Please give me some reasonable explanations of this weird experience today?

[TripleTruffle]

I left my house and didn't see a single person in my road, only cars but I couldn't hear them. This in itself is unusual as it's a cut through road to a busy main road with shops and leads to A roads, there's always someone outside and you can often hear chatter. Everything was silent. I put it down to EV cars having not heard vehicle noise and didn't think much more of it.

I was driving for the school run and again, no one walking along the roads, they were unusually empty apart from the people in cars, driving them and even then there was no traffic which is unusual. I couldn't hear any road noise and had to check I could hear by turning the radio on (which I could hear). Got out of the car when I parked and I panicked that I was extremely late. You can always hear the kids or parents at pick up time and there's always someone else walking along the road at that time. I couldn't hear a thing. If there weren't people driving cars, I'd have thought I'd missed a world event today whilst at home.

Got into the school gates and it was quieter than usually but it was like a 'click' of noise from the school as soon as I walked into the playground itself and as soon as we got out (5 minutes after let out as DC was busy doing something before coming out but there were others still in the playground and walking home), the noise stopped again and all I could hear was DC talking. There was one other woman and child but they weren't talking to each other anyway.

Got in the car, and thankfully DC was chatting away as, by this time, everything felt really eery. I went to McDonald's Drive Thru to get a coffee and it was dead. The car parks for surrounding shops had cars parked in them but no one walking outside. No background noise at all. I heard the person on the speaker and when I got to the window, could hear the noise in McDonald's but when they closed the windows, everything was silent again.

Got home and DH was home earlier than usual, we all went inside and I've heard a car or two go by since but no people and the doorbell camera hasn't picked up a single soul this evening.

I know it sounds absolutely bonkers but I'm sitting here scratching my head as to what it is I've experienced?

Atmospheric pressure of some sort muffling the sounds ?

Well…it could be your ears.
It could be your brain.
It could be no one went out.
It could be a time slip into an alternate universe where in one reality you died but you changed timelines and the soundtrack on the new reality hasn’t caught up. It needs to buffer a bit more but it will be okay by the time you wake up.
😜

You probably just need to get your ears syringed.

The auditory symptoms could be an ear infection, a vestibular imbalance, or even a form of seizure. Do you normally analyse the number of people around and on foot to this extent, or is it possible you are seeing patterns (as humans do) because sound seems wrong? Have you asked anyone else if sounds seem different? If it continues, get your hearing checked to start with.

This was my first thought, coming storm or something.

Auditory migraine

very interesting! it’s possible you slipped in a parallel dimension. Or, perhaps the simulation we are in had a glitch today and you were able to see it and experience it.

Has anyone waved a neuralyzer at you recently?

It’s probably the Rapture. It’s due tomorrow apparently.

The only explanation is that you’re in a game and there was a strike in the NPCs (non-playable characters) union.

Haha! This made me laugh but it's honestly what it felt like.

I don't usually notice the amount of people, no, but it was the lack of noise with the lack of anything much going on as well. Everything just felt so odd and still, I can't really explain it properly.

Maybe you're in the Truman show and they were having staffing problems with the extras.
Check your wedding photos to see if your DH is crossing his fingers.

I had a weird thing with sound today as well

I sometimes have a similar experience if I step outside and there’s no noticeable ambience - not hot or cold, windy, cloudy, sunny, raining etc. I fret that I’m in a simulation and someone forgot to turn on the weather machines.

The Twilight Zone episode ‘A matter of minutes’

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e9XFRfeGBVI

Did you take some Tylenol?

Autumn Equinox

That’s what I was going to say.

High pressure systems can cause a temperature inversion that can muffle sound, and barometric pressure has been increasing over the last day or two. I think this is the most likely explanation.

It was autumn equinox, are you a bit witchy?

So if you put on the car radio did you have to turn up the sound? Same with the TV. It's hard to tell whether it's your hearing or not. I hope it is!

Temperature inversions are common around the Equinox due to weather conditions. So no need for witchiness.

It was Sunday... May explain why it was quiet at school...

Edit - no it wasn't, it was Monday. Hey, maybe I had the time slip!

Came to say this as i suffer with it.

I've had medication that messed with my hearing but the opposite.
Everything close was muffled and all the peripheral noises were unbearably loud.

Are you on drugs OP?