A bell heard in the car and a puff of air in the shower after a boyfriend's death
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld] tells Art Bell that a boyfriend was killed about fifteen years earlier. After that, they say, they repeatedly heard a bell-like sound from the passenger side of their car, and a friend also reported hearing it. The caller also says they once felt a puff of air enter their ear in a locked bathroom. The caller puts both down to the dead boyfriend, partly on the advice of a psychic. The host cuts the call off at the top of the hour.
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 1997.mp3”, starting at 1:17:19). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller gives their name as [name withheld], “from Nevada, California,” and tells Art Bell about events they place [quote withheld] [name withheld] says a boyfriend of theirs was killed violently and that he used to wear a belt clip holding a key ring. After he died, they say, they heard a bell-like sound coming from between the bucket seat of their car and the passenger door [quote withheld] The first time, they say, they hit the brakes and almost were rear-ended. They kept hearing it, told a friend, and the friend eventually heard it too. They say they cleaned the car out from “stem to stern” and found nothing.
They say the friend told the caller she had seen her own father after he died, when she was a young girl. [name withheld] says they assume the boyfriend [quote withheld] The friend, they say, persuaded them to visit a psychic. The psychic described the boyfriend “to a T” and said there was unfinished business and that the caller should sit quietly and talk to him. They say they felt stupid doing that and did not. On a later occasion, they say, they were in a shower in a bathroom with no ceiling fan, no window, and the door shut and locked. The caller was facing the showerhead with a wall on the right when something like a straw-blown puff of air went into their ear. They turned, knowing the wall was there, and say it scared them.
They say they know it was him because that was the kind of “game player” he was. They also describe giving a male friend a ride home with their girlfriend along. The girlfriend later said the bell [quote withheld] as soon as [name withheld] closed the car door, and that the dead boyfriend was “really mad.” [name withheld] says they later contacted the boyfriend's sister to ask about a book, On Death and Dying, that the mother had been given. The host ends the call at the top of the hour.
Reported events, in order
- 0:14
The caller says a boyfriend of theirs was killed violently about fifteen years earlier.
- 0:23
The caller says he wore a belt clip holding a key ring.
- 0:30
After his death, they report hearing a bell between the car's bucket seat and the passenger door, where he used to ride.
- 0:41
They say the first time they heard it they hit the brakes and almost were rear-ended.
- 0:50
They say they told a friend, who did not think they were nuts and eventually heard it herself.
- 0:57
They say they cleaned the car out completely and found nothing.
- 1:12
They say the friend told them of having seen her own father after he died, when she was a young girl.
- 1:30
The friend persuaded them to see a psychic, who described the boyfriend and spoke of unfinished business and of talking to him alone.
- 1:41
They say they felt stupid about the advice and were not going to do it.
- 2:08
In a locked, windowless bathroom with no ceiling fan, they report a puff of air like a straw-blow entering their ear. They turned, knowing a wall was there.
- 2:20
They say they know it was him because that was the kind of game player he was.
- 2:53
They describe driving a male friend home with their girlfriend present. After they walked him to the door, the girlfriend reported the bell ringing continuously.
- 3:15
The girlfriend reportedly said the dead boyfriend was “really mad.”
- 3:47
They say they contacted the boyfriend's sister to ask the name of a book, On Death and Dying, that the mother had been given.
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
They heard a bell-like sound between the car's bucket seat and the passenger door after their boyfriend's death.
- observation· 0:41
The first time they heard it, they hit the brakes and almost were rear-ended.
- observation· 0:57
They cleaned the car thoroughly and found nothing in it.
- hearsay· 0:50
A friend they told about the sound did not think they were nuts.
- hearsay· 0:56
The friend reportedly also heard the bell in the car.
- hearsay· 1:12
The friend told the caller she had seen her father after he died, when she was a young girl.
- interpretation· 1:16
They assume the boyfriend let the friend hear him too.
- hearsay· 1:30
A psychic they visited described the boyfriend accurately.
- hearsay· 1:35
The psychic said there was unfinished business between them and that the caller should talk to him alone in the quiet.
- observation· 2:08
A puff of air like a straw-blow entered their ear in a locked, windowless bathroom with no ceiling fan.
- interpretation· 2:20
They concluded the sensation in their ear was the boyfriend.
- hearsay· 3:22
The girlfriend reportedly said the bell rang continuously after [name withheld] closed the car door.
- hearsay· 3:15
The girlfriend reportedly said the dead boyfriend was “really mad.”
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 firsthand story with some concrete detail (a bucket seat and passenger door; a bathroom with no fan, no window, and the door locked) and a mostly consistent sequence. But it is brief and vague on time and place, and ordinary explanations for a ringing sound in a car and an air current in a bathroom fit fairly easily.
Evidence for and against
- The caller directly experienced the car sound and the shower sensation.
- The conditions in the shower are specific: no ceiling fan, no window, door shut and locked.
- They report checking the car and finding nothing, which addresses one ordinary possibility.
- They mark the psychic's account as something they were told, and say they did not follow the advice.
- No dates, no place name beyond “Nevada, California,” and no names for the friend, the psychic, or the boyfriend.
- Very little description of the bell sound other than that it was a bell.
- The host cuts the call off before the caller finishes.
- Easy ordinary explanations exist for both events (loose metal in the car; air movement in a bathroom).
- Some lines labeled as the host contain words that appear to belong to the caller.
- The friend who heard the bell and the girlfriend in the car are not clearly told apart.
- 0:30
- 0:57
- 1:54
- 2:20
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component scores: firsthand proximity high; specificity moderate; internal consistency good within a brief story; alternative explanations judged readily available; calibration moderate, because the caller states assumptions (“I'm assuming”) but also states firm conclusions ([quote withheld]).
There is nothing to check beyond the caller's own word and a claimed second witness who does not speak. No recording, photograph, document, or place is offered, and the book title the caller mentions was not followed up before the call ended.
Evidence for and against
- A second person is claimed to have heard the same sound.
- A specific book title is mentioned, though only as something the caller wanted to ask about.
- No physical evidence of any kind is claimed to exist.
- The claimed second witness does not speak on air.
- The call is ended before the book question is answered.
- It is unclear whether the friend who heard the bell is the same person as the girlfriend in the later car ride.
- 0:50
- 3:22
- 4:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at 11 to 25 because of a claimed but silent witness, with no documents examined on air. It is not higher because nothing in the transcript alone can in principle be checked.
The shower detail is truly unsettling: a puff of air entering the ear in a locked, windowless bathroom, with the caller turning toward a wall they know is there. A ringing bell tied to a dead man's seat is quietly eerie. There is no threat, harm, or growing dread.
Evidence for and against
- Air is reported entering their ear in a sealed bathroom.
- The bell reportedly rang continuously when the caller left a male friend at his door.
- They report being badly frightened the first time they heard the bell.
- The story is told in a conversational way and ends with an unrelated question about a book.
- No physical contact, injury, ghost, or menacing figure is reported.
- The caller describes the dead man as a “game player,” not as hostile.
- The story is cut off, so any later or more disturbing material is unknown.
- 2:08
- 3:22
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated in the middle range. A bodily intrusion into a private space raises it, and the lack of threat or escalation keeps it from going higher.
A dead partner who lingers and makes himself known is a familiar idea. But the specific details, a bell-like key-clip sound placed exactly between the bucket seat and the passenger door and a directed puff of air into the ear in a sealed shower, are distinctive.
Evidence for and against
- The car sound is placed at one specific seat position.
- The shower sensation is described as a directional straw-blow into the ear.
- A second witness reportedly heard the bell and took its nonstop ringing as anger.
- A visit from a dead loved one, a psychic's confirmation, and an unresolved attachment are common themes.
- No unusual kind of presence, setting, or story shape beyond the sound details.
- Originality is provisional in this pilot and may shift as the archive grows.
- 0:30
- 2:02
What the model inferred (not said on air): The automatic score is placed in the middle: a familiar visitation setup plus one or two unusual details of sensation.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story (live call); A claimed second witness who does not speak on air; No physical evidence, recording, or document offered. 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.
- A loose metal object or fitting in the car (such as a key clip or a seat mechanism) could make a steady ringing sound, especially as the car moved or doors were shut. · The caller says the man wore a belt clip holding keys, describes the sound as coming from between the bucket seat and the passenger door, and says they cleaned the car out [quote withheld]
- The feeling in the shower could be a small air current, or water or steam moving through gaps, tiles, or plumbing in a bathroom the caller describes as having no fan and no window. · The caller says the bathroom had [quote withheld] the door was shut and locked, and they were [quote withheld]
- Expectation or earlier suggestion could shape how an unclear sound or feeling is noticed and understood, since the caller had already been to a psychic who told them to talk to the dead man. · The caller says the friend [quote withheld] who spoke of “unfinished business,” before the shower incident happened.
What stands out
The sound that keeps coming back is a bell-like key-clip sound tied to one seat position in a car. The second reported event is a puff of air directed into the caller's ear in a sealed shower, not a figure or a voice. A friend is said to have heard the bell on her own and to have taken its nonstop ringing as the dead man's anger.
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