A Denver officer’s letter: A woman in a red dress at a courthouse and the elevator
Art Bell reads a letter from a listener who describes themselves as a police officer working [quote withheld] The writer says they were sent on October 29, 1993, to a distressed courthouse janitor who reported a figure that dissolved. Later the same day, the writer says, a detective reported a woman in a red dress who vanished inside an elevator. The writer says they then returned to the courtroom at midnight with a fellow officer and the officer’s friend. The writer felt cold and a presence. They were told a spirit wanted permission to leave, and they gave it. The cold and the presence stopped.
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 1996.mp3”, starting at 1:20:48). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Art Bell reads a letter from a listener who says they are a police officer working [quote withheld] The writer says the incident was [quote withheld] with names and locations changed. The writer says that on October 29, 1993, at 1430 hours, they were sent to a hysterical woman in a court facility. They found a 42-year-old female janitor in tears and extreme distress. She said that while cleaning a fifth-floor courtroom she felt a chill and saw someone standing near the courtroom doors. As she turned, the person [quote withheld] She described the figure as a white female with long black hair to her waist, in an archaic red dress. The writer says they were “somewhat amused” and thought someone might have been playing a Halloween joke. At her insistence the writer examined the area and found nothing out of the ordinary. Later, the writer was sent to meet a detective in the same building. The writer says the detective described walking toward the elevators and seeing a woman of the same description step inside. The doors closed before the detective reached them. When the detective pressed the call button, the doors opened onto an empty car. The detective said the elevator had not moved. The writer suspected they were being set up but added the statement to their report. After their shift the writer showed the report to a fellow officer who [quote withheld] The officer called a friend, and the three returned to the courtroom at midnight. The writer says the temperature dropped drastically and their skin tingled. The writer’s partner and the partner’s friend seemed trance-like and said “she’s here.” The writer left the room, was persuaded to come back, and felt a presence but saw nothing. The writer says they were told the spirit wanted to know if it was all right to leave. The writer told it that it could, and the cold and the presence disappeared. The writer concludes they are [quote withheld] but that there was something there.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The letter writer calls themselves an avid listener and a police officer working [quote withheld] The writer says the incident was documented in official police records with their agency and that names and locations were changed.
- 0:25
On October 29, 1993, at 1430 hours, the writer says they were sent to a hysterical woman in a court facility under their jurisdiction.
- 0:39
The writer says they found a 42-year-old Hispanic woman, employed as a janitor, in tears and extreme emotional distress. She had just cleaned a fifth-floor courtroom.
- 1:02
The janitor told the writer she felt a chill surround her, glanced left, and saw someone standing near the courtroom doors. As she turned, the person dissolved and was gone. She became agitated and ran from the courtroom.
- 1:24
She described the figure as a white female with long black hair to her waist, wearing an archaic red dress.
- 1:24
The writer says they were “somewhat amused” and did not quite believe her. The writer wondered whether it was a Halloween joke. At her insistence the writer examined the area and found nothing out of the ordinary, then filed a report.
- 1:51
On leaving the building, the writer says, they were sent to meet a detective in the same building, who reported a strange circumstance in the basement near the elevators.
- 2:09
The detective, described as reluctant to tell the whole story, said they saw a white female with long black hair in a red dress standing at the elevator doors. She stepped inside and did not hold the door. The doors closed as the detective arrived. When the detective pressed the call button, the doors opened at once and nobody was there.
- 2:44
The detective said the elevator had not moved and there was no way the woman could have gotten out in the time allowed.
- 2:52
The writer says they suspected other officers were setting them up, but they added the detective’s statement to their report.
- 3:04
At the end of their shift the writer showed the report to a fellow officer who [quote withheld] The officer was very interested and called a friend. The three returned to the courthouse and entered the courtroom at midnight.
- 3:38
Seated in the room with the friend on one side and the writer on the other, the writer says the temperature dropped drastically and they felt a tingling on their skin.
- 3:46
The writer says the partner and the partner’s friend seemed to be in a trance-like state. The writer was getting frightened when they said “she’s here,” and left the courtroom by the nearest door.
- 4:03
The partner and the partner’s friend opened the door and asked the writer back in. After considerable argument the writer returned. The writer says they never saw anything but felt a presence near them.
- 4:18
The writer was told the spirit wanted to ask them something. They asked what it wanted, and the partner’s friend told them the spirit wanted to know if it was all right to leave.
- 4:26
The writer looked at their partner, and the partner nodded. The writer told the spirit it could leave and everything was all right. The writer says the cold and the feeling of a presence disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.
- 4:52
The writer’s partner later told them the spirit was looking for someone to tell it that it was okay to leave this world and go on.
- 5:00
The writer concludes they are not sure what really happened but know there was something there. The writer says they will never again scoff at another person’s fears or perceptions.
- 5:13
Art Bell says the letter is from a Denver police officer whose name he will withhold.
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· 1:02
A courthouse janitor said a chill surrounded her and that a person standing near the courtroom doors dissolved and was gone when she turned toward them.
- hearsay· 1:24
The janitor described the figure as a white female with long black hair to her waist, wearing an archaic red dress.
- hearsay· 2:35
A detective in the same building said they saw a woman in a red dress step into an elevator. The detective said the doors closed, and when the detective pressed the call button the car was empty and had not moved.
- observation· 3:38
The letter writer reports that during the midnight courtroom session the temperature in the room dropped drastically and they felt a tingling on their skin.
- observation· 4:09
The letter writer reports they never saw anything in the courtroom but felt a presence near them.
- interpretation· 4:26
The partner’s friend told the writer the spirit wanted to know whether it was all right to leave.
- observation· 4:44
After the writer told the spirit it could leave, the writer says, the cold and the feeling of a presence disappeared.
- hearsay· 4:52
The writer’s partner later told them the spirit was looking for someone to tell it that it was okay to leave this world and go on.
- host statement· 5:13
Art Bell says on air that the letter is from a Denver police officer whose name he will withhold.
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 detailed and well ordered, with a date, times, a floor, and descriptions. But the two central sightings are relayed secondhand, and the writer says names and locations were altered. A Halloween prank and ordinary elevator behavior each fit parts of the story, and the writer admits they never saw anything themselves.
Evidence for and against
- Concrete specifics that could in principle be checked: [quote withheld] a 42-year-old janitor, and a fifth-floor courtroom.
- A consistent sequence across a single day, with each reported event leading into the next.
- The writer separates what they perceived from what they concluded: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The writer states [quote withheld] so no detail can be verified as given.
- The two strongest sightings are secondhand statements, the janitor’s and the detective’s.
- An ordinary explanation is available and raised in the letter itself: a Halloween-season joke and a suspected setup by fellow officers.
- The transcript renders one return to the room as [quote withheld] while the companion is described elsewhere as “her.” Who is meant is unclear.
- The first words attributed to the letter are garbled, so the opening of the letter is uncertain.
- 0:21
- 0:25
- 4:09
- 5:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): My component total is 16 (source proximity: firsthand but partly hearsay), plus 15 (specificity), 15 (consistency), 8 (other explanations fit moderately), and 10 (calibration), for 64. That is reduced to the cap of 60 for secondhand and legend accounts. Applying the cap is my judgment. The scoring guide does not say whether a letter read on air counts as secondhand, so I applied it conservatively.
The letter says an official police record exists and names several claimed witnesses by role. But no document, name, or place is actually supplied or examined, and no second witness speaks on air. This places the story in the range for [quote withheld]
Evidence for and against
- The writer claims documentation: [quote withheld]
- Several claimed witnesses are named by role: a janitor, a detective, and a fellow officer and the officer’s friend.
- The claimed record is anonymized: [quote withheld]
- No physical evidence is described. The writer says of their own check, “Never saw anything.”
- No claimed witness speaks on air. The only voice is Art Bell reading the letter.
- Whether any police report exists at all cannot be judged from the transcript.
- 0:15
- 0:21
- 5:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): I placed the score in the upper part of the 11 to 25 range because the letter claims a formal record, but none of it can be checked in the form given. The cap of 50 is not approached because no outside check was done.
The story has a figure that dissolves, a woman who vanishes inside a closed elevator, and a courthouse session in which the temperature drops and two participants announce a presence. It is unsettling and builds, but it has no threat, contact, or harm, and it ends with the presence leaving.
Evidence for and against
- The janitor is found [quote withheld] after seeing a figure dissolve.
- A woman steps into an elevator that then opens empty and has not moved.
- The writer reports [quote withheld] at midnight and that they were [quote withheld]
- No injury, threat, or physical contact is reported.
- The episode ends with the cold and the presence disappearing once permission is given, a gentle resolution.
- The effect on a listener depends on the reader. The transcript gives no description of the figure beyond dress and hair.
- 1:15
- 2:44
- 3:38
What the model inferred (not said on air): I chose a score in the 40s rather than 50 or more because the story is eerie but not violent, and the ending calms things down.
The frame is familiar: a recurring figure in a public building, a cold spot, and a midnight session with sensitives. But three separate reports in one building on one day, plus the vanishing in the elevator and the request for permission to leave, give it distinctive detail.
Evidence for and against
- A recurring figure in the same building, reported independently by a janitor and a detective.
- The permission-to-leave ending: [quote withheld]
- A vanishing inside a closed elevator, with the car reported not to have moved.
- Cold spots, a woman in a long dress, a session with a medium, and an earthbound spirit set free are all common motifs.
- How new the story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out from this part alone.
- 1:24
- 4:26
- 2:44
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional estimate, not a score compared with the rest of the archive. That comparison would refine it once more stories are included.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The writer’s written story (a letter read aloud on air), including their own account of the midnight session; Secondhand reports within the letter, attributed to a janitor and a detective, who do not speak on air; Claimed police report, described but not produced or examined; No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document examined. The originality score blends the model's score (52) 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 Halloween-season prank or a person in costume, set up by courthouse staff or by other officers as a joke on the writer. · The events are dated October 29. The writer says they thought [quote withheld] and later [quote withheld]
- Ordinary elevator behavior plus a misperception by the detective: the doors closed before the detective reached them, and the car returned empty because the woman had gotten out on another floor or had never entered. · The sequence described is consistent with normal elevator door timing. The only counterclaim is the detective’s own statement that the elevator “had not moved.”
- Expectation and suggestion during the midnight session. The writer says two participants entered a trance-like state and announced a presence before the writer reported cold and tingling. · The writer describes being [quote withheld] and records no independent measurement of the temperature drop. The writer reported the presence only after the others said “she’s here.”
What stands out
The story is built from three separate reports in one building on one day: a janitor, a detective, and the letter writer’s own midnight session. The same figure is described in different parts of the courthouse. It ends not in a confrontation but in an exchange of permission, and the writer never sees anything themselves.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.