Girl in a raincoat with a flashlight reported in a basement and a cul-de-sac
An unnamed caller from southeastern Wisconsin tells of an event [quote withheld] when they were about 17, sleeping in their friend [name withheld]’s basement after a band recording session. The caller says they felt a cold spot, saw a small hooded blonde girl holding a flashlight by the door, woke [name withheld], and were given a blessed object to hold. A week later, a mutual friend reported seeing a matching figure in the cul-de-sac outside [name withheld]’s house. The caller offers no explanation, and the story ends with the host’s brief remarks about faith and spirits.
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 2010.mp3”, starting at 1:51:14). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller gives no name. They say they are speaking from southeastern Wisconsin and that the events happened [quote withheld] when they were “about 17” and playing in a band. They say they and their friend [name withheld] were recording in [name withheld]’s basement and had fallen asleep there. [name withheld] had often told the caller the house had cold spots and stood on burial grounds. The caller describes lying on the floor by the couch, turning off the TV, and beginning to drift off, when they [quote withheld] They say they glanced toward the light switch by the door and saw a small hunched figure, a blonde girl of about ten, wearing what looked like a raincoat with the hood up and grasping a flashlight. They say they did a double take, the figure was still there, and then she looked up a little. At that point they woke [name withheld] by punching [name withheld] and said [quote withheld] [name withheld], described as a Thai Buddhist, told the caller to come upstairs. The caller ran past the spot, and [name withheld] gave the caller a blessed gold Buddha and another blessed object to hold. After that, the caller says, they felt completely at peace. About a week later, the caller says, their mutual friend [name withheld] phoned them sobbing. [name withheld] had just dropped [name withheld] off. [name withheld] reported seeing a blonde girl in a yellow raincoat holding a flashlight in her right hand, running in slow motion, as [name withheld] turned the car around in the cul-de-sac. [name withheld] switched on the brights, saw the figure more brightly lit, and drove away. The caller says they told [name withheld] they had seen the same girl in the basement, and both became emotional. The caller offers no explanation, calling it [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The caller says that about 12 years earlier, at about 17, they were in a band and regularly recorded in their friend [name withheld]’s basement.
- 0:30
The caller says [name withheld] had often told them the house had cold spots and was on burial grounds.
- 0:56
The caller says they turned off the TV, were starting to drift off to sleep on the floor by the couch, and felt a cold spot come over them.
- 1:08
The caller says they glanced toward the light switch by the door and saw a small hunched figure, a blonde girl of about ten, hood up, in what looked like a raincoat, holding a flashlight.
- 1:28
The caller says they did a double take, the figure was still there, and she looked up a little.
- 1:34
The caller says they punched [name withheld] awake and told [name withheld] there was somebody in the corner. [name withheld] told the caller to come upstairs.
- 2:00
The caller says they ran upstairs past the spot. [name withheld], described as a Thai Buddhist, gave the caller a blessed gold Buddha and another blessed object to hold, and the caller then felt completely at peace.
- 2:33
The caller says that about a week later their mutual friend [name withheld], who had just dropped [name withheld] off, phoned them sobbing.
- 3:12
The caller reports that [name withheld] described seeing a blonde girl in a yellow raincoat holding a flashlight in her right hand, running in slow motion in the cul-de-sac.
- 3:28
The caller says [name withheld] switched on the brights, the figure became more brightly lit, and then [name withheld] drove off.
- 3:37
The caller says they told [name withheld] they had seen the same girl in the basement, they both became emotional, and the caller still gets emotional about it.
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· 0:32
The caller says their friend [name withheld] had often told them that the house had cold spots and was on burial grounds.
- observation· 0:59
The caller says they felt a cold spot come over them as they lay on the basement floor.
- observation· 1:14
The caller says they saw a small hunched figure by the door, a blonde girl of about ten, hood up, in what looked like a raincoat, holding a flashlight.
- observation· 1:28
The caller says they did a double take and the figure was still there, and that she then looked up a little.
- observation· 2:08
The caller says [name withheld], a Thai Buddhist, gave them a blessed gold Buddha to hold and that they then felt completely at peace.
- hearsay· 3:12
The caller reports that their mutual friend [name withheld], after dropping [name withheld] off, saw a blonde girl in a yellow raincoat with a flashlight running in slow motion in the cul-de-sac.
- hearsay· 3:28
The caller says their friend [name withheld] told them the brights went on, the figure became more brightly lit, and [name withheld] then drove away.
- interpretation· 3:37
The caller concludes that the matching descriptions mean they were not imagining it. This is their own reading of the sighting.
- host statement· 4:02
The host says that people who meet such spirits turn to their faith, and that Buddhist practice seemed to drive the spirits away and comfort the living.
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.
A specific, well-ordered firsthand story with a matching second report. But the first experience happened while the caller was falling asleep, and nothing can be checked.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand, direct-witness story with a sequence of events ([quote withheld] “I look over,” [quote withheld]).
- Concrete sensory details: light switch by the door, hood, raincoat, blonde hair over the face, flashlight, about ten years old.
- A separate claimed sighting a week later by another person, with a matching description (raincoat, flashlight, blonde girl).
- The first sighting happened as the caller was drifting off to sleep, when seeing things is common.
- No town, address, date, surname, or document is given. Nothing can be checked.
- The “slow motion” description and the two-words-per-line transcript make some details hard to assess.
- The caller’s own location is given only as a region, with no town or address.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift in this part of the broadcast, so who said a few lines is uncertain.
- The “Bangkok” references in both the caller’s and host’s lines may be transcript errors.
- 0:10
- 0:56
- 1:14
- 3:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the structure of the story only. No judgment is made about the caller’s honesty, and the claimed second witness is treated as unverified because that witness does not speak on air.
The story rests on the caller’s word plus a claimed second witness who does not speak on air and is known only by a first name. This places it in the low band for independently checkable support.
Evidence for and against
- A second witness is claimed: a mutual friend who is said to have independently seen a matching figure.
- First names are given for two people involved ([name withheld], [name withheld]), though without surnames or locations.
- The caller says they had told no one before the friend’s call, which the caller presents as making the match notable.
- No photograph, recording, document, mark, or address is offered.
- The second witness is named only by first name and does not speak on air.
- Nothing in the story can be checked against a record or a place.
- Whether [name withheld]’s account reached the host in any other form is not stated in this part of the broadcast.
- 2:59
- 2:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): A claimed witness is not backed-up support under the scoring guide unless that witness speaks on air or documentation is examined.
The image of a small hooded child with a flashlight in a dark basement, matched a week later outdoors at night, is truly unsettling, though nothing menacing or harmful is described.
Evidence for and against
- A child figure appears in a dark basement by a door, noticed as the caller is falling asleep.
- A vivid, almost cinematic image of the girl [quote withheld] in headlights in a cul-de-sac.
- The story is left unresolved, and the caller says they still become emotional about it.
- No threat, harm, physical contact, or escalation is reported.
- The caller reports feeling “completely at peace” after being given the blessed object, which softens the middle of the story.
- The host’s closing remarks are matter-of-fact rather than alarming.
- The transcript’s broken line breaks make it hard to tell how much detail the caller gave the host.
- 1:03
- 3:25
- 2:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about the story’s effect on a listener, not about whether anything happened.
A familiar child-ghost setup carries several distinctive details: the raincoat, the flashlight, the match between the indoor and outdoor sightings, and the slow-motion description.
Evidence for and against
- The specific image of a hooded girl in a raincoat, hunched over and holding a flashlight, is an unusual combination.
- The reported second sighting, a week later and in a different setting (a cul-de-sac, in headlights, “in slow motion”), is a distinctive feature of the story’s structure.
- Stock elements are present: cold spot, child ghost, dark basement, a looming figure in a doorway.
- The [quote withheld] claim is a familiar device.
- How new this story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be fully assessed at the pilot stage.
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): The published originality score is computed compared with the rest of the archive. This provisional model score reflects a comparison of the content with common ghost motifs.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.62 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand telephone story; A second witness (a mutual friend) is claimed but does not speak on air. That account reaches us only through the caller; The caller’s statement that they told no one about the basement sighting before the friend’s call; No documentation, photograph, recording, or location detail that could be checked. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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.
- Images seen while falling asleep, or a hallucination during the move into sleep on the basement floor. · The caller states they had turned off the television and were [quote withheld] when they felt the cold and glanced at the door. That is the ordinary time for images seen while falling asleep.
- A real child in a raincoat carrying a flashlight, seen briefly in poor light. The “slow motion” impression could come from a brief, dim look. · The description consists of ordinary objects and clothing (yellow raincoat, flashlight, blonde child), and the second sighting was outdoors at night from a car whose headlights were switched to bright.
What stands out
The story pairs a basement sighting by the caller while falling asleep with a matching description from a second person a week later in a different setting. That sighting was outdoors, in a cul-de-sac, lit by car headlights, and the girl was described as running “in slow motion.”
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.