Knocking doors and a shadow figure in an Alaska church residence
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Oregon, tells Art Bell about events when they were about 14. Their family had moved to an Alaskan town so their father could be caretaker of a large church, and the family lived in an apartment attached to it. They report repeated knocking at the church doors with no one there. They also report a dark crouched figure they saw many times in the youth pastor’s office. Later came nights of furniture being thrown and a doorknob rattling in a room built for them off an upstairs classroom. This lasted until they were sent to live with an uncle in Wisconsin in September 1984. The caller states no cause, and the story ends with their departure from the household.
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 1999.mp3”, starting at 2:10:15). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld] from Oregon says the events happened when they were about 14, after their family moved to a town in Alaska where their father was the caretaker of what they call a really, really large church. The family lived in a small apartment attached to the building. About four months after they arrived, they report hearing knocking at the doors. They say they opened the heavy church doors, with their push bars and small windows, and nobody was there. When they turned away, they say, the knocking came again and again with no one visible outside. They say they told their parents that weird things were going on. They told them to keep it quiet and suggested it was probably kids playing jokes. The activity, they say, got worse toward the end of summer going into winter. One night their mother sent them downstairs to fetch their father. They say they glanced into the youth pastor’s office and saw what they describe as a black figure of a person. They compare its look to the title character standing in front of a car in the old television show The Equalizer. They say the figure appeared crouched, shook its head as if saying no, and disappeared. They say they saw it dozens of times and each time meant to ask it where it came from but could not speak. Later, they say, they were given a new room built off the end of an upstairs classroom, with a second door required by fire code. Lying down around one o’clock at night, they would hear tables and chairs being thrown around in the next classroom. But when they opened the door, they say, nothing was out of place. After that the doorknob would rattle and the door bang in its latch while they stood inches away, and again there would be nothing when they opened it. They say they stopped sleeping in that room and slept on the living room floor, after which they say the kitchen door was rattled all night. They say the situation lasted until they were sent to live with an uncle in Wisconsin. The family had moved there in July 1983 and they left in September 1984, a little over a year later.
Reported events, in order
- 0:02
The caller says their family moved to a town in Alaska where their father was caretaker of a very large church, and they lived in a small apartment attached to the church.
- 0:42
Roughly four months after arriving, they say, knocking started at the doors. They would answer and find nobody there, and the knocking would repeat when they turned away.
- 1:19
They say they told their parents weird things were happening and they told them to keep quiet, suggesting it was probably kids playing jokes.
- 1:31
They say it got worse toward the end of summer going into winter.
- 1:44
Going downstairs one night to get their father, they say, they glanced into the youth pastor’s office and saw a black figure of a person, crouched, which shook its head as if saying no and disappeared. They say they saw it dozens of times.
- 3:27
They say a room was built for them off the end of an upstairs classroom, with doors required by fire code connecting it to the apartment and to the classroom side.
- 4:02
Lying down around one o’clock at night, they say, they heard tables and chairs being thrown around in the next classroom. When they opened the door, they say, nothing was out of place.
- 4:40
Standing inches from the closed door, they say, the doorknob rattled back and forth and the door banged in its latch. When they opened it, they say, there was nothing there.
- 5:19
They say they stopped sleeping in that room and slept on the living room floor, after which the kitchen door was rattled all night long.
- 5:45
They say they were sent to live with an uncle in Wisconsin. The family had moved to Alaska in July 1983 and they left in September 1984, a little over a year later.
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· 0:48
Knocking came repeatedly at the church doors, and no one was there when they opened them.
- observation· 1:10
After answering and finding no one, they say, the banging came again, and on looking out there was still nobody there.
- observation· 1:54
They saw a dark, crouched figure of a person in the youth pastor’s office, which shook its head as if saying no and disappeared.
- observation· 2:45
They say they saw the figure on many occasions and could not speak when it appeared.
- observation· 4:14
They heard tables and chairs being thrown around in the classroom next to their room, and on opening the door found nothing out of place.
- observation· 4:40
The doorknob rattled and the door banged in its latch while they stood close to it, and there was nothing there when they opened it.
- observation· 5:32
After they moved to sleeping on the living room floor, the kitchen door was rattled all night.
- interpretation· 5:25
They put the activity down to something unseen: [quote withheld] that chose the kitchen door to play with.
- hearsay· 1:19
Their parents told them the knocking was probably children playing jokes, and asked them to keep it quiet.
- host statement· 6:18
The host says his own reaction would be that sitting there shaking with the knob going and opening the door to nothing would be unbearable.
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 dated, concrete details of the setting and a coherent sequence. But the town and church are unnamed, there is no second witness to back it up, and at least part of the door activity has an easy ordinary explanation.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand: the caller describes their own sightings and experiences throughout.
- Dated and located: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld] in Alaska.
- Concrete setting details: an octagon-shaped church, fire-code doors, a youth pastor’s office, a room built off an upstairs classroom.
- A consistent sequence from knocking, to the figure, to growing door activity, with no clear contradictions in this part of the broadcast.
- The town and church are not named, so the details cannot be checked.
- The parents’ prank explanation is reported but not shown to have been ruled out.
- The classroom noise and door rattling have plausible ordinary explanations. The caller themselves calls it [quote withheld]
- The figure is described as indistinct: [quote withheld]
- The automatic transcript includes repeated words and one line labeled “HOST?” inside a caller’s answer.
- The number and timing of the figure sightings beyond “dozens of times” are not specified.
- 0:02
- 4:02
- 4:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): The editor’s component judgments are not statements about the caller. Closeness to the source is high (direct witness). Detail is middling (dates and setting details given, place names withheld or absent). Alternative explanations are middle to low (drafts and pranksters fit the knocking but not the [quote withheld] classroom sounds).
Only the caller’s own word is in the transcript. Some details could be checked (dates, states) but were not, and there is no document, recording, or second witness on air.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are present: July 1983, September 1984, Alaska, Wisconsin, a church caretaker’s household.
- The caller reports seeing the figure repeatedly rather than once.
- No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace is presented or described.
- No second witness speaks on air to confirm the events.
- The parents’ awareness is reported only by the caller and is not a statement that they saw anything.
- Whether any other family member could confirm the knocking is not stated.
- 5:53
- 5:19
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at 11 to 25 because details that could be checked are given but nothing was examined or verified. By the scoring guide this cannot exceed 50 without an outside check.
Unsettling rather than frightening: the intrusion is into a household and then at the caller’s own bedroom door at night, with growing activity over months and an unresolved end. No injury, threat, or hostile presence is reported.
Evidence for and against
- A nighttime intrusion at the door of their own room around one o’clock at night
- It got worse over time: [quote withheld]
- They call the experience [quote withheld] and say they can barely tell it.
- The threat is left unresolved. They only leave the household.
- No physical contact, injury, or stated hostility. The figure only shakes its head.
- The host’s framing keeps the tone conversational, and some description is comic in effect (the Equalizer comparison).
- The sightings are brief and the figure is indistinct rather than graphically horrifying.
- The transcript does not show how the caller understood the figure’s gesture.
- 5:22
- 2:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): The editor’s judgment of the effect on a listener only. It is not a claim about whether anything happened.
A familiar haunting setup of knocking, thrown objects, and a dark figure, with distinctive details: a family living inside a church, an octagon-shaped building, a room built for them with fire-code doors, and a figure that repeatedly shakes its head as if refusing.
Evidence for and against
- Uncommon setting: living in an apartment attached to a large church where the father is caretaker.
- Distinctive detail of the building: an octagon church with fire-code doors added when their room was built.
- Unusual gesture: the figure [quote withheld] and looks away each time.
- The events reportedly follow them from room to room (bedroom door, then kitchen door).
- The core elements are stock: unexplained knocking, a dark figure in a doorway, objects heard but not seen to move, a family leaving.
- The story ends with the usual departure rather than any resolution.
- Originality compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out here. This is the model estimate only.
- 1:52
- 3:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): Provisionally 52: a familiar setup with several distinctive details, pending a comparison with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.75 · analysis confidence 0.80 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word only.; No photograph, recording, or document presented or described.; No second witness speaks on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (52) 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.
- Loose door hardware or drafts in an older building could produce rattling and banging at the doors. · The caller themselves describes the door as [quote withheld] and describes the door banging in its latch.
- Children or other people in the building could account for the knocking at the church doors. · The caller reports their parents said [quote withheld] and they do not say this was checked.
- An indistinct dark shape seen briefly in an unlit office at night could be a matter of poor light and reading a pattern into it. · They describe the figure as [quote withheld] whose face “wasn't real distinct,” and the sighting happened while they were walking downstairs at night to fetch their father.
What stands out
The setting is a family living inside a church as the caretaker’s household, and the reported events follow the caller from room to room, from the church doors to the door of their upstairs room to the kitchen door, rather than staying in one place. The dark figure’s repeated gesture of shaking its head as if saying no, followed by disappearing, is also an uncommon detail.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.