Why Smart Home Cameras Are Giving Some Homeowners Chills

Key takeaways

The speakers say the apparent increase in paranormal camera sightings is largely explained by smart cameras becoming ubiquitous and recording continuously or whenever motion or light is detected.
The reported incidents include unexplained voices on a Ring doorbell, a black mist moving through a toy store, and an empty home’s smart refrigerator opening and chiming.
Jargon says glitches are possible, but none of the people interviewed received a definite technical explanation for what their devices captured.
One brief image that looked like a deceased family dog was interpreted by its owners as a comforting, rather than frightening, encounter.

Summary

Why home cameras are capturing unsettling moments

Host Julie Chang says home security cameras are meant to monitor break-ins, babies, packages, and front doors, but their constant recording is also capturing unexplained shadows and sounds. WSJ columnist Julie Jargon says cameras now run 24/7 or activate through motion or light, creating far more opportunities for ambiguous events to appear than in the past.

A Ring doorbell records voices with no one outside

Amanda Presswood of Galesburg, Illinois, checked her Ring doorbell to see whether it was raining and instead heard a male voice followed by women’s voices. No one appeared on camera, her neighbors were away, and she found nobody outside when she investigated. Jargon says the voices sounded clear, but their source remains unknown.

A toy-store shadow and a refrigerator door opening alone

A Cape May County, New Jersey, shop owner received a motion alert while her toy store was closed and saw a black, mist-like shadow drift across the Ring footage and rise upward. Separately, a man away from his Florida home got an alert that his smart refrigerator was open; his camera showed the door opening with its sensor chime, although the locked house was empty. Other owners reported similar fridge behavior on Reddit.

Possible glitches, and one comforting glimpse of a dead dog

Jargon says technical glitches could explain the incidents, but no specific explanation has been established, leaving owners to wonder whether they saw paranormal activity. In a more comforting case, an actress’s indoor camera briefly showed a darker dog beside her current white dog; she and her husband believed it was their dog who had died three years earlier, and the image comforted them.

Show notes

It’s spooky season, and security cameras are giving some homeowners chills instead of peace of mind. Across the country, smart home devices are capturing what some say are potential paranormal encounters. WSJ family & tech columnist Julie Jargon spoke with people who say their cameras picked up something they couldn't explain. Julie Chang hosts.

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