A brush slides off a roof at the time their father's wife dies
A caller who goes by [quote withheld] tells Art Bell about a week they say they spent living near Oakland, California. The caller reports that during a chimney-rebuilding job at an old house in Berkeley, a large push-broom brush moved off the roof on its own and struck their helper. When the caller telephoned their father in Seattle that evening, they learned their father's wife had died that day at about noon. The caller adds that their stepbrother's wife gave birth in the same hospital shortly after the death. The caller closes by calling it “a strange time.” The host says he is not sure it is exactly a ghost story.
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 1994.mp3”, starting at 2:20:21). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Greg, calling from Linwood, Washington, says the events happened when they were living near Oakland, California. They say two bad things happened to them that week. They lost [quote withheld] and a day later the transmission went out on their truck. They say they then hired an older man to help them tear down and rebuild a chimney at a house in Berkeley. They describe it as one of the oldest in the city and [quote withheld] The landlord, they say, could never keep a tenant there more than a few months. Greg says they built a scaffold, took precautions, and lowered bricks down in a bucket. Greg had a large wooden push-broom brush ([quote withheld]) propped against the base of the chimney where the roof meets it. Just before noon, Greg says, the brush [quote withheld] slid down the roof, went over the gutter, fell [quote withheld] and hit their helper on top of the head. The helper was not wearing a hat. Greg says they went down to the helper and were upset, calling it the third and worst thing to happen that week. Greg says they worked a little longer and Greg went home. Greg was the only one of their family down there, and they had not spoken to their father in about a month. They called their father in Seattle, they say, just to hear a familiar voice. They told their father they hoped his week was going better, and their father replied that his wife had died that day. Asked what time, their father said “around noon.” The caller says that when they traveled up they found out she had died about the same time their helper was struck. They add that not long after she died, their stepbrother's wife gave birth to a baby girl in the same hospital, one or two floors above her, a few minutes after the death. They say it was [quote withheld] The host replies that he doesn't know if that is exactly a ghost story, but that he has heard similar things from other people.
Reported events, in order
- 0:24
The caller says they lost a union job during that week.
- 0:29
A day later, they say, the transmission went out on their truck.
- 0:37
The caller says they hired an older man to help them tear down and rebuild a chimney.
- 0:52
The caller describes the house as one of the oldest in Berkeley, [quote withheld] and says the landlord could never keep a tenant more than a few months.
- 1:15
The caller says they built a scaffold, worked carefully, and lowered bricks in a bucket.
- 1:26
A large wooden push-broom brush was propped against the base of the chimney where the roof meets it.
- 1:49
Just before noon, the caller says, the brush moved on its own and slid down the roof.
- 1:58
The caller says it went over the gutter, fell 18 or more feet, and hit their helper on the top of the head.
- 2:10
The caller says they went down to their helper and were upset. It was the third and worst event that week.
- 2:16
They worked a little longer, and the caller went home.
- 2:21
The caller says they were the only one of their family there and had not spoken to their father in about a month.
- 2:26
The caller called their father in Seattle, they say, just to hear a familiar voice.
- 2:36
Their father told the caller his wife had died that day. Asked the time, the father said “around noon.”
- 2:48
The caller says they found out when they got there that she had died about the same time their helper was struck.
- 3:04
The caller says their stepbrother's wife gave birth to a baby girl a few minutes after the death, one or two floors above her in the same hospital.
- 3:24
The caller describes the whole period as [quote withheld]
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· 1:49
The caller says the push-broom brush left the roof on its own and slid down it.
- observation· 1:58
The caller says the brush fell 18 or more feet and struck their helper on the head.
- hearsay· 2:36
The caller reports their father telling them his wife had died that day.
- hearsay· 2:52
The caller says they later learned she had died at about the same time their helper was hit.
- observation· 3:04
The caller says their stepbrother's wife gave birth to a baby girl in the same hospital shortly after the death.
- interpretation· 3:24
The caller describes the cluster of events as strange without naming a cause.
- host statement· 3:31
The host says he is unsure whether the story is a ghost story and links it to other reports of dramatic events that cluster together.
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 firsthand, fairly specific story that hangs together and does not contradict itself. The caller does not claim a cause. But an ordinary physical explanation fits the central event easily, and the timing match rests on approximate times.
Evidence for and against
- The caller took part in the reported event: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Concrete particulars: the house described as one of the oldest in Berkeley, the type of brush, [quote withheld] and the spot where the roof meets the chimney.
- The caller answers the host's interjections, and the sequence is consistent across the call.
- A brush knocked loose on an exposed roof edge is readily explained by wind or vibration from the work.
- The time of death is given only as “around noon,” so the match with [quote withheld] is approximate.
- No dates, names, or records are given, and no one else backs the story up on air.
- The labels showing who is speaking are mixed (the caller's lines appear under the host), so it is uncertain who says some lines.
- It is not stated whether the helper saw the brush move or only felt the impact.
- 1:49
- 1:58
- 2:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rough estimates: source proximity 20 (firsthand on the brush, secondhand on the death), specificity 13, consistency 16, other explanations 6, measured claims 10. The scores are the editor's judgments about the recorded story, not probabilities that any event happened.
The story rests on the caller's word plus general place names. A second person is claimed to have been struck by the object but is not heard from, and there is no documentation.
Evidence for and against
- Places that could be checked in principle are named: Berkeley, Oakland, Seattle, and Linwood.
- A second person is said to have been physically struck.
- No dates, no full names, no address, no hospital name.
- The helper does not speak on air, and no story from him is quoted.
- No photograph, recording, or record is claimed to exist.
- It is not stated whether anyone else saw the brush move.
- 1:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at 11 to 25 ([quote withheld]). Capped below 50 because no outside check was done.
The story is an eerie coincidence rather than a threatening encounter. An object moves by itself and a man is struck, but there is no malevolence, no presence, and no intrusion into a bedroom.
Evidence for and against
- An inanimate object is said to move by itself and to injure someone: [quote withheld]
- A death and a birth in the same hospital within minutes of each other.
- The caller describes no fear, no presence, and no continuing activity.
- The story ends quietly with “a strange time” and the host's musing.
- The caller does not describe their own reaction beyond being “really upset.”
- 1:58
- 3:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated between “mildly eerie” (30) and unsettling (50). The editor places it at the lower end because the story carries no threat or dread.
The setup, an object behaving oddly at the moment of a death, is familiar. But the surrounding details are unusual: a workplace accident, and a death and a birth minutes apart in the same hospital, with no ghost of any kind.
Evidence for and against
- An unusual combination: a falling object, a struck coworker, a death about noon, and a birth one or two floors above in the same hospital.
- No ghost or haunted-place claim is made, which departs from the archive's usual shape.
- The core idea, an object moving at the time of a death, recurs in ghost lore.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive can't be computed here, so this estimate should be treated as provisional.
- 3:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): Estimate of 50 ([quote withheld]). The comparison with the rest of the archive would need the full archive to compute.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand spoken story about the brush moving and falling; A secondhand report, through the caller, of their father's statement about the time of death; The caller's reported hospital detail about the birth; No photographs, recordings, documents, or records claimed or examined; No second witness heard on air. 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.
- A gust of wind or vibration from the work could have knocked the brush loose from its exposed spot where the roof meets the chimney and sent it down the roof. · The caller says the brush was propped against the base of the chimney [quote withheld] on an exposed roof edge while scaffolding work was under way.
- The match in timing may be chance. The brush fell shortly before noon, and the death was reported only as “around noon.” · The father gives an approximate time, “around noon,” and the caller describes the brush as moving [quote withheld]
- The caller's framing may reflect a run of unrelated bad events rather than a connected series. · The caller lists three bad things that week (lost job, truck transmission, brush accident) and says they were the only one of their family down there.
What stands out
The story contains no ghost, no unseen presence, and no haunted-place claim at all. The strange part is an object's reported movement at about the moment of a relative's death, told alongside two unrelated misfortunes and a birth in the same hospital. The host himself remarks that he is not sure it is a ghost story.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.