Skeptic With Chemistry Minor Baffled by Doors, Sweaters in Brand-New Home

A NEW SUBDIVISION, U.S. — A self-described non-believer has appealed to the readers of r/Paranormal for help explaining a run of occurrences in a newly built house in a newly built subdivision. The author, a Reddit user, states that they have never credited hauntings and do not see how such a thing would be possible.

According to the post, the incidents are small but persistent. The author describes an entire shelf of folded sweaters tipping to the floor slowly, one at a time. They also report a sensation of someone patting the bed twice with an open hand in the night, always twice, which brought them out of a dead sleep under the belief that one of their children needed them. The children, the author says, were fast asleep.

Further reports include knocking on walls in other rooms while the author was alone. The writer says they would like to blame the house settling but insists the sounds are distinctly different. They also describe walking through the home and feeling every hair on the body stand on end, at night and by day, in no particular room.

The latest event, the author writes, was a hallway door opening all the way while they were home alone. In the manner of a careful investigator, they tried to reproduce it: leaving the door slightly ajar, placing objects to fall against it, cycling the air-conditioning fan, and opening and closing other doors. The door, by their account, opened only an inch at most. The author adds that their five-year-old son says he sometimes talks to floating lights in his room.

Citing a minor in chemistry and no religious leanings, the author invites commenters either to debunk the matter or, failing that, to entertain something beyond their beliefs "just for fun." In an edit, they note that a settlers' trail lies two miles off, a Civil War battle eight miles, and mining deaths five miles, though nothing is tied to the plot itself.