A Waikiki dancer and a figure reported over a wife’s bed
A caller who gives their name as “[name withheld],” from San Diego, tells Art Bell about a night in Hawaii about two years earlier. They watched a Waikiki dance show, became unsettled by the female dancer, and returned to their hotel room. The caller says their sleeping wife then woke screaming and clawed at the room door. Afterward she told them something had stood over the bed looking down at her. The caller ends by saying they concluded the dancer’s “familiar” had followed them to the room. The story is left unresolved.
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 2:48:39). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] and is placed by the host in San Diego, says they had meant to phone with the story the previous year but did not. The caller dates it to Hawaii [quote withheld] The caller says their wife was asleep while they were out watching one of the nightly shows at Waikiki, which featured [quote withheld] who sang. One of them was married to a young woman who danced. They say something about the woman bothered and unnerved them, and her dancing seemed unnatural. For a moment they had the distinct feeling they were watching a snake dance. They say they and the dancer made eye contact and she looked at them in a way they found unnerving, so they walked back to their hotel room and fell asleep.
They report that they had been asleep only a couple of minutes when their wife let out a scream, jumped out of bed, and ran to the room door. She clawed at it on her knees and screamed to get out. Answering Art Bell’s question, the caller confirms it was their wife who was clawing at the door. They say they brought her around. She told them that when she came to, something had been standing over the bed looking down at her. They say she went back to sleep almost immediately, which they compare to talking to someone who had been sleepwalking. In the morning, they say, they spoke, and they formed the feeling that the dancing woman, or her familiar, had seen them and followed them back to the room. The moment they fell asleep, they felt, the thing had hovered over their wife and woken her. They offer no further outcome. Art Bell calls it frightening and asks whether they know what a familiar is.
Reported events, in order
- 0:15
[name withheld] says that about two years earlier in Hawaii they were out watching one of the nightly shows at Waikiki while their wife slept. Two large Hawaiian men sang, and one of them was married to a young woman who danced.
- 0:30
The caller says something about the dancer bothered and unnerved them and that her dancing seemed unnatural. They had a momentary feeling of watching a snake dance.
- 0:51
The caller reports eye contact with the dancer and a look from her that left them unnerved. They walked back to the room and fell asleep.
- 1:00
A couple of minutes later, the caller says, their wife screamed, jumped out of bed, ran to the hotel room door, and clawed at it on her knees, trying to get out.
- 1:28
The caller says they calmed her. She told them that when she came to, something had been standing over the bed looking down at her. She went back to sleep almost immediately.
- 1:49
In the morning, they say, the two spoke, and they formed the feeling that the dancer or her familiar had seen them, followed them to the room, and hovered over their wife as soon as they fell asleep.
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· 0:30
The caller felt something unnatural and unnerving about the way the dancer danced.
- observation· 0:43
The caller momentarily felt they were watching a snake dance.
- observation· 0:51
The caller and the dancer made eye contact, and she looked at them in a way that unnerved them.
- observation· 1:00
Their wife woke screaming, jumped out of bed, and clawed at the hotel room door on her knees.
- hearsay· 1:28
The wife reported that something had been standing over the bed looking down at her.
- interpretation· 1:54
The caller concluded that the dancer, or a “familiar” linked to her, followed them to the room and hovered over their wife.
- host statement· 2:06
The host calls the story frightening and raises the idea of a familiar.
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 caller is a firsthand participant in part of the sequence: their impressions of the dancer and their wife’s scream and flight. But the central event, a figure over the bed, is relayed from their wife, who does not speak. The story is consistent and specific about place and setting but has few checkable details, and an explanation based on sleep fits easily. Because the key event is secondhand, the score is capped at 60.
Evidence for and against
- Concrete setting and sequence: Hawaii, Waikiki, a nightly show, a hotel room, and an interval of about two minutes before the wife woke.
- Consistent answers to the host’s question about who was clawing at the door: the host asks [quote withheld] and the caller answers “My wife was.”
- The caller separates a felt impression from a fact when describing the dance: [quote withheld]
- The caller does not see the figure personally. Their wife reports it to them, and it cannot be examined.
- No names of the hotel, show, or performers and no exact date. The time is only [quote withheld]
- An explanation based on sleep fits the timing closely: the wife was asleep, had to “come to,” and fell back asleep almost immediately.
- Parts of the story are garbled in the transcript, for example “the secret salad.”
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable in this part of the broadcast, with some of the caller’s speech labeled as the host.
- 0:15
- 1:28
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): My estimate by part: closeness to the source about 17 (firsthand for part, with the key event secondhand from a close but unnamed source); detail about 11; internal consistency about 16; alternative explanations about 8; caution in claims about 9, with the secondhand cap considered.
The only support is the caller’s own word plus a claimed witness who does not speak on air. No documentation, recording, or photograph is said to exist. Few details can be checked (Hawaii, Waikiki, an approximate date).
Evidence for and against
- A second claimed witness is described: “my wife,” who reported the figure.
- Some details that could be checked are given: Waikiki, a nightly show, a hotel room.
- No physical evidence of any kind is claimed or produced.
- The wife is not on air, and her story is only relayed by the caller.
- No names, dates, or records that could be checked are supplied.
- It is not stated whether anything was reported to hotel staff or others afterward.
- 0:18
- 1:20
What the model inferred (not said on air): Range of 11 to 25: checkable details are given but unchecked, and another witness is claimed but does not speak on air. No outside check was performed.
The story centers on a scream, a panicked flight to the door, and a thing described as standing over a sleeping woman looking down at her, with no resolution. It is unsettling rather than graphic. No injury or physical contact is reported.
Evidence for and against
- A sudden, violent waking: [quote withheld] and clawing at the door on her knees.
- An intrusion into the most private space, a sleeping spouse, with a figure overhead.
- It ends without explanation or outcome, and the host asks about “familiars” rather than closing it off.
- The caller reports no threat, contact, or lasting harm.
- The wife reportedly settled back to sleep almost immediately.
- The figure is never described beyond “something.”
- 1:00
- 1:54
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged by its effect on a listener: a familiar bedroom-intrusion frame with an unresolved ending.
A figure over a sleeping person is a stock frame. But the attached detail is a distinctive combination: a living Waikiki dancer the caller had watched, a momentary “snake dance” impression, and a “familiar” said to follow them home. Comparison with the rest of the archive carries minimal weight at this early stage, so the published score is provisional.
Evidence for and against
- An unusual link to a living performer rather than a dead person or the building.
- The reported momentary visual impression of a snake dance while watching her.
- The core event, a shape standing over a bed, is a very common motif.
- The “followed me home” structure is a familiar ghost-story shape.
- The “familiar” idea is stated loosely: [quote withheld]
- Similarity to other stories in the archive cannot be meaningfully estimated in the pilot.
- 0:43
- 1:28
What the model inferred (not said on air): Model estimate of about 58. The score compared with the rest of the archive is provisional and expected to shift as the archive grows.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story about their own impressions and about their wife’s scream and flight from the room.; Secondhand (relayed) report of the figure over the bed, attributed to the caller’s wife, who does not speak on air.; No photograph, recording, document, or other physical evidence claimed.. The originality score blends the model's score (58) 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.
- The wife may have had a hallucination from sleep or a partial waking. She was asleep, woke abruptly in distress, described a figure, and then fell back asleep immediately. · The caller says she was asleep, that she had to “come to,” and that she went back to sleep almost immediately, [quote withheld]
- Suggestion or expectation may have shaped their reading of events. The caller had already been strongly unsettled by the dancer earlier the same evening, and formed their view of the later event the next morning. · The caller describes being “completely unnerved” by the dancer and the eye contact before returning to the room, and says their conclusion was reached [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story links a presence reported over the bed not to the place or the dead, but to a living performer the caller had watched earlier that evening. The caller frames it as the woman’s “familiar.” The caller also describes a brief impression of a “snake dance” while watching her.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.