Have you ever received a strange or mysterious phone call?

I was reading the great threads about the "mysterious people" that many members have told about meeting, and I just love these kind of stories. While I have never met anybody really mysterious, myself, I have been told by friends and family about meeting some very strange people.

But I have, however, received a very mysterious phone call. Which I thought it would be fun to discuss. It would also be very interesting to hear if somebody else have any stories about "mysterious / strange phone calls".

So, here goes.

This was a while back, in 2001 I believe, when we still had a landline in the flat where I lived.

I live in Norway, which will be an important fact in the story, and at the time I was working a lot in the evenings, so I had the day off.

Well, the phone rang and I picked up saying "Hello" in Norwegian, obviously, because that's what you do. And then it got really mysterious, really fast.

After I had answered the phone, a woman blurted out in an almost breathless fashion the following phrase: "Someone just tried to call the childrens house..." In English, with a British accent. And I remember being so utterly flummoxed, I couldn't think of anything to say at all. Firstly because the person was speaking English and secondly because the statement itself was very strange. She continued relating how someone had just informed her about it, and that she thought it best to call right away, or something similar. I can't remember the exact wording.

At this point I had to tell her that I had no idea what she was talking about, which caused a sort of stunned silence, and then she asked who she was talking to. I explained who she was talking to, and after some stuttering she launched into a long, rambling explanation of how terribly sorry she was, that she had made a mistake, that somebody had left a message with the Consulate and again she must have called the wrong number. I agreed that this might be the case, and politely inquired who she was trying to reach, whereupon she almost pleadingly asked me to just forget about it, and that she was sorry to have bothered me. And then we said goodbye and I hung up.

Well, after this very strange episode, I sat there for several minutes just utterly baffled. I could certainly not forget about it. On the contrary, the more I thought about it, the more strange it seemed.

At the time we had an ISDN phone, which I had gotten from work and didn't know how to operate properly, so I pushed several buttons trying to get the caller logs. Which I couldn't find for some reason, but I distinctly remember it being a national number. So not an international call it would seem.

Then I began going through the whole conversation in my head. Although English is not my first lanuguage, I am fluent enough to recognize that "Somebody just tried to call the children's house" is not a very logical opening phrase. Children being in posession of a house is perhaps not in itself mysterious, but it is certainly uncommon. I briefly considered it being some kind of reference to an orphanage, but that would still be a strange way of saying that. Why not use the term "orphanage"? She spoke (to me at least) perfect English, like a native speaker, without any trace of accent or dialect. So the whole sentence was strange. And why should it be such a big deal that somebody had, presumably, tried to call this house? The whole thing was a bit absurd. At the start of the conversation the woman seemed really concerned about this, and I got the feeling she got almost impatient with my stunned silence. She didn't try to explain in any way, as if what she said should be self explanatory and I would know what the phrase "children's house" referred to. And also then, I must presume, why this was such a big deal.

So the more I thought about it, the more evident it became (to me at least) that this had to be some kind of code phrase. The other thing that seemed evident was that the woman had panicked a bit when she realized that she had called a wrong number and now related this to a random citizen. In her panic, and eagerness to make it all go away, she had inadvertently mentioned a the word "consulate". I guess because she was a bit flustered. Which was perhaps not so wise, in the end, because that's what made me get in my car and drive down to the local police station.

I have seldom felt more foolish than when I stood at the counter, looking at the incredibly bored police officer, trying to report my "mysterious" phone conversation. I still remember him, sort of looking at me and asking: "So, you think it might be some sort of code, then?" I can still feel the color slightly rising as I write this, even now after all these years.

Well, what could I do? I felt like a fool, and said as much, but I just felt I had to report it, and now I had. He could do with the information what he wanted, because I had done my "civic duty" I felt. At that point he proceeded to make a phone call, while he told me to wait. After a short conversation, he buzzed me through a door and said that someobody would come and talk to me.

To cut an already too long story short, that somebody turned out to be from the PST (the police security services here in Norway). They deal with counterespionage and such, so in a way I guess this was a bit of a vindication for me. He took everything very seriously, took copious amounts of notes, and asked me several questions. After the interview, he even thanked me for reporting it, and then I got out of there. Still feeling a bit foolish, but not as foolish as I had when I first came down to the police station.

I never heard any more about it, nor did I receive any more strange phone calls. But it still bugs me that I will probably never get to know the real backstory to this whole episode. Was it really someone involved in something clandestine that succumbed to Murphy's Law and called the wrong number, or was it just some weird woman calling random strangers? Some kind of prank? In case it was, it was very well done, and she was a very good actor.

I still believe that it really was someting that I shouldn't know about, intruding into my otherwise mundane existence, but there is no way I will ever know now after all these years.

And it bugs me a bit, still.

BT

a reply to: beetee

That's interesting dude! Very weird phrase to use in a phone conversation for sure.

"Children's House" might have be code for some kind of safe house or group maybe?

a reply to: Ezekiel

Yes, I still think it's rather suspicious.
What the "Children's house" would mean, is of course impossible to figure out, but I also thought along the lines of some sort of "safe house".

I have, admittedly, spent a lot of time wondering about the whole affair, and I guess I am leaning towards it being some kind of clandestine operation run by a foreign intelligence organization. Perhaps even withouth the knowledge of the Norwegian government, or with the approval of the Norwegian secret services.

It would certainly explain why somebody calling the safe house would cause such a stir, which evidently led to some hasty warnings going out.

Alas, to the wrong number...

I guess people involved in the intelligence community are as prone to making stupid mistakes as the average person.

I would, at least, like to think that it was my (only) brush with the secret world of espionage and clandestine operations :-D

BT

a reply to: beetee

Sometimes a wrong # is just a wrong #....

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Yes, I agree with that.

It was more the content of the conversation that seemed so strange at the time. I guess the way she acted when it became obvious she had indeed called a wrong #.

So, I take it you feel the phrase "Somebody just tried to call the children's house" isn't in any way strange?

I'm really curious about this, because although I speak English fairly well, it isn"t my first language.
To me it seems an odd statement to make.

BT

a reply to: beetee

No.. Nothing unusual... Could've been a family member, grandparent.. etc etc... I could call my brother and say the same thing

a reply to: beetee

the chidrens house. prolly in refrence to the terrible children.trying to make super soldiers still it seems. thanks for posting the scramble phrase. time to call zero and imaginary number 42.

The Children's House is a very common name for pre-schools in Europe and America and a google search shows there is at least one of that name, spelt in English in Norway. I'm not saying that this provides the answer.

What happened to you reminds of something that happened in Britian during my childhood and was even mentioned in an issue of the Fortean Times. It was a phenomema widely reported where people called a certain number that when answered an apparent recording of a woman's voice was heard to say something along the lines of "please help me Susie is drowning". Here is what I can find. My memory of this is that it was a call to your phone rather than ringing a specific number.
theghostinmymachine.wordpress.com...

a reply to: yuppa

Well, I can't really speculate.

This was more than 15 years ago, so pretty much out of date.

BT

a reply to: CulturalResilience

Thank you for the reply. I didn't know the phrase was common. I still find it odd that someone should need to inform "me" right away if somebody made a call to a pre-school. I would imagine a school gets a lot of calls.

Interesting about the recording.
Hadn't heard about that before.

Did your family receive such a call?

BT

The strangest thing about this (imo) is your reaction to it. Wrong number, put phone down, get on with your day.

a reply to: beetee
I was discussing this with my brother a few years back and I don't think we received a call but some people of our acquaintance claimed to have. I have just reminded him of the subject and I will let you know what he says. On a coincidental side note if have just realised your ATS name (Beetee), in the UK BT is a large phone service provider.

a reply to: kamatty

Hehe. Perhaps you are right.

It's the only time I have reacted like this, honestly, and I have received a lot of wrong number calls through the years. Really...

I guess it was the initial urgency and the very apparent backpedalling that caused me to react like I did.. And, of course, that the whole diplomacy thing suddenly popped up in it all...

I don't know. Maybe I'm just weird :-)

BT

originally posted by: beetee
a reply to: yuppa

Well, I can't really speculate.

This was more than 15 years ago, so pretty much out of date.

BT

Yes.. explains why i got chewed out for contacting them an dtold to mind my business.

Many years ago, during the Iran hostage crisis, I had a buddy working in Saudi and had been calling the middle east.
One Saturday, I was having trouble with my line clicking so I clicked it a few times and wass saying hello who is this...
And a voice came on the line saying "this is bob (something) with the FBI".
Freaked me out. Never heard anytning else about it. Never followed up to see if I have an FBI jacket.

ganjoa

a reply to: ganjoa

Lol.. That would certainly freak me out as well..
Great story! Thank you for contributing..

BT

a reply to: beetee

Its ok weird is cool 👍

a reply to: ganjoa
Here in the US, when I was a kid someone in our school had found out that you could call the FBI by dialing 1-800-PICKLE-E and so many kids thought it would be fun to see if it worked. Yes, it worked!
When I got connected, I simply said "Who am I talking to? " confirmed that the man said something FBI related and then said I must have dialed the wrong number. They must have gotten quite a few wrong numbers that week.

a reply to: CulturalResilience

On a coincidental side note if have just realised your ATS name (Beetee), in the UK BT is a large phone service provider.

Lol, yes, I know... Didn't really think about how it would look, before I started this thread..

That's not why I chose the name, for the record... It has to do with a nickname I once aquired..

And, let me stress, this is not some clever "share your phone story" clandestine viral marketing thing for British Telecom!

BT

I really thought there would be more material than this on this topic amongst the good people on ATS. It's not as if I've raised the bar very high with the opening entry...

Come on, there must be some phone weirdness out there.

BT
(Not British Telecom)