A bump in the night

Just as I was almost asleep last night, I heard a strange sound inside my home, unlike any I have ever heard.  It didn't attract Molly's attention, it lasted a second and went away, not to mention, I was almost asleep.  So I ignored it.

This morning I turned on the light in the kitchen and there it was!  My hanging basket over my sink was now hanging by two cords, instead of three.  I was standing there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out how that happened, with Molly jumping all around me reminding me that I needed to feed her.

I put my hand around the two hanging cords to remove it from the hook above.  My other hand touched the plastic container the plant has been in for most of the 15 years I have lived here.  The pot started to crumble.

Now, understand, this all happened before I had my coffee, and only minutes from getting out of bed.  Does plastic rot?????

I cleaned up the mess in the sink.  This was a burro's tail plant and the small, solid leaves were everywhere.

I had no explanation on how this could happen but my morning coffee time is sacred, so I went into the living room to savor my first cup of coffee.

Later today, at work, I told a co-worker what had happened.  She asked if maybe the sun over the years could have made the plastic brittle, enough for the clip on the planter to break loose.

Have any of you heard of anything like this before???