Cold plume and opening door in a Beijing hotel bathroom
A caller who identifies themselves as [name withheld] from Phoenix tells the host about a stay with friends in Beijing, China. The caller reports that while showering at the Hua Bei Hotel, they heard a knock and a door pushed open. The bathroom became super cold, and a gigantic plume entered and blew open the shower curtain. The caller says they took it to be a presence, possibly an old Chinese warrior. It went away after the caller placed red Chinese dream catchers around the room.
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 2:25:44). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], a caller who says they are listening to KFYI 550 in Phoenix, tells the host they have many ghost experiences. Asked for their best one, the caller describes a visit with friends in Beijing, China. The caller says they were in their room at the Hua Bei Hotel, taking a shower, with the air conditioning on very low and some steam visible. The caller reports a knock on the door while they were in the shower, and a door outside the bathroom pushed open. According to [name withheld], it then became super cold in the bathroom while the caller stood in the hot shower water. A gigantic plume came into the bathroom and blew open the shower curtain. The caller says they knew at that point that it was a presence, and that it felt like it might have been a warrior, [quote withheld] The caller reports that they put red Chinese dream catchers around the room and that it went away afterward. The host responds that he would have done the same and says he uses dream catchers as well. The caller then begins a second, separate story about Hawaii, which is outside this story.
Reported events, in order
- 0:00
The host invites the next caller and asks for their best experience.
- 0:02
The caller identifies themselves as [name withheld] and says they are listening to KFYI 550 in Phoenix.
- 0:11
[name withheld] says they have lots of ghost experiences, probably too many for radio.
- 0:22
The caller says they were visiting friends in Beijing, China, and were in their hotel room.
- 0:29
The caller names the Hua Bei Hotel and says they were taking a shower.
- 0:35
The caller reports the air conditioning was on very low, steam was visible in the shower, there was a knock on the door, and a door outside the bathroom pushed open.
- 0:50
The caller reports it got super cold in the bathroom while the caller stood in the hot shower water, and a gigantic plume came into the bathroom.
- 1:01
The caller says the plume blew open the shower curtain. The caller knew it was a presence and thought it might have been an old Chinese warrior from way back.
- 1:12
The caller says they put red Chinese dream catchers around the room and it went away afterward.
- 1:21
The host says he would have done the same and uses dream catchers as well.
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· 0:35
The caller reports a knock on the door and a door pushing open while the caller was in the shower.
- observation· 0:50
The caller reports the bathroom became super cold while the caller stood in hot shower water.
- observation· 0:50
The caller reports a gigantic plume entered the bathroom.
- observation· 1:01
The caller reports the plume blew open the shower curtain.
- interpretation· 1:01
The caller says they knew it was a presence and thought it might have been an old Chinese warrior from long ago.
- observation· 1:12
The caller reports placing red Chinese dream catchers around the room and the strange events going away afterward.
- host statement· 1:21
The host says he would have done the same and uses dream catchers as well.
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 firsthand, specific as to city and hotel, and has a clear sequence. But it is brief, undated, and not backed up by anyone else, and a draft from the air conditioning fits the cold and the curtain movement. Source proximity is high. Specificity, consistency, and calibration are moderate. Alternative explanations score low.
Evidence for and against
- I was with friends in Beijing, China, and I was in my hotel
- Hua Bei Hotel to be exact
- it got super cold in the bathroom
- a gigantic uh plume comes into the bathroom
- blows open the shower curtain
- The AC was on inside the place very low
- you could see some steam in the shower
- there was a knock on my door inside the shower
- No date, no second witness, and no documentation are present.
- The automatic transcript renders part of the caller's reading of the event as “an empty,” which is unclear.
- Some host lines are mixed in with the caller's words, so who said what is uncertain.
- It is unclear whether the knock was at the hotel room door or the bathroom door.
- 0:22
- 0:29
- 0:50
- 1:01
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component estimate: source proximity 20/25; specificity 14/20; internal consistency 15/20; alternative explanations 8/20; calibration of claims 7/15. That comes to approximately 64, adjusted down to 60 for brevity and lack of a date.
There is only the caller's own word. The caller gives a hotel name and city that could be checked, but no date and no documentation. No second witness speaks on air.
Evidence for and against
- Hua Bei Hotel to be exact
- Beijing, China
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is described or examined.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The hotel name may be wrong in the automatic transcript.
- No date is given, so the claimed stay cannot be checked from the transcript alone.
- 0:22
- 0:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the scoring guide's range of 11 to 25: details that can be checked are given but have not been checked, and there is no other witness or physical evidence.
The shower setting, the sudden cold, and a plume blowing open the curtain are unsettling. But the story is short, involves no threat or injury, and ends with a claimed fix.
Evidence for and against
- I was taking a shower
- it got super cold in the bathroom
- a gigantic uh plume comes into the bathroom
- blows open the shower curtain
- No physical contact or harm is reported.
- it went away after
- The host's reply is relaxed rather than alarmed.
- Whether the dream catchers were actually linked to the events stopping is not established.
- 0:50
- 1:01
- 1:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about entertainment value. The intrusion on a vulnerable private moment raises it above mild. But the brevity, the lack of ill will, and the resolution keep it below the genuinely unsettling level.
The story uses familiar hotel and bathroom motifs: a cold spot, and a mist and curtain. It adds two distinctive touches, the old Chinese warrior and the red Chinese dream catchers. Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is not calculated in this run.
Evidence for and against
- an old chinese warrior from way back
- red chinese dream catchers
- cold spot
- door opens or closes
- A plume or mist in a bathroom is a familiar ghost-story element.
- This is a provisional model score only. The calculation compared with the rest of the archive is unavailable here.
- 1:01
- 1:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model's starting score is 50 for a familiar frame with a distinctive detail, raised slightly for the warrior and dream catcher combination.
Scoring confidence 0.62 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story only; No photograph, recording, or document described or examined; No second witness speaks on air. 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 draft or pressure change from the air conditioning or ventilation in the hotel bathroom. · The caller says the air conditioning was on very low and steam was visible in the shower. The caller reports the bathroom became super cold, a door pushed open, and the shower curtain blew open. A strong draft or pressure difference could produce all of that. This is a hypothesis about the reported events, not a conclusion about the caller.
- A person, or a faulty latch or door. · The caller reports a knock and a door pushing open. No person is described afterward, but a hotel employee or someone else could account for the knock and door movement. This is a hypothesis about the reported events, not a conclusion about the caller.
- Shower steam and seeing a shape in it, or air movement in the bathroom. · The caller notes steam in the shower before describing a plume. Moving steam, condensation, and cold air could form an indistinct shape and appear to enter the bathroom. This is a hypothesis about the reported events, not a conclusion about the caller.
What stands out
The story combines a cold plume in a hotel bathroom, an opening door, and a tentative identification as an old Chinese warrior, with a claimed fix using red Chinese dream catchers. That combination is more distinctive than the bare cold spot and shower curtain sequence.
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