Childhood memory of rainbow-colored blindness in Key West sunlight
A caller who gives the name [name withheld] tells Art Bell that at four years old in Key West, Florida, they walked out the back of their grandfather’s house and were blinded by the sun with a “rainbow effect.” They turned away and were blinded again. When they looked back, what they had first seen was gone. They say they have only recently formed a clear idea of what it was. The caller tells the host they believe it was the “sixth sense” young children have. The exchange ends with the host restating that idea and the caller agreeing.
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 22:48). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives the name [name withheld] and a location transcribed as “great fun texas,” tells Art Bell that this is the first time they have told the whole thing. They say it began when they were four years old and living in Key West, Florida, in what they describe as [quote withheld] They had no television and had not seen a movie until they were six. The caller reports walking out the back of their grandfather’s house and being [quote withheld] What struck them was that the blindness had a color, [quote withheld] They say they turned to get it out of their vision and were blinded by the sun again. Then they looked to their left and were hit by the sun once more. When they went back to what they had first seen, “it was gone.” Asked what they think it was, they say it was the “sixth sense” that small children have, before they are [quote withheld] The host restates this as children being open until [quote withheld] and the caller agrees: “Exactly.” The caller adds that only recently have they begun to see [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:08
The caller gives the name [name withheld] and a location transcribed as “great fun texas,” and says this is the first time they have really told the whole thing.
- 0:12
The caller says it started when they were four years old and that it is becoming clearer to them as they get older.
- 0:36
The caller says they were in Key West, Florida, at the time and had no television and had not seen a movie until they were six.
- 0:52
The caller reports walking out the back of their grandfather’s house and being [quote withheld]
- 1:05
The caller says what shocked them was that the blindness had a color, [quote withheld]
- 1:08
The caller says they turned to get it out of their vision and were suddenly blinded by the sun again.
- 1:23
The caller says they looked to their left and the sun hit them again. When they went back to what they had first seen, it was gone.
- 1:33
The caller says it is only recently that they have started to see a clear picture of what it was.
- 1:39
Asked by the host what they think it was, the caller says it is the “sixth sense” small children have, before society inhibits them.
- 1:48
The host restates the idea that children are open until [quote withheld] and the caller agrees.
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· 0:52
As a four-year-old in Key West, Florida, the caller walked out the back of their grandfather’s house and was blinded by the sun.
- observation· 1:05
The blinding light had a color the caller describes as a rainbow effect.
- observation· 1:26
When the caller turned away they were blinded by the sun again, and when they looked back at what they had first seen, it was gone.
- observation· 1:33
The caller says they have only recently begun to see a clear picture of what the childhood experience was.
- interpretation· 1:39
The caller interprets the experience as the “sixth sense” that small children possess.
- interpretation· 1:45
The caller says young children are uninhibited by society.
- observation· 0:12
The caller acknowledges they have sometimes thought they saw things that may have been tricks of light or shadow.
- host statement· 1:48
The host states that children are open to such things until their minds are shaped and filtered by media and [quote withheld]
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 place and age. But the reported event is brief, decades old, and not clearly different from ordinary sun glare. The caller offers an interpretation rather than a description of anything specific they saw.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand testimony: [quote withheld]
- A specific setting and age are given: Key West, Florida, at four years old.
- The sequence is internally coherent and consistent with the caller’s later framing.
- The caller separates what they perceived from what they conclude and acknowledges possible [quote withheld] shadow.
- No date, no named witnesses, and no checkable detail beyond a general place.
- The memory is from age four and is described as clarified only “until recently.”
- The reported content, sun blindness with a rainbow color, is not clearly strange.
- The host’s agreement and elaboration are not evidence.
- The labels showing who is speaking are garbled, with the caller’s words attributed to the host in several lines.
- The story boundary cuts off a continuation of the same story.
- 0:52
- 1:05
- 0:12
- 1:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): My score weighs the story’s firsthand closeness and coherence against its vagueness about what was actually perceived and the strong fit of an ordinary optical explanation.
Only the caller’s own memory is offered. There are no documents, photographs, recordings, or on-air second witness, and the only details (a city and an age) cannot be checked as stated.
Evidence for and against
- A named place (Key West, Florida) and a stated age (four) are given.
- No physical evidence is claimed to exist.
- No other witness speaks on air, and none is even claimed.
- No dates, records, or verifiable details are supplied.
- It is unclear whether the location “great fun texas” has any bearing. It is transcribed unintelligibly.
- Errors in who is speaking make it harder to be sure which statements are the caller’s.
- 0:36
- 0:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the lowest evidence band because nothing in this part of the broadcast can be independently checked. The place name alone does not create a checkable record.
A brief, non-threatening childhood memory of bright sunlight and a color, with no presence, threat, or intrusion. The tone of the exchange is conversational and ends in agreement.
Evidence for and against
- An unexplained sensory experience in childhood and a lingering question about what it was.
- An unresolved note: the caller says they only recently formed a clear idea of it.
- No figure, no threat, no physical contact, no escalation.
- The setting is daytime and domestic.
- The exchange ends with the host and caller agreeing on an explanation.
- This part of the broadcast is short, and the reported event is described only in general terms.
- 1:05
- 1:26
What the model inferred (not said on air): My rating is based on the absence of threat or intrusion and the everyday daylight setting, not on the caller’s manner.
The general setup, a young child perceiving something adults no longer can, is a familiar one. But the specific content, a rainbow color attached to sun blindness that is gone on looking back, is a less common detail.
Evidence for and against
- The idea that [quote withheld] is stated explicitly by the host and endorsed by the caller.
- An unusual specific: a color described as a rainbow effect in otherwise ordinary blinding sunlight.
- No figure, haunted location, or recurring event.
- The “childhood sixth sense” explanation is a stock paranormal trope.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is provisional and cannot be judged from this part of the broadcast alone.
- The automatic segmenter’s provisional title mentions a [quote withheld] that lies outside the marked story boundary.
- 1:39
- 1:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): The provisional model score reflects a familiar way of explaining the event combined with one distinctive sensory detail. Comparison with the archive is not available to me here.
Scoring confidence 0.45 · analysis confidence 0.55 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call); No physical evidence claimed or examined; No on-air second 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.
- Ordinary glare and afterimage from looking toward bright sun, which can produce colored halos or rainbow-like effects. · The caller reports being [quote withheld] and describes the effect as [quote withheld] They also say they have thought they saw things that were [quote withheld]
- A very early childhood memory rebuilt over the following decades and later given a clearer shape. · The caller says [quote withheld] which suggests the interpretation formed long after the event.
What stands out
The core of the story is not a figure or a sound but a color attached to ordinary sun blindness. The caller treats it as an opening of perception in childhood, not as a presence or an event in a place. It is also presented as a memory told publicly for the first time.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.