Santa head toy activates and phone rings in a closed San Diego restaurant
A caller tells Art Bell about a night a few years earlier when they worked a graveyard shift at a San Diego hotel that shared its property with a restaurant. The caller says an internal phone rang from the closed restaurant with nobody on the other end. The caller also says the lone cleaner ran out saying a clap-activated Santa Claus head toy had sounded on its own. The caller ends by calling it [quote withheld] they had almost forgotten.
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 2:16:13). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Art Bell mentions a skull toy with clattering teeth. That prompts the caller to say they want to tell something “real fast” that they had almost forgotten. The caller says that a few years earlier they worked a graveyard shift at a hotel in San Diego. From where they sat, a restaurant stood directly across, sharing the property. The restaurant was already closed, but one man remained inside cleaning up. The caller explains that the two buildings were linked by an internal phone system in which you hit three numbers to call back and forth.
The caller says the man was in the back of the restaurant when he suddenly came running out into the lobby. Just seconds before that, the caller says, the phone rang. The caller could tell from the switchboard that the call came from the restaurant, and when they looked over to see who was calling, nobody was there.
The man then came over, according to the caller, carrying one of the little talking heads [quote withheld] This one was a Santa Claus that says “ho, ho, ho” and must be activated by clapping or noise. The caller says the man told them the toy had been going off, and that nobody had been clapping or making any such noise. The caller adds that the man came out a side door, which was not in the caller’s line of sight, at the same time as the phone rang. It was around Christmas, and the caller estimates it was maybe three years earlier. The caller calls it a strange incident and says they had almost forgotten it until the skull was mentioned.
Reported events, in order
- 0:04
The caller says Art’s mention of a skull toy with clattering teeth reminds the caller of a nearly forgotten incident.
- 0:16
The caller says they worked a graveyard shift at a hotel in San Diego a few years earlier.
- 0:21
The caller says a restaurant sharing the property sat directly across from where they sat.
- 0:27
The caller says the restaurant was already closed, but one man remained inside cleaning up.
- 0:31
The caller describes an internal phone link between the two buildings that used three numbers.
- 0:38
The caller says the man was in the back and suddenly came running out into the lobby.
- 0:44
The caller says the phone rang from the restaurant just seconds before, and when they looked over, nobody was there.
- 0:54
The caller says the man came over around Christmas with a Santa Claus head toy that says “ho, ho, ho” and needs clapping to activate.
- 1:08
The caller says the man told them the toy was going off with nobody clapping or making noise.
- 1:13
The caller says the man came out a side door, outside the caller’s line of sight, at the same time the phone rang.
- 1:21
The caller calls it a strange incident they had almost forgotten until the skull was mentioned.
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· 0:44
The caller says an internal phone rang from the closed restaurant and that when they looked over to see who was calling, nobody was there.
- observation· 0:38
The caller says the lone cleaner suddenly came running out of the restaurant into the lobby.
- hearsay· 1:08
The caller reports, on the cleaner’s behalf, that the Santa head toy was going off with nobody clapping or making noise.
- observation· 1:19
The caller says the man came out of a side door at the same moment the phone rang.
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 brief but clear firsthand story of one incident, with a concrete setting and some detail. But the toy part is secondhand, and ordinary explanations fit both parts easily.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand report of the phone ringing from the closed restaurant with nobody in sight.
- Specific setting and time: a graveyard shift at a San Diego hotel, an adjoining restaurant, around Christmas, about three years earlier.
- A coherent, ordered sequence that answers the question about the skull toy. The caller does not escalate their claims.
- The toy going off comes secondhand from the cleaner. The caller did not witness it.
- No names, dates, records, or documents. The place is only “a hotel” and “a restaurant.”
- A wrong number or misdial on the internal line, and noise or a person setting off the toy, both fit the reported events.
- The year is vague ([quote withheld]).
- The caller does not say whether the phone call carried any voice or message.
- The labels showing who is speaking are automatic, and one line near the end is attributed to the caller.
- 0:21
- 0:44
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): I judged source proximity and consistency from the caller’s own telling: the caller was present and describes the phone directly, while the toy is passed on. The score for alternative explanations is my own view that ordinary causes fit easily. The caller does not say so.
Nothing that can be checked is offered: no names, dates, records, photographs, or on-air second witness. The story rests on the caller’s word and a relayed report.
Evidence for and against
- A claimed second person (the cleaner) is said to have experienced part of the event.
- Some details could be checked in principle: San Diego, a hotel and restaurant sharing property, an internal phone link.
- No documents, recording, or physical trace is claimed.
- The second witness does not speak on air. The caller relays his account.
- The businesses and people are unnamed, so nothing can be located or verified.
- The caller does not say whether any phone record of the call could exist.
- The caller does not say whether the toy was kept or examined.
- 1:08
- 0:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the scoring guide’s band for stories resting on the caller’s word alone. A claimed second witness does not count as independent backing because that witness is not on air.
Mildly eerie. A toy and a phone seem to operate by themselves in a closed building, with no threat, injury, or lasting dread, and the caller treats it lightly.
Evidence for and against
- A clap-activated toy is said to sound with nobody clapping.
- A phone rings from a closed restaurant with nobody on the other end.
- The man runs out into the lobby at that moment.
- No menace, harm, or escalating activity.
- The caller calls it [quote withheld] and says they almost forgot it.
- The setting is ordinary, a hotel and restaurant, and not threatening.
- The caller’s way of speaking is not treated as evidence either way.
- It is unknown whether the phone call had any content.
- 1:09
- 1:21
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is my judgment of how the story lands for a listener. The caller’s own words ([quote withheld]) are part of the transcript.
A familiar [quote withheld] setup with a distinctive detail: a clap-triggered Santa toy sounding and a phone ringing at the same moment across two adjoining buildings.
Evidence for and against
- The clap-to-activate Santa head toy and the internal three-digit phone link are relatively distinctive props.
- Two strange events are reported as simultaneous, one involving the man coming out of a side door.
- Toys that start on their own and unexplained phone rings are common ghost-story elements.
- The story is a short anecdote with no escalation or resolution.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from one excerpt. This is my estimate.
- 0:54
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is my provisional estimate based on content, not a comparison with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story about the phone ringing with nobody there; A secondhand report, passed on by the caller, about the toy going off; No documents, recording, photograph, or on-air second witness. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 phone call was a wrong number, crossed line, or misdial on the internal three-digit system, not a strange event. · The caller describes an internal phone link where [quote withheld] to reach the other building.
- The Santa head toy was set off by the man himself, by noise in the room, or by someone else. It did not sound on its own. · The caller says the toy needs clapping or noise to activate. The man told the caller about the toy’s behavior, and the caller did not see it themself.
What stands out
Two small electronic oddities happened in the same few seconds across two adjoining buildings: a clap-activated Santa toy sounding and an internal phone ringing with no one calling. The caller presents it as an offhand oddity, not a haunting. The toy part comes secondhand from the man cleaning the restaurant.
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