Blind caller guided by a mortician with no arm in his suit
The caller, whom Art Bell addresses as sightless, recounts an early-morning encounter from their school years. They walked into a building, heard soft, slow organ music, and were greeted by a man with a British accent. He asked whether the caller had come to view the body. The caller later concluded the man [quote withheld] The caller says a return visit turned up no one by the name he had given them.
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 2000-1.mp3”, starting at 1:32:53). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller tells Art Bell that they went into a building and heard slow, soft organ music. A man asked whether the caller had come to view the body. The caller said they had not, but would if it would make him feel better. The caller asked him for the address, and he did not seem to understand the words “phone book” or “phone.” The caller reports he acted as if he did not know what they were talking about, so they wondered whether he was drunk. The caller asked how long he had worked there. He said his great-great-great-grandfather had been a mortician, and the trade had been passed down through each generation to his father. He said they had come [quote withheld] and started it there. He told the caller he considered it an honor to be the last person to deal with the deceased. The caller asked him to come outside and read them the address, but he said he did not like to venture outside. The caller asked him to walk them to the door, saying they could not remember where it was after wandering so long, and asked him to describe what was across the street. He walked up to the caller and remarked on their shepherd, and the caller took his arm. The suit had braided cords but, the caller says, [quote withheld] The caller reports feeling the motion of walking but hearing nothing hit the floor. He opened the door and described what was across the street. The caller thanked him, the door shut, and the caller later told schoolchildren that they had touched the dead bodies. The caller says they later thought it [quote withheld] The caller returned to the place and asked for [name withheld]. The caller was told nobody by that name worked there and that they did not open the door that early in the morning unless asked. The caller swears the story is true and says they like to talk to spirits.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller enters a building and hears slow, soft organ music.
- 0:10
A man asks whether the caller has come to view the body. The caller says they have not.
- 0:50
The caller asks for the address and about a phone book. He appears not to understand.
- 1:29
He says generations of his family were morticians and came [quote withheld]
- 2:11
He says he does not like to venture outside.
- 3:45
The caller takes his arm and finds a suit with braided cords but no arm inside it.
- 4:01
The caller feels the motion of walking but hears nothing hitting the floor.
- 4:06
He opens the door and tells the caller what is across the street.
- 4:29
The caller tells schoolchildren that they touched all the dead bodies.
- 4:40
The caller concludes it [quote withheld]
- 4:45
The caller returns and asks for [name withheld]. Staff say no one by that name works there.
- 4:57
Staff say they do not open the door that early unless asked.
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· 0:00
The caller heard slow, soft organ-like music on entering the building.
- observation· 0:41
A man with a British accent asked whether the caller had come to view the body.
- observation· 0:23
The caller told him they had not come to view the body but would if it helped.
- observation· 1:13
The man did not appear to understand the words phone or phone book.
- observation· 1:29
He said his family had been morticians for generations, passed down to his father.
- observation· 1:38
He said the family came over on the boats and started the business there.
- observation· 3:45
The caller felt a suit with braided cords but no arm inside it.
- observation· 4:01
The caller felt the motion of walking but heard nothing striking the floor.
- interpretation· 4:40
The caller concluded the man was a ghost.
- observation· 4:45
The man gave his name as [name withheld].
- hearsay· 4:54
Funeral home staff told the caller no one by that name worked there.
- hearsay· 4:57
Staff said they did not open the door that early in the morning unless asked.
- interpretation· 5:20
The caller says they like to talk to spirits.
- host statement· 5:38
Art Bell suggests the man was unfamiliar with modern objects.
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.
This is a firsthand, coherent story with several concrete sensory details. But it has no date, city, address, or other detail that can be checked, and the caller asserts a ghost without weighing alternatives. The caller notes they may have been sleepy, which leaves an ordinary explanation open.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story of an event the caller says they experienced.
- Concrete sensory details: organ music, British accent, braided cords on a suit, no arm inside, no sound of footsteps.
- A named individual, [name withheld], and a described follow-up visit to the funeral home.
- No date, city, street, or address is given. The funeral home is unnamed.
- The caller was a schoolchild at the time and is recalling the event years later.
- The caller goes straight to [quote withheld] and swears on the Bible rather than acknowledging alternatives.
- The caller says they may have been [quote withheld]
- Several lines are marked low-confidence, and some passages are garbled.
- The labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent (a line of the caller's narration is labeled as the host).
- 3:45
- 4:40
- 4:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component scoring: source proximity about 21 (firsthand); specificity about 8 (rich texture but nothing checkable); internal consistency about 13 (coherent sequence, some confusion in framing); alternative explanations about 7 (drowsiness and a living person remain plausible); calibration about 3 (asserts the ghost conclusion outright). Total 52.
The only support is the caller’s own word. A name and a claimed denial by staff are given, but nothing is examined or verified, and no document, recording, or photograph is offered.
Evidence for and against
- A specific name is given for the figure ([name withheld]).
- The caller describes returning to the funeral home and being told no one of that name worked there.
- No date, location, address, or institution is named, so nothing can be checked.
- No second witness to the encounter speaks on air.
- No physical evidence of any kind is claimed to exist.
- Whether the staff statement was reported accurately through the transcript’s garbled lines.
- 4:45
- 4:54
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at the low end of the 0 to 10 range because, although a name is given, no place or date accompanies it and nothing at all was examined.
The story is unsettling chiefly through the missing-arm detail and the caller’s vulnerability as a blind person alone in an unfamiliar building. It ends on a quiet confirmation that no one by that name worked there. There is no threat, hostility, or escalation.
Evidence for and against
- The figure’s arm cannot be felt inside the sleeve of his suit.
- The caller is sightless and alone in a building the caller identifies as a funeral home.
- The caller hears nothing hitting the floor although they feel walking motion beside them.
- A later check finds no employee by the name given.
- The figure is consistently described as polite and helpful.
- The caller says the experience was [quote withheld] and ends on a light note about trying it again.
- Whether the absence of sound and the empty sleeve are reported exactly as the caller meant them.
- 3:45
- 4:01
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects a strange physical detail intruding on an otherwise courteous encounter, without any threatening content.
A ghost met in a funeral home is a familiar setup. But the blind caller’s non-visual sense of the presence and the specific detail of a suit with no arm inside are distinctive combinations. The “phone book” anachronism is a common ghost motif.
Evidence for and against
- The encounter is reported through touch and hearing rather than sight.
- The presence is met in the role of a mortician and identified by an unusual name.
- The empty sleeve is a concrete, unusual detail.
- The old-fashioned ghost who does not understand modern objects is a recurring motif.
- A figure met in a funeral home or old building is a familiar setting.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be assessed from this story alone. The published score may be adjusted later.
- 3:45
- 1:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model estimate of about 66 reflects a familiar setup with two distinctive details (blind perception, absent arm).
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call); A named individual, “[name withheld],” supplied by the caller; A claimed but unverified statement by staff at the funeral home; No photograph, recording, or document offered or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (66) 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 drowsy state, such as falling asleep or waking up, may have shaped an unclear early-morning encounter. · The caller says they might have been [quote withheld] when they left, and had been waiting outside in the cold.
- A living person at the funeral home, such as an elderly staff member unfamiliar with telephones, could account for much of the conversation. · The caller reports he described a family mortician trade passed down generations and said [quote withheld]
- Nervousness and unfamiliarity with the building may have contributed to misinterpreting sounds, textures, and movement. · The caller says [quote withheld] and reports being unsure whether the man was a real person.
What stands out
The caller reports the encounter almost entirely through senses other than sight: hearing, touch, and the felt motion of walking. The caller is blind, and the pivotal detail is a suit containing no arm. The setting is a funeral home, and the presence is described as a mortician rather than a traditional ghost figure.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.