Cold bedroom, tall figures, and cigarette smoke in a moved mobile home
[name withheld], from Woodbridge, New Jersey, calling on the wild card line, describes the mobile home the caller and their family moved into in 1984. They say one bedroom stayed freezing and their 11-year-old daughter refused to sleep in her own room. A black kitten would not come inside. They report seeing tall figures in the dark hallway, along with cigarette and rubbing-alcohol smells. They say they later learned the previous occupants had both committed suicide. Art Bell cuts them off before they can tell what they call “part two,” a “visitor.”
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The story as told
[name withheld], calling from Woodbridge, New Jersey, on the wild card line, tells Art Bell that in 1984 the caller and their family bought the mobile home they still live in. They say the home was moved onto the lot after the previous place was taken away, that they waited about two and a half weeks for it to settle, and that the wheels are left on. They say that as soon as they walked in they got a “really creepy feeling” and asked whether they could get out of the deal, but they had already sold their other place. They say their daughter was 11 at the time and did not want to sleep in her bedroom, so they kept finding her asleep on the living-room sofa, and that this went on past Christmas. They report that their own bedroom was constantly freezing even though it got the afternoon sun, and say it is still cold today. They describe a half-grown black kitten on the porch that they could not get to come into the house. They also describe neighbors who were cold toward them and gave looks. One of them told them [quote withheld] but never who had lived there before. They say they began to see a strange tall person, over six foot five and almost seven feet, at night before bedtime, looking out toward the hall. They say they could describe the person in the dark but never saw them in the light, and that this went on into the summer. They then report a second figure, a female. They say the hallway smelled of the beginning of a lit cigarette, and that rubbing alcohol was in the house almost continuously, to the point that they asked whether it was formaldehyde or alcohol. They say they found out the previous occupants had both committed suicide and their little boy had been placed in foster care. The caller begins to mention a “part two” and a “visitor,” but Bell ends the call for time.
Reported events, in order
- 0:18
[name withheld] says the caller and their family bought the mobile home they still live in in 1984.
- 0:27
They describe the home being moved onto the lot, the previous place taken away, and a wait of about two and a half weeks to let it settle.
- 0:57
They say they got a “really creepy feeling” on walking in and asked if they could get out of the deal, but their other place was already sold.
- 1:26
They say their 11-year-old daughter did not want to sleep in her bedroom and kept sleeping on the living-room sofa, past Christmas.
- 1:46
They report their bedroom was constantly freezing even though it got the afternoon sun, and say it is still cold.
- 1:58
They describe a half-grown black kitten on the porch that they could not get to come into the house.
- 2:05
They say neighbors were cold and gave looks, and one neighbor told them [quote withheld] but never who lived there before.
- 2:25
They say they began to see a strange tall person, over six foot five and almost seven feet, at night before bedtime, looking toward the hall.
- 2:48
They report a second figure, a female.
- 3:02
They say the hallway smelled of the beginning of a lit cigarette, and that rubbing alcohol was in the house almost continuously.
- 3:35
They say they found out the previous occupants had both committed suicide and their little boy had been put into foster care.
- 3:52
The caller begins to mention a “part two” and says [quote withheld] Bell ends the call for time.
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· 2:25
[name withheld] says they saw a strange tall person, over six foot five and almost seven feet tall, at night near the hallway.
- observation· 2:29
They say they could describe the figure in the dark but never saw them in the light.
- observation· 2:48
They report seeing a second figure, a female.
- observation· 3:02
They report a smell like the beginning of a lit cigarette in the hallway.
- observation· 3:19
They report a rubbing-alcohol smell in the house almost continuously.
- observation· 1:46
They say their bedroom was constantly freezing even though it got the afternoon sun.
- observation· 1:26
They say their 11-year-old daughter would not sleep in her bedroom and slept on the sofa.
- observation· 1:58
They say a half-grown black kitten on the porch could not be got to come into the house.
- hearsay· 2:15
They say one neighbor told them [quote withheld] but never said who lived there before.
- hearsay· 3:35
They say they found out the previous occupants had both committed suicide and their little boy had been placed in foster care.
- interpretation· 3:41
The caller links the strange events to the previous occupants, mentioning the suicides.
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 stated year, place, and several concrete details, told in a mostly coherent order. But an ordinary explanation is easy to find for most of it, and there are no details that can be checked about the claimed previous occupants. The story is also cut off partway through.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand word from the person who says they experienced the events.
- Concrete anchors: a purchase in 1984, a mobile home, a daughter aged 11, a figure described as over six foot five.
- A consistent order of events, from moving in, through the daughter’s avoidance of the bedroom, to the figures and smells.
- The caller admits not knowing some things, for example [quote withheld] about the neighbors.
- A cold bedroom in a mobile home, odors, and a shape in a dark hallway all have common ordinary explanations.
- The claim about the previous occupants’ suicides is reported without names, dates, or a source the caller can name.
- Some passages are garbled, including the sentence about the previous occupants getting rid of the place.
- The host cuts them off before they finish.
- Whether the daughter experienced anything beyond not wanting to sleep in the bedroom is not stated.
- The source of the information about the previous occupants is not stated.
- 0:57
- 2:29
- 3:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score weighs the firsthand status and concrete anchors against the ease of ordinary explanations and the lack of any record that can be checked for the suicide claim. No weight is given to the caller’s manner of speaking.
The story rests on the caller’s own word. It gives some details that could be checked (year, town, type of home), but nothing has been checked, and there is no physical evidence or second witness on air.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could in principle be checked are given: 1984, Woodbridge, New Jersey, a mobile home.
- A second person is said to have acted unusually (the daughter sleeping on the sofa), though she does not speak.
- No documentation, photograph, recording, or record is claimed or examined.
- The daughter and neighbors do not speak on air.
- The claim about the previous occupants’ deaths has no named source.
- The transcript is automatic and some passages are garbled, so details may be recorded wrongly.
- It is not stated who told the caller about the previous occupants.
- 0:18
- 2:15
What the model inferred (not said on air): The range of 11 to 25 is chosen because details that could be checked are present but unchecked and no independent witness speaks on air. No outside check was made, so the score cannot exceed 50.
The story builds a mild, steady dread: a freezing bedroom, a child avoiding her own room, cold neighbors, figures seen only in darkness, and an unexplained smell, capped by the reported discovery of a double suicide. It ends unresolved and is cut off before a promised “visitor” story.
Evidence for and against
- A child is said to refuse to sleep in her bedroom, which puts the disturbance in a child’s space.
- A tall figure and a female figure are reported in a dark hallway at night.
- A lasting unexplained smell is reported inside the home.
- The story ends with a reported double suicide and an announced but untold “part two.”
- The caller never reports being touched, harmed, or directly threatened.
- No confrontation or escalation into violence is described.
- Some of the material (neighbor gossip, a kitten) is ordinary in tone.
- The “visitor” story is never told, so any escalation it might have held is unknown.
- The transcript is partly garbled.
- 1:31
- 3:02
- 3:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged from the content and shape of the story for a listener, not from the caller’s delivery, which is not considered.
The setup is familiar: a newly moved-into home, a cold room, figures seen at night, and previous occupants who died. The distinctive elements are the reported smells (a cigarette just being lit, then rubbing alcohol) and two figures of different sexes seen only in darkness.
Evidence for and against
- An unusual combination of smells rather than the more common perfume or tobacco alone.
- Two figures of different sexes reported, both seen only in the dark.
- A home that was physically moved onto the lot is a specific detail of the setting.
- Cold rooms, hallway figures, and the deaths of previous occupants are common ghost-story elements.
- The story is cut off, so its full shape is unknown.
- Originality compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out meaningfully from a single story in this pilot.
- 3:02
- 3:19
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects a familiar setup with a few distinctive sensory details. The part compared with the rest of the archive is provisional.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word in a live call.; No physical evidence claimed or examined.; No second witness speaks on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (52) 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 mobile home may be poorly insulated or have an unbalanced heating and ventilation system, which could make a bedroom cold all the time. · The caller says the bedroom was [quote withheld] despite getting afternoon sun, and that the home was a mobile home with the wheels left on.
- The cigarette and rubbing-alcohol smells could come from outside the home, from neighbors, or from cleaning products rather than from something unseen. · The caller says [quote withheld] and asks whether the other smell was [quote withheld]
- A tall figure seen only in a dark hallway at night, and never in the light, could come from poor lighting and expectation. · The caller says [quote withheld] and that they saw them at night before bedtime looking toward the hall.
What stands out
The reported smells are distinctive: a smell like a cigarette just being lit, followed by a continuous rubbing-alcohol smell, rather than the more common perfume or tobacco. The caller also describes two figures of different sexes seen only in darkness, and the story is cut off just as they announce a “part two.”
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.