Upside-down face at a motorhome window on a night drive near Chico
A caller identifying themself as [name withheld] from San Antonio tells Art Bell a story from when they were about four years old, living in Chico, northern California. They say that while riding in the family motorhome at night they saw an upside-down man's face with glowing eyes at the back window. After the motorhome was stopped, their father and a family friend reported a small, skinny, college-aged man on the roof who ran into a field and disappeared. They say they are still not sure what they saw, but that it seemed to have no good intentions.
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 20:43). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Caller [name withheld] from San Antonio says they have a story from when they were [quote withheld] roughly twenty-five years before the broadcast. Their family then lived in northern California, in Chico, and had a very large motorhome. On a summer night they think was the Fourth of July weekend, their parents took them and a couple of family friends on an evening trip to a public park a little way off along the Sacramento River. They never reached the fireworks. They say that while they were on a dark, unlit highway in a heavily forested area, they went alone to the back of the motorhome to look out the window next to the bunk bed. Outside was pitch black, and they were watching the shadows of trees go by when something appeared in the window opposite them. It was a face that looked like a man's but was hanging upside down, with glowing eyes and a blank expression. They say they ran screaming to the front and told their parents and friends they had seen a “bad man's face” in the window. They pulled the motorhome over on the side of the road. Their father looked out of the door and, according to [name withheld], saw someone on the roof of the motorhome. He then fetched a family friend described as a big, tough former Marine and Navy man, and the two went outside. [name withheld] says the two men later told them they saw what looked like a small, skinny, college-aged man running away into a field and chased him, but he disappeared in the field. [name withheld] says they are not exactly sure what their father meant by that, and that they are still not sure what they saw, but that the thing looking at them through the window [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
[name withheld] identifies themself as calling from San Antonio and says the story happened when they were a little over four years old.
- 0:57
They say their family lived in northern California, in Chico, and owned a very large motorhome.
- 1:09
They say the events occurred on a summer night they think was the Fourth of July weekend, on an evening trip toward a public park along the Sacramento River. They never reached the fireworks.
- 2:19
They went to the back of the motorhome alone to look out the window beside the bunk bed. Outside was pitch black, and they watched shadows of trees go by.
- 2:29
Something appeared in the window opposite them: a face like a man's, hanging upside down.
- 3:16
They describe the face as having glowing eyes and a blank expression, and say the eyes did not look friendly.
- 3:43
They ran screaming to the front of the motorhome and told their parents and their friends they had seen a bad man's face at the window.
- 4:15
They pulled the motorhome over on the side of the road.
- 4:28
Their father looked out of the door and, according to [name withheld], saw someone on the roof of the motorhome.
- 4:38
Their father got a family friend described as a former Marine and Navy man, and the two went outside.
- 4:59
The two men said they saw what looked like a small, skinny, college-aged man running away into a field.
- 5:12
They said they chased him into the field, but he disappeared.
- 5:29
[name withheld] says they are still not sure what they saw and that they got the impression it did not have good intentions.
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· 2:37
An upside-down face resembling a man's face appeared in the motorhome window directly opposite them.
- observation· 3:36
The face had glowing eyes and a blank expression, and the eyes did not look friendly.
- observation· 3:55
They ran screaming to the front and reported seeing a bad man's face looking at them through the window.
- hearsay· 4:28
Their father, after the motorhome was stopped, saw someone on the roof of the motorhome.
- hearsay· 4:59
Their father and the family friend said they saw a small, skinny, college-aged man running into a field and chased him, and he disappeared.
- interpretation· 5:35
[name withheld] says they got the impression that whatever looked at them through the window did not have good intentions.
- host statement· 2:56
Art Bell proposes that the upside-down face was something on the roof of the motorhome looking down at them.
- interpretation· 3:00
A line labeled as the caller agrees that a person on the roof would be “the easiest explanation.”
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 by the only witness to the face, with a named town and river and a coherent sequence. But the main sighting comes from a four-year-old's memory recalled about 25 years later. An ordinary reading (a person on the roof) fits comfortably, and the caller themself raises it on air.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand story ([quote withheld]); the caller was the direct witness.
- Concrete setting and sequence: the northern California town of Chico, the Sacramento River, the back bunk window, a dark unlit highway.
- The caller separates observation from conclusion, says they are still unsure ([quote withheld]), and notes they are colorblind so cannot confirm eye color.
- The only witness to the face itself, and the witness was about four years old at the time.
- An ordinary explanation fits easily: their father reportedly saw someone on the roof of the motorhome, and they call that “the easiest explanation.”
- No date, exact location, or documentation that can be checked; the recollection is roughly 25 years old at the time of the call.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unstable: several lines labeled as the host contain the caller's speech and vice versa.
- Some lines are garbled ([quote withheld]; “ex-Mariner”), so the wording is uncertain.
- 0:10
- 2:19
- 3:00
- 5:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): My component estimates are: source proximity 20 (firsthand but the only witness, recalling a childhood event); specificity 14; internal consistency 15; alternative explanations 6 (a person on the roof fits well); calibration 12 (clear separation of perception from conclusion). The sum is 67, adjusted slightly down to 64 for the caller's age and the age of the memory.
Only the caller's word supports the face. Two adults are claimed to have seen a person on the roof and in the field, but neither speaks on air, and no document, photo, or record is offered. Place names that could be checked (Chico, Sacramento River) are given but not checked.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could in principle be checked: Chico, northern California, and the Sacramento River.
- Claimed additional witnesses: their father and the family friend.
- No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document is mentioned.
- No second witness speaks on air; the adults' observations are reported only through [name withheld].
- The adults' reported observation concerns a fleeing person, not the upside-down face with glowing eyes.
- It cannot be verified that the father or friend said what [name withheld] attributes to them.
- A cap of 50 applies because no outside check was performed.
- 4:28
- 5:12
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls in the 11 to 25 range: details that can be checked and claimed witnesses exist, but nothing was examined or independently confirmed.
A child alone at night in a moving vehicle sees an upside-down face with glowing eyes pressed to the window. Then adults find a figure on the roof who runs off and vanishes in a field. The intrusion into a child's space and the unresolved ending are unsettling, but there is no threat, contact, or harm.
Evidence for and against
- A face appears suddenly at the window of a moving motorhome in pitch darkness.
- The caller was about four years old, alone at the back of the vehicle.
- The pursued figure disappears in a field, and the matter is never explained.
- No physical contact, injury, or menace beyond the caller's impression that the eyes [quote withheld]
- An ordinary reading (a person on the roof) is present and reduces the dread of something supernatural.
- The caller is colorblind and does not confirm the eye color, so the most lurid detail is not actually established.
- 2:29
- 5:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scored above the “mildly eerie” level because of the child's isolation, the inverted face at the glass, and the unresolved field chase. Kept below “frightening” because there is no reported harm and an ordinary explanation is partly in play.
The core image is an upside-down face with glowing eyes at the window of a moving motorhome, followed by a rooftop figure who escapes into a field. It is a distinctive combination rather than a stock bedroom or staircase haunting. The frame (night drive, child witness, adults investigating) is familiar.
Evidence for and against
- Upside-down face at a vehicle window.
- An adult search finds a claimed figure on the roof who flees into a field and vanishes.
- Familiar elements: nighttime, child witness, glowing eyes, unresolved ending.
- No new mechanism or unusual documentation.
- The published originality score combines this model score with a term for novelty compared with the rest of the archive. With a small pilot archive, that term carries little weight, and the value should be treated as provisional.
- 2:41
- 4:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model's score is 62, between [quote withheld] (50) and [quote withheld] (80).
Scoring confidence 0.68 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story (telephone call); A secondhand report of the father's observation of someone on the roof; A secondhand report of the two men's chase into a field; No physical evidence, document, recording, or photograph offered. The originality score blends the model's score (62) 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 living person was on the roof of the motorhome and looked down through the back window, which would appear as an upside-down face. · [name withheld] reports that their father saw someone on the roof of the motorhome and that the two men saw a small, skinny, college-aged man run into a field. A line labeled as the caller calls this “the easiest explanation.”
- A roadside intruder or prankster climbed onto the stopped or slow-moving vehicle and then fled on foot when the adults came out. · The two men are said to have chased the figure into a field where he disappeared. The caller says they are not sure what their father meant by that.
What stands out
The story pairs a striking ghost-like detail (an upside-down face with glowing eyes at a moving vehicle's window) with an adult search that produced a partly ordinary report of a skinny young man on the roof who fled into a field and vanished. The caller leaves what they saw undecided and notes they are colorblind, so the often-assumed red color of the eyes is not confirmed by them.
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