It sounds like the fiber to your neighbor’s house was not buried or suspended above? Why would they just run fiber on the ground?
It was buried “a couple of inches deep” as suggested by @wolfpup (and subsequently surfaced).
That seems stupid.
Welcome to AT&T. When they were bringing fiber to the curb in my parents’ neighborhood. They left the fiber cable running across the driveway for three weeks before someone could be arsed to bury it.
This reminded me of a possibility. A previous owner may have strung a phone ringer outside somewhere. I had one on a long line to move around the house back in the olden days.