Successive owners report a tall figure and a rocking-chair woman in a Victoria house
[name withheld], calling from Victoria, British Columbia, tells Art Bell that their parents bought a house in that city about 1941. The caller believes two ghosts remain there: their brother Jim, killed in an accident in 1957, and their mother, who died of cancer in 1983. The caller says two families who owned the house in turn each contacted them and their sister about odd happenings. They described a tall young man in the basement and, in the second case, a rocking chair that moved by itself with a woman sitting in it. The call ends with the caller’s own thoughts on what the dead may experience and Art Bell’s closing remarks.
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 26:16). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], calling Art Bell from Victoria, British Columbia, says their parents bought a house there about 1941 and that the house has two ghosts, their brother and their mother. The caller says their brother Jim was killed in an accident in 1957 at age 23 and had been in the army. (The transcript also has an unclear phrase about [quote withheld]) The caller says their mother became very ill and died of cancer in 1983, after which the house was sold. About six months to a year later, the new owners, a young couple, contacted [name withheld] and their sister because of odd things happening. [name withheld] and their sister visited. The father-in-law, who was helping with renovations, was agitated, and they felt unwelcome. The couple took them to the basement and said they had been seeing the image of a very tall young man with dark hair who had something shiny on his left breast. Within the year the couple sold the house. About two years later the next owners, a young brother and sister interested in the house’s history, tracked the family down. In the basement they described the same image: a very tall young man, matching Jim’s height of 6'2 1/2", in dark clothing with the shiny object on the left breast and a cap. During kitchen renovations they removed old V-joint molding and found an old photograph of [name withheld]’s brother. Art Bell guesses he was in uniform. They also said that while watching television one night the rocking chair moved by itself, and they saw a vague image of a woman in her 60s with dark hair and a house dress. [name withheld] says this was their mother, sitting with a cup of tea. Asked if she was nervous, the young woman reportedly said no, it was [quote withheld] [name withheld] says the last such event was about 15 years earlier.
Reported events, in order
- 0:12
The caller says their parents bought a house in Victoria, British Columbia, about 1941.
- 0:18
The caller says the house has two ghosts, their brother and their mother.
- 0:38
The caller says their brother Jim was killed in an accident in 1957 at age 23 and had been in the army. A phrase about [quote withheld] follows, but it is unclear in the transcript.
- 0:49
The caller says their mother became very ill and died of cancer in 1983, after which the house was sold.
- 1:07
About six months to a year later, the new owners contacted the caller and their sister because of “somewhat odd things” happening.
- 1:18
The caller and their sister visited. The family was a young couple. The father-in-law was helping with renovations, and he was very agitated and made them feel unwelcome.
- 1:45
The young couple took them to the basement and said they had been seeing the image of a very tall young man with dark hair who had something shiny on his left breast.
- 2:04
Within the year the couple sold the house. The caller says they were very uncomfortable.
- 2:13
About two years later the next owners tracked down the caller’s family. They were a young, pleasant brother and sister interested in the house’s history.
- 2:35
In the basement again, the second owners described the same image: a very tall young man, matching the caller’s brother’s height of 6'2 1/2", in dark clothing with the shiny object on the left breast and a cap.
- 3:00
During a kitchen renovation the second owners removed old V-joint molding and found an old photograph of the caller’s brother behind it. The host guesses it showed him in uniform.
- 3:12
The second owners reported that while watching television one night, the rocking chair in the front room started to move by itself.
- 3:24
In the rocking chair they saw a vague image of a woman in her 60s with dark hair and a house dress. The caller takes this to be their mother sitting with a cup of tea.
- 3:47
Asked if she was nervous, the young woman reportedly said no, that it was [quote withheld]
- 4:03
The caller says the last such event was about 15 years before the broadcast.
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).
- interpretation· 0:18
The caller says the house has two ghosts, whom they identify as their late brother and their late mother.
- observation· 0:33
The caller says they are [quote withheld] that they know who the two figures are.
- hearsay· 1:45
The caller says the first new owners told them they had been seeing, in the basement, the image of a very tall young man with dark hair who had something shiny on his left breast.
- observation· 1:58
A speaker (who is unclear in the transcript) likens the shiny object on the figure’s left breast to a police badge.
- hearsay· 2:35
The caller says the second owners independently described the same image: a very tall young man, their brother’s height of 6'2 1/2", in dark clothing, with the shiny object on the left breast and a cap.
- hearsay· 3:00
The caller says the second owners found an old photograph of their brother behind the molding when renovating the kitchen.
- hearsay· 3:12
The caller says the second owners saw a rocking chair in the front room move by itself while they watched television.
- hearsay· 3:24
The caller says the second owners saw a vague image of a woman in her 60s with dark hair and a house dress in the moving rocking chair.
- interpretation· 3:31
The caller takes the woman in the chair to be their mother, sitting with a cup of tea. The caller describes their mother as kind and gentle with family her whole life.
- hearsay· 3:47
The caller says the young woman in the second owning family said she was not nervous, that it was [quote withheld]
- interpretation· 4:44
The caller offers their own view that for those on the other side time is not linear, so the dead could be in an “internal” now. (The transcript is unclear and may say “eternal.”)
- host statement· 3:07
The host guesses, before the caller confirms it, that the photograph showed their brother in uniform.
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.
The story is coherent and unusually well specified for its length. But its central events are reported secondhand from unnamed owners rather than seen by the caller. The secondhand cap of 60 applies, and the score sits below that.
Evidence for and against
- Concrete dates and numbers: parents bought the house about 1941, brother killed in 1957 at 23, mother died in 1983, brother’s height 6'2 1/2".
- The story moves forward consistently across two periods of ownership, with the same figure described.
- The caller admits a limit on their knowledge. The caller says they have “no idea” how the first owners found them.
- The two sightings are relayed secondhand. The caller is not the person who saw the basement figure or the rocking-chair figure.
- The reported experiences are interesting but cannot be verified from the transcript: no address, no surnames, no documents.
- The call arose because the owners contacted the family after odd events, so the events were already seen as paranormal before they were described to the caller.
- The line about the brother being [quote withheld] is garbled, so the nature of the shiny object is not firmly established.
- It is unclear in the transcript who said [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The caller’s age and whereabouts at the time of the reported basement sightings are not stated.
- 1:58
- 1:18
- 4:03
- 0:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): The points given for internal consistency and specificity are my judgment that the sequence is orderly and detailed. The points held back are because no witness on air and no document verifies any reported sighting.
There are names, dates, and a claimed physical object, which lift the story above bare assertion. But nothing was checked and the object was not examined on air, so the score stays in the lower part of the 11 to 25 range.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could in principle be checked: the city (Victoria, BC), the approximate purchase year (about 1941), two dated deaths (1957 and 1983), the brother’s name Jim, and his height.
- A physical item is claimed to exist: an old photograph of the brother found behind molding.
- Two families are claimed as witnesses, though neither speaks on air.
- No address, surname, or document is given, so nothing could be looked up from the transcript alone.
- The photograph was found by others and is not produced, described in detail on air, or examined.
- The claimed witnesses (two sets of owners) do not speak on air.
- The transcript’s garbled sentence about the brother’s army or police history leaves one possible checkable detail unresolved.
- It is not stated whether the caller’s sister could have backed up the story. She is mentioned but never heard.
- 3:00
- 2:35
- 0:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): The placement follows the scoring guide’s rule that only checkable details actually present in the transcript count. I have not treated the caller’s confidence as evidence.
The material is unsettling in the usual ghost-story way: a moving chair and a figure in a basement, with one family leaving. But the main tone is gentle and even comforting, which pulls the score toward the middle.
Evidence for and against
- Figures in a basement that the caller did not see themselves, and a chair moving on its own in a family home, are eerie by nature.
- One family reportedly sold the house within a year because they were “very, very uncomfortable.”
- The events continue across successive owners, which gives a sense of recurrence.
- The mother is remembered fondly: [quote withheld] The young woman reportedly found the presence comforting.
- The call is conversational and calm, ending with the caller’s mild thoughts rather than a frightening climax.
- The description of the basement figure is brief and suggests no threat.
- It is unclear how the caller felt during the reported events. The transcript reports actions, not feelings.
- 2:04
- 3:47
- 3:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness here is my judgment of how the story plays for a listener, not a claim about what happened.
The story uses familiar themes but adds two distinctive touches: the hidden photograph found behind molding, and the same description given by separate owners. That puts it above the score for stock material alone.
Evidence for and against
- The distinctive detail is the photograph of the brother, in uniform, found hidden behind kitchen molding.
- Two separate families reportedly described the same figure independently, including a specific height and a shiny object on the left breast.
- Pairing the figure with a moving rocking chair occupied by a woman with tea is an unusual combination.
- The core elements (a figure in a basement, a dead relative recognized, a rocking chair moving) are standard ghost-story furniture.
- An old family home with lingering relatives is a familiar setup.
- The transcript does not show how much the found photograph shaped later descriptions of the figure.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is not done for this pilot.
- 3:00
- 2:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a first judgment based on content. The adjustment compared with the rest of the archive depends on archive statistics not available here.
Scoring confidence 0.62 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word about their family and the house’s ownership history (parents bought it about 1941, brother died 1957, mother died 1983).; Secondhand reports relayed by the caller of what two families who owned the house in turn told them and their sister (basement figure, rocking chair, found photograph).; A claimed physical item, an old photograph of their brother said to have been found behind kitchen molding by the second owners. It is described but not produced or examined on air.; No second witness on air. The caller’s sister is mentioned but does not speak.. 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.
- People may have seen a dim, unclear shape in a basement and read it as a figure because of what they expected. · The basement sightings are of an indistinct “image” in a dim space of an old house that the owners already knew had a history. Expectation and seeing shapes in poor light could have shaped what they saw.
- Ordinary old-house effects (drafts, uneven floors, the house settling, vibration from work or the television) might account for a rocking chair moving and for noises or movements in an old building. · The caller says the house [quote withheld] and was being renovated when the photo was found. The chair moved in the front room at night while the family sat watching television.
- Shared expectation among successive occupants of a house with a known story could shape how unclear events were interpreted and passed on. · The owners contacted the family specifically because of the odd events and asked about the house’s history. The second owners had bought an old house and were [quote withheld]
What stands out
The reports come from two separate families who owned the house in turn. Each tracked down the surviving family. One family also claims to have found an ordinary photograph of the dead brother hidden behind kitchen molding, a detail that is concrete rather than ghostly. The caller’s own role is largely to identify the figures. The caller confirms who they were rather than seeing the figures themselves.
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