Chuck E. Cheese Ball Pit Incident: What Really Happened?

The Chuck E. Cheese Ball Pit Incident of 1992 is a creepy story narrated by a former employee of the franchise. In the story, the narrator describes an incident where a child named Miles Penrose disappeared into the ball pit, never to be seen again. The story is filled with suspense and horror, as the narrator describes the moment Miles was pulled under the balls by mysterious pale arms, the subsequent police investigation, and the discovery of a trapdoor beneath the pit. The story also includes supernatural elements, as the narrator describes being haunted by the incident years later. The Chuck E. Cheese Ball Pit Incident has inspired other works of fiction and sparked discussions about the safety and sanitation of ball pits.

A child named Miles Penrose disappeared at Chuck E. Cheese's in 1992

A child named Miles Penrose disappeared at Chuck E. Cheese in 1992. Miles was eight years old and had been attending a friend's birthday party with his family. The party started at 3 pm, and the families had booked a roped-off area until 7 pm.

About an hour into the party, Miles went missing. His mother was distraught, and the restaurant was shut down to search for him. The police were called, and everyone was questioned, but no one had seen what happened to Miles.

However, a 16-year-old employee, who had been working as a dish boy, had seen something. He reported that he saw Miles standing alone in the ball pit, smiling. Suddenly, pale arms reached up from all around Miles and pulled him under. The boy screamed, but no one heard him over the noise of the other children playing.

The police initially dismissed the employee's story, thinking he was just a horror movie-obsessed teenager. When the ball pit was emptied, they found a trap door built into the floor of the pit, but there was no sign of Miles. Despite extensive searches, he was never found.

Miles' mother returned to the restaurant every day, looking for her son. The employee tried to speak to her a few times, but the restaurant manager, who owned the franchise, did not approve and eventually fired him.

Twenty-eight years later, the former employee, now middle-aged, found himself at an art exhibit featuring a giant ball pit. He was terrified and insisted that they leave, but his friends did not understand, as they did not know about his traumatic experience at Chuck E. Cheese. As he watched, he saw a little girl standing alone in the pit, when suddenly, pale arms reached up and pulled her under, just like Miles.

This time, he tried to rescue the girl, but he could not reach her in time. The police were called again, but there was no trapdoor this time, and the girl was never found.

The former employee became obsessed with researching ball pit disappearances and was convinced that a paranormal entity was responsible for Miles' disappearance and that of the girl. One night, he saw seven ghostly hands on his bedroom window, leaving a threatening message. He decided to stop his investigations, but he was left with a lingering sense of guilt for giving up on Miles and the girl.

A trap door was found under the ball pit

When the narrator told the cops who were helping out about the trap door, they came over to take a look. The manager, huffing and puffing, shoved the narrator out of the way. He looked ready to commit murder. "What's under the trap door?" one of the cops asked. "Crawl space," said the franchise owner. "No one goes down there anymore. We've long since tossed the stuff that had been stored under the floorboards, mostly trash and old tools. This building used to be a machine shop."

The cops insisted on having a look. The unlucky guy who drew the short straw went underneath with a flashlight, but he didn't find any sign of Miles. There was no exit point, either. The trap door led into the crawl space beneath the building, but nothing led out.

The narrator saw seven pale arms reach up and grab Miles

The narrator, a sixteen-year-old working at Chuck E. Cheese, was clearing tables when he saw a flash of movement. He stopped and looked through the plastic windows of the ball pit area. Miles, an eight-year-old boy with red hair and a goofy smile, was standing alone in the pit, smiling. Suddenly, seven pale arms reached up and grabbed Miles. The arms were so pale that the veins stood out. Miles' expression changed to one of horror as he realised whatever was beneath the pit had grabbed him. The narrator initially thought it was other kids messing around but then noticed the arms looked old, almost dead, as if they had come from beyond the grave.

Miles started to slip below the surface of the ball pit, screaming in terror. The other kids were also screaming, but they were screaming with joy, high on sugar. No one noticed as Miles was pulled down beneath the balls. The narrator watched, horrified, as Miles reached out of the pit, searching for an invisible life preserver that wasn't there. Their eyes met for a second, and then one of the hands reached up, covered Miles' face, and violently yanked him beneath the balls.

The only sign that Miles had been there was a small disturbance in the pit, the balls shifting as they tried to follow the source of the downward pull. The kids carried on playing, oblivious to what had just happened. The narrator, terrified, stumbled to the back of the restaurant and started cleaning dishes.

Half an hour later, Miles' mother noticed he was gone and went looking for him. The restaurant was shut down and the police were called. The narrator was questioned and told the police what he had seen, but they dismissed his story, thinking he was a dumb kid trying to cause trouble. The police searched the ball pit but found no sign of Miles. Despite the narrator's insistence, they chalked it up as a standard disappearance.

The narrator saw the same thing happen to a girl in 2019

A little girl named Sarah Wallace was standing in the pit by herself. She was blonde-haired and rosy-cheeked, smiling in a state of complete and utter bliss as she watched people of all ages jump in. Suddenly, from around her, pale arms protruded from the pit. Seven arms, streaked with dark veins, reached up and grabbed her. Sarah screamed, but no one heard her over the noise of the gala. The narrator jumped up from their table and ran full speed, leaping into the pit where she’d gone under. They tried to swim beneath the plastic balls, but they were too thick. They climbed out and noticed everyone who’d come to the gala was looking at them. Sarah Wallace’s mom was scanning the area for her daughter. Their eyes met, and she began to scream.

The cops came and questioned people. They questioned the narrator thoroughly, given that they were the one who’d noticed Sarah was gone. They emptied the pit. But there was no trapdoor this time. The base of the pool was made of a solid piece of plastic.

The narrator knew that Sarah was gone, just like Miles. They went home to their downtown loft. That night, they were busy researching the history of ball pits, searching Google’s archives for news of disappearances at McDonald’s, Chuck E. Cheese, and Burger King restaurants throughout the 90s. But they were coming up short.

Then, all of a sudden, the power went out. The apartment cloaked in darkness, the narrator walked to their bedroom thinking about Sarah Wallace. Their windows were covered in condensation from the heat inside and the cold outside. The narrator got into bed despite knowing that sleep was a long way off.

Something terrifying happened then. They noticed movement outside their bedroom window, which was obscured by the condensation. But it wasn’t physically possible. There was no fire escape. It was a straight drop, forty feet to the street below. Sure, window cleaners came once every six months, but it was almost midnight, and they’d already come the previous week.

The narrator got up from their bed and walked to the window to investigate the movement. When they got to the window, there was a massive bang, like a hand had slapped the other side. The glass rattled. The narrator stumbled back into their bed, forced to take a seat on the edge.

They saw seven hands appear on the other side of the window. They began tracing something in the condensation. But that wasn’t possible either. They were on the wrong side of the glass. The condensation was on the inside.

Still, the tracing continued. The narrator's heart jackhammered in their chest. They closed their eyes. When they opened them, there was a message: “I will stop sniffing around like a cheese-hungry rat.”

The message about the narrator being a cheese-hungry rat—the connection to the 1992 Chuck E. Cheese ball pit incident—whatever this paranormal entity was, it was the same one from all those years ago. The same one that had taken Miles Penrose in ‘92 and Sarah Wallace. The narrator got up, taking slow steps toward the window. The room had become freezing cold, but the message traced in the condensation remained.

Part of the narrator wanted to keep searching for Miles and Sarah, to find the truth about what happened to them. But being as terrified as they were, they traced a giant X next to “YES.”

Suddenly, seven ghostly hands reached up from the floor inside the apartment, planting themselves on the window with another bang. They began rubbing the window in circles, the wet glass squeaking as they did.

The narrator stumbled back into the bed again, forced to take another seat. They closed their eyes. When they opened them a minute later, the message was gone. So too was the condensation. Outside, it was snowing as hard as it had been for weeks. There was nothing on the other side of the glass. No pale hands attached to vein-streaked arms were reaching up from the floor.

The narrator was alone in the apartment—just them, the memory of Miles and Sarah, and an overwhelming sense of guilt that they decided to give up on their memory.

The narrator was haunted by seven ghostly arms in his apartment

Years later, in 2019, the narrator attended an art exhibit featuring a giant ball pit. He was terrified, knowing what could lurk beneath the plastic balls. His fears were realised when a little girl playing in the pit was grabbed by seven pale arms and pulled under, just like Miles. The girl vanished, and the narrator was again too scared to speak of what he saw.

Days later, the narrator was alone in his apartment. He had been researching ball pits and disappearances when the power went out. He walked to his bedroom, his mind still on the missing children. Suddenly, he noticed movement outside his bedroom window. He approached the window, and seven ghostly hands appeared on the glass, writing a threatening message. The narrator was frozen with fear.

Then, seven ghostly arms reached up from the floor of his apartment and grabbed the window frame. The hands rubbed circles on the glass, and the room turned icy cold. The narrator was paralysed with terror and guilt for giving up on the memories of Miles and Sarah. Finally, the ghostly arms and message disappeared, leaving the narrator alone with his thoughts.

The narrator was haunted by the seven ghostly arms that had appeared in his apartment. They were a reminder of the two children he had seen disappear and the truth he had failed to uncover. He was tormented by guilt and fear, knowing that he had let the children down and that the danger was still out there.

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