A sliding couch and a giant hand reported in a childhood home in Oregon
A caller who gives their name as [quote withheld] tells Art Bell about events in their family’s house in Milwaukee [as spoken], Oregon, when they were five or six years old. The caller says a couch slid across the living room, a huge hand appeared from behind it and moved toward them and their sister, and the same hand later hovered over them in the bedroom. The story ends with a rattling attic door handle that night and the couch found slightly out of place the next morning.
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 2000-2.mp3”, starting at 56:21). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives their name as [quote withheld] speaking on 1190 KX in Portland, says they lived in a house in Milwaukee [as spoken], Oregon, with their parents and sisters. The caller says they were five or six years old at the time of the events. Their oldest sister, [name withheld], slept in the attic and repeatedly complained of hearing scratching and growling noises at night, so their parents moved her downstairs. One night, the caller says, they woke afraid to go to the bathroom alone and woke their middle sister, then eight or nine, to walk with them. Walking down the hall, they looked through a doorway into the living room. There, the caller says, the couch slid across the room. A huge hand, [quote withheld] came out from behind it and moved toward them. They ran back. The caller jumped into bed and pulled the covers over their head. When the caller looked out, they say, the hand was hovering over them. The caller notes it could not have fit through the doorway at the size they describe. It then [quote withheld] The caller says they waited two or three hours before getting their sister to walk them to the bathroom again. On the way back, they say, the door handle leading up to the attic was rattling. The next morning, they say, the couch was [quote withheld] but not thrown as it had been. Art Bell asked whether the experience might have been their bladder. The caller answered, [quote withheld] and added that they were only five or six and would always remember it.
Reported events, in order
- 0:20
The caller describes the family home in Milwaukee [as spoken], Oregon, where they lived with their parents and sisters.
- 0:26
The caller’s oldest sister, [name withheld], who slept in the attic, reportedly heard scratching and growling noises at night and complained to their parents.
- 0:45
Their parents moved [name withheld] downstairs.
- 0:51
The caller, then five or six, woke at night afraid to go to the bathroom alone.
- 0:58
The caller woke their middle sister, then about eight or nine, to walk with them, and they went down the hall.
- 1:20
Looking through a doorway into the living room, they reportedly saw the couch slide across the room.
- 1:39
A huge hand, which the caller compares to King Kong’s hand, reportedly came out from behind the couch and moved toward them.
- 1:51
They ran back to the bedroom. The caller jumped into bed and pulled the covers over their head.
- 2:14
When the caller later looked out, they say the hand was hovering over them, then seemed to go away.
- 2:27
After waiting two or three hours, the caller got their sister to walk them to the bathroom again.
- 2:43
Walking back, they say the door handle going up to the attic was rattling.
- 3:06
The next morning, they say, the couch was moved out a little bit, though not thrown as it had appeared to be.
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).
- hearsay· 0:31
The caller’s sister [name withheld] reported hearing scratching and growling noises at night from the attic.
- observation· 1:29
The caller says the couch slid across the living room while they and their sister watched.
- observation· 1:39
The caller says a huge hand appeared from behind the couch.
- observation· 1:51
The caller says the hand moved toward them and their sister.
- observation· 2:14
The caller says the hand was later hovering over them in the bedroom.
- hearsay· 2:06
The caller says their middle sister also saw the hand.
- observation· 2:43
The caller says the door handle to the attic was rattling that night.
- observation· 3:06
The caller says the couch was found out of place the next morning.
- host statement· 3:36
The host restates the story as a giant hand moving the couch and chasing the caller into the bedroom.
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 a clear but brief firsthand story with a coherent sequence and some calibration. It is weakened by how long ago it happened, its thin specifics, and the ease with which ordinary nighttime causes could account for it.
Evidence for and against
- A coherent, orderly sequence with concrete household details (attic, hallway, doorway, living room).
- The caller answers the host’s questions directly and consistently.
- The caller admits uncertainty: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- A memory of an event at age five or six, with no date or year given.
- An easy ordinary fit for a frightened child waking at night.
- No detail that could in principle be checked is offered beyond a first name and a town.
- No date, street, or year is given, so nothing can be checked.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift between the caller’s turns, so the exact wording of some lines is uncertain.
- A childhood memory recalled decades later cannot be independently verified.
- 0:31
- 3:21
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scored in parts: source closeness about 16 (firsthand but a brief childhood memory from long ago), specificity about 10 (town, ages, household, sister’s name, but no dates or checkable address), internal consistency about 16 (coherent sequence, no contradictions, answers to the host fit), other explanations about 7 (a frightened five- or six-year-old waking at night and animal noises in the attic fit the reported events fairly easily), calibration about 11 (the caller acknowledges their age and answers the host’s ordinary suggestion with [quote withheld]).
The story rests on the caller’s own word plus a claimed second witness who never speaks on air. No photograph, recording, or document is offered or examined.
Evidence for and against
- A second witness is claimed for the central event.
- Details that could in principle be checked: a town, a household, first names, an age.
- No physical evidence is claimed to exist, beyond an informally described couch position.
- The second witness does not speak on air.
- The sister’s backing is stated, not shown.
- No documentation of any kind is presented.
- 2:06
- 3:06
What the model inferred (not said on air): The range for [quote withheld] fits: a first name, a named older sister, a stated town, and a claimed second witness, with nothing examined.
The story puts a pursuing, oversized hand in a child’s home at night. It follows the children back to the bedroom and leaves the hand above the bed without explanation.
Evidence for and against
- The reported hand pursues two children.
- It intrudes into the bedroom, with the hand described above them.
- No explanation or resolution is given for the events.
- No reported injury, physical contact, or threat spoken by the hand.
- The host treats the story with laughter and a bladder joke.
- The story is told in a casual exchange with host laughter, which may lower the sense of dread for some listeners.
- It is a remembered childhood event, which may seem less immediate.
- 1:51
- 2:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): A child in a hallway at night, an object moving on its own, an oversized hand that approaches and then hovers over the bed, and no resolution are unsettling as a story. The lack of any described injury or lasting ill will keeps it below the higher anchors.
The setup is familiar (childhood experiences in a house), but it is built around an unusual event: a giant hand that reportedly could not have passed through the doorway. That is a distinctive detail.
Evidence for and against
- A giant hand with no body, described as filling the living room, is not a stock ghost figure.
- The couch reportedly slides across the floor and is found out of place the next morning.
- The setup (family home, child witness, nighttime noises in the attic) uses common haunted-house elements.
- Comparison with the rest of the archive is not available from this part of the broadcast. The score rests on the content alone.
- The model’s score is a first estimate under the pilot weighting.
- 1:39
- 1:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): The childhood-haunting setup is familiar. But the specific figure (an enormous hand with no body that reportedly filled the room) and its pairing with a sliding couch are distinctive compared with common themes such as footsteps or a figure at the foot of the bed.
Scoring confidence 0.70 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand word (a childhood memory).; A claimed second witness (their sister) who does not speak on air.; No photograph, recording, or document offered or examined.. The originality score blends the model's score (75) 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.
- A frightened five- or six-year-old waking in the dark may have had a dream, images while falling asleep, or a misperception of an unlit room. · The caller says they were [quote withheld] and were five or six at the time. They also answer the host’s ordinary suggestion with [quote withheld]
- The scratching and growling reported from the attic could have come from an animal. · The host suggests [quote withheld] in response to the caller’s description of noises their sister reported.
What stands out
A giant hand with no body, described as filling the living room and too big to fit through the doorway, is an uncommon figure. It is paired with a couch that slides across the floor and is found out of place the next morning.
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