A kick to the side and spit landing on a pillow in a locked bedroom
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], calling from Ohio by way of station WKBN, tells Art Bell a short story about a single early-morning event about 15 years earlier. They say they were asleep on the floor of their locked bedroom at the break of dawn when a kick to their side woke them. They then report seeing two large globs of spit or phlegm land on their pillow. They end by saying they felt someone was standing over them doing it. The host moves on to the next caller.
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 2004.mp3”, starting at 1:09:08). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are calling [quote withheld] tells Art Bell they have [quote withheld] The caller says that about 15 years earlier they were sleeping in their bedroom, that the door was locked, and that it was [quote withheld] The caller explains they were sleeping on the floor [quote withheld] and that it was [quote withheld] so light was coming through the window. They report feeling [quote withheld] The caller stresses that they could see their pillow after being woken by the kick, that the door was locked, and that they were [quote withheld] The caller then says [quote withheld] which they also call “gigantic spats” of phlegm, landing on the pillow and being [quote withheld] The caller says they first saw one already on the pillow and then watched the second one come and hit the pillow. They say they felt someone was standing over the top of them doing this, and they end with “that’s my story.” Art Bell thanks the caller for “that phlegmy contribution” and tells the audience it is “pretty unusual stuff,” adding that the caller [quote withheld] There are no follow-up questions beyond the host’s brief remarks, and no further detail about the caller, the house, or any later events.
Reported events, in order
- 0:15
The caller says that about 15 years earlier they were sleeping in their bedroom with the door locked, in the early morning.
- 0:28
They say they were sleeping on the floor because it was a hot summer night, and that it was the beginning of the break of dawn.
- 0:46
They report light coming through the window and feeling a kick on their side that woke them.
- 0:53
They stress that they could see their pillow after being woken by the kick.
- 1:00
They say the door was locked and that they were the only one in the bedroom.
- 1:06
They report two globs of spit or phlegm landing on the pillow.
- 1:26
They say the globs were larger than the size of silver dollars.
- 1:31
They say they saw one glob already on the pillow and watched the second one come and hit the pillow.
- 1:40
They say they felt someone was standing over the top of them doing this.
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· 0:46
The caller reports being woken by a kick to their side while alone in a locked bedroom.
- observation· 1:00
The caller reports that the bedroom door was locked at the time.
- observation· 1:00
The caller reports they were the only person in the bedroom.
- observation· 1:06
The caller reports two globs of spit or phlegm landing on their pillow.
- observation· 1:26
The caller says the globs were larger than the size of silver dollars.
- observation· 1:31
The caller says they watched the second glob arrive and land on the pillow.
- interpretation· 1:40
The caller concludes that someone unseen was standing over them producing the spit.
- host statement· 1:59
The host says the caller would not have made up the story.
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 firsthand story with a clear order of events and some concrete detail (a locked door, sleeping on the floor, dawn light, a size comparison). But it is brief and no one backs it up, and the caller does not address any ordinary explanation for a waking sensation or for moisture on a pillow.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand retelling of a single event in which the caller was the one who experienced it.
- Concrete physical details are given: a locked door, sleeping on the floor, the break of dawn, light through the window, and two globs [quote withheld]
- The story is very brief and told in summary form, with no follow-up detail about the house, the room, or what was on the floor.
- The caller does not raise or rule out any ordinary possibilities (a waking sensation, their own saliva, a muscle jerk).
- Only the caller’s own word supports the event.
- The caller’s location reference ([quote withheld]) is garbled and may be a station reference rather than where they live.
- Some lines in the transcript seem to have the host and caller labels mixed up.
- 1:00
- 1:06
- 1:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): The believability score reflects the parts of the scoring guide (a firsthand source, moderate detail, a coherent order of events, weak handling of other explanations, partial separation of observation from conclusion) applied to a short excerpt. It is not a judgment of the caller’s character.
Only the caller’s word exists. No documents, photographs, recordings, or other named witnesses are offered, and nothing in the story is described as checkable.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives a fairly specific order of what they say they saw and felt.
- No physical evidence is claimed to exist. The globs are not described as kept or examined.
- No second witness is mentioned or speaks on air.
- No names, addresses, dates, or records are given that could be checked.
- Whether the caller had any documentation is not addressed in the excerpt.
- 1:00
- 1:44
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the lowest band (the caller’s word only), consistent with the scoring guide’s hard cap when there is no outside check.
The story involves an intrusion into a locked bedroom at dawn, an unexplained physical contact, and something unseen said to be leaning over the sleeper. That is unsettling. The spit is more disgusting than frightening, and the story is told as a short anecdote with no escalation.
Evidence for and against
- Physical contact reported in a locked bedroom: [quote withheld]
- Something unseen is said to be positioned over the caller: [quote withheld]
- The ending is unresolved, with the host simply moving to the next caller.
- No threat, injury, escalation, or repetition is reported.
- The story is brief and anecdotal rather than building lasting dread.
- The host’s reaction treats it as odd rather than terrifying.
- The way it was spoken and any audience reaction cannot be used as evidence. Only the content of the story is judged.
- 0:46
- 1:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is a judgment about the story’s effect on a listener, not about whether anything happened.
The setting (a locked bedroom, dawn, waking) is standard. But the reported event, being kicked awake and then watching two large globs of spit or phlegm arrive on the pillow from an unseen source above the sleeper, is an uncommon combination rather than a stock ghost motif.
Evidence for and against
- Bodily fluid is reported arriving on the pillow from an unseen source overhead: [quote withheld]
- The caller says they watched the second glob arrive: [quote withheld]
- Familiar framing elements: a bedroom, waking at night or dawn, feeling watched, a locked door.
- No distinctive named location, historical detail, or recurring pattern.
- How rare the story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out reliably for this excerpt. The score is close to the automatic estimate from content alone.
- 1:06
- 1:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The automatic originality estimate is based on the unusual event plus the familiar frame of waking in a bedroom. The comparison with the rest of the archive would normally adjust this, but it carries little weight in the pilot.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (a live call of about two minutes). The originality score blends the model's score (72) 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 waking episode. The caller was asleep on the floor at the break of dawn and reports being woken by a physical sensation. In that state, sensations and movements can be felt that are not there. · The story is a single event that happened at [quote withheld] while they were sleeping on the floor.
- A muscle jerk or spasm on waking could account for the reported sensation of a kick to the side. · They describe being [quote withheld] with nobody else said to be in the locked room.
- Moisture on the pillow from the sleeper themself (for example, saliva while sleeping face-down on the floor) could account for at least the first glob found on the pillow. · They were sleeping on the floor, and the globs are reported “on the pillow.” This does not clearly account for their story of watching the second one arrive.
What stands out
The physical effects are unusual for a bedroom story. There is no figure or presence felt at the bedside. Instead, the caller reports a kick, followed by two large globs of spit or phlegm that arrived on the pillow while they watched the second one land. No light, ghost, or being is described, and the call ends within about two minutes without any explanation of what was responsible.
Related stories
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