Laughing in the basement, a woman in white, and shadow figures in a family home
A caller who gives the name “[name withheld]” and says they are on Long Island, New York, describes a series of incidents the caller attributes to their family home. They begin at age four, when the caller heard laughing from the basement while their sister was outside, and continue through their teens. The caller reports unexplained walking overhead at night and a woman in a long white gown at the edge of their parents’ bed. The caller also reports a voice and television sound in an empty house, and two small hatted shadow figures at their bedroom door followed by something grabbing their feet. The host cuts the call short and ends the segment.
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 2001-1.mp3”, starting at 48:39). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who says [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] says they are 47 and that the first incident happened when they were four and their sister was eight. The caller says they chased their sister around the house, she ran down the basement stairs, and the caller followed. She was [quote withheld] as the caller tried to catch her. The caller reports that the basement door opened, they ran up the steps, and they saw their sister playing in the backyard. That left the caller asking who was laughing downstairs. The caller adds that at four years old they did not think of it as frightening and went outside to play. The caller says that as they got older, their father would wake them around 2 o’clock in the morning, asking what they were doing up there and telling them to sleep. The caller says the father had just woken them. The father reportedly said he heard walking around above. Years later, the caller says, they were in the kitchen and their brother was asleep upstairs, and the caller again heard walking. The caller called up to “[name withheld],” went upstairs, and found their brother “sound asleep,” which the caller says gave them a chill. The caller reports that around age 15, during a party with many people in the house, they came out of the bathroom and saw a woman standing at the edge of their parents’ bed in a long white gown. The caller could not make out her face and describes her as “just beautiful.” The caller says they asked their mother who the lady was. She said there was nobody there, and when they went in, the room was empty. The caller says they avoided looking past her door after that. The caller also reports coming home late from work, hearing the television in the den, and calling out “Ma.” The caller received a reply of “I'm home,” then found no television on and nobody home, and ran outside. Finally, the caller says that as a child, lying in their room with the light on, they saw two dark shadow-like figures with hats, about three feet tall, at their doorway. When the caller looked again, they were a foot inside the door. The caller lay still, something grabbed their feet, and the caller jumped up and turned on the light. The caller found nothing in the room. The host then thanked the caller and moved to the next caller.
Reported events, in order
- 0:24
At age four, chasing their eight-year-old sister around the house, the caller followed her down the basement stairs. The caller heard laughing from the basement, but the sister was later seen playing in the backyard.
- 1:19
As the caller grew older, their father would wake them around 2 a.m., asking what they were doing up there and saying he had heard walking around. The caller said they had just been woken.
- 1:42
Years later, the caller heard walking upstairs, went up to check on their brother [name withheld], and found him sound asleep.
- 2:29
Around age 15, coming out of the bathroom during a party at the house, the caller saw a woman in a long white gown standing at the edge of their parents’ bed. Their mother said nobody was there.
- 3:57
Coming home late from work, the caller heard the television in the den and a reply of “I'm home.” The caller found no television on and nobody home, and ran out of the house.
- 4:42
As a child, lying in their room with the light on, the caller saw two dark, hatted figures about three feet tall at their doorway move inside. The caller lay still, something grabbed their feet, and nothing was in the room when the caller turned the light on.
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· 0:59
While chasing their sister, the caller heard laughing from the basement although the sister was outside in the backyard.
- interpretation· 1:02
The caller asks who was laughing downstairs, treating the laughing as coming from something unseen.
- hearsay· 1:37
The caller’s father said he heard someone walking around above the caller’s room around 2 a.m.
- observation· 1:58
The caller heard walking upstairs and found their brother asleep in the room.
- observation· 2:52
The caller saw a woman in a long white gown standing at the edge of their parents’ bed.
- hearsay· 3:28
The caller’s mother told them no one was in the house or in the bedroom.
- observation· 4:16
The caller heard the television and a reply of “I'm home” in a house that was empty with the television off.
- observation· 4:48
The caller saw two dark shadow figures with hats, about three feet tall, at their bedroom doorway, which then moved inside the door.
- observation· 5:33
Something grabbed the caller’s feet while they lay in bed.
- host statement· 5:59
The host says that a physical grab shows the being can act physically and could take the person if it wanted.
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, specific firsthand story with ages, times, and house layout. It is made up of several loosely connected episodes. Parts of it have easy ordinary explanations, and no one else backs it up.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story told on air, with the caller describing their own family and house.
- Concrete details: the sister’s age ([quote withheld]), the time ([quote withheld]), and the layout of the bathroom opposite the parents’ bedroom.
- Specific, quotable content in each episode, such as [quote withheld]
- The story is a set of separate incidents rather than one sequence, spanning age four to adulthood.
- A party with many guests was under way when the woman in white was seen, an easy ordinary explanation the caller does not address.
- No one else backs it up. The father’s and mother’s reported statements are relayed, not heard.
- Several of the caller’s lines are labeled as the host in the automatic transcript, so who says what is not fully certain.
- The host cuts the call short.
- No dates, address, or full names are given beyond “[name withheld]” and “[name withheld].”
- 0:27
- 1:19
- 2:36
- 5:17
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component judgment: source closeness 22 of 25 (direct witness), specificity 13 of 20 (ages, times, layout, but nothing that can be checked), internal consistency 14 of 20 (answers fit the story, but the episodes are disconnected), alternative explanations 5 of 20 (a real guest and ordinary house noise fit parts of the story easily), calibration 6 of 15 (the caller does say they do not know what the figures were, but the claims escalate). Total 60.
The only support is the caller’s word. There are some specifics that could be checked (a stated name, a stated location, ages) and relatives claimed as witnesses, none of whom speak on air. Nothing was examined.
Evidence for and against
- A stated name ([quote withheld]) and location ([quote withheld]).
- Relatives are claimed to have experienced related events, such as the father’s reported footsteps and the mother checking the room.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical mark is offered.
- No second witness speaks on air, and the host does not describe examining anything.
- No address, date, or other detail that could be checked is given.
- The claim that relatives experienced events comes only through the caller.
- The labels in the automatic transcript showing who is speaking are inconsistent, so it is not always certain who is speaking.
- 0:07
- 1:37
- 3:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): Band 11 to 25: specifics that could be checked and claimed witnesses, but nothing checked. No physical evidence is claimed, so the 26 to 40 band is not reached. Without an outside check, the cap of 50 applies.
The story moves into bedrooms and childhood, includes small figures advancing through a doorway, and ends with a physical grab. The calm, matter-of-fact telling and the “beautiful” description of the woman keep it below the most frightening range.
Evidence for and against
- Figures at a child’s bedroom: [quote withheld] then [quote withheld]
- Physical contact: [quote withheld]
- Unresolved ending, with nothing found when the light came on.
- A figure seen in the parents’ bedroom.
- The woman in white is described warmly: [quote withheld]
- The caller says the first episode did not seem frightening at the time: [quote withheld]
- The host’s closing remarks treat the call as a story rather than dwelling on threat.
- The host ends the call mid-story, so no closing reaction from the caller is heard.
- 5:19
- 5:33
- 3:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about the effect on a listener, not about truth. A figure in the bedroom plus physical contact raise the score. The pleasant description of the woman and the caller’s undramatic delivery lower it.
This is a provisional score. The story combines stock motifs (footsteps overhead, a woman in white, a shadow figure at the doorway, feet grabbed) with two less common details: the answering voice in an empty dark house and the pair of hatted figures about three feet tall.
Evidence for and against
- Uncommon detail: a reply of “I'm home,” followed by finding the television off and nobody home.
- Uncommon detail: two dark figures with hats, about three feet tall.
- Footsteps, a woman in white, and something grabbing the feet are recurring ghost-story elements.
- The structure, a house with years of varied strange events, is a familiar frame.
- A comparison with the rest of the archive is not yet available, so the published originality score is provisional.
- 4:16
- 5:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): I set the originality score to 50: a familiar haunting with a couple of distinctive details. Comparison with the rest of the archive will add little at this early stage.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand telephone story; Claimed relatives’ experiences relayed only through the caller, with no on-air confirmation; No photograph, recording, document, address, or date offered. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 woman in the long gown at the edge of the bed may have been a real guest at the party, seen briefly through a bedroom doorway. · The caller says there was a party with many people in the house: [quote withheld]
- The reported walking overhead at night and the 2 a.m. disturbances may have been ordinary household noise or family members moving about, with father and son mistaking each other’s movements. · The father’s report is that he heard the caller walking around, and the caller says the father had just woken them: [quote withheld]
- The small shadow figures at the doorway and the grabbing of the feet may be a drowsy bedroom experience, such as a perception while falling asleep or a sudden muscle jerk, in a child lying in bed. · The caller places themselves in bed with the light on, and describes checking themselves ([quote withheld]) before the grab.
What stands out
The story is a sequence of separate episodes in one family home rather than a single incident. It includes two apparently hatted shadow figures described as only about three feet tall. It also includes a reported voice answering “I'm home” in a house the caller found empty and dark.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.