Lemur on the pool patio the night of the caller’s father’s visitation
A caller introduced as [name withheld] from Houston, Texas, tells Art Bell that on the night of their father’s visitation in April 1999 they drove home, let their dog out on the patio, and saw a lemur walk out of the shadows and look at them. The caller says they checked the animal afterward against internet photographs. Then they read that “lemur” comes from a Latin word meaning “walking dead.” The caller concludes that their father chose to appear as the lemur to assure them they were all right. The host notes the alternative, that this was the meaning the caller’s mind gave it, and thanks the caller for the call.
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 36:14). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, introduced by the host as [name withheld] from Houston, Texas, begins by describing their father. Their father was classically educated by Franciscan monks, spoke Latin, and listened to Art Bell’s program almost every night. The caller says their father died on April 13, 1999, from complications following surgery from which he never recovered. On the night of the visitation, the caller says, they left the funeral home and drove about 50 miles back to Houston. Once home, they let the dog out onto the patio by the pool. Looking out through the patio window from the den, the caller says they saw a lemur walk out of the shadows. The caller reports that it stopped and looked at them with an acknowledgment the caller describes as human-like, that it was calm and “oddly reassuring,” and that they froze. The caller says it never ran but walked slowly past the window. Their Great Pyrenees, still out on the patio, never barked and never looked at it. When they ran to the kitchen to see where it had gone, the caller says they could not see it anymore. The caller then says they went online to check what they had seen and that pictures confirmed a lemur. The caller reports reading that the word “lemur” comes from the Latin “lemurae,” meaning “walking dead,” which the caller calls chilling. Asked nothing further, the caller states their belief that their father chose to come to them as that lemur to assure them they were okay. The host observes that strange animal appearances are often associated with a loved one’s death. He tells of a bat that came at his own father’s passing, and he offers the alternative that this was the meaning the caller’s mind decided on. The call ends with thanks.
Reported events, in order
- 0:11
The caller describes their father’s classical education by Franciscan monks and the father’s Latin.
- 0:28
The caller says their father listened to Art Bell’s show almost every night.
- 0:44
The caller states their father died on April 13, 1999, after complications following surgery.
- 0:52
On the night of the visitation they drove about 50 miles from the funeral home back to Houston.
- 0:58
They let their dog out onto the patio by the pool.
- 1:04
Looking out through the patio window from the den, they saw a lemur walk out of the shadows.
- 1:19
The lemur stopped and looked at them with what the caller describes as human-like acknowledgment.
- 1:29
The caller describes the animal’s calm as oddly reassuring and says they froze.
- 1:44
The Great Pyrenees on the patio never barked and never looked at the animal.
- 1:55
When they ran to the kitchen window the animal was gone.
- 2:05
The caller checked the internet and says pictures confirmed the animal was a lemur.
- 2:13
The caller reports reading that “lemur” comes from the Latin “lemurae,” meaning “walking dead.”
- 2:23
The host responds that strange animals are often associated with a loved one’s death and tells of a bat at his own father’s passing.
- 2:49
The caller says they believe their father chose to come as the lemur to assure them they were okay.
- 2:59
The host suggests as an alternative that the meaning was what the caller’s mind decided. The call ends.
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· 1:04
A lemur walked out of the shadows onto the patio while the caller watched their dog.
- observation· 1:19
The lemur stopped and looked at the caller with an acknowledgment the caller describes as human-like.
- interpretation· 1:29
The animal’s expression and calm struck the caller as oddly reassuring.
- observation· 1:44
The caller’s Great Pyrenees, outside on the patio, never barked and did not look at the animal.
- observation· 1:55
When the caller ran to the kitchen to look out, the animal was no longer visible.
- observation· 2:05
The caller says internet images confirmed that what they saw was a lemur.
- hearsay· 2:13
The caller reports reading that “lemur” comes from the Latin “lemurae,” meaning “walking dead.”
- interpretation· 2:49
The caller concludes their father chose to appear as the lemur to assure them they were okay.
- host statement· 2:59
The host offers an alternative reading, that the meaning was assigned by the caller’s mind.
- host statement· 2:23
The host states that strange animal appearances are often associated with the death of a loved one, and tells of a bat that came at his own father’s passing.
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.
A direct, step-by-step firsthand story with a specific date, but one with an ordinary fit that goes unaddressed (a loose or misidentified animal) and an identification made after the fact. It sits above a bare, brief story but below the “detailed and consistent” top mark.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story from the person who says they saw it.
- Concrete specifics that could be checked: [quote withheld] [quote withheld] a Great Pyrenees, and a patio by a pool.
- Consistent order of events from the funeral home to the sighting to the disappearance, with no contradictions in this part of the broadcast.
- The caller separates what they perceived from what they concluded ([quote withheld]), and the host’s alternative reading is left standing.
- An escaped or misidentified animal is an easy ordinary fit for a brief night glimpse in a suburban yard, and the caller does not address that possibility.
- The identification was made after the fact from internet images rather than at the time.
- No second person saw the animal, and no physical trace is claimed.
- One passage ([quote withheld]) is garbled, and one host line is cut off, so a small amount of the surrounding speech is unclear.
- Whether any zoo or private collection near the caller’s home existed is not established, and must not be assumed.
- 0:44
- 1:12
- 2:05
- 2:49
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component weights are my editorial judgment. The caller did not raise the escaped-animal or misidentification possibilities themselves, which is why the alternative-explanation component is scored low.
The story contains particulars that could in principle be checked, which places it above bare assertion. But nothing was examined on air, and no independent witness speaks.
Evidence for and against
- Specifics that could be checked are given but not checked: a date (April 13, 1999), a city (Houston), an approximate distance (about 50 miles), and a stated nearness to “the zoo.”
- The caller describes checking the animal against internet photographs, but those images are not produced or examined.
- No photograph, recording, footprint, or other physical trace is claimed.
- No second witness speaks on air, and the dog is said not to have reacted at all.
- The host’s own bat story is a separate story and does not back up the caller’s.
- No outside check was performed, so evidence strength is capped at 50 by rule, and in practice it is far below that.
- 0:52
- 2:05
What the model inferred (not said on air): Assigned to the 11 to 25 range for [quote withheld] The internet comparison the caller describes is the caller’s own action and remains unexamined.
A quiet, non-threatening encounter made unsettling by its timing after a death, the silent dog, and the “walking dead” origin of the word that the caller reports finding.
Evidence for and against
- The animal appears at night, coming out of shadows onto a pool patio right after a funeral visitation.
- The dog’s failure to react to an animal that should not be there is an eerie detail.
- The reported Latin meaning “walking dead,” which the caller calls “really chilling,” adds an ominous turn.
- The encounter is described as calm and reassuring rather than threatening.
- No physical contact, no harm, no escalation, and the call ends on a warm note.
- How listeners respond will depend heavily on whether the “walking dead” claim is taken at face value. The broadcast does not verify it.
- 2:13
- 1:44
- 1:55
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged as an entertainment quality of the story, not as evidence about events.
A familiar [quote withheld] story, carried by an uncommon animal and a detail about the word’s origin. Scored provisionally as a familiar story with distinctive elements.
Evidence for and against
- The animal is a lemur, not the usual bird, butterfly, or dog.
- The calm, human-like look of the animal and the dog’s total non-reaction are specific details.
- The reported Latin origin (“lemurae” = “walking dead”) is an unusual addition to the motif.
- An animal appearing around the time of a loved one’s death is a familiar idea, and the host says there are [quote withheld]
- The shape of the story (brief sighting, animal leaves, caller assigns meaning) is conventional.
- With few stories in the archive, the part of the score that compares the story with the archive is weakly weighted, and the published originality should be treated as provisional.
- 1:04
- 2:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model score for originality is my judgment from the content. The score compared with the rest of the archive is computed separately and is provisional for this pilot.
Scoring confidence 0.80 · analysis confidence 0.82 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story; Claimed internet image comparison made by the caller after the event, described but not produced or examined; No other witness speaks on air; the host relates his own separate story, which does not back up the caller’s.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- A lemur that escaped or was released from a zoo or a private owner could account for an animal that should not be loose in a Houston neighborhood. The caller notes that they were only a couple of miles from the zoo and that lemurs are native to Madagascar. This is offered as an ordinary possibility about the event only, not as a comment on the caller. · Based on the event as the caller reports it.
- The caller may have misidentified an ordinary animal in low light during a brief glimpse. The caller made the identification afterward from internet photographs rather than at the time, and describes seeing the animal only as it walked past the window. · Based on the event as the caller reports it.
What stands out
The messenger animal is a lemur rather than a bird, an insect, or a pet. The story adds a reported Latin origin of the word (“lemurae” = “walking dead”), which the caller treats as the chilling turning point of the experience. The animal’s calm, non-threatening look contrasts with the threatening images common in such stories.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.