Caller reports seeing husband in a passing car before learning of his death
A caller who gives no name, only their location, Spokane, Washington, tells Art Bell about something that happened in the 1950s. They say that while they were driving, they saw their husband, a miner, smiling and waving from a black sedan. They say they prepared for his arrival and then received a telegram saying he had been killed the day after the sighting. They say they never remarried. They offer no explanation for what they saw.
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 1993.mp3”, starting at 2:04:47). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who says only that they are in Spokane, Washington, says their story goes back to the 1950s, when their husband was a hard-rock miner in Washington State. The caller says they had gone to California and tried to persuade him to take a shipyard job there. They arranged a small apartment and a lease with option to buy on a duplex, and they had their mail forwarded. The caller says he telephoned to say he would be down in a couple of days. The caller says that while driving down Vermont Avenue, they looked in their rearview mirror and saw him in a black sedan with another man driving, and that he smiled and waved at them. The caller says they assumed he had arrived two days early. They went home, made coffee, and waited, but he did not appear. The caller says they left a note and went to the other house, the duplex they intended to rent. A beauty operator occupied the other half. The caller says that about four days later, a letter from up home arrived at the mail office, and the girl there telephoned them. A couple of days after that, the caller says, they got a telegram saying he had been killed the day after they saw him in the car. The caller adds that he had sold the house and the furniture and packed up, and that he was killed the day before he was to work one shift and then leave. The caller says they have never remarried and calls it a blow they could not believe. The host thanks the caller for calling. They offer no explanation of the sighting.
Reported events, in order
- 0:07
The caller says their story dates to the 1950s and that their husband was a hard-rock miner in Washington State.
- 0:23
The caller says they had gone to California and tried to arrange a shipyard job for him there. They say they had also set up an apartment, a lease-option duplex, and a mail transfer.
- 0:53
The caller says he telephoned to say he would be down in a couple of days. The caller also says they were driving down Vermont Avenue.
- 1:02
The caller says they looked in the rearview mirror and saw him in a black sedan with another man driving. The caller says he smiled and waved at them.
- 1:19
The caller says they thought he had arrived two days early. They went home and made coffee, they say, but he did not show up.
- 1:31
The caller says they left a note and went to the duplex they planned to rent. A beauty operator occupied the other half.
- 1:41
The caller says that about four days later, a letter from up home arrived at the mail office, and the girl there telephoned them.
- 1:57
The caller says that a couple of days later, they received a telegram saying he had been killed the day after they saw him in the car.
- 2:07
The caller says they have never remarried and that it was such a blow they could not believe it.
- 2:13
The caller says he had sold the house and the furniture and packed up. The caller says he was killed the day before he was to work one shift and leave.
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· 1:02
The caller says they saw their husband in a black sedan with another man driving and that he smiled and waved at them.
- observation· 1:19
The caller says he did not arrive at the home where they had prepared for him.
- observation· 1:41
The caller says they received a letter from up home at the mail office about four days later.
- observation· 1:57
The caller says they received a telegram saying he had been killed the day after they saw him in the car.
- observation· 2:13
The caller says he had sold the house and their furniture before he was killed.
- observation· 2:07
The caller says they never remarried.
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 firsthand, plainly told story with a concrete era, places, and sequence of events. It never builds into explicit paranormal claims. It loses points because a mistaken identity or a real unplanned visit could fit the sighting the caller reports, and details are sparse.
Evidence for and against
- The person who reports the sighting tells it firsthand.
- Concrete details: the 1950s, Spokane, Washington State, California, Vermont Avenue, a black sedan, and a stated sequence of waiting, letter, and telegram.
- The story does not overclaim. The caller states events and never asserts a cause.
- The sighting itself is a fleeting look in a mirror, with no contact or confirmation.
- The caller gives no names, dates, or documents that could be checked.
- The link between the sighting and the death rests entirely on what the caller says about the telegram's timing.
- One line, [quote withheld] is labeled as the host's, but it is unclear who is speaking.
- The order of the letter and the telegram is stated briefly, without detail.
- 1:02
- 1:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores (closeness to the source about 19, specificity about 13, consistency about 14, alternative explanations about 8, calibration about 11) are my judgment of what the transcript says, not statements by the caller.
The only support is the caller's own word. The caller gives some details that sound checkable (place, era, a letter, a telegram), but they were not checked, and nothing is produced on air. No second witness speaks.
Evidence for and against
- The caller mentions details that sound checkable: Vermont Avenue, Spokane, Washington State, California, and the 1950s.
- The caller mentions a letter and a telegram, but neither is read, produced, or examined.
- No documents, photographs, or recordings are presented on air.
- The other man the caller reports in the car is not identified and does not speak.
- No independent witness speaks on air. Art Bell asks no questions to check the story.
- The caller does not say whether they still have the letter or telegram.
- The identity of the “another guy” driving is unknown.
- 1:41
- 1:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): I give this a score in the 11 to 25 range because the caller gives specifics but nothing was verified. The letter and telegram the caller mentions are not treated as examined evidence.
The story is quiet and sad rather than frightening: a wave from a passing car, coffee made, a husband who never arrives, and then a telegram. The unresolved ending and the death keep it mildly eerie.
Evidence for and against
- The caller prepares for his arrival, and he never comes.
- A telegram reports that he was killed the day after the sighting.
- The caller says they never remarried and calls it an unbelievable blow.
- The encounter the caller reports is harmless: smiling and waving.
- The caller describes no threat, ill will, physical contact, or sustained escalation.
- There is no menacing or vivid horror imagery.
- The caller gives no time of day for the sighting, which would affect how it reads.
- 1:02
- 2:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): The creepiness score is my judgment of how the story would strike a listener, not a claim about what happened.
The basic setup, seeing someone who is later reported dead, is familiar. But the specifics add a distinctive detail: a wave from a black sedan seen in a rearview mirror, taken at first as an early arrival.
Evidence for and against
- The sighting happens in a rearview mirror, from a moving car, with a wave and no interaction.
- The caller first takes the event as an ordinary early arrival and makes coffee.
- The [quote withheld] structure is a stock motif.
- The setting and objects (mine, shipyard job, telegram) are ordinary for the period rather than unusual.
- The originality score is provisional. It is measured against a small pilot archive, and this story is short.
- 1:02
- 1:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): My provisional score reflects a familiar setup with one distinctive detail. The part of the score based on comparison with the rest of the archive carries little weight while the archive is this small.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: the caller's firsthand story in a live call (no name given); a letter and a telegram, mentioned but not read, produced, or examined on air; no second witness speaks on air; no photographs, recordings, or documents examined. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 caller may have briefly mistaken a similar-looking man in a black sedan, glimpsed in a rearview mirror, for their husband. · The caller says, [quote withheld] It was a fleeting look in a mirror, with no interaction or spoken contact.
- He may have made an ordinary trip down, as he said he would, and their plans may have crossed. · The caller says [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] The story gives no location for him at the time of the sighting.
What stands out
The sighting the caller reports happens at speed, through a rearview mirror, rather than at a particular place. At first the caller took it as an ordinary early arrival, not as anything strange. The caller states no cause for it and never explicitly calls it a ghost.
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