odd phone happenings

My first post here i started readin a while ago here when searching for 9/11 conspiracies, a big hello to u all.
Well here's my story with my landline, its been going on for about 2 years i'd say.
When these "odd phone happenings" began, it was in the form of music now and then been played down the line, they sounded like midi files and werent actually songs (to my knowledge), they were very irritating though as you'd pick up and they'd play and play, then you could hang up, lift the reciever up and it was still going strong, this often lasted around 20 mins, annoying as no incoming or outgoing calls could be made. This stopped long ago and im not really sure its related, but ive included it just to build up the picture.
Anyway, these went away, and were shortly followed by the cliche anonymous phone call(with an withheld number), by this time i had an answer phone and was screening calls (unrelated, for business reasons), and everytime the msg said "leave your messege after..." the caller would hang up, nothing too weird yet, just sounds like a prank to annoy, but it was the times these things were comming at, all very scheduled (i made a note, and cud pretty much give or take 5-10 mins say when the fone was gonna ring), often at times between 9-5 on weekdays, and perhaps on a saturday afternoon, never on sunday to my knowledge,(i am/was at college so home much of these times) but a typical person wouldnt be, and its not half as irritating as say phoning at 3am.
Well this went on for about a year until i eventually got sick of it, i rang my phone company up (BritishTelecom-BT) who told me that after everyone of these calls to dial in a number - i forget what, 14_ _ i think to "trace" the call and register it at BT After 3 weeks of doing this they rang and told me they had seen the pattern too, it was comming from two diferent numbers, they wouldnt say what, but they did sy the police would be involved and not to be concerned anymore.
Well everything was pretty good (still something odd i noticed going on but il come to that at the end), no more ringing for nearly a whole year, but this last thursday its started happening again, since and including that day ive had one of these everyday, bar sunday17th.
Its getting really odd again, im sure there must be times when i out and the phone is ringing. I cant think of a motivation behind it, or anyone who would do it specifically to me, and come back to do it again, after presumably been warned by the police last year.
This is the other worrying bit, sorry if this is confusing- in my room i have a cheap phone (got last year-long after phone calls had stopped) anyway when say the other phone on the extension goes down it makes a "blip" sound, like a really quick beep, the same used to happen when until recently i was on a dial up modem on the line and it disconnected. Ive noticed now that this phone actually makes this "blip" sound when im either getting ready or in bed, sumtimes a couple of times-it NEVER does it any other time, unless as i say some one has just put sumthing down (a phone, or a dial up connection d/c-ing on the line).
I'd be greatful if anyone could offer a suggestion or hs had a similar experience, I know it seems quite small things, but its making me quite paranoid now, i get the feeling someone is "listening".
N.I.T

[edit on 18-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

I don't know what to tell you. The prank phone calls might have started again by the same people. Perhaps when the police spoke to them they warned them that they had to refrain from calling you for a year so that's why they waited it out and started it back up. Even if the police didn't tell them 1 year, maybe they have inside knowledge that if they waited a certain amount of time they could start doing it again.

The fact that you don't get calls on Sunday make me wonder if they are computer automated telemarketing type calls. I'm in the U.S. so I dont know if you get those where you are but in the U.S. they cannot make those calls on Sunday. Perhaps when the police talked to the people they took your number out of their system for one year and now you are back in there.

I don't know what the phone blip could be. Our phones do it at a certain time every night but it's directly related to our alarm system in our home. Our alarm system has to use the telephone like to 'call' the alarm company and test that it's still working, so every night at the same time you can hear the phone going nuts.

I hope someone can be more helpful. I think I would be a tad paranoid if I was in your shoes as well!

Jemison

I would lean towards telemarkerters with autodialers. Before the U.S. had the national do not call list I would come one and find 2 calls on my caller ID everyday of the week except Sunday always aroung the same time of day but not exact give or take an hour. About a month after I signed up for the do not call list the calls stopped.

The music on the line can be explained by noise on the line which when it was happening should have been reported to your telco especially if you use a modem as this can cause poor connections and disconnects.

And finally the beep. Some cheap phones will beep or chirp when another extension is picked up or when there is noise within the trunk.
Don't be parinoid until you start seeing people looking into your windows while your getting ready to bed.

thanks for your quick replies.
Well two points i can address, our telcom company put me on this list to stop telesales companies ringing the first time i complained, this obviously got rid of some calls, though the ones that didnt fit in with the pattern really were the ones that went! Plus on occasional times i have picked it up ive just got silence, and after a couple of seconds some one hangs up.
evecasino, the phone does this only at approx 11.30 at night, when im going to bed, its not a random occurence. Im around the phone a reasonable portion of the day and it doesnt do it once.
Actually there was something preceding this, though it sounds far fetched, i live with my mother, and say 2-3 years ago, there would often be a Ford following her, with a guy inside, i witnessed this on several occasions, and once she thought she saw the guy actually taking a photo of her as she stepped outside the house. (i doubt this is related, perhaps a private detective or something who got the wrong person as its not happened for few years).

whoops double post

[edit on 18-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

Well the thing is that telemarketers autodialers will do just what you said. If you do not say Hello correctly the dialogic board may not recognize that a human answered and thus hangup on you.

I would look into subscribing to anonymous call rejection and caller ID and see what goes from there.

Surely our phone company would have told us this though? rather than just saying the pattern was occuring from 2 seperate numbers. Theres nothing i can really do if it is a telemarketing thing, as the caller numbers always withheld, and were already on the list to stop telemarketing companies. Im keeping a record again as i mentioned of times, in a week or as soon as a reasonable pattern emerges again i'l call my phone company and go through the process same as last time, see what happens!

Anonymous call rejection or call intercept. If they try to block their number when calling it will not go through. If they have a number which does not show up then they will have to announce who they are before you accept the call.

Two other options -

Could it be a fax on redial trying to get you by mistake, or perhpas, given the time of night, it could be a misprogrammed building plant management system of some sort, calling home to report it's status. Our BMS at work calls home lots, I have a friend who has a fuel tank that rings home to trigger the order, some culvert pumps ring water level status in ... actually, I expect lots of plant calls in ...

I'd go with evecasio and ask BT to set your line up to block calls that don't broadcast their CLI.

The caller (assuming it's not a 'bot of some sort) will get a message that says something like "This number is not accepting calls" or similar, and then terminate.

My number is CLI blocked (nothing dodgy, I sometimes work from home and don't want my domestic number showing up on client system, as it's a bit unprofessional), and I have to remember to use 1470 before I make calls to certain places, or I'm bounced off.

Do you live in a house or an apartment? It sorta sounds like what happens sometimes in my apartment building. My apartment building has a security phone at the front door that people who dont have keys need to dial in your apartment code so that you can buzz them in. Ours is usually broken more often than working correctly. When its broke, people can call up to our apartment but we cant hear them talking, and after like 25 seconds or so it automatically disconnects. The security phone also picks up major line noise that comes from a local radio station. Hopefully this helps, if not I wish you luck in solving this intriguing mystery.

When your on line do you hear any odd noises from your computer? I've had some odd happenings too. Didn't occur to me til now that odd noises on phone line could be related to what's happening with my computer.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

But then I'm not a techie....what do I know?

Originally posted by nothingistrivial
thanks for your quick replies.

Actually there was something preceding this, though it sounds far fetched, i live with my mother, and say 2-3 years ago, there would often be a Ford following her, with a guy inside, i witnessed this on several occasions, and once she thought she saw the guy actually taking a photo of her as she stepped outside the house. (i doubt this is related, perhaps a private detective or something who got the wrong person as its not happened for few years).

Whether this is related to the phone thing or not, it should be reported to your local authorities. There's alot of whackos out there and this shouldn't be taken lightly...I know. I had a problem with a stalker for about three years, but after moving twice I've been stalker-free for the past 1-1/2 years. ~fingers crossed~

i live in a house, so shouldnt be getting probs from other phone lines.

Wyzewun, it happened sum time ago(3ish years), and theres no evidence of it so i doubt theyd be very bothered now, hope you keep stalker free!

Todays call came at 11.27am. the last few days or so theyve been at 12.20sh, so a bit earlier :O, hopefully itl make a pattern again.

[edit on 19-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

I don't mean to eb rude in any-way. But I'm wondering if you are nopt hearing things, or you have a greatly elaborate idea. I have some experience in people trying to make things up to make them feel special or something like that. Or-It could be true, I don't know.

Originally posted by AeroQuake
I don't mean to eb rude in any-way. But I'm wondering if you are nopt hearing things, or you have a greatly elaborate idea. I have some experience in people trying to make things up to make them feel special or something like that. Or-It could be true, I don't know.

I dont get what your on about :S if youre implying im making it up, youre wrong-though i wouldnt expect people to believe everything they read here or anywhere on the net, it would be foolish.
I just wanted some suggestions, i have asked several places/people and no one can give me any real suggestions baring in mind these phone calls originate from a non-business/individual or individuals using two numbers. I was just looking for some suggestions to ease my now paranoid mind! It gets frighting when the phone beeps only when youre off to bed, or when it just rings and theres silence on the other end. I just would like some suggestions for motives, i cant think of any, no one here works for the military or government or anything, and were prety normal, no real secrets or anything (obviously personal stuff but everyone has that), i see no motives for this intimidation or spying persitantly.

[edit on 19-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

Right.....to begin with I don't doubt your story at all, but I will make a couple of observations.

1/ To get BT to place a trace on your line you are normally required to first report your problem to the Police. The reason for this is that

A/ The Police need an "aggrieved party" to proceed against an identified offender. So the initial report to them is giving them authority to investigate.

B/ there are several offenses to consider i.e. "Threats to kill" (spoken), "False and Persistant calls" (dial then hang up when phone is answered) etc etc.

Once the number giving you problems has been identified then the Police, along with BT Investigations will investigate, but they should keep you informed of their actions at all times.

2/ Your problems sould like they are auto dailer related i.e. double glazing sales, insurance etc etc. I once had a trace put on my line and found that my credit card company was the culprit.

3/ Your bedroom phone blips when you go to bed???. Something similar used to happen in our hallway. The reason.....loose connection activated by the spring of a rotten floorboard. Try replacing the phone??

Whatever happens good luck and if at any time you are concerned by telephone calls get a trace put on

Originally posted by nothingistrivial

I dont get what your on about :S if youre implying im making it up, youre wrong-though i wouldnt expect people to believe everything they read here or anywhere on the net, it would be foolish.
I just wanted some suggestions, i have asked several places/people and no one can give me any real suggestions baring in mind these phone calls originate from a non-business/individual or individuals using two numbers. I was just looking for some suggestions to ease my now paranoid mind! It gets frighting when the phone beeps only when youre off to bed, or when it just rings and theres silence on the other end. I just would like some suggestions for motives, i cant think of any, no one here works for the military or government or anything, and were prety normal, no real secrets or anything (obviously personal stuff but everyone has that), i see no motives for this intimidation or spying persitantly.

[edit on 19-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

Sorry, nothingistrivial, that I didn't mention anything about the phone thing in my earlier post...was in a hurry!

I have an English friend living in GB, and coincidently she and her sister experienced almost exactly what you're descibing. After numerous calls to the phone company and checking with the police they haven't had problems since early summer. And similarily, the sister was being followed by some guy who was witnessed by other people saw as well, and he too was taking pictures of her. He was only seen initially and then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth.

You're not alone with this...makes one wonder.

Originally posted by Wyzewun

Originally posted by nothingistrivial

I dont get what your on about :S if youre implying im making it up, youre wrong-though i wouldnt expect people to believe everything they read here or anywhere on the net, it would be foolish.
I just wanted some suggestions, i have asked several places/people and no one can give me any real suggestions baring in mind these phone calls originate from a non-business/individual or individuals using two numbers. I was just looking for some suggestions to ease my now paranoid mind! It gets frighting when the phone beeps only when youre off to bed, or when it just rings and theres silence on the other end. I just would like some suggestions for motives, i cant think of any, no one here works for the military or government or anything, and were prety normal, no real secrets or anything (obviously personal stuff but everyone has that), i see no motives for this intimidation or spying persitantly.

[edit on 19-10-2004 by nothingistrivial]

Sorry, nothingistrivial, that I didn't mention anything about the phone thing in my earlier post...was in a hurry!

I have an English friend living in GB, and coincidently she and her sister experienced almost exactly what you're descibing. After numerous calls to the phone company and checking with the police they haven't had problems since early summer. And similarily, the sister was being followed by some guy who was witnessed by other people saw as well, and he too was taking pictures of her. He was only seen initially and then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth.

You're not alone with this...makes one wonder.

Thats really interesting! :O

Billythecat, im not really interested in defending my story, i was interested in seeing if any one else experienced this, or could offer suggestions. I never personally made contact with the police, BT handled all that.
thanku for your posts everyone....N I T