# My TV Turned Itself On and Off Last Night! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617 "2004-03-16T12:53:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/1 "2004-03-16T12:53:22Z")
Last night I was half asleep in bed with my TV on. (I sometimes leave my TV on BTW when I just want to sleep lightly.) Then around midnight, my TV turned off. Thinking it was my father mistakenly turning it off, I yelled “hey!”. And the TV turned back on again. The only thing is, when I looked around, _there was no one else in my room_! The remote was on my nightstand, well out of reach. And when I later questioned my father on it, he claimed he wasn’t even in my room last night. I know that about 30 years ago (long before I was born, or remember in any event), my parents often told of how our attic seemed to be haunted. A rocker up there seemed to rock by itself. And one time, my father (who slept up there as he worked midnights) saw a man in a Revolutionary uniform by a very old rifle we used to have up there. Anyways, I don’t believe in spirits, or even an afterlife for that matter. I typically am very skeptical. So there has to be some rational explanation for it–right 🙂 ? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/2 "2004-03-16T12:58:19Z")
Let’s see - you actually fell asleep, dreamed the TV was off, yelled, wakened yourself, and saw the TV was still on? ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/3 "2004-03-16T13:03:52Z")
The Underpants Gnomes didn’t like the program you were watching? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/4 "2004-03-16T13:04:05Z")
As I’ve said, I was _half_-asleep. And I am quite certain the TV was off and on again 🙂 . As I’ve said, I do favor some simple technological explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/5 "2004-03-16T13:06:04Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > The Underpants Gnomes didn’t like the program you were watching? Sorry, **Marlitharn** , I think we got simultaneously posted there. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/6 "2004-03-16T13:07:01Z")
OK - power blurp. Not off long enough to reset all the digital clocks but enough of an interruption to be noticed? We had one of those this past Saturday morning. ---
**Author:** ![APOC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@APOC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APOC)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/7 "2004-03-16T13:07:50Z")
Maybe your neighbours have a new TV just like yours and thin walls ? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/8 "2004-03-16T13:08:37Z")
Mr Cazzle’s old tv used to switch itself off at the same point in the intro to Star Trek Next Gen every single time (the bit with the bright star, I think it was). I don’t recall it ever switching itself back on… Could a power spike have caused it? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/9 "2004-03-16T13:09:59Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > OK - power blurp. Not off long enough to reset all the digital clocks but enough of an interruption to be noticed? We had one of those this past Saturday morning. Bingo (I think)! That actually is the first thing I thought of. And as you pointed out, if it was short, that would explain why the digital clocks are OK. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/10 "2004-03-16T13:12:39Z")
The remote control was in your bed, & you rolled over on it. Now go back to sleep! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/11 "2004-03-16T13:29:50Z")
I used to have a stereo that would turn itself on and off at random. Turning off was annoying, but having it switch itself on at odd times was downright unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/12 "2004-03-16T13:44:39Z")
Heh. We used to have a toilet that flushed itself in the middle of the night. You’d be sleeping peacefully and suddenly bolt awake to the deafening _ **KER-FWOOSHHHH!** _ from the bathroom. We didn’t have any pets. I never did figure out what caused it. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/13 "2004-03-16T13:59:02Z")
Do you have the Clapper connected to your TV? Maybe loud noises from other sources are doing it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/14 "2004-03-16T14:05:34Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Heh. We used to have a toilet that flushed itself in the middle of the night. You’d be sleeping peacefully and suddenly bolt awake to the deafening _ **KER-FWOOSHHHH!** _ from the bathroom. > > We didn’t have any pets. I never did figure out what caused it. I’m gonna guess a leak/improper seal somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/15 "2004-03-16T14:31:04Z")
Don’t emergency alert systems have the ability to turn people’s t.v.s off and on? I read about this somewhere, but maybe it was that they wanted to develop a system that did this, not that it actually existed. Anyway, maybe they were messing around down at your local emergency alert system office. Do you live in Tornado Alley? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/16 "2004-03-16T14:42:31Z")
Couldn’t it have just been a few seconds of dead air between commercials? That sometimes happens when I watch TV, depending on the channel, and the sudden quiet is usually enough to make me look up and wonder what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/17 "2004-03-16T14:55:29Z")
Mrs. Chastain and I have a bunch of those Simpsons action figures and environments in our office. (We’ve decorated our office as a TV/movie shrine.) These figures talk when plugged into the little playsets, if you press a button. Let me tell you, there’s nothing freakier than hearing one of them spout off some random phrase from down the hall at 3:00am. And for some reason, it’s always Patty and Selma in the DMV. Nothing worse than hearing that gravelly voice saying, “Ohhhhh…Chub-Chub” when you’re between sleep and awake. :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/18 "2004-03-16T15:17:27Z")
TV is your friend. It saw that you were drifting off and shut down for you. No big mystery there. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/19 "2004-03-16T15:21:24Z")
My guess is network broadcast difficulties. Happens all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617/20 "2004-03-16T16:09:27Z")
I’ve got you all beat. One day, our TV just started literally flipping out. It turned itself on and off, changed channels randomly, and played itself at high volume. It turned out that, in some strange way, weak batteries in the remote were causing it to do this. At least that’s how it looked, because when I replaced the batteries, everything went back to normal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-tv-turned-itself-on-and-off-last-night/234617.md?page=2)