Noises of a file cabinet being ransacked below a Plymouth, New Hampshire apartment
An unnamed caller on the wildcard line tells Art Bell that, while renting an apartment above an accounting office in Plymouth, New Hampshire, they heard what sounded like an intruder slamming a door and ransacking a file cabinet below them one night around 10 p.m. They shouted down that they had a gun and called the police. The noise stopped about when officers arrived, and they searched and found no one. The next morning the accountant, who was also the caller’s landlord, reportedly told the caller nothing was out of order and that it had felt as if someone was holding the door when the landlord tried to enter.
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 2001-1.mp3”, starting at 34:59). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says they were then living in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in an apartment they rented above an accounting office. One night at about 10 p.m. they heard a loud noise from below that sounded like a door being slammed. Then they heard what sounded like someone going into a file cabinet and ripping through files, with papers audible. They say they were scared and shouted downstairs asking who was there and saying that they had a gun. There was no response, and the noise increased. They called the local police, who they say arrived in about three minutes, and the noise stopped about when the police arrived. The caller met them outside. They checked all the doors for a break-in, shone their lights inside, told the caller nobody was there, and left. The caller heard nothing further that night. The next morning the caller told the accountant, whom the caller describes as their landlord, that they had called police because they thought someone had broken in and gone through the accountant’s files. The accountant reportedly said nothing was out of order. The accountant also said it had felt as if somebody was holding the door when the accountant tried to come in that morning. According to the caller, the accountant then went around to the front, unlocked the building, went in, and found the back door unlocked with no one there. The caller says they looked out every window afterward to make sure nobody had run out, noting that it is a college town. Art Bell cut the call off at that point. The caller does not state a cause for what they heard, and the landlord’s remarks about the door are relayed by the caller rather than spoken on air.
Reported events, in order
- 0:13
The caller says they were living in Plymouth, New Hampshire, renting the apartment above an accounting office.
- 0:24
One night around 10 p.m. the caller heard a loud noise that sounded like someone downstairs slamming a door.
- 0:32
The caller heard what sounded like someone going through a file cabinet and ripping through files, with papers audible.
- 0:43
The caller shouted downstairs that they had a gun. The caller says there was no response and the noise increased.
- 0:57
The caller called the local police. They arrived in about three minutes, and the noise stopped about as they showed up.
- 1:05
The caller met the police, who checked all the doors for a break-in and found nobody inside.
- 1:12
Police shone their lights in, told the caller no one was there, and left. The caller heard nothing further that night.
- 1:27
The next morning the caller told the accountant and landlord that they had called police, thinking someone had broken in and gone through the accountant’s files.
- 1:42
The landlord told the caller nothing in the office was out of order.
- 1:47
The landlord said it felt as though someone had been holding the door when the landlord tried to come in that morning.
- 2:02
According to the landlord (as relayed), the landlord went around to the front, unlocked it, went in, and found the back door unlocked with no one there.
- 2:11
The caller says they looked out every window to check that nobody ran out, noting it is a college town.
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· 0:24
The caller heard a loud noise from the accounting office below their apartment that sounded like a door being slammed.
- observation· 0:32
The caller heard what sounded like someone opening a file cabinet and ripping through files, with papers audible.
- observation· 0:43
When the caller shouted down that they had a gun, the caller says, there was no response and the noise got worse.
- observation· 0:57
The noise stopped about when the police arrived.
- observation· 1:12
Police searched and reported no one inside and nothing disturbed.
- hearsay· 1:42
The landlord and accountant told the caller nothing in the office was out of order.
- hearsay· 1:47
The landlord told the caller it felt as if someone had been holding the door when the landlord tried to enter that morning.
- hearsay· 2:02
The landlord said the landlord let in at the front, and the back door was unlocked with no one there.
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 coherent, specific, firsthand story of sounds, with details that can be checked (town, office, police call). But no one else backs it up, and an easy ordinary explanation (a real intruder or building noise) is not addressed.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story from the person in the building at the time ([quote withheld]).
- A concrete place, approximate time, and an ordered sequence: a rented apartment over an accounting office, about 10 p.m., door slam, file-cabinet noise, shout, police call, officers arriving in about three minutes.
- Details that could in principle be checked: a named town and an actual police call-out to an unlocked office.
- The caller answers the host’s follow-up questions without changing the story, and reports the landlord’s statement as the landlord’s rather than as the caller’s own observation.
- It is entirely about sound. The caller never reports seeing a person or figure ([quote withheld]), and police found nothing.
- No date, no names of the landlord or police department, and no documentation. Nothing is independently confirmed on air.
- Several transcript lines are garbled ([quote withheld]; [quote withheld]), so parts of the exchange are uncertain.
- The labels showing who is speaking alternate between the host and the caller and appear unreliable in places.
- The landlord’s experience with the door is reported secondhand and cannot be tested.
- No date or era is given, so the events cannot be placed in time.
- 0:13
- 0:57
- 2:11
What the model inferred (not said on air): Source proximity was weighted high because the caller was in the building during the events, and specificity moderately for the named town, time, and police response. Credit for alternative explanations was reduced because an intruder who left through the unlocked back door is a plausible ordinary reading that the caller never rules out. The caller’s tone and the host’s enthusiasm were not used.
Details that could be checked are present, but nothing was checked and no second witness speaks on air. That places this in the low range of the scoring guide.
Evidence for and against
- The story contains potentially checkable specifics: a named town (Plymouth, New Hampshire), a specific building type (an accounting office under the apartment), and a police call-out reported to have taken about three minutes.
- No second witness speaks on air. The landlord’s statements are only relayed.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is offered or examined.
- No outside check is recorded, so the evidence stays at the level of the caller’s word.
- No department name, date, or report number is given, so the police part could not be traced even if an outside check were allowed.
- 0:13
- 1:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): The police visit was treated as a detail that could in principle be checked (a call log would exist). That lifts it above the range for word alone, but nothing in the transcript examines or confirms it, and the cap of 50 applies with no outside check.
Eerie rather than frightening: an unseen presence in the building at night and a door apparently held shut, but no harm, threat, or ongoing escalation.
Evidence for and against
- Something unseen in the building at night, in the space directly below the caller’s home, apparently ransacking files.
- The noise reportedly increased after the caller shouted, and stopped only when police arrived.
- The landlord’s separate report that the door felt as though it was being held against the landlord, with the back door then found unlocked.
- No threat, injury, or physical contact with the caller is reported. Nothing is seen, and the story ends with police leaving and the caller looking out windows.
- The events are sounds only and end that same night. No return is described.
- There is a mildly humorous note in the caller’s decision to shout that they had a gun.
- It is not stated whether the caller felt frightened beyond the reported worry about an intruder.
- 0:43
- 1:47
What the model inferred (not said on air): This placement reflects the intrusion into a home, the noise growing louder after being challenged, and the door detail. It discounts the absence of any clear threat or injury.
This is a familiar haunting-in-a-building frame with a distinctive office-ransacking detail and a door held against a witness the next morning.
Evidence for and against
- The strange event is the specific sound of a file cabinet being ransacked with papers audible, an office-specific detail rather than generic footsteps or knocking.
- The apartment sits above a working accounting office, and the second element is a door apparently held shut against the landlord the following morning.
- The core frame of unexplained noises in a building, nothing found on investigation, and no answer is a very common ghost-story shape.
- Police arriving and the noise stopping is a familiar trope.
- How new the story is compared with the rest of the archive can’t be worked out from this excerpt alone.
- 0:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional score based on the content only. A comparison with the rest of the archive can’t be meaningful on a single excerpt, so it is treated as a content-only estimate: stock structure, one or two unusual specifics.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand spoken story (sounds only; nothing seen); A claimed official response: police attended and searched, reported by the caller but not confirmed on air; A secondhand claim relayed from the landlord and accountant, who does not speak on air; No photographs, recordings, documents, or written records presented or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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 real intruder entered the office, made the noise, and left through the unlocked back door before or as police arrived. · The caller heard an office being ransacked, and the landlord later found the back door unlocked with no one there ([quote withheld]). The caller raised the possibility of a break-in by calling police.
- Building noise (settling, plumbing or heating, a heavy door moved by air pressure) plus a stiff or sticking outside door could produce the reported sounds and the resistance at the door. · The landlord reported difficulty opening the door ([quote withheld]). That also fits a swollen, warped, or draft-pressed door in an older building in the morning.
- An animal inside the building, or sounds from outside carried through the structure, could account for some of the noises. · The caller’s story is entirely about sound. The caller never saw anyone or anything ([quote withheld]).
What stands out
What was reported is not footsteps or a figure but the sound of an office being searched, with a file cabinet ripped open and papers audible. The tenant living directly above heard it, and the search found nothing out of order. A second, separate element is the landlord’s report that the door felt as though it was being held shut against the landlord the following morning.
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