Vanishing shack and field of Corvairs near a suspected haunted house
A caller named [name withheld], who gives their location as Canal, Winchester, Ohio, tells Art Bell that on Halloween night about nine years earlier, the caller and friends went to look at a house they suspected was haunted. They say they saw a shack with a figure holding a shotgun. As they approached, the shack vanished and a field of thirty to fifty Corvairs appeared. Months later, a friend reportedly saw Corvairs around the house, and [name withheld] says the house was then totally destroyed.
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 50:07). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld] says the story began and ended on Halloween night about nine years before the broadcast. [name withheld] was in college, living off campus in an apartment about half a mile from a house they suspected was haunted, based on its look. [name withheld] says nothing actually happened there except that a curtain in a high window was sometimes drawn slightly. Neighbors told [name withheld] they had seen no one living there. On Halloween night [name withheld] persuaded their girlfriend and another couple to walk down to the house. They crossed a wooden bridge over a large creek and stayed at a distance. Then they walked about 150 feet past the house and saw what looked like a shack in the woods. [name withheld] says someone appeared to be sitting inside the shack doorway on a stool with a shotgun. They ran, then returned to see if the shack was real. They still saw it, but the door was no longer open. [name withheld] and another person approached, and as they got closer the shack vanished, leaving them standing in woods. At that same moment, [name withheld] says, a graveyard of thirty to fifty Corvairs appeared around them, weathered but not crashed. [name withheld] also says a Toyota and a Subaru were crushed as if in fatal crashes. Months later, [name withheld] says, the caller went back in daylight and saw the Corvairs were really there. [name withheld] told many people, but no one else would go back to find the cars. About nine months later, a friend told [name withheld] they had seen a bunch of Corvairs parked around the house. [name withheld] went out with a friend and says the house was totally destroyed. Art Bell cut the call short for time, and [name withheld] did not finish explaining it.
Reported events, in order
- 0:23
[name withheld] says that about nine years earlier the caller was in college, living off campus, and suspected a nearby house was haunted.
- 0:51
The caller says the only thing ever seen at the suspected house was a curtain in a high window sometimes drawn slightly. Neighbors said no one lived there.
- 1:32
On Halloween night the caller convinced their girlfriend and another couple to walk toward the house.
- 2:01
They crossed a wooden bridge over a large creek and stayed away from the house, seeing nothing.
- 2:44
About 150 feet past the house, they saw what looked like a shack in the woods.
- 3:01
[name withheld] says someone appeared to be sitting in the shack doorway on a stool with a shotgun.
- 3:33
They ran, then returned. They still saw the shack, but the door did not look open.
- 3:53
As [name withheld] and another person approached, the shack vanished and they were standing in woods.
- 4:17
At that same moment, [name withheld] says, a graveyard of thirty to fifty Corvairs appeared around them.
- 5:31
The caller says the Corvairs were weathered but not crashed, while a Toyota and a Subaru were crushed as if in fatal crashes.
- 6:27
[name withheld] says the caller returned in daylight and saw the Corvairs were really there.
- 6:38
About nine months later, a friend told [name withheld] they had seen a bunch of Corvairs parked around the house.
- 7:02
[name withheld] went out with a friend and says the house was totally destroyed. The call was cut off before the caller explained further.
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).
- interpretation· 0:42
[name withheld] suspected the house was haunted from its appearance.
- hearsay· 1:07
Neighbors said they had not seen anyone living in the house.
- observation· 3:01
[name withheld] and friends saw a figure sitting in the shack doorway with a shotgun.
- observation· 4:03
The shack vanished as [name withheld] and another person approached.
- observation· 4:17
A graveyard of thirty to fifty Corvairs appeared at the same moment.
- observation· 5:31
The Corvairs were weathered but not crashed, while two other cars were crushed as if in fatal crashes.
- observation· 6:27
[name withheld] says the caller returned in daylight and saw the cars were real.
- hearsay· 6:38
A friend later told [name withheld] they had seen Corvairs parked around the house.
- observation· 7:02
[name withheld] says the house was later totally destroyed.
- host statement· 7:21
Art Bell says the story was paranormal.
- host statement· 7:24
Art Bell says things do not disappear and become something else.
- host statement· 7:28
Art Bell says armed figures in cabins do not disappear.
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.
The story is firsthand and gives concrete details such as Halloween night, midnight, a creek, a wooden bridge, and a specific number of Corvairs. But it also contradicts itself about activity at the house and is cut off before any resolution.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand account from a direct witness.
- Specific time, place, and objects: Halloween night, midnight, a creek, a bridge, and thirty to fifty Corvairs.
- A later daylight visit and a separate friend’s reported sighting add follow-up detail.
- [name withheld] says [quote withheld] after earlier saying things were going on.
- [name withheld] says [quote withheld] despite describing a vanishing shack and appearing cars.
- The call is cut off before a full ending or explanation.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift around the caller’s lines.
- The location “Canal, Winchester, Ohio” may be a transcription of Canal Winchester, Ohio.
- The “Toyota love truck” phrase is likely a transcription error.
- 0:23
- 3:05
- 4:26
- 6:27
- 5:49
- 0:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects a detailed but inconsistent and incomplete first-person story, not a judgment about the caller’s honesty or mental state.
There is only the caller’s word, plus claimed witnesses who do not speak on air. The broadcast gives checkable details such as a location and a car model, but nothing has been verified or examined.
Evidence for and against
- [name withheld] gives a location and a specific car model, the Corvair.
- The caller says there were four witnesses, including the caller.
- The caller says they returned in daylight and saw the cars again.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is examined.
- No outside check is recorded.
- The other witnesses are named only as the caller's girlfriend, another couple, and a friend.
- The later sighting by a friend is secondhand and not elaborated.
- 5:05
- 6:27
- 6:38
What the model inferred (not said on air): Evidence strength is capped low because the broadcast offers only assertions and claimed witnesses, not independently examined documentation or backing from anyone else on air.
The story has several unsettling elements: a midnight walk in woods, a figure with a shotgun, a shack that vanishes, an appearing graveyard of cars, and a house later found totally destroyed. The cut-off ending and the caller’s calm downplaying keep it from reaching the highest scores.
Evidence for and against
- A figure appears to be sitting with a shotgun in a shack doorway at midnight.
- The shack vanishes as they approach it.
- A graveyard of cars appears where the shack had been.
- The house is later said to be totally destroyed.
- [name withheld] says outright that the caller would not call it supernatural.
- No physical attack or chase is reported after the first sighting.
- The host cuts off the story before a final ominous ending.
- The shack and figure are described only briefly.
- The destruction of the house is not described in detail.
- 3:05
- 4:03
- 4:17
- 7:02
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged as entertainment value of the reported sequence, not as evidence that anything supernatural happened.
Investigating a haunted house is a familiar setup. But the vanishing shack replaced by a field of Corvairs, and the later destruction of the house, give the story a distinctive mix of details.
Evidence for and against
- The specific car model, the Corvair, recurs in the story.
- The shack vanishes and is immediately replaced by a car graveyard.
- The story later turns to the house being totally destroyed.
- A Halloween-night visit to a suspected haunted house is a common ghost-story setup.
- A figure with a shotgun and a woods setting are conventional eerie elements.
- The scoring process may adjust this provisional score compared with the rest of the archive.
- 4:26
- 4:03
- 7:02
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a score based on the content. The final published score is computed compared with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.72 · analysis confidence 0.78 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word.; Claimed witnesses (three other people) who do not speak on air.; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace examined.. The originality score blends the model's score (72) 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.
- Darkness and Halloween expectation may have led them to misjudge what they saw in the shack or the figure. · [name withheld] says “It's dark out” and suggests “we're seeing things” after the first sighting.
- The Corvairs may have been a real collection or salvage yard that they had not noticed before from their route. · [name withheld] says they later returned in daylight and saw the cars were there, and a friend said they saw Corvairs near the house months later.
- The shack and figure may have been a real person or structure that left or was removed before the group approached. · The group first saw what looked like a shack and a person with a shotgun, then found no shack when they got closer.
What stands out
The story combines a vanishing structure and an appearing field of one car model, the Corvair, and later reports the same house destroyed. [name withheld] at one point says the caller would not call it supernatural, even as [name withheld] describes the shack vanishing and the car graveyard appearing.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.