Footsteps, a shadow at noon, and a voice saying “your brother” in an Alameda house
A caller from Alameda, California, tells Art Bell that she and her five children were hearing slamming doors, footsteps, and other disturbances in a large old house. She says each of them had kept it from the others. She reports a shadow that appeared in daylight, an unsuccessful first appeal to a priest, and a house blessing. Finally, she says, a voice said “your brother.” She then learned her brother had died about two months earlier.
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 1993.mp3”, starting at 21:07). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
Calling from [quote withheld] a woman tells Art Bell that “last year” she and her five children were living in [quote withheld] She says she began hearing things she put down to the children: a door that slammed hard when no one was there, and footsteps she took for someone coming downstairs. She says she later learned the children were also hearing noises and footsteps, but neither she nor they had said anything to each other. The children, she reports, described feeling someone enter the shower with them and finding no one there. The silence ended, she says, when she was scolding her son and he said [quote withheld] After that, everyone described things they had seen and heard. She reports hearing someone jumping on the bed with nobody there. One night, home alone, she felt watched. When the family returned, two muddy footprints were found on the floor, and her son compared them with his own feet. She also reports the thing appearing [quote withheld] at 12 noon, which the children saw first. She says a priest she consulted did not believe them and suggested mice or hysteria. A second priest, she says, came to bless the house. She says the thing threw things and made noises and was still there when he left. Then she went through the house with a crucifix, and it left. Two weeks later, she says, the family was still sleeping in one room. She says that when she wondered what it could have been, [quote withheld] She says she traced her brother to San Francisco and learned he had died two months before.
Reported events, in order
- 0:12
The caller says that “last year” she and her five children lived in a big, old, rambling house and that she began hearing things she put down to the children.
- 0:28
She says she heard a door slam hard, went to scold someone, and found no one there. Later she heard footsteps she took for someone coming downstairs.
- 0:59
She says she found out the children had also been hearing noises and footsteps, and that each side had kept quiet to avoid frightening the other.
- 1:27
She reports the children describing someone entering the shower while they were in it, with no one there when they looked.
- 2:25
While she was scolding her son, he told her he had seen something. After that, the family described what they had seen and heard.
- 2:33
She says she heard someone jumping on the bed, looked, and found nobody there.
- 2:46
Home alone one night, she felt an overwhelming sense that someone was looking at her. When the family came home, they found two muddy footprints, and her son compared them with his own feet.
- 3:10
She says the events picked up and the thing appeared as a shadow at 12 noon, with the children seeing it first.
- 3:42
She says a priest she consulted did not believe them and suggested mice or “people hysteria.” Driving home, she ran a stop sign.
- 4:02
She says that night she saw the shadow and bolted up. The family slept together in one room, all touching.
- 4:43
A second priest blessed the house. She says the thing threw things and made noises and was still there when he left, and the children became hysterical.
- 5:01
She says she went through the house with a crucifix, [quote withheld] and it left.
- 5:10
Two weeks later, she says, the family was still sleeping together, and no one could move, eat, or go to school.
- 5:22
She says that as she wondered what it could have been, a voice said “your brother.” She traced her brother to San Francisco and learned he had died two months before.
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· 0:28
A door slammed hard, and no one was there when she went to scold someone.
- observation· 0:40
Footsteps sounded as though someone were coming downstairs.
- hearsay· 1:27
The children reported someone entering the shower while they were in it, with no one there.
- hearsay· 2:29
Her son said he had seen something, and then the other children said they had seen and heard things too.
- observation· 2:33
She heard someone jumping on the bed and found nobody there.
- observation· 2:46
She had an overwhelming sense that someone was looking at her while she was reading alone.
- observation· 2:53
Two muddy footprints were found. Her son put his feet in them, and the angle indicated that whatever made them was facing her.
- observation· 3:10
The thing appeared as a shadow at 12 noon, and the children saw it first.
- observation· 4:51
The thing threw objects and made noises during the house blessing and was still there when the priest left.
- interpretation· 5:22
A voice said “your brother” when she wondered what it had been, which she took as identifying the presence.
- observation· 5:34
She traced her brother and learned he had died two months before.
- host statement· 5:51
Art Bell says that such stories often involve someone who has died without leaving a message.
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 firsthand story with a consistent, building sequence and some concrete detail: a city, the makeup of the family, a specific physical trace, and a priest consulted. But it gives no names, dates, or address. The most striking elements rest on the caller alone or on children who do not speak on air.
Evidence for and against
- The caller's own firsthand report of a door slamming, footsteps, being watched, and seeing a shadow.
- Specific context: five children, one large old house, and a location given as Alameda, California.
- The caller says she first tested and dismissed everyday explanations herself.
- No dates, no street address, and no names of the priests, children, or brother.
- The children's experiences (the shower episode, the group of “I saw” reports) are relayed, not heard from the children themselves.
- The final identification of the presence rests entirely on a single claimed voice.
- Several lines in the transcript are broken up or smoothed over, so some details may be misattributed.
- It is unclear what the caller means by “we're paralyzed.” It may describe a state of fear rather than a single, separate event.
- 0:12
- 0:28
- 2:53
- 3:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scores for each part: closeness to the source about 21 (firsthand), specific detail about 12, consistency about 14, other explanations about 7, and how carefully the claims are stated about 4. These are my judgment from how the story is built, not from how it was delivered.
Only the caller's word is present. It has some checkable details (Alameda, San Francisco, a brother said to have died two months earlier, and a priest consulted) and one claimed physical trace, the muddy footprints, which was never kept or examined.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are given: places, and a death she says happened about two months before.
- A physical trace is claimed: two muddy footprints found indoors.
- Several witnesses are claimed: five children.
- No photograph, recording, document, or object is produced or examined on air.
- No second witness speaks on air. The children's stories reach the listener only through the caller.
- The muddy footprints existed in the past and are not available to inspect.
- The priests and the brother are not named, so the claimed checks cannot be followed up from the transcript.
- 2:29
- 2:53
- 5:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): A score in the 11–25 range was chosen because checkable details and claimed witnesses exist, but nothing is verified and no evidence is examined on air.
The story builds from unclear household noises to a daytime shadow, terrified children, a priest's blessing that fails, and a family sleeping six to a room. The closing revelation about a dead brother gives it an ominous ending rather than a resolved one.
Evidence for and against
- Intrusion into private spaces: the shower, the bed, and the bedroom where the family sleeps together.
- The children are described as seeing the shadow first and breaking down.
- The attempted blessing does not stop it, and the story ends with an unexplained voice naming a dead relative.
- No injury, physical attack, or threatening message is reported.
- Some reported events (footsteps, a slamming door) are mild in themselves.
- Gaps in the transcript make the order of the most frightening moments partly unclear.
- 3:21
- 4:08
- 4:51
- 5:22
What the model inferred (not said on air): My rating gives weight to the steady escalation and to the children being in danger. It is a judgment about the story's effect, not about whether the events happened.
A familiar haunting frame (slamming doors, footsteps, a shadow, a priest, and a blessing) set apart by two things. One is the claimed muddy footprints, read as a fixed stare. The other is the identification “your brother,” which comes only after the ritual and matches a death two months earlier.
Evidence for and against
- The muddy footprints, whose angle is taken to mean the presence was staring at the caller, are an uncommon concrete detail.
- The voice naming a dead brother right after the failed or partial cleansing is a distinctive order of events.
- The claimed match with a brother's death about two months earlier gives the story an unusual ending.
- Stock elements dominate: slamming doors, footsteps, a shadow figure, a visit to a priest, a house blessing, and a crucifix.
- How new the story is compared with the rest of the archive is provisional in this pilot. Only a handful of stories are compared.
- 2:53
- 5:22
What the model inferred (not said on air): The provisional score from content alone is about 55 (a familiar frame plus a distinctive detail). The published figure will blend this with a comparison against the rest of the archive, weighted mostly toward this score while the archive is small.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story of her own experiences; Claimed child witnesses, reported by the caller, not speaking on air; Claimed physical trace (two muddy footprints) described, not kept or examined; No photograph, recording, or document produced. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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.
- Noises, slamming doors, and footsteps in a large old house with five children living in it could be ordinary household sounds mistaken for something unseen. · The caller says she first assumed this herself: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Fear and suggestion spreading through the family, after one child said he had “seen something,” could account for the wave of matching reports. · She describes a single trigger, her son saying [quote withheld] followed by [quote withheld] reporting similar experiences.
- An intruder or another person in the house could account for the muddy footprints on the floor and for the feeling of another body in the shower. · The caller reports that [quote withheld] were found indoors. She says the first priest suggested [quote withheld]
What stands out
The story ties a long household haunting to a specific dead relative only at the very end. A bodiless voice names “your brother” right after a blessing ritual. The claimed muddy footprints, read as a “stare” aimed at the caller, are an unusual physical detail.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.