# Spooky stuff happening: please debunk
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 23, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547 "2015-10-23T15:41:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/1 "2015-10-23T15:41:30Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/2 "2015-10-23T16:24:26Z")
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?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/3 "2015-10-23T16:32:10Z")
If you find a flaming paper bag on your doorstep don’t stomp on it to put it out.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/4 "2015-10-23T17:08:04Z")
I’m a Professional Brainy Practical Scientist Guy, and I’d say you’ve got a BAD case of ghosts.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/5 "2015-10-23T17:47:06Z")
> [@RadioWave](#):
>
> 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?
No ‘hood friends who are likely to prank (sedate middle-aged folks). It’s about 10’ from gate to bell, not sure someone could pull that off.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/6 "2015-10-23T17:48:08Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> I’m a Professional Brainy Practical Scientist Guy, and I’d say you’ve got a BAD case of ghosts.
Then, just like all the ghostie shows on TV, I’ll need you to refer me to a medium, demonologist, Native American shaman, or Wiccan priest. :D:D
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/7 "2015-10-23T17:51:23Z")
> [@Jennshark](#):
>
> No ‘hood friends who are likely to prank (sedate middle-aged folks). It’s about 10’ from gate to bell, not sure someone could pull that off.
As unlikely as a sedate middle-aged old fart pranking you is, surely it’s still vastly more likely than any supernatural explanation, right?
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/8 "2015-10-23T18:49:15Z")
“ **Spooky stuff happening** ”:
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”.
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### Author:  [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/9 "2015-10-23T18:58:59Z")
> [@Jennshark](#):
>
> 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.
'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.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/10 "2015-10-23T19:54:24Z")
Any new neighbors? Ones that have a punk-ass kid? Probably around 14-15 yrs old?
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/11 "2015-10-23T20:00:24Z")
> [@Jennshark](#):
>
> It’s about 10’ from gate to bell, not sure someone could pull that off.
This must be the phenomenon Einstein called “spooky action at a distance”.
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/12 "2015-10-23T20:04:30Z")
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)?
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/13 "2015-10-23T20:31:38Z")
Sounds like a class 5 full roaming vapor. Call 555-2368, they’re ready to believe you.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/14 "2015-10-24T01:43:31Z")
> [@Revtim](#):
>
> As unlikely as a sedate middle-aged old fart pranking you is, surely it’s still vastly more likely than any supernatural explanation, right?
Oh, absolutely! I’m a diehard skeptic. Occam’s Razor posits there are boring reasons for the spookiness.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/15 "2015-10-24T01:45:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> “ **Spooky stuff happening** ”:
>
> 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”.
If I’ve entered Quantum Entanglement do I still need to go to work?
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/16 "2015-10-24T01:46:47Z")
> [@Quercus](#):
>
> 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)?
Your doorbell theory is very interesting; I’ll batten down the doorbell hatches tonight.
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### Author:  [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/17 "2015-10-24T01:57:55Z")
> [@Quercus](#):
>
> If you want a non-supernatural, non-pranky possibility, 3 AM car alarms could also be a raccoon or something similar making the rounds.
That’s what I thought…critter.
> [@](#):
>
> 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.
Or, you know, demons.
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/18 "2015-10-24T02:01:10Z")
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!
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### Author:  [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/19 "2015-10-24T02:04:07Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#):
>
> That’s what I thought…critter.
>
> 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.
>
> Or, you know, demons.
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.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spooky-stuff-happening-please-debunk/735547/20 "2015-10-24T02:11:20Z")
Feasibility study ended.
Abduction of Human race: unfeasible.
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