Percolator parts found reassembled on a windowsill
A caller tells Art Bell that in 1976, while making coffee in an old Chicago house, percolator parts they had set aside vanished and later appeared assembled and standing on a windowsill. The caller and their wife searched for about half an hour before finding them. The story ends with them moving out soon 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 2000-2.mp3”, starting at 1:56:55). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
In a call to the Wild Card Line, the caller says that in 1976, shortly after their first marriage, they got up to make coffee using an old percolator. The caller removed the basket and stem (“the guts”), cleaned them, and set them in the drainer to dry. After cleaning and rinsing the pot and filling it with cold water, they reached for the basket and stem and found they were gone. The caller searched the table, called their wife in, and together they searched the whole house for about half an hour. Returning to the kitchen, the caller says they saw the parts on the windowsill, assembled and standing on end, [quote withheld] balancing on a rough painted windowsill and gleaming in sunlight. The caller describes the house as an old one in Chicago built behind the local bar. The caller says there had been stories about the place before they moved in, but everything had been [quote withheld] The host remarks he wouldn't want to stick around, and the caller replies, [quote withheld] The story is told in the first person, with the wife as a claimed second witness who does not speak on the air. The caller gives no cause.
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
Caller says the events happened in 1976, shortly after their first marriage.
- 0:13
The caller says they got up to make coffee using an old percolator.
- 0:43
The caller removed the basket and stem (“the guts”), cleaned them, and set them aside in the drainer to dry.
- 0:57
The caller cleaned and rinsed the pot, filled it with cold water, and went to pick up the basket and stem.
- 1:08
The caller found the parts gone from the drainer.
- 1:18
The caller looked on the table, could not find them, and called their wife.
- 1:23
The caller's wife looked in the drainer and on the table and said they were not there. They searched the whole house.
- 1:33
Back in the kitchen, the caller saw the parts on the windowsill, assembled and ready for the pot.
- 1:52
The caller describes them balancing on a rough painted windowsill.
- 1:58
The caller describes the house as an old one in Chicago built behind the local bar.
- 2:07
The caller notes stories about the place before they moved in, but says everything had been benign up to that point.
- 2:17
After about half an hour of searching, they returned and saw the parts gleaming in the sunlight.
- 2:27
The caller says the parts were assembled and standing on end.
- 2:36
The caller agrees they did not stick around much after that.
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· 1:08
The percolator parts vanished from the drainer after the caller set them aside.
- observation· 1:33
The parts reappeared on the windowsill, assembled and ready for the pot.
- observation· 1:52
The parts were balancing perfectly on a rough painted windowsill.
- hearsay· 2:07
There had been stories about the house before they moved in.
- host statement· 2:29
The host calls the event a “good act” and says he would not want to stick around.
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, specific, consistent story from 1976 with a concrete object and sequence. But no one backs it up, the second witness does not speak, and ordinary explanations such as a prank or misplacement are not addressed.
Evidence for and against
- A specific year and marital context.
- A detailed procedure of cleaning and setting aside the percolator parts.
- A precise description of how the parts reappeared.
- No confirmation from the wife on the air.
- No physical evidence or documentation.
- A possible prank or misplacement is not explored.
- The caller's identity and the exact house are unverified.
- The wife's access to the kitchen during the search is not discussed.
- 0:06
- 1:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): The story has enough concrete detail to sit above a vague secondhand report, but the lack of any thought about ordinary explanations or an independent check keeps it from the higher anchor levels.
Assertion only, with a claimed second witness who does not speak on the air. There is no documentation, photograph, or record that can be checked beyond the year and city.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a year, 1976.
- The caller gives a city, Chicago.
- The caller says their wife joined the search.
- No confirmation on the air.
- No physical evidence examined.
- No independent records or names provided.
- Whether the wife actually saw the parts reappear or only joined the search.
- Whether any report or record was ever made.
- 1:29
- 1:20
What the model inferred (not said on air): The claimed witness is a specific that could be checked in principle, but because she does not speak on the air it remains an assertion rather than backing from someone else.
A household object oddity with a precise, uncanny arrangement. There is mild unease from the suggestion of something unseen and the caller's decision to leave, but no threat, harm, or lasting dread.
Evidence for and against
- The parts disappear.
- The parts reappear assembled on a windowsill.
- The caller says they did not stick around after that.
- No threat, physical contact, or frightening imagery.
- The event occurred in daylight and is told without escalation.
- The emotional impact is not described in detail.
- Vocal delivery is not considered.
- 1:33
- 2:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): The reassembled household object is unsettling in a low-key way, but the story lacks the threat or intrusion that would raise it to the middle of the scale.
A familiar poltergeist object-movement setup, but the specific detail of the percolator parts reassembled and balanced upright on a windowsill is distinctive. The score is provisional, pending comparison with the rest of the archive.
Evidence for and against
- The parts are found assembled and standing on end.
- The parts are described as balancing on a rough painted windowsill.
- The core theme of objects moved and returned is common.
- Newness compared with the rest of the archive has not yet been computed.
- It is unknown whether the exact arrangement is unique in the archive.
- 2:27
What the model inferred (not said on air): The unusual arrangement lifts the story above stock elements, but the underlying event remains a familiar poltergeist-style movement of objects.
Scoring confidence 0.80 · analysis confidence 0.85 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: Caller's firsthand testimony; Claimed second witness (wife) who does not speak on the air; No physical evidence or documentation examined. The originality score blends the model's score (58) 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 prank or deliberate rearrangement by another person in the house. · The caller's wife is called in and takes part in the search, and the parts are later found arranged upright. No other person is mentioned, but the caller does not explore this possibility.
- Misplacement followed by selective attention during the search. · The caller had set the parts aside in a drainer and later searched for them. After a half-hour search, the caller notices them on a nearby windowsill in daylight, and does not describe checking that exact windowsill spot before.
- A prank or rearrangement by someone else who had access to the house. · The house is described as an old Chicago house behind a local bar, but no other people are described as present. This remains speculative.
What stands out
The strange part is not merely an object moving but a precise rearrangement. The coffee basket and stem are found assembled and standing on end on a rough painted windowsill, a position the caller implies would be hard to reach by accident. The household, non-threatening tone and the caller's brief follow-up that they left the house are also notable.
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