Just had an odd experience

[Chris in VA]

I was sitting on my couch watching The Voice about 45 mins ago and a total stranger walked into the room from my garage.

She stood there while I (startled) asked Who are you? She gave me her name and asked who I was! I asked her where she thought she was, and she said, "At my home, in Arlington." Arlington is 30 minutes away.

 

Very weird.

 

She left as I left the room (very briefly) to get my husband (who couldn't have heard me because he had headphones on two rooms away). SHe drove away--we checked the cars in the garage and nothing is missing, that we can see. She did not seem altered or drunk.

 

I called the police. They came and took a report.

 

Now I'm still a little freaked out.

[Stacia]

That is very weird.

 

:grouphug:

[Rachel]

Ok now I'm freaked out. Was the door not locked or am I just a weirdo who locks her doors all the time. How unsettling!

[Annie G]

I think being freaked out is completely justified.  I probably would have wet my pants.  I hope the lady is ok- it's probably a medical condition or something. 

[Ethel Mertz]

Whoa, Chris! How did she get into your garage?

[rdj2027]

We used to have a neighbor who did this.  He had Alzheimers.

[ThisIsTheDay]

How old was she?  (Because in my mind, perhaps she is older and in onset dementia?)

 

I'd be entirely freaked out too. Oh my goodness.

[Storygirl]

That's weird! A few years ago, DH had a similar experience when he found a stranger standing in our backyard one night. We lived in a neighborhood where the houses were very close together, with only a driveway between and fenced in back yards. He could only have gotten there by walking down our driveway to the back of our house. DH asked what he was doing, and he seemed confused but not drunk. He walked back down the driveway and went away.

 

DH came inside and called the police, who came and took a statement.

[Jean in Newcastle]

How could she get into your garage?  I'm glad that you are safe.  Make sure everything is locked and if she got into a locked place I would change the garage codes. 

[MercyA]

:ohmy: Whoa, talk about unsettling! So glad you are okay!  :grouphug:

[Chris in VA]

She was very thin, blond, white,--maybe 30s? Looked kinda like a mom who had run to the grocery. Hair back in a pony or at least pulled back, some sort of fleece zip up jacket...

 

Our doors were locked except our garage door wasn't down and she came right in the door to the den which is right off the garage.

Didn't take anything from the garage or from the cars parked there (and I had left my purse there).

 

I just...wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know if she was the distraction and someone else was with her, if that someone had a gun, if she was lost, if she was altered--but she didn't seem so.

[Guest]

That sounds like the beginning of a horror movie. I would seriously be freaked out. Like, ax under my pillow, freaked out.

[happi duck]

Yikes!

[Kerileanne99]

Oh wow, how freaky!

 

We had our baby push/tricycle thing go missing from our garage recently and this was freaky enough as it meant someone came right up to the house with us in it. I am not sure what I would have done if they they actually came INSIDE!

A reminder to always lock the door, for sure!

[Stacia]

Check to make sure your garage door openers from your vehicles aren't missing. If someone grabs one, they could come back at a later time when you're not home & have easy access inside.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Stacia

[Chris in VA]

Well, listen--when we first moved in here, about 14.5 years ago, maybe the 3rd year or so, some drunk dude got let off by his friends, probably in the graveyard next door. I was home alone with the boys and my dd as my husband was OOT. In the middle of the night, I hear someone banging on the downstairs window, and making noise. Then I heard a crash--

I was so scared. I didn't have a phone near my bed, so I had to go downstairs to the office to call 911. I didn't know if the person was inside our home now or what. I gathered up all my courage, ran down the stairs screaming, GET THE HL OUT OF MY HOUSE! and skidded into the office and slammed the door shut. Then I called 911. They couldn't find the house. They took about 20 mins to get here. Meanwhile, ds#2 is asking what's wrong and both boys are terrified. I told him to get inside his room and close the door. I grabbed the heavy metal music stand in the office and cracked the door again to look out and stayed on the phone. If he had been inside and had tried to go up the stairs, I would've tried to beat the crap out of him. If he'd had had a gun, I'd have been toast.

 

Police came, and the guy was found passed out in the side yard. The big sound had been him knocking over the air conditioning unit while trying to climb up to the living room window (we are on a hill, so the side windows are higher).

 

He was taken away--I think they found his pants later.

 

Very scary.

 

Boys were very affected by it. One couldn't walk by that window without feeling fear, and the other started collecting hammers.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Chris in VA

[Chris in VA]

Will double check. I know mine is still there because we used it to put down the door on my side. Will check right now to see if dh's is there.

Thanks.

Yep, both there.

[Annie G]

I wonder if it's something like a side effect of Ambien. I've read that people do some crazy stuff while on that. 

[Chris in VA]

I kinda wondered that, too, Annie G!

(On a side note, who was it here that used to post when she was on Ambien? She knew it was really funny and left it up for us to enjoy...)

[Guest]

That's an odd experience all right.  

 

I think your questions to her were peace-filled, though, and that is very cool.  

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Whoa

 

 

[Spryte]

You handled it so calmly. Good job!

 

Glad nothing was taken, and you're safe. I hope she is, too. I wondered about ambien as well, when reading your post.

 

How frightening!

[J-rap]

That is very, very bizarre!  A few years ago, around 10pm, a woman (maybe in her 60's?) came walking into our house through the front door, and just stood there in our living room.  Our dog was even freaked out.  We both just stood there staring at her for a moment.  I think I said something like, "What are you doing??!!"  And then she simply looked at me, turned around, and walked back out the door.

 

**********

 

Okay, now I just had another very bizarre experience, that happened JUST NOW.  As I was proofreading this, my curser was hovering around the word "woman," and my computer gave me the alternative "alien" instead of "woman."  Why would it do that?  That has never happened to me before.  FREAKY.

Edited March 8, 2016 by J-rap

[Stacia]

That is very, very bizarre!  A few years ago, around 10pm, a woman (maybe in her 60's?) came walking into our house through the front door, and just stood there in our living room.  Our dog was even freaked out.  We both just stood there staring at her for a moment.  I think I said something like, "What are you doing??!!"  And then she simply looked at me, turned around, and walked back out the door.

 

**********

 

Okay, now I just had another very bizarre experience, that happened JUST NOW.  As I was proofreading this, my curser hovering around the word "woman," and my computer gave me the alternative "alien" instead of "woman."  Why would it do that?  That has never happened to me before.  FREAKY.

 

Well, maybe now your original question to her is answered? She was scouting places for an alien invasion? :tongue_smilie:

 

<tinfoilhats>

 

(You're not in Roswell, NM, right?)

[Cinder]

:ohmy:  And my dh thinks I'm a little too paranoid about keeping the garage door closed unless we're actually outside.

 

Chris, that is just so creepy and weird! Ugh, I hope you're able to sleep tonight. I think I'd be too creeped out to be able to.

[mom@shiloh]

Possible explanation:  When my mom was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, she went back to her childhood home thinking that it was still her home.  She told my brother about it later, including details about the inside of the house so it was clear that she actually walked into a stranger's house and looked around.  No one was home.  It's a very small town and no one locks their doors. It could have been something like that.

[Tsuga]

Ack! I hope she found her family and that the police were able to follow up. Clearly she is not well in some way or another.

 

Glad you are all safe.

[staceyobu]

Do you remember her name??

[zoobie]

That would freak me out! Hope you're sleeping easily.

[bettyandbob]

So strange. And really scary. You aren't in a subdivision where every house is similar. I'm glad you are safe. Sounds like the woman might have medical issue. I hope she gets it resolved.

[ThisIsTheDay]

She was very thin, blond, white,--maybe 30s? Looked kinda like a mom who had run to the grocery. Hair back in a pony or at least pulled back, some sort of fleece zip up jacket...

 

Our doors were locked except our garage door wasn't down and she came right in the door to the den which is right off the garage.

Didn't take anything from the garage or from the cars parked there (and I had left my purse there).

 

I just...wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know if she was the distraction and someone else was with her, if that someone had a gun, if she was lost, if she was altered--but she didn't seem so.

 

I find her age somewhat concerning.

 

A few weeks ago, two women were killed in Sun City Grand West, Arizona (Phoenix suburb). They were at home in an upscale neighborhood.  The house was targeted SOLELY because the garage door was up.  The killers parked in the driveway, entered the house through the garage, confronted the women inside, and killed them both.  It was broad daylight, the victims were unknown to the killers and were targeted completely at random ONLY because of the garage door. (A killer dropped a cellphone at the scene, was arrested, and gave this info to police.)

 

I consider myself cautious but not fearful.  I think nothing of leaving my garage door open for short periods of time. I am not worried about being the victim of petty theft because of this.  However, those women in Arizona are dead because the garage door was left open in the day time. They were probably expecting to go back out soon.

 

It may have been nothing, or your presence in the room may have surprised her.  But I'm sharing this as a caution for all of us.  You are not always safe in the places you think you are.

 

 

 

 

[creekland]

Definitely strange, Chris, but I'm glad it seemed to work out ok.

 

I'll have to side with all of those who thing meds (legal or illegal) might have been part of it.  If she'd been a little younger, I'd also wonder about a dare, but that seems highly unlikely at her age.  If she didn't take anything from your garage, I don't think theft was on her mind, but I guess one never knows.

 

In any event...  :grouphug:

[trulycrabby]

I have seen post partum women act like this; also diabetic or post-seizure. Ambien would do it, too.

 

How scary, though. :grouphug:

[Miss Tick]

Wah! Weird. We had a raccoon do that once, but it was an old college rental. He didn't take anything either.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Possible explanation:  When my mom was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, she went back to her childhood home thinking that it was still her home.  She told my brother about it later, including details about the inside of the house so it was clear that she actually walked into a stranger's house and looked around.  No one was home.  It's a very small town and no one locks their doors. It could have been something like that.

 

That or some sort of mental fugue.  Rare, but not impossible. 

 

I have accidentally mistaken someone else's car for mine.  I didn't open the door, but went up to it and last minute realized oops that's not my car.  It seems like that would be harder to do with a house unless all the houses looked the same or something.

[Cinder]

That or some sort of mental fugue.  Rare, but not impossible. 

 

I have accidentally mistaken someone else's car for mine.  I didn't open the door, but went up to it and last minute realized oops that's not my car.  It seems like that would be harder to do with a house unless all the houses looked the same or something.

 

I've done that and I know a lot of people have done the same. I even once got to trying to unlock the door and realizing it wasn't my car when the key didn't work.

 

When I was working there was a guy in my office who mistook another car in our parking lot for his. He said he realized it wasn't his after he got in and sat down and thought something felt different about that car--it was clean. :laugh:   His dad was a car dealer and explained that there are about 10,000 different key/lock sets so it would be unusual to have the same key work in another car in your area. But this guy bought his car in another state and had just moved to our area. Still, what are the chances? Anyway, he found the woman whose car it was and told her what happened--she got all offended about it, sheesh!--and he ended up getting a new key/lock combo for his car.

[alisoncooks]

How strange!  That would've freaked me out, for sure!

I hope that if the woman is having some medical issue, that she made it home safely.  (If she's on the up-and-up, I bet she's even more upset/freaked out than you!)

[Kim in Appalachia]

I'm glad that you're ok.  That is scary.  I wonder what was wrong with her?  I hope there was something medically wrong, and she wasn't attempting something else.  :grouphug:

 

 

[Mom2OandE]

That happened to my sister in law. She thought all was ok but discovered her wallet missing when she went to the grocery store.

[flyingiguana]

I've done that and I know a lot of people have done the same. I even once got to trying to unlock the door and realizing it wasn't my car when the key didn't work.

 

 

 

I did this, but my key worked.

 

At the last moment before getting in, I realized it was not my car.  Because this car was clean.

[flyingiguana]

Wah! Weird. We had a raccoon do that once, but it was an old college rental. He didn't take anything either.

 

Are you sure?  Cause I had a raccoon take off with a bag of candy.

[gardenmom5]

That or some sort of mental fugue.  Rare, but not impossible. 

 

I have accidentally mistaken someone else's car for mine.  I didn't open the door, but went up to it and last minute realized oops that's not my car.  It seems like that would be harder to do with a house unless all the houses looked the same or something.

 

considering how many cars look alike these days - that's not hard. (one kid got off car theft by being able to prove it looked exactly like his mom's - and his moms key fit.  a women loaned her car to her mother, but it wasn't her car her mom brought home.  the key fit.)

 

  but mistaking someone else's house, in another town . . . that's something entirely different.

[EmilyGF]

Something like this happened to a friend of mine in college. He woke up in the morning to find a random guy sleeping on his couch. Asked the guy what he was doing there; guy said, "This is my apartment." Then he looked around, realized it wasn't, and left. Turned out he had come in while drunk, assumed it was his apartment, and went to sleep on the couch. 

 

Emily

[barnwife]

This happened to me while I was in high school. I was in the living room and heard our front door open. I knew my mom was in the kitchen and dad was in the basement. That left no one else that it could be.

I headed toward the door to see what it was. Some guy came in and tried to insist that his friend lived there. (Not possible...my family lived there since before I was born.)

He left after a few minutes.

I immediately went to tell my mom what happened. She called the cops. They came and took a description of the guy.

Turns out he was from the local home for adults with disabilities. He hadn't seemed "off" to me other than thinking he was in his friend's house.

Hopefully your situation is as benign.

[clementine]

What the heck?  I'd be freaked out!  I'm trying to imagine how I would have handled it - open jaw, frozen feet, mind spinning - very, very weird!!

[QueenCat]

She's lucking you weren't sitting there with a loaded pistol. Many people shoot first, ask questions later.

[Tess in the Burbs]

My grandma used to beat on the neighbor's door late in her alzheimer's.  Always thought it was her door....  

 

Glad it turned out okay, but LOCK YOUR DOORS ok?

[dirty ethel rackham]

:ohmy:  And my dh thinks I'm a little too paranoid about keeping the garage door closed unless we're actually outside.

 

Chris, that is just so creepy and weird! Ugh, I hope you're able to sleep tonight. I think I'd be too creeped out to be able to.

We've been told to do that as well.  We actually had some kids try to steal beer from our garage while we were in the kitchen less than 10 feet away ... and this was daylight (6 pm in the summer.)  So, we keep our garage door closed unless we need it open for some reason.  Also, our door to our house needs a new lock since it just won't catch.  I tried to work on it and couldn't get it to work properly and Dh planned to give it a go, but my surgery intervened. 

[Scarlett]

Very weird Chris.

[zoobie]

Did they find her with her name, physical description, and home town?