Caller says a Japanese art student was followed by a ghost from her family’s farm
A caller linked to an artists’ building, which they call the “All Artist Building,” tells Art Bell about a young woman from Japan who attends the Art Institute of Chicago. The caller says a ghost from her family farm in northern Japan has followed her. Most of the call is the caller’s general remarks that ghosts live in buildings and neighborhoods and [quote withheld] and that their community welcomes ghosts. The call ends with the host’s good wishes. No more detail about the woman or any specific event is given.
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 2000-2.mp3”, starting at 14:37). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller speaks about a building they are linked to, which they call the “All Artist Building.” The caller tells Art Bell the building was created in 1913 and sits in a neighborhood they connect with the writer Nelson Algren. The caller then introduces a second artist, a young woman from Japan who attends the Art Institute of Chicago. The caller says she is a Japanese citizen, [quote withheld] and that she [quote withheld] The caller is not asked anything more about her. They move on to their general view that ghosts [quote withheld] and remark on how sensitive artists are. The caller says the community “encourage[s] the apparitions” and [quote withheld] They explain that the aim was [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] Art Bell does not ask about the woman’s experiences. He says he particularly liked the earlier story about an artist who painted a ghost, and jokes that one would have to be careful [quote withheld] The caller and another voice wish the audience luck, the host tells them to “be careful,” and the call ends with a break. The caller describes no event involving the Japanese student, and she does not speak on air.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller describes a building created in 1913, in a neighborhood they link to the writer Nelson Algren. The caller introduces “another artist” from Japan, a young woman attending the Art Institute of Chicago.
- 0:13
The caller says she is a Japanese citizen, fluent in both languages, and has been followed by a ghost from her family farm in northern Japan.
- 0:27
The caller says they believe ghosts inhabit buildings and neighborhoods and [quote withheld]
- 1:26
The caller says the community encourages ghosts and [quote withheld]
- 1:43
The caller says their intention was to give wandering spirits a home and make them friends. The host wishes them luck, and the call ends.
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).
- hearsay· 0:13
A young woman from Japan who attends the Art Institute of Chicago has been followed by a ghost from her family farm in northern Japan. The caller says this about someone else. It is hearsay, not the caller’s own experience.
- interpretation· 0:27
The caller believes ghosts inhabit buildings and neighborhoods and also [quote withheld]
- interpretation· 1:26
The caller says the community at the building welcomes ghosts and [quote withheld] This is a policy or attitude, not a described event.
- interpretation· 1:43
The caller says the intent was to [quote withheld] and make them friends.
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 close secondhand report with a few concrete references, but it describes no event, no sequence, and nothing checkable. It is consistent within itself, but there is almost nothing to test. It sums to about 38 out of 100, under the cap of 60 for secondhand stories.
Evidence for and against
- Some concrete references are named: the Art Institute of Chicago, a building created in 1913, and a family farm in northern Japan.
- The caller separates their general belief (“we believe that...”) from the report about the woman.
- No actual event is described, only that she “has been followed,” with no time, place, or sensory detail.
- The claim is secondhand, about an unnamed third person who never speaks.
- The surrounding remarks are general beliefs (“we believe that...”), not observations.
- The caller does not say how they know this, whether the woman told them or they heard it indirectly.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable, and where the story starts and ends is unclear.
- 0:13
- 0:27
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scored in parts: source closeness 7 (secondhand, from an unnamed but personally known person), specificity 5, internal consistency 12, other explanations 8 (nothing is described for an ordinary cause to fit or fail), calibration 6 (mostly general beliefs stated as beliefs). What supports these scores is how thin the claim is.
This is essentially the caller’s word at one remove. An unnamed third person’s alleged experience is relayed by the caller, with no names, dates, or documents, and nothing checked. It falls in the lowest range.
Evidence for and against
- Place names are given (Art Institute of Chicago, northern Japan, a building said to date from 1913). In principle they can be located.
- No document, recording, or photograph is mentioned, and nothing is examined on air.
- The only witness to the claimed haunting is not named and does not speak.
- The transcript does not show whether the caller had any evidence they did not present.
- 0:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): No claimed object and no second witness on air put this in the score range of 0 to 10. The details that could in theory be located do not reach 11 to 25, because no checkable record is identified.
This is a short, friendly call with joking banter and a plainly welcoming tone. The only mildly eerie idea is a spirit following a person across the world. It scores near the low end for a harmless encounter.
Evidence for and against
- A ghost is said to have crossed from a family farm in Japan to attach itself to a student. Being followed is an unsettling idea.
- The story is presented as harmless: [quote withheld] and the community “encourage the apparitions.”
- No threat, contact, intrusion, or escalation is reported.
- No event is described, so there is no scene to weigh for atmosphere.
- 1:17
- 0:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment of the story’s tone and content as a listener would hear it, not of whether anything happened.
This is a familiar [quote withheld] setup, with one distinctive geographic detail (northern Japan to Chicago). This score is a first estimate, pending comparison with the rest of the archive.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a specific framing: a ghost said to travel from a family farm in northern Japan to follow an art student in Chicago.
- The core theme, a spirit attached to a person, plus passing remarks about haunted buildings, is well worn.
- No specific scene, figure, or strange event is described to set the story apart.
- There is so little detail that distinctiveness is hard to judge.
- 0:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged against common ghost-story themes. The comparison with the rest of the archive carries little weight in the pilot.
Scoring confidence 0.40 · analysis confidence 0.50 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s spoken word only.; A secondhand report about a third person (the unnamed Japanese student), who does not speak.; No document, photograph, recording, or site inspection. Nothing is examined on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (42) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
What stands out
The framing is more distinctive than the content. The caller says it is the building’s policy to invite and house “wandering spirits” in an artists’ building. The caller also claims a ghost can travel with a person from a family farm in Japan to Chicago.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.