A hooded figure at a California motel, later described by the writer’s son
Art Bell reads a letter from an unnamed woman. She says that on her 1997 honeymoon she woke in a California motel room to a hooded figure in a dark brown cloak leaning over the bed and stroking her cheek. She says it rose and dissolved into mist, and her husband searched the locked room. Thirteen years later, she says, her eight-year-old son ran in at sunset and said he had seen a ghost near her bedroom window that was [quote withheld] She asks Art what it means. He answers that he has no idea.
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 2010.mp3”, starting at 1:37:31). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
This is a letter read on air by the host, so every line is read aloud by the host but comes from the letter writer. The writer says she and her husband married in the summer of 1997 and were traveling on their honeymoon. After driving for hours, they stopped to rest one night at an old motel in California and both fell asleep quickly. She says she even forgot to turn off the bedside lamp. She reports feeling someone gently stroking her cheek. At first she assumed it was her new husband, until she realized he was sleeping soundly on the opposite side of the bed. Turning her head, she says she saw a strange figure in a dark brown cloak leaning over her, its face shadowed by a large hood. She says she was very frightened, sat up, and began to scream. The figure seemed to rise into the air and dissipate into mist. Her husband woke and searched the room for an intruder. He found no one, and the door was locked tight. The two of them concluded it must have been a nightmare or something brought on by the stress of the wedding. She says she thought little of it for thirteen years. Then, this past summer, her eight-year-old son came running into the house just as the sun was setting. He excitedly reported seeing a ghost while playing outside near her bedroom window. She says she smiled and asked what it looked like, and he replied that it was all brown and had a hood. She says she never told her son about the motel night and finds his description an extraordinary coincidence. She asks the host what he supposes it means. He replies that he has not the slightest idea.
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The letter writer says she and her husband married and traveled on their honeymoon in the summer of 1997.
- 0:15
They stopped to rest at an old motel in California and quickly fell asleep. She forgot to turn off the bedside lamp.
- 0:27
She reports feeling someone gently stroking her cheek, and realizing her husband was asleep on the opposite side of the bed.
- 0:41
She says she saw a strange figure wearing a dark brown cloak leaning over her.
- 0:50
She reports that she could not see the figure’s face because it was shadowed by a large hood.
- 0:55
She says she was frightened, sat up, and began to scream.
- 0:59
She reports the figure rose up into the air and dissipated into mist.
- 1:07
Her husband woke, searched the room, and found no intruder, and the door was locked. They concluded it was a nightmare or wedding stress.
- 1:29
Thirteen years later, this past summer, her eight-year-old son came running into the house at sunset saying he had seen a ghost while playing near her bedroom window.
- 1:42
Asked what it looked like, the son said it was all brown and had a hood.
- 1:49
She says she never told her son about the motel night and finds his description an extraordinary coincidence.
- 2:01
She asks the host what he supposes it means. He says he has not the slightest idea.
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· 0:27
She felt someone gently stroking her cheek while lying in the motel bed.
- observation· 0:41
She saw a strange figure in a dark brown cloak leaning over her.
- observation· 0:50
The figure’s face was hidden, shadowed by a large hood.
- observation· 0:59
The figure rose into the air and dissipated into mist.
- interpretation· 1:07
She and her husband concluded the experience was a nightmare or brought on by the stress of the wedding.
- hearsay· 1:42
Her son reported seeing a ghost that was “all brown” and had a hood.
- interpretation· 1:52
She finds the match between her son’s description and the motel figure an extraordinary coincidence.
- host statement· 2:01
The host says he has no explanation for what the story means.
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 letter gives a coherent, ordered first-person story with concrete details (summer 1997, a California motel, a locked door, then a second sighting thirteen years later). But the motel episode fits easily with an experience while waking up, and nothing backs it up beyond the writer’s own telling.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story from the stated witness, with a clear sequence of events (married summer of 1997, motel stop, waking to a touch, seeing the figure, husband searching the room).
- Concrete details that could in principle be checked: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] and the locked door.
- The writer separates what she perceived from what she concluded, saying she first assumed it was her husband and later that [quote withheld]
- A common ordinary explanation fits well: waking suddenly in an unfamiliar bed, with the light left on, and a touch on the cheek ([quote withheld]).
- The only other person present is not said to have seen anything. The husband is reported asleep and only searches the room.
- The son’s later report is relayed inside the letter and is not independently documented.
- The automatic labels in the transcript mark the entire letter as the host’s speech, so the writer’s own words cannot be separated.
- One passage is garbled around [quote withheld] so the husband’s exact actions are partly unclear.
- 0:10
- 0:15
- 1:07
- 1:07
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment of the parts: closeness to the events high (stated direct witness, 19), specificity moderate (11), internal consistency high (15), alternative explanations moderate to low because a sleep-related cause fits well (9), calibration good (9). The total is 63.
The story rests entirely on the letter writer’s word, with a year and a state but nothing more exact, one claimed additional witness (the son), and no physical evidence or documentation.
Evidence for and against
- A specific year and state are given ([quote withheld] “California”), which could in principle be checked.
- A second claimed witness, the writer’s eight-year-old son, is said to have given a matching description.
- No photograph, recording, document, name, or address is offered. The motel is not named.
- The son does not speak on air. His report is nested inside the letter.
- No outside check was done.
- The story does not say whether the son’s account was recorded or verified in any way.
- 0:15
- 1:42
- 1:49
What the model inferred (not said on air): I placed this at a score of 11 to 25 because details that could be checked exist but were not checked, and a second witness is only claimed. The hard cap of 50 without an outside check is not approached.
The story centers on an intrusion into a sleeping space, with physical contact and a hooded, faceless figure leaning over the writer. A child’s sighting near her bedroom window later matches it. It is unsettling but short, and it ends without threat or escalation.
Evidence for and against
- Physical contact while asleep: [quote withheld]
- An unidentified figure in the bedroom leaning over her with a hidden face ([quote withheld]).
- The later sighting by a young child near the writer’s bedroom window, matching the earlier description.
- No injury, threat, or building menace is reported.
- The writer and her husband first dismissed it, and the story ends in an unresolved but calm exchange with the host.
- The son’s manner and the exact circumstances of his sighting are not described.
- 0:27
- 0:41
- 1:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): I rated it just above the midpoint. The bedroom intrusion and physical touch raise it. The lack of harm, threat, or an ominous ending keeps it below the frightening examples.
A hooded, faceless, cloaked figure is a stock ghost motif. But the cheek-stroking and the matching description from the writer’s child thirteen years later give the story a distinctive detail.
Evidence for and against
- The unusual detail of a figure gently stroking the writer’s cheek, which she first takes for her husband.
- A claimed later match from her son using the same two features: [quote withheld]
- Hooded or cloaked figures and faceless ghosts are recurring motifs in ghost lore.
- The [quote withheld] structure is a familiar pattern.
- How novel the story is compared with the rest of the archive cannot be assessed from a single part of the broadcast, so the published score is provisional.
- 0:50
- 1:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): My estimate is 50: a familiar haunted-figure setup with one or two distinguishing details.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.62 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: Letter read aloud on air, containing the writer’s firsthand story of the motel event; Claimed secondhand report by the writer’s young son, relayed inside the letter; No photograph, recording, document, name, or address, and nothing examined on air. 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 sleep-paralysis-type episode, or an experience while waking up in an unfamiliar room. The writer had just fallen asleep in a strange motel bed, and the experience begins with a touch on the cheek and a figure close to her face. · She reports going to sleep very quickly and being woken by the sensation. She herself says the couple first concluded it was a nightmare.
- She mistook the figure for her husband, or saw a half-awake dream image in an unfamiliar, dimly lit room with the bedside lamp on. · She says she first assumed it was her husband, and that the lamp was left on ([quote withheld]).
- The son’s later report was a child’s imaginative play or a suggestion, which the writer herself raises. · The letter says she believed the son’s report to be [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story pairs a hooded figure at the bedside with a much later, matching description from the writer’s young son. She says she had never told the child about the earlier event. The figure is described as both leaning over the bed and then dissolving into mist, combining a solid-looking bedside visitor with a partial disappearance.
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