Hooded faceless figure in the bedroom and a return during a cardiac arrest
A caller identified on air as [name withheld] of Sacramento describes himself as a 6'9", 370-pound pastor. He says a faceless, handless, hooded figure came through his bedroom door in March of that year and threatened him. It then threw his wife off the bed by the ankles and left what he describes as bleeding hand imprints. He says the same figure appeared beside him a month later when his heart stopped during a hospital stay in San Francisco. It told him it was time to come with it. He says he refused and was revived. He ends by telling the host he believes the figure was probably following him after he once helped a Catholic pastor with an exorcism.
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 1998.mp3”, starting at 3:53:28). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller is named on air as [quote withheld] (who said this is uncertain). He describes himself as a 6 feet 9 inches, 370-pound pastor. He says that in March of that year he was asleep in his bed when a figure came through the door and glided toward him. He says it had no face and no hands and told him [quote withheld] He says he told it that it would not get him, and then it reversed and said it would get his wife. According to the caller, it went to his wife, grabbed her by the ankles, and threw her off the bed onto the floor with a loud thump. He says he got up and turned on the light, and the figure was gone. He reports that his wife, whom he describes as light-skinned, had what looked like hand imprints on her ankles, eight in total. He says they bled through the skin with no cut, and he applied pressure until the bleeding stopped. He says that a month later, during a three-week hospital stay in San Francisco, his heart stopped on the third night. The same figure appeared immediately to his right, hooded and faceless, and said [quote withheld] He says he told it he was not scared and was not going with it, and that it moved toward him. He then woke as paddles were placed on his chest. He says staff told him his heart had stopped for eight seconds. Answering the host’s questions, he says he is 45, married a year out of college, played one year for the Seattle Seahawks until his heart problem stopped him, worked about 18–19 years at a bank, and had been an assistant pastor. He says that about five years earlier he helped a Catholic pastor get “that energy” out of a person. He firmly believes whatever it was is probably following him.
Reported events, in order
- 0:32
The caller says that in March of that year he was asleep in bed when a figure came through the door toward him.
- 1:06
He says the figure had no face and no hands, glided rather than walked, and told him it was going to get him.
- 1:38
He says the figure reversed, said it would get his wife, went to her, grabbed her ankles, and threw her off the bed onto the floor.
- 2:02
He says he got up and turned on the light and the figure was gone.
- 2:10
He reports what looked like hand imprints on his wife’s ankles, eight in total, that bled through unbroken skin. He applied pressure and it stopped.
- 3:06
He says that a month later he was in a San Francisco hospital for three weeks.
- 3:19
He says that on the third night his heart stopped.
- 3:25
He says the same figure appeared immediately to his right and said it was time to come with him.
- 3:53
He says the figure came toward him and paddles were then placed on his chest. He woke and was told his heart had stopped for eight seconds.
- 5:00
Answering the host’s questions, he describes his life: married a year out of college, one year playing for the Seattle Seahawks, about 18–19 years in banking, and service as an assistant pastor.
- 6:55
He says that about five years earlier he helped a Catholic pastor with an exorcism and believes whatever it was is probably following him.
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· 0:51
The caller says a figure came right through his bedroom door while he was in bed.
- observation· 1:06
He says the figure had no face and no hands and glided rather than walked.
- observation· 1:18
He says the figure told him it was going to get him.
- observation· 1:38
He says the figure said it would get his wife instead.
- observation· 1:46
He says the figure grabbed his wife by the ankles and threw her off the bed onto the floor.
- observation· 2:10
He says his wife had what looked like hand imprints on her ankles, eight in total.
- observation· 2:50
He says the skin on his wife’s ankles bled with no cut present.
- observation· 3:19
He says that during a hospital stay a month later, on the third night, his heart stopped.
- observation· 3:25
He says the same figure appeared immediately to his right during the cardiac arrest.
- observation· 3:42
He says the figure told him it was time to come with him.
- observation· 4:16
He says he refused to go with the figure and was then revived. Staff told him his heart had stopped for eight seconds.
- interpretation· 7:03
He says he firmly believes the figure was probably following him, linking it to an exorcism he helped with years earlier.
- hearsay· 6:40
He says he had heard many similar stories during his time in the church.
- host statement· 4:42
The host tells the caller it seems he has encounters with beings at critical moments that are not likely to lead him [quote withheld]
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 firsthand testimony with concrete details (the month, the hospital stay, eight seconds, claimed marks) and a coherent sequence. But both episodes happen when ordinary explanations are common (asleep in bed; a cardiac arrest), and the claimed physical effects on the wife are unverified. Parts: source proximity 22, specificity 14, internal consistency 14, alternative explanations 7, calibration of claims 10.
Evidence for and against
- A specific date is given: the caller says it happened in March of that year.
- He separates what he saw from what he concluded about the marks, answering the host that there was no cut.
- He offers details about his life that could be checked (age, football, banking) in answer to the host’s questions.
- No one else backs it up. The wife, said to have been attacked, does not speak on air.
- The claimed marks and bleeding are described but never examined or documented.
- Both episodes happen while he is in bed, asleep in the first and in cardiac arrest in the second.
- The labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent around the introduction and the host’s question.
- Several passages were smoothed in the transcript, so some wording is uncertain.
- The caller’s name and city appear in a line where it is unclear who is speaking.
- 0:32
- 2:10
- 4:16
What the model inferred (not said on air): My scores for each part are editorial judgments from the transcript content only. The story is detailed and well ordered. But the two settings, sleep and a cardiac arrest, are ones where ordinary explanations fit fairly easily, and the physical claims about the wife rest solely on his word.
The story rests on the caller’s own word, a claimed second witness who never speaks, and claimed physical marks that are neither examined nor documented. Details that could be checked (a name, a city, a hospital stay, a month) are given, but nothing is verified. That places it in the 11 to 25 range.
Evidence for and against
- Some details that could be checked are supplied: a name and city as given on air, a hospital stay in San Francisco, and a month of the year.
- A second person is claimed to have been physically affected.
- No photograph, medical record, or other document is produced or examined on air.
- The claimed second witness does not speak.
- No outside check was performed.
- The hospital is not named.
- The caller’s name and city come from a line where it is unclear who is speaking.
- Smoothing in the transcript hides parts of the description of the attack.
- 2:10
- 2:50
- 3:10
What the model inferred (not said on air): The placement is my judgment. Claimed witnesses and unexamined physical marks fall in the 11 to 25 range, not any higher, and no outside check was performed.
The story centers on a faceless figure entering a bedroom, threatening the caller, throwing his wife to the floor and leaving bleeding hand imprints, and later appearing beside him during a cardiac arrest to say it is time to come with it. The threat, the physical harm, the bedroom intrusion, and the life-threatening setting combine to make it frightening. The story ends with his refusal rather than a worse turn.
Evidence for and against
- The figure is said to state an intention to get him and then his wife.
- The wife is described as thrown off the bed onto the floor with a loud thump.
- The figure reappears during a cardiac arrest and tells him it is time to come with it.
- The caller says he was not scared and refused the figure.
- The hospital episode ends with revival rather than harm.
- No aftermath is reported beyond the marks and his stated belief that it follows him.
- Some of the description of the attack is partly smoothed in the transcript.
- The seriousness of the wife’s reported injury is not described beyond the marks and bleeding.
- 1:38
- 2:10
- 3:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is my reading of the story’s content for a listener, not a judgment of whether the events happened. The unresolved claim that the figure is “following me” keeps it from the top of the range.
A faceless, hooded, gliding figure is a familiar ghost-story element. The combination here is less common. The threat moves from the caller to his wife within the same episode. She is physically thrown and left with claimed bleeding hand imprints. The same figure returns during a cardiac arrest, telling him to come with it. The caller’s link to an exorcism he once helped with adds another uncommon detail. This is a provisional score from the model. Comparison with the rest of the archive is not yet meaningful with a small archive.
Evidence for and against
- A threat that moves to the wife, and a physical attack on her.
- Claimed physical marks on the wife’s ankles.
- The same figure returns during a cardiac arrest with a summons.
- Faceless or hooded figures and bedroom intruders are common motifs in this genre.
- Threats spoken by a figure are a familiar device.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive is provisional, since there are few stories to compare.
- Some descriptive detail is hidden by smoothing in the transcript.
- 1:46
- 3:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects my comparison against commonly recurring motifs, not against the full text of the archive, which is not available to me here.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word.; Claimed hand imprints and bleeding on the wife’s ankles, not examined or documented.; A claimed second witness (the wife) who does not speak on air.; A claimed on-air name and city for the caller, from a line where it is unclear who is speaking.. The originality score blends the model's score (68) 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.
- The first episode could be an experience while falling asleep. The caller says he was asleep in bed and that he saw the figure come through the door before he got up and turned on the light. · [quote withheld]; [quote withheld]
- The hospital episode could be tied to the medical event itself. The caller says it happened at the moment his heart stopped and that he was revived with paddles. · [quote withheld]; [quote withheld]
- The marks and bleeding on his wife’s ankles could come from her being thrown or falling from the bed, although he states there was no cut. · [quote withheld]; “big loud thump”; [quote withheld]
What stands out
The distinctive element is the reported shift of the figure’s threat from the caller to his wife in the same episode, followed by claimed physical marks on her ankles. The figure then reappears beside him during a cardiac arrest, telling him to come with it. The caller never uses the word “demon.” His own link is to an exorcism he says he once helped with, which is why the explanation is recorded as a demon or evil being, with low confidence.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.