Just because we’re asleep doesn’t mean our bodies are completely still. We might toss and turn, kick off the covers, talk out loud, or even get out of bed and wander around the house without remembering any of it the next morning. That’s why some people use sleep tracking apps to monitor what happens overnight and record any unusual sounds they make.
One woman had been using an app like this for a few months without ever catching anything out of the ordinary. Then one day, she came across a strange recording from just after 2 a.m., and playing it back left her terrified. Unable to explain what she’d heard, she turned to Reddit in hopes of finding some answers.
One woman had been using an app to record sounds while she slept
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But one night, she came across a disturbing recording featuring a mysterious voice
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magnific / Magnific (not the actual photo)
You can listen to the original sleep recording here
After listening to the cleaned-up version of the recording, people had different interpretations of what the mysterious voice was saying
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Mick Kirchman / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
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One person analyzed the audio and believed the second voice didn’t belong to the woman
The woman isn’t sure she’ll ever find out what really happened that night
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Another person also tried to analyze the recording to figure out where the strange voice came from
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Paranormal enthusiasts often believe that ghosts can communicate through electronic devices, a concept known as electronic voice phenomena (EVP)
We live in a world where scientists can send spacecraft billions of miles into space and study particles too small to see. Yet there are still plenty of things we don’t fully understand.
And for some, that leaves open the possibility that supernatural forces might be at work. After all, stories about ghosts and strange encounters have been around for centuries, and they’re showing no signs of disappearing.
In fact, according to a 2025 YouGov survey, 60% of Americans say they’ve experienced at least one seemingly paranormal event. About 31% reported hearing unexplained sounds or music, while 26% claimed to have heard the voice of someone who wasn’t actually there.
Of course, that doesn’t mean these encounters were supernatural, but it does show how many people have had experiences they struggle to explain.
The woman in this story certainly had one of her own. After discovering a mysterious voice on her sleep recording, she turned to Reddit, where users began sharing their theories about what might have happened.
Some examined the audio for clues, while others worried that someone could have entered her home during the night. She even sent the recording to a woman associated with the Ohio Paranormal Society, who offered her interpretation of what the voice was saying.
Interestingly, mysterious voices appearing on recordings have fascinated paranormal enthusiasts for decades. There’s even a name for them: electronic voice phenomena, or EVP.
Some ghost hunters believe that spirits can communicate through electronic devices, leaving behind words or short messages that only become audible when recordings are played back.
Over the years, enthusiasts have used everything from tape recorders to radios to try to capture these messages. Some even use devices known as spirit boxes, which rapidly scan radio frequencies in the hope of picking up a response.
The idea is that a ghost might somehow use the equipment to communicate with the living, although there’s no reliable scientific evidence that this actually happens.
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However, there are often much less mysterious explanations for why strange sounds and voices appear on recordings
In reality, many supposedly paranormal recordings can have much less mysterious explanations. According to the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena, ordinary background noises are among the possible causes.
Microphones can pick up faint sounds that someone might not notice at the time, while electrical interference can introduce strange noises into recordings.
Sometimes, the equipment itself can also be responsible. In one investigation published by Skeptical Inquirer, researcher Kenny Biddle examined an alleged ghost recording and found that a faulty microphone was producing sounds resembling metallic whispers.
Once the audio was examined more closely, the supposed ghostly voices could be traced to ordinary noises.
Our brains are also wired to look for familiar patterns, even in random sounds. This can lead to something called auditory pareidolia, which happens when we perceive recognizable words or voices in noises that don’t actually contain them. For example, a running fan can occasionally sound like someone talking in the next room.
Our expectations can influence this, too. In a study published in Applied Cognitive Psychology, researchers played ambiguous recordings to volunteers.
Those who were told the experiment involved paranormal voices were more likely to report hearing voices in certain recordings. And even when participants believed they’d heard someone speaking, they often disagreed about the actual words.
This might explain why one person can hear a particular phrase in a strange recording while someone else hears something completely different. Once somebody suggests what a voice is saying, it can become surprisingly difficult to hear anything else. It’s a fascinating trick of perception, particularly when the recording is already unsettling.
As for the woman in this story, the true source of the voice remains unknown. She later reported that the strange recordings had stopped, although she continued hearing unexplained clicking sounds for a while.
Whether it was an unusual technical problem, something happening in her sleep, or an entirely different explanation, she never got a definitive answer.
What do you think was behind the mysterious recording? Could it have been something paranormal, or is there a more ordinary explanation?
Many readers were creeped out by the recording and offered their own theories about what could have caused it
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