# Please explain sound I heard in my room **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958 "2012-09-07T05:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/21 "2012-09-07T13:10:49Z")
Estimates vary by, like, a lot, but I’ve seen numbers from between 5% and 80% given for perfectly “normal” not-insane people with no history of neurological or mental illness having auditory hallucinations at least once. So, yeah, probably that. But do check the closet, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/22 "2012-09-07T13:24:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > _Silly_ **TriPolar**! > > Ghosts don’t come of of mattresses! They’re afraid of being trapped under the covers. Actually, ghosts usually live [under the bed](http://cdn.publishdev.se/cdn/1-2/985854/images/2010/ghost-under-bed_122170428.jpg). Of course, you can easily verify that there isn’t a pale white, hideous, terrifying visitor from the other side just _waiting to collect your soul_ under your bed, _right now_, simply by taking a look to check. No, go ahead, look. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/23 "2012-09-07T14:52:06Z")
I discovered the phenomenon when I was 8. One night as I lay in bed, still quite awake, I heard a choir singing the Agnus Dei exactly the same as in the church I went to. It was around Easter, so I guess I had been in church a lot. You know how a song gets stuck in your head but it’s obviously only in your head? An everyday occurrence. That’s how it started. But gradually I began to hear it coming from outside. My bedroom was on the third floor. The audio source of the song seemed to be suspended in air right outside my window. I listened to it for a good long while. It seemed so realistic that I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t real. The other time I experienced it I was 22 and had almost entirely drifted off into a nap. I heard a low mutter from just in front of me. It sounded like a demon voice. It spoke so indistinctly I couldn’t understand the words, which is no doubt just as well! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/24 "2012-09-07T14:55:16Z")
Any electronics nearby; iPods, cell phones, etc? They can and will do weird things sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/25 "2012-09-07T16:36:55Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The other time I experienced it I was 22 and had almost entirely drifted off into a nap. I heard a low mutter from just in front of me. It sounded like a demon voice. It spoke so indistinctly I couldn’t understand the words, which is no doubt just as well! I had something similar when I was falling asleep and imagined what I would pretty much describe as a demon voice too. It was whispering in my ear telling me to fall asleep. Of course there was no way I was taking _that_ advice. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/26 "2012-09-07T16:49:30Z")
Important question, **Mississippienne** : did it sound like _one_ voice, or several? If it was several in close harmony, you might have an infestation of barbershop quartets. They can be a real nuisance to get rid of, and a serious hazard to your collection of boater hats. A [flamethrower](http://www.blog.peacemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/penny_arcade_episode1_screenshot1_bmp.jpg) may be your best option. > [@maisoui](#): > > Yes! Me, too. Even to the timing. The voice is a woman’s (but not a voice I can identify) and says my name rather sharply - not like calling my name, more like “Hey! Getting your attention, here.” I get this sometimes, usually when I’m on the edge of sleep. It doesn’t seem loud, just sharp, as you said–not angry, but firm. It isn’t any voice I recognize, just some woman saying my name. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/27 "2012-09-07T16:55:27Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Presumptuous Tricorian! > > Of course ghosts come out of mattresses! Why else are they always covered by sheets? They reside in Linen Closets. 😛 ---
**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:** [September 7, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/28 "2012-09-07T16:56:49Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Actually, ghosts usually live [under the bed](http://cdn.publishdev.se/cdn/1-2/985854/images/2010/ghost-under-bed_122170428.jpg). No-no…_Linen Closets_; **do** try to pay attention. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/29 "2012-09-07T17:03:50Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > They reside in Linen Closets. 😛 Only the ones who are reluctant to reveal their fabric preferences. I hear there’s still a bit of a stigma attached to ghosts who prefer satin sheets. ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/30 "2012-09-07T17:56:25Z")
saw a show on sensory deprivation once, people were locked in a dark building for a long time. one began to hallucinate that a row of cars were driving along his bedroom floor. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/31 "2012-09-07T18:04:37Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/32 "2012-09-07T19:07:49Z")
Sorta related-early in the morning, a large mirror hanging on our bedroom wall starts vibrating. It actually makes a tapping/buzzing sound-as if the wall is resonating and getting the mirror to vibrate. It seems to happen at odd times, and hasn’t anything to do with traffic (we live on a dead end street, on a hill). Strange. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/33 "2012-09-07T19:18:32Z")
I think you had what they call a wet dream. _Ducking and weaving…_ > [@manila](#): > > I think I may have mentioned this before. > > I was about 12 to 13. I was laying in bed in my own room. I wasn’t at all tired it was early about 7pm. ( mum used to make us sleep early to save on electricity costs) I heard a sound as though someone was clearing their throat and then heard a spit and suddenly felt a cold wet lump hit my right eye. I moved my fingers to my eye and my og there was a cold wet foamy residue WTF! > > I remember calling out to my mum sleeping in an adjacent room. Hey mum did you just spit at me? To which she replied of course not go to sleep. > > Now I was rubbing this substance between my fingers and I remember them being wet but I was not scared at all but rather puzzled and thinking WTH, WTF? But as I couldn’t explain it I just kinda decided to forget it and go to sleep. > > Now obviously it couldn’t have happened, I slept in my own room ( had three sisters sharing one room hehehe!) there was no one else in my room. > > I must have had a spontaneous hallucination. I never mentioned it anymore, even the next morning. The human mind is an incredible thing. > > Now I wasn’t tired or in the least sleepy but somehow my mind played this trick. I haven’t a clue where it came from but even in an alert state a teenager’s mind can play tricks. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/34 "2012-09-07T20:37:10Z")
Acoustics can be strange and unpredictable. Maybe your building directs and amplifies some sounds/frequencies. I heard something similar a few nights ago. In what could be an evolutionary leap, the guy pictured in below story may have tried singing the Manfred Mann tune as a way to get babes. [Listen: Could ugly fish be cause of West Seattle hum?](http://mynorthwest.com/284/733875/Listen-Could-ugly-fish-be-cause-of-West-Seattle-hum) Do you live near water? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/35 "2012-09-07T21:19:40Z")
Obviously the OP’s bedroom is haunted by an a cappella group from Philadelphia, doomed to eternally wander until it can make an appearance on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour and vault to stardom. If you hear a voice say “I wanna Sunday kind of love”, RUN. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/36 "2012-09-07T21:38:39Z")
Merely trying to be complete (it’s gonna be fairly far down the list in terms of likelihood), maybe a [dental-work radio](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/657/is-it-possible-to-hear-radio-broadcasts-through-your-teeth)? It happened to me once. Bit down on something hard and got a few seconds of a radio broadcast in one ear. Did you bite something? Have something move wrong with your mouth? The voice might have been a fragment of a radio broadcast you just happened to pick up. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/37 "2012-09-07T21:48:43Z")
It probably is related to the exploding head syndrome as linked above. That happens to me too. Although, one other possibility: Is there a computer in or near that room? “Doo Wah” is a good rendition of the noise a computer makes when it’s detecting a USB device, and sometimes glitches cause that to happen at unexpected times. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/38 "2012-09-08T00:39:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Estimates vary by, like, a lot, but I’ve seen numbers from between 5% and 80% given for perfectly “normal” not-insane people with no history of neurological or mental illness having auditory hallucinations at least once. > > So, yeah, probably that. > > But do check the closet, just in case. You wouldn’t happen to know the statistics for “normal” people to have them once every few weeks? I live alone, and my house has some strange noises (music/things crashing) that I can’t for the life of me figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/39 "2012-09-08T02:43:42Z")
Wooden bed frames often make that sound. You’ll hear a similar noise when you sit up on the edge of the bed and the mattress flexes the bed frame. Hijack: What’s that old song by some crooner where he sings a verse, rests for a quarter, and signs “Do wah do wah do wah do wah do wah” in an even cadence? It’s not Ooby Dooby or Do Wah Diddy. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958/40 "2012-09-08T03:15:19Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Wooden bed frames often make that sound. You’ll hear a similar noise when you sit up on the edge of the bed and the mattress flexes the bed frame. > > Hijack: What’s that old song by some crooner where he sings a verse, rests for a quarter, and signs “Do wah do wah do wah do wah do wah” in an even cadence? It’s not Ooby Dooby or Do Wah Diddy. Why Do Fools Fall in Love? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-sound-i-heard-in-my-room/633958.md?page=3)