Texas woman wakes up to a strange call from her husband at 3:30 AM that her garage door had opened. Then, she takes a looks around her room
How did she go back to sleep after that?
Waking up to a phone call in the middle of the night is rarely good news. And to hear that your garage door was acting funny at 3:30 AM when you were home alone? It’s worse than a nightmare.
For Texas creator Krystena (TikTok/@krystenapoimboeuf), a call from her husband at night was the start of a domestic mystery. But the more she heard, the more it felt like a paranormal thriller. Then, when she looked around her own bedroom, it seemed her home was operating on a mind of its own.
Krystena’s husband was alerted about their garage door opening on its own
The ordeal began at 3:30 AM when Krystena answered her husband’s call. As soon as she opened her eyes, she found her bedroom in a state of “weird stuff.” Although she had fallen asleep in the dark, her bedside lamp and TV were now blaring. Meanwhile her fan, which she says she “cannot sleep without,” had been mysteriously turned off.
Her husband then explained that he was calling because there was an alert on their security app. Apparently, the garage door had opened and then “closed quickly.” But Krystena was home alone and she went nowhere near the garage. This lead her husband to fear an intruder was in the house.
A knocked-over camera added to the ‘scary’ atmosphere
As Krystena investigated the room, she asked her husband to check the live feeds of their security cameras. While the living room appeared empty, he noted that the bedroom camera was stuck in a “weird position.”
Krystena then realized the device hadn’t just glitched; it had been physically “knocked over.” “I haven’t gotten up,” she recalled telling him. She admitted that she was “freaked out” that something had moved in her room while she slept right through it.
What happened to the garage door?
The mystery was eventually solved when the couple determined the home had lost power for three hours. This was likely due to the heavy winds and a passing cold front. Krystena speculated that the garage door likely cycled open and shut as a default safety or reset response when the electricity finally kicked back in.
While the weather hadn’t brought rain, the 45 mph gusts were enough to disrupt the grid. And somehow, they created a sequence of events that left her “freaked out and scared” in the early morning hours.
The technical reality of smart home power resets
Many smart appliances and security systems are programmed with “power-on” states. For example, some smart bulbs are designed to turn on at 100% brightness after a power failure to ensure the user isn’t left in the dark. Similarly, garage door openers can occasionally trigger a cycle if the internal sensors detect a surge.
Krystena’s “weird” experience is a common side effect of living in smart security connected home. Sometimes, a simple transformer blow can lead to a house full of lights, noise, and automated movement.
How to secure your smart home against power surges
If you want to avoid a 3:30 AM panic like Krystena, you can take some maintenance steps. First, you’ll need to configure the power-on settings. Check your smart home app to see if you can set lights and TVs to “Remain Off” or “Return to Last State” after a power loss.
To prevent the garage incident, you can also install a battery backup. Ensure your garage door opener and main router have a battery backup (UPS). This would prevent them from “cycling” or losing their sensor calibration during high winds.
Protecting your cameras is another important part. Ensure interior cameras are weighted or mounted to a surface. As Krystena found, high-vibration winds can easily topple lightweight desk cameras, creating the illusion of an intruder.
Lastly, protect expensive electronics like TVs and fans with high-quality surge protectors. This prevent them from turning on or being damaged when the grid stabilizes.
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