Woo or something else? Rotary phone ringing

[TR888]

Hi. I wonder how I can help my friend, Her parents both died recently in their 90s within months of each other. She's moved into her dad's place. He had this old, rotary-dial phone which is obviously disconnected and unplugged. My friend tells me it's rung three times - she picks up and there's no sound coming through, as you would expect from a disconnected phone.

She thinks it's her dad. I'm not woo at all but have no explanation for it. Her partner has heard it too. Do you think this is a mental health issue or possibly something else?

Most likely a memory issue. You don't actually remember a phone ringing, your brain doesn't need to it just "knows" that you pick up a phone after it rings. What's probably happening is she's picking the phone up (in hope? because she's heard of this before?) and her brain has done its thing by assuming the ring where it would have been.

Memory is a weird thing. You remember what you need to, your brain doesn't store everything.

If it brings her comfort to think it's her dad, then just let her believe it.

She's freaked out by it rather than happy... I suggested that next time she should speak on the phone, thank her dad for all she did for her, and maybe that's do the trick? Not bc I believe her dad is phoning her but bc I think it might help her close that chapter in her life perhaps.

I think you're right about speaking. Although the chances of it being her dad are zero the fact is that it's very real to her and should never be dismissed or mocked. As you say, it could give her some closure.

I agree with your last comment. That's what I'd do in her place, it can't do any harm.

Thanks. It's so strange, especially as her partner's also heard it...

I have one of these old phones. It occasionally rings for no reason, always thought it was a kick back or some type of fault.

Oops, just read that hers is disconnected.
Mine only rings for no reason if plugged in

Well if her partner is hearing it too, it's obviously actually making some sort of noise.
Check that there isn't another phone plugged in in another room?
Plug it back in and ring the number - is the line actually live?
Bin the phone.

Might ping with a surge of some kind on the line. Or a faulty connection in the body of the phone.
I would replace it.

We used to have an old phone that had a bell in. Sometimes when you walked across the room heavily, if a heavy lorry went by or if someone was crashing about moving furniture etc it would make the bell tinkle like it was going to ring. Could it be that?

Deaf neighbours with their ringer on really loud?

I don’t think everything in life can be explained with what we know. Who knows what it is. I would say I certainly had a similar experience.

My dad died when I was 18. He’d bought me a printer when I went to uni. On the morning of his funeral, it woke me up turning itself on. I hadn’t used it in probably a week or two before this. It made all the usual turning on noises, the printer thing (sorry don’t know what it’s called but like the hand that prints) ran back and forth, it spit out a blank page, and all the lights flashed and then it went back to its ‘waiting’ rest mode. It never did that before or since. I can’t explain it. But on what was an emotional day for me, it gave me some comfort. I definitely wasn’t having mental health issues or imagining it.

That said, my blender which was plugged in but turned off, turned itself on last week with me sitting at the kitchen table 3 feet away. I was the only one in the house, so impossible that anyone could have turned it on. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well if her partner is hearing it too, it's obviously actually making some sort of noise.

Not necessarily. He may have heard her speak, and therefore his brain put the ring where it should have been. It could be how a question is phrased (Did you hear the phone ring? will get more positive replies than Did I hear a phone ring?), it could be as simple as a desire to give comfort to his partner while she is grieving.

Whats more likely? Her brain behaving in a way that the brain is known to behave or her deceased dad calling her on a disconnected landline from a hypothetical afterlife?

I still think that it is very real to her and kindness, sensitivity and empathy is vital.

Me and my husband have both heard ringing coming from an old rotary phone that is unplugged and been sitting in a closet for years...,what does this mean?

It means you should stay off the booze and stop posting on Zombie 🧟 Threads.