Late-night animal/creature on rooftop making noise and shaking walls?

Greetings,

In this thread I would like to recall my strange experience with noise and movement on my rooftop one late night. This is in hope of getting your opinions - logical or way out there. Regardless, I am very interested in solving this to some degree and putting my curiosity to rest.

The night in question was approximately two years ago during the Summer. I live in rural Alberta, Canada. I am a little ways out into the "boonies" surrounded by hundreds of acres of heavy forest. My nearest neighbors are no less than a couple kilometers away. The land is primarily all trees with some valley formations and a small lake.

This interesting experience started with my mother calling me while I was at my now ex-girlfriends house. It was almost midnight and she asked if I could come home because there was something on the roof. She didn't need to say much more - I was on the road and speeding back home, all the while entertaining a variety of wild scenarios.

Upon pulling into the driveway I slowed down substantially, turned on my brights and proceeded. The sky was relatively clear and I could see the silhouette of the two story house against the sky very well. Aside from being creepy I didn't see anything so I drove a couple hundred feet to the front of the house and parked. With a bit of paranoia I ran quickly to the door and headed inside.

So here's the "strange" part. I get inside and find my Mom upstairs in her bedroom looking pretty freaked out. I sit down and wait to hear whatever it is she was hearing. Pretty quickly it happened - a swelling & rumbling noise started above us and the wall in the corner of her room literally vibrated enough to cause the mirrors hanging there to wobble and sway. The best way to describe the noise was somebody applying a strong force to a wooden chair on a hardwood floor and shaking it fairly quickly back and forth, starting out with short quiet movements and quickly swelling to larger and louder ones with an abrupt and sudden end.

This exact same noise with the exact same intensity occurred at least a dozen more times while I was there - moving around the rooftop to above my sister's room and the spare bedroom over a time span of about 3-4 hours. I didn't sleep but rather stayed up listening and attempting to logically come up with an answer as to what the heck was up there. Here's a breakdown of what possibilities I was able to eliminate.

There were no ladders to the roof on any point of the house. We have cats that are... "ambitious" and I thought it might be one of them messing around. I quickly peeked around and verified there was absolutely no point of access for any biped or quadruped to get up that high - especially considering that our house is built on the side of a hill and the distance from ground to roof is as high as 30 feet in many areas. I then thought - okay - attic. I looked in through the attic access with a flash light only to find the sprayed on insulation very neat and undisturbed - not to mention there wasn't anything up there - after all I figured my eyes were working just fine. So... flying creature?

When dawn came I stepped outside and took a very long way around some of our out buildings so I could get a nice view of the rooftop. As I started to come around the back I stopped when I noticed what LOOKED like something sitting or perched at the top point of our breakfast nook, right under the main roof line. Whatever it was, was dark and fairly large. I thought I saw eyes but it was hard to tell. A little agitated I darted inside and got the binoculars. When I came back out there was nothing there - of course. Admittedly spooked I really wanted to find a logical answer to this.

That day with the assistance of my parents I went onto the roof while they stayed upstairs in their bedroom with the window open to communicate with me. I went to where I first heard the noise and tried to exert some sort of force on it by bobbing up and down and jumping... CONT.

I also hammered on the shingles in an attempt to cause some vibration and move the mirrors in the room below. Despite my efforts I couldn't move a thing or create any detectable vibrations according to my parents. I weighed 170 pounds at the time and found this puzzling. My Dad also went up while I stayed in the house. While he was up there nothing he did could recreate the forces involved the night before.

So - that's my tale and it's very accurate in terms of what I recall about it. Perhaps somebody has an opinion on what it could have been? The best explanation we could come up with was that it may have been an owl flapping it's wings in some territorial display. But I don't know enough about such things to verify whether this could have been possible or not. Some of my more "out there" thoughts included the possibility of a creature related to Cryptozoology such as a Gargoyle (hah, I know. Wouldn't that be neat!).

Anyways, thank-you for reading. Your time is much appreciated.

- Seleras

Intersting. Makes me think of "Rats in the Walls" by HP Lovecraft. I'm not sure what your mystery creature is, but my curiousity is peaked.

If only it were rats but alas, all we have here are mice and my four cats take care of them with haste.

I'm glad your curious as well. Let's hope for some insight into this from other members.

I instantly thought of a Raccoon when I read everything.

I never considered that - most likely because I don't think they naturally live in our area of the province BUT that's not to say it's impossible. Perhaps I shall peruse some government wildlife websites and see if they dwell anywhere nearby. I've personally never seen or heard anyone mention one but it is interesting none the less. Can a raccoon climb quite well?

For a reference to those interested, this is the type of owl we conjectured it may be - given it's very large size and wing-span and flat face (a possible reason I could have mistaken it for something slightly humanoid). That being said - that doesn't explain the actual event of shaking and whatnot... anywho...

Great Grey Owl

Do a search on California Condor or Andean Condor. A few hundred years ago the range of the California Condor was across the full west coast. Maybe you have some (or something similar) hiding out or passing through up there. Having worked with these birds in captivity, I can say that they are huge, and that they have powerful wings.

Thank-you tamusan - much appreciated. Some further research into those Condors will be required in the morning. For now it's 2 AM here and sleep awaits me.

I should also note that I will be recording an example of the sound the "creature" made tomorrow. The chair on a wooden floor description I gave is actually almost exactly how it sounded.

[edit on 19-8-2010 by Seleras]

It sounds more paranormal than anything else. Spirits will do that, make those kinds of noises for various reasons. Has your mother encountered any other paranormal activity? Also, how old is the home and is it close to an earthquake fault.

reply to post by xynephadyn


Having waited through many an earthquake, that was my first thought. I discounted it on the notion that the OP was probably not too far away when the incident happened and would have likely noticed an earthtquake.

A spirit type entity is worth considering. I'm not a believer in that type of thing really, but I am trying.

Originally posted by Mythic Chris
I instantly thought of a Raccoon when I read everything.

I agree 100% with a racoon , they can climb , are nocturnal and will get into wall cavities .

reply to post by 13th Zodiac


Yes, racoons can climb quite well, and they can reach 40 pounds or so. Maybe there a couple up there mating. --But I don't care for that explanation.

You mentioned your sister's room. Poltergeist phenomena are often reported in the vicinity of young girl's of about puberty age. --Any connection there?

Question: Surely in the household, being in the country like that, there is a high-powered lantern (one of those of a million or so candlepower). Why didn't you go outside to check the roof during the episodes, even with a puny two-cell flashlight?

Originally posted by Aliensun
reply to post by 13th Zodiac

 

Yes, racoons can climb quite well, and they can reach 40 pounds or so. Maybe there a couple up there mating. --But I don't care for that explanation.

You mentioned your sister's room. Poltergeist phenomena are often reported in the vicinity of young girl's of about puberty age. --Any connection there?

Question: Surely in the household, being in the country like that, there is a high-powered lantern (one of those of a million or so candlepower). Why didn't you go outside to check the roof during the episodes, even with a puny two-cell flashlight?

Oh you don't care for that huh ? you don't want a rational explanation ? and you want it to be a poltergiest so you can feel choosen and special .
Gotcha my bad !

If You don't want peoples opinions don't ask !

Why are you quoting me as saying anything about my sister as I don't have one ! Nor did I mentioned poltergiests .
I am not trashing the existance of the supernatural , I simply feel there is a very common , simple and logical explanation for your experience . Hope someone can forfil your fantasies .

Mothman!

Second line!

Originally posted by 13th Zodiac

Originally posted by Aliensun
reply to post by 13th Zodiac

 

I simply feel there is a very common , simple and logical explanation for your experience . Hope someone can forfil your fantasies .

He weights 170 lbs.. raccoons, even 4 of them, couldn't make as much sound as one heavy guy jumping on a roof, in my opinion. And most certainly couldn't shake the mirrors or artwork on the walls inside. IMO

Maybe an opossum family?
2nd

I live in rural Saskatchewan and have also lived in rural BC before. Raccoons live everywhere, so it could be one. Is there any trees relatively close to where something could jump from a tree to your house? Mountain lions (cougars), or small bears are good strong tree climbers too.

I wouldn't go out to try to figure it out at night, because you are lower on the food chain than cougars or bears.

An owl or other large bird could also be a possibility.

Last year, all winter, I kept hearing a motor sound, every few minutes when I was outside. I was thinking it was a motor from a compressor working someone's water supply. Then in the early spring while out walking the dog, I heard it again, followed the sound, and it was a large bird, hanging onto a log on the ground, flapping his wings hard I guess it was the bird's way of keeping warm. My mystery solved, very weird big bird.

reply to post by xynephadyn


Thanks for the response. Here's what I know about the history of the land we live on. First off as far as I know we don't live on or near an earthquake fault line. We've never experienced any form of tremors, etc. Out here that would be big news to everyone in the area and surrounding cities. The nature of the noise/movement on the roof was too isolated and focused to be caused by that sort of thing. Then again I'm no geologist so all debate is welcome.

We own 40 acres of land about 30 minutes outside of the nearest town. We know it was used by settlers and farmers at some point in the past. There were faint paths through the tree tops that clearly indicated usage as well as many old remnants of tools, building materials and cookware. From what I've heard, farmers would often use the clearings in our surrounding forest that were created by dried up small bodies of water. This allowed them to grow crops without clearing the land (which would be one heck of a challenge even for the toughest lumber jack ). We've found very old rusted out kettles, pots and crude nails, etc. In addition we've found old bricks and even an intriguing mound of rocks on top of a small hill in the middle of the forest that resembles an elongated oval shape - much like a grave. I can't substantiate that in any way - could just be a pile of rocks they cleared from elsewhere for crop growing.

About 19 years ago my parents bought this land. We came, called in the heavy machine cavalry and cleared some forest (1.5 acres or so). We initially setup shop by bringing in a mobile home and erecting a garage on a concrete pad. Approximately 5 years ago we removed the mobile home after building a new house. No new land has been cleared since the initial amount 19 years ago aside from the formation of trails through the forest wide enough to drive a large tractor through.

*laughs* Okay, now that you know the dull history of the land I should answer your first question - has my mother (or anyone else in my family) ever experienced any paranormal activity? In a nutshell - and on a small scale - yes. But it has been rare and inconsistent. Here are some events that come to mind that were unexplainable...

- The only reoccurring event is the random triggering of our smoke alarms in the middle of the night. This has happened half a dozen times or so in the 5 years since we built the new house. There are three smoke alarms (one on each floor including the walk-out basement) and they are all hard wired into the house's power supply. They do not need batteries. All observable signs indicate there's nothing wrong with them or the circuit they're on - given they're all new. The electricians suggested dust build-up but even after vacuuming them out thoroughly the incident still occurred. It's always squat in the middle of the night and it always takes one of them being unplugged to stop it. More than anything - this is just annoying.

- On one occasion my sister and her friend, who were probably around 16 years old at the time, were awoken while sleeping in her upstairs room by what they described as a piercing white light that filled the room through the windows for a moment and went away. There was no lightning or thunder anyone saw that night. Who knows.

- The most odd for me was being awoken by my cell phone late one night, telling me I have a new message - actually it said I had 6 or 7 new messages... oddly. Not a second after reading my phone the smoke alarm went off. By the time I remedied the alarms and returned to my cell, it said I had no new messages. Checking them, I found there were indeed none. Possible electrical interference from something?

That's good for now. Don't know if that will help but thanks for reading... geez, I have to cut down on my writing. Thanks again!

reply to post by 13th Zodiac


This would definitely seem like a likely explanation. We did consider that perhaps something crawled in, somewhere from outside the house. Unfortunately most of our concerns over that were put to rest after an examination of the exterior. Since it was new, there were no points that any animal, even a mouse could squeak into. It's a very solid, well built house and although I wish it were possible, logic seems to point away from it. Then again, as always I am open to being educated on such things. Thank-you for responding.