Mystery of the Attic

[Route 66]

Ok, I know this will sound strange but I have these weird noises in my attic. At first when I heard it, I went up there and found nothing in the area of the sound which was mainly concentrated in a five foot radius. However, the sound came back and now it goes across the main bedroom.

The sound is like someone walking making the boards creak. It is not a mouse, squirrel, possum or bat. It will go across the ceiling and it does it in steps. I finally went up there again today and decided to search every square inch. I found no droppings, chew marks or anything out of place. All the dust had no tracks. I thought perhaps there was something going across the ceiling board but it would have to go over every beam very fast and with a good-sized weight behind it. Besides, it still wouldnt have made that sound over insulation.

As soon as I came down, I heard it again so ran outside to look at the roof and nothing. Other family members hear it too. Gotta be an animal but there's no sign and it's been 2-3 weeks.

 

[Route 66]

It's also only concentrated in this one area and nowhere else.

 

[Route 66]

I know, I know, enter jokes now!

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Put a camera up there and record. Or a motion sensor.

 

[Route 66]

Yeah, I was just thinking of that.

 

[Tabascocat]

Sorry, but can't pass this up....

 

[big dog cowboy]

Call Stephen King.

 

[joseephuss]

Throw some long sheets of aluminum foil up there. If there is a animal walking around you will know it for sure once it walks on those sheets because it should make a loud, distinct noise.

 

[maxdallasfan]

Call Ghost Hunters

 

[Route 66]

Good idea on the foil. I'm serious that this has been quite a bit disconcerting. It doesn't sound like an animal. It moves like it is something heavy taking steps on the wood supports making the ceiling in that particular area make noise. It's not a creaking/settling sound either. I'm thinking about getting a Drop Cam so that I can take a look. This has been going on for several weeks.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Good idea on the foil. I'm serious that this has been quite a bit disconcerting. It doesn't sound like an animal. It moves like it is something heavy taking steps on the wood supports making the ceiling in that particular area make noise. It's not a creaking/settling sound either. I'm thinking about getting a Drop Cam so that I can take a look. This has been going on for several weeks.

Have you tried to record any of the sound, bring it to your computer and audio filter and see if you can break down what it might be. I'd love to have it uploaded here and have a listen. I'm curious too.

 

[Route 66]

I haven't tried much of anything except for visually looking twice as I always just assumed it was a small animal. However, with this continuing and spreading across the ceiling more, I'll have to do something.

 

[CashMan]

I haven't tried much of anything except for visually looking twice as I always just assumed it was a small animal. However, with this continuing and spreading across the ceiling more, I'll have to do something.

Go buy some glue boards, and put them up there.

 

[Route 66]

I have a bunch of those from the usual summer brown recluse extravaganza-Ill put some up there this weekend. Been catching mice in them (about 3 this winter) alive and releasing them out back by using vegetable oil to get them free. The problem is I didn't go far away enough from the house because my wife just complained last week that there was a really greasy mouse running around our house now.

So much for gratitude from the mouse...

 

[joseephuss]

Poltergeists

 

[WV Cowboy]

I added on to the back of our house in 1998. The new part makes some disturbing noise when it gets extremely cold outside.
But it is just the wood creaking, cracking, and contracting/expanding with the weather.

When we were first married, (40 yrs ago) we lived in a very small house. I closed in the small back porch off the kitchen and put our washer/dryer in that room.
One night I was sure someone was coming in our house through that room. I snuck through the dark to get a closer look/listen.

Turned out it was the ice shifting in our ice-maker in the kitchen. LOL

If I owned a gun, I would have killed our refrigerator.

 

[Phoenix]

Dump millions of thumb tacks up there, then have the eventual blood analyzed

 

[kimrose]

How long have you lived in your house, Route66? What year was you house built? History? Could it be like your AC unit up there or something? Our house has "things" happen in it, as well. The man that built our house and lived in it for 40 years, also died in it. But things have happened here since we moved here over 5 years ago, didn't start up suddenly. Sometimes renovations, traumatic or negative emotions/events, pubescent kids, or dabbling in dark arts (Rituals, incantations, necromancy, Ouija boards) can kick "things" into action, or so I've heard.

There are some good ideas here, and some funny stuff, too, lol, but you are going about it the right way to search for all logical explanations. I really like PJ's suggestion with the motion detection camera, but I know that can be expensive, but I would love to see/hear what you found, too, very interesting indeed. I thought the tinfoil idea was great, too, that Josseephus suggested. My favorite suggestion is Phoenix's, lol, although it is funny. You would SURELY know if something or someone was up there then. LOL

 

[Idgit]

As an aside, my front door just opened on its own while I was reading this thread. No joke. Kind of freaked me out.

Now, it's windy today, and my son didn't close it tightly. But it's got creaky hinges and I heard it creak open from the other room. Called out and nobody answered. Chills.

 

[Route 66]

Little history...my mother-in-law was visiting and had a health issue so an ambulance was called. The EMTs came to pick her up. One of them said that they used to live in our home. We always had this strange cutout in the ceiling in the living room going to the attic and I asked him if he knew why that was there. He avoided the question and changed the subject. When we bought the house, we didn't think too much of it when we closed but we thought the elderly couple who sold it to us acted strange and avoided eye contact. So there's two previous owners who acted a bit out of the ordinary.

We have heard over the years noises from the attic like someone was walking intermittently and also heard sounds in the walls like a thump. To this day, I write all that off to just the house settling as it simply sounded like a natural beam of wood shrinking and expanding with the various temperatures. It was built in the early 80s. Other strange stuff has happened after we put our Bullmastiff down after 10 years which I won't necessarily get into.

All in all, I still believe there is some reasonable explanation. However, I have ruled out animals parading on the roof and cannot find one thing in the attic. I have looked for anything the size of a rat in every inch. Whatever is causing this sound (which as I write, my wife just heard it in the other bedroom/bath area again), it doesn't move like a small animal with a tiny gait. It takes "steps" and these "steps" make the ceiling and surrounding area sound like wood beams creaking under slight stress. There's no wind and no signs of any issues with the load of the roof above the attic. I won't get into what's been happening with one of my doors.... lol.