Children’s laughter in a church camp shower at dawn
[name withheld], from Vancouver, Washington, calls Ghost to Ghost AM to describe an early-morning experience when they were about 11 at a church camp called Sky Lake in the Damascus area of New York. They say they sensed a presence and heard a child’s giggle, then children’s laughter, in the camp shower building while everyone else was asleep. The story is incomplete. It cuts off just after they say the laughter began to scare them.
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 2005.mp3”, starting at 36:21). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], from Vancouver, Washington, tells Art Bell that when they were around 11 years old they attended a church camp called Sky Lake in the Damascus area of New York. They say the camp had groups of boys and girls, and about thirty to forty children went out into a field to stargaze. They say they woke early, around 4:00 to 4:15, when the sky was just starting to lighten but it was still dark. Fog was rolling in, and it was damp. They decided to shower before the lines formed. They walked to a shower building with about eight stalls in the boys’ room. It stood next to a forest line, about a football field from where the group was. Inside, they say, they sensed something like a presence but dismissed it because they were only 11 and were not thinking about anything bad. They then heard a giggle like a little kid. They looked under the stalls and say nobody was there. They looked out the window and say everyone was asleep. The giggles stopped, so they went on with their shower. While washing their hair, they say, they suddenly heard children laughing. The story cuts off as they say it started to scare them. The transcript then returns to the host and later to the caller saying they were in the middle of the story. No cause is given.
Reported events, in order
- 0:11
[name withheld] says the story is from when they were around 11 years old and attended a church camp called Sky Lake in the Damascus area of New York.
- 0:37
They say about thirty to forty children went out into a field to stargaze.
- 0:42
They woke early, around 4:00 to 4:15, with the sky just starting to lighten but still dark.
- 1:05
They decided to go to the restroom area to shower before the lines formed.
- 1:14
They describe a shower building with about eight stalls in the boys’ room, next to a forest line about a football field from the group.
- 1:30
Inside the bathroom they sensed something like a presence and dismissed it.
- 1:51
They heard a giggle like a little kid.
- 1:54
They looked under the stalls and say nobody was there.
- 1:58
They looked out the window and say everyone was asleep.
- 2:03
The giggles stopped, they went on with their shower, and then they heard children laughing.
- 2:13
They say it started to scare them. The story then cuts off.
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· 1:30
They sensed something like a presence in the bathroom.
- observation· 1:51
They heard a giggle like a little kid.
- observation· 1:54
They looked under the stalls and say nobody was there.
- observation· 2:03
After the giggles stopped and they began showering, they suddenly heard children laughing.
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.
The story is coherent and firsthand, with concrete detail, but it is cut off. Under the scoring guide’s cap for fragments, believability is limited to 40 despite the otherwise consistent sequence.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand account: they say they were the person in the shower.
- Specific setting and sequence: church camp, Sky Lake, Damascus area of New York, about 4:00 to 4:15, eight stalls, forest line, shower, checking the stalls and window.
- They separate sensing a presence, hearing a giggle, checking for a source, and later hearing laughter.
- The story is incomplete and cut off before any resolution or fuller exchange with the host.
- No exact date or year is given.
- No second witness or documentation.
- The story continues beyond this part of the broadcast.
- One line is labeled as the host’s but may be part of the caller’s speech.
- 0:11
- 1:30
- 1:54
What the model inferred (not said on air): The cap applies because the story is incomplete and ends midway, not because anything in it contradicts itself.
The story gives named places and approximate times that could in principle be checked, but nothing was checked in this part of the broadcast. The score is low for checkable details without verification.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives details that could in principle be checked: Sky Lake church camp, the Damascus area of New York, their age of around 11, about 4:00 to 4:15 a.m., and a shower building with about eight stalls.
- They say they checked under the stalls and out the window for a source.
- No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document is claimed.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No outside check is made in this part of the broadcast.
- The phrase giving the place name is garbled in the transcript.
- No year or date is given for the event.
- 0:15
- 1:58
What the model inferred (not said on air): No one backs up the story, because the only witness is the caller. Their own checking does not independently verify the laughter.
The story is unsettling because it puts unseen children’s laughter in a dim, foggy shower building where the caller is alone. They check for a source and find none. It has no direct threat, so it lands around the middle of the scale.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is an isolated shower building at a church camp at about 4 a.m.
- The caller describes fog, darkness, and a forest line nearby.
- They report a sensed presence, then a child’s giggle, then children’s laughter after they find no one there.
- They say the experience started to scare them.
- No threat, physical harm, or hostile presence is reported.
- No figure is seen.
- The story is brief and unresolved rather than building to a climax.
- The story cuts off before any resolution.
- 1:02
- 1:51
- 2:03
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment about the story’s atmosphere for entertainment, not about whether the events happened.
Ghostly children’s laughter in an isolated building is a familiar frame. The church camp and pre-dawn shower setting make it somewhat distinctive. The story is too incomplete for a higher score.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is a church camp shower building at about 4 a.m., with fog and a nearby forest line.
- The caller was a child at the time and describes checking under the stalls and out the window.
- Unseen children’s laughter and a sensed presence are familiar ghost-story elements.
- No unusual physical event or rare being is described.
- How rare the motifs are, and how similar this story is to others in the archive, is not available in this analysis.
- 1:14
- 1:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): Originality compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out here. This is only a provisional score based on the content.
Scoring confidence 0.40 · analysis confidence 0.45 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand spoken story only.; No physical evidence, photograph, recording, or document is claimed in this part of the broadcast.; No second witness speaks on air.; The camp name and approximate location are stated but not checked in this part of the broadcast.. The originality score blends the model's score (45) 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.
- Another camper or child could have been elsewhere in or near the camp, out of sight from the stalls and window, and the laughter or giggles could have carried to the shower building. · The caller says about thirty to forty children were at the camp. They say they checked under the stalls and out the window and saw everyone asleep.
- Ordinary sounds such as water, animals, the acoustics of the building, or fog-muffled noises could have been misheard as a child’s giggle and children’s laughter. · The shower building was near a forest line, it was foggy and damp, and they were in a building with plumbing and stalls.
- Hearing things while half asleep could be considered, though the caller describes being awake, walking to the bathroom, and showering. · They say they woke early, around 4:00 to 4:15, after sleeping outdoors with the group.
What stands out
A child’s giggle and then children’s laughter come from a church camp shower building at about 4 a.m., and the caller was themself a child at the time. What sets the story apart is the camp shower setting and their attempt to check under the stalls and out the window before the laughter resumes.
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