Sister’s feet grabbed and a breathing presence at Fort Meade, Maryland
A caller who says he is from Indiana and a private in the US Army describes his sister’s story of something scratching and grabbing at her feet at night while the family lived on an army base at Fort Meade, Maryland. He also describes his own memories of being woken by breathing in his face and of apparently floating out of his bed. The call is cut short when the host says that physical grabbing makes the situation serious. No resolution or cause is given.
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 54:53). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Calling from Indiana, a man who identifies himself as a [quote withheld] tells Art Bell that his sister had an experience similar to a previous caller’s. He says he had a related experience at the same time in their childhood. He says they were young and living on an army base at Fort Meade, Maryland. According to the caller, his sister was often up all night, was always scared, and kept running to the bathroom. The family assumed she was having bad dreams. He says what the earlier caller described was exactly what his sister told them about, and that she still talks about it. Something, he says, was [quote withheld] and she would shut herself in the bathroom and cry her eyes out.
During the same period, the caller says, he was woken by something [quote withheld] which scared him. He says his mother did not know what was going on with her kids. He describes one occasion when he felt something grab him. He thought he was asleep and dreaming, and says it still feels like a dream to him. He reports feeling as though he was lifting out of his bed and floating down the hallway. He raises the possibility that it was an out-of-body experience, saying [quote withheld] Art Bell responds that when things physically grab you, it is getting serious, and the host then moves on to the next part of the broadcast.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The caller reaches the show and greets Art.
- 0:05
He says he is from Indiana and is a private in the “U.S. Military Army.”
- 0:10
He says his sister had a story much like a previous caller’s, and that they were young and living on an army base at Fort Meade, Maryland.
- 0:26
He reports his sister was often up all night, always scared, and kept running to the bathroom. The family thought she was having bad dreams.
- 0:36
He says the earlier caller’s description was exactly what his sister told them about, and that she still talks about it.
- 0:41
He reports something was literally scratching and grabbing at his sister’s feet, and that she would shut herself in the bathroom and cry.
- 0:50
He says he himself was being woken by something breathing up in his face.
- 1:00
He says his mother did not know what was going on with her kids.
- 1:05
He describes one occasion when he felt something grab him. He thought he was sleeping and dreaming, and felt as though he was lifting out of bed and floating down the hallway. It still seems like a dream to him.
- 1:24
The host comments that when things physically grab at you, it is getting real serious, then moves on.
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· 0:26
The caller’s sister was often awake all night, scared, and running to the bathroom.
- hearsay· 0:41
Something was literally scratching and grabbing at his sister’s feet.
- observation· 0:50
The caller was woken by something breathing up in his face.
- observation· 1:05
He felt something grab him on one occasion.
- observation· 1:05
He felt as though he was lifting out of his bed and floating down the hallway.
- interpretation· 1:05
He is unsure whether the experience was a dream or an out-of-body experience.
- host statement· 1:24
The host says physical grabbing shows the events are serious and that if it wants you, it has you.
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 brief but consistent firsthand story with a named military base. It mostly concerns experiences near sleep, and the sister’s part is secondhand. The caller does separate what he perceived from what he concluded, but ordinary explanations fit well.
Evidence for and against
- Specific setting given: an army base at Fort Meade, Maryland.
- Concrete detail about behavior: the sister running to the bathroom and crying.
- The caller flags his own uncertainty rather than escalating: [quote withheld]
- No names, dates, or other details that could be checked are given.
- The caller’s own experiences happen on waking, and he himself links them with dreaming.
- The sister’s story is relayed secondhand, and she does not speak.
- The labels in the automatic transcript showing who is speaking are unreliable in this passage. Some of the caller’s lines are labeled as the host.
- The story is brief and ends with a host interjection.
- 0:24
- 0:41
- 1:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component scoring: source closeness is moderate (firsthand for part, secondhand for the sister’s part), specificity is low to moderate, internal consistency is good, alternative explanations fit easily, and the caller’s claims are fairly well calibrated. No cap applies beyond the overall judgment.
Only the caller’s word is present, with a claimed second witness (the sister) who does not speak on air and no documentation. A place and the caller’s military status are given but were not checked.
Evidence for and against
- Named location: Fort Meade, Maryland.
- Stated affiliation: [quote withheld]
- A claimed second person with similar experiences, the sister.
- No names, records, photographs, or recordings are offered.
- The sister’s story is reported, not given on air.
- No outside check was done.
- Whether the sister would confirm the story is unknown.
- No date is given for the events.
- 0:07
- 0:26
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the 11 to 25 band because there are specifics that could be checked (a named base, military status) and a claimed additional witness, but nothing was verified and no physical evidence is claimed.
The story involves physical contact (scratching and grabbing at feet), something in the bedrooms, and a child crying behind a closed bathroom door, left unresolved. It is unsettling rather than graphic or sustained.
Evidence for and against
- Something reported as scratching and grabbing at the sister’s feet.
- Breathing in the caller’s face on waking.
- The host’s remark that if it wants you, it has you.
- No injury or threat of harm is described.
- The caller treats his own experience as possibly a dream, which softens it.
- The call is short and ends on the host’s comment.
- The story is brief, so dread does not build over a long telling.
- 0:44
- 0:53
- 1:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged from the story’s content for a listener, not from any view of whether it happened.
The core elements are familiar ghost-story material: something grabbing at feet at night, a presence breathing in the face, and a floating out-of-body sensation. The military-base setting and the paired accounts from siblings are mild distinguishing details.
Evidence for and against
- Night-time foot-grabbing is a recurring motif in the genre.
- A possible out-of-body floating sensation is a common report from sleep.
- The combination of a sibling’s foot-grabbing story and the caller’s own bedroom experiences on an army base is somewhat distinctive.
- The caller leaves the nature of his experience explicitly open.
- The provisional score is used here. Comparison with the rest of the archive is not done for this pilot.
- 0:41
- 1:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment of familiarity against common ghost-story motifs. The comparison with the rest of the archive is not available at this stage.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story of his own experiences; The caller’s report of his sister’s story (secondhand; the sister does not speak on air). The originality score blends the model's score (38) 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.
- Sleep-related experiences, such as images while falling asleep or dreaming, could account for the breathing sensation and the feeling of floating out of bed and down the hallway. · The caller describes being woken by the sensation and says [quote withheld]
- The sister’s night-time episodes could have been nightmares or night terrors rather than something unseen. · The family’s own first view: [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story pairs a family member’s reported night-time foot-grabbing with the caller’s own experiences near sleep (breathing in the face, a possible out-of-body floating sensation) in the same household on an army base. The caller openly leaves the nature of his own experience undecided.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.