Mystery Of 'Bad Techno Doorbell' Sound In Crystal City, Del Ray Solved

ARLINGTON/ALEXANDRIA, VA — Residents of Arlington and Alexandria were hearing a digital-sounding chiming noise that kept repeating, “always the exact same set of tones, like a bad techno doorbell,” one resident said.

The mystifying sound heard on Monday sent DCist on the hunt for the source of the noise. A resident of the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria and her husband kept hearing the noise.

A resident of Crystal City was in his backyard when he heard the sound. His wife described it as “a church that went to digital bells but bought the really cheap recording.”

On Thursday, DCist solved the mystery of the “bad techno doorbell.” It turns out Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling across the Potomac River in D.C. was testing a Giant Voice System Monday evening. The military installation had issued a little warning on its Facebook page — that was shared only one time — that apparently didn't do the job of getting the word out.

Read the full story on DCist.