Okay...This was Weird!

Just had a really weird experience.

I had been woken up a little earlier by a couple coyotes right outside our bedroom window. I mean, they must have been about 10 feet from the window when 2-3 of them lit up and started howling. Of course both of the dogs went nuts. So I laid there for a few minutes after telling our boys to go back to sleep, everything was okay. But then I realized I was thirsty so I got up for a drink of water.

I'm standing in the middle of my kitchen, and it's near midnight. All the lights are off, and it's perfectly quiet. All of a sudden I hear this phone ring. It was very faint, but it was an unmistakable sound of a phone ringing. When I say 'phone ringing', what I mean is the sound you hear when you call someone and hear the phone ringing on the far end (before they pick up). This was the sound I heard, and there's no question about it. Again, it was very faint, but I could hear each ring with about a 1 second pause between each ring.

On the first ring I cocked my head in an effort to determine what direction it was coming from. There were (4) more rings and it stopped. I wasn't able to determine any particular direction (and I have excellent hearing). It wasn't any of our cell phones, I checked them. And it wasn't our home phone either, when I picked it up I got just a dial tone. We have no other devices hooked to our phones (such as cable TV, modems or other devices).

I have absolutely no idea what could have been making this sound other than a phone. Like I noted, I heard (5) distinct rings and then it just stopped. I got the distinct impression the sound was nearby, but muffled (like what a phone calling someone would sound like if you stuck it under a pillow or something).

Other things I've thought of could be something like someone nearby with their cellphone connected to their car on speaker with their windows down, but if that was the case our dogs would have been all over that (and they weren't). Our dogs will go nuts if something gets within a quarter mile of the house, and the nearest neighbors are over a half mile away (as the crow flies).

I know for a fact there is no one else inside the house because the dogs would be completely busy 'snacking' on them by now. Even if someone was outside, they'd be all over it, barking up a storm.

Completely clueless as to what I heard (other than knowing it was a phone ringing).

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Auditory hallucination?

Many possible causes, only some of them serious.

a reply to: Mantiss2021

Mmmmm...possible I suppose, but doubtful. I was pretty awake. Plus, this would be the first example of me ever having something like that. Again, not impossible (I suppose), but pretty unlikely. Given what I do for a living, I'd definitely need to go get that checked out.

My brain immediately went to things which could be "phoning home" to update something. Things like Starlink maybe? Or, maybe the power meter? I'm pretty sure it would be something we pay for, because any sort of comms wouldn't be free...UNLESS (dum...dum...DUMB!)...it was some kind of spying device! (GASP!)

No, I'm pretty sure I heard a phone ringing. Not sure whose it was, or what it was calling, but I'm pretty sure it was a phone. I didn't hear any tones after the ringing stopped, and I was listening for them (I can hear a mouse in the house from across the whole house, and it freaks my wife out), but those old modem tones are long gone, so that was just me being old skool.

We did recently figure out how to hack our laser printer to scan without hooking up a phone line for FAX...I hadn't thought of this, but I doubt it because I wouldn't hear ringing unless it first had a tip and ring dial tone and neg -48 volts DC.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You said you were in your kitchen.

Check your fridge.

Not joking, this recently happened to my wife and one of us was convinced the other was going insane. Turns out that there is some component in the fridge that makes a very similar sound/vibration.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

What about your roof mate?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That is kinda weird cause I've heard the same thing. For about 2 weeks I'd occasionally hear the sound of a phone ringing and I'd be the only one home. Not a modern phone, but that brrrrr of an older style.

Turns out when the wind is just the right speed and just the right direction, the power line to the house vibrates and makes that sound.

a reply to: DAVID64

I can confirm this statement as fact

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I've heard what sounds like a distant phone ringing a few times myself when the house is quiet.

Never 5 rings though.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Perhaps someone was walking by your property and their phone rang?

a reply to: wAnchorofCarp

Hmmmm...I was standing right next to our fridge when I heard it. And, although I couldn't pinpoint a direction, it did sort of sound like the direction of the fridge. The thought of the fridge did cross my mind.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge2

a reply to: DAVID64

Wind does do some strange stuff sometimes. Never heard something like a repeating phone ring, but we do get lots of wind.

I was kind of hoping the sound would continue so I could zero in on it more, but it stopped. I didn't hear anything after that.

a reply to: RazorV66

Well, I heard (5) rings from when I started counting, but I don't know if that's all there were; those were just the ones I heard.

a reply to: CarlLaFong

Nah, I doubt it. 'Walking by' our property would mean they were over a mile away, unless they were "on" our property which would mean they were inside our fence line...at midnight, which seems doubtful.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Do you have a significant other? Is there a pissible secret phone hidden in a wall or inside of zippered couch cushion or any other "hidden in plain sight" spots? Are your bedtime habits predictable like would your spouse assume you're asleep at this time normally? Did you look under any bathroom rugs behind the back panel of cabinets like bathroom cabinet has secret compartment secret bottom in drawers, back of pictures? The space under your stove/oven if its like my oven you can lift up the metal trim piece at the bottom and it has empty space could easily fit a phone

a reply to: Shoshanna

Yes, I do. And no, I'm pretty confident there isn't anything like that going on.

But maybe, if it keeps happening, I'll bust out the fire axe one night and try out my "Heeere's...JOHNNY!!" impression! LOL! 🤣

Are there any relay towers by you, phone company or emergency services? Example:- my friend and I used to drive by a relay station for the emergency services and at certain times when we drove by we would pick up police broadcasts, bbuuutt, it was with the radio which was not turned on.

Sounds exactly like a phone ringing over car speakers from a distance.

I live in the middle of the City so I've gotten really used to hearing that exact sound .

You said your Dogs would notice something like that immediately but...... Maybe not . I think there are certain Tones that a Dog either doesn't hear or simply ignores.

Or maybe my Dog is just a lazy female Pit-bull who could care less .

originally posted by: Shoshanna
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Do you have a significant other? Is there a pissible secret phone hidden in a wall or inside of zippered couch cushion or any other "hidden in plain sight" spots? Are your bedtime habits predictable like would your spouse assume you're asleep at this time normally? Did you look under any bathroom rugs behind the back panel of cabinets like bathroom cabinet has secret compartment secret bottom in drawers, back of pictures? The space under your stove/oven if its like my oven you can lift up the metal trim piece at the bottom and it has empty space could easily fit a phone

Tell me you've been in a Toxic Relationship without telling me you've been in a Toxic Relationship

a reply to: crayzeed

Yeah, I've seen this happen with illegal CB radios too. I had a CB radio in my truck and one day I heard comms coming out of the speaker but the radio was turned off. I looked down and saw the signal strength meter getting pegged. It was inductive coupling. Someone nearby had a linear amplifier hooked up and it was blasting out so much power it was literally powering my radio in reverse (through the antenna).

A couple of stoplights later I actually pulled up behind the guy without knowing it. I saw him pick up his mic and key it by his face, and my signal meter immediately pegged. I could hear him clear as day, even though my radio was off. I looked, and he had two thick whip antennas mounted to a big box down in the bed of his pickup. His tailgate was down, and I could see he had about 5-6 large car batteries hooked up in series going into a transformer box and a couple great big honking cables going into the large box the antennas were mounted to. That dude is probably dead now due to RF exposure because he was putting out some dangerous RF levels. He probably thought it was cool at the time, being dumb and not realizing the health hazards, but I'll bet he sounded like GAWD speaking to all the local CB'ers on that radio. Those antennas and transmitter weren't more than 3 feet from his head and torso.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣