I live in the hilly forests of northern Alabama. It’s a rural area and there isn’t much unless you go towards Birmingham. One thing that is only about a mile away is an old radio mast, that after doing some research, I discovered is one of the old AT&T “long lines” towers with the rusty horn antennas. I hadn’t noticed it for the two years I lived here before that point, and I probably would have never noticed it, but there’s been some strange occurrences and I have come to believe that the mast is the cause of them, even though these old towers have been unused for some time, according to the internet.
The first event happened about a month and a half ago. I haven’t had cable or satellite for some time, and only stream content from my phone to my tv. Signal interruptions are incredibly rare with this type of setup, as an interruption should theoretically just cause a pause for more content to load. However, on that night, the tv became staticky and and unwatchable. I reached to disconnect my phone, but even my phone screen was glitching out. I ended up turning off the tv and my phone altogether, and in the silence, I heard something outside. I went out to my back porch and heard a metal-on-metal screeching in the distance, and the only thing in that direction was the radio mast, blinking with its red obstruction lights against the night sky.
A week later, I was editing a video on my desktop late at night when I heard a quiet but incredibly annoying high-pitched tone coming out of my headphones. I checked the cables and their connections, but everything looked fine. Still, I unplugged them and switched to an old pair of earbuds. I heard the same sound immediately. Then I tried bluetooth headphones. Again, the tone was there. Perplexed, I reached over and picked up my old ThinkPad to see if it was the desktop’s port that was causing the noise. I heard the tone through the wired earbuds, even though I hadn’t even plugged them in yet. I walked around the house wearing the earbuds and holding the cable out in front of me, and noticed that the sound was loudest in the back right corner of my house. The moment I opened my back door, the sound became unbearable and I had to take the buds out. Even in my hands, I could hear them get louder or quieter based on the direction the cable was. I quickly saw that they were loudest when the cable’s long side was facing the tower, and that screeching sound from before was faster and more distinct.
Only three days later, I was cooking when my lights and appliances started to flicker consistently. The house had been quiet, but I heard that now familiar screeching outside, stronger than before. I glanced at my phone, and it was completely useless- pixelation on the screen, unresponsive, and no cell reception. Furious, I stormed to my back door and threw it open. I’m not sure what I was planning to do (yell at the tower maybe?), but I instantly felt sick once there was nothing but air between me and it. I tried to look up towards it, but even my vision seemed distorted and my eyes started to burn and tear up, so I retreated back inside.
Since then, the tower has started to do that in a cycle. It starts once it gets dark, and stops when the sunlight touches it. I’ve lined my house with foil and the like, and try to just clench my way through every night. I can’t afford to move so I don’t have a choice. But, it’s getting stronger. I can feel the tower in my head.