Waking paralysis, chest pressure, and moving curtains in upstate New York
A letter read on air by Art Bell describes a listener's experience of waking in an old upstate New York home, unable to move or speak. The writer felt as though a person were kneeling on their chest while their husky-Shepherd dog barked and growled. They say the pressure eased when they concentrated on the dog. The room's curtains were then shoved aside although the window was closed. They stayed with friends for several nights afterward.
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 1:33:47). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The story is a letter read aloud by the host. It is written in the first person throughout, and no name or town is given beyond [quote withheld] The writer opens by saying they had just heard a story from a fellow townsperson. They state the events occurred [quote withheld] while they were sleeping. They report being roused by the growling of their husky-Shepherd dog but being unable to wake. They say they were paralyzed and could not move or speak. They describe [quote withheld] The writer calls this one of the most solid moments of panic they have known. They say they were fully conscious but powerless to move their limbs or cry out as [quote withheld] The writer states that through all of this their dog kept barking and growling. They concentrated on the sound of the dog's voice until they were suddenly able to sit up and force the intruder off their chest. They then say that within a heartbeat the curtains of the room were shoved aside even though the window was closed. They say the dog confirmed what they had seen by leaping to the window and continuing to bark and growl. They report that it took a full 30 minutes before the dog would come and sit with them on the bed, that there was no more sleep that night, and that they stayed with friends for a few nights after the incident. The host closes the reading with a remark about enjoying stories about Pahrump. The next caller, with a different story outside this part of the broadcast, follows.
Reported events, in order
- 0:16
The writer says that about 15 years earlier, while sleeping in their very old upstate New York home, they were roused by the growling of their husky-Shepherd dog but could not wake. They were paralyzed and unable to move or speak.
- 0:30
They report the sensation of a person kneeling on their chest and restraining them, which they call one of the most solid moments of panic they have ever known. They remained fully conscious but powerless to move or cry out.
- 0:45
They say the weight of “this apparition” seemed to increase while the dog kept barking and growling the entire time.
- 0:58
They report concentrating on the sound of the dog's voice until they were suddenly able to sit up and force the intruder off their chest.
- 1:08
They say that within a heartbeat the curtains of their room were shoved aside even though the window was closed.
- 1:14
They state that the dog confirmed what they had seen by leaping to the window and continuing to bark and growl.
- 1:23
They report that it took a full 30 minutes before the dog would come and sit with them on the bed, that there was no more sleep that night, and that they stayed with friends for a few nights afterward.
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· 0:16
The writer was paralyzed and unable to move or speak on waking, though they could hear their dog growling.
- observation· 0:30
The writer felt a person kneeling on their chest and restraining them.
- observation· 0:45
The writer says they were fully conscious but unable to move their limbs or cry out.
- interpretation· 0:45
The writer describes the pressing presence as an apparition whose weight increased.
- observation· 0:54
The writer's dog barked and growled throughout the episode.
- observation· 0:58
The writer was able to sit up and force the intruder off their chest.
- observation· 1:08
The room's curtains were shoved aside although the window was closed.
- observation· 1:14
The writer says the dog confirmed what they had seen by leaping to the window and continuing to bark and growl.
- observation· 1:23
The dog would not come and sit on the bed for a full 30 minutes, and the writer stayed with friends for several nights afterward.
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 a clear sequence and some concrete detail (approximate time frame, dog, duration). But it is an anonymous letter with no place, date, or name, and the reported features closely match a well-known ordinary event, waking paralysis with chest pressure.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand telling throughout, with an ordered sequence of events
- Concrete detail: the dog's breed type, the 30-minute interval, staying with friends for several nights
- Answers the implied question of what ended the episode (concentrating on the dog's voice, sitting up)
- No name, town, street, or date beyond [quote withheld]
- Paralysis, inability to speak, and chest pressure on waking fit waking paralysis closely
- No other person backs it up; the only other witness is a dog
- The claim escalates from a felt sensation to an “apparition” and a claimed physical movement of the curtains
- The labels showing who is speaking in the transcript are inconsistent, so the reading is partly garbled
- Whether the writer actually saw a figure at the window is not made clear ([quote withheld])
- 0:16
- 0:30
- 1:23
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judgment by part: closeness to events about 20 (firsthand, but an anonymous written story); specifics about 11; consistency about 14; other explanations about 3 (waking paralysis fits the core symptoms well); calibration about 6. Total about 54, adjusted down to 50 for the anonymity and the unexamined physical claim.
The story rests entirely on the letter writer's word as read on air. No document, recording, or photograph was examined, and no second person speaks in support.
Evidence for and against
- A written letter exists in the sense that the host read it on air
- The writer names a specific time frame and a specific animal behavior that could in principle be checked
- No name, address, date, or verifiable record is given
- The claimed second witness is a dog, which cannot back up anything on air
- The host examined nothing during the reading
- The letter itself was not produced or shown to listeners
- The transcript is automatic and includes mislabeled and fragmented lines
- 0:02
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): Evidence strength is capped by the lack of any outside check and by the fact that the only claimed support is an animal's behavior, not a person or a document.
The core image is waking unable to move or cry out, with the felt weight of someone kneeling on the chest growing while a dog barks. It is a strongly unsettling intrusion into sleep. The closing detail of the writer leaving to stay with friends sustains the unease, though nothing is described as harming the writer.
Evidence for and against
- Paralysis with an inability to cry out, described as [quote withheld]
- The reported weight increasing rather than stopping
- Curtains shoved aside in a closed room immediately afterward
- The dog refusing to return to the bed for 30 minutes, and the writer leaving the house for several nights
- No injury, threat, or hostile presence is described
- The episode ends that night, with the writer physically unharmed
- No description of how the presence looked is given, which limits the imagery
- Whether the writer saw anything at the window is unclear from the text
- 0:30
- 0:45
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged from the content of the story only. The writer's emotional state is not assessed, and the reading voice is not considered.
The frame, waking paralysis, a weight on the chest, and a dog reacting, is a very familiar ghost-story and sleep-paralysis structure. The distinctive element is the immediate follow-on of curtains being shoved aside in a closed room, with the dog leaping to the window.
Evidence for and against
- An unusual combination of a chest-pressure waking episode with a claimed physical curtain movement seconds later
- The dog's behavior is used to confirm what happened
- Paralysis, chest pressure, and an unseen restraining presence are stock motifs
- No new presence, place, or historical element is introduced
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from this part of the broadcast alone
- 0:16
- 1:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): Model estimate of 45, based on a familiar core with one distinctive detail. The published score would blend in a comparison with the rest of the archive, which is provisional for a pilot archive.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The writer's written story as read aloud by the host (no letter shown or examined); Claimed animal witness (a dog) whose behavior is described but not independently observed; No photograph, recording, document, or second human witness. 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.
- Waking paralysis, or an experience while waking up: the writer reports being unable to move or speak on waking, with a strong feeling of pressure on the chest. These are the features commonly linked to sleep paralysis. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- A draft in an old house, or the dog itself, could have moved the curtains, despite the writer's belief that the window was closed. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The dog's barking and growling may have been a real outside noise, or the animal reacting to the writer's own distress, which then fed into the experience. · [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story combines a classic waking-paralysis and chest-pressure episode with a claimed physical event right afterward: curtains moving in a closed room. It also offers the dog's behavior as support, though the writer never describes what they say they saw at the window.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.