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Phone Calls From The Dead: Illinois, 1998

Sightings

Mon Jul 21 2025

Summary

Sightings Podcast: "Phone Calls From The Dead: Illinois, 1998"

Episode Overview

In the enthralling episode of Sightings titled "Phone Calls From The Dead: Illinois, 1998," hosts McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley delve into one of the most haunting supernatural phenomena—receiving phone calls from the deceased. Released on July 21, 2025, this episode intertwines a gripping dramatized narrative with insightful discussions, offering listeners both chills and thoughtful analysis.

Dramatized Story: A Brother's Haunting Calls

The episode opens with a gripping dramatization that sets the stage for the supernatural tale. Paul, the protagonist, recounts receiving unsettling phone calls from his brother, Nate, who was presumed dead after a tragic train derailment in Illinois in 1998.

Key Moments:

Initial Call (06:06): Paul receives three messages on his answering machine with the last one being just slow, steady breathing—an eerie indication that Nate might still be alive.

"And I figured they were just from friends who'd heard about the crash... but then I looked at the caller ID. Brennan, Nathan. Your cell number called at 6:47pm today, which is impossible because the crash was two days ago."
— Paul (06:06)
Descent into Obsession (07:45): Driven by desperation, Paul visits the crash site multiple times, seeking any sign of Nate's survival. His encounters with authorities, especially with a coordinator named Morrison, only deepen his confusion and grief.

"And he looked at me with this expression, like sympathy and exhaustion. And I realized he'd probably had this exact same conversation with dozens of family members."
— Paul (10:30)
Second Call and Verification (16:39): Paul receives another call from Nate, who reminisces about a childhood memory. The conversation feels disjointed, adding to Paul's turmoil as he struggles to comprehend the reality of Nate's existence.

"You said us and mom and dad. And I tried to get through to you. I tried, but you suddenly said you had to go, and the line went dead."
— Paul (19:03)
Final Closure (26:56): The narrative culminates with Paul receiving confirmation of Nate's death, juxtaposed with the mysterious phone calls that defy logical explanation.

"But Morrison called. Twenty minutes later, they found your body. They were able to identify it using dental records. I didn't say anything. When he told me, I just kind of listened and thanked him for calling and hung up."
— Paul (25:58)

This emotionally charged story not only captivates listeners but also sets the foundation for a deeper exploration of the phenomenon.

Hosts' Discussion: Unveiling the Phenomenon

Following the dramatization, McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley engage in a profound discussion, dissecting the nature of phone calls from the dead and their implications.

Key Topics:

Historical Context: Brian references the 1979 book "Phone Calls from the Dead," which cataloged numerous accounts of posthumous phone calls, laying the groundwork for understanding this phenomenon.

"And before I dive into the actual stories themselves, it's worth noting that they kind of found some patterns in how this works and what these phone calls look like, generally speaking."
— Brian Sigley (31:35)
Patterns and Characteristics: The hosts outline common traits in these supernatural calls, such as the timing—often within 24 hours of death—and the nature of the communication, which ranges from incoherent noises to brief, meaningful messages.

"Callers generally seem a little bit confused or disoriented. They're talking about nonsensical things... They make the call, they say their thing, and that's it."
— Brian Sigley (31:35)
Real-Life Cases: Brian discusses specific instances, including the 2008 California train crash involving Charles Peck, whose cell phone continued to ring posthumously. Despite the phone activity, autopsies confirmed Peck died instantly upon impact, leaving the true source of the calls a mystery.

"The coroner ultimately determined that Charles died instantly on impact. So he was not there to make those calls."
— Brian Sigley (39:34)
Emotional Impacts: McLeod and Brian reflect on the psychological effects these calls have on the bereaved, oscillating between hope and prolonged grief.

"It might feel like... a glitch, could almost like it just kind of prolongs that acceptance period, just like prolongs that kind of anxiety ridden moment in which you were hoping."
— McLeod Andrews (42:04)
Skeptical Perspectives: While acknowledging the emotional weight of such experiences, the hosts also entertain rational explanations, such as technical glitches or coincidences, emphasizing the importance of approaching these accounts with both empathy and critical thinking.

"I think what's interesting, I'm trying to figure out how I would feel if I had been Charles Peck's family... how would you feel?"
— Brian Sigley (41:37)

Concluding Thoughts

The episode wraps up with the hosts reflecting on the delicate balance between believing in the supernatural and seeking logical explanations. They encourage listeners to share their own experiences and thoughts, fostering a community of curiosity and open-mindedness.

"I think how could anybody not after losing a loved one, no matter how they lost them... it's just kind of a disjointedness... this is something you need to know."
— McLeod Andrews (29:23)

Final Reflections

"Phone Calls From The Dead: Illinois, 1998" masterfully blends storytelling with analysis, offering a comprehensive look into one of the paranormal world's most enigmatic phenomena. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, this episode provides ample food for thought, challenging listeners to ponder the thin veil between life and death.

Notable Quotes:

"They've used thermal cameras, listening devices, even dogs. And there were just no signs of life, no survivors."
— Morrison, Coordinator (16:39)
"It's the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind."
— Nate (16:56)
"I think we have to take people at their word on this one. Because in my mind, if you're gonna come up with some paranormal experience, you would pick something a little less personal."
— Brian Sigley (40:51)

Sources: For a detailed list of sources referenced in this episode, visit sightingspodcast.com.

Connect with Sightings:

Stay tuned for next week's episode, where McLeod and Brian promise an adventurous tale off the coast of Florida near Bermuda. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and join the journey into the unknown.

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Transcript

Brian Sigley (0:00)

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates for multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance and affiliates not available in all states and situations. Prices may vary on how you buy hey, skeptical geckos and believer beavers. Before the show begins, I want to recommend one of my favorite paranormal podcasts that I think you're going to love. My Monsters Among Us brings you supernatural stories from real people, everything from ghostly sightings to eerie encounters with strange creatures. But unlike here on Sightings, these stories are told by the witnesses themselves in real audio recordings that get straight to the meat of every terrifying story. You'll hear from witnesses like Julie, who drove past a car accident only to realize a spirit joined her in the passenger seat, or Mac from Mississippi who broke his back when he fell out of a tree stand only to be nursed back to health by a sympathet Sasquatch. I know I want to hear that story right now, but in all seriousness, I think you'll love the spooky and nostalgic vibe that host Derek Hayes has curated with Monsters Among Us. And if you want more shivers down your spine, listen to Monsters Among Us podcast now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

McLeod Andrews (1:27)

We like to think of death as a clean break, one world ending where another begins. But what if that line isn't as firm as we believe? What if, through static and wires, the departed find a way to speak again? And what if the voice on the other end isn't just a memory, but someone reaching back from beyond? Welcome to Sightings, the series that takes you inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events. Each episode brings you a thrilling story that puts you at the center of the action, followed by a discussion that dives into the accounts that inspired the story and our takes on them. I'm McLeod.

Brian Sigley (2:10)

And I'm Brian, and before we dive into today's story, we wanted to start doing something we've been talking about for a while now, which is highlighting the reviews and comments that you guys have given us and made on Spotify and Apple podcasts that really resonated with us and we'd love to share them with everyone.

McLeod Andrews (2:28)

So yeah, I don't know if you guys know, but you know when you're making a podcast, it's just kind of more or less pretty alone with no feedback or anything. So this is kind of like our one way of getting to connect with our audience and know that the work's out there and being appreciated. And boy, have you guys shared some amazing love. Here's one of many that I found just very charming. I'll read it to you. The title is Beauty in a Messed Up Way by Rosynozy P. Okay, first, you guys are like a breath of fresh air that I look forward to during my weekly binge of true crime. Thank you for that. This last story that someone sent in with the owl perched outside of his window. Omg. I shrieked as I was handed my Starbucks drink. I love that detail. Back to the review. This podcast is great. It really has a bit of everything in it. At times I find myself laughing out loud, shrieking, sitting in a suspenseful frozen state waiting for what comes next. I 100% recommend listening to these great guys if you haven't yet. P.S. can you just once try a female voice? Just for my own entertainment? You are truly amazing at voices. Mirandi. Thank you for that, Mirandi.

Paul (6:06)

Hey, Nate, it's. It's me, Paul. I'm calling your voicemail because I didn't know what else to do. God, this is stupid. Okay, so it's August 12, 1998, and something's happened. Well, a lot's happened. I mean, you must know that. But I can't explain any of it. And I needed a way to record what happened, and here I am, still on the phone. So. It's been almost 48 hours since I'm pretty sure you died. You were on the train and the train derailed and no survivors. The first three cars got it the worst. And I know you were in the second car because you called me to complain about your seat. And that was the last time I talked to you. We ended up arguing about the Cubs games. Just stupid thing to argue about. And I knew we'd make up after you finished work. But you never made it to work, did you? I've been at mom and Dad's since, just watching the news. Same coverage over and over. And the state's been in touch, and they're super cagey with details other than to say that no one in your car survived, which is why what just happened is so insane. I came home, showered, and then saw the light blinking on my answering machine. Three messages. And I figured they were just from friends who'd heard about the crash. But then I looked at the caller ID. Brennan, Nathan. Your cell number called at 6:47pm today, which is impossible because the crash was two days ago. You died two days ago. So, yeah, I clicked play on the answering machine, and the first two messages were what I expected. You know, a co worker, my friend Jake. But the third message there was breathing. Just slow, steady breathing for maybe 15 seconds, just, you know, just breathing. That's all I heard. Slow and steady, just calm. And I know this sounds crazy, but I know it was you, Nate. I mean, we shared a room for 18 years. I know it sounds like a bad romance novel. I know how you Breathe. But I do. So I called your cell and it rang four times before going to voicemail. You know that same douchey message you recorded last month where he said you were probably wriggly field and too busy to talk? Oh, God. Hearing your voice like that. Oh, it got me. You know, so I. I don't know. I left a rushed message asking you to call me back. And I still want you to. I need you to. Because I don't understand what's happening. And if you're alive or hurt or whatever, just. Just call me and I will. I will find someone to come get you. I. I must have said it 10 times before I finally hung up. Just call me. So, yeah, that was six hours ago. And I've just been sitting by the phone ever since. But there's been nothing. Haven't heard from you. TV's on right now. Sounds down. I'm just. Still been watching it. They're showing. I mean, they're showing footage of the crash site, and, you know, they're picking through the wreckage and it's. It just had me wondering if maybe somehow you're still alive in there and you're somehow trapped in the wreckage, trying to reach out. But I. I don't know. I mean, this crash was so violent. Besides, I mean, like, where would you even get power for this phone? I mean, your battery would be dead by now. And I'm rambling. I'm sorry. None of this makes sense. Anyway, I haven't told mom and dad about the call yet. Cause I don't want to give them false hope. Not when I don't even know what's happening myself. But I heard you breathing. I know it was you, Nate. And you called me almost 48 hours after you were supposed to be dead. So. Call me, Nate. Call me. Hey, it's me again. And it's been. I don't know, 17, 18 hours since my last message, but. Doesn't matter because I don't understand how. But you called me and I. I talked to you, Nate. I. Hang on. Someone's calling. No, it's not you. Okay, backing up. I. I just. I want to get this on the record or something. So after my first voicemail, I. I couldn't sleep. And I just kept obsessing over that call, the breathing, whether I should tell anyone or not. And this morning, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I had to do something. So I. I drove back out to the crash site and. And I'd been there already. Tried to get through to see if I could help. And all the workers turned me away. And since then, all the families were, you know, told, don't come back. Avoid the site and interface with the people in charge at a command post in a nearby school gymnasium. But I went again anyway, and the site looked basically like it did the first time I saw it. It's just carnage. I mean, twisted metal, a bit less smoke and chaos, but still not great. And I saw one of the coordinators I'd met earlier, this guy named Morrison, and he was about to flag down people to cart me away, but I just begged him. I needed to know if there was any chance you could be alive in there. And, oh, he looked at me with this expression, like sympathy and exhaustion. And I realized he'd probably had this exact same conversation with dozens of family members. And he told me. He told me they'd used thermal cameras, listening devices, even dogs. And there were just no signs of life, no survivors. And the bodies were so damaged that they were using anything they could. Teeth, bits of driver's licenses, cell phones. I mean, grim. Grim stuff. Anything for identification. And when I heard him mention cell phones, I wanted to tell him about the call. Your first call. But, I mean, how could I? I think he'd. He'd think I was in denial. So I asked about phone signals, whether a survivor's phone could possibly be working, possibly be making calls somehow. And apparently, when he said cell phones, that they'd been finding cell phones, he meant pieces of cell phones, SIM cards. And that was if they were lucky. Anyway, I. And I drove home feeling like an idiot, wondering if I'd just imagined the whole thing or misread the caller ID or something. I guess grief does that to people, right? But when I got back to my apartment, my answering machine light was off, but I still checked my caller ID, and there it was. Brennan, Nathan, 2:17pm you had called while I was at the crash site. Where are you? How did you call me, Nate? Anyway, I called you back as fast as I could, and against all odds, you answered. It was your voice, Nate. It was you, clear as ever. Just, oh, what's up, bro? Just totally casual, like you hadn't been dead for three days, but finally I was able to say your name. And there was this pause on the other end, like you were thinking about something. And then you started talking about the lake. Summer of 91, the trip we took to Minnesota with Mom and dad. And I must have been 15. You 17, right? And we went to that one seafood place, right on the dock, and I got Walleye and you got fried clams. But we ended up sharing because yours were way better. And you were saying all this, and I wanted to stop you, but you just kept talking about that day. The best day. You said us and mom and dad. And I tried to get through to you. I tried, but you suddenly said you had to go, and the line went dead. I've just been sitting here for an hour trying to make sense of it all. It was your voice, 1,000%. But I don't know, something felt off. Like, not just the random memory, but. Why were you talking like that, Nate? And why that memory? Why that day? I mean, you know, we've had hundreds of good times together, but you picked that one. So. Yeah, I'm. I'm gonna stay up again tonight and keep the phone close, because if you call again, I want to be ready. Just. Come on, Nate. Tell me what's happening, please.

Paul (19:03)

The windows are all boarded up, and there's, like, this rotted closed for the season sign half hanging from the door. But anyway, I just sat at the dock for, like, maybe an hour, trying to feel. I don't know, anything. It was clear no one had been here for a while. No tire tracks. No sign of life. No sign of you. Have you been here, Nate? That's impossible, isn't it? I don't know. Still, I couldn't help thinking about that day from your memory. And I don't know if this sounds crazy, but sitting there, staring at the water for just a second, I swear I could feel you there. Like when we were kids sharing a room. And I'd know you were awake in the dark, just like me. But I don't know. I know you weren't there. Of course you weren't. And I was just some guy sitting alone on a rotten dock talking to ghosts. But then. Then I heard it. A phone ringing. And it was coming from inside the abandoned restaurant. And I don't know, I just got all James Bondi. I kicked in the side door. I mean, the place was a mess. It's. It's kind of. It's surprising. It's a lot harder than you think it was. It kind of hurt my foot. But anyway, I got in there, and the place was a mess. And there on the wall by the old cash register was this faded rotary phone, and it was ringing, so I picked it up, and before I could even say hello, boom, there you were again. And you started talking about Halloween, 1990, that party at Jake Morrison's house where we teepeed the entire block and got caught by his dad. And he made us clean it all up. And you Laughed about it. You know that laugh you do when you know you did something stupid but don't regret it? You know the one. And, yeah, I just. I don't know. I'm sorry I lost it. I yelled at you, demanding to know where you were. I mean, were you alive? Were you hurt? What the hell was happening? I'm so sorry. I must have sounded crazy, screaming into the phone at this abandoned restaurant. But you didn't answer me. You just hung up. I just stood there holding the phone, shaking. And real weird, that's when I noticed that the cord wasn't even plugged into anything. The whole cable had been chewed through by mice or something, I don't know, years ago. And I'd just been talking to you on a phone that wasn't even connected. So I ran out of there and drove until I found this phone booth, and, man, I don't know how much more of this I can take. I don't know. I'm. I'm. I'm gonna go back to Chicago now. Maybe I should. Maybe I should just stop answering the phone for a while. I just don't know what else to do. Hey. Just calling you back. It's been, what, 12 hours since Minnesota? I don't know. Time's getting weird. When I got back to Chicago, the first thing I saw was the light blinking on my answering machine. And, you know, kind of like our last call. Part of me didn't even want to answer it, didn't want to check it. I thought about just unplugging the whole thing and pretending none of this ever happened, but no. I looked at the caller ID and this time, it wasn't your number. It was Morrison, the coordinator guy from the crash site. He left a message, but when I played it back, it was completely garbled, Just static and crackling and something about needing to speak to me. So I called him back, thinking. Thinking maybe there was news about you or recovery efforts or something. But it just rang and rang. No answer, no voicemail. And since then, I've been sitting here just thinking about the last real conversation we had, the one before the crash, that stupid fight about the Cubs pitching rotation. And I called you an idiot and hung up on you, thinking I'd. You know, thinking I'd call back and apologize for being such an ass after you got off the train. Except you never did get off. Then my phone rang again, and I picked up without checking caller ID Thinking it was Morrison. But it was you, Nate. And I don't know, you sounded more present than you sounded in the other calls, hey, bro, calm is anything. And I didn't know what to say, so I just asked you straight up if you were dead. And there's this long pause, and you said you thought so, but it was all right. Then you told me you were sorry about the stupid fight. You said I was the best brother you could have asked for and just wanted me to know that. Wanted me to know we'd both be okay. And then the line went quiet. Could hear that slight hum of an open connection, but you were gone. I just sat there with the phone pressed to my ear for a while, just listening to the ambiance of wherever you're hanging out now, I guess, until, you know, the dial tone finally kicked back in. Yeah. Morrison called. Twenty minutes later, they found your body. They were able to identify it using dental records. I didn't say anything. When he told me. I just kind of listened and thanked him for calling and hung up. Cause I think I already knew you were dead. I think I'd known it since the moment I saw those images on tv. Because no one survives a crash like that. But I also think I. I got what I needed. What we both needed. God, I miss you, man. See you again soon. Not. Not too soon, all right? Uh, yeah. Love you.