Clock strikes oddly at the reported moment of a relative's death
A caller to Ghost to Ghost tells a brief family story about their father's sister, who was not expected to live. The caller says that about four days after their father traveled to see her, the family's clock struck differently in the middle of the night, and their mother said the sister had just died. The caller says she did. The host thanks the caller and moves on.
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 2:24:35). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives no name, says “another time” their father had to travel from the farm where the family lived to another city in the same state, not far away, because his sister [quote withheld] The caller says the family had no telephone, and a friend came over to tell their father his sister was sick, after which he went. About four days later, they say, in the middle of the night, the family's clock, which normally “went bong, bong,” struck differently. The automatic transcript, though, renders both halves of the comparison the same way ([quote withheld]), so what made the striking unusual cannot be recovered from the text. The caller says their mother then said, [quote withheld] and the caller adds, “And she did.” The caller concludes,[quote withheld] The host thanks the caller and says good morning. Later in this part of the broadcast, he asks the audience whether all these stories are coincidence and answers “Not likely.” No names, place names, dates, or other witnesses are given, and no document, recording, or photograph is mentioned.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller says that on another occasion their father had to travel from the family farm to another city in the same state, because his sister was not expected to live.
- 0:12
The caller says the family had no telephone, and a friend came over to tell their father his sister was sick. He then went to her.
- 0:25
About four days later, in the middle of the night, the caller says the family's clock struck in a way that differed from its usual striking.
- 0:39
The caller says their mother said, [quote withheld]
- 0:43
The caller says the sister did die.
- 0:48
The caller concludes that the clock told the family the sister had died.
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· 0:08
The caller's father's sister was not expected to live, and he traveled to see her.
- observation· 0:12
The family had no telephone at the farm.
- observation· 0:32
In the middle of the night the family clock struck in an unusual way.
- observation· 0:39
The caller's mother announced that the sister had just died, and the caller says she did.
- interpretation· 0:48
The caller believes the clock's striking announced the death.
- host statement· 1:04
The host tells the audience these stories are not likely to be coincidence.
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 short but consistent firsthand household story with some concrete detail (a farm, a nearby city, no telephone, about four days, the middle of the night). It is not backed up by anyone else and has no names or dates, and the one detail that sets the clock's striking apart is garbled in the automatic transcript.
Evidence for and against
- The caller describes a household they were part of, with concrete details of the setting.
- The sequence holds together: illness, travel, days later, the clock in the night, the mother's announcement, the death.
- The caller gives a specific interval (about four days) and a specific time of day.
- No names, place names, dates, or years are given.
- The key detail that made the striking unusual cannot be recovered from the automatic transcript.
- An ordinary clock malfunction and a death that was already expected are an easy fit.
- Nothing backs up the story beyond the caller's own word.
- Whether the caller heard the clock firsthand or is repeating a family memory.
- Whether the death was confirmed at that moment or only afterward.
- 0:02
- 0:12
- 0:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): The caller's closeness to the events is scored in the upper part of the range for “firsthand but partial/brief” stories. The caller speaks as a member of the household, but the central experience is their mother's announcement. The scores for detail and for other explanations were set from the concrete but limited detail actually present.
The story rests entirely on the caller's word. No names, dates, locations, or records are given that could be checked, and no physical evidence is claimed.
Evidence for and against
- The caller reports the events as a family experience.
- No details that can be checked (no names, city, state, or year).
- No document, recording, or photograph is mentioned.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- Whether any record of the death or of the clock exists outside the story.
- 0:20
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide this is the usual range for a caller's word alone. It does not even reach the modest 11 to 25 range because no names, dates, or places are supplied.
The content is a quiet household omen: a clock striking oddly in the night and a mother announcing a death. It is mildly eerie, but there is no threat, no figure, no physical contact, and no escalation.
Evidence for and against
- A middle-of-the-night setting in a farmhouse without a telephone.
- A household object acting unusually at the reported moment of a death.
- No unseen presence, threat, or harm is described.
- The story ends quickly and factually, with the death confirmed.
- What the strange striking actually sounded like is unknown.
- 0:25
- 0:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is placed near the low end of the scale because the report is an omen rather than a frightening encounter. The nighttime setting and the link to a death are the only unsettling parts.
A clock or other household object acting oddly at the moment of a death is a long-standing and familiar ghost-story idea. The story has no strange event or rare combination, only a distinctive framing of the clock as the one that announces the death.
Evidence for and against
- The caller says [quote withheld] framing the clock as the one that announced it.
- Stock elements: a family home, nighttime, a clock acting strangely, a death in the family.
- No unusual figure, location, or mechanism.
- The detail that would have made the striking distinctive is lost in the automatic transcript.
- 0:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is set low because the story has essentially one familiar idea plus a farm and nighttime setting. No comparison with the rest of the archive was available for this single-story assessment.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand account in a live call (a family story).; No documents, recordings, photographs, or other physical evidence mentioned.. The originality score blends the model's score (32) 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 mechanical clock miscounting or striking an unexpected number for ordinary mechanical reasons. · [quote withheld] The striking is described as a change in the clock's own behavior, a common malfunction.
- Coincidence plus later interpretation: the sister was already expected to die, so a later death was anticipated and the clock event was read backward into it. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] The death was anticipated in advance.
- Delay and secondhand reporting of news, since the household had no telephone and word came through a friend and later confirmation. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] The timing of the death could only be worked out after the fact.
What stands out
The reported sign is an ordinary household clock striking in a strange way in the middle of the night, at the reported moment of a relative's death. The caller presents the clock itself as announcing the death, and describes no figure or presence. The story is very short, and the one detail that would set the striking apart from normal is lost in the automatic transcript.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.