Another TypeError: Error #1009 Problem

Question

Hey all,   I've searched the 'net and searched these forums but can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong.  I'm creating a flash based game for school that so far has ten frames on the timeline.  I have buttons on frame one, frame 5, and frame 10. I have actionscript code to control those buttons on frame 1, frame 5, and frame 10 respectively.  The code is worded identically on each frame with the exception that I've changed the button names and the function names that are called when the mouse button is pressed.   The code works fine on frame 1 and on frame 5, but when I click the button on frame 5 that sends me to frame 10, I get this error immediately:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
    at keys2BibleTest_fla::MainTimeline/frame10()
    at flash.display::MovieClip/gotoAndStop()
    at keys2BibleTest_fla::MainTimeline/stormBtnHandler1()
I have verified that each instance of the buttons do indeed have the name of the button being listened for in the event handlers. I can change the type from button to movieclip and it works fine.  I can also remove frames 1 through 9 and the code works.
Here's the code:
Frame 1:
stop();
enterBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, enterBtnHandler1);
function enterBtnHandler1(event:MouseEvent):void {
    gotoAndStop(5, "Scene 1");
Frame 5:
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
stormBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, stormBtnHandler1);
function stormBtnHandler1(event:MouseEvent):void {
    gotoAndStop(10, "Scene 1");
chickenOutBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, chickenOutBtnHandler1);
function chickenOutBtnHandler1(event:MouseEvent):void {
    gotoAndStop(1, "Scene 1");
Frame 10:
import flash.events.MouseEvent;
creationBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, creation);
function creation(event:MouseEvent):void {
    gotoAndStop(3, "Scene 1");
lifeBtn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, lifeOfChrist);
function lifeOfChrist(event:MouseEvent):void {
    navigateToURL(new URLRequest("http://www.ceoutreach.org"));
I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong.  Can anyone help?
Thank you,
Mike

Answer 1

Ned,
thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, my buttons are on separate layers and separated by blank keyframes to boot.  When I posted originally, the buttons were all on the same layer BUT separated by blank keyframes. After doing some research on the web, I moved the buttons to their own separate layers (one button per layer) and kept the blank keyframes as well.
Currently, my only filled keyframes are one, five, and ten. All other keyframes are blank except for my labels and actionscript code. I'm using separate layers for labels and actions, too. I attempted to attach the file with my original post but received the message that .fla files are not allowed.  I don't know about your window, but mine says Max size 5.0 MB (my file is 2), All files types allowed except.... .fla is not one of those in the exception list so I expected it to go.
It's got something to do with the two buttons on frame 10.... I just went into the actionscript and bypassed frame 5, going directly to frame 10 when the Enter button is depressed, and got the same error message.   There's something in the code I'm just not seeing.... when I comment out the code for the buttons, no error message.  Put the code back in, error message comes back.  Delete the buttons and the code and insert new ones, the error message comes back.
It's got me totally stumped.
Thank you for trying,
Mike
Edit: I forgot to mention, frame ten is the only place on the timeline where instances of these particular buttons are being used. The other frames are populated with different buttons.  Also, when I change the type to movieclip, everything works.  Weird, huh?