A Santa-suited figure, a fallen well, and three extra presents at Christmas
An unnamed caller tells Art Bell a Christmas memory from when he was [quote withheld] A man in a Santa suit stumbles down his street and falls down a well. The street then goes back to its ordinary paved state. Hours later, the same figure is reported floating over the boy’s bed saying [quote withheld] The story ends with three extra presents under the tree that the caller’s father reportedly could not account for. One of them was an old wooden handmade train.
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 1:39:46). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
An unnamed caller tells Art Bell a childhood story. He begins by saying [quote withheld] He says that when he was about seven or eight, on Christmas Eve, he heard someone outside singing Christmas carols “rather badly.” He got up, looked out the window of what he describes as [quote withheld] and looked down at the street. He says the road was dark, [quote withheld] and that [quote withheld] which he thought strange. He then reports a man in a Santa suit stumbling down the street, walking [quote withheld] stumbling along, and falling down an old well that, he says, [quote withheld] Saying [quote withheld] the boy ran outside and down the stairs. He found the well [quote withheld] the road paved, and the rock wall in place. He says he thought [quote withheld] and went back to bed. At about 4 a.m. on Christmas Day he says he woke to the same Santa-suited figure floating over his bed, which said [quote withheld] He woke his brother and they ran downstairs, where presents were set out. Their father came out, asking why they were up at four in the morning. The caller says his father looked down and saw three extra presents [quote withheld] According to the caller, his father told him to open the one marked for him. It was an old wooden handmade train. The host remarks it was [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The caller says he was about seven or eight years old when the events happened.
- 0:20
On Christmas Eve he heard someone outside singing Christmas carols “rather badly.”
- 0:28
He looked out the window and says the street below was dark and the rock wall he knew was missing.
- 0:40
He reports a man in a Santa suit stumbling down the street.
- 0:54
The man stumbles through where the rock wall was and falls down an old well that the caller says is still there.
- 1:09
The boy runs outside and down the stairs.
- 1:19
Outside, he says the well was filled with dirt as it had been the day before, the road was paved, and the rock wall was in place.
- 1:30
He thinks [quote withheld] and goes back to bed.
- 1:40
At about 4 a.m. on Christmas Day he says he woke to the Santa-suited figure floating over his bed saying [quote withheld]
- 2:02
He wakes his brother, and they run downstairs.
- 2:14
They find presents laid out and wake their parents. Their father comes out asking why they are up at four in the morning.
- 2:31
The caller says his father saw three extra presents whose origin he did not know.
- 2:39
His father tells him to open the one marked for him. It is an old wooden handmade train.
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· 0:20
The caller heard someone outside singing Christmas carols badly on Christmas Eve.
- observation· 0:40
The caller saw a man in a Santa suit stumbling down the street.
- observation· 0:37
The street looked different from how he knew it: a dark road and a missing rock wall.
- observation· 0:54
The Santa-suited man fell down an old well that still exists.
- observation· 1:19
When he went outside, the well was filled in and the road and rock wall were as before.
- interpretation· 1:30
The caller suggests the street episode may have been a dream.
- observation· 1:40
At about 4 a.m. the same Santa-suited figure was floating over his bed and spoke.
- observation· 1:53
The figure said [quote withheld]
- hearsay· 2:31
There were three extra presents that the caller reports his father could not account for.
- observation· 2:45
The present marked for the caller was an old wooden handmade train.
- host statement· 2:57
The host describes the gift as coming from the dead.
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 childhood memory decades old, told by the person who lived it, briefly and with some garbled phrasing. A dream explanation fits part of it, and the key supporting detail is reported only through a person who does not speak.
Evidence for and against
- Specific details that could potentially be checked: Vallejo, an old two-story house, a well said to be still there, the rock wall, three extra presents, a wooden handmade train.
- The sequence is ordered, and the caller answers the host’s follow-up about what was inside the presents.
- The caller states his own doubt rather than building up the claim: [quote withheld]
- Some sentences are garbled or ambiguous: [quote withheld]
- A dream or half-awake explanation fits the first episode and the 4 a.m. bedroom figure.
- The claimed support (the father seeing the extra presents) is not spoken by the father on air.
- The caller was reportedly told to hurry: [quote withheld]
- Garbled transcription around the street description and the brother’s dialogue.
- The labels showing who is speaking are smoothed over on two lines (“a Santa suit,” “And he goes”), so who said those short lines is uncertain.
- 0:37
- 1:30
- 2:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): The parts of the score: closeness to the events 19 out of 25 (firsthand but a childhood memory, partly incomplete); specificity 13 out of 20; internal consistency 14 out of 20; alternative explanations 5 out of 20 (a dream reading fits easily and the caller raises it himself); calibration of claims 7 out of 15. The sum is 58. No cap applies.
The story rests on the caller’s word plus claimed witnesses who do not speak. A few details could be checked (Vallejo, the well, a two-story house), but nothing was checked, and no object, photograph, or record was examined.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are offered: a named town, an old two-story house, a well said to still exist, three extra presents, a wooden handmade train.
- A second and third witness are claimed (brother, father).
- No document, photograph, recording, or physical object is described to the host or examined on air.
- The claimed witnesses never speak on air, so what they would confirm is only the caller’s word.
- It is not stated whether the house, well, or any of the presents still exist or could be found.
- 0:54
- 2:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls at a score of 11 to 25 ([quote withheld]). The hard cap of 50 is easily met. No outside check was done.
Mildly eerie: a child sees a figure fall down a well that then appears filled in, and later the same figure floats over his bed at 4 a.m. But the setting is festive, there is no threat or harm, and the story ends with an unexplained gift.
Evidence for and against
- A figure falls into a well as a child watches from a window.
- The street going back to its ordinary state is quietly unsettling.
- A figure is reported floating over a child’s bed at 4 a.m.
- The setting is Christmas, and the child’s reaction is excitement about presents.
- No harm, threat, or ill will is reported.
- The story ends with a gentle gift and the host’s mild remark.
- The figure’s appearance is described only as “a Santa suit.” Nothing else about it is given.
- 1:40
- 1:19
What the model inferred (not said on air): I placed it between the “comforting visitation” (10) and “mildly eerie” (30) examples, nearer the latter because the street goes back to normal and the figure appears at the bedside. The Christmas setting softens it.
The core is a familiar setup, a child’s bedroom visit on a holiday. But the combination of a Santa-suited figure, a fall into a well that is then found filled in, and three gifts of unknown origin is a distinctive cluster.
Evidence for and against
- A Santa-suited ghost is an unusual choice.
- The street appearing in an older state and then going back is a rarer element than a simple haunting.
- Extra presents of unknown origin, one a handmade wooden train, close the story.
- Holiday visits to a child’s bedside and gifts appearing are recognizable story elements.
- No historical research or later check is reported.
- The transcript is short and partly garbled, so some distinctive detail may be lost.
- 0:40
- 2:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): My originality score is 60. The value compared with the rest of the archive is calculated separately and should be treated as provisional, given the small archive.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s own firsthand childhood story, told live on air; Claimed witnesses (brother woken, father reportedly seeing the extra presents) who do not speak on air; No photograph, recording, document, or physical object offered or examined.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- A dream, or a half-awake experience. The caller woke on Christmas Eve night and again at about 4 a.m., and he himself says he thought he had dreamt the first episode. · [quote withheld] The later figure is reported immediately on waking at 4 a.m.
- Poor visibility through a window at night. The description of the road as dark and the rock wall as missing comes from looking down at a street at night, and the same view in daylight or different light showed the paving and wall in place. · [quote withheld]; [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- An adult the father did not credit or remember placed the three extra presents. The caller’s account of his father’s ignorance is reported, not shown. · The claim comes only from the caller: [quote withheld] The father does not speak on air.
What stands out
The story pairs a Christmas setting and a Santa-suited figure with two strange events that are rarely combined. One is a street that appears in an older state (unpaved, no rock wall) and then goes back. The other is three gifts said to have appeared that the caller’s father reportedly could not account for. The caller himself offers a dream explanation for the first event but goes on as if the rest happened.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.