Unseen runner and a struck fence at an abandoned slaughterhouse
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Susanville near Reno, tells Art Bell that they went with their boyfriend and one other friend to an abandoned slaughterhouse that local kids said was haunted. On one visit the group heard a woman humming a tune in a field where their flashlights showed nobody. On a later night, alone inside the shed, the caller says they heard something unseen running through the tall weeds and something slamming into the fence and shaking it. The caller says they dropped to their knees crying and their boyfriend carried them out. The caller ends by asking whether it could have been a cow trying to get out and whether animals have souls.
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 1:10:16). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld] says they are from Susanville, near Reno, and that they had several stories but would tell one. [name withheld] says some kids claimed there was a haunted slaughterhouse, and that they were dismissive ([quote withheld]). [name withheld] says they went there with their boyfriend and one other friend to get scared, and that they usually went “real late” so as not to wake neighbors. On one of those visits, [name withheld] says, they heard in the field [quote withheld] They shone flashlights and, [name withheld] says, there was nobody there. [name withheld] says that was not very scary, so they left and came back.
[name withheld] says that over the previous few days they had dared each other to go inside the actual slaughterhouse. [name withheld] describes a big house and a slaughterhouse like a shed with a square fence around the front. [name withheld] says the guys took their turns going in, that the gate was normally open, that weeds about four feet tall showed nobody had maintained the place, and that the door was stuck open by the weeds. On the night it was their turn, [name withheld] says, the door was shut. They opened it and went into the shack, where they saw an old mattress and some chicken wire.
[name withheld] says something to their left began running through the weeds. They could not see it, but it looked as though something about four feet tall was moving through them, going down the side and toward the door on the other side of the gate. [name withheld] says they watched the door, expecting something to jump out. Just before it reached the door, something smashed into the fence where it had first started running, shaking it back and forth and moving the whole fence. [name withheld] says they dropped to their knees and cried and screamed for their boyfriend. The two men were in the car with the windows rolled up and the doors locked. Their boyfriend carried them out because they could not walk.
Asked what they thought it was, [name withheld] says they do not know. [name withheld] mentions a man across the street who never wanted them there and said the place was not for sale, and says the house looked as though covers were over the furniture. [name withheld] says friends suggested that, since it was a slaughterhouse where cows were slaughtered, it sounded like a cow that smashed into the gate trying to get out. [name withheld] asks the host whether animals have souls.
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The caller gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are from Susanville, near Reno, and have a few stories.
- 0:19
The caller says kids claimed a slaughterhouse was haunted and they were dismissive. They then went with their boyfriend and one other friend to get scared.
- 0:49
The caller says they went late at night to avoid waking neighbors and heard someone humming a tune like a lady. Flashlights showed nobody there.
- 1:05
The caller describes the site: a big house and a slaughterhouse like a shed with a square fence around the front.
- 1:18
The caller says the men took turns going in, the gate was normally open, the weeds were about four feet tall, and the door was stuck open by the weeds.
- 1:25
On the night it was their turn, the caller says, the door was shut. They opened it and went into the shack.
- 1:41
The caller says they saw an old mattress and some chicken wire inside.
- 1:57
The caller says something unseen ran through the weeds on their left, appearing about four feet tall, moving toward the door on the other side of the gate.
- 2:16
The caller says something smashed into the fence where the running began, shaking it back and forth and moving the whole fence.
- 2:26
The caller says they dropped to their knees, cried, and screamed for their boyfriend. The two men were in the car with the windows rolled up and the doors locked.
- 2:58
The caller says their boyfriend had to carry them out because they could not walk.
- 3:04
Asked what they thought it was, the caller says they do not know. The caller mentions a man across the street who did not want them there and said the place was not for sale. The house looked as if covers were over the furniture.
- 3:31
The caller says friends suggested a cow smashed into the gate trying to get out, and asks the host whether animals have souls.
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).
- hearsay· 0:19
Local kids said the slaughterhouse was supposed to be haunted.
- observation· 0:49
The group heard someone humming a tune like a lady in the field.
- observation· 0:54
Their flashlights showed nobody was out there.
- observation· 1:25
The slaughterhouse door, normally stuck open by weeds, was shut that night.
- observation· 1:57
Something unseen ran through the weeds to the caller’s left, appearing about four feet tall.
- observation· 2:16
Something smashed into the fence at the point where the running started.
- observation· 2:26
The whole fence moved.
- observation· 3:13
A man across the street never wanted them to go there.
- interpretation· 3:31
The caller says friends suggested the event was a cow smashing into the gate trying to get out.
- observation· 2:58
The caller says their boyfriend had to carry them out because they could not walk.
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 with a coherent sequence and some concrete detail (the shed, the square fence, four-foot weeds, a mattress and chicken wire). But it has no dates, exact site name, or other checkable details, and ordinary explanations easily fit the events. [name withheld] offers one too.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand witness who was at the site and inside the shack when the fence event happened.
- Concrete physical description of the site: a shed with a square fence, weeds about four feet tall, an old mattress, and chicken wire.
- The sequence is coherent and the caller’s answers to the host’s questions are consistent.
- The caller separates what they perceived from what they concluded ([quote withheld]).
- No date, no exact location of the slaughterhouse, and no names beyond the caller’s own first name and town.
- The central event was unseen and happened in darkness.
- An animal, wind, or a person on the property are plausible explanations for the reported movement and fence shaking.
- The witnesses the caller names do not speak on air.
- The transcript is fragmented, with line breaks and markers for words the automatic transcript was unsure of.
- The two labels used for the caller may be one speaker split by the automatic transcript.
- The caller’s age of twenty-two is stated during the call. Whether that was also their age at the time of the events is not stated.
- 1:57
- 0:54
- 3:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores are my judgment, not part of the broadcast: source proximity about 20 (firsthand, but the key event was unseen in darkness), specificity about 12, internal consistency about 16, alternative explanations about 5 (an ordinary cause fits easily), calibration about 12.
The story rests on [name withheld]’s word. The caller names their town and first name and mentions two claimed companions, but no documentation, recording, or physical evidence is offered, and no second witness speaks on air.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a first name and a town that could in principle be located.
- The caller names companions who are said to have been present.
- The caller describes specific features of the site (square fence, four-foot weeds, mattress, chicken wire).
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is claimed or examined.
- Companions are claimed but do not speak on air.
- No dates or exact location are given, so nothing can be checked from the transcript alone.
- The precise site is not named, so the town alone does not identify it.
- Nothing in this part of the broadcast indicates any follow-up or investigation by the host.
- 0:13
- 2:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The 11 to 25 band is used because checkable details (a town, a first name) are given but unchecked, and other witnesses are only claimed. No evidence is examined on air.
The scene is unsettling: a young person alone inside an abandoned slaughterhouse at night, something unseen running through tall weeds and slamming the fence. The lack of direct threat, injury, or a seen figure, and the caller’s own cow idea, temper it.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is an abandoned slaughterhouse at night with four-foot weeds.
- The caller says they were alone inside when the unseen runner and the fence strike happened.
- The caller says they dropped to their knees and cried and could not walk afterward.
- Unresolved ending, with the caller saying there were more things that happened there.
- No figure is seen, no harm occurs, and nothing malevolent is directed at the caller.
- The caller offers an animal as the likely cause.
- Parts of the story (the earlier humming) are described as not really scary.
- The description of where the running and the fence strike happened is compressed and partly unclear in the transcript.
- 2:26
- 2:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects isolation, darkness, and physical force nearby, not any stated threat to the caller.
Teenagers daring each other into a reportedly haunted abandoned building at night is a familiar setup. But the slaughterhouse setting, the unseen four-foot runner in the weeds, and the caller’s own cow idea give it a moderately distinctive shape.
Evidence for and against
- Unusual setting for the genre: an abandoned slaughterhouse with a fenced front area.
- Distinctive detail of an unseen runner inferred only from moving weeds.
- The caller offers an ordinary animal explanation instead of a spirit one.
- Phantom humming with no source and a dare-driven night visit are stock elements.
- Fence shaking and a scared retreat are common beats.
- Originality is provisional in this pilot. The part compared with the rest of the archive carries little weight with few stories.
- 2:16
- 3:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): My estimate is around 48 for a [quote withheld]
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word.; Claimed companions who do not speak on air.; No physical evidence or documentation offered or examined.. 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.
- An animal (such as a cow) moving through the tall weeds and colliding with the fence could account for the moving weeds and the fence shaking. · [name withheld] describes something unseen running through weeds about four feet tall. [name withheld] says friends suggested [quote withheld] get out, at a site said to be a slaughterhouse for cows.
- Wind, plants, and a person in the dark could account for the humming and for movement near the fence. · The caller says the weeds were about four feet tall around everything and the door was stuck open with the weeds. The caller also mentions a man across the street who objected to their being on the property.
- Poor visibility at night in an unfamiliar, overgrown site could make unclear movement hard to identify. · The caller says [quote withheld] and that they were shining a flashlight and waiting for something to jump out.
What stands out
[name withheld]’s own closing reading is an ordinary one, a cow striking the gate. [name withheld] raises it and then extends it into a question about whether animals have souls, instead of calling the event a ghost.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.