A blindfolded Ouija session in Hawaii and a planchette that flew off
A returning caller, whose name is not given, tells Art Bell that she and a friend were playing a Ouija board in Hawaii when her husband, [name withheld], blindfolded them. She says the planchette flew out from under their fingers. [name withheld] said he had held a crucifix over it. She says she wrote Art a letter about it a year earlier, and Art says he remembers the story. The call ends with Art advising listeners not to play with Ouija boards.
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 1995.mp3”, starting at 2:24:53). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller is identified only as a woman who says she listens to the show every night. She reminds Art Bell that she wrote to him at his home about a year earlier, when he first began discussing the Ouija board. She asked him “please don’t fool” with it. She says he probably does not remember because he gets so many letters. Art replies that he will listen to Ouija stories but will not talk about his own experience. The caller says she would like to hear his story because she has one of her own, and that she already sent it in a letter. Asked to tell it briefly, she says she was in Hawaii and her husband was watching her friend and her play the Ouija board. She says the two women were “really working it,” and her husband [name withheld] decided to blindfold them. While they were blindfolded, she reports, [quote withheld] flew out. That is her word for the planchette, which she describes as the little triangle thing you put your fingers on. She says she pulled the blindfold off and asked [name withheld] whether he had knocked it. He said no, he had held the crucifix over it. She then asks Art whether he remembers that story now, and he says he does. Art remarks that it is “so serious” and that people treat Ouija boards as fun. The caller says this is why she wrote to him: she was concerned about him, and she “knew.” Art thanks her, then tells the audience this is one subject he will not talk about. He advises them not to play with Ouija boards because “They’re not toys.”
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller says she wrote Art a letter at his home about a year earlier, asking him not to fool with the Ouija board.
- 0:34
She says she has her own Ouija story and had already written it in a letter. Art invites her to tell it briefly.
- 0:37
She says she was in Hawaii with her husband and a friend. The husband watched the two women play the Ouija board.
- 0:47
She says her husband [name withheld] decided to blindfold both women while they worked the board.
- 0:57
She reports that the planchette flew out while they were blindfolded.
- 1:04
She says she pulled off the blindfold and asked [name withheld] whether he had knocked it.
- 1:08
She reports that [name withheld] said no, he had held a crucifix over it.
- 1:12
Art says he remembers the story and comments that the subject is “so serious.” The caller says her concern for him was the reason she wrote.
- 2:04
After the call, Art tells listeners not to play with Ouija boards, saying “They’re not toys.”
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· 0:57
While she and a friend were blindfolded during a Ouija session, the planchette flew out from under their fingers.
- hearsay· 1:08
Her husband [name withheld] said he had not knocked the planchette but had held a crucifix over it.
- observation· 0:00
She says she had warned Art in a letter about the Ouija board and was concerned about him.
- host statement· 0:18
Art says he will listen to stories about the Ouija board but will not talk about his own experience, and that it is “so serious.”
- host statement· 2:04
Art tells listeners not to play with Ouija boards because they are not toys.
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.
The story is brief but hangs together, and it has some concrete anchors: Hawaii, a named husband, a blindfold, and a crucifix. But the caller was blindfolded at the key moment, and an ordinary explanation (someone moved or knocked the planchette) is left open.
Evidence for and against
- She places the event concretely: [quote withheld]
- Her question and his answer fit together: she asks whether he knocked it, and he says he held the crucifix over it.
- She does not push the claim beyond what she says happened.
- She was blindfolded when the planchette reportedly flew out, so her own view of the moment is limited.
- An ordinary physical cause, someone present moving it, is neither ruled out nor looked into beyond her question to [name withheld].
- No date, no setting beyond “Hawaii,” and no other detail that could be checked.
- It is unclear whether she saw the planchette leave the board or only felt or heard it.
- The automatic transcript renders “planchette” as “plushette,” so the exact wording is uncertain.
- 0:57
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component judgment: source proximity about 16 (firsthand but brief and partly blocked from view), specificity about 11, internal consistency about 15, alternative explanations about 6 (an ordinary physical cause fits easily, and she raises it herself), calibration about 10. Total 58, adjusted to 55 for the brevity and the blindfold.
The story rests on the caller's word plus two claimed witnesses who do not speak on air. A first name and a US state are given, but nothing is checked. No physical evidence is produced or examined.
Evidence for and against
- A named husband, “[name withheld],” and a stated location, Hawaii.
- Two other people are said to have been present during the session.
- No second witness speaks on air. [name withheld]'s statement is reported only through the caller.
- No document, recording, or photograph is produced or examined. The earlier letter is mentioned but not read.
- Art says he remembers the story, but that is a memory of the telling, not proof of the event.
- The letter the caller says she sent is not quoted or examined on air.
- It is not stated when the Hawaii event happened.
- 1:12
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the 11 to 25 range: specifics that could be checked (a name, a place) are given but unchecked, and the other witnesses are only claimed. It scores near the bottom of that range because the specifics are thin and no object exists.
An object leaving a board during a blindfolded session, together with a crucifix, is mildly unsettling. But the story is short, with no threat, no sensory horror, and no sustained build-up.
Evidence for and against
- An object is said to have flown out while the women were blindfolded.
- A crucifix is introduced as a countermeasure, which suggests a sense of danger.
- Art's repeated insistence that the subject is serious and that boards are “not toys” gives the story an ominous frame.
- No being, figure, or presence is described.
- No harm, threat, or aftermath is reported.
- The call is mostly conversational, including a request that Art tell his own story.
- The brevity of the story limits any sense of dread.
- 1:08
- 2:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated just above “mildly eerie” because of the blindfold-and-crucifix combination, but low because nothing menacing is described and the story is resolved quickly.
This is a stock Ouija-gone-wrong story with one distinctive element. The women were deliberately blindfolded, and the husband says he was holding a crucifix over the board rather than touching it.
Evidence for and against
- Blindfolding the sitters as a test is a specific detail of procedure.
- The husband's claimed action of holding a crucifix over the board, rather than striking it, is an unusual explanation for a flying planchette.
- Ouija boards producing movement or frightening results is a common theme.
- The story is told in a few sentences without other unique detail.
- Only a short excerpt is available, so distinctive details elsewhere in the caller's letter or call cannot be judged.
- 0:47
- 0:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated around the middle: the Ouija setup is familiar, while the blindfold test and the crucifix are the distinctive touches.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's own firsthand word (as a blindfolded participant); A reported statement from a third person, her husband [name withheld], who does not speak on air; Mention of an earlier letter to the host, not read or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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.
- Someone present moved the planchette, possibly the husband. The caller herself raises this by asking whether he knocked it. · She says she asked, [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] The husband was the only person said to be watching and not blindfolded.
- With both women blindfolded, an involuntary movement of the hands or fingers could have pushed the planchette off without either of them seeing it happen. · The caller says she and her friend were “really working it” and both were blindfolded at the time.
- The story as spoken is short, and the blindfold blocked the caller's own view. How and where the planchette left the board is not established. · She reports the planchette flying out and then says she pulled the blindfold off.
What stands out
The distinctive detail is in the procedure rather than the sight. Both women were blindfolded at the husband's suggestion when the planchette reportedly left the board. The husband's claimed action was to hold a crucifix over it, not to touch it.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.