of Hawaiian cemetery etiquette.
- The story is secondhand throughout. The events are said to have happened to [name withheld] as a teenager in Hawaii and were told to the caller years later ([quote withheld]).
- No dates, no Hawaiian town or cemetery name, and no names for the girls, the friend, the brother, the doctor, or the police chief.
- References to who is who shift between [name withheld] as scout leader and [name withheld] as the teenage main character. One line has a female pronoun: [quote withheld]
- The telling happened at a campfire story session ([quote withheld]), and the story’s content matches a well-known pattern of punishment for breaking a taboo.
- It is not clear whether [quote withheld] and the teen in the story are the same person as the scout leader, or whether the caller is mixing up two people.
- The car model is garbled (“like a 5140”), and the automatic transcript is unreliable in several places.
- 1:00
- 1:25
- 2:49
- 5:26
What the model inferred (not said on air): The weights given to the components, especially the middle-range score for alternative explanations, are a judgment call. The transcript gives the specific details and the secondhand framing but nothing about the source’s own reliability.
The caller says physical evidence exists and that they have seen it, which places this in the 26 to 40 band. But nothing is examined on air and no independent witness appears, so it sits at the low end of that band.
Evidence for and against
- A claimed physical mark, bite-mark scars on [name withheld]’s ankle, that the caller says they were shown and describes in detail ([quote withheld]; [quote withheld]).
- Records are implied but not produced: hospital treatment, a reported abuse suspicion, a police chief’s visit, and a decision not to press charges.
- A limited set of checkable details is given: the source’s first name, Philmont, New Mexico, and the caller’s own Hawaii trip.
- No documentation is examined on air: no photograph, hospital record, or police report.
- No second witness speaks on air. The two girls, the friend, the brother, the mother, the grandfather, the doctor, and the police chief are all only reported.
- The marks were said to have been shown to the caller roughly ten years before the broadcast, and they cannot be checked from the transcript.
- Only the caller says that the marks they describe seeing were the ones in the story.
- The transcript has [quote withheld] which leaves unclear who showed the marks.
- 5:25
- 5:06
What the model inferred (not said on air): The described scars count as claimed evidence rather than evidence in hand, since they are not shown or verified during the broadcast. The transcript only reports them.
The story combines confinement, screaming, sudden physical injury, and a lasting bodily mark, with an unresolved ending. That places it in the frightening band, even though the telling itself is conversational.
Evidence for and against
- Two girls are said to have been trapped in a violently shaking car at night, screaming, with “red eyes” at the windows. The caller says, [quote withheld]
- Physical harm to the body is central: a bite on the ankle, then more than 200 bites and hospital stitches, and a claim of a further bite to the hip.
- The story involves a broken taboo and a demand for atonement ([quote withheld]) and a permanent consequence: scars the brother hides.
- The ending is unresolved. The marks are said to last to the present day.
- The story is told in a matter-of-fact, storytelling tone and includes light digressions, such as fast-food bags at graves and the host’s joke about a quarter pounder.
- The opening story ends harmlessly with a police stop rather than with anything strange.
- The transcript does not settle whether the girls’ distress was part of the boys’ prank or genuine.
- 3:00
- 4:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is a judgment about how a listener would receive the story. The events are not treated as established.
A familiar cemetery-taboo story of retribution with a few distinctive details: the violently rocking car and the teeth-mark scars shown to the caller years later.
Evidence for and against
- The central image is unusual: a parked car rocking so hard its tires leave the ground with two passengers inside, then “red eyes” filling the windows.
- The claim that the caller was shown the still-visible teeth-mark scars on the main character’s ankle years afterward is a distinctive personal detail.
- A police chief recognizing the marks and no charges being filed, plus the doctor’s abuse suspicion, is an unusual combination.
- The core pattern, a prank in a cemetery, a violation of burial custom, and retribution, is a recurring folk pattern, including for Hawaiian sacred sites.
- Bite marks and misfortune following disrespect to the dead are stock elements in such legends.
- A comparison of themes with the full archive is not yet available.
- 2:44
- 5:26
What the model inferred (not said on air): The published originality score is provisional. The archive is still small, so comparison with it carries little weight, and the score is close to the model’s own estimate.
Scoring confidence 0.58 · analysis confidence 0.62 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story about a drive on US 101 and a CHP stop; A secondhand story the caller says was told to them about ten years earlier by their Boy Scout leader; Claimed physical evidence: bite-mark scars on [name withheld]’s ankle, said to have been shown to the caller, described but not examined on air; Claimed but unchecked records and institutions: hospital treatment and stitches, a doctor’s abuse suspicion, a police chief’s visit, no charges filed; Claimed additional witnesses who do not speak on air: two girls, a friend, the older brother, the mother, the grandfather, hospital staff, the police chief. The originality score blends the model's score (45) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- The two girls could have made the car rock themselves, as a prank that escalated in the dark, or one of them could have panicked inside the car. · The story has the car rocking with only the two girls inside and the boys outside. The caller says the boys at first mistook the screaming for laughter.
- The injuries could have had a household or other physical cause. The doctor raised this possibility in the story itself, and it apparently was not pursued after the police chief’s visit. · The caller reports that a doctor [quote withheld] over the injuries the brother had.
- Insect or small-animal bites picked up outdoors could have produced many marks that were later read in light of the cemetery visit. · The wounds are said to have been counted in the hundreds and described as bite marks, after a night spent running through a cemetery.
What stands out
The story is nested twice over. The caller is only a listener passing on what they heard, yet they claim to have seen the lasting bite-mark scars on the story’s main character years later. Callers rarely claim that. The call also opens with a deflating episode: red lights on a highway that the caller themselves explains as a police stop, before they tell the main story.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.