Have you had any bad storms recently? I don't know what the white box is used for, but it's surrounded by orange utility markers and the Ranger enclosure is commonly used in disaster relief to reconnect downed phonelines. If any trees in your area have fallen recently, which you may not even have known about, then those things are probably what is temporarily keeping your phone line active.

For that reason, I wouldn't smash them. :jointsmile:

...and just tell your friends not to say anything stupid over the phone for a while, but you most likely have nothing to worry about. If it were Big Brother or the police, it wouldn't be that obvious.