A campfire cat that a camper’s hand reportedly passed through
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld] describes camping with [name withheld] at White Pines in northern Illinois in mid-July. They sat around a campfire and tried to tell ghost stories. [name withheld] says a small black cat came out of the trees and walked among the group, rubbing against people who said they felt its fur. Then it vanished after a woman reached to scratch it and her hand passed through it. A flashlight search of the nearby thicket reportedly found nothing. The caller offers no explanation.
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 2001-2.mp3”, starting at 31:40). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are calling together with [name withheld]. They tell Art Bell that about the middle of last July they were camping at White Pines at the northern end of Illinois. After a late dinner, with the evening turning cool, the group sat around a campfire. As they put it, they decided to do what most people do around a campfire and try to drum up a few ghost stories. While everyone was thinking, they say, there was a rustling behind them in the dark among the trees, and a small black cat came out. They say the cat was sociable. It walked between the people and the fire and gave a “tail hug” as it passed each person, and people watched it walk and touch and rub against them. According to [name withheld], the cat came around to two girls on the far side of the fire from them. One of them, who [name withheld] says absolutely loves cats, reached over to scratch its back. The tail went up, and the girl darted back screaming and turned completely white. The girlfriend next to her did the same. [name withheld] says it turned out that when she reached to scratch the cat, her hand had actually gone through it. [name withheld] later clarifies that it was almost right through, [quote withheld] [name withheld] says the cat had walked around, half the people at the campfire had been touched and hugged as it passed, rubbing their legs, and everyone insisted they had felt the cat and felt the fur. When everyone looked for the cat, it was gone. There was only a wall of thicket and leaves in the direction it must have gone, and when someone took a Q-beam flashlight into that area, there was nothing there. Art Bell calls it fascinating and raises the possibility of animal ghosts or of something that transforms into another state. The caller does not state a cause.
Reported events, in order
- 0:02
[name withheld] says they and [name withheld] were camping at White Pines at the northern end of Illinois about the middle of last July.
- 0:20
After a late dinner, the group sat around a campfire as it grew cool and decided to try to tell ghost stories.
- 0:38
A rustling was heard in the trees behind them, and a small black cat came out of the dark.
- 0:55
The cat walked between the people and the fire, rubbing against those it passed and giving them a “tail hug.”
- 1:17
At two girls across the fire, one reached to scratch the cat’s back. The tail went up, and she darted back screaming and turned white. The girl next to her did the same.
- 1:34
The caller says the woman’s hand had passed through the cat, and that half the people at the fire had been touched by it and insisted they felt its fur.
- 1:56
The cat was gone when they looked. Only a thicket and leaves were behind it, and a search with a Q-beam flashlight found nothing.
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· 0:45
The caller says a small black cat came out of the trees and walked among the campers, rubbing against people as cats do.
- observation· 1:34
The caller says that when one woman reached to scratch the cat, her hand passed through it.
- observation· 1:51
The caller says half the people at the fire were touched by the cat and insisted they felt its fur.
- observation· 2:05
The caller says the cat disappeared and that a flashlight search of the thicket found nothing.
- host statement· 2:30
The host suggests the story raises the possibility of animal ghosts or of something that transforms into another state.
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 a firsthand story from a participant at the campfire, with a named place, a stated month, and a clear sequence. It is short and was not backed up on air. An ordinary explanation (a real cat that left into the thicket) fits part of it, and the caller does not address other explanations.
Evidence for and against
- The caller took part in the event they describe.
- Named place and stated time: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The events come in order: the cat appears, moves among the group, the touch, then the disappearance and search.
- The caller qualifies the claim instead of escalating it: [quote withheld]
- No year is given for “last July,” and there are no other checkable details such as a campground name or other names.
- The key contact was at a distance: the two girls were [quote withheld]
- A real cat moving into dense undergrowth would be hard to find, and the search is described as a single flashlight sweep.
- Whether the caller themselves felt the cat or is reporting only what others said.
- The number and identity of the witnesses are not given.
- The labels showing who is speaking do not always separate the caller and the host cleanly.
- 0:55
- 1:34
- 2:17
What the model inferred (not said on air): The scoring reflects my judgment of what the caller says. They were present and the sequence is coherent, but the key event happened some distance from them, the story is brief, and it was not backed up on air. No conclusion is drawn about the caller’s honesty.
The story rests on the caller’s word, with several other witnesses claimed but none speaking on air and no documentation offered. Checkable details (a named place and a stated month) are given but not checked.
Evidence for and against
- Named place and month: “White Pines” and [quote withheld]
- Other witnesses claimed: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No photograph, recording, or physical trace is claimed.
- The only claimed search found nothing.
- The story does not say whether any of the other people present could be contacted, or whether the location can be identified more precisely.
- 1:43
- 2:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): Claimed witnesses are treated as assertions, not as backing from someone else. The 11 to 25 band was chosen because checkable details and claimed witnesses exist, but nothing was actually checked or examined.
The story is eerie but not threatening: a small animal in a dark campfire setting, a sudden scream, and a cat that reportedly vanishes without a trace. There is no menace, injury, or sustained dread, and the campfire setting keeps it in the mood of a spooky anecdote.
Evidence for and against
- Rustling in the dark trees before the cat appears.
- A woman reportedly darts back screaming and turns “completely white,” and the woman beside her reacts the same way.
- The cat vanishes, leaving only thicket, and a flashlight search finds nothing.
- The strange thing is a small cat, not a threatening figure.
- The setting is a group social occasion around a fire.
- The story ends with the host’s musing, not an ominous note.
- The story does not say whether the scream and the pale reaction are described in any more detail.
- 1:26
- 1:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about how unsettling the story is to a listener, not a claim about whether anything happened.
A phantom animal that appears and then vanishes is a familiar ghost-story element. The combination here is distinctive, though: a cat that several people reportedly felt and stroked before one person’s hand passed through it as if it were turning to gas.
Evidence for and against
- Several people reportedly felt the cat before the strange contact: [quote withheld] and “Felt the fur.”
- The caller’s image of the cat dissolving: [quote withheld]
- Vanishing animals and ghostly cats are recurring themes in this kind of story.
- The other parts of the story (campfire ghost stories, a search that finds nothing) are conventional.
- The provisional score is a judgment of the content. Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is computed separately and carries little weight in a small pilot archive.
- 1:53
- 2:17
What the model inferred (not said on air): The distinctive element is the reported combination of felt fur and a hand passing through the same animal. The rest is familiar.
Scoring confidence 0.68 · analysis confidence 0.74 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word (a participant in the campfire group).; Claimed multiple witnesses who do not speak on air.; Claimed flashlight search that reportedly found nothing.; No photographs, recordings, or documents offered.. The originality score blends the model's score (58) 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 cat moved through the group and then left into dense undergrowth before or during the search. A black animal in firelight against dark ground can be hard to follow or find again. · The caller describes a wall of thicket and leaves where the cat was thought to have gone, and a flashlight search that found nothing there.
- Poor visibility, firelight, and the group’s ghost-story mood could lead to a misjudged reach or a fleeting impression that a hand passed through the animal. · The group had just decided to [quote withheld] and the cat is described as moving constantly past people in the dark.
- After the first woman screamed and turned pale, the reaction of the woman beside her and the later certainty of others could reflect a group reaction, not independent observation. · The caller says the girlfriend next to her did the same thing, and that afterward [quote withheld] they felt the cat.
What stands out
The strange thing here is not a human figure but an animal that was apparently solid enough for several people to feel its fur, yet reported as immaterial to one person’s touch. The caller tells it as a story that came up when a group was deliberately trying to tell ghost stories around a campfire.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.