Tall hooded figure with a black face reported at age ten
A caller the host introduces as [name withheld], from Corpus Christi, Texas, tells Art Bell they are 27. They describe something that happened when they were 10, at their mother’s boyfriend’s house. They say that while they were trying to fall asleep, they saw a tall figure with a white hood and a black face coming toward them. They felt frozen, hid under the covers, and saw it disappear. They say it came back six months later. They still cannot explain what it was or why it kept coming back. The host suggests the story may not be finished.
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 2010.mp3”, starting at 1:00:56). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The host introduces a caller as [name withheld], from Corpus Christi, Texas. The caller says they are 27 now and have been a fan since they were 10. They ask to tell a scary story from when they were 10. They say they were at their mom’s boyfriend’s house, getting ready to sleep. They say they could not sleep and kept talking to someone and nodding off. When the call resumes, they repeat that they were at their mom’s boyfriend’s house, trying to go to sleep but unable to. They say that just as they were ready to fall asleep, they saw something “on my head.” That is the automatic transcript’s wording. They describe it as tall, about 6 feet 7 inches, with a white hood and a black face, and say it looked like it was coming right toward them. They say they were “frozen stiff,” pulled the covers over their head, and that five seconds later it disappeared. They say they thought nothing of it. Six months later, they say, it came back. They say that to this day they cannot figure out why it kept coming back or what it was. The host responds that the last chapter may not have been written and that the ghost may stay with them all their life. Then the broadcast moves on to the next caller.
Reported events, in order
- 0:32
The caller says they were at their mother’s boyfriend’s house, getting ready to sleep.
- 0:56
The caller repeats that they were trying to go to sleep but could not.
- 1:02
As they were ready to fall asleep, the caller says they saw something. The automatic transcript has it as “on my head.”
- 1:08
The caller describes a tall figure, about 6 feet 7 inches, with a white hood and a black face, that looked like it was coming toward them.
- 1:16
The caller says they felt frozen stiff and pulled the covers over their head.
- 1:22
The caller says the figure disappeared five seconds later.
- 1:24
The caller says they thought nothing of it at the time.
- 1:31
The caller says the figure came back six months later.
- 1:34
The caller says they still cannot figure out why it kept coming back or what it was.
- 1:47
The host says the last chapter may not be written and that it may stay with the caller all their life.
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· 1:02
The caller says that as they were ready to fall asleep they saw something. The automatic transcript has it as “on my head.”
- observation· 1:08
The caller describes the figure as tall, about 6 feet 7 inches, with a white hood and a black face, and says it looked like it was coming toward them.
- observation· 1:16
The caller says they felt frozen stiff and then pulled the covers over their head.
- observation· 1:22
The caller says the figure disappeared five seconds after they hid under the covers.
- observation· 1:31
The caller says the figure came back six months later.
- interpretation· 1:34
The caller says they still cannot explain why the figure kept coming back or what it was.
- host statement· 1:47
The host tells the caller that the experience may be with them all their life.
- host statement· 1:54
The host says, as a general idea, that a ghost can appear years later and then again years after that.
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 brief childhood story told by the person who lived it. It has some concrete details and no clear contradictions. But a common sleep-related explanation fits well, and no one else backs it up.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story: the caller says, [quote withheld]
- Specific details: about 6 feet 7 inches, white hood, black face, five seconds, six months later.
- The sequence holds together: trying to sleep, seeing the figure, hiding, its disappearance, its return.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The story is brief and has no exact date, address, or other checkable details.
- An ordinary sleep-related explanation easily fits the circumstances.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift during the call. It is likely the same caller, but this is not fully certain.
- The phrase “on my head” is unclear in the automatic transcript.
- There is a brief apparent interruption and return before the story resumes.
- 0:25
- 1:08
- 1:16
What the model inferred (not said on air): My score treats the caller’s closeness to the events and their specific details as moderate. I lowered the alternative-explanations part because a hallucination while falling asleep, or sleep paralysis, is strongly suggested by the details and the caller does not address it.
The independent evidence is very weak. This rests on the caller’s word, with only a few checkable details, such as a first name, a city, and stated ages.
Evidence for and against
- The caller gives their age at the event and their current age: [quote withheld] and “27 right now.”
- The host gives a city and a first name: [quote withheld]
- The story includes a stated interval for the return: “six months later.”
- No documentation, photograph, recording, or physical trace is presented.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The story gives only a first name and a city, with no exact date or address.
- The name “[name withheld]” comes from the host, not from the caller in this part of the broadcast.
- The caller’s full identity, address, and exact date are not stated.
- 0:01
- 0:20
- 0:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place this at a score of 0 to 10 because there is no physical evidence and no second witness on air. The checkable details are too sparse to raise it much.
The story is unsettling because it combines a child in bed, a tall hooded figure with a black face, its approach, a frozen feeling like paralysis, and a return that is never explained.
Evidence for and against
- A tall figure with a black face is reported near a child’s bed.
- The caller says the figure looked like it was coming toward them.
- The caller says they were “frozen stiff” and hid under the covers.
- The figure is said to have come back six months later and remains unexplained.
- No physical contact or injury is reported.
- The story is brief and does not build beyond one return.
- The story ends without a threatening outcome.
- The transcript does not say exactly where the figure stood or how close it came.
- The caller’s later emotional response is not described.
- 1:08
- 1:16
- 1:31
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is about the story’s effect, not whether it is true. The child in bed and the unexplained return raise it above a mildly eerie story. The lack of harm or sustained detail keeps it below the highest scores.
This is a familiar bedroom-figure story with one or two distinctive details. It does not describe a rare event or an unusual structure.
Evidence for and against
- The figure is described unusually closely: about 6 feet 7 inches, with a white hood and a black face.
- The return has a precise interval: six months later.
- The caller offers no explanation and says outright that they cannot figure out what it was.
- A dark or hooded figure at a bedside is a familiar ghost-story motif.
- The story has no complex setup, investigation, or later check.
- The basic pattern of seeing a figure, hiding, and watching it disappear is common.
- A comparison with the rest of the archive is not available in this response.
- The unclear phrase “on my head” in the automatic transcript may affect how unusual the description is judged to be.
- 1:08
- 1:31
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): This score is a provisional judgment based only on the content. The score compared with the rest of the archive is not calculated here, so the published originality score is shown as the same provisional value.
Scoring confidence 0.68 · analysis confidence 0.78 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s own firsthand story; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace presented; No second witness speaks on air. The originality score blends the model's score (38) 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 hallucination while falling asleep, in which images can appear as a person drifts off. · The caller says they were trying to go to sleep and that the sighting came [quote withheld]
- Sleep paralysis with a dreamlike figure, rather than something outside the caller. · The caller says they could not sleep and then felt “frozen stiff” in bed. This is a commonly described feature of sleep paralysis.
What stands out
The story stands out for the figure’s odd details (about 6 feet 7 inches, a white hood, a black face) and for the single recurrence six months later, which the caller leaves unexplained.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.