I know this sounds silky but have you tried unplugging it and after a minute plug it back in. Washers have so much electronics in them now days sometimes they just go nuts. This fix cannot hurt anything.

“silly” dang autocorrect

Thank you. Yes I have it unplugged. I plug it back in intermittently to see if anything has changed.

Not that this helps you, but just to let you know you are not alone....we have a vacation rental house next door and our houses are 6ft apart. When it is vacant, the washer cycles on for hours a day, every day. This stops when people are in the house. For months we referred to it as the ghost washing machine. Anyways, we can hear when the washer is draining it's water, but when it's in ghost machine mode, it doesn't drain water, only makes the machine is draining sounds--if that makes sense. It has to be something with the electronics. It's probably time for a service call. I would video when this happens because at least for me, misbehaving appliances tend to behave properly when under the eyes of a service tech. Good luck.

Cathy Shake, it's difficult for anyone to properly answer the question without knowing what kind of washer is involved ... so good luck with your decision.

Thank you all for responding. I plugged washer back in and jiggled the tub around until the noise stopped. Seems to be working just fine now. Was probably just off balance.

If you have an owner‘s manual (probably available online as well), there is usually a trouble-shooting section, but sounds like issue was resolved though.

I am fascinated by this thread. Is the washer in question filling with water and the motor and pump actually operating even though the lid is up and no lights on?

You may need an exorcist.

Off-balance comes into play only when the machine is actively washing a load ... not minutes / hours / days later when it's done and sitting empty.