A toilet torn from the floor and thrown down the stairs of a vacant farmhouse
A live caller, who gives no name and whom the host describes as calling from east of the Rockies, tells of a night in the early 1980s when they and five teenage friends explored a vacant farmhouse from the 1800s. The caller and three girls were on the second floor when they heard a crash. They found that a toilet, which the caller says was bolted to the floor, had been torn out and thrown down the stairs. The group fled the building, and the caller offers no explanation for what did 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 2007.mp3”, starting at 1:32:57). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says they have [quote withheld] about a big old farmhouse near where they grew up. It dated to the 1800s, was lived in on and off until the 1970s, and was vacant afterward, set back on a dirt road. They say that in the early 1980s, as teenagers, they and five others (the caller specifies [quote withheld]) went there one night. They had been there a couple of times before and were showing their friends around. Two of the boys, whom the caller describes as farm boys and friends of theirs, went down to the basement to look at an old, beat-up antique tractor. The caller and the three girls stayed upstairs, where the caller was showing them what they thought were old servants’ quarters on the second floor. They say they suddenly heard a huge noise, [quote withheld] and that something or someone was going down the stairs. They say they ran out to look and found that something or someone had thrown the toilet from the second-floor bathroom down the stairs. The caller stresses that they did not hear it being torn out of the floor. They say it was bolted into the floor with no water hooked up. They say something had torn it out, carried it down the hall past them, and thrown it down the stairs. The host remarks that anything able to rip out a bolted toilet and throw it down the stairs is [quote withheld] The caller agrees and repeats that they heard only the sound of it going down the stairs about five feet away from them. They say the boys came running up from the basement, that the girls wanted to get out as fast as possible, and that they themselves were the first one out the door. The host observes that the toilet was then sitting at the bottom of the steps. The caller wishes the host a happy Halloween. No cause is stated, and no further investigation is described.
Reported events, in order
- 0:08
The caller introduces their story as a “haunted house story” about a farmhouse near where they grew up.
- 0:14
The caller describes the house as big and old, dating to the 1800s, lived in on and off until the 1970s, and then vacant.
- 0:24
They say the house was set back on a dirt road.
- 0:26
They say that in the early 1980s, as teenagers, they went there one night and the caller was showing their friends around.
- 0:42
They say there were six of them: three boys and three girls.
- 0:46
Two of the boys went to the basement to look at an old, beat-up antique tractor.
- 0:59
The caller and the three girls were on the second floor, where the caller was showing them old servants’ quarters.
- 1:06
They heard a huge noise and something going down the stairs.
- 1:15
They ran out and found that the toilet from the second-floor bathroom had been thrown down the stairs.
- 1:27
They say they heard no sound of it being ripped out of the floor.
- 1:31
They say the toilet was bolted into the floor and had no water hooked up.
- 1:34
They say something had torn the toilet out, carried it down the hall past them, and thrown it down the stairs.
- 2:03
The boys came running up from the basement, and the girls wanted to leave right away.
- 2:07
The caller says they were the first one out the door.
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· 0:08
The caller calls their story a haunted house story about a farmhouse near where they grew up.
- observation· 1:15
Something or someone threw the toilet from the second-floor bathroom down the stairs.
- observation· 1:27
They did not hear the toilet being ripped out of the floor.
- observation· 1:31
The toilet was bolted into the floor.
- interpretation· 1:34
Something had torn the toilet out, carried it down the hall past them, and thrown it down the stairs.
- observation· 1:56
They heard the toilet going down the stairs about five feet away from them.
- host statement· 1:44
The host says that anything able to rip out a bolted toilet and throw it downstairs is nothing to be trifled with.
- observation· 2:07
The caller says they were the first one out the door.
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 consistent, but brief, with nobody backing it up and no checkable names, place, or date beyond “the early 80s.” The caller does allow a non-supernatural cause (“something or someone”), which keeps the alternative-explanation component moderate.
Evidence for and against
- The caller was at the scene. The caller says they were on the second floor when the noise occurred and were [quote withheld]
- Concrete household detail: the toilet [quote withheld] with no water hooked up.
- The sequence is consistent: noise, running out to look, boys coming up from the basement, group fleeing.
- The careful wording leaves open who or what did it: “something or someone.”
- No names, no exact location, no exact date, only [quote withheld] and “the early 80s.”
- No detail that could be checked, even in principle, backs it up.
- The story is a single event lasting moments, reported years later.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable in this transcript, so a few lines given to the host appear to be the caller’s speech and vice versa.
- It is not stated whether the caller saw the toilet actually leave the floor or only saw it afterward at the bottom of the stairs.
- 0:08
- 1:31
- 1:15
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component estimates are my judgment: closeness to the source about 20 (firsthand but a single brief incident), specificity about 12, consistency about 15, alternative explanations about 6, calibration about 5, giving roughly 58. The lack of any checkable identifier is the main limit.
The only support is the caller’s own word plus claimed witnesses who do not speak on air. No document, recording, photograph, or physical trace is described or examined.
Evidence for and against
- The caller says they took part directly.
- Five other people are said to have been present ([quote withheld]).
- A concrete physical object and its location are described.
- No second witness speaks on air. The others are only claimed.
- No photograph, recording, document, or mark from the site is mentioned.
- No names, exact address, or checkable date are given.
- It is not stated whether any of the other five ever told the same story or were asked about it.
- No investigation of the site is described.
- 0:42
- 0:43
- 2:03
What the model inferred (not said on air): Claimed witnesses place this in the range of 11 to 25 rather than 0 to 10, but nothing in the transcript can be checked independently, so I score it at the lower end of that range.
The story is a sudden, violent-sounding disruption in an empty old house that sends a group of teenagers running. That is unsettling, but there is no threat aimed at anyone, no injury, and no pursuit, and the exchange with the host ends on a light “happy Halloween” note.
Evidence for and against
- A sudden loud crash with no warning: [quote withheld]
- A heavy fixture is removed from a bolted floor and thrown down stairs while the group is on the same floor.
- The group flees the building in fright.
- The setting is a vacant old house at night on a dirt road.
- No one is harmed, touched, or chased.
- The host and caller trade mild jokes about who ran faster.
- The story ends with Halloween greetings rather than an ominous unresolved image.
- It is unclear how close the flight of stairs was to the caller and the girls beyond [quote withheld]
- 1:06
- 2:07
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place it just below the midpoint anchor of 50 because the story produces a jolt rather than lasting dread, and there is no ill will, contact, or escalation.
Teenagers exploring a vacant old farmhouse at night is a stock setup. But a floor-bolted toilet being silently removed and thrown down the stairs is a distinctive and rarely told detail.
Evidence for and against
- The unusual centerpiece is a toilet torn from its floor bolts and thrown downstairs.
- The removal is reported as silent, unlike the loud impact afterward.
- A specific ordinary-object detail: an old, broken-down antique tractor in the basement.
- Familiar elements: teens, a vacant old house, a dirt road, night, an unexplained crash, and a hurried exit.
- Originality is provisional here. With a small archive to compare against, that part of the score carries little weight.
- 1:34
- 1:27
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is the model’s own estimate. The published value would be blended toward how rare the story is in the archive once more stories are indexed.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story.; Claimed presence of five other people, none of whom speak on air.; No physical evidence, document, recording, or photograph is described.; No site name, exact location, or precise date is given.. The originality score blends the model's score (62) 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.
- Another person in or around the building could have entered the upstairs bathroom, removed the toilet, and thrown it down the stairs. · The caller themself allows for a person by saying “something or someone,” and the two farm-boy friends were elsewhere in the house, in the basement.
- In an old, unoccupied building, a long-disconnected fixture could have fallen heavily, for example if a rotted floor flange or soil pipe gave way. It could have reached the stairs and sounded like a deliberate throw. · The caller describes the house as vacant since roughly the 1970s, the toilet as not hooked up ([quote withheld]), and the tractor and the building as old and broken down.
- Sounds in an unfamiliar empty house can be misjudged for location and cause, so the noise heard five feet away may not match exactly the sequence pieced together afterward. · The caller says they did not hear the fixture being torn out and only heard it [quote withheld] The caller pieced together the rest after running out to look.
What stands out
The reported event is a heavy fixture, said to be bolted to the floor, being removed and thrown. That is rarer than the usual ghost, voice, or moving object. The caller says the removal itself was completely silent and only the impact on the stairs was heard. The caller calls it [quote withheld] but never attaches any presence, history, or cause to it.
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