A thoroughly bizarre occurrence (NMC ... maybe)

[belbein]

Sunday--pursuant to my goal of getting my music and building back on track--I went down to my shop and spent 12 hours cleaning it up, so that I could actually get to the instruments sitting waiting my attention. By the time I was done, the huge 4 x 8 work bench in the middle of the shop was pretty much completely bare. I turned the lights off and left.

Tuesday was the next day that I went down into the shop. So I went down that evening looking for something, and I turned on the light, and this is what I found, right in the middle of the workbench:

[

Sorry it's sideways. If you can't tell what it is: it's a small plastic bottle of Coke Zero with the cap smashed on it. And the cap was exactly sitting the way you see it here: not screwed on, not placed on top, but sitting on the top of the bottle with the two missing portions nestled down on the bottle opening. Here's a closer view of the cap:



The point is that the had pieces missing (looked kind'a like a hockey player's mouth) at let's say 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock, and the cap was sitting on top of the bottle with those two gaps holding it on the top of the bottle. I can think of no explanation other than that the cap was smashed down on top of the bottle so that the rim of the bottle knocked two sections out of the cap.

Which takes some force: those caps are strong. But the bottle was not only intact--no indications of any sort of crumpling--but there was still liquid in the bottle and none spilled anywhere. It seems pretty obvious to me that the force that it would take to jam the top down on the bottle in order to break the top would crumple the thin plastic of the bottle. But: nothing.

Now I don't believe in ghosts. And there are no tricksters in the house: just my wife (never in 35 years of marriage a practical joker), me (not yet crazy, I don't think), my Beagle and my Golden Doodle. No visitors (no corporal visitors, anyway) in the house or in my shop. My shop is down in the basement of my house. There's no access to the shop except through the house, and nobody's came to visit or went down into my shop on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday.

I'm a complete rationalist, so I know there's got to be a rational explanation. But it completely flummoxes me. Do any of you have any ideas? Because if not ... I may need some referrals to an exorcist.

[Charles E.]

April fools day isn't until tomorrow?

[jesserules]

It was me. Sorry.

[DHopkins]

My standard explanations for weird happenings:

1. Transitional anomaly
2. My ex-wife did it
3. Hmmmmmmm

[Bill McCall]

I had a beagle. Might be worth a little chat with that one, secret life of dogs and all. Just sayin......

[NursingDaBlues]

Ummm...does anybody in the house drink Coke Zero?

Just asking...

[CarlM]

[mrmando]

Cousin Ray has been living in your shop, hiding behind all the junk. When he came back with his Coke Zero and saw that you had cleaned up, he knew he'd have to find a new place to crash. Not only that, he couldn't seem to get the cap off the bottle, so he borrowed your wire cutters.

[Frankdolin]

Looks like a canine cover-up to me...

[Beanzy]

Looks like the cap was over tightened so blew out the sides. ie not the pressure in the bottle but the lateral pressure from the over-tightened cap. I assume you had already opened the bottle and drunk some? Or has your shop had a visit from a local version of the Hermit of North Pond?

[Charlie Bernstein]

The mystery isn't how. It's who. Those caps break easily, especially when they're not on the bottle. So someone broke the cap and put it back on the bottle. You just have to wonder who put there.

Which is more than enough to wonder about! Is anything missing?

My mom was a big sleep walker. If she were telling the story, I'd know exactly who left it there.

Or the message might be, figuratively, in the bottle. Zero Coke? Maybe someone is advising you to lay off the Peruvian marching powder!

[JH Murray]

Just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean ghosts don't exist. The church where I work has a ghost who likes to walk around and close doors. Several of the staff have heard his ramblings. And this is not the first church I've worked in that is haunted.

[Austin Bob]

Do any of you have any ideas?

Sorry, I don't know.

But I just finished binge watching the X-Files before they removed them from Netflix, and I do believe the truth is out there.

[Jstring]

How does Belbein differ from a 70s Washburn?

One has a zero fret and the other frets about Zero...

[Mark Gunter]

How does Belbein differ from a 70s Washburn?

One has a zero fret and the other frets about Zero...

[travellerbytrade]

Just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean ghosts don't exist. The church where I work has a ghost who likes to walk around and close doors. Several of the staff have heard his ramblings. And this is not the first church I've worked in that is haunted.

I used to work at a haunted restaurant. It was an old Mississippi riverboat turned eatery. But the most haunted was the book store I used to work at. They were everywhere in that place.

[HonketyHank]

Tell me when I can look again but don't spoil the ending. This is great.

[dhergert]

It's definitely not a ghost.

It's a time-warped space alien who came in a few days early to prepare for April Fools day.

Have you seen any other little green men around?

[Charles E.]

I believe I have the answer, it is mysterious Mose........

[belbein]

I had a beagle. Might be worth a little chat with that one, secret life of dogs and all. Just sayin......

No, the beagle is cool. The golden doodle though--liable to do anything.

[belbein]

How does Belbein differ from a 70s Washburn?

One has a zero fret and the other frets about Zero...

Nice. Well done. I understand spirits like puns. You could'a compared me with a Loar, though.

[belbein]

Just because you don't believe in ghosts doesn't mean ghosts don't exist. The church where I work has a ghost who likes to walk around and close doors. Several of the staff have heard his ramblings. And this is not the first church I've worked in that is haunted.

How strange. I was just writing about this. You are obviously correct: belief or disbelief (probably) doesn't change reality.

[belbein]

The mystery isn't how. It's who. Those caps break easily, especially when they're not on the bottle. So someone broke the cap and put it back on the bottle. You just have to wonder who put there.

Which is more than enough to wonder about! Is anything missing?

My mom was a big sleep walker. If she were telling the story, I'd know exactly who left it there.

Or the message might be, figuratively, in the bottle. Zero Coke? Maybe someone is advising you to lay off the Peruvian marching powder!

I guess that begs the question: does your mother have an alibi for Monday and Tuesday?

[belbein]

Looks like the cap was over tightened so blew out the sides. ie not the pressure in the bottle but the lateral pressure from the over-tightened cap. I assume you had already opened the bottle and drunk some? Or has your shop had a visit from a local version of the Hermit of North Pond?

I tried over-tightening... Couldn't do it. I do generally drink Coke Zero, and might have left a bottle in the shop. Might have even left this bottle. But that cap? Nuh uhh.

[Bertram Henze]

You could browse your surveillance camera records

A man who used to repair my car had a dog that could open the fridge, get a container of yoghurt, bite it open on the kitchen floor, lick up the yoghurt and place the empty container in the garbage bin, leaving no visible traces.