Tugging during naps and a waterbed that seemed to leak in a San Rafael apartment
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], living in San Rafael just north of the city, describes strange experiences in an apartment they rented for about eight years. During afternoon naps on a waterbed they felt tugging and pressing sensations, and the bed seemed to leak though it had no holes. The caller and their girlfriend moved out after a flood in 1982. [name withheld] says the landlord later told them a later tenant reported the same sensations and died by suicide, and that a man had died in the bedroom before [name withheld] rented it. [name withheld] believes spirits were in the apartment. The story ends without an explanation.
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 5:51:20). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] and says they live in San Rafael just north of the city, says they lived in an apartment there for eight years. Their girlfriend moved in and married them during the last three. The caller says they had a waterbed and would come home in the afternoon, before returning to the office, and lie down to nap. During those naps the caller says they felt [quote withheld] and sometimes a pressing sensation, and at times they were paralyzed. They say they thought this was [quote withheld] but they also described the tugging as feeling as though they were supposed to leave their body and go somewhere. The caller says they never saw anything strange in the apartment, though things sometimes moved around, which they put down to not paying attention to what they were doing. The caller says that after their girlfriend moved in they began having problems with the waterbed. It seemed to leak but did not. They emptied the water, inflated it with a vacuum, and found no holes. The caller says the flood of '82 forced them to move out. Three or four months later, the caller says, they spoke to the landlord, who told them that a young woman who moved in after about a month of cleaning reported feeling the same things. She later died by suicide. [name withheld] says they had not known until then that a man had died in the bedroom before they rented it. [name withheld] says [quote withheld] The caller says the experience was never threatening and that they began reading books about out-of-body experiences. Asked by the host about the woman, the caller says they think maybe guilt got her. They add that the man may have been upset that they were living together unmarried. They confirm they married but eventually divorced.
Reported events, in order
- 0:19
The caller says they lived in a San Rafael apartment for eight years, and that their girlfriend moved in and married them during the last three years.
- 0:27
The caller says they lay down on a waterbed for afternoon naps before returning to the office.
- 0:35
The caller says that during those naps they felt a tugging on their body, sometimes a pressing sensation, and sometimes paralysis. The caller says they thought it was a sleep problem.
- 0:53
The caller says they never saw anything strange, though things moved around, which they put down to not paying attention.
- 1:06
After their girlfriend moved in, the caller says the waterbed seemed to leak but did not. It was emptied, inflated, and checked, and no holes were found.
- 1:17
The flood of '82 forced them to move out.
- 1:20
Three or four months later the caller spoke to the landlord, who said a young woman who moved in afterward reported feeling the same things and later died by suicide.
- 1:51
The caller says they learned only then that a man had died in the bedroom before they rented the apartment.
- 2:00
The caller says they believe the man’s spirit, and now two spirits, were in the apartment.
- 2:04
The caller says the experiences were never threatening and that they began reading books about out-of-body experiences.
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· 0:35
During afternoon naps on their waterbed the caller felt a tugging and sometimes a pressing sensation, and at times was paralyzed.
- observation· 0:46
The caller thought the tugging was like they were supposed to leave their body and go someplace.
- observation· 0:53
Things moved around in the apartment at times.
- observation· 1:08
The waterbed seemed to leak but had no holes when emptied, inflated, and checked.
- hearsay· 1:43
The landlord said a later tenant, a young woman, felt the same things and later died by suicide.
- hearsay· 1:54
The caller learned from the landlord that a man had died in the bedroom before the caller rented the apartment.
- interpretation· 2:00
The caller concludes that the man’s spirit, and now two spirits, were in the apartment.
- interpretation· 2:32
The caller guesses the man may have been upset that they were living together unmarried.
- host statement· 2:04
The host suggests the flood may have saved the caller’s life.
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 that holds together and has some concrete details. But the nap experiences have an easy ordinary explanation, and the most striking parts (the later tenant and the death in the bedroom) are secondhand.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand account of the naps, tugging, and waterbed: [quote withheld]
- Concrete details: San Rafael, a waterbed, the flood of 82.
- Answers the host's questions consistently and admits uncertainty: “who knows?”
- Sleep paralysis easily fits the tugging, pressure, and paralysis, and the caller says, [quote withheld]
- The later tenant's experience and the earlier death are hearsay from the landlord: [quote withheld]
- The caller offers an ordinary reading of the moved objects: [quote withheld]
- The labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent, with some caller lines labeled as the host.
- No dates for the start of their tenancy are given beyond “20 years ago.”
- 0:35
- 0:42
- 1:43
What the model inferred (not said on air): The components (source proximity 20, specificity 11, internal consistency 16, alternative explanations 6, calibration 7) add up to about 60. The low marks for alternative explanations and calibration reflect that the caller raises the sleep-problem explanation and repeatedly says they do not know.
Only the caller's word and a secondhand landlord report. Some details could in principle be checked, but none were, and no physical evidence was examined.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could in principle be checked: San Rafael and the flood of 82.
- A claimed report from a second person, the landlord.
- No photograph, recording, document, or mark is presented or examined.
- The landlord and the later tenant do not speak on air.
- No outside check was done.
- The landlord's account comes only through the caller and cannot be verified from the transcript.
- 1:20
- 0:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): Falls in the 11 to 25 range for checkable details that were never checked. Scored near the bottom because the most important claims are hearsay, not documented.
Unsettling more than frightening: an involuntary tugging and paralysis, a bed that seems to leak for no reason, and a later report of a tenant's suicide. But the caller says plainly that it was never threatening.
Evidence for and against
- Involuntary tugging and paralysis during sleep: “paralyzed.”
- A waterbed that seems to leak but has no holes.
- A later tenant reported the same sensations and died by suicide.
- The caller says [quote withheld]
- No visible figure, no attack, and no physical injury is reported.
- The suicide is mentioned briefly and without detail.
- 0:40
- 1:48
- 2:10
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed mid-range because the story combines a bedroom intrusion and a death with a clear denial of threat and no vivid horror imagery.
The familiar haunted-apartment frame is combined with a less common detail, a waterbed that seems to leak with no hole, and a tugging sensation described as an out-of-body pull.
Evidence for and against
- A waterbed that seems to leak but was checked and found to have no holes.
- The tugging described as [quote withheld]
- Common motifs are present: a rental home, a bedroom, paralysis, a previous occupant who died.
- The [quote withheld] ending is a recurring ghost-story device.
- Comparison with the rest of the archive cannot be done here. This is only an estimate from the content.
- 1:08
- 0:46
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged against recurring motifs, not the rest of the archive, since no comparison with the archive was run. The waterbed detail and the out-of-body framing lift it above stock material.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story.; A secondhand report of the landlord's account, relayed by the caller.. The originality score blends the model's score (70) 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.
- Sleep paralysis or sensations while falling asleep could explain the tugging, the pressing sensation, and the paralysis during afternoon naps. · The caller says of the pressing and paralysis, [quote withheld] The caller also describes being “paralyzed” while napping.
- A slow waterbed leak from a seam, a valve, or an underside the caller could not see during inspection could explain the apparent leak with “no holes.” · The caller says they emptied the water, inflated it with a vacuum, and checked it, finding no holes.
- The moving objects could be ordinary misplacing or inattention. · The caller says, [quote withheld]
What stands out
The caller ties an ordinary-seeming sleep experience (tugging, pressure, and paralysis during afternoon naps) to a waterbed that seemed to leak without any hole, and to later reports that a later tenant had the same sensations before dying by suicide. The caller sees the tugging as a pull out of the body, not only a sleep disturbance.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.