At 3am this morning our doorbell rang. We rushed downstairs and there was no one there; the push button for the bell gets stuck and makes an odd raspy noise when pushed hard because it sticks in the poked-in position – it was in this position when I got there.
The porch gate was locked from the inside and was still locked.
This last week my car alarm has been going off around 3am. The alarm is not that sensitive, it takes a real knock to set it off and it has never gone off at work, where I’m parked near heavy construction and a lot full of cars coming and going.
This is my thinking: someone in the neighborhood is leaving for work and one of their electronics (car remote? Garage opener? House alarm?) sets off my car alarm – is this a possibility?
Doorbell: button is probably 50+ years old, which could certainly explain an electrical short causing the ring. The puzzling thing is how it got pushed in and stuck.
Sounds more like someone is messing with you. Got any friends in the neighborhood with a prankish sense of humor?
I’m an engineer and I can’t think of any way a car remote or garage opener would have any affect on a car alarm. As for the doorbell, could someone reach it from outside the gate with a stick?
I think you’ve answered your own question right there. Your car alarm and your doorbell have somehow entered into a state of Quantum Entanglement, which even Einstein Himself found “spooky”.
'Tis the season? I dunno. It seems that holidays are happening earlier with each passing year, or being advertised in the mass media is a better way to put it. Halloween is upon us and has been since October began. If you live in a suburban-residential type neighborhood with lots of teens and kids that’s the likeliest explanation. My best guess. Bad luck (for you) is obviously a factor as well, but bad luck is real when it happens, and my sense is that this is the case for you. If this is part of a larger trend going on for over a week, no, it’s something else: time to call the police.
If you want a non-supernatural, non-pranky possibility, 3 AM car alarms could also be a raccoon or something similar making the rounds.
Could the doorbell have been pushed in earlier and stuck that way, but a loose wire kept it from actually ringing (until at 3 AM something cooled off enough to un-loosen the wire)?
Again, same thought. Wires expand and contract with changes in the air temperature, so it’s possible that an old and cranky doorbell might just go off.
A few months ago my car alarm went off during the night so I didn’t set it the next evening – and that was the night somebody tried to steal it.
The car alarm issue could well be an animal. We have a crapload of squirrels here that love to hurl acorns from the trees; I have tried the “acorn test” to see if it sets the alarm off and it didn’t work. Tomorrow I’ll catch a raccoon and hurl him at the car tonight I parked the car between the two Jeeps in the driveway and didn’t set the alarm.
I did doorbell experiments and ensured the button is “popped out” and not pushed halfway in (as per upthread). Porch gate locked, Project Quantum Entanglement commences!
I’m also thinking this is a good explanation for the ghosty doorbell.
OTOH I’ve always wanted to have a pet demon, but it would need come up with something more creative than car alarms and doorbells if it wants room and board here.
tonight I parked the car between the two Jeeps in the driveway and didn’t set the alarm.