# What's the deal with all of those hubcaps leaning up agianst telephone poles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521 "2022-09-13T22:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/21 "2022-09-14T18:07:21Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > …those streetlights on highways that suddenly turn off just before you pass them. > […] > There is not alot of information online about this, and to this day there is no logical explanation for why this has happened so frequently in the past enough times that you can recall it today. Confirmation bias. You remember the occasional light that happens to go out when you pass under it. You forget the vast majority of lights that didn’t go out when you passed under them. Ever bought a new car, and suddenly you see the same car everywhere? Confirmation bias. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/22 "2022-09-14T18:36:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ve had street lights turn on or off when I drive by. I wonder if someone’s high beams hit a sensor. I assume that’s the case in some places. I know there’s one hill I come over that the light tends to turn off when I come over the hill and it’s dusk/dawn and close to where a sensible sensor would be triggered. As far as lights turning off when you are walking, or no where near the lighting that should turn it off, most of that is sodium lamps near the end of their life. These tend to cycle on and off over a period of 2-15 minutes, which is often enough that you notice it when it happens near you, but not often enough that you notice it on other street lamps around. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/23 "2022-09-14T19:03:48Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wonder if someone’s high beams hit a sensor. I attended high school in a largely rural area. In the late summer and fall “spotting deer” was something kids did. You’d borrow the family car and pick up a bunch of friends, then drive around shining a powerful spotlight looking for/at deer in the fields. The idea was to figure out good spots for hunting season. We’d also shine the light at the personal “streetlights” people had around their property, shutting them down. There were no streetlights on the roads. Often the residents would come out and yell. We’d throw our empty beer cans at them and drive off. It was a simpler time. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/24 "2022-09-14T19:09:49Z")
About the bolt caps: I would hazard a guess that they loosened themselves and fell off. Vibration will do that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/25 "2022-09-14T19:27:46Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > It is possible, in my opinion, that this phenomenon is actually some form of organized harassment, which means someone may have access to a switch nearby or remotely that can literally turn these lights off and on. > > Perhaps they target specific cars that take a certain route at night on a regular basis at a certain time, and when they see the car approaching, they simply switch off the light. My first summer job in high school was as a light harasser. They give you a list of cars to be harassed with the the license plate number, the person’s usual schedule, and a photo of the car. It is a lousy job, having to work at night and constantly watch a bank of monitors waiting to throw the right switches, and most people don’t do it for long. In my case, we were harrassing known Christians who were caught by traffic cameras with Bibles on their dashboards, but different groups use the technology infrastructure for different reasons, usually as a warning to people Too Close To The Truth. I probably shouldn’t be talking about this now, but I don’t think that they know who I ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/26 "2022-09-14T19:35:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@hajario](#): > > > > A hubcap falls off of a car into the street. Someone finds it and moves it out of the street and leans it against the newest pole so that it’s easily visible if the owner goes to look for it. > > I have done this myself. I have done this as well, and I’ve also gone back and found one of my lost hubcaps that someone had kindly put up against a pole. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/27 "2022-09-14T19:56:25Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > Pedestrians are picking up these hubcaps on the side of the road and leaning them up agianst telephone poles! It’s not any different than putting a found glove or hat on a fence post. It may help its owner get it back. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/28 "2022-09-14T21:15:09Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I always thought of it as a nice gesture in case the owner went looking for it, and you gotta do something with it. Me too. Sometimes the obvious answer is the answer. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/29 "2022-09-14T21:19:19Z")
When Mr VOW was Sgt VOW, we lived in Kentucky. We rented a house in Radcliff, and I found work in Louisville (Lo-vo). In wintertime, I drove to work in the dark, and I noticed one particular streetlight along the highway I traveled exhibited this strange behavior. I probably mentioned it to Sgt VOW, and we both chalked it up to “strange.” I got the daily paper (Louisville Courier, I think) and they had a regular column devoted to folks asking questions about anything that didn’t seem to have an answer. I perked up when I saw that someone asked about the haunted street lights that go off when someone gets near. A Public Information person from the City of Lo-vo Street Maintenance had an answer. The lamp sometimes overheats, and to prevent it from destroying itself, it shuts off. When the lamp cools enough, the light will come back on. Wikipedia apparently agrees with this answer, because it says essentially the same thing about high-pressure sodium vapor lights. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/30 "2022-09-14T21:27:39Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Ever bought a new car, and suddenly you see the same car everywhere? Confirmation bias. That’s specifically a form of Baader-Meinhof effect, also known as the frequency illusion, but related. Anyhow, I had the same sort of thing going on with me in terms of lights when I was early in college and, after observing it for awhile, realized it was just confirmation bias and not that I had some sort of weird electromagnetic field around me that somehow toggled lights on and off. If I sit on the porch and look at streets like long enough, some of them do cycle on and off for no discernible reason. Also, the vast, vast majority of lights did not turn off when I walked under them. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/31 "2022-09-14T21:27:54Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > What bikers do is create a [Ghost Bike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_bike), which is a junk bike painted white and locked close by. There was one across the street from my old Seattle office in my previous position at work. I thought it was an art project. People were constantly being murdered right outside my building so I wonder if it was from an accident or something else. (We moved that office by the way.) ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/32 "2022-09-14T22:00:42Z")
I have retrieved lost hub caps after going too fast over a railroad crossing with a little jump. The house next to the crossing set them prominently displayed. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/33 "2022-09-14T22:24:44Z")
What the hell is a “bolt cap”? If you are missing _lug nuts_, I seriously suggest you replace them. ---
**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 14, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/34 "2022-09-14T23:41:10Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > I can see no logical reason why you would find sneakers hanging over a powerline. > > When you see sneakers, they are most likely on someone’s feet. You have to be _really strong_ to throw sneakers over a power line while they’re on someone’s feet. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/35 "2022-09-15T11:57:19Z")
Lug nut covers. They are just snapped on, not screwed on. [https://www.amazon.com/Lug-Nut-Covers/b?ie=UTF8&node=10379967011](https://www.amazon.com/Lug-Nut-Covers/b?ie=UTF8&node=10379967011) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/36 "2022-09-15T14:26:39Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > I seriously doubt that the caps are falling off the bolts while people are driving. Why do you doubt that? Are yours secured with more than just a snap? The rim of a car wheel on a road is a high vibration place, and you don’t seem to have doubted that hubcaps fall off. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/37 "2022-09-15T15:34:53Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Why do you doubt that? Are yours secured with more than just a snap? The rim of a car wheel on a road is a high vibration place, and you don’t seem to have doubted that hubcaps fall off. I’m not saying it’s aliens. But it’s aliens. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/38 "2022-09-15T15:41:55Z")
You just have to read all the missing/non-missing hubcaps on the I-90 as a binary message and you’ll get the blueprints for the stargate. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/39 "2022-09-15T15:45:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Ever bought a new car, and suddenly you see the same car everywhere? Confirmation bias. > > That’s specifically a form of Baader-Meinhof effect, also known as the frequency illusion, but related. Thanks. After I wrote that, I had a nagging feeling that my second example was not quite a clear-cut example of confirmation bias, but I shrugged it off. Since you pointed it out, I looked up [Baader-Meinhof](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion), and according to Wikipedia: > **Frequency illusion** , also known as the **Baader–Meinhof phenomenon** or **frequency bias** is […] a process involving two cognitive biases: **selective attention bias** (noticing things that are important to us and disregarding the rest) followed by **confirmation bias** (looking for things that support our hypotheses while disregarding potential counter-evidence). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521/40 "2022-09-15T15:54:42Z")
> [@Michael\_Varn](#): > > I can see no logical reason why you would find sneakers hanging over a powerline. Ages ago, when my cousin was a kid, he pointed to a set of sneakers hanging from a telephone line and asked “Why didn’t you do cool things like that?” There’s your answer. Some people, for whatever reason, think it’s cool. I didn’t, and still don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-all-of-those-hubcaps-leaning-up-agianst-telephone-poles/971521.md?page=3)