Attempted “astral projection” and seeing his own body in bed
A caller who is addressed in the story as “[name withheld]” tells Art Bell about a single attempt at what his mother called astral projection. He made it while lying on his bed, missing home. He reports feeling himself sit up, seeing his own body, and being able to see through his legs. He says a friend then came in and greeted him, and he felt himself being pulled back into his body. He says the experience frightened him and that he never tried it again.
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 2:00:46). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Speaking by telephone, a caller whom a friend addresses in the story as “[name withheld]” describes one attempt at what his mother called astral projection. He says he was missing home badly one night. His mother, whom he describes as being [quote withheld] had told him about things she used to do, and he says he tried it once. According to the caller, he lay down on his bed and concentrated as hard as he could on home. He reports that he felt himself sit up, that when he looked he saw his own body lying down, and that he could see through his own legs: [quote withheld] He then says he saw a friend come through the door and say, [quote withheld] At that moment, he says, it felt like he was sucked down into his body, and it scared him so badly he never tried it again. The host remarks that the phone line was breaking up and thanks him for the call. The host also says he believes projection from the body is possible, briefly comparing it to ideas of time travel and out-of-body travel in films. The story does not give the caller's location, the date of the events, or the friend's identity. It does not say where the bed was, though the lines just before it place the same caller in a dormitory on a base described as an old cavalry base.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller says that one night he was missing home very badly.
- 0:11
He says his mother was [quote withheld] and had told him about things she used to do, and that he tried it once.
- 0:20
He says his mother called the practice astral projection and that he tried it.
- 0:24
He reports lying on his bed and concentrating as hard as he could on home. He says he then felt himself sit up and saw his own body lying down.
- 0:39
He reports being able to see through his own legs and “through everything.”
- 0:42
He reports seeing a friend come through the door and say, [quote withheld]
- 0:47
He says that at that moment it felt like he was sucked down into his body.
- 0:52
He says it scared him so badly that he never tried it again. The host thanks him for the call.
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).
- hearsay· 0:11
The caller's mother practiced “new age” techniques and had described them to him.
- interpretation· 0:20
The caller frames the experience as an attempt at what his mother called astral projection.
- observation· 0:24
The caller reports feeling himself rise while his body stayed lying on the bed.
- observation· 0:39
The caller reports that his own legs looked transparent to him.
- observation· 0:42
The caller reports seeing a friend enter and speak to him during the experience. The story does not say whether the friend was physically present.
- observation· 0:47
The caller reports a feeling of being pulled back into his body at the moment the friend spoke.
- host statement· 1:00
The host states his own belief that projection from the body is possible.
- host statement· 1:19
The host says the mind may be capable of time travel and out-of-body travel.
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 coherent firsthand story, told in order and in terms of what he felt and saw. But it has no date, place, or named witness, and ordinary drowsiness fits the way it began reasonably well.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand telling of a continuous sequence: lying down, concentrating, sitting up, seeing the body, a friend's entrance, and the return.
- The caller describes what he felt ([quote withheld] [quote withheld]) and credits the label “astral projection” to his mother rather than claiming it himself.
- No date, no place, and no named friend in the story.
- The caller does not address or rule out any ordinary explanation.
- The story is brief and interrupted by phone problems.
- The host notes that the phone line was breaking up, so parts of the story may be missing or transcribed wrongly.
- The setting, a dormitory, comes from the lines just before the story, not from the story itself.
- 0:24
- 0:24
- 0:20
- 0:47
What the model inferred (not said on air): I weighted this toward the scoring guide's [quote withheld] mark. The sequence is coherent and firsthand but has almost no checkable details, and an ordinary explanation (drifting off while lying still with eyes closed) easily fits the way it began.
Nothing here can be checked independently. There is no document, photograph, or recording, no date or place, and no second witness speaks on air. The range for a story backed only by the caller's own word applies.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a firsthand, step-by-step description of what he says he experienced.
- No documentation of any kind is claimed or examined.
- No date, no location, and no named friend are given in the story.
- The friend who appears in the story does not speak on air.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The friend mentioned in the story cannot be checked because neither his identity nor the location is given.
- 0:39
- 0:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place the story at a score of 0 to 10 because nothing beyond the caller's own word is offered.
The story has an uncanny image: looking down at one's own body and being pulled back into it. The caller says it frightened him. But there is no threat, no ill will, no physical harm, and no building dread.
Evidence for and against
- The caller reports being badly frightened and never repeating the attempt.
- The reported feeling of being “sucked down” into the body is an unsettling image.
- No being, no threat, and no injury are reported.
- The episode is brief, happens once, and ends with the caller simply stopping.
- The tone of the story is conversational, and the host's reaction is friendly. I have not treated either as evidence one way or the other.
- 0:47
- 0:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is that the story is mildly eerie rather than frightening. No threat, no being, and no harm are reported.
Leaving the body, looking back at it, and returning is a stock out-of-body setup. The only distinctive turn is that an ordinary event, a friend entering and speaking, is reported as the moment of return.
Evidence for and against
- The core elements (bed, night, seeing one's own body, return to the body) are stock.
- Using the friend's entrance and greeting as the trigger for the return is an unusual turn for this setup.
- No rare or complex event is reported. The whole story is a single brief episode.
- No unusual physical detail, being, or setting beyond a bed at night.
- The published originality score is provisional because the archive is still at pilot scale.
- The caller gives no detail about what he expected the experience to be like, so the “distinctive detail” rests on the friend's entrance alone.
- 0:42
- 0:24
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is that this is a familiar setup (leaving the body, looking back at it, returning) with one distinctive trigger, an ordinary friend's entrance, rather than a stock haunting scene.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: the caller's firsthand story (live telephone call); no documentation, photograph, recording, or other physical evidence claimed or examined; no second witness speaks on air. The originality score blends the model's score (45) 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 drowsy, drifting, or dreamlike state while lying still with eyes closed could produce the reported feeling of sitting up and seeing one's own body. · He says, [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- A friend really entering the room and calling his name could have coincided with that drifting state or ended it. That would match the reported feeling of being pulled back into the body at that moment. · He says, [quote withheld] He adds that [quote withheld]
- Expectations formed by his mother's description of the practice could have shaped what he expected and what he experienced. · He says, [quote withheld] He also says, [quote withheld]
What stands out
The caller brought the experience on himself rather than having it happen to him. He says he deliberately tried what his mother called astral projection. He reports that his return to his body came at the same moment as an ordinary-seeming event: a friend entering the room and calling him. The story is very short and has almost no checkable detail.
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