A young boy reported by residents at a Maryland assisted living facility
[name withheld], a first-time caller from the eastern shore of Maryland on Chesapeake Bay, says they are a director of nursing at an assisted living facility in a building over 100 years old. They report that several residents repeatedly complained to the caller about a young boy who pestered them, rode the elevator, climbed on their dressers, and taunted them. The caller never saw him. Long-serving employees told the caller the boy had shown himself for years. They identified him as the young son of the bride to whom the building was originally given. This part of the broadcast ends with the caller’s note that the residents involved are mostly Alzheimer’s patients, and with the host’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 2003.mp3”, starting at 43:37). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Calling on the first-time caller line, [name withheld] says they live on the eastern shore of Maryland on Chesapeake Bay and are a director of nursing at an assisted living facility. It is housed in a building over 100 years old, whose 100-year anniversary was celebrated that past June. The original building, they say, was a gift from a former governor of Maine to the governor’s daughter, a young bride, and the home has two large wings where the residents live. Right after they started working there, they say, several residents complained about a young boy who pestered them and told them to go places they should not. The elevator buttons would go up and down, and he climbed on top of their dressers and taunted them. The caller says they first assumed he was part of a visiting family. But when they went to look, the residents pointed him out and the caller saw no one. Several residents, the caller says, told them [quote withheld] and asked them to take him away. The caller says they grew uneasy and asked employees who had worked there more than 20 years. The employees told the caller that the caller would get to see the little boy too and that he had shown himself at least as long as they had been there. The caller relays the staff’s view that he is the young son of the bride to whom the home was given, who died at an early age, cause unknown. The caller also mentions the elevator door opening with no one there. Asked by the host whether they ever saw the boy themselves, the caller says they never have. The caller adds that there are many ghosts and stories there. One resident will not sleep in her bed because she says it moves, which [name withheld] tested and found normal. The caller notes that these are mostly Alzheimer’s patients and wonders whether the residents have some connection others do not.
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
The caller gives their first name as [name withheld].
- 0:09
The caller says they live on the eastern shore of Maryland on Chesapeake Bay and are a director of nursing for an assisted living facility.
- 0:16
The caller describes the facility as a very old building, over 100 years old, whose 100-year anniversary was celebrated that past June. It was originally a gift from a former governor of Maine to the governor’s daughter.
- 0:41
Right after the caller started there, several residents complained of a young boy pestering them and telling them to go places they should not.
- 0:55
Residents said the elevator buttons would go up and down, and that the boy climbed on top of their dressers and taunted them.
- 1:12
The caller first assumed the boy was part of a visiting family. When they went to look, residents pointed him out but the caller saw no one.
- 1:42
The caller became uneasy and asked long-serving employees, who told the caller that the caller would get to see the little boy too.
- 2:05
Employees said the boy had shown himself at least as long as they had worked there. They identified him as the young son of the bride who received the home, said to have died at an early age.
- 2:24
The caller notes the oddity of the elevator door opening with no one there.
- 2:43
The host asks whether the caller ever saw the boy. The caller says they never have.
- 2:51
The caller mentions other ghost stories there, including a resident who will not sleep in her bed because she says it moves. [name withheld] lay in it and found it normal.
- 3:12
The caller says those residents are mostly Alzheimer’s patients and wonders whether the residents have some connection others do not.
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· 0:41
[name withheld] says several residents complained to the caller about a young boy who pestered them and told them to go where they were not supposed to go.
- hearsay· 0:55
Residents told the caller the boy pressed elevator buttons so the buttons went up and down.
- hearsay· 0:59
Residents told the caller the boy climbed on top of their dressers and taunted them.
- observation· 1:27
When the caller went to look, the residents would point out the boy but the caller saw no one there.
- hearsay· 1:58
Long-serving employees told the caller that the caller would begin seeing the little boy too.
- hearsay· 2:05
Employees said the boy had been showing himself at least as long as they had worked there, and probably longer.
- interpretation· 2:11
Staff believe the boy is the young son of the bride to whom the building was given, who died at an early age.
- observation· 2:24
The caller describes the elevator door opening with no one there.
- observation· 2:46
The caller says they have never seen the boy themselves.
- observation· 3:07
The caller says they lay down in a resident’s bed to test it and found it did not move.
- interpretation· 3:12
The caller notes that the residents involved are mostly Alzheimer’s patients and wonders whether they have some connection others lack.
- host statement· 3:47
The host asserts that the presence has been in residence at the site since dying 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.
The story is coherent and comes from someone who works at the site. But the strange content is relayed from other people, chiefly elderly residents, and the most obvious ordinary explanation (misperception by cognitively impaired residents) fits comfortably and is raised by the caller. Specificity is moderate, but there are no names, dates, or checkable records. Calibration is decent.
Evidence for and against
- The caller is on-site and describes concrete details: a building over 100 years old, a 100-year anniversary “this past June,” and an original building that was a gift from a former governor of Maine.
- The reported behaviors are specific and consistent across residents: elevator buttons, dresser-climbing, taunting.
- The caller separates their own experience (they never saw him) and notes that long-serving employees, independent of the residents, also describe the boy.
- The caller never saw the boy: [quote withheld]
- An ordinary explanation fits easily and is even offered by the caller: [quote withheld]
- No names, dates, address, or checkable details are given for the events.
- Whether [name withheld] has witnessed any of the events is unclear. The [quote withheld] phrasing is generic.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable here, and part of the bed story is broken across many one- or two-word lines.
- The cap of 60 or lower for secondhand or legend stories is applied because the core sightings are not the caller’s own.
- 0:41
- 2:46
- 3:12
- 3:10
What the model inferred (not said on air): The scores for closeness to the source and for alternative explanations are my judgment. The sightings are attributed to residents rather than the caller, and the setting of an assisted living facility makes a dementia or misperception explanation highly applicable. No vocal or delivery cues were used.
The story rests on the caller’s word about what residents and colleagues told the caller, with claimed but unnamed witnesses and no documentation examined. This places it in the low range described as [quote withheld]
Evidence for and against
- Several witnesses are claimed ([quote withheld]), and long-serving employees are also said to know of the boy.
- A workplace with a stated history is named in general terms (the building’s 100-year anniversary, a gift from a former governor of Maine), which could in principle be checked.
- No physical evidence, photograph, recording, or document is mentioned.
- The caller is not an eyewitness to the ghost: [quote withheld]
- No outside check was done, and no independently verifiable record is supplied.
- The facility, the residents, the employees, the governor, and the bride are all unnamed, so nothing is actually checkable.
- 0:41
- 2:46
What the model inferred (not said on air): The placement is my judgment. Claimed witnesses who do not speak on air do not count as independent backing under the scoring guide.
The idea of a child figure pestering frail residents in their own rooms, and one resident refusing her bed, is quietly unsettling. But there is no threat, harm, or lasting dread, and the events are reported rather than experienced by the caller.
Evidence for and against
- An unseen child intrudes into residents’ private rooms: [quote withheld]
- Residents plead for relief: [quote withheld]
- The setting is a care facility for the elderly, where residents are described as frightened enough that one will not sleep in her bed.
- The caller treats the boy as a nuisance rather than a threat and says they would like to see him: [quote withheld]
- No harm, injury, or physical attack on the caller is reported.
- The encounter is unresolved but not ominous. This part of the broadcast ends with the host philosophizing.
- Residents’ emotional reactions are relayed in summary rather than described in detail.
- 0:59
- 1:36
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about how the story would land with a listener, not about whether it is true. No delivery cues were used.
The framework is familiar (a child ghost in an old building, identified with a former owner’s family), with genuinely distinctive surrounding detail: the witnesses are nursing-home residents, and the caller is the director of nursing who never sees him.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is distinctive: an assisted living facility where the people who see the ghost are the elderly residents and the ghost is a child.
- The staff’s theory ties the boy to the documented gift of the building from a former governor of Maine to the governor’s daughter.
- The boy climbing on top of dressers and working the elevator buttons is an unusual combination.
- A ghost child in an old building is a familiar motif.
- The identified cause (the son of the building’s original owner who died young) is a common “previous occupant” frame.
- Originality is provisional until it can be compared with the rest of the archive.
- 2:11
- 2:24
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional model score. Comparison with the rest of the archive is not meaningfully available for this pilot story, so treat it as provisional.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story about their workplace and about their own negative test of the bed; Secondhand reports the caller relays from residents and from long-serving employees; No documentation, photograph, recording, or physical evidence claimed or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (47) 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.
- Misperception or made-up details by elderly residents, some with dementia, who are the only reported witnesses of the boy. · [name withheld] says [quote withheld] and the host notes all the elderly residents saw the boy while the caller did not.
- A mechanical or electrical fault in the century-old building’s elevator, wrongly blamed on something unseen. · The caller describes [quote withheld] and residents report the buttons going “up and down.”
- The reported bed movement is a resident’s own movement or a fault in the bed or bedding rather than an outside cause. · A resident refuses her bed because she [quote withheld] [name withheld] tested it and found it normal.
What stands out
The people who report seeing the boy are the elderly residents of an assisted living facility, and the caller is its director of nursing, who looks into it but never sees the boy themselves. The claimed identity of the figure is tied to the building’s documented origin as a gift from a former governor of Maine to the governor’s daughter.
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