Startled & Bewildered: Strange Night At Home

"My wife and I haven't been married for long, since December of 2009. Our house isn't large, two bedrooms, living room, kitchen one bath and an office. Well, our bedroom is connected to the guest bedroom via a small hallway. In the middle of this hallway, on either side and slightly staggered are the doors to the living room and bathroom. The is no door to the living room and the door to our bedroom was open. When you enter our bedroom there is a wall immediately to the right and to the left is our bed. The headboard is pushed up against the same wall as the door. For some reason my wife slept closest to the door and I was on the side furthest, with the wall maybe two feet away. Our laundry room is at one end of the living room separating it from the kitchen. We left this light on at night for our dog, a 14-month old Doberman.

Now that I've explained the layout, I'll explain what happened. It was 2 AM or after, close to what some people believe as the witching hour. We had just finished a movie and we were going to sleep. I had just dozed off and my wife was having some trouble getting there. All of a sudden it sounded like someone dropped a glass plate in the hallway. Within that second I had jumped out of bed and had my Glock firmly in my hands. I jumped out of bed so fast and hard and placed my back to the wall that my elbow put an indention in the sheet rock. Just as I adjusted to the soft light in the living room my wife asked me what broke. I immediately knew I hadn't been hearing things. I moved to the other side of the bed, took a knee at the corner and leveled my sights on the only door into out room. I was going to make swiss cheese out of the first thing that walked into my view.

And then I noticed my dog laying in the floor in front of our furnace on his bed. I thought how odd it was that it hadn't woken him as loud as it had been. After several minutes of nothing I began to exit the room. I nudged my dog several times and he never budged, I even kicked him in the shoulder. Still nothing. Then my mind started to go into cold calculations. Either someone had already killed my dog or fed him something earlier in the evening when he was outside to take care of his barking. By this time I backed into the room, shut the door and handed my wife the pistol and I grabbed my .870. I checked both windows an made sure they were locked.

I exited our bedroom and made her lock the door behind me. And let me tell you, I checked the entire house. Everywhere. I could find no one, no sign of forced entry or any unlocked windows/doors. I even checked the freaking attic. And the eerie part? I could find nothing broken. After walking over to my dog I checked his pulse and he was fine and breathing. After some tough love I was able to rouse him and get him up.

I took Keiser, the Doberman, and we went outside. I walked the entire perimeter. ALL of the screens were off of the windows. I could find no footprints of any sort near them. Not even the grass had been disturbed. All of the windows were still intact, no cracks. I even checked our vehicles for anything strange. Nothing.

After a thorough search I went back in, checked the house once more and my wife and I decided to watch another movie since we couldn't go to sleep. The next morning in the daylight we searched that house over inside and out. Nothing out of place. Not a single thing broken. Even checked all the dishes." SO