Family friend's reported vision of devils and fire during clinical death
[name withheld], calling from Chicago on WLS, tells Art Bell about a family friend they say was pronounced clinically dead. According to [name withheld], the friend later told [name withheld]'s parents he had seen devils, fire, and tortured souls during the experience. He remained afraid that this was what awaited him at death. [name withheld] adds that he became “very pleasant” 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 2001-3.mp3”, starting at 47:24). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld] gives their name and says they are calling from Chicago and listening on WLS. [name withheld] tells Art Bell they have [quote withheld] and begins with the first. [name withheld] describes a friend of their family from their growing-up years, a man in his very late 60s who was seriously ill with kidney problems. [name withheld] adds that in his 20s, 30s, and 40s he was [quote withheld] and speculates he may have been carrying [quote withheld]
According to [name withheld], the man was pronounced clinically dead and later recovered: [quote withheld] Once he was recovering, [name withheld] says, he discussed with [name withheld]'s parents how frightened he had been. During the clinical death he [quote withheld] and it was [quote withheld] Art Bell responds that he probably thinks he [quote withheld] and [name withheld] agrees. [name withheld] says he was very afraid that this was what awaited him when he finally died. Asked whether the experience caused him to change his life and [quote withheld] [name withheld] says he [quote withheld] and confirms “he really did.”
Bell then comments on the fairness of the situation and observes that most people do not talk about hellish experiences, so they are rarely heard. [name withheld] then begins a second, separate story about their best friend's mother, which comes after this part of the broadcast.
Reported events, in order
- 0:05
The caller gives their name as [name withheld], says they are calling from Chicago and listening on WLS, and says they have two quick stories about death.
- 0:16
[name withheld] introduces a family friend, in his very late 60s, who was seriously ill with kidney problems.
- 0:33
[name withheld] says that in his 20s, 30s, and 40s the man was [quote withheld] possibly carrying [quote withheld]
- 0:42
[name withheld] says he was pronounced clinically dead.
- 0:47
[name withheld] says he recovered and came back.
- 0:50
According to [name withheld], once he was recovering, he told [name withheld]'s parents he was freaked out and scared because during the clinical death he saw devils, fire, and tortured souls.
- 1:06
Art Bell suggests he thinks he had a [quote withheld] [name withheld] agrees and says the man was afraid that was what awaited him at death.
- 1:23
Asked whether it changed his life, [name withheld] says he [quote withheld]
- 1:42
Bell comments that hellish near-death stories are rarely spoken of. [name withheld] then starts a separate second story.
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· 0:42
The family friend was pronounced clinically dead and later recovered.
- hearsay· 0:58
During the clinical death, the man reportedly saw devils, fire, and tortured souls.
- hearsay· 1:01
The reported vision included “tortured souls.”
- interpretation· 1:14
[name withheld] says the man concluded the vision was what awaited him at his death.
- interpretation· 0:39
[name withheld] speculates that the man's earlier behavior may have been the reason for the experience.
- host statement· 1:06
Art Bell describes the reported experience as a vision of hell.
- host statement· 1:42
Bell says that hellish near-death stories are rarely reported.
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 short, coherent, but entirely secondhand story relayed through the caller's parents, with almost no details that can be checked. An ordinary explanation (a lack of oxygen or medication during a clinical death) fits easily.
Evidence for and against
- The sequence is coherent: illness, clinical death, recovery, retelling, later change in life.
- [name withheld] does not embellish with physical events or additional claims.
- Secondhand, at one remove at least.
- No names, dates, place, or medical detail.
- Well-recognized ordinary causes (lack of oxygen, sedation, illness) fit a near-death experience of this kind.
- No details of the resuscitation or the medical setting are given.
- The chain of telling (friend to parents to caller) cannot be checked.
- 0:42
- 0:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): My component estimates (source proximity about 10, specificity about 6, internal consistency about 15, alternative explanations about 5, calibration about 8) are editorial judgments from the text, not transcript content.
The only support is [name withheld]'s report of what the man told [name withheld]'s parents. No details that can be checked (name, hospital, date, record) are supplied, and no second witness speaks on air.
Evidence for and against
- [name withheld] gives their name, their city, and the station, which gives minimal traceability to the source of the telling.
- No names, dates, places, or documents are given for the event itself.
- The story is relayed through at least one go-between (the parents).
- The main witness is never named and never speaks.
- No documentation, record, or physical trace is mentioned.
- 0:50
What the model inferred (not said on air): My reasoning is that this sits in the very bottom band: the caller's word alone, relayed at least twice.
The imagery of devils, fire, and tortured souls, plus the man's fear of what awaited him at death, is disturbing in idea. But the telling is brief and secondhand, with no physical threat or escalation.
Evidence for and against
- Hellish imagery of devils, fire, and tortured souls.
- Fear of eternal punishment after death.
- No ill will, contact, or harm is reported.
- It ends on a gentle note: he became “very pleasant.”
- The brief, secondhand telling reduces lasting dread.
- No threat or harm is reported to any living person.
- 0:58
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is my judgment about the story's effect on a listener, not about its truth or the caller's state of mind.
A hellish near-death vision of devils, fire, and souls is a familiar religious and near-death setup. It is told in only a few sentences, with no distinctive or rare combination of elements.
Evidence for and against
- It contains a recognizable near-death pattern (clinical death, vision, recovery, change in life).
- The specific hellish content (devils, fire, tortured souls) is less commonly voiced on air than tunnel-and-light stories.
- No distinguishing or unusual detail beyond the hellish content itself.
- A very short story limits how many motifs can be pulled from it.
- 0:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is that a hellish near-death experience is a well-worn story pattern. Nothing in the transcript makes it distinctive in structure or detail.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's secondhand story (a family friend's story, relayed through the caller's parents); No documentation, recording, photograph, or second witness on air. The originality score blends the model's score (25) 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 lack of oxygen, poor blood flow, or sedation around the time of the clinical death could produce vivid hallucinations, later described in religious terms. · [name withheld] says he was “pronounced clinically dead” and was seriously ill with “kidney problems.”
- The content may reflect the man's own cultural and religious view of dying (devils, fire, and punishment) and not anything he actually saw. · The imagery [name withheld] reports, [quote withheld] matches conventional pictures of hell, as does Bell's own phrase [quote withheld]
- The story has passed through at least one retelling (friend to parents to caller), so details may have been shortened or changed along the way. · [name withheld] says [quote withheld] not that [name withheld] heard it from the man directly.
What stands out
Hellish near-death stories are comparatively rare on the program. [name withheld] presents the man's later change in life as the result of the experience. The story is unusually short, with no names, dates, place, or medical detail beyond “kidney problems.”
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.