Gateway Gazette article read on air: The lady in red at the Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah
Art Bell reads a newspaper piece he identifies as the Gateway Gazette of Thursday, October 28. The article, titled [quote withheld] is by staff writer [name withheld] and is about the Mizpah Hotel Casino in Tonopah, Nevada. It strings together a bar patron's remark about a “hologram” of a woman in the elevator, the legend of a “lady in red” said to have been murdered on the fifth floor, a keno board said to light up though it is not connected to power, and stories from several named employees. Bell stops reading partway through the article, saying there is more.
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 3:33). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The host reads from what he describes as the Gateway Gazette, dated Thursday, October 28. The article, titled [quote withheld] is by staff writer [name withheld] and is about the Mizpah Hotel Casino in Tonopah, Nevada. According to the article, [name withheld] was at the hotel bar around one in the morning with his son. A man he guessed to be in his forties sat beside him, ordered a beer, and remarked on the “incredible hologram” of a woman in old-fashioned clothing in the elevator. [name withheld] told him there was no hologram, and the man later returned saying [quote withheld] The article's most popular tale, attributed to assistant manager [name withheld], is that a young woman described as a lady of the evening was stabbed to death on the fifth floor in a love triangle. The “lady in red” is said to live on the fifth floor but wander the hotel, pull pranks, and make the keno board flash numbers, although the boards are said to have been unconnected to power for years. Named employees tell their own stories. Waitress [name withheld] says she saw the board light up, and adds that she cannot say for a fact that it is disconnected. Former slot mechanic [name withheld] says he saw it play a game three times one night and that the controls were removed in 1979. Waitress [name withheld]'s son and grandson reportedly saw a woman in red carrying her head walk through a wall. Desk clerk [name withheld] tells of a Las Vegas guest who saw a man at the foot of her bed and later recognized him in a photograph of Senator Pittman. The article quotes [name withheld] of Round Mountain about her son [name withheld], fourteen or fifteen, who reported a woman in a long dress with a bustle in the basement during reconstruction in the late 1970s. Bell ends the reading, saying he will stop there.
Reported events, in order
- 0:33
According to the article, [name withheld] is at the Mizpah Hotel Casino bar with his son around one in the morning.
- 1:13
A man in his forties sits next to him and remarks on the “incredible hologram” of a woman in the elevator.
- 1:54
[name withheld] tells him there is no hologram. The man leaves, returns upset, and agrees.
- 2:12
The article gives the “most popular tale”: a young woman said to have been murdered on the fifth floor, according to assistant manager [name withheld].
- 2:50
Employees and visitors are said to have seen keno boards flash numbers, though the boards have not been connected to power for years.
- 3:07
The lady in red is said to be heard at night moaning and walking about the floors.
- 3:57
[name withheld] of Round Mountain reports that her son [name withheld], fourteen or fifteen, saw a woman in a bustled dress in the basement during reconstruction in the late 1970s.
- 4:45
Former waitress [name withheld] says she saw the keno board light up but cannot say for a fact it was disconnected.
- 5:13
Former slot mechanic [name withheld] says the board played a game three times one night and that the controls were removed in 1979.
- 6:37
Waitress [name withheld]'s son and grandson reportedly saw a woman in red, holding her head in her hands, walk across a room and through a wall.
- 7:02
A band under contract is said to have held a party or tried to make contact, after which the lady appeared and “bothered” them for the rest of the week.
- 7:34
Desk clerk [name withheld] tells of a Las Vegas guest who saw a man at the foot of her bed and later identified him in a picture of Senator Pittman.
- 8:18
A security guard named [name withheld] is said to have been afraid of the fifth floor and to have seen “her” when sent to a loud party there.
- 8:35
Bell stops reading, saying there is more but he will stop there.
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).
- host statement· 0:08
The host says the story is from a newspaper he receives, the Gateway Gazette, dated Thursday, October 28, by staff writer [name withheld].
- hearsay· 1:13
A man at the bar said there was an “incredible hologram” of a woman in the hotel elevator.
- hearsay· 1:54
The same man returned and said there was nothing in the elevator.
- hearsay· 2:12
The article's most popular tale is that a young woman was murdered on the fifth floor of the hotel.
- hearsay· 3:00
Keno boards at the hotel are said to flash numbers, although they have not been connected to an electrical source for years.
- hearsay· 3:07
Many people are said to hear the lady in red moaning and walking about the floors at night.
- hearsay· 4:52
A former waitress says she saw the keno board light up but cannot confirm it was disconnected.
- hearsay· 5:07
The lady in red is said to steal guests' shoes, but only red ones.
- hearsay· 5:39
A former slot mechanic said the keno controls were removed in 1979 during reconstruction.
- hearsay· 6:37
A grandson said he saw a person without a head.
- hearsay· 6:47
Two witnesses are said to have seen a woman in red, holding her head in her hands, walk across the room and through a wall.
- hearsay· 7:34
A hotel guest said she woke and saw a man at the foot of her bed, and later identified him in a photograph of Senator Pittman.
- hearsay· 8:05
A desk clerk says the guest identified the figure as the man in a picture of Senator Pittman.
- hearsay· 8:35
A security guard is said to have seen “her” on the fifth floor while responding to a loud party.
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 printed article read aloud, so everything reaches the listener secondhand. It is specific and orderly, but its score is capped because it is a secondhand story. One reported event (the keno board) also has an explanation raised in the article itself.
Evidence for and against
- Named sources with roles and ages (assistant manager, waitresses, a slot mechanic, a desk clerk).
- Concrete times and dates: [quote withheld] reconstruction [quote withheld] controls removed in 1979.
- A clear reading order, with answers attributed to named people rather than a single vague narrator.
- All content is relayed through a newspaper read on air. No witness speaks on air.
- The article itself undercuts the keno-board claim through a witness who says she cannot confirm the board was disconnected.
- The person who had one of the experiences explicitly calls it a nightmare.
- The automatic transcript marks large parts of the reading as low-confidence, so some wording is uncertain.
- The article bundles several separate anecdotes, so a single believability judgment blends them all.
- 0:08
- 3:00
- 4:52
- 7:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): My scoring treats the host, not the article's sources, as the person telling the story, which lowers the score for closeness to the source. The named sources and dates raise the score for specificity, while the article's own hedging on the keno board lowers the score for standing up to other explanations.
Checkable specifics are given (a named newspaper, a byline, named employees, and dates such as 1979), but nothing is examined on air and no witness speaks. That fits the scoring guide's range for checkable specifics that were not checked, plus claimed witnesses.
Evidence for and against
- Named people with roles at the hotel are quoted.
- A date is given for removal of the keno controls (1979), and a period for the reconstruction (“the late seventies”).
- A named publication and byline are given.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is presented or examined on air.
- No second witness speaks live to confirm anything.
- The host stops reading partway through the article, so some stories are left unfinished.
- It is not stated whether anyone checked the article before it was read.
- Speech-to-text errors in names and in the paper's name mean even the checkable specifics are uncertain as transcribed.
- 0:28
- 5:39
- 3:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): I counted named but unchecked people and dates as [quote withheld] which places the score at 11 to 25 rather than in the range for claims alone.
The story includes a killing in a hotel, a ghost that carries its own head, and a figure standing at the foot of a sleeping guest's bed. But it comes as a flat newspaper reading with several ordinary or humorous touches (a “hologram” mistaken for an attraction, stolen red shoes).
Evidence for and against
- A woman is said to have been stabbed to death in the hotel.
- Two witnesses are said to have seen a woman in red, holding her head in her hands, walk through a wall.
- A guest is said to have seen a man at the foot of her bed and later recognized him in a photograph.
- The keno-board and stolen-shoe anecdotes read as pranks rather than threats.
- The article's tone is anecdotal, and the host's framing is conversational.
- The reading stops before the final anecdote is finished, so this part of the broadcast ends on a muted note.
- 6:47
- 6:37
- 7:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): I weighted the headless-figure and foot-of-the-bed reports as the most unsettling elements and discounted the article's lighter anecdotes.
Most elements are stock haunted-hotel material: a murdered woman in red, a figure at the foot of the bed, a ghost in a public building. The keno board said to play without controls and the stranger's “hologram” remark are more distinctive framing details.
Evidence for and against
- A keno board said to light up and play a game years after its controls were removed is an unusual claim tied to one specific machine.
- The elevator sighting is introduced through a stranger who calls it a “hologram” and then changes his story.
- Legends of a murdered woman in red, ghosts carrying their own heads, and figures at the foot of the bed are widely recurring motifs.
- The story is a collection of familiar haunted-building anecdotes rather than one new kind of event.
- How new this story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from this story alone. The score is a provisional judgment based on content.
- 3:00
- 1:13
- 2:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): I placed the story in the [quote withheld] range because the frame is standard haunted-hotel fare and only the keno board and the hologram framing stand out.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The host's reading of a newspaper article (the article itself is not examined or produced on air); Named secondhand witnesses quoted in the article, none speaking on air; No photographs, recordings, documents, or physical traces presented. The originality score blends the model's score (42) 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 keno board lighting up could be leftover wiring still connected to a power source rather than anything paranormal. · The article itself quotes a former waitress raising this possibility: [quote withheld]
- The guest's [quote withheld] could be a sleep-related experience, such as something seen while falling asleep, or a nightmare. · The story says the guest herself described it as [quote withheld]
- The basement figure reported by a teenage worker could have been a living person in the building, mistaken for something else because of unfamiliar old-fashioned dress. · The boy described only clothing, [quote withheld] and the figure was gone when he returned with his boss.
What stands out
Rather than one witness's story, this is a newspaper article read aloud that bundles several anecdotes about one building, each from a different source. The most distinctive reported detail is a keno board said to play games years after its controls were removed. The “hologram” framing of the elevator sighting, offered by a stranger who then took it back, is also an unusual way to introduce a ghost sighting.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.