Children startle a transparent figure in an unfinished basement
A caller from Vancouver, British Columbia, tells Art Bell about something the caller says happened when they were about four or five, while visiting their godparents. The caller and their brother went down to an unfinished basement to find their cousin. They saw a transparent white figure in an old-style suit peering around a door frame. The children shouted, and the figure reportedly spun around as if startled and fled the length of the basement. The door it reached opened and shut. Their parents searched the backyard, assuming a burglar had been seen, and found nothing.
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 5:02:59). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, speaking from Vancouver, British Columbia, says the experience happened when they were [quote withheld] Their brother, who was with them, was roughly three and a half years older. They were not living in Vancouver then but visiting people the caller calls their godparents. The caller says the children were watching television upstairs while the adults, the caller's parents and the other couple, played canasta in the kitchen. When the news came on at ten o'clock and the children lost interest, they decided to go and see what their cousin was doing. The cousin had a bedroom in the basement. The caller describes the basement as unfinished, a bare rectangle with two walls built into a corner to form the cousin's room. The caller says they passed the adults in the kitchen and went down the stairs. Halfway down, they looked across toward the cousin's room and saw a transparent, white, shadowy figure. The caller describes it as a young man, in his late twenties judging now. It wore a loose old-style suit of the kind the caller associates with the 1940s. It was peering around the door frame as if spying on the cousin and not wanting to be seen. The caller says they could see through it, including part of a dartboard that the figure's left shoulder was covering, and that details appeared as shades of white. The caller says they were first down the steps and turned to go back up. The caller and their brother [quote withheld] and the figure swung around to look at them with wide eyes, as though it had been startled. The caller says it then ran the length of the basement toward a swinging door that led through a mushroom room to the backyard and alley. It crossed the space so fast that it appeared as a blur of limbs and left a white streak as tall as the figure. The door, the caller says, did not pass through it but swung open quickly and shut. Their parents came to the top of the steps, the children told their story, and they went outside to check. The caller says their parents apparently assumed they had seen a burglar, and that there was nothing in the yard. The caller adds that the children were not frightened and soon found it “neat.”
Reported events, in order
- 0:45
The caller says that when they were about four or five, they and their brother (about three and a half years older) were visiting their godparents in Vancouver.
- 1:00
The children were watching television upstairs while the adults played canasta in the kitchen.
- 1:11
Around ten o'clock the news came on. The children lost interest and decided to go down to see their cousin, who had a bedroom in an unfinished basement.
- 1:41
Halfway down the steps they reportedly saw a transparent white figure across the basement, near the cousin's room.
- 2:09
The caller describes the figure as a young man in his late twenties wearing an old-style suit, peering around a door frame as if watching the cousin.
- 2:33
The caller says they could see through the figure, including part of a dartboard its shoulder was covering.
- 2:44
Both children shouted at the same time. The figure reportedly swung around with wide eyes as if startled.
- 3:00
The figure ran the length of the basement toward a swinging door leading to a mushroom room and the back alley.
- 3:17
The caller says it crossed the basement in about half a second, leaving a white streak, and the door swung open quickly and shut.
- 3:33
The parents appeared at the top of the steps, and the children told them what they had seen.
- 3:37
They went out to the backyard to check. The caller's parents apparently assumed it was a burglar, and nothing was found.
- 3:48
The caller says the children were not frightened and quickly found it “neat.”
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· 1:42
The caller says that, halfway down the basement steps, they and their brother saw a transparent, white, shadowy figure near their cousin's room.
- observation· 1:51
The caller says the figure seemed to be looking at or spying on their cousin, peering around a door frame.
- observation· 2:09
The caller says the figure wore an old-style suit and looked like a young man in his late twenties.
- observation· 2:33
The caller says objects behind the figure were visible through it, for example part of a dartboard covered by its shoulder.
- observation· 2:44
The caller says they and their brother shouted at the same time, and the figure turned as if startled.
- observation· 3:17
The caller says the figure crossed the basement at great speed, leaving a white streak, and the far door opened and shut.
- observation· 3:25
The caller says the door did not pass through the figure but swung open quickly and shut.
- hearsay· 3:40
The caller says their parents apparently assumed the children had seen a burglar, and that a search of the backyard found nothing.
- interpretation· 3:45
The caller presents the figure as a ghost that became visible while snooping and was caught.
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 clear, well-ordered firsthand story with concrete household and building detail. But it rests on a single voice on the air recalling a childhood episode, with no date, name, or checkable record. The caller offers an easy ordinary explanation, an intruder.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story from an adult describing what they say they saw at the time.
- Concrete sequence and layout: canasta in the kitchen, the ten o'clock news, an unfinished basement, the cousin's room in the corner, a dartboard, and a swinging door to a mushroom room.
- Sensory specifics: the description of the suit, the see-through white shading, and the white streak when the figure moved.
- The story is a childhood memory recounted decades later, with no date given.
- The only other claimed witness, the brother, does not speak on the air.
- The parents' own response, according to the caller, was to treat it as a burglar.
- No date or year is stated for the events, only the caller's age at the time.
- Some transcript lines split mid-sentence between the host and caller labels, making exact credit for a few phrases uncertain.
- 1:42
- 3:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects the parts I judged from content: strong first-person framing and a story that holds together, set against limited specificity (no era, no address, no names) and a plausible ordinary explanation. I am not assessing the caller's sincerity.
The story has a few specifics that could be checked and one claimed extra witness. But nothing has been verified, no documentation exists, and the second witness never speaks. It sits in the low range.
Evidence for and against
- Specifics that could be checked are given but not checked: a location (Vancouver), a house layout, a mushroom room, ages, and a ten o'clock news time.
- A second witness is claimed (the brother).
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is mentioned.
- No names, address, or date that could be checked.
- The claimed second witness does not speak on the air, so no independent account is available.
- The caller never gives a year, surname, or street, so even the limited specifics cannot be followed up.
- 0:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide, I treat a claimed witness who does not speak on the air as assertion, not backing.
The setting (an unfinished basement, night, a figure peering at a relative's room) is quietly unsettling. But the twist of the startled ghost and the lack of threat, contact, or harm keep it well below frightening.
Evidence for and against
- A see-through figure is reported watching a relative from a door frame in a basement bedroom.
- The figure moves abruptly across the space, and a door opens and shuts by itself.
- The episode is left unresolved.
- The caller says they and their brother were not scared and found it “neat” shortly afterward.
- The host frames the story as a comic reversal (“human scaring ghosts”), and the caller compares the figure to Ghostbusters.
- The caller's own emotional reaction is reported only in summary ([quote withheld]).
- 1:51
- 3:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is about the story's effect on a listener, not its truth. I weighted the harmless ending and humor down and the spying figure up.
The story uses a familiar transparent-figure frame. But the reversal, with the witnesses startling the ghost and the ghost fleeing, and the specific visual details give it a distinctive twist beyond stock elements.
Evidence for and against
- The reversal is distinctive: the witnesses reportedly startle the ghost, which reacts with wide eyes and bolts.
- An unusual mix of details: a figure apparently spying on a living person, an old-style suit, a dartboard visible through the shoulder, a white streak, and a self-opening door.
- The core elements are stock: a transparent white figure, an old-fashioned suit, a basement, a nighttime household setting.
- A ghost that flees when noticed appears in other stories.
- No comparison with the rest of the archive was available for this analysis.
- 2:49
- 2:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is my provisional score based on content. The comparison with the rest of the archive is heavily discounted because the pilot archive is small, so the published originality score should be treated as provisional.
Scoring confidence 0.68 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: the caller's firsthand story (a childhood memory, recounted decades later); a claimed second witness (the caller's brother), named as present but not speaking on the air; no photograph, recording, document, or physical trace offered. The originality score blends the model's score (62) 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 real intruder or household member may have been briefly in the open basement, seen from a distance and in poor light from the stairwell. · The caller says the children saw the figure only from partway down a staircase, across an open unfinished basement, and that their parents went outside looking for a burglar.
- A trick of the eye in low light: two young children may have turned an indistinct shape or reflection in an unfinished basement into a human figure. · The caller reports seeing details such as a dartboard “through” the figure and an old-style suit. That fits a partial view being filled in by the viewers.
What stands out
The story reverses the usual direction of fright. The caller says the children surprised the see-through figure, which reacted with wide eyes and fled across the basement, leaving a white streak and a door that swung open and shut. The caller also describes the figure as seeming to spy on a living family member from behind a door frame.
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