Cemetery security guard sees misty figure at office window
A caller who says they were a security guard at a cemetery tells Art Bell that they were packing up at the end of a shift when they felt as though someone was watching them. They then saw a foggy, person-shaped light at the office window that moved away. They say they ran outside to check whether it was a car light or a person, found no one, and do not know what it was.
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 2006.mp3”, starting at 2:04:18). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says they [quote withheld] The caller was in the office between rounds near the end of their shift, getting ready to leave and packing up. They describe the office as having a big window at the front through which the parking lot could be seen. They report that they [quote withheld] The caller says they looked up and saw [quote withheld] The caller describes it as a [quote withheld] According to them, as soon as they saw it, it moved away from the window. They say they ran outside to make sure it wasn't, in their words, a car light, somebody pulling into the parking lot, or somebody standing by the window. They looked around and “nobody was around.” The caller says the experience struck them as weird, describing themselves as “a little suspicious,” and that because they worked in the cemetery [quote withheld] Art Bell then sums up that beyond that the caller doesn't know what it was. The caller offers no further detail in this story. In the lines that follow, they begin a separate story about hearing voices in another room.
Reported events, in order
- 0:03
The caller says they were working as a security guard at a cemetery and were in the office between rounds near the end of their shift, packing up to leave.
- 0:16
They say the office had a large window at the front overlooking the parking lot.
- 0:24
They report feeling as though someone was watching them.
- 0:36
They say they looked up and saw a foggy light resembling the outline of a person at the window, which they describe as a kind of mist.
- 0:46
They say the figure or mist moved away from the window as soon as they saw it.
- 0:53
They say they ran outside to check whether it was a car light or a person at the window, and found nobody around.
- 1:07
They say it struck them as weird and, because they worked in the cemetery, it made them think something was going on.
- 1:15
Art Bell states that beyond that the caller doesn't know what it was.
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· 0:03
The caller worked as a security guard at a cemetery and was in the office between rounds.
- observation· 0:24
They felt as though someone was watching them.
- observation· 0:36
They saw a foggy light resembling the outline of a person by the office window.
- observation· 0:46
The form, which they describe as a kind of mist, moved away from the window as soon as they saw it.
- observation· 0:53
They went outside to check whether it was a car light or a person and found nobody around.
- interpretation· 1:13
They say working at the cemetery made them think something was going on.
- host statement· 1:15
Art Bell states that the caller does not know what it was.
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 but very brief story with little concrete detail. It is internally coherent, and the caller immediately considers the obvious ordinary explanation. That puts it near the scoring guide’s 40 anchor for a typical brief firsthand story with an easy ordinary explanation.
Evidence for and against
- A firsthand story in the caller’s own voice.
- Concrete setting and sequence: office, window overlooking parking lot, end of shift, going outside to check.
- No self-contradiction in the short story. The answers line up with the first report.
- No names, dates, or places that could be checked.
- Very little sensory detail. The object is described only as a “foggy light” and an outline of a person.
- Ordinary explanations (a car light, a reflection, a person glimpsed through glass) fit the reported details easily.
- The automatic transcript splits lines heavily and mislabels some speakers around 2:04:42 to 2:04:54.
- The time of day is not stated, only [quote withheld]
- The story is only about 1.4 minutes long.
- 0:03
- 0:36
- 0:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): My score treats the brevity and the lack of checkable details as the main limits. I did not use the caller’s tone, hesitations, or the host’s reactions, which the scoring guide excludes.
The story rests entirely on the caller’s word. There are no names, documents, photographs, recordings, or additional witnesses on air, and no outside check was done.
Evidence for and against
- The caller’s own description of the sighting.
- They report having checked the area themselves afterward.
- No physical evidence is claimed to exist, and none is examined on air.
- No second witness is named or speaks on air.
- No details that can be checked, such as a cemetery name, date, or location.
- Whether any documentation or other witnesses exist was not raised in this part of the broadcast.
- 0:36
- 0:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): Under the scoring guide, this is the usual case of the caller’s word only (0 to 10). I placed it slightly above zero because the caller reports checking outside on their own, but that check produced no evidence.
Mildly eerie: a misty, person-shaped light at a cemetery office window that moves away, in a solitary work setting. But there is no threat, contact, escalation, or vivid horror.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is a cemetery workplace.
- A person-shaped “foggy light” at the window moves off when noticed.
- They go outside and find nobody.
- No physical contact, harm, or ill will is reported.
- A single, brief, unclear event with no escalation.
- The caller tells it matter-of-factly and mentions checking for a car light.
- The time of day is not stated, which would affect how unsettling the scene reads.
- 0:46
- 0:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): My rating reflects the story only, a cemetery setting plus an indistinct figure, not the caller’s delivery or the host’s response.
A familiar frame: an indistinct misty figure seen briefly at a window. One mildly distinctive detail is the caller’s immediate attempt to rule out a car light or a living person. The score is provisional because the comparison with the rest of the archive carries little weight in the pilot.
Evidence for and against
- A mist or outline of a figure seen at a window and gone when they went to look.
- A cemetery security workplace.
- The core motif (a foggy figure at a window, no trace when investigated) is a stock ghost-story element.
- No unusual combination of strange events, objects, or recurring pattern.
- A single, very short story, so there is little to judge how distinctive it is.
- 0:36
- 0:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): My model score sits near the scoring guide’s 50 anchor (a familiar frame with a distinctive detail), adjusted slightly down because the distinctive detail is modest.
Scoring confidence 0.55 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call). The originality score blends the model's score (45) 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 reflection of headlights or parking-lot lighting on the window glass, or a light outside seen through the window. · The caller describes a big window facing the parking lot and a “foggy light.” The caller says they went out specifically to check whether it was a car light.
- A living person (a co-worker, visitor, or trespasser) glimpsed briefly at the window and gone by the time the caller went outside. · They say they ran outside to check whether [quote withheld]
- A brief misreading of an indistinct shape through glass (a reflection, fogging, condensation, foliage, or a distant object) in dim conditions. · They describe something “foggy” and only person-like in outline, seen at a window, with no other reported detail.
What stands out
A brief, undramatic story set in an ordinary place: a cemetery employee’s office at the end of a shift. The caller themselves immediately tests the most obvious ordinary explanation by going outside to look for a car or a person.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.