A poke through the mattress and weight on the legs in a dying man's bedroom
A caller who lives in Hawaii, and whom the host addresses as “[name withheld],” tells of staying in their in-laws' bedroom in Waimea on the Big Island. The caller’s wife's terminally ill father was dying in the living room. About three days before the father's death, at around 11 p.m., the caller reports a sharp poke through the mattress into their ribs, and then the pressure of someone sitting on their legs. The caller and their wife swapped rooms with their sister-in-law, and the father died shortly afterward. The caller says they are leery about returning to the house.
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 30:17). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, whom the host addresses as “[name withheld],” recounts a recent event in Hawaii. The caller says their wife's father, who lived in Waimea on the Big Island, was diagnosed with terminal cancer [quote withheld] and chose hospice care at home. He spent his remaining time on a hospice bed in the living room. Because family had gathered, the caller and their wife took the parents' bedroom. The father was still alive but near the end, [quote withheld] They went to bed about 11 p.m. The caller was sleeping on their stomach when, they say, something gave them [quote withheld] It felt as though it rose about two inches, and it woke them. The caller called out to their wife, [name withheld], rolled onto their back, and asked what it was. She said she did not know. The caller then reports [quote withheld] and told her they were panicking. She answered that it was all right. She suggested it was probably her father's spirit coming into the room because they were in his bed. The caller objected that he was not dead yet, and she replied that she knew, but it was his house and he could move around it when he wanted. The caller asked to sleep in another room, and they swapped with their wife's sister. The father died shortly afterward. The caller says their wife has since returned to visit her mother twice, while they have not and are [quote withheld] The host then asks why Hawaii is such a haunted state.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller says their wife's father, who lived in Waimea on the Big Island, was diagnosed with terminal cancer [quote withheld] and chose hospice care at home in the living room.
- 0:57
Because family were staying over, the caller and their wife took the parents' bedroom. The father was still alive and near the end, within three days of his death.
- 1:16
The caller and their wife went to bed about 11 p.m.
- 1:21
While sleeping on their stomach, the caller reports a sharp finger-jab poke through the mattress into their ribs. It woke them, and they called out “[name withheld]!” and told her something poked them.
- 1:38
The caller rolled onto their back, and their wife asked if they were okay. The caller said yes but asked what that was, and she said she did not know.
- 1:45
The caller then reports the pressure of someone sitting down on their legs. The caller told their wife and asked what they should do.
- 2:00
The caller’s wife said it was all right and suggested it was probably her father's spirit coming into the room because they were in his bed. The caller replied that he was not dead yet, and she said she knew that.
- 2:18
The caller asked to sleep in another room. They swapped rooms with their wife's sister.
- 2:28
The father died shortly afterward. The caller says their wife has returned to visit her mother twice since, while they have not and are leery about visiting.
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· 1:21
The caller reports something poking them sharply through the mattress into their ribs while they lay on their stomach.
- observation· 1:28
The caller reports the poke felt as though it rose about two inches through the mattress.
- observation· 1:45
The caller reports the feeling of someone sitting down on their legs.
- interpretation· 2:00
The caller quotes their wife explaining the pressure as the spirit of her still-living father entering the room because they were in his bed.
- interpretation· 2:13
The caller quotes their wife saying the house belongs to her father and that he can move around it when he wants.
- host statement· 2:54
The host says Hawaii is a very haunted place.
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.
The story is clear and holds together, with a specific place, an approximate date, and a time of night. But the caller does not try to rule out ordinary explanations in bed, and only one person felt the sensations. That puts it near a typical brief firsthand story that no one else backs up, not a detailed one.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand report by the person who says they felt the sensations: [quote withheld]
- Concrete detail: a place ([quote withheld]), an approximate date ([quote withheld]), a time of night ([quote withheld]), and nearness to the death ([quote withheld]).
- The sequence holds together, and the caller’s answers to the host's questions do not change the details.
- The caller raises and tests no ordinary explanation. The only one offered is their wife's spirit explanation.
- Both sensations came at about 11 p.m. in bed and are the kind often reported as sleep-related. No waking witness confirms an outside cause.
- Several lines around the poke and the exchange with their wife are marked as low-confidence words in the automatic transcript, so the wording is not fully reliable.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift in places, so it is not always certain which words are the caller's, which are their wife's as they quote her, and which are the host's.
- 1:21
- 1:45
- 1:16
What the model inferred (not said on air): The points for closeness to events, specifics, and consistency come from what the caller says. The deduction for other explanations is my own judgment that the broadcast never addresses mattress or sleep-onset causes.
This is essentially the caller's word, plus details that could be checked but never were, and a second person in the room who is claimed but not heard on air. That fits the 11 to 25 range. There is no physical evidence and no one else backs it up on air.
Evidence for and against
- The caller's own word is the whole of the evidence.
- Some details that could be checked are given: Waimea on the Big Island, [quote withheld] and the hospice arrangement.
- A second person is said to have been in the bed and is quoted, though she does not speak on air herself.
- No photograph, recording, document, mark, or other physical trace is claimed.
- No second person describes feeling anything strange. The wife's words are only quoted by the caller.
- Nothing the caller gave (place, month, names) was checked in any way on air.
- Who is speaking is shaky in several lines, so it is not fully certain whether a given sentence is the caller's, their wife's quoted speech, or the host's.
- No outside check was done, and none could be done from this part of the broadcast.
- 0:05
- 0:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): The range follows the scoring guide. I judged that the wife's quoted words do not count as backing up the story on air, because her lines appear only as speech the caller reports.
Physical contact in bed, in a dying relative's bedroom, with an unresolved ending, makes this moderately unsettling. It is softened by the absence of harm, escalation, or any threatening presence.
Evidence for and against
- Physical contact in a bed: a poke into the ribs and weight on the legs.
- The setting is a bedroom in the house of a man who is dying, and the caller is sleeping in the dying man's own bed.
- The caller says they were frightened and unsettled: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Unresolved ending: they have not returned to the house and are [quote withheld]
- The encounter is brief, with no further activity after the couple changes rooms.
- The explanation offered is gentle and protective in tone ([quote withheld]), not threatening.
- It is unclear whether the sensations continued after the couple moved rooms, which would affect how ominous the story reads.
- 1:31
- 1:45
- 2:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): The discomfort rating is my own judgment about the story. The caller's stated fear is part of what they say, but I did not treat it as evidence about what happened.
The frame is familiar, but a poke up through the mattress is a distinctive detail, and blaming a relative who is dying but still alive is unusual. That fits a provisional score in the upper middle range.
Evidence for and against
- Distinctive detail: the feeling is described as a finger-jab poke coming up through the mattress into the ribs, felt “about two inches.”
- The explanation points to a person who is not yet dead. The caller objects [quote withheld] and their wife answers that it is his house anyway. This combination is unusual.
- The setting, sleeping in a dying father-in-law's bed while he is on a hospice bed in the living room, is an unusual frame.
- The core ingredients, a bedroom at night, an unexplained touch, and something sitting on the bed, are stock ghost-story elements.
- The explanation ("dad's spirit" in his own house) is a common framing.
- Only a score based on content can be judged from this part of the broadcast. Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is not available here.
- 1:28
- 2:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is my own judgment of the content. The published figure will be compared with the rest of the archive and is provisional for this pilot.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story; A second person (the caller's wife) is said to have been in the bed, but only her explanation, as the caller reports it, is available. She does not speak on air; Named places (Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii, Oahu), a month (May), and an approximate timing (within three days of the father-in-law's death) are given. These could be checked, but nothing was checked; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is claimed or examined. 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 mattress spring, coil, or lump in the bedding pressing into the ribs while the caller lay on their stomach. · The caller was lying face down on a bed. A mattress spring or coil pressing into the ribs can cause a sharp poke in one spot.
- Sleep-related sensations (a sleep-onset jerk, muscle spasm, or cramp) while falling asleep or waking up. · The caller says they went to bed at about 11 p.m. and that they were asleep or drifting off when the poke woke them. A muscle jerk or cramp can feel like a sudden jab or a heavy weight on a limb.
- The caller’s wife moving in the bed, or the bedding shifting, could have felt like weight on the caller's legs. · The caller’s wife was in the same bed. Movement by the other sleeper, or bedclothes shifting, can feel like pressure on the legs.
What stands out
The reported contact is physical and in one spot, not visual: a jab felt through the mattress into the ribs, followed by the weight of someone sitting on the caller's legs. The explanation is also unusual. The caller’s wife offered it for her father while he was still alive, and the caller challenged it with [quote withheld]
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