Noises in attic, unexplainable scene

I am posting this due to my own interest in the story, but it is someone else's experience. I just wanted to see what people thought of it, and if anyone has had similar experiences.

The lady I know is an up front, tell-it-like-it-is kind of person. The way she told me the story, I am certain she's not making it up. She also looked genuinely disturbed while telling me.

She said she periodically hears noise in the attic like someone is moving stuff, and sometimes faint music and voices. She decided to go look and what she saw was a plate in the middle of the floor with 2 spoons touching tips in the center of the plate. She said the plate and utensils are not the kind she has in her house. I asked if there was something on it and she said a blob of ketchup and a blob of barbecue sauce. She said there is only one way into the attic through her house and there has been no evidence of someone coming and going up there. I said maybe some homeless person got in somehow to stay warm or something. She said the windows are nailed and painted shut.

I can't figure out what could have caused this. Maybe you guys can help. It's a very curious thing.

This sounds (and I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination) like typical poltergeist activity. Although, in my reading these things can escalate to more nefarious activities and presences.
Has she had any previous occurrences/disturbances or is this new?
And this question is probably due to my lack of knowledge, but are there any children somehow associated with her or the house? Somehow I have it in my head that poltergeists tend to center around children. Could be wrong on this, though.
-Cheers!

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Were the spoons silver? Gnomes like to steal silver things... oh wait gnomes dont exist, silly me.

Also out of curiosity, is she able to determine if those condiments came from her kitchen (ie: same brand) or if they are definitely originating from outside of the house?. If I found BBQ sause I know its not from my kitchen, cant stand that stuff. I ask because it might help narrow down what caused this.

Im going with gnomes.

Why doesn't she just go up to the attic and take a look?

I'm sure there would be evidence of someone up there, or she may even walk in on the perpetrator.

Oh I see, she did. sounds like someone's been getting in there somewhere how. People will resort to desperate measures in times of need. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy has a key and is walking in when she goes out...

I'd set up a camera with night vision in the attic.

a reply to: Wizzz0001

I will have to ask if other stuff has occurred. She has a son who is somewhere in his teens, not sure how old exactly.

I told her she should set up a camera.

a reply to: ItVibrates

Hm. That question about the condiments is a good one. And I don't know if they are silver.

a reply to: DAZ21

Maybe so about the key. And yeah I said she should set up a camera. Also, if the noises are occurring at the moment, I know I would be scared to go check it out, maybe she would be too?

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Well that's really odd. How fresh were the ketchup and bbq sauce blobs?

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

How scary would that be? Someone having a key to your home and letting themselves in when you go out...

There was a real story like this from Japan or China, the guy set up a camera and there was a woman that was living in his house and eating his food when he went out...

a reply to: Skid Mark

I asked her that too and she said fresh.

A camera would be a great idea. Hadn't thought of that.
Actually, ItVibrates has some good questions. The material of the spoons
seems pertinent.
Jacues Vallee and John Keel have a lot of work published in these areas. Good info and
fascinating reading. Might be worth a look in this case.
I can give you titles if you want them.

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

a reply to: DAZ21

I'm leaning towards this explanation too.

Oh wow, this sounds like the movie "Hider In the House" starring Gary Busey. He lived in the attic, came down when they were gone and ate little bits from everything in the frig so they didn't miss anything. He evened showered when they were gone.

Problem was, he fell in love with the mother played by Mimi Rogers, and wanted to get rid of the husband, hoping he could take his place. It was a commercial failure, but I loved it. See if you can get it on Netflix or somewhere.

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Isn't the plate with ketchup and barbeque sauce evidence of someone coming and going?

Does anyone need more than that? SHEESH.
Or its a ghost who likes steaks on the grill.
I don't see how there's any question someone was up there.

a reply to: Wizzz0001

Certainly....when you hear hoofbeats think zebras.

a reply to: ItVibrates

I don't know that I could tell the difference between Hunts or Heinz or Del Monte or Pride of the farm ketchup. To know if it was mine or not. I'm pretty sure that I'd know if I'd had a picnic in the attic though.

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Teen son. Munchies remnants in the attic...Oh yeah poltergist. No no someone's getting high up there. She should look for a lighter or matches.

originally posted by: Ellie Sagan
a reply to: Wizzz0001

I will have to ask if other stuff has occurred. She has a son who is somewhere in his teens, not sure how old exactly.

I told her she should set up a camera.

Good surveillance cameras are so cheap now and easy to set up though a WiFi system. I would have her do it in secret and set some object in a clear area and then record 24/7. Don't tell her son...could be a new hangout place for him...

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Well, it's possible that she has some sort of "haunting", and it's also possible that someone, or some ones, are getting into her attic. Weird stuff like that has been known to happen. I'd highly recommend her having someone she trusts check the house, for any way in that she might not have discovered. The weird "ghost" stuff that happens in attics doesn't tend to leave plates with traces of food on them, as far as I have ever heard.

I lived in a place once where I would hear heavy footfalls, as of booted feet, int he attic every single time the hubby wasn't home at night (work reasons). This was a place with no standing room, too, and a lot of other weirdness.

Has your friend had anything happen that couldn't be explained by unwanted human visitors?

originally posted by: Ellie Sagan

She said she periodically hears noise in the attic like someone is moving stuff, and sometimes faint music and voices.

She'd have loved that house we rented when we first moved to Huntsville. You couldn't sleep for the crap moving around downstairs and the traffic on the staircase at night.

She decided to go look and what she saw was a plate in the middle of the floor with 2 spoons touching tips in the center of the plate...I asked if there was something on it and she said a blob of ketchup and a blob of barbecue sauce.

(big grin) Back when I first learned how to pick locks, I used to leave displays like this for confusion. It's an art. Once it was a couple of candles and an empty bottle of Gewurztraminer, another time it was a grapefruit standing on toothpick legs with a cocktail umbrella stuck in the top. I was going to leave someone a frozen fish once but I was afraid they might not check their office in time and it would go bad.