Deputy draws his pistol on a translucent elderly woman in his kitchen
A caller who gives his name as [quote withheld] says he is a sheriff’s deputy. He describes coming home on a dinner break at about 3 a.m. to his recently bought house, which is roughly 70 years old, and finding the silhouette of a person at the kitchen sink. He says he drew his pistol, then saw that the figure was a translucent elderly woman who grinned at him and disappeared. He adds that his dog sometimes yips in the kitchen, which he half-jokingly blames on the same figure. The host ends with remarks that seeing is believing.
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 46:11). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives his name as [quote withheld] says he is a sheriff’s deputy who until a few weeks earlier worked the midnight shift. He says he and his wife bought their first house the previous August. He describes it as about 70 years old and in good shape.
He says that on a night “about September 8th” he came home from work for a dinner break at about three o’clock in the morning. His wife, a paramedic working 24-hour shifts, was on shift, so her car was gone and nobody should have been home. He says he came in through the kitchen and saw the silhouette of a person standing by the kitchen sink. He says that, being on duty, he drew his pistol, pointed it at the person, and told them to show their hands.
According to the caller, light from a street lamp came through the window and the person slowly turned her head. He saw it was [quote withheld] who was [quote withheld] He says he felt silly pointing the pistol and asked her what she wanted. She grinned and then [quote withheld] He says he has not seen her since and that she does not move things in the house. The only other thing he describes is that the family dog will sometimes go into the kitchen, where her food dish is, let out a yip, and run back to cower at their feet. He jokingly blames the old lady for playing tricks on the dog.
The host asks what he thinks he saw. He says he is sure it was a ghost, that he was not dreaming and not asleep, and that he had been at work. The host closes this part of the broadcast with remarks about seeing being believing and there being [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
The caller gives his name as [quote withheld] and says he is a sheriff’s deputy who worked the midnight shift until a few weeks earlier.
- 0:18
He says he and his wife bought their first house the previous August, and he describes it as a nice 70-year-old house.
- 0:28
He says that on a night about September 8th, his wife was working a 24-hour paramedic shift, her car was gone, and nobody should have been home. He came home for a dinner break at about 3 a.m.
- 0:57
He says he entered through the kitchen and saw the silhouette of a person standing by the kitchen sink.
- 1:06
He says that, being on duty, he drew his pistol, pointed it at the person, and told them to show their hands.
- 1:16
He says light came in from a street light, the person slowly turned her head, and he saw a “little old lady” who was a little bit translucent.
- 1:38
He says he felt silly pointing the pistol and asked her what she wanted. She grinned and then faded out and disappeared.
- 2:27
He says he has not seen her since and that she does not move things in the house.
- 2:47
He says the only other strange thing is that the dog sometimes goes into the kitchen, yips, and runs back to cower at their feet. He blames the old lady for playing tricks on the dog.
- 3:12
Asked what he thinks he saw, he says he is sure it was a ghost and that he was not dreaming or asleep, having been at work.
- 3:32
The host closes by saying that once you have seen what this man saw, you will believe and know there is something on the other side.
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· 1:00
The caller says he saw the silhouette of a person standing by his kitchen sink when he came in at about 3 a.m.
- observation· 1:06
The caller says he drew his pistol and pointed it at the figure, telling them to show their hands.
- observation· 1:33
The caller says that when the figure turned her head, he saw a little old lady who was a little bit translucent.
- observation· 2:23
The caller says the figure grinned at him and then faded out and disappeared after he asked what she wanted.
- observation· 2:50
The caller says the dog sometimes goes into the kitchen, yips, and runs back to cower at their feet.
- interpretation· 3:17
The caller says he is certain what he saw was a ghost.
- interpretation· 3:01
The caller says he imagines the old lady is playing tricks on his dog when the dog reacts in the kitchen.
- host statement· 3:38
The host says that once a person has had such an experience, they will know there is something on the other side.
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 clear firsthand story with a coherent sequence, a stated context (midnight shift, wife’s shift, approximate date), and an explicit answer to the dreaming explanation. It was not backed up by anyone else, and the caller is partly anonymous.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand, direct account of seeing the figure.
- Concrete context: his job, the house’s age, his wife’s 24-hour shift, and the approximate time and date.
- The caller separates what he saw from other explanations and addresses the dreaming explanation.
- No name, town, street, or other checkable identifier.
- Only one witness to the ghost. The dog’s reaction is interpreted, not described in detail.
- A dark kitchen, a street-light silhouette, and a tired midnight-shift worker leave room for a mistake in seeing.
- The caller does not state the year of the event.
- The caller gives his name as “let's say,” so his identity cannot be checked.
- 0:11
- 3:22
- 1:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged only as the caller’s story: it is coherent, gives a sequence and details of what he saw, and the caller addresses the sleep and dreaming explanation. It is weakened by the lack of any checkable name, town, or address and by a single brief event that no one else saw.
Nothing in the broadcast can be checked independently beyond the caller’s own word. Only a few possibly checkable details (job, region, approximate date) are offered, and they were not checked.
Evidence for and against
- Possibly checkable details: his job, central Illinois, the approximate date, and the age of the house.
- No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document is mentioned.
- No second witness to the ghost. The dog’s reaction does not back up the story on air.
- No second witness on air, and no document, photo, or recording described.
- Some checkable details exist (job, region, approximate date), but nothing was checked.
- 0:11
- 0:28
What the model inferred (not said on air): The story rests on the caller’s word. His wife is mentioned as his wife, not as a witness to the event, and the dog is a claimed reactor, not a second witness.
A silent figure in the caller’s own kitchen at 3 a.m., a drawn pistol, and a grinning, translucent woman who vanishes are moderately unsettling. But no threat, harm, or lasting dread is reported.
Evidence for and against
- A figure in the home at night, and a drawn weapon.
- A silent grin followed by a disappearance.
- The dog reportedly yips and cowers.
- No malevolence, injury, or escalation is described. The figure is described as “ornery” and playful.
- The caller says it does not bother him much as long as that is all she does.
- The caller’s own tone is relaxed and partly humorous, which may make it seem less threatening to some listeners.
- 1:06
- 2:23
What the model inferred (not said on air): A figure in a private home at night, the drawn weapon, and the silent grin and disappearance are the unsettling parts. The lack of threat or harm and the caller’s light tone keep the score below the middle of the range.
A translucent elderly figure in a home kitchen at night is a familiar ghost-story setup. The distinctive touches are the deputy drawing his pistol, the figure’s “ornery” grin, and the way the caller explains the dog.
Evidence for and against
- Distinctive detail of a duty pistol drawn on the figure.
- The caller blames the same figure for the dog’s reactions.
- The core themes (old house, kitchen, night, elderly translucent figure) are stock elements.
- Originality is provisional. This is a pilot-scale archive, and the part compared with the rest of the archive carries little weight.
- The provisional title frames the story as a deputy seeing a translucent old woman, and the story as told matches that.
- 1:00
- 2:23
What the model inferred (not said on air): The unusual part is the mix of a gun-drawn response to an intruder with a vanishing elderly figure and the caller’s playful explanation of the dog’s behavior. The basic set of themes (a translucent elderly figure in a home kitchen at night) is common.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.78 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word (live call).; Claimed pet reaction, described by the caller and not observed on air.; No photograph, recording, document, or second witness on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (48) 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.
- Low light and expectation: a silhouette or object in a dark kitchen, lit only by a street light through the window, was briefly mistaken for a person. · The caller says [quote withheld] and that he first saw only [quote withheld]
- Tiredness at the end of a midnight shift could cause a brief mistake in seeing, though the caller explicitly denies having been asleep or dreaming. · He says he worked the midnight shift and came home for a dinner break at about three o’clock in the morning. He addresses this himself: [quote withheld]
- The dog’s occasional yip in the kitchen may have an ordinary explanation, such as normal animal behavior or a household noise, and not be a reaction to a figure. · He says the dog goes into the kitchen [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] before running back.
What stands out
A sheriff’s deputy on duty says he entered his own kitchen at about 3 a.m., drew his service pistol on an intruder, and then saw the intruder, an elderly woman, become translucent, grin at him, and disappear. The caller also says his dog’s occasional yipping in the kitchen is the same figure “playing tricks” on it.
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