A paper Ouija board, a spirit called Tommy, and wall scratches
A first-time caller who gives their name as [name withheld] says they have been sensitive to spirits since childhood. They say a hostile spirit that gave its name as Tommy attached itself to them after a session with a homemade Ouija board about ten years earlier. They describe objects moving, a shadow figure, and their name being called. They also describe a shadow seen in a car and on a porch, and scratches that appeared on their girlfriend’s bedroom wall. They say the activity has largely stopped as long as they do not engage with it. The host tells the caller the spirit is still with them and advises them to get help.
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 2003.mp3”, starting at 2:19:36). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their first name as [name withheld], opens by saying that since they were a child they have seen several different things and consider themselves “kind of sensitive” to them. They say spirits have told the caller they only want to be seen and acknowledged. They then say a “very bad one” attached itself to them and stayed for several years. It still sometimes moves things in front of them, appears as a shadow, or calls their name out of the dark. They say the spirit gave its own name as Tommy. They first met it about ten years earlier at a friend’s house, when someone made a Ouija board out of a piece of paper and drew a pentagram on it. According to the caller, Tommy first claimed to be a small child killed in a car wreck in the 1940s: a drunk uncle, a tree, the windshield, a cut neck. Tommy later said that story was a lie. The caller says Tommy became meaner and insulted those present. He said he would do whatever he wanted and would not leave unless he chose to. He told them “you’ll be sorry” before they went their separate ways. That night, the caller says, two girls driving home saw a shadow person in the back seat through the rear-view mirror. They ran inside and saw it pacing on the porch. The caller says it stayed with the caller rather than the others. Later that night their girlfriend called the caller, crying, to say something was scratching her wall. As they got up, they say, the ceiling fan’s chains swung and struck the fan, and the blind cord repeatedly rose and dropped against the blinds. At her home, they say, scratches ran from the ceiling down to the pillow beside her head. They had gone through the paint, spackling, and sheetrock. They say the activity has largely stopped as long as they do not bother or encourage it. The host tells the caller it has not left and advises them to get help.
Reported events, in order
- 0:07
The caller says they have seen several things since childhood and describes themselves as “kind of sensitive.”
- 0:54
The caller says a “very bad one” attached itself to them and stayed for several years, and still sometimes does small things.
- 1:20
The spirit, the caller says, gave its name as Tommy. The caller reports moved objects, a shadow figure, and their name being called from the dark.
- 1:24
About ten years earlier, the caller says, someone at a friend’s house made a Ouija board out of a piece of paper.
- 1:55
A pentagram had been drawn on the homemade board. The caller says they learned later that this means calling evil spirits.
- 2:13
The caller says Tommy first claimed to be a small child killed in a 1940s car wreck: a drunk uncle, a tree, going through the windshield, and bleeding to death.
- 2:29
The caller says Tommy later admitted the death story was a lie.
- 2:39
The spirit, the caller says, grew meaner and insulted those present when they asked if he really was a small boy.
- 2:59
The caller says Tommy said he would do whatever he wanted and would not leave unless he chose to.
- 3:07
The caller says the spirit told them “you’ll be sorry” before the group went their separate ways for the night.
- 3:12
The caller says two girls driving home saw a shadow person in the back seat in the rear-view mirror, ran inside, and then saw a shadow pacing on the porch.
- 3:47
The caller says that of everyone present, it stayed with them.
- 4:04
Their girlfriend, the caller says, called them crying that something was scratching her wall. They first thought it might be a mouse.
- 4:20
As they got up to go to her, the caller says, they heard something over their head and saw the ceiling fan’s pull chains swinging and hitting the fan.
- 4:32
The caller says the blind cord was rising into the air and dropping against the blinds, again and again.
- 4:48
At her home, the caller says, scratches ran from the ceiling down to the pillow beside her head and went through paint, spackling, and sheetrock.
- 5:08
The caller says the activity has largely stopped as long as they do not bother or encourage it. The host tells the caller it is still with them and to get help.
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· 0:07
The caller says that since childhood they have seen several different things and describe themselves as having been “kind of sensitive” to such things.
- interpretation· 0:14
The caller says spirits have told the caller that all they want is to be seen and acknowledged.
- observation· 0:54
The caller says a “very bad one” attached itself to them and stayed for several years, and still does small things from time to time.
- observation· 1:05
The caller reports objects being moved in front of them.
- observation· 1:09
The caller reports seeing a shadow that they describe as a shadow person.
- observation· 1:17
The caller reports hearing their name called out of the darkness.
- interpretation· 1:20
The caller says the spirit gave its own name as Tommy.
- observation· 1:24
The caller says they first met it about ten years earlier at a friend’s house, when someone made a Ouija board out of a piece of paper.
- observation· 1:55
The caller says a pentagram had been drawn on the homemade board. They had not seen one before and did not know it was unusual.
- interpretation· 2:07
The caller says they later learned that a pentagram on a board means calling evil spirits.
- hearsay· 2:13
The caller reports that Tommy first claimed to be a small child killed in a car wreck in the 1940s. In that story, a drunk uncle hit a tree and the child bled to death after going through the windshield.
- hearsay· 2:29
The caller says Tommy later told the caller the death story was a lie.
- observation· 2:39
The caller reports that Tommy turned hostile and insulting when questioned.
- observation· 2:59
The caller reports that Tommy refused to leave, saying he would do whatever he wanted.
- observation· 3:07
The caller reports that Tommy said “you’ll be sorry” before the group went their separate ways.
- hearsay· 3:12
The caller reports that two girls driving home saw a shadow person sitting in the back seat, as seen by the driver in the rear-view mirror.
- hearsay· 3:29
The caller reports that a shadow figure was seen pacing back and forth on the porch of the girls’ home.
- observation· 3:47
The caller says that of everyone present, it attached itself to them.
- hearsay· 4:04
The caller reports that their girlfriend telephoned them in tears, saying something was scratching her wall.
- observation· 4:20
The caller reports hearing something above their head as they got up to leave, and seeing the ceiling fan’s pull chains swinging side to side and hitting the fan.
- observation· 4:32
The caller reports the blind cord rising into the air and dropping against the blinds, again and again.
- observation· 4:48
The caller reports scratches on their girlfriend’s wall running from the ceiling down to the pillow beside her head.
- observation· 4:55
The caller says the scratches went through the paint, spackling, and sheetrock into the chalk layer.
- interpretation· 4:44
The caller concludes that the group [quote withheld] by using the board.
- observation· 5:08
The caller says the activity has largely stopped as long as they do not bother or encourage it.
- host statement· 5:24
The host says the spirit has not left the caller and that whatever came through [quote withheld]
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, orderly firsthand story with some concrete detail, and the caller raises an ordinary explanation. But it is not backed up by anyone else, it is largely anonymous as to place and person, and part of it is other people’s experiences.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand telling of the moving objects, shadow sightings, name-calling, and the fan chains and blind cord moving in their own bedroom.
- A clear order of events: childhood sensitivity, the Ouija session about ten years ago, the events that night, and ongoing minor activity.
- Specific sensory detail about the fan chains and blind cord and about how deep the scratches went.
- The caller separates what they perceived from what they concluded, and they concede the activity has quieted.
- No names, addresses, or dates beyond [quote withheld] and the caller’s current age of 28. Nothing can be checked.
- The scratches, the most concrete physical effect claimed, are reported secondhand through the girlfriend’s wall and were not examined.
- The spirit’s identity is unstable within the story: a child in a 1940s car wreck, then a stated lie, then a name the caller treats as reliable.
- The caller’s own ordinary guess ([quote withheld]) is not followed up.
- No location, no names for the friend or the girls, and no date beyond an approximation.
- In the automatic transcript, the introduction [quote withheld] is labeled as the host, so the caller’s name rests on an uncertain label.
- Whether the wall scratches still existed or were inspected is not stated.
- 0:07
- 1:24
- 4:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): The caller is the direct witness for part of the story, so how close they are to events scores in the upper range. The score is pulled down by the lack of anything checkable and by the secondhand parts, which cannot be weighed independently.
This sits at the lower end of the scoring guide’s band [quote withheld] The witnesses are named by role but not identified, and the physical marks were not examined. Without any outside check, the score cannot exceed 50.
Evidence for and against
- The caller speaks as a firsthand witness to the events in their own bedroom and to their ongoing experiences.
- They give details that could in principle be checked: about ten years ago, a friend’s house, a paper board, and scratches through paint, spackling, and sheetrock.
- Several witnesses are claimed: the group at the house, two girls in a car, and their girlfriend.
- Physical traces are claimed at a place the caller does not identify, and they were not examined, photographed, or measured on air.
- No documents, recordings, or images are presented.
- The witnesses are described, not heard. None speaks on air.
- Whether the wall still had the scratches at the time of the broadcast.
- Whether the friend or the girls could be identified at all from what is said.
- 4:55
- 3:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is placed in the 11 to 25 band. The story offers witnesses named by role and a described physical trace, but no names, places, or documents that could actually be looked up, and no second witness speaks on air. Any credit for “physical evidence claimed” would still be capped below 40, since nothing was examined.
The story combines a threatening spirit, intrusion into a car, a porch, and a bedroom, and marks that reach a person’s pillow, with an ending left open.
Evidence for and against
- A stated threat: “you’ll be sorry.”
- Growing hostility from the spirit during the board session.
- A shadow figure seated in the back seat of a car at night, and pacing on a porch.
- Scratches reaching the pillow beside a sleeping woman’s head, and the caller’s own bedroom objects moving as they got up.
- The story is left open: the caller says it still does things from time to time, and the host insists it is still present.
- The caller’s closing note is that it has largely stopped bothering them, which softens the ending.
- No injury to a person is reported. The physical marks are on a wall.
- The childhood “sensitivity” material is brief and vague rather than built up for dread.
- Whether the shadow in the car and the figure on the porch were the same thing is the caller’s view, not something established.
- How the girlfriend reacted beyond the phone call is not stated.
- 3:07
- 4:48
- 5:24
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the story itself: threats, bedroom intrusion, and physical marks near a sleeping person. It is moderated by the absence of any reported harm to a person and by the caller’s fairly calm closing.
A familiar Ouija haunting with several distinctive details: the paper board, the pentagram drawn by one of the people there, the false death story taken back, and the layered description of the scratches.
Evidence for and against
- The board is improvised from a piece of paper rather than a store-bought set, which the caller stresses: [quote withheld]
- A pentagram drawn by a participant on a homemade board is an unusual, specific detail.
- The spirit supplies an elaborate false death story (a drunk uncle, a tree, the windshield, a cut neck) and then takes it back.
- The scratch description says the marks went through paint, spackling, and sheetrock to the chalk layer, and ended at the pillow.
- The Ouija-board origin, a named spirit, and a shadow figure following one participant are all recurring motifs.
- A night-time shadow seen in a car mirror is a familiar image.
- The host’s talk of “open doors” and spirits attaching to people is a stock explanation.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out from a single transcript.
- 1:38
- 1:55
- 2:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional automatic score based on content only. The published figure is computed against the rest of the archive and will move with how new the story is, which cannot be judged here.
Scoring confidence 0.65 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story, told on air; Secondhand reports of two girls’ car sighting and the girlfriend’s telephone call; Claimed physical traces (wall scratches described as cutting through paint, spackling, and sheetrock) not examined or photographed on air; No recordings, images, or documents presented. The originality score blends the model's score (57) 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 scratching heard on the phone and the marks later seen on the wall could be animals, such as rodents in the wall, or some unrelated cause of noise. · The caller raises the possibility, [quote withheld] before reporting a loud scratch.
- Moving air from a window, a door, or a draft, or an unbalanced or still-turning ceiling fan, could account for the moving fan chains and the swinging blind cord. · The caller describes chains [quote withheld] and a blind cord [quote withheld] in a room they were entering at night.
- Low light, a shadow cast inside a vehicle, and seeing shapes in random patterns could produce the look of a shadow figure in the back seat or on a porch. · The car sighting rests on a driver looking [quote withheld] in the dark. The porch figure is described only as a shadow.
What stands out
The board was improvised from a single sheet of paper, with a pentagram drawn on it by one of the people there. The spirit is said to have volunteered an elaborate false death story about a 1940s car crash before taking it back. The wall scratches are described by depth, through paint, spackling, and sheetrock, running down to the pillow beside a sleeping person’s head.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.