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Ghost In The Wire?

 

In the summer of January 1989, I was the supervisor of approximately thirty maintenance technicians for a large Australian telephone company, based in Sydney's northern suburbs.

Our function was to detect, isolate and fix faults on our customers' telephone lines. To be successful in our roles, we were required to have a rational mindset, be able to collect all relevant facts, perform detailed analysis of a given situation and then follow it to its logical conclusion.

All of this might sound very technical, but we weren't called technicians for no reason. We're born sceptics, disregarding any explanation relating to the paranormal because it appears to us as illogical and hence inaccurate. In most instances, that would be quite true. But that isn't always the case?

My transition to a more open mind started with a call from one of my technicians (let's call him 'Gary'). He was seeking assistance in either tracking down an intermittent line fault, or a troublesome ghost. Ghost? Rather than telling Gary to: 'Go home and sleep it off', I found myself agreeing to meet him on the job immediately. My curiosity had been sparked by the fact that he appeared to be serious and would not be drawn into any jokes about this situation.

On arrival, I noted that we were dealing with an old two-storey house located in the historic part of Fairlight, a suburb on the Northern Beaches. From my perspective, this meant we were dealing with 'old wiring', both in the house and out in the street. The older the wiring, the bigger the risk of it breaking down if disturbed.

Gary told me that he couldn't find any problems with the line, but he kept feeling that someone was peering over his shoulder while he was checking the connections in the house. He told the woman (I'll refer to her as Mrs. Smith) who lived in the house that he hadn't found anything that could cause her line to go 'dead'. She told him not to worry, claiming that the resident ghost was always on his 'best behaviour' when visitors were around. Apart from her strange remark, Gary's assessment of Mrs. Smith was that she seemed well-educated, mentally sharp, witty and good-natured.

I decided that it was about time to introduce myself to the customer and 'check out' the house. Mrs. Smith already had a pot of tea waiting for us, so we sat down to discuss her phone line situation. To my amusement, she referred to the ghost as 'Arthur' and said that he only had an interest in the phone and power lines. In fact, the one piece of equipment that caused her the most grief was the cordless phone upstairs, which needed both the phone line and power to work.

I decided that was the most obvious place to start locating the cause of the fault. After replacing the cordless phone, I made arrangements with her to return the next day. This bought me some time to assess the credibility of this customer and delve further into the fault history of that telephone line.

Back at the depot, I sat down with an extra-strong cup of coffee and did my investigation. It took over an hour as there was a long history of problems at the house in Fairlight. The list of reported faults spanned over a period of five years. The problem could have been going on for longer than that, as earlier customer records were on paper and had not been entered into the current electronic database. There was just one fault ever detected and it was during the year before, located out in street and already fixed. All other reported faults had the same result: "No Fault Found" (NFF).

At the same time, I did an assessment on Mrs. Smith, reviewing the notes made by two other technicians who were the most recent to attend the house. Both had given their findings as NFF. One was my depot boss, the most experienced technician in the team, who had pronounced that "the bloody house is haunted". I thought it significant that my boss was also familiar with the Fairlight house. He believed that all technicians who attended the place would just be wasting their time. The other technician was a young man who had only been in the job for a few months. It was his opinion that "the lady was a nutcase." I tended to lean towards my boss' judgment - but only as far as the customer was of a sound, mental state.

The following day, I went back to Fairlight to see what had happened overnight. Gary didn't accompany me as we had too much work on our plate at the time and was needed elsewhere. As it turned out, an extra pair of hands wouldn't have made any difference. The line had gone 'dead' in the night, but was now working fine.

I asked Mrs. Smith if it was only the cordless phone upstairs or were both phones (including the one downstairs) not working. She said that she only checked on the upstairs phone.

I mentally cursed at the missed opportunity. If both phones were faulty, that meant wiring was the most likely culprit. I decided to replace the phone downstairs, just to be on the safe side.

Next, I concentrated my investigation on Mrs. Smith. How often did the fault happen? Did she report it every time?

She admitted that the fault was not always reported. It was happening so frequently that sometimes she was too embarrassed to ring the telephone company yet again.

I was now determined to fix this problem once and for all. However, I realised that unless the fault occurred while I was there, I was just spending my time in guesswork.

I advised Mrs. Smith that I would return again the day after and gave her specific instructions on what to do when the fault was happening: -

1. Check the cordless phone upstairs first for a dial tone. If it was 'dead', unplug the cordless from the line.

2. Try the phone downstairs. If that one was also 'dead', unplug that as well.

3. Go upstairs to plug in the cordless phone again and see if the fault comes 'good'; that is if the dial tone comes back.

This would help verify if one of the phones was responsible for causing the problem.

When I went back the next day, I found it hadn't mattered which phone was unplugged. The line remained dead when she tested it, but came back on sometime during the night.

I was now in a situation where the problem was looking to be somewhere outside in the street. I isolated the house wiring from street cable. This meant disconnecting the wires at the main connection point to the house from street. My testers back at the depot checked the line and found that the line tested ok. Frustrating!

I then reconnected the house wiring to the street - surprise - the line was dead. I tested it again; found the line was 'open', which indicated a break in the line somewhere. This could mean that the line had been cut, thus resulting in an open circuit.

I informed Mrs. Smith on my success in identifying where the fault lay.

She simply smiled and said, 'Arthur must be getting used to you, this being your third visit to the house.'

The only reasonable explanation left was that the main connection must have been intermittently faulty. I replaced the box where the wires terminated, or rather where the phone lines from the street joined the house.

I had the line tested once more and it was now finally working.

Mrs. Smith laughed out loud. 'Arthur really does like you!'

I looked at her sharply, but realised after a moment she wasn't mocking me. She genuinely believed what she had said.

'Let's leave it for now and I'll ring again in few days,' I said, confident that I had solved the mystery of the line fault.

When I followed up with Mrs. Smith three days later, she told me there had been no further problems. She sounded a bit stunned when she said that, or maybe I imagined it. I told her that if it happened again, she was to report it and I would come back.

As I had heard nothing for two months, the whole matter was beginning to fade from my memory. Then at "mornos" (morning tea break), I was talking to another of my technicians when he brought up a matter concerning a haunted house in Fairlight.

I nearly choked on my coffee. 'Bet you didn't find any fault at the place!'

Evidently there were still faults being reported at the house in Fairlight. The programmers had been assigning the work to the other technicians.

In July that year, the whole telephone company underwent a massive restructure, going from a government organisation to a private corporation. Everyone was redeployed and relocated, including me. I never went out on a job to that house again.

About ten years later, when I told my wife about my experience, she insisted on taking a drive out to Fairlight just to see the house. That's when she pointed out something that I never noticed before.

The house was situated at the crossroads.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Rex-T, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Sleeping-with-steve (guest)
+1
6 years ago (2018-10-07)
Hello Rex-T,

I just tried voting you up and got a message, 'please vote for someone else' 😕 I guess I vote you up too much. Lol.

I'm glad you're cancer hasn't returned and the new liver has settled in well. Everyday is a blessing, I agree with you.

... And yes, let's hope Arthur has moved on. So long as he's not in 'MY' remote. Lol 😜

Stay well deer Rex-T

😘 ❤
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2018-10-07)
Miandra,

Thank you for your thoughts and well wishes. Medicine has come a long way since I started my battle. There are still no signs of the cancer returning and the new liver is going strong (thanks to all my Guardian Angels). As Jubeele has stated, you take each day as a blessing.

As for Mrs Smith, I truly hope that wherever she is now residing, she has not lost her practical sense of humor.

As for Arthur we both hope he hasn't moved onto causing havoc with the internet (unless the user is an online troll) or peoples' remote TV controls.

Rex-T
Sleeping-with-steve (guest)
+1
6 years ago (2018-10-06)
Hello Rex-T,

I really enjoyed your post. Mrs Smith sounds like a real character, god love her.

I'm glad Melda asked about the crossroads. I didn't get that either.

I read one of Jubeele's comments yesterday stating you had cancer. I'm so sorry you are going through all that. How are you now? I hope you are okay.

My heart and thoughts are with you dear Rex-T. 😘

I look forward to reading more from you.

Miandra. 😘 ❤ 😘
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-04-01)
Hi All,

I picked this story to see if it would stay 'G h o s t' in the Wire or something else.

Gee, the worm has even 'got it in for' Nicole Kidman (sorry, that's 'K I D' man). 😐

I asked Jubeele not to bring back ghosts from Singapore, instead she brought back clowns 😊

Always good to see you there lady-glow, looking after us all. Please let me know if you need the blanket.

Rex-T
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
 
7 years ago (2018-01-13)
Rex-T - Thanks for the update. Here's a toast to Arthur, wherever he might be. (Hopefully not your internet troll)

Regards, Melda
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+3
7 years ago (2018-01-13)
All,

This is like a postscript to this encounter.

We did a 'drive by' of Jubeele's new work location today and surprised ourselves as to how close to 'Arthur's' house it is!

The house looks so different (not as dark as it once was). We paid our respects to Arthur with an Aussie style 'Gidday Mate' and drove on happy in the fact that some old houses don't get bulldozed and turned into car parks. 😊

Now where did the bus go? Whoops, different story.
Rex-T
ajonverge (6 stories) (84 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-12-13)
Rex-T: Alls well here mate but there was certainly property damage and lost lives around the southwestern coastal region of India. Oh yes, about the Ashes, I hope Eng puts up at least a fight. Scoring 300 is becoming almost impossible for them. Hope you watched Indian Ro-HitMans hammering double century today. I guess some 12 or 13 sixes he hit today. Hes a class act too. India is lucky to have him.
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-12-13)
Good to hear from you Ajay, the storm didn't cause you too much grief (I hope).

3rd Ashes Test starts tomorrow in Perth (England have never won a test at the WACA). So the world ratings are India at no.1, SA at no. 2 (I'm starting to hear some snickering from the South African crowd) and Australia is below New Zealand! 😢

Anyway, I've been reading your correspondence with Jubeele and she seems to have a far better handle on those psychological thriller books than I'll ever have.

My favorite actors have to be versatile, like De Niro, so Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Toni Colette, Heath Ledger (RIP) and yes Guy Pearce, whom I met while fixing phones (very unassuming type, so I pretended not to recognize him). I'll let Margot know that you fancy her. Just joking. 😁

Keep writing down your experiences bro and I might surprise you with one around Christmas time.

Regards Rex-T
ajonverge (6 stories) (84 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-12-12)
Rex-T: Yes the Storm has dissipated buddy. Almost forgot we had one. Thank You. Hmm, about the WOlf Creek Movie. Yes, I mostly do not prefer the Slasher Blood and Gore Genre. I try to avoid it. I had accidentally started watching THE WRONG TURN many years ago and the horror was so unimaginable, I shut my eyes before shutting down the movie. I prefer a psychological scare instead. In any case, I am certainly open to any suggestions of the books and the movie kind. A few of my most favorite actors are Australian.
Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce of course, Naomi Watts, Isla Fisher, Russell Crowe, The Great Heath Ledger, Rose Byrne, ANd please don't judge me, but I'm in love with Margot Robbie. 😘 😜
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-12-05)
Ajay, hope you are taking it easy inside a sturdy/waterproof house. The only new information I can get on the storm is that it has been downgraded to a tropical depression.

Any Steven King novel is a good read, my first being Salem's Lot. You could also look around for the Grandfather of Horror - H.P. Lovecraft.

Thanks for reading my first post. You eliminate all the known physical possibilities, then keep an open mind for the rest. I don't think anyone can afford to be judgmental to the point of tagging people as 'nut cases', although I do believe that there are things out there that are pure evil. 😨

Before signing off, I'll make a suggestion - Never, Ever, watch an Australian movie called Wolf Creek late at night. The character is fictitious but is based on 2 infamous Australians and their crimes.

Rex-T
ajonverge (6 stories) (84 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-12-04)
Rex-T: Thanks for sharing a nonjudgemental account here. It was a great read. Also, thank you for explaining about tho crossroads thing. I was a little confused earlier but your answer to Melda further clarified it. Its awesome that your wife spotted it immediately. I don't know if the existence of Arthur could be validated but I would rather say its possible. I would rather be a believer than not. In Certain places in India, occasionally, I would spot a ritualized pumpkin being left at crossroads (mostly at a junction where 3 roads met) when I was a kid. One such time I was with my mom, I tried to approach it out of curiosity. Only to be dragged back by my mom n taken home. I later discovered that it was supposed to be some demon exorcized out of a possessed person said to be confined to the pumpkin. After that discovery, I have always ensured I drift as far away from that thing as possible whenever I spotted it.
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-11-08)
L_Melb and Jubeele
Many years ago, my mum asked me to go to the club and put each way bets on three numbers in the Melbourne Cup. The three took out 1st, 2nd and 3rd placings - the trifecta paid out $25,000. I was horrified that whoever gave mum the numbers didn't tell her to box all 3 for the trifecta. She told me these were her three lucky numbers in the star guide of the local newspaper.

This experience scarred me for life. I never bet on a Melbourne Cup again. 😢

The next posting is on the way but it was 6 BA (6 years Before Arthur).
Jubeele (26 stories) (899 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-11-08)
The only time I ever won the office sweeps for Melbourne Cup was in 1997 on Might and Power - A$45. I was rich!

Rex-T - I'm sure Arthur's been fooling around with my internet service. So when's your next account coming out? 😘
L_Melb (220 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-11-08)
Ahhh that damn race! I heard the name of the horse and thought to myself "I can really see that being in the paper tomorrow"
Guess who didn't bet?... 😟
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-11-06)
Greeting L_Melb. It's really good to hear from a member of the corporate family.
My wife was also part of the family (Yes - an office romance) and she is always encouraging me to write a book on my 20 years of fixing telephone lines and the people I encountered.
This was my first attempt at relating an extraordinary experience in the written word while maintaining the truth and the customer's privacy. No easy feat, so I'm happy that you enjoyed the story.
Have a great Melbourne Cup Day. 😊
L_Melb (220 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-11-06)
Hi Rex-T,
I really enjoyed your account - I also have worked for the same company but well after the time your talking of and ADSL based (not that it is important)
Thankfully, I never had anything that had to be put in the "other worldly" file when trying to get a customer back on line 😊
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-10-30)
Rex-T - Thanks for spelling that out for me. I suspected it would be something along those lines.

Arthur seems to have been very single-minded 😆

Regards, Melda
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+6
7 years ago (2017-10-30)
Hi Melda, sorry to keep you in suspense!

Edited version of Wikipedia on crosswords mythology is that it signifies the transition between this world and other worlds. In the UK, criminals were buried at the crossroads, being outside the settlement and the convergence of roads would confuse the spirits.

After nearly thirty years of meeting a lot of characters since then, I still believe Mrs. Smith was quite sane and 'easy going'.

As for the fault on her line I'd say that we've got a 50% chance of it being in this world and 50% chance of it being somewhere else, which brings us back to the crossroads. 😁
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-10-30)
Rex-T - Great story, you had me sitting on the edge of my seat!

Now this is where I display my ignorance. Sorry but I just HAVE to know. What is the significance of the house being situated at the crossroads? Does that mean that Mrs Smith was indeed a nutcase and it was in fact a technical issue? 😕

Nobody has asked that question so I assume I'm the only one who's read this that doesn't know the answer 😁

Regards, Melda
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-10-29)
Thanks wendyjean for taking the time to read my story and I'm glad that you have connected with my experience. I'm always regaling my wife with memorable instances from my time fixing phones and her encouragement was instrumental in posting this story. 😁
wendyjean (2 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-10-28)
Rex-T, you have an amazing story here. As someone who is part-sceptic and the victim of extended hauting in my own house I am impressed with this account. Not only are your descriptions detailed and objective, they are very succinct and believable. I am able to share this story and web site with my friends and I really appreciate your candour. 😊

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