A 10- to 12-foot shadow with red eyes on a marsh shortcut in Freeport, New York
A caller identifying themself as [name withheld] from North Bend, Oregon, tells Art Bell about a night roughly 25 years earlier. At 17, they took a shortcut through a marshy area behind an old railroad station in Freeport, New York, on Long Island. They say they heard what sounded like dog tags clinking and then two-footed footsteps coming toward them from out of sight, and decided to run. As they reached a hill, a 10- to 12-foot dark outline with red beady eyes stepped up from the bank in front of them. They report freezing, then fleeing about two miles home. They say they never told their parents and have told only one person since. They describe the encounter as possibly a “bridge” to something else rather than naming it.
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 2005.mp3”, starting at 12:53). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Calling on the Wildcard Line, a caller identifying themself as [quote withheld] says that about 25 years before the broadcast, when they were 17, they used a shortcut through woods and a marshy swamp in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, behind an old railroad station. The shortcut saved them about 12 blocks. About 100 yards in, it was dark, with only low light and visibility of roughly 20 to 30 yards. They say they sat down along a fence line to smoke a cigarette. They report hearing what sounded like dog tags clanking together out in the marsh and assumed a dog. The clinking came closer, and then they heard two distinct footsteps, “thump thump,” with grass sounds, still with the chains. They say their alarm grew because whatever it was should by then have been visible to them and was not. They thought of a serial killer and decided to run, noting they had about a 30-yard trip to the hill, as did whatever was on the bank. They say they bolted left and sprinted. As they reached the point where they would go up the hill, a 10- to 12-foot shadow with red beady eyes stepped up from the bank and stood there. They describe a dark outline as dark as space. The transcript also contains a mention of horns. They say they froze for an unknown length of time, then turned and ran roughly 40 blocks, about two miles, home, arriving sweating. Their parents looked at them oddly, and they did not tell them. They say they have told one person in their life and tried to tell their priest. Asked what they think it was, they call it [quote withheld] a possible opportunity that might have launched them into another plane. They say certain things have happened over the last 25 years.
Reported events, in order
- 0:02
The caller identifies themself as [name withheld] from North Bend, Oregon, and begins a story from about 25 years earlier, when they were 17.
- 0:08
They describe taking a shortcut through woods and a marshy swamp in Freeport, New York, Long Island, behind an old railroad station. It saved about 12 blocks. It was dark, with only low light and visibility of about 20 to 30 yards.
- 0:39
About 100 yards in, they sit down along a fence line to smoke a cigarette.
- 0:57
They hear what sounds like dog tags clanking in the marsh and assume a dog.
- 1:12
The clinking comes closer. They then hear two distinct footsteps (“thump thump”) with grass sounds, still with the chains.
- 2:25
They become alarmed because the source should have been visible and was not. The situation drags on for a couple of minutes.
- 3:11
They think of a serial killer, weigh which way to go, and decide to run.
- 4:03
They bolt left and sprint toward the hill.
- 4:24
As they reach the hill, a 10- to 12-foot shadow with red beady eyes steps up from the bank and stands there. They describe only a dark outline, as dark as space.
- 5:07
They freeze for an unknown time, wondering about some kind of communication from it.
- 5:24
They turn and run roughly 40 blocks, about two miles, all the way home.
- 5:38
They arrive sweating and huffing. Their parents look at them oddly, and they do not tell them what happened.
- 6:05
They say they have told one person in their life and tried to tell their priest.
- 6:42
Asked what they think it was, they call it a possible bridge toward wizardry or shamanism and say certain things have happened over the last 25 years.
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· 0:57
They heard what sounded like dog tags clanking together in the marsh.
- observation· 2:03
They heard two distinct footsteps with the chain sounds (the line carries a host label in the transcript, so who said it is uncertain).
- observation· 4:24
A dark figure roughly 10 to 12 feet tall, with red beady eyes, stepped up from the bank and stood in front of them.
- observation· 4:51
They could see only an outline of the figure, not its substance.
- observation· 4:50
A mention of horns appears in the exchange. The line is labeled as the host, so it is unclear whether this is the caller's description or the host's question.
- observation· 5:07
They froze in place before fleeing.
- interpretation· 6:42
They see the encounter as a possible threshold or bridge toward something else rather than as a specific spirit.
- interpretation· 6:52
They speculate that approaching it might have moved them into another plane.
- interpretation· 6:59
They connect unspecified later events to the encounter.
- host statement· 6:29
The host asserts it was not a dream. The caller agrees and denies drugs.
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, coherent firsthand story that answers the host's questions. But it is not backed up by anyone else, it is recalled decades later, and an ordinary reading (a dog with tags and a person in the dark marsh) is not fully ruled out.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand, first-person story of a single episode.
- Concrete terrain and distances: marsh, creek, pipe, 30-yard trips, about 40 blocks home.
- Sequence of sounds: clinking tags, two footsteps, grass sounds.
- The caller separates what they perceived from what they concluded and answers the host's questions about dream and drugs.
- Nothing backs it up: no on-air witness, no documentation.
- Low-light conditions and the caller's own first “dog” reading offer an ordinary route to the sounds.
- The recollection is roughly 25 years after the event.
- The interpretation is hedged and never settled (“or something”).
- The event is recalled about 25 years later.
- The labels showing who is speaking are scrambled, so a few attributed lines (notably the footsteps line and the “horns” line) may belong to the other speaker.
- The closing remark about [quote withheld] is never explained.
- 0:08
- 1:05
- 6:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component estimate: source proximity 22 (firsthand direct witness, recalled decades later); specificity 15 (named town, described terrain, distances, and sequence, but no date); internal consistency 14 (coherent and answers the host's questions, with minor distance figures referring to different legs of the trip); alternative explanations 7 (a real dog with tags and a person walking it in low light, or an outline of vegetation misread in near-darkness, fit the sounds and the outline moderately well, though the reported height fits poorly); calibration 8 (hedged with “I think,” denies dream and drugs, but the gateway framing and the unexplained “certain things” remark are not qualified). Total 66.
The story rests on the caller's own recollection. It supplies a location that could be checked and a claimed confidant, but nothing was examined or verified.
Evidence for and against
- Named town and state for the events (Freeport, New York, Long Island).
- Site details that could in principle be located: marsh, creek, pipe, old railroad station.
- A second person is said to have been told about it.
- No names, records, photographs, recordings, or marks are offered.
- The claimed confidant does not speak and is not named.
- No outside check was performed.
- No documentation or physical evidence of any kind is offered.
- No second witness speaks on air; the one confidant is unnamed.
- 0:14
- 6:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the 11 to 25 range. Geographic details that could be checked are given (a named town and a described marsh and railroad-station site) but were not checked. A confidant is claimed but not identified or on air. No physical evidence is claimed.
An unseen pursuer tracked only by sound, followed by a very large dark figure with red eyes appearing at close range in an isolated marsh at night, and an unresolved ending.
Evidence for and against
- Isolated dark marsh setting with limited visibility.
- Unseen source approaching for “a couple minutes.”
- Very large dark figure with red beady eyes appearing directly on the bank.
- The caller freezes, then flees roughly two miles.
- No contact, injury, or pursuit after the escape is reported.
- The ending is an escape rather than an ongoing threat.
- The host's jokes about having a heart attack lower the mood somewhat.
- Some labels showing who is speaking are scrambled, so it is unclear whether the “horns” detail is the caller's or the host's question.
- 4:24
- 5:02
- 5:24
What the model inferred (not said on air): Raised by the unseen approach in a dark, isolated setting, the size and eyes of the figure, the moment of freezing, and the long run home. Held below the highest range because there is no physical contact and no injury, and the story ends with escape.
A familiar shadow-figure frame with two distinctive details: the dog-tag clinking that signals the approach, and the caller's threshold or gateway reading of the encounter.
Evidence for and against
- A shadow outline figure with red eyes in a dark outdoor setting is a recurring motif.
- The dog-tag clinking as the approach sound is an uncommon specific detail.
- The [quote withheld] interpretation is an unusual closing frame.
- Core elements (dark woods at night, footsteps, a red-eyed shadow figure, running home) are widely used ghost-story components.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is provisional; that comparison is not available from the transcript alone.
- 0:57
- 6:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): A stock frame (dark woods, shadow figure, red eyes, footsteps) combined with a less common framing detail: the unseen approach signaled by dog tags, and the caller's “bridge/another plane” reading. Provisional model score, mid-range.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand spoken story only; No documentation, photograph, recording, or physical trace claimed; One unnamed confidant said to have been told; not 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.
- A dog wearing tags and a person moving through the marsh in low light. The two-footed footsteps and the chains fit a walker and a dog, and size could be misjudged in darkness at a distance. · The caller themself first assumed a dog: [quote withheld] The caller then heard two-footed steps and grass sounds.
- A misread outline, such as a stump, branch, or bank vegetation, in near-darkness where, by the caller's own account, only 20 to 30 yards were visible. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Fear can inflate what a person perceives during a frightened sprint: they had already decided something was wrong before the figure appeared at the top of the hill. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
What stands out
The approach is heard rather than seen. The caller tracks an unseen source by the clinking of dog tags plus two-footed footsteps, and only then does the figure appear at the top of the bank. Their closing view frames the encounter as a possible threshold ([quote withheld]) rather than a haunting.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.