Repeated 4 a.m. phone calls with a strange voice and a reported hag
An unidentified caller on the “first-time caller” line says their household telephone rang at 4 a.m. It rang three times that night. An unintelligible voice came through the speakerphone and sounded like “go to sleep.” The phone was later found in the bathroom, with no matching caller ID record. The caller also relays that their friend’s girlfriend, who lives there, said she had seen the ghost before and described it as [quote withheld] The host treats it lightly, saying such calls are usually nuisance calls, and jokes that the caller should have gone to sleep.
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 1:49:23). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller is unidentified in the transcript. The caller speaks on the “first-time caller” line after being warned about language used in an earlier call. The caller says the telephone in their home rang at 4 a.m. and rang only once. Through the speakerphone the caller says they heard [quote withheld] and could not make out what it was saying, although it [quote withheld] The caller says they first assumed their friend was playing a joke, and the friend assumed the same of them. The friend got up and walked into another room. The calls, the caller says, happened three times that night. The caller reports that the telephone was not in either of their rooms and [quote withheld] The caller says a check of the caller ID showed no record of a call coming in at that time. The caller says the friend’s girlfriend, who lives in the house, told them she had seen the ghost before and described it to them as [quote withheld] Art Bell asks whether he had ever heard of a ghost haunting people in their dreams. The caller says the events were a ghost ([quote withheld]). Bell replies that he gets such calls all the time and that they are usually someone trying to sell something. He jokes that the voice’s advice was what the caller should have followed. No names, location, or date are stated. The story ends there as the host moves to the next caller.
Reported events, in order
- 0:24
The caller says the phone rang at 4 a.m. and rang one time.
- 0:45
Through the speakerphone the caller says there was a “really weird voice” they could not make out, sounding [quote withheld]
- 0:55
The caller says they first thought their friend was messing around.
- 1:07
The caller says it happened three times that night, and that their friend got up and went into the other room, each thinking the other was joking.
- 1:19
The caller says the phone was found in the bathroom rather than in their rooms.
- 1:33
The caller says a caller ID check showed no record of a call coming in at that time.
- 1:41
The caller relays that their friend’s girlfriend, who lives there, said she had seen the ghost before and described it as [quote withheld]
- 1:59
The host responds that he gets such calls all the time and jokes that the caller should have gone to sleep.
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 telephone rang at 4 a.m., one ring only.
- observation· 0:45
A voice came through the speakerphone that the caller could not make out, sounding like “go to sleep.”
- interpretation· 0:33
The caller believes the events are the work of a ghost, and asks whether the host has heard of ghosts haunting people in dreams.
- observation· 1:07
The calls happened three times that night, despite their first assumption that their friend was pranking them.
- observation· 1:19
The telephone was found in the bathroom rather than in either of their rooms.
- observation· 1:33
A caller ID check showed no record of a call at that time.
- hearsay· 1:41
The friend’s girlfriend, who lives in the house, said she had seen the ghost before and described it as a hag, an old lady.
- host statement· 0:53
The host says he receives such calls constantly and that they are usually someone trying to sell something.
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 firsthand story of events the caller says they experienced directly, with several concrete details that cannot be checked (4 a.m., one ring, three calls, the phone in the bathroom, the caller ID check). The telling is brief and somewhat jumbled, and an ordinary explanation is not ruled out. The caller raises the prank possibility themselves.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand framing throughout: [quote withheld]
- Specifics that could be checked in principle: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The caller admits uncertainty about the voice: [quote withheld]
- The sequence is stated unevenly, one ring first and then three calls that night, without clarification.
- An easy ordinary reading is available and not addressed: [quote withheld]
- No names, date, or place are given, so nothing can be checked.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable in the transcript.
- Several passages are flagged by the transcription software as low-confidence.
- 0:24
- 1:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): My scoring splits the story. The telephone events are treated as firsthand and earn credit for closeness to the source. The hag detail is hearsay and earns none. The score for ordinary explanations is low because the prank or wrong-number reading fits easily and the caller does not rule it out.
The only support is the caller’s own assertion plus claimed witnesses who do not speak on air. No documentation, recording, or physical mark is offered, and the caller ID check is reported, not shown.
Evidence for and against
- A claimed secondhand witness to a figure: the friend’s girlfriend reportedly said [quote withheld]
- A claimed record check is mentioned: [quote withheld]
- No witness speaks on air to confirm.
- No object is produced or examined, and the caller ID result is only reported.
- No names, dates, or locations to check.
- It is not stated whether anyone else examined the caller ID device, or at what time.
- The identity of the caller is unclear.
- 1:07
- 1:41
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide, claimed witnesses who are absent and record checks that are not verified place this at a score of 11 to 25. There is no backing on air and no evidence examined, so it cannot rise above that range.
A 4 a.m. call in a quiet house, with a disembodied voice advising sleep, three repeats, and a phone that turns up in the bathroom, is mildly to moderately unsettling. The supposed figure is described only secondhand, and the host defuses the tone at once with a joke.
Evidence for and against
- An intrusion into sleep time with an unclear command: [quote withheld]
- Repeated unexplained calls: [quote withheld]
- The moved handset: [quote withheld]
- No threat, contact, or harm is reported.
- The caller’s own first explanation is a friend’s prank.
- The host’s closing joke frames the whole thing as minor.
- The looks of the “hag” are not described in any detail.
- 0:45
- 1:19
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about the effect of the story, not about the events. With no physical threat and no described figure, the score stays near the middle rather than higher.
A strange late-night telephone voice is a familiar theme. But the specific mix of a single ring, three repeats, the handset moved to the bathroom, no caller ID entry, and a third person’s “hag” description gives it a distinctive feel.
Evidence for and against
- A call with no record: [quote withheld]
- A moved handset: [quote withheld]
- Nighttime phone oddities and old-woman figures recur as stock elements in this genre.
- The story is very short, leaving little room for unusual detail.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged from one part of a broadcast, so the published score is provisional.
- 1:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): My provisional score reflects a familiar setup with two or three distinctive concrete details. The comparison with the rest of the archive may shift it once more stories are indexed.
Scoring confidence 0.50 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story of the telephone events; Claimed accounts from a friend and the friend’s girlfriend, who do not speak on air; A caller ID record that is claimed but not produced. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 prank, wrong-number, or nuisance call at 4 a.m., of the kind the host describes. · The caller says [quote withheld] and the host says [quote withheld] treating such calls as routine.
- The phone in the bathroom and the missing caller ID entry may mean the handset had been moved within the house and the incoming call was very brief or not logged. · The caller says the phone [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] and that the ID check showed [quote withheld]
- The voice may have been an ordinary voice or line noise rather than anything strange, since what it said was never worked out. · The caller states [quote withheld] and says only that it [quote withheld] The caller repeats that [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story pairs an ordinary object, a household telephone, with two details that sit awkwardly together: a brief 4 a.m. ring with an unintelligible voice, and a telephone found in a different room with no caller ID record. The only “hag” detail is twice removed from the caller. It comes through a third person who never speaks on air.
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