Wife reports unseen hands holding her under bathwater
A caller tells Art Bell that their wife phoned them at work asking them to come home and that the caller found her in bed trembling. According to the caller, she said unseen hands had grabbed her shoulders and held her under bathwater. The caller reports that she has had similar episodes and claims she was sexually assaulted by “something.” The host links it to other callers’ reports. The story ends unresolved.
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 1:42:16). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller tells Art Bell that they worked second shift and got an emergency phone call at work from their wife, who asked the caller to come home right away. The caller says they went home and found her in bed, trembling uncontrollably. When the caller asked what was wrong, she said that earlier that evening she had gone to take a bath as usual. According to the caller, she felt two hands grab her shoulders, shove her under the water, and hold her under. She gasped for air. The caller says whatever it was let her up and she was terrified. The caller says she has had episodes like that since then and that the first event was five years earlier. The caller also says she claims to have been raped by something and that there was [quote withheld] The host responds that other women callers have described similar experiences. The caller offers that whatever it was may have been trying to kill her or may have been giving [quote withheld] and says they do not know what it was. No location, names, or dates are given. No second witness speaks on air.
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The caller reports working second shift and getting an emergency phone call at work from their wife, who asked the caller to come home right away.
- 0:23
The caller went home and found their wife in bed, trembling uncontrollably.
- 0:30
She told the caller that earlier that evening she had gone to take a bath as usual.
- 0:40
According to the caller, she felt two hands grab her shoulders and shove her under the water, holding her under.
- 0:48
She gasped for air. The caller says whatever it was let her up and she was terrified.
- 1:07
The caller says she has had episodes like that since then and that the first event was five years earlier.
- 1:14
The caller says she claims to have been raped by something and that there was [quote withheld]
- 1:19
The host responds that other women callers have reported similar experiences.
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· 0:40
The caller’s wife felt unseen hands grab her shoulders and hold her under bathwater.
- observation· 1:07
The caller’s wife reported the water incident as the first of recurring episodes and placed it five years earlier.
- observation· 1:14
The caller’s wife claims she was sexually assaulted by something.
- interpretation· 1:02
The caller says plainly that they do not know whether the force was trying to kill their wife or giving a warning.
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 secondhand, it is short, and it lacks named witnesses, dates, or physical evidence. The claim is consistent within itself but cannot be verified.
Evidence for and against
- The caller reports a clear sequence of events: the emergency call, the wife trembling, the bath incident, and later episodes.
- The reported event includes specific physical detail: two hands on her shoulders, being held under water, and gasping for air.
- The woman it happened to does not speak on air. The caller relays what she said.
- No names, location, date, or checkable details are provided.
- The labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent in the transcript, especially around the line describing the hands.
- It is not stated when or where the bath incident happened beyond “five years ago” and “at home.”
- 0:10
- 0:23
- 0:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects that the story is secondhand and has no backing detail. It does not reflect any inference about the caller’s honesty.
The story rests solely on the caller’s report of what their wife said. There is no physical evidence, document, recording, or independent witness.
Evidence for and against
- No on-air confirmation from the wife or any other witness is present.
- No physical evidence or record of an investigation is mentioned.
- The story comes from a single caller with no supporting materials.
- There are no checkable specifics such as names, exact dates, or locations.
- The transcript is the only source. No outside check was performed.
- 0:40
- 1:14
- 1:07
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score stays in the range for the caller’s word alone because there is no evidence beyond their spoken story.
The reported event involves physical restraint, attempted drowning, and a claimed sexual assault in a private bath, with recurring episodes and no resolution. It is an intrusive and threatening story.
Evidence for and against
- The wife is reported to have been held under water and to have gasped for air.
- The caller reports she was terrified and later claimed to have been raped by something.
- The story is brief and lacks graphic detail.
- The host’s interjections and the caller’s uncertainty may reduce sustained dread for some listeners.
- Some key sentences are split across the labels showing who is speaking and may be assigned to the wrong person.
- 0:40
- 0:48
- 0:55
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged from the reported content and the implied threat, not from the caller’s delivery.
The story uses a familiar unseen-attacker setup but places it in a bath, with shoulders held under water, and adds a later rape claim and recurring episodes. These details give it some distinctiveness.
Evidence for and against
- The bath setting and the holding under water are less common than a bedroom visitation.
- The caller reports recurring episodes and an additional claim of sexual assault by something.
- An invisible physical attack is a common ghost-story motif.
- The story is brief and offers no unusual documentation.
- A comparison with the rest of the archive is not available in this pilot, so the published originality score would be provisional.
- 0:40
- 1:07
- 1:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): The provisional model score is based on how familiar the motif is. The published score would be adjusted for how new the story is compared with the rest of the archive when more stories are available.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (the caller reports what they observed and what their wife told them).. 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 vivid hallucination or dreamlike episode during bathing could produce the sensation of hands and of being held under. No drowsiness or loss of awareness is mentioned, though. · The event is reported as happening while she was in the bath, and no second witness or physical evidence is mentioned.
- A physical mishap such as slipping, a muscle spasm, or a brief loss of consciousness in the bath could later be felt or remembered as being pushed under. · The caller reports that she gasped for air and was trembling afterward, but no medical evaluation or physical examination is described.
- Another person could have physically held her under the water from behind, which she might have felt but not seen. · The story describes physical hands on her shoulders, but the caller does not say whether anyone else was in the home or whether this possibility was looked into.
What stands out
The reported attack happens in a bathtub rather than a bedroom. The woman it happened to does not speak on air. The caller relays her story and adds her later claim of sexual assault by “something.”
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.