Ouija board channeling and a father’s figure in an Ohio farmhouse
[name withheld], calling from San Clemente, tells Art Bell about something they say happened when they were about fourteen or fifteen, in an old farmhouse in Ohio. They and a girlfriend used a Ouija board, a Christmas gift, to channel spirits. The caller says that on their first try they seemed to watch from outside their body. A spirit complained about the candlelight, their dead father briefly appeared, and then their vision went black and showed two-headed serpents and red-eyed rats. The caller says they came to with the lights on and their friend panicking. The caller ran to the bathroom, unable to breathe, with chest pain and a burning feeling. They 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 1996.mp3”, starting at 2:01:48). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], calling from San Clemente, tells Art Bell a story they say happened when they were about fourteen or fifteen, living in an old farmhouse in Ohio. The caller says they got a Ouija board for Christmas and played with it with a girlfriend. Both were interested in the supernatural, and the board [quote withheld] to channeling. The caller says their friend could channel spirits and that they used the board as a conduit, with the friend doing the channeling for a couple of weeks. Then [name withheld] decided to try it. The caller describes having their eyes closed but being able to see the room, and feeling [quote withheld] The caller says they heard the talk between the caller and their friend. They also heard the spirit complain that the room was too bright and ask that the candle be blown out, and their friend did so. Then they looked to the side of the room and saw their father, who died when they were two, standing there. The caller says they went to hug him and he disappeared. Their vision went black, and they began seeing [quote withheld] The caller says they next realized the lights were on and their friend was panicking. The caller ran to the bathroom, unable to breathe, with chest pain and a burning feeling over their body. Asked their age, the caller says they are 25 now. The caller says they never did anything like that again. Art Bell tells the caller that what they did was dangerous, and the caller agrees: [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:09
The caller says they were about fourteen or fifteen and living in an old farmhouse in Ohio.
- 0:22
The caller says they got a Ouija board for Christmas and played with a girlfriend.
- 0:43
The caller says the board [quote withheld] to channeling and that their friend could channel spirits.
- 0:50
The caller says they used the board as a conduit, with their friend channeling for a couple of weeks.
- 1:04
The caller says they decided to try channeling themself.
- 1:12
The caller says their eyes were closed but they could see the room, and they felt another spirit’s presence in their body.
- 1:30
The caller says they heard the spirit complain about the brightness and ask for the candle to be blown out.
- 2:07
The caller says their friend blew the candle out.
- 2:10
The caller says they saw their father, who died when they were two, standing at the side of the room.
- 2:17
The caller says they went to hug him and he disappeared.
- 2:28
The caller says their vision went black and they saw two-headed serpents, red eyes, and rats.
- 2:43
The caller says they came to with the lights on and their friend panicking.
- 2:50
The caller says they ran to the bathroom, unable to breathe, with chest pain and a burning feeling.
- 3:03
The caller says they are 25 now.
- 3:10
The caller says they never did anything like that again.
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· 1:12
The caller says they could see the room with their eyes closed.
- observation· 1:12
The caller says they felt another spirit’s presence in their body.
- observation· 1:59
The caller says the spirit complained about the candlelight and asked for it to be put out.
- observation· 2:10
The caller says they saw their dead father standing at the side of the room.
- observation· 2:23
The caller says the figure vanished when they tried to hug it.
- observation· 2:35
The caller says their vision turned black and they saw two-headed serpents and red-eyed rats.
- observation· 2:50
The caller says they could not breathe and had chest pain and a burning feeling.
- observation· 0:43
The caller says their friend could channel spirits and did so for about two weeks.
- interpretation· 3:24
The caller concludes that the practice was dangerous and should not be repeated.
- host statement· 3:06
The host says that what the caller did was very dangerous.
- host statement· 3:41
The host says that teenage girls and Ouija boards make a volatile combination.
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.
This is a firsthand story with a clear sequence and some concrete detail (the caller’s age, the state, a Christmas board, a father who died when they were two). But an altered state and expectation easily explain it, and little can be checked.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand telling of their own experience.
- The sequence is coherent and matches the host’s questions.
- The experience happened in a deliberately altered, expectant setting (candle, eyes closed, channeling) that ordinary explanations fit well.
- No place, name, date, or record that can be checked.
- The line [quote withheld] is almost certainly the host’s question. The reply “24” is labeled as the host’s.
- The only location details are “Ohio” and “old farmhouse,” so the setting cannot be checked.
- 0:09
- 1:12
- 2:10
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores add up to 55: source 20, specificity 10, consistency 14, alternative explanations 5, calibration 6. The self-induced trance setting keeps the alternative-explanations score low.
The story rests on the caller’s word alone. A second participant is claimed but does not speak on air, and no documents or records are offered.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are thin: a state (“Ohio”) and an age ([quote withheld]).
- No names, dates, address, records, or objects offered.
- The transcript cannot show whether the girlfriend’s panic is independent backing or simply the caller’s report.
- 0:03
- 0:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): A claimed witness puts it in the 11–25 band. Nothing was examined or verified.
A hoped-for meeting with their dead father collapses into a black-and-red vision of serpents and rats, followed by breathlessness and chest pain. The intrusion and physical distress raise the score. No harm to others is reported, and the caller stopped.
Evidence for and against
- Physical distress: [quote withheld]
- Ominous images: [quote withheld]
- The caller came through it and simply stopped the practice. No ongoing threat is described.
- Whether a listener finds the religious or occult setting frightening is a matter of taste.
- 2:35
- 2:50
- 2:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): The disturbance comes from the sudden reversal of a longed-for reunion and from the reported bodily distress.
The Ouija-board setting is familiar. The two-headed serpent and rat vision and the view of the room with closed eyes are distinctive. This is a provisional score.
Evidence for and against
- Distinctive images: [quote withheld]
- A Ouija board and channeling are stock devices in this kind of story.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is provisional. A Ouija session gone wrong is a recurring setup in this archive.
- The two-headed serpent images may be more distinctive than the score reflects.
- 0:50
- 2:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): The Ouija and channeling setting is familiar. The content of the vision and the view from outside their body are the distinctive parts.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story; A claimed second witness present at the time, who does not speak on air; No object, recording, document, or photograph offered. The originality score blends the model's score (48) 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 self-induced trance, or an absorbed, eyes-closed imaginative state during the channeling session, could account for “seeing” the room and the sense of another presence. · The caller describes deliberately trying to channel and says [quote withheld]
- Expectation and the ideomotor effect (small unconscious muscle movements) around the Ouija board, plus weeks of earlier sessions, could account for the reported messages from spirits. · [quote withheld] and their friend channeled for [quote withheld]
- The breathlessness, chest pain, and burning could be an acute stress or panic reaction at the moment the caller came out of the session. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story combines a Ouija-board channeling session with a view of the room while their eyes were closed ([quote withheld]), a claimed appearance of the caller’s dead father, and a sudden switch to a vision of two-headed serpents and red-eyed rats. The caller does not explain the serpents. The host supplies the idea that it was dangerous.
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