Sensed presence of previous owner “[name withheld]” in a purchased house
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Santa Maria, tells Art Bell that after they and their husband bought their house, they could not move in at first because a woman named [name withheld] had died there. The caller says they sensed [name withheld]'s presence in the house for about five years. The caller reports that the room [name withheld] died in was always very cold, that their husband once said someone had touched him in the hall, and that they received [name withheld]'s mail for about three years. The caller ends by saying the presence left after roughly five years and that they do not know how to explain it.
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 14:47). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], calling from Santa Maria, tells Art Bell that when they and their husband bought their house, they could not move in at first because a woman had died there. The caller names the woman as [name withheld]. The caller says they have been in the house over twenty years and that [name withheld] [quote withheld] Asked how they knew [name withheld] was there, the caller says they felt her. The caller adds that the room [name withheld] died in, the room they were sitting in during the call, was [quote withheld]
The caller describes one time when their husband, whom they describe as not a believer, went down the hall and came back saying somebody had touched him. The caller says they told him it was [name withheld] and not to get excited. They also say they received [name withheld]'s mail at the house for about three years. They would lay it on the table, and the caller would say, [quote withheld] The caller says [name withheld] was in the house for about five years and then left. The caller closes by saying they do not know how to explain it to anyone.
Art Bell replies that the caller does not have to explain it and thanks them for the call. He then comments that such stories are typical, that the affected areas are often where the person died, and that a room turning cold is a recurring feature of these stories, even to the point of seeing one's breath.
Reported events, in order
- 0:18
The caller says they and their husband bought a house and could not move in at first because a woman had died there. The caller names her as [name withheld].
- 0:29
The caller says they have been in the house over twenty years and that [name withheld] [quote withheld]
- 0:52
Asked how they knew, the caller says they felt her. The caller adds that the room [name withheld] died in, the room they were in during the call, was always very cold.
- 1:11
The caller reports that their husband, described as not a believer, went down the hall and afterward said somebody had touched him. The caller says they told him it was [name withheld] and not to get excited.
- 1:26
The caller says they received [name withheld]'s mail at the house for about three years and laid it on the table, and they would say, [quote withheld]
- 1:41
The caller says [name withheld] was in the house about five years and then left.
- 1:49
The caller says they do not know how to explain it to anyone. The host thanks them for the call.
- 2:05
In his comments afterward, the host calls the story typical. He says affected areas are often where the person died and notes the recurring detail of a room cooling to the point of seeing one's breath.
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· 0:18
The caller says they and their husband bought the house and could not move in at first because a woman had died there.
- observation· 0:52
The caller says they felt [name withheld]'s presence in the house.
- observation· 0:52
The caller says the room [name withheld] died in was always very cold and that they were sitting in that room during the call.
- hearsay· 1:11
The caller reports that their husband, described as not a believer, went down the hall and afterward said somebody had touched him.
- interpretation· 1:11
The caller says they blamed the touch on [name withheld] and told their husband not to get excited.
- observation· 1:26
The caller says they received [name withheld]'s mail at the house for about three years and that they would speak to [name withheld] when they put it on the table.
- interpretation· 1:41
The caller says [name withheld] was in the house for about five years and then left.
- host statement· 2:05
The host says affected areas are often where the person died.
- host statement· 2:40
The host says a room cooling to the point of seeing one's breath is a recurring detail in such stories.
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 brief but coherent firsthand story with a few concrete details (a first name, a town, rough lengths of time, one sensory detail). No one backs it up on air, it contains a garbled passage, and it leaves an easy ordinary explanation for the cold room unaddressed.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand framing: “i felt her.”
- Concrete details: a house purchase, a named previous resident who died, a town, and periods of three and five years.
- A coherent sequence from the purchase to the presence leaving.
- A short story with little sensory or checkable detail.
- The touch is secondhand from the husband, and the line in the automatic transcript is garbled.
- The caller considers no other explanation; a cold room has ready ordinary causes.
- The “touched” passage is garbled ([quote withheld]), so exactly what the caller reports is unclear.
- No dates or address are given, so nothing could be checked even in principle.
- The lengths of time given (three years of mail, five years of presence, over twenty years in the house) are not reconciled.
- 0:18
- 0:52
- 1:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is the sum of its parts: source proximity 16 (firsthand but brief and partial), specificity 9 (names, a town, rough lengths of time, one sensory detail), internal consistency 13 (a coherent order, minor lengths of time that don't line up, one garbled passage), alternative explanations 9 (an ordinary cause for a cold room fits easily and is not addressed), and calibration 7 (the caller states what they perceived and attributes it to [name withheld] with only mild hedging). The total is 54, below the cap for secondhand stories and far below the cap for fragments.
Only the caller's word is present, plus a second witness who is said to exist but does not speak. A name and a town are given, but nothing is checked, and no documents are examined.
Evidence for and against
- The caller says they felt the presence.
- A second person, the caller's husband, is said to have been touched.
- A named person, “[name withheld],” and a named town, “Santa Maria.”
- No second witness backs up the story on air.
- No photograph, recording, document, or record is described or examined.
- Nothing in the story was checked against outside sources.
- The husband's experience is passed on by the caller, not told by him.
- No documents of any kind are offered or examined.
- 0:27
- 1:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): A score of 11 to 25 applies because a few checkable details (a first name, a town) are given but not checked, and a second witness is claimed but does not speak on air.
Mildly eerie rather than frightening: an unexplained cold room, a felt presence, and one reported touch. There is no threat, escalation, or harm, and the caller openly treats the presence as harmless.
Evidence for and against
- The room where the previous occupant died is said to have been [quote withheld]
- A person reports being touched with no one visible.
- The caller says they told their husband “don't get excited.”
- No malice, harm, or escalation. The presence is said to have left.
- No detail is given about the touch beyond the husband's reported remark.
- The caller presents the presence as unthreatening, which lowers the score.
- 0:52
- 1:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): A cold room where someone died and an unexpected touch in a hallway are mildly eerie, but the caller openly presents the presence as harmless and not alarming.
A familiar [quote withheld] frame, set apart mainly by the mail detail and the claim that the presence ended. The events are not highly unusual.
Evidence for and against
- A purchased house whose previous occupant died there.
- The cold room is identified as the room where she died.
- The presence is said to have ended after about five years.
- The core motifs (cold spot, presence, being touched) are standard ghost-story elements.
- No unusual physical event, type of ghost, or twist in the story beyond the mail detail.
- Very few distinctive motifs are present, so novelty based on motifs is hard to judge.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is limited in the pilot, so the published originality score is provisional.
- 1:26
- 1:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): A stock frame (a previous occupant of a purchased house who died there, a cold room, an unexplained touch) with two less common details: mail that kept coming for the dead woman and a stated end to the presence.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story in a live radio call of about 2.9 minutes (their own telling runs roughly 1.7 minutes); A second witness, the caller's husband, whose experience is passed on and who does not speak on air; No photograph, recording, document, or record is described, offered, or examined; No outside check was performed. 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.
- A room that stays cold may have ordinary causes, such as poor heating, drafts, insulation, or how the room was used. The caller gives no temperature readings or comparison with other rooms. · [quote withheld]
- Mail for a former resident who has died can keep arriving for a while because of ordinary postal forwarding and slow record updates. The caller does not suggest anything strange about the mail itself. · [quote withheld]
- The touch the husband reported may have had a physical cause in the hallway, such as brushing against something, a draft, or a moving object. The caller gives no circumstances, and the line in the automatic transcript is garbled, so this idea has weak support. · [quote withheld]
What stands out
The caller treats the presence as a long-term, unremarkable housemate rather than a frightening haunting. The caller says the dead woman's mail kept arriving for about three years and that they addressed her by name when it came. The caller reports that the presence simply “left” after roughly five years.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.