Phone Calls from the Dead
The phone rings. Through the static, a familiar voice speaks, a voice you know is gone. Then the line goes dead.
What was reported
In 1979, two American researchers, D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless, published a book collecting dozens of accounts from people who said they had received telephone calls from relatives or friends who had died, sometimes days and sometimes years before.
The stories had a lot in common: the voice was faint or crackling, the call was short, often the caller repeated a simple message, and the line went dead without the click of a hang-up. Some calls came on significant dates, like birthdays or anniversaries.
Explanations offered
None of the calls could be verified. Sceptics suggest wrong numbers, crossed lines, pranks and the way grief makes people listen for loved ones, along with memories that shift over time. For believers, the stories were part of a long tradition of messages from the dead arriving through new technology.
- When
- Collected in the 1970s
- Where
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Witnesses
- People interviewed by two researchers
- Status
- Unverified
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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