Sleep paralysis, a dream of a grandfather, and a voice heard through the caller
A caller who says only that they are [quote withheld] describes an episode of sleep paralysis about four years earlier. It led into a dream of a grayish hallway, their dead grandfather, and a woman in a blue gown. They say they woke to find their girlfriend at the time crying, and that she told them she had heard the woman’s voice through them. At that moment, they say, their nose bled. Host Art Bell suggests the caller gave in to the paralysis rather than escaping it.
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 2005.mp3”, starting at 2:20:47). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller begins by describing the girlfriend they were living with about four years before the broadcast. They say she came from a very broken home, that her mother was killed in a car accident and that her father abused her, and that they did not realize she was “off-balance” until they moved in together. They say that in the middle of the night, going on three or four in the morning, they had to get up to be at work at six. They say they woke with [quote withheld] which they say had never happened to them before. They battled it for about five minutes and then fell immediately back into a deep sleep. In what they call a dream state, they describe a grayish hallway where they saw their grandfather, who they say killed himself when the caller was about six months old. They say they went to approach and hug him, and their grandfather [quote withheld] and bloodied their nose in the dream. They struggled until a woman in a blue gown pulled their grandfather off them. She told the caller it was going to be okay, that “she's just confused,” and “I'm so sorry.” They say they then snapped immediately awake, not the least bit tired, and found their ex-girlfriend bawling, unable to get a word out for an hour. When she finally spoke, they say, she asked what the woman meant by saying she was confused. When the caller asked what she was talking about, she said she had heard her voice through them, and they say they heard her own voice as well. At that moment, they say, their nose gushed blood. They close with [quote withheld] and thank Art. Art Bell then offers his own reading: that the caller never escaped the paralysis, did not fall back into normal sleep, but [quote withheld] and immersed themselves in it.
Reported events, in order
- 0:08
The caller says that about four years earlier they were living with a girlfriend from a very broken home. They say her mother was killed in a car accident and her father abused her.
- 0:23
They say it was the middle of the night, going on three or four in the morning, and they had to be at work at six.
- 0:30
They say they woke with an attack of what appeared to be sleep paralysis, had never had it before, battled it for about five minutes, and fell immediately back into a deep sleep.
- 0:50
In the dream state they describe a grayish hallway and seeing their grandfather, who they say killed himself when the caller was about six months old.
- 1:05
They say they went to hug him and their grandfather punched them in the nose, bloodying it in the dream, and they struggled.
- 1:05
They say a woman in a blue gown pulled their grandfather off them and told them it was going to be okay, that she was just confused, and “I'm so sorry.”
- 1:25
They say they snapped immediately awake, fully alert, and found their ex-girlfriend crying and unable to speak for an hour.
- 1:42
They say she asked what the woman meant about her being confused and then told them she had heard the woman’s voice through them.
- 1:51
They say their nose gushed blood at that moment.
- 1:57
They sign off with [quote withheld]
- 2:08
Host Art Bell states that the caller did not escape the paralysis but gave in to it and immersed themselves in it.
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· 0:30
The caller reports waking with an attack of what they took to be sleep paralysis, which they say they had never had before.
- interpretation· 0:50
The caller identifies the figure in their dream as their grandfather, who they say killed himself when the caller was about six months old.
- observation· 1:05
The caller reports that in the dream their grandfather struck and bloodied their nose and that they struggled.
- observation· 1:05
The caller reports a woman in a blue gown stepping in during the dream, pulling their grandfather off them and speaking to them.
- hearsay· 1:46
The caller reports that their girlfriend told them she heard the woman’s voice through them.
- observation· 1:51
The caller reports that their own nose bled at the moment their girlfriend spoke of the voice.
- host statement· 2:08
The host says that the caller did not escape the paralysis but gave in to it.
- host statement· 2:41
The host says the caller immersed themselves in the paralysis state rather than waking themselves out of it.
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 some concrete sequence and detail. But the caller names the sleep-paralysis state and a dream as the setting, so an ordinary explanation fits very easily. The telling holds together and has no clear self-contradiction.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand telling of the sequence by the person reporting it.
- Concrete details: four years earlier, going on 3 or 4 a.m., work at 6 a.m., a grayish hallway, a blue gown.
- They answer the eventual question coherently and do not escalate beyond what they say happened.
- The core experience is a dream entered from a sleep-paralysis episode the caller names themselves, which has a ready ordinary explanation.
- No names, dates, or locations are given, so little can be checked.
- The second witness’s part is reported at third hand and not spoken on air.
- The caller never describes specific paralysis sensations (inability to move, pressure). They assert the condition.
- Several mid-story lines are fragmented and the labels showing who is speaking are unreliable, so some wording cannot be checked.
- 0:30
- 0:50
- 1:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): Closeness to the source was scored as firsthand but partial, because the story is direct yet set inside a dream and partly rests on another person’s reported words. Detail and consistency were judged from the stated detail alone. No vocal delivery was considered.
The only support is the caller’s own word plus a claimed second witness who does not speak on air. No names, dates, places, documents, or recordings are offered, and nothing is examined.
Evidence for and against
- A second person is claimed to have heard the voice through the caller.
- A claimed physical event, a nosebleed, is reported at the moment of the conversation.
- The claimed second witness never speaks on air.
- No details that could be checked: no names, no address, no dates, no records.
- The nosebleed is asserted after the fact and is not evidence that lasts or can be examined.
- It is unknown whether the girlfriend’s words are quoted exactly or paraphrased by the caller.
- The transcript is fragmented in one stretch, which makes part of the exchange uncertain.
- 1:46
- 1:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scored in the 11 to 25 range because a witness is claimed but not heard on air and no details that could be checked are supplied. Under the scoring guide, claimed witnesses do not count as support.
The story intrudes into a bedroom at night and includes a dead relative turning violent, a bloodied nose in the dream, a distressed partner who cannot speak, and a real nosebleed at the climax. It is unsettling rather than sustained horror, and it ends unresolved.
Evidence for and against
- Physical aggression by a dead relative in the dream.
- The girlfriend is described as crying uncontrollably for an hour.
- Blood appears in the dream and then in real life.
- The woman in a blue gown is protective and reassuring.
- The telling is brief and ends with a throwaway [quote withheld]
- The dream passages are fragmentary in the transcript, so the full sequence of the struggle is unclear.
- 1:05
- 1:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged as a listening experience from the described events only. No assessment of the caller’s state is implied.
The sleep-paralysis setup and the dream of a dead relative are familiar. The distinctive detail is the combination with a partner who says she heard the dream woman’s voice through the caller, and the nosebleed at that moment.
Evidence for and against
- A hostile rather than comforting dead grandfather.
- A third party reporting the dream voice as coming through the caller.
- Dream blood matched by a real nosebleed.
- Sleep paralysis, gray corridors, and a dead relative are common motifs.
- The story is short and does not develop the unusual elements.
- This is a provisional model score only. The part compared with the rest of the archive is not yet meaningful in the pilot.
- 1:05
- 1:46
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional editorial judgment, not a measurement. The published originality score will be recomputed compared with the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story, told live on air; A claimed second witness (the girlfriend) who does not speak on air; A claimed nosebleed, not documented or examined; The host’s own interpretive comment, which is not evidence about the events. The originality score blends the model's score (60) 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.
- Sleep paralysis with imagery from falling asleep. The caller names the episode sleep paralysis and says they had never had it before. The struggle, the vivid dream figures, and the abrupt full awakening fit this state rather than an external event that someone witnessed. · [quote withheld]; [quote withheld]; [quote withheld]
- The girlfriend’s report may have been shaped by the caller’s own behavior during the episode. Her statement about hearing a voice “through you” is given as coming through the caller, and she is described as extremely distressed afterward, so her account may have formed in that same distressed moment. · [quote withheld]; [quote withheld]
- A nosebleed with a physical cause that happened to coincide with an emotionally charged moment: dry air, straining during the reported struggle in the dream, or a spontaneous nosebleed are common, and the link with the girlfriend’s words is the caller’s own framing. · [quote withheld]; the nose is said to have been bloodied first inside the dream.
What stands out
The story pairs a named sleep-paralysis episode with a dream that a second person in the room apparently shared in part. The caller says their girlfriend heard the dream woman’s voice through them, and their nose bled at the moment she said so. The dream figure of the grandfather is hostile rather than comforting.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.