Rented Memphis house: light switch, waterbed displacement, ankle grab
A caller the host calls only “[name withheld]” describes a rented house in northeastern Memphis where they lived about four or five years before the broadcast. The caller says a light switched on and off while they showered in a locked house. The caller says something sat down on their waterbed and later grabbed their ankle. The caller’s roommate, girlfriend, and later wife and daughter are said to have had similar experiences. The caller says they never felt the presence was hostile, treated it casually, and eventually moved out while the roommate stayed on. The host closes by saying he doesn't believe the caller could have gone back to sleep.
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 4:12:57). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says they rented a house in the northeastern part of Memphis about four or five years earlier and shared it with a roommate. The caller's work kept them away for a week or two at a time, and the caller says the roommate would tell them about strange things that happened in the house while they were gone. On one return the caller found the roommate had decided to leave, so the caller says they were on their own there for a month or two. The caller was dating a woman who had a key to the house. One night while the caller was in the shower, with the door locked, burglar bars on the windows and doors, and all doors locked, the caller reports the light switch going on and off. The caller assumed their girlfriend had come in to scare them, but after drying off and walking through the living room the caller found no one there. In springtime, with windows open, curtains drawn back, and a ceiling fan running, the caller says they woke around 1:30 or 2 a.m., lit a cigarette, and felt somebody sit down on their waterbed. The caller looked at the mirrored headboard and saw no one, but reports feeling the bed move, the displacement of the water, and lumps where there had been none. The caller says they told it to either get up or lie down because they needed rest, finished the cigarette, and slept with one foot outside the sheets. After that, the caller says, something reached down and grabbed and shook their ankle. The caller adds that they once played hide-and-seek with it, that the woman they were dating and their roommate experienced the same things, and that the roommate still lives in the house while the caller has moved out. The caller says they have since married. One night the caller's wife, at the computer, kept hearing their daughter, who was sleeping on the floor with an overnight friend, say [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller says they rented a house in northeastern Memphis about four or five years earlier and lived there with a roommate.
- 0:13
Because the caller was away a week to two weeks at a time, the roommate reported strange things happening in the house in the caller’s absence.
- 0:26
The caller returned to find the roommate had decided to leave. The caller says they were on their own there for about a month or two, dating a woman who had a key.
- 0:46
In the shower, with the door locked and burglar bars on doors and windows, the caller reports the light switch going on and off.
- 1:02
The caller assumed their girlfriend was in the apartment, but after drying off and walking through the living room found no one there.
- 1:26
In spring, with windows open and a ceiling fan on, the caller woke around 1:30 or 2 a.m., lit a cigarette, and felt somebody sit down on their waterbed. The mirrored headboard showed no one, but the caller felt the bed move and lumps form.
- 2:22
The caller says they told it to either get up or lie down so they could rest, then finished their cigarette.
- 3:23
The caller felt the bed move again and slept with one foot out of the sheets. The caller says something reached down, grabbed their ankle, and shook it.
- 3:43
The caller says the woman they were dating and their roommate experienced the same things. The roommate still lives in the house, while the caller moved out.
- 4:09
Now married, the caller says their wife at the computer kept hearing their daughter, sleeping on the floor with an overnight friend, say [quote withheld]
- 4:18
The host jokes that the ghost has a foot fetish and says he cannot believe the caller went back to sleep after the ankle grab.
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· 0:48
While showering in a locked house with burglar bars, the light switch went on and off.
- observation· 1:48
The caller looked through the living room after the light incident and found nobody there.
- observation· 1:32
The caller felt somebody sit down on their waterbed and saw no one in the mirrored headboard.
- observation· 2:04
The caller reports the waterbed showed lumps where there had been none before.
- observation· 3:31
Something reached down and grabbed and shook the caller’s ankle while they lay with one foot out of the sheets.
- interpretation· 2:11
The presence, which the caller calls a ghost or spirit, had never shown signs of being aggressive.
- hearsay· 3:43
The caller says the woman they were dating and their roommate experienced the same things, and the roommate still lives in the house.
- hearsay· 4:09
The caller’s wife heard their daughter say [quote withheld] while the daughter slept on the floor with an overnight friend.
- observation· 2:53
Earlier, before this house, the caller saw their dead father standing at the foot of the bed. The caller says they have never felt such things were bad.
- host statement· 5:08
The host says he does not believe anyone could go back to sleep after an unseen force grabbed their ankle.
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 mostly firsthand story with concrete setting, objects, and times, told in a consistent order, with the caller declining to overstate it (the caller says they never felt the presence was bad). It is limited by claimed witnesses no one backs up, some vague references (“we heard things”), and ordinary explanations the caller does not address.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand claims for the light switch, the bed displacement, and the ankle grab.
- Specifics that could in principle be checked: northeastern Memphis, about four or five years earlier, a waterbed with a mirrored headboard, 1:30 or 2 a.m.
- Consistent sequence with no self-contradiction across the shower, bedroom, and later family episodes.
- The caller limits their claim: they call it [quote withheld] and say it never seemed aggressive.
- Other witnesses are only claimed, and none speaks on air.
- Ordinary explanations (a light-switch fault, waterbed motion, the girlfriend with a key) are not addressed or ruled out.
- Vague passages such as “we heard things” and [quote withheld] carry no detail.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable, and some of the caller’s words are attached to lines labeled as the host.
- Parts of the story (the roommate’s experiences and the wife and daughter episode) are secondhand.
- 0:00
- 0:48
- 1:48
- 3:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component judgments are these. Closeness to the source is about 22 of 25 (firsthand for the core events, secondhand for the rest). Specificity is about 14 of 20. Internal consistency is about 16 of 20. Alternative explanations are about 8 of 20 (several ordinary explanations fit but are not addressed or ruled out). Calibration is about 11 of 15 (the caller separates what they perceived from the label “ghost or spirit” but does not put a number on it or doubt it).
There is only the caller’s word plus claimed witnesses who are absent. Some specifics that could be checked (city, approximate date, waterbed) are given, but nothing was verified and no record, photo, or recording is offered.
Evidence for and against
- Specifics that could in principle be checked: a rented house in northeastern Memphis, about four or five years before 1997.
- Claimed additional witnesses: the woman the caller was dating and the caller’s roommate.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No physical evidence, document, photograph, or recording is presented or examined.
- The 1997 broadcast date and the caller’s identity are not confirmed within this part of the broadcast.
- The house is not identified beyond [quote withheld]
- No dates are given beyond [quote withheld]
- 3:43
- 0:07
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the 11 to 25 range because specifics that could be checked and claimed witnesses exist, but nothing was checked. There is no backing on air and no object examined, so it is well below the 26 to 40 range.
The setting is intimate and the events are intrusive: a light cycling while the caller showers in a locked house, an unseen weight settling on the caller’s waterbed, and an ankle seized as they fall asleep. But the story is defused by the caller’s reported calm and by the host’s closing joke about a foot fetish.
Evidence for and against
- Intrusion into the locked house and the shower.
- Unseen weight on the bed with no one visible in the mirrored headboard.
- Physical contact: the ankle grabbed and shaken.
- The caller says repeatedly that they never felt the presence was bad.
- The exchange ends in humor about a [quote withheld]
- No injury, threat, or escalation is reported.
- The daughter’s episode is secondhand and told briefly.
- 0:48
- 3:31
- 4:18
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated toward the lower middle of the scale because the reported events touch the body and a sleeping space, but no hostility or threat is described and the segment closes on a joke.
The setup is a familiar haunted rental: flickering lights, a presence on the bed, a touch from nothing. The distinctive reported detail is that the activity centers on feet, from the caller’s ankle being shaken to the caller’s daughter telling something to leave her foot alone.
Evidence for and against
- Recurring contact with feet: the ankle grab and the daughter’s reported words.
- The caller’s reported response of speaking to the presence and going back to sleep.
- Stock haunted-house elements: a rented home, a light switching on and off, something sitting on the bed.
- No unusual kind of event or rare combination beyond the foot detail.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is provisional for this pilot. The published originality score blends it in with a low weight.
- 3:31
- 4:09
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at the midpoint of the model scale: a common setup with one distinctive, repeated detail that recurs across two generations of the same household.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story for the shower light, the bed displacement, and the ankle grab; The caller’s secondhand reports of the roommate’s, girlfriend’s, wife’s, and daughter’s experiences; No documentation, photograph, recording, or confirming witness on air. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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 or faulty light switch or wiring in the rented house could account for the light going on and off while the caller showered. · [quote withheld] No other cause is suggested, and the caller checked only for a person.
- The sensation of the bed moving and of being grabbed could come from the motion of a full-motion waterbed combined with lying on it while drifting toward sleep. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] while the caller lay [quote withheld]
- The caller’s own first thought was that their girlfriend, who had a key, had come in to frighten them. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
What stands out
The caller says they were not frightened and spoke to the presence directly, telling it to either get up or lie down. The reported events center on feet: the caller’s ankle being grabbed and, later, the caller’s daughter telling something to leave her foot alone.
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