# I hate it when weird things happen that I can't explain **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695 "2026-02-16T00:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/41 "2026-02-16T19:45:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You didn’t consider the case of a fire started at your main electrical panel. That is a high-powered fire that quickly kills the electrcity to the house as the wires and breakers are consumed. Yeah, a house fire and a power failure are not independent events. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/42 "2026-02-16T20:51:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s sometimes a great advantage to have hearing loss and tinnitus. I can rarely hear those faint random beeps over the noise in my head There was a beeping in the underground garage at my Dad’s retirement coop. Apparently there was an argument among the residents of whether there was actually a beeping or not (auditory dress controversy?). It seems some people have trouble admitting that their hearing has also retired. (Hence my Dad’s, “why do people always mumble?”) For a non-beeping based weird and unexplained thing. My Mom texted this morning and asked what is this, and why are bare wires sticking out of it? [![](https://i.imgur.com/xL8rOXc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/xL8rOXc.jpeg) I quickly identified it as the device that lets the power company turn off your AC in summer, but why are the wires sticking out? The box has a number to call if it is disconnected, so she called it, and to their credit Xcel sent someone out right away to look at it. They said it shouldn’t be dangerous, “but if it starts sparking call us back,” which is less than reassuring. Our best guess is that it has been disconnected when she got a new AC several years ago, and something just caused the wires to pop up, when previously they had been tucked away. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/43 "2026-02-17T22:55:53Z")
Mystery solved! I was getting something from my bedroom earlier and heard my neighbor leaving. His truck does the beep-beep sound when in reverse. I had an ah-ha moment and looked out the window to see him driving away. It was fainter than I normally hear it since the bedroom is on the far side of the house from his driveway. I usually don’t really notice, it’s just background noise. But it’s not something I expect to hear at 3:30 in the morning. I hope everything is ok with him. But, yay, I’m not imagining things! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/44 "2026-02-17T23:10:51Z")
My wife has recently installed Signal, an app similar to WhatsApp, in her phone. She likes to experiment with ringtones. Nuff said. She was quite amused when I told her what I had guessed and where I had looked when I told her about the misterious sounds. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/45 "2026-02-19T13:50:13Z")
Hope non-electronic weirdness is OK here (OP didn’t specify). Many years ago I kept thinking I’d heard something on the roof. It wasn’t loud but happened a few times one day. I was working on a gutter a few days later and decided to climb on the roof to look around. After walking around a bit, I happened on a _big_ pile of poop. TMI here, but large even for humans. Escaped gorilla? Pterodactyl? Aliens? Never did figure it out, and never happened again. Trying to descend an extension ladder while holding a “full” shovel in one hand, is something I don’t want to repeat though. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/46 "2026-02-19T15:12:40Z")
When we lived in the first house we bought, Mr VOW would occasionally hear roof noises. Years later, we were informed we had roof rats, which are like a plague in SoCal. If we had known then about the roof rats, I probably would have been so creeped out I’d never sleep again. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/47 "2026-02-19T15:25:50Z")
When we first moved into one house we sometimes heard what sounded like tree limbs brushing the roof over our bedroom. Which seemed like a good explanation until I actually got outside and took a good hard look at the many mature trees in our & neighbor’s yards. None of which came within 20 feet of the roof anywhere, much less there above the bedroom. Yup. Rodents living in the attic. I’m not recalling, and may never have known, whether it was squirrels, rats, or mice. But the exterminator created silence up there and that was nice. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/48 "2026-02-19T15:27:33Z")
I’ve had a huge wasp nest in my attic. I swear you could hear them building and squiggling around at night. Took me awhile to be brave enough to go look what it was. We had a guy who came out to remove it. Needless to say he was not exactly a pro. Don’t remember where he came from. Anyway we all got stung several times before that ordeal ended. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/49 "2026-02-19T21:45:07Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Hope non-electronic weirdness is OK here (OP didn’t specify). All weirdness is welcome. > [@pullin](#): > > After walking around a bit, I happened on a _big_ pile of poop. TMI here, but large even for humans. And that is indeed weird. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/50 "2026-02-19T22:01:58Z")
I have read that cougar / puma / catamount / panther / mountain lion shit is similar in size and general appearance to human shit. Depending a bit on the cat’s diet. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/51 "2026-02-19T22:04:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Depending a bit on the cat’s diet. Roofers, apparently ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/52 "2026-02-20T00:53:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > When we first moved into one house we sometimes heard what sounded like tree limbs brushing the roof over our bedroom. Which seemed like a good explanation until I actually got outside and took a good hard look at the many mature trees in our & neighbor’s yards. Years ago, I was just about asleep when I heard (what I thought was) the sound of tree limbs against the walls of my bedroom. I was settling back in when I suddenly realized there were no trees anywhere close to that wall. I had to find out, so I got somewhat dressed and trotted downstairs. When I got around to that side of the apartment, I realized there was a scratching sound coming from the door into the garage (my bedroom was above the garage). I opened the door and out trotted the neighbor’s cat (with that air that communicates impatience with the fact that the human servant took so long). The cat did the same thing a couple more time before I just started leaving the door slightly ajar. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/53 "2026-02-20T17:11:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have read that cougar / puma / catamount / panther / mountain lion shit is similar in size and general appearance to human shit So is raccoon poop. Those suckers are bigger than you think. They also use “latrines,” into which they repeatedly take dumps. When I had country property I came across a “latrine tree” & I thought I had a family of bobcats living there. There is a good chance that the pile o’ poo on the roof was from raccoons. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/54 "2026-02-20T19:00:23Z")
Raccoons can get monster big. When the kids first got married they lived in a mobile home park with all sorts of living things established there. The pea fowl were a menace. The mommies (peahens) were always leading a scraggle of babies, while the peacocks were spreading their tails and screaming. There were ducks and swans and maybe a few antisocial geese, but there were **herds** of raccoons. They could flip up trash can lids with one hand, and the many many homes offered a smorgasbord to them. They grew huge, as big as a large dog. They also fought the dogs that belonged there, and the vet bills were said to he humongous. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695/55 "2026-02-20T19:17:32Z")
Do you have ear buds? Or, do you have a room air filter? (Our air filter kept beeping periodically because the plug in the wall was loose. Now, it’s not that smart…it just beeps everytime it is turned on, so with a loose plug, it thinks it is being turned on again and again.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-it-when-weird-things-happen-that-i-cant-explain/1027695.md?page=2)