D.C.'s J. Edgar Hoover Building and Scrambled Phones

I thought I would bring this up to see if anyone has had similar experiences...

About 3 - 4 years ago, I had just got a Samsung Instinct phone, and I had never been happier with a phone. Well, one day my dad and I went to Washington D.C. for a little sight seeing. When we were within about 200 hundred feet from the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which is the headquarters for the F.B.I, my phone let out a vibration. I thought I had a text, so I pulled the phone out to see who it was. It turns out it wasn't a text message, but a reset of my phone's firmware, along with a total erasure of all my data (numbers, previous text messages, emails, bookmarks, etc). I thought it was strange and just chalked it up to a bug.

Last year, I was working for my neighbor, who is the head of a local political polling business. He says he does "A.I. polling," but I call it what it really is; automated annoyance. This is irrelevant though. I was his driver, as he had broke his leg. We went to D.C. one day, as we did everyday. I was left to basically just bide my time around town. I went to Subway, sat in the park on 3rd, or was it Third Street (there are two), and walked around town. I made my way near the J. Edgar Hoover building once again. When I was near, I pulled out my phone to check the time as I had to pick my boss up. Again, the phone's firmware was reset and all my data was lost. This time it was an HTC Android.

Today, I went to D.C. to see a friend from school. He was sightseeing with his girlfriend and I thought I would join them. We walk toward the Capitol Building. On the way there, we pass the J. Edgar Hoover building. I had the same phone as last time, and guess what happened for the third time...

Now, I don't claim to be monitored by the F.B.I or anyone, at I least I don't think I am being monitored, but what are the odds of 2 different phones doing this on 3 different occasions in the immediate vicinity of the same building, the F.B.I headquarters no less? This has never happened anywhere else, and I don't know of anyone who had this happen to them anywhere.

Anyone got some answers or similar stories?

I'd call this a hoax thread.

First of all, the phone wouldn't reset when you pulled it out of your pocket etc etc, it would reset as soon as it came within coverage of whatever device was doing this.

Secondly, if your phone reset, every single person's phone who ever came near the building would reset too, and this would be a well known issue widely reported in MSM.

reply to post by babybunnies


Well, it is not a hoax. Coincidence, perhaps, but I am not a liar. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and each time it was in the process of reseting back to the original firmware.

Video it or it never happened

reply to post by sd211212


I don't really carry my video camera everywhere...plus I think I would look pretty ridiculous video taping my phone in front of the F.B.I. headquarters. Come on Washingtonians, or anyone else with stories like this, tell me!

reply to post by SubPop79


the only thing usefull i can think to say is :

read your OP , from another persons perspective - would you believe it ?

10`s of thousands of people - and thier phones pass withing 50m of the J.E.Hoover building every day , one would assume with no disruption of thier phone data [ if any significan number had - why silence ]

but this phenonemon has affected you 3 times

further - although i have no specific knowldedge of any of the phones you cite - no phone i have had has ever deleted anything from memory while ` updating firmware `

the only data loss i ever had was a nokia that froze - and only connecting it to a comp and reseting to default would restore operation - but only internal memory data was lost - USIM contacts and data on the memory card were still there

reply to post by SubPop79


Well.......:

I thought I had a text, so I pulled the phone out to see who it was.....

Consider this statistic: In NYC alone, during 2010, Almost 40% of New York’s 911 Calls Are ‘Butt Dials’

(What are the possibilities that wherever your cell-phone was stored, it was "butt-dialed")....... or "pocket-dialed", or "bag-dialed" that cause these problems? Check your phone's "User Manual" to determine the methods it uses to "re-set"....they DO vary among manufacturers, and models......

As already noted and mentioned....MANY tourists either visit, or pass WELL within the range of the "Hoover" building, and do not experience similar "symptoms".

"Full disclosure"....I used to live in the Washington, D.C. area, and visit nearby that building countless times...and never experienced any such "symptom".......