A small limping figure, a 1932 diary, and a drowned boy identified
A caller who identifies herself only by her location tells Art Bell that a small, limping gray figure, a mold smell, a clock chiming thirteen times, and a failing light bulb began recurring in her home at 10 after 11 each night. She links the events to a 1932 child's diary that she says appeared on her kitchen counter. It led her to a boy said to have drowned in the neighboring town. A Catholic priest reportedly told her it was a soul that did not rest. She says that after she showed the boy his death certificate, the events 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 1997.mp3”, starting at 2:41:24). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says she was calling from [quote withheld] one mile from what she called the Iroquois burial ground, and that seven years in the funeral business had produced nothing unusual. She says she then divorced and lived alone. As a girl she had visited her parents' neighbors, where an old woman talked to her dead son. After the caller moved back two doors away, the woman died the year she moved there and left her the son's little chair. She reports that one August 2nd at 10 after 11 p.m. Eastern, while watching the news, she smelled mold and saw a small gray figure, about 4 feet 2 inches tall, run through limping, growl, and run up the stairs. The next night, she says, her clock chimed thirteen times at the same hour. The following night the same smell and event recurred. She told her mother, who she says thought she was “nuts.” Her sister and the sister's policeman boyfriend sat with her. At 10 after 11, she reports, the light bulb flashed and its filament split, and they ran out while she stayed. She replaced the bulb and saw the same thing again the next night. She says she then found a small 1932 child's diary on her kitchen counter, containing the name [name withheld], and that her search led her to a drowned boy. A Catholic priest, she says, told her it was a soul that did not rest, and the priest visited. She reports that after she showed the boy his copied death certificate and told him to move on, he never came back.
Reported events, in order
- 0:03
The caller introduces herself as calling from [quote withheld] She says she lives one mile from the Iroquois burial ground and that seven years in the funeral business produced nothing.
- 0:16
She says she divorced her husband and lived alone.
- 0:36
She recalls that, as a girl, she visited her parents' neighbors: an old woman who talked to her dead son and would not accept his death.
- 0:50
After the caller moved back two doors from that house, the old woman died the year she moved there and left her the son's little chair.
- 1:05
On a stated August 2nd at 10 after 11 p.m. Eastern, while she was watching the news, she smelled mold. A small gray figure about 4 feet 2 inches tall ran through limping, growled, and ran up the stairs.
- 1:37
The next night her clock at 10 after 11 chimed thirteen times.
- 1:57
The following night the same thing happened at the same time with the same smell.
- 2:10
She told her mother, who thought she was “nuts.”
- 2:13
Her sister and the sister's policeman boyfriend sat with her. At 10 after 11 the light bulb flashed and the filament split, and they ran out while she stayed.
- 2:36
She replaced the bulb. The next night the same bulb event occurred. Going into the kitchen, she found a small 1932 child's diary on the counter, ending August 26th, containing the name [name withheld].
- 3:05
A minister would not help. A Catholic priest said such things are possible and called it a soul that does not rest. The priest visited the following night.
- 3:28
At the priest's visit the events reportedly came through again, and the priest said she had [quote withheld]
- 3:41
The name [name withheld] was found to be from the neighboring town of Mechanicville. A person looking at the book said it belonged to [name withheld], who drowned, and the caller connected the name to her neighbor [name withheld].
- 4:09
She dreamed of an old-fashioned bicycle with a bent wheel.
- 4:24
At City Hall she says she found the death certificate: an adopted child out of Saratoga, obtained through a newspaper, whose father bought him a bike. He was caught on a railroad track by the river at 6 p.m., and the body was recovered the following afternoon.
- 4:54
On the priest's advice she showed the boy his copied death certificate and told him he had to move on. She says he never came back.
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· 1:17
The caller reports seeing a small gray figure, about four foot two, come running through her house limping.
- observation· 1:26
The caller reports the figure growled and ran up the stairs.
- observation· 1:11
The caller reports a smell like mold with the first event.
- observation· 1:37
The caller reports her clock chiming thirteen times at 10 after 11 the following night.
- observation· 2:26
The caller reports a light bulb flashing and its filament splitting in half while her sister and the sister's boyfriend were present.
- observation· 2:44
The caller reports finding an unfamiliar small book on her kitchen counter.
- observation· 4:09
The caller reports a dream of an old-fashioned bicycle with a bent wheel.
- hearsay· 3:19
The Catholic priest told the caller it was [quote withheld] This is the caller's report of what the priest said.
- hearsay· 3:36
The priest, having visited, told the caller she had [quote withheld]
- hearsay· 3:56
The caller reports that a person looking at the book said it belonged to [name withheld] and that he had drowned.
- interpretation· 5:01
The caller concludes the figure was the drowned boy and that showing him his death certificate ended the events.
- host statement· 5:12
The host asserts that such things occur and that the Catholic Church is reluctant to admit it.
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 specific, sequenced firsthand story with named towns and a stated date. It is weakened by inconsistencies (two different names for the book's owner, the death-certificate wording) and by ordinary explanations that fit without being ruled out. It is roughly a typical clear firsthand story that no one else backs up, below the level of [quote withheld] in the scoring guide.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand telling from the person who reports the events.
- Concrete specifics: a stated date and time ([quote withheld] Eastern Time), the figure's height, the number of chimes, and the diary's date and end date.
- She first offers an ordinary reading of the first sighting: [quote withheld]
- The story is partly inconsistent. The diary name is given as [name withheld], but the book is elsewhere said to belong to [name withheld]. She also says [quote withheld] where she seems to mean she found it.
- Ordinary explanations fit easily and are not addressed: a briefly glimpsed figure while tired, a bulb filament failing, a clock miscount, and a book already in the household.
- The story escalates from [quote withheld] to a full spirit story after the priest's input.
- Several passages are garbled or marked as smoothed in the automatic transcript, so the wording may not be reliable.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift between the caller, the caller, and the caller during the call.
- 1:05
- 1:33
- 4:27
- 3:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores are my editorial judgment: source proximity 22/25 (direct witness), specificity 17/20 (many concrete details), internal consistency 12/20 (two names, garbled passages), alternative explanations 6/20 (ordinary readings fit easily), and calibration 7/15 (some acknowledgment of possible misperception, but the claim escalates). The sum is 64. The story is firsthand and long enough to assess, so no cap applies.
Only the caller's word is actually present, along with claimed but silent witnesses and claimed but unexamined items. Checkable names and places are given, but nothing was verified. This fits the 11 to 25 band.
Evidence for and against
- Specifics that could in principle be checked are given: Mechanicville, Saratoga, City Hall records, a dated diary, and named individuals.
- Other witnesses are claimed for the light-bulb event and the priest's visit.
- Physical items are claimed to exist: the book or diary and a copied death certificate.
- No document, recording, or photograph is examined on air.
- The claimed witnesses (sister, boyfriend, priest) do not speak on the program.
- No outside check was performed.
- Names may be mis-transcribed, which would make even the checkable details unreliable.
- 2:13
- 4:24
What the model inferred (not said on air): The band placement is mine: [quote withheld] plus “other witnesses claimed” puts it above word-only but well below examined evidence.
A limping, growling child figure inside the home and repeated nightly intrusions give sustained unease. But the priest's visit and the ending remove the threat, keeping it moderately unsettling rather than frightening.
Evidence for and against
- A small, limping, child-like figure that growls and runs up the stairs inside the home.
- Nightly repetition at the same hour for several nights, with escalating clock and light-bulb effects.
- The subject is a child who drowned, and the household object is a dead child's chair.
- The story ends with closure and the figure's absence: [quote withheld]
- The caller says she stayed when her companions fled, and the priest offers a gentle explanation of a soul at rest.
- The figure's appearance (“little gray thing”) is thinly described, so the imagery is less vivid than the events suggest.
- 1:26
- 1:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): I am rating the story's effect on a listener, not its truth. The child ghost and the nightly repetition raise it above a single unclear event, while the resolved ending lowers it.
Stock haunted-house elements are present. But the mysteriously appearing diary used to identify a drowned child, and the death-certificate ending, are distinctive combinations that lift it above the purely familiar.
Evidence for and against
- A 1932 child's diary that reportedly appears on the counter and lets the spirit be identified.
- The ending, in which the dead boy is shown his own death certificate and told to move on.
- The pattern is familiar: a haunted home, a child ghost, a clock, lights, and an object that appears.
- A clergyman confirming a restless spirit is a recurring device.
- The score is provisional until it can be compared with the rest of the archive.
- 2:44
- 4:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): The originality score is my own estimate from the content (about 58). The comparison with the rest of the archive cannot be made here, so treat it as provisional.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand word only.; Claimed but unexamined physical items: the book or diary that appeared and a copied death certificate.; Claimed but silent witnesses: her sister, the sister's policeman boyfriend, and a Catholic priest.. 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 misperception of a person, animal, shadow, or object while tired, or an image seen while falling asleep. · The caller says she had been watching the news late, thought [quote withheld] and “I'm tired,” and describes a single, briefly glimpsed figure moving through the room.
- Ordinary mechanical faults: a striking clock miscounting or being misheard, and a light bulb failing naturally. · The clock “chimed 13 times” and the host immediately disputes the count (“13, well, no...”). The light events are described as a bulb filament failing.
- The book was already in the household (for example, belonging to family members), or someone else placed it there, and it was only noticed that night. · The book is said to appear on a counter in a home the caller had recently moved back to, with no witness to its arrival.
What stands out
The story's distinguishing feature is procedural rather than sensory. An unexplained child's diary is said to appear and is used to identify a drowned boy, and the events then end when the boy is shown his own death certificate. The caller also frames the story against her seven years in the funeral business, where she says nothing had happened.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.