Police officer reports a man and dog who vanished on a foggy road near an old homestead
A fax read on air by the host is attributed to a police officer in Salina, Kansas. The officer says that while on patrol they saw an old bloodhound and a man in bib overalls and a straw hat carrying a feed sickle. They were beside a new street near the site of an old river homestead. The officer says that when they circled back within seconds, both had vanished and left no sign. The letter ends with the writer saying they used to play at that homestead as a child, where local children said the grounds were haunted, and that they now wonder.
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 2000-2.mp3”, starting at 0:58). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The host introduces the item as a fax from a police officer and reads it aloud. The writer says they are a police officer in Salina, Kansas. A few years earlier, the writer says, they were on routine patrol, driving through a new construction area along the west side of the old Smoky River bed. The writer says it was a little foggy, and they took a newly constructed street that curves along an old bend in the river past an old homestead. The farm buildings, the writer says, are long gone, though the evidence of the elevated construction site remains. The writer reports that rounding the curve they noticed an old, tired-looking bloodhound first. Then they saw a figure with a feed sickle, the type with a wooden handle and curved blade. The figure wore old bib overalls, a straw hat, tired old boots, and a work shirt with the sleeves cut out. The writer says the two were walking in the opposite direction from their patrol unit and that they were not anxious to make contact because the man looked angry. Because of thefts in the area, the writer says, they made a U-turn on the grass and were back in a few seconds. But both the man and the dog were gone. The writer got out, walked around and over the riverbank, and found no sign of them and no footprints. The writer says they have worked that shift for seven years and have been in law enforcement over fifteen years. They had never seen anything like it, and they would like to know the truth behind the story. The writer adds that as a child they used to walk through that old homestead, where there were the remains of an old two-story house and a falling-down barn. Many children in the area refused to go there, saying the grounds were haunted. The writer says it never slowed them down then, but that now they wonder. The host signs off with [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:36
The officer says they were on routine patrol in a new construction area along the west side of the old Smoky River bed, and that it was a little foggy.
- 0:47
The officer took a newly constructed street curving along an old bend in the river past an old homestead whose farm buildings are long gone.
- 1:02
Rounding the curve, the officer reports noticing an old, tired-looking bloodhound.
- 1:10
The officer reports seeing a figure with a feed sickle wearing bib overalls, a straw hat, old boots, and a work shirt with sleeves cut out.
- 1:30
The officer says the man and dog were walking the opposite direction and that they were reluctant to make contact because the man looked angry.
- 1:39
Because of thefts in the area, the officer made a U-turn on the grass and returned in a few seconds.
- 1:46
The officer reports both the man and the dog were gone, with no sign and no footprints after they walked around and over the riverbank.
- 1:57
The officer states they had worked that shift for seven years and been in law enforcement over fifteen years, with nothing like this before.
- 2:09
The officer recalls walking through the old homestead as a child, where local children said the grounds were haunted.
- 2:28
The officer states that it never slowed them down then, but that now they wonder.
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· 1:02
The officer says they saw an old, tired-looking bloodhound by the road.
- observation· 1:10
The officer says they saw a man carrying a feed sickle and wearing bib overalls and a straw hat.
- observation· 1:18
The officer says the man was dressed in old farm clothing: bib overalls, a straw hat, old boots, and a shirt with sleeves cut out.
- observation· 1:46
The officer says that on returning within seconds, both the man and the dog had disappeared, leaving no sign or footprints.
- hearsay· 2:21
The officer relays that children in the area used to say the old homestead grounds were haunted.
- interpretation· 2:32
The officer does not state a cause and says they now wonder about the experience.
- host statement· 0:10
The host says he receives many ghost stories from police officers.
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.
This is the writer’s own firsthand report with a concrete place and a detailed description of the figure and dog, and it is coherent. It is a brief sighting made in fog from a moving vehicle. An ordinary explanation (they simply walked out of view) is not addressed, which keeps the score moderate.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- The story is delivered as a letter read aloud by the host. No follow-up questions were put to the writer.
- The writing for the man’s description begins with the unclear word “Played,” suggesting a transcription error.
- No date is given beyond [quote withheld]
- 0:52
- 1:46
- 2:03
What the model inferred (not said on air): The points for source proximity, specificity, consistency, and calibration are read directly from the letter’s content. The alternative-explanation component is my judgment that a fog-shortened glimpse of a person walking away is a plausible ordinary fit.
Only the writer’s word supports the story. No document, recording, or image is presented, and no second person speaks on air. Some specifics that could be checked are given (a name, a town, an occupation, and a described route), but none were examined or verified.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- No physical evidence is claimed to exist in the transcript.
- No other witness is named or heard on air.
- Whether the fax itself was kept is not stated in the transcript.
- The officer’s name and department cannot be independently checked here.
- 0:33
- 1:46
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at 11 to 25 because specifics that could be checked (name, place, role) are supplied but never checked. The score is capped by the absence of any outside check.
The core image is eerie and unresolved: a man with a sickle and an old dog who disappear from an empty farm site within seconds in fog. The letter closes on the officer’s own unease. There is no threat, contact, or escalation, which keeps it in the mildly unsettling range.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- No harm, pursuit, or physical contact is reported.
- The figure is not described as menacing beyond the writer’s note that he looked angry.
- 1:34
- 2:21
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged as the effect of the story on a listener, not as evidence about the events.
The setup (a vanishing figure at an isolated old farm site, children saying the ground is haunted) uses stock ghost-story elements. But the particulars give it a distinctive shape: a feed sickle, a bloodhound, a patrol-car sighting in fog, and the writer’s boyhood familiarity with the site.
Evidence for and against
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- [quote withheld]
- A vanishing figure and locally haunted grounds are very common ghost-story motifs.
- Provisional model score. With few archived stories, the weight given to novelty compared with the archive is small.
- 0:57
- 2:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a model-based originality judgment about the content, not a statement about the truth of the story.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The writer’s firsthand story, presented as a written fax read aloud on air; No document, photograph, recording, or other artifact examined in the transcript; No on-air witness other than the host’s reading of the letter. 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.
- A real person with a dog was briefly glimpsed at a distance in fog and simply walked out of sight behind the riverbank or curve before the officer returned. · [quote withheld] [quote withheld] [quote withheld]
- Low visibility and a short look could have produced a misperception of a shape or figure at the roadside, since the officer deliberately avoided approaching. · [quote withheld]
- On grass, road shoulder, or riverbank, footprints might not register at all, so the absence of prints may not indicate anything unusual. · [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story is framed as a serving police officer’s own written report. Its distinctive core is a vanishing man in old farm dress carrying a feed sickle alongside an old bloodhound, seen from a patrol car in fog and gone within seconds.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.