1965: A ten-second TV lag and a shadow man in a hat seen by children
A caller who identifies themself as [quote withheld] tells Art Bell a story the caller dates to 1965, when they were about five and their parents were working late at their pharmacy. The caller reports that the upstairs television began broadcasting about ten seconds after the downstairs set. The caller says they and their brothers saw a shadow man on the wall of the upstairs bedroom and again from their sisters’ room. The caller says their parents, on returning home, did not believe any of them.
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 2007.mp3”, starting at 2:05:20). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] and says they are calling from West Jarmus, Massachusetts, tells the host that the events happened in 1965, when they were about five years old. They say their mother worked with their father at a pharmacy they owned, that the parents were out late, and that their older brothers and sisters were left in charge of the children. They report that the house had one television downstairs and one upstairs, with no cable or satellite service. The upstairs set started broadcasting about ten seconds after the downstairs one, which they say freaked everyone out. At bedtime, they say, their older sisters [name withheld] and [name withheld] took the downstairs bedroom while the boys were upstairs. All the boys upstairs started screaming because they saw a shadow man on the wall. The caller explains that a stereo was turned down but its light let them see it. They say they ran downstairs into their sister’s room, and she thought they were nuts. When they opened the door and peeked into the living room, they all saw it again. They end by saying that when their parents got home, they did not believe any of them about the television or the shadow man with the hat that looked like Lincoln. The host responds by discussing signal delays between C-band and KU-band satellite, saying the described timing would indicate [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:09
The caller introduces themself and says the story is from 1965, when they were about five years old.
- 0:21
Their mother, who worked with their father at a pharmacy they owned, called to say they would be very late, leaving older brothers and sisters in charge.
- 0:31
The caller notes there was a television downstairs and one upstairs, and no cable or satellite television at the time.
- 0:41
The upstairs television started broadcasting about ten seconds after the downstairs one, which the caller says freaked everybody out.
- 0:52
At bedtime the sisters [name withheld] and [name withheld] took the downstairs bedroom while the boys were upstairs.
- 1:02
All the boys upstairs screamed because they saw a shadow man on the wall. The caller says a stereo was turned down but its light let them see it.
- 1:19
They ran downstairs into their sister’s room, and she thought they were nuts.
- 1:23
With everyone in the downstairs room, they opened the door, peeked into the living room, and all saw it again.
- 1:31
When the parents got home, they did not believe any of them about the television or the shadow man with the hat that looked like Lincoln.
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· 0:41
The television upstairs began broadcasting roughly ten seconds after the downstairs television, in an era the caller says had no cable or satellite.
- observation· 1:02
All the boys in the upstairs bedroom screamed because they saw a shadow man on the wall.
- observation· 1:25
After going down to their sisters’ downstairs room, the children opened the door, looked out, and all saw it again.
- observation· 1:34
The figure is described as a shadow man wearing a hat that looked like Lincoln’s.
- host statement· 2:05
The host says the television timing difference would indicate [quote withheld] comparing it to C-band and KU-band signal delays.
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, coherent story with some concrete detail. But it is recalled from age five, decades later, with no checkable particulars, and a simple shadow-and-light explanation fits the central sighting. It is scored in the middle range.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand witness telling: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Concrete anchoring: the year 1965, age about five, a named town, named sisters [name withheld] and [name withheld], and a specific ten-second lag.
- The sequence is coherent and consistent across the caller’s answers to the host. No self-contradiction appears in this part of the broadcast.
- The story is a childhood memory of a five-year-old, recalled more than forty years later.
- No details are supplied that could be checked, and the parents reportedly rejected the story.
- A shadow on a wall lit by a stereo is readily explained in ordinary terms.
- In the automatic transcript, the labels showing who is speaking switch mid-sentence between the caller and the host, so some lines may be assigned to the wrong speaker.
- The caller never describes what the figure did, how long it was visible, or how the evening ended after the parents came home.
- 0:09
- 1:02
What the model inferred (not said on air): The weighting of “firsthand” against [quote withheld] is my judgment. The transcript itself supplies only the age and the year.
The story sits in the range for [quote withheld] There is no documentary or on-air backing, and no outside check was done.
Evidence for and against
- Checkable specifics are given but unchecked: the year 1965, a stated town, named sisters, and a stated age.
- Multiple claimed witnesses to the same reported sighting.
- No physical evidence, document, recording, or photograph is offered.
- The claimed witnesses are family members who do not speak on air. Their experience is reported only through the caller.
- The named people (sisters, parents) could in principle be contacted, but nothing was checked.
- It is unclear how many children were present, so the number of claimed witnesses cannot be fixed.
- 0:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): No independent verification is possible from this transcript alone. The ceiling of 50 for stories without an outside check applies, and the score is well below it.
This is a dark-house, children-alone shadow-figure story with a repeat sighting and no explanation. It is moderately unsettling but contains no threat, contact, or graphic detail.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is children left alone at night in a house with late-working parents.
- A shadow figure is reportedly seen twice, once from a bedroom and once peering out into the living room.
- The ending is unresolved: the parents did not believe them.
- No threat, contact, injury, or pursuit is reported.
- The telling is matter-of-fact and closes on the parents’ disbelief rather than menace.
- The appearance and behavior of the figure are barely described, which limits how vivid the scene is.
- 1:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): The creepiness rating reflects the structure of the story (intrusion into a children's bedroom, unresolved ending), not anything about the caller.
This is a familiar shadow-figure story with one unusual element (the apparent ten-second television lag) and a distinctive hat comparison. The provisional score reflects a familiar setup plus a distinctive detail.
Evidence for and against
- The opening detail, a television upstairs beginning about ten seconds after the one downstairs, is unusual, and the host treats the timing as the most striking part.
- The hat is compared specifically to Lincoln’s, a distinctive description.
- The shadow figure in a hat repeats a widely circulated [quote withheld] motif.
- Children seeing a dark figure in a bedroom is a stock ghost-story setup.
- The originality value is provisional and would be recomputed against the archive.
- 0:41
- 1:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a provisional judgment only. The comparison with the rest of the archive cannot be computed from a single story.
Scoring confidence 0.62 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story; Claimed multiple child witnesses (brothers and sisters), none of whom speak on air; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace offered or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 shadow cast on the wall by the stereo’s light (or by a person in or near the room) was seen as a figure. · The caller says the sighting was in a room lit only by a stereo’s light: [quote withheld] A shadow of an object or person cast on the wall by that light is a possible ordinary explanation for the reported figure.
- A reception or antenna problem produced the apparent delay between the two televisions. · The caller reports no cable or satellite at the time and says one set lagged the other by about ten seconds. In that situation, differences in reception or antennas, not the supernatural, could account for the offset.
- Excited children misread ambiguous shadow shapes in a dark room. · The sighting was reported by children left in the care of older siblings while their parents were out late, in a darkened room. Ambiguous shapes in poor light can be read as figures.
What stands out
The story opens with a strange appliance event, treated as the first thing that “went wrong”: a television reportedly broadcasting about ten seconds behind another set in the same house. The host treats this as the notable element. The shadow figure is distinguished only by a hat compared to Lincoln’s.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.