I Think My Parents' House Is Haunted

[at] geetha, I know exactly what you are saying, when you say that being robbed, is like being raped! I have been through both! We were robbed 5 times in 4 years, twice, the police said that it was an 'inside job'! 😕
But yes, when someone robs you, you loose all sense of security, just like when you are raped!

Mlign,
I leaning towards what Javelina and PJOD are saying. For the knocking, my first thought was residual haunting.

Jave,
OMG! I totally know what you are talking about. About 20 years ago, the very first house that I lived in got robbed. Police ended up arresting the head guy who robbed the place and it ended up being someone the family knew. I still remember it like yesterday, I told my parents leading up to the robbery that there was some suspicious activity going on around the house but they wouldn't listen to me because I was only a little kid and at that time my maternal grandmother was in the hospital with a stroke, so they were really stressed out. I think the guy took that to his advantage. Even when the police was at my house, my parents wouldn't listen to me so I went directly to one of the police officers there and told him what I saw. They actually used the information to catch the guy. We only got back most of the jewellery. The money that we kept in the house to pay for the installation of the electric chair for the stairs so that my grandmother could live in house was gone. Also, Jave, you mentioned in your second post here that it makes you sick to think that people can take such sentiment values from you. You also forget that these robbers also take away the sense of security you get from your home and also having your own personal space being invaded (almost like getting raped because you lose so much trust and you are in pain).

[at] shellzy,
Wow! I guess that article was dead on then. Sorry to hear about your folks being robbed, it is a shame how people will take what they want without a care in the world of what it will do to the family living there. Even if the home insurance policy covers theft, it still bothers me to think someone could be going through all your personal things, stealing jewelry, rummaging through all the drawers and closets, taking things that have sentimental value, it's just sick.
Also, I live next door to the corner house on our cul-de-sac, and it has been sold, lived in, robbed, sold, etc. The weird thing about it, that always bothers me, is that my dogs will go crazy nuts when they hear something or someone they aren't used to hearing regularly. Whenever this has happened I have gone next door to warn whoever is living there that there may be suspicious activity going on and they might want to keep an ear out for themselves. Then I report it to the local PD. They don't come by unless the activity is going on as you are speaking to them, but I still report what I heard. And it never fails, within a week the house gets robbed and the new owner dusts off the "For Sale" sign.

Jav

Best to be aware of the possibility than be shocked that it could ever happen to you.

MLIGN: Just to clarify, you mentioned you waited to see if this man would go to the house next door, so whilst you were waiting could you see him the whole time he was reading the meter? Did he just dissapear?
The banging and scratches you here could have a logical explanation like Pjod touched on. A few things need to be clarified I think to make a more informed guess as to what is going on. Thanks for sharing.

Dan

Jav,

Scarily enough you have just described what happened just before my parents house was robbed a few years back... Knocks on the door, someone pretending to walk their dogs and just happen to throw a ball down the driveway so they had to retrieve it. A person checking the gas meter reading at an odd time. And we lived in a cul de sac too...

Not trying to scare the op maybe a false alarm but I would take Javs advice and just be on alert... It can never hurt to be more careful... 😊

[at] MLIGN,
This could be any number of things, but I'll give you what came to my mind right off the bat. It looks to me like someone might be watching the house, and your families regular routines, in order to eventually break in and rob it.
The bang at the door only to find no one there? That could be someone checking to see if anyone is home or if there is someone in that part of the house. They throw something, like a ball that will bounce back to them, and see what the reaction from the inside of the house is. Doing this same thing repeatedly will get you to the point where eventually, you simply shrug off the noise without bothering to check it out. Then, if he makes a noise while breaking in, no one will think anything of it.
The guy looking at the electric meter? AT 1AM? I don't think so. You don't put meter readers in the position of being mistaken for a thief or worse. People can get hurt or killed in a situation like that. So you and your friend pull up and see the guy. You wait for him to move on, which you never see happen. I don't know where he could have run, but if he had bad intentions and was afraid of getting caught, he just might be able to scale that fence with no problem at all.
I don't know what is really going on at your parents place, but I would be extra vigilant anyway. Maybe you did scare him off, but he may just wait for another time, when he feels the commotion has died down.
I wish I could recall the article I got this information from, but it was several years ago. It also talked about the types of homes that are the most likely to be targeted for a break in (corner houses in a cul-de-sac) and that once a thief has chosen the place he wants to hit, it's like an obsession. They have to have it.
Sorry if I frighten you with this, but best informed is the best defense.
And besides, I could be wrong.

Jav

I'm with Pjod. The knock is most probably simply the creak of a house that you get everywhere.

As far as the knock at the front door-
Sometimes, when there is a sudden change in temperature- like the sun rising, hitting our front door- a sound like a knock can be heard. Materials expanding within the door? Usually it's not loud, and without rhythm... So I have to ask, is this knocking a loud constant sound?

Um well, maybe its a good ghost and besides you don't need to get a priest now cause it probably is a priest. But I've heard that only certain people can see full body appearances, also I know a lot about these things. If you see it in your house then keep your house busy, ghosts like quiet houses and non active noisy people.
😊