Thank you each for your posts. Briefly, the situation I'm in goes like this:

I am under attack from someone who has insider information of the phone network and possibly possesses esoteric or illegal equipment and who, I believe, has a connection to the phone company (AT&T). This person, who I met briefly years ago, got my unlisted phone number. I get one-ring calls that do not show up on caller ID - the phone must ring at least twice for caller ID to kick in, and hang-up calls that show as "out of area" on caller ID, again no phone number. If I unplug the phone I still get sounds from something in my room, don't know what, ranging from a soft twitter to a loud ping. The one-ring calls come at odd hours of the morning and disturb my sleep, which seems to be the purpose of these calls. The only time I get no telephone-related sounds whatsoever is when I'm right here on the Net; I have single line dialup.

These harassing calls can be traced and I have done so. Unfortunately my local police precinct has shown no interest in the matter. Nor is there any legal remedy since I do not know the full identity (last name) of the harasser; the phone records cannot be subpoenead. The Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the telephone.

So I am faced with some kind of technical fix. One suggestion is that I get voice mail and unplug the phone, which would shunt the call away from my phone. This would only work if voice mail kicks in on the first ring. Another suggestion is to abandon the phone line and get a cell phone. This will only work if the number cannot be hacked, or if the kind of technology that can make sounds in my room even when the phone handset is unplugged will not work with a cell phone. The last line of defense, my last resort, is to have no phone service whatsoever in my apartment.

I would like to hear more from Road Closed about RF Generators, O'scopes and the like. How on earth can you make these sounds against which I seem to have no defense? The reps at my annoynace call bureau either don't know are aren't talking. I need to understand the technology being used against me to mount an effective defense and say goodbye to the ultimate telephone nightmare.