A customer at my shop in Phoenix brought in a 1980s VCR they said was haunted

They insisted it would rewind tapes by itself at 3 AM. I opened it up and found a single loose screw rolling across a tilted sensor board. Ever had a 'ghost' turn out to be a simple mechanical fault?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonm671d ago

Oh man, that's a classic one. I've seen a few like that, but I gotta point out, a screw rolling on its own at the same time every night is pretty wild. That feels like it needs another layer, like a floor vibration from a neighbor's appliance kicking on at 3 AM to get it moving. Still, it's amazing how often a "haunting" is just something loose in the machine.

thomas8322h ago

Right? That's such a good point, @simonm67. I had a weird one where a cabinet door would click open every afternoon. Drove me nuts for a week until I realized the setting sun was hitting the metal latch just right, heating it up and making it pop. It's crazy how our brains jump to ghosts before checking for a loose screw or a tiny vibration. Your idea about the appliance kicking on makes total sense for that rolling screw.