A foggy light aura in a hallway of a late mother-in-law’s house
A caller who gives their name as [quote withheld] tells Art Bell that their wife felt intensely watched after the family moved into their late mother-in-law’s empty house in March 1998. On the evening of March 16, 1998, the caller says, they saw an indistinct, foggy light aura in the shape of a woman down the hallway. Their wife, sitting beside them, responded “You too?” The story breaks off at a station break and is continued later.
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 1998.mp3”, starting at 7:34). 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], says their wife’s mother died on February 13 of that year. The caller says they, their wife, and their children had stayed overnight in her house many times before her death, and they describe it as [quote withheld] The house went into probate. The caller says the family did not want it left empty because of vandals, so on March 1, 1998, their wife, their two daughters, and their unborn son moved in. Around March 10 they adopted a German Shepherd and Beagle mix. The caller says this gave their wife peace of mind because the caller works late, sometimes until 2 or 3 a.m., and the house was out in the country. Within the first two weeks, the caller says, their wife told them repeatedly that she felt she was being watched intensely. The caller says they were then “a complete skeptic” and put it down to an overactive imagination. The caller says that changed on the evening of March 16, 1998, when their sister-in-law and her two teenage children came to dinner. After everyone had left except the caller and their wife, the caller says, they were sitting at the dining room table in a spot that let them look down the hallway into one of three bedrooms, their youngest daughter’s. The caller says they saw an aura of what seemed to be a woman’s form with a lot of what seemed to them to be energy. Asked by Art whether it was indistinct, a foggy light aura, the caller agrees. The caller says they became motionless and almost lost awareness of where they were. The caller says their wife, seated to their right, asked what they had seen. When they described it, she said something to the effect of “You too?” The caller says she had seen and felt things before them during the two weeks since they moved in. The part ends as Art asks the caller to hold through the break.
Reported events, in order
- 0:13
[name withheld] says their wife’s mother died on February 13 of that year.
- 0:20
The caller says the family had stayed overnight in her house many times and it was a normal, comfortable home.
- 0:39
The caller says the house went into probate and the family did not want to leave it empty because of vandals.
- 0:51
The caller says their wife, two daughters, and unborn son moved into the empty house on March 1, 1998.
- 1:09
The caller says they adopted a German Shepherd and Beagle mix around March 10, which reassured their wife because the caller worked late and the house was in the country.
- 1:39
The caller says that within the first two weeks their wife told them she felt she was being watched intensely.
- 1:50
The caller says they were then a complete skeptic and put it down to an overactive imagination.
- 2:13
The caller says that on the evening of March 16, 1998, they had dinner with their wife, children, sister-in-law, and her two teenage children.
- 2:27
The caller says that after everyone left they sat where they could see down the hallway into their youngest daughter’s bedroom.
- 2:49
The caller says they saw an aura of what seemed to be a woman’s form with a lot of what seemed to them to be energy.
- 3:12
The caller says they became motionless and almost lost awareness of where they were.
- 3:21
The caller says their wife asked what they had seen and, when they described it, said something to the effect of “You too?”
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· 2:49
[name withheld] says they saw an aura shaped like a woman, which they describe as full of what seemed to them to be energy.
- hearsay· 1:39
[name withheld] says their wife reported feeling intensely watched during the first two weeks after they moved in.
- observation· 3:21
[name withheld] says their wife asked them what they had seen after they had looked down the hallway.
- hearsay· 3:28
[name withheld] says their wife’s response suggested she had seen the same thing.
- hearsay· 3:36
[name withheld] says their wife had seen and felt things before the caller’s own sighting, without telling them during that two-week period.
- interpretation· 1:50
[name withheld] says they were, at the time, a complete skeptic who put their wife’s reports down to an overactive imagination.
- observation· 3:12
[name withheld] says the sighting left them motionless and nearly unaware of their surroundings.
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 precise dates, house layout, and seating positions, told by a caller who hedges repeatedly (“seemed to be,” “to me”). But the central sighting is an indistinct light aura that the caller struggles to describe, and an ordinary reading of an unclear sight at a distance is not addressed.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand witness of the reported sighting.
- Specific dates given: February 13, March 1, March 10, and March 16, 1998.
- Concrete detail of place: where the caller sat and the view down the hallway into the youngest daughter’s bedroom.
- The caller separates what they saw from what they concluded ([quote withheld]).
- The sighting is described only as indistinct and hard to describe.
- An unclear patch of light seen at a distance in an unfamiliar house fits ordinary explanations of perception.
- The caller makes no attempt to rule out ordinary causes.
- The story breaks off before any conclusion.
- The labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent in this transcript.
- The story continues after the break and is incomplete.
- The caller’s stated location is garbled in the transcript.
- 2:49
- 2:05
- 2:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component judgment: source proximity high (firsthand); specificity moderate to high for dates and layout; internal consistency high within this part of the broadcast; alternative explanations low because an indistinct light form is not addressed; calibration moderate because the caller hedges but also escalates to [quote withheld]
The only support is the caller’s own word plus a claimed second witness who does not speak on air. No documentation, recording, photograph, or physical trace is offered or examined.
Evidence for and against
- Checkable details are given (dates in 1998, a described house layout).
- A second witness is claimed (the wife).
- No physical evidence is claimed or examined.
- The claimed second witness does not speak on air.
- No names, addresses, or records that could be checked are given.
- Whether the wife’s story would match cannot be judged from this transcript.
- 3:28
- 3:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the 11 to 25 range: checkable details are present and a witness is claimed, but nothing is verified and no second witness speaks on air.
The setting (moving into a dead relative’s empty country house) and the two weeks of feeling watched create moderate unease. But the reported sighting is a vague aura with no threat, contact, or harm, and the story stops at the break.
Evidence for and against
- A family alone at night in a dead relative’s empty country house.
- A reported lasting feeling of being intensely watched.
- The wife’s “You too?” suggests a shared sighting.
- The caller says they were frozen in place and lost awareness of their surroundings.
- No evil intent, threat, or physical contact is reported.
- The figure is indistinct and seen only briefly.
- The story ends in the middle at a station break.
- The continuation after the break is not part of this transcript.
- 1:39
- 3:28
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated mildly to moderately unsettling: the fear comes from mood and a shared, unexplained sight, not from any harm described.
A familiar frame, a family moving into a dead relative’s house and reporting a figure in a hallway, with one somewhat distinctive detail: the caller’s insistence on an “aura” of energy instead of a person, and the wife’s delayed confirmation.
Evidence for and against
- A sighting down a hallway in a house recently inherited from a dead relative.
- An unusual description of the event as an aura of energy, not a solid figure.
- Feeling watched and a woman-shaped ghost in a home are stock motifs.
- No unusual cause, object, or twist is reported in this part of the broadcast.
- The story continues after the break and may contain more distinctive material.
- Comparison with the rest of the archive is provisional at this pilot stage.
- 2:50
- 2:27
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model score is set near the middle of the scale: a familiar haunting frame with one distinctive choice of description.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story.; A claimed second witness (the wife), who does not speak on air.; No documentation, recording, or physical evidence is offered.. The originality score blends the model's score (45) 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.
- An indistinct patch of light seen at a distance down a dim hallway, later read as a woman’s shape. · [name withheld] agrees with Art’s description of it as [quote withheld] and says it [quote withheld]
- Suggestion from their wife’s two weeks of reported “watched” feelings may have shaped how the caller saw an unclear sight. · [name withheld] says their wife [quote withheld] before the caller’s own sighting.
What stands out
The unusual part is that the caller describes their own sighting as a vague aura of energy, not a figure. Their wife’s “You too?” also came only after the caller described what they had seen, which the caller presents as a second witness responding.
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