A phobia?

Here's what's happening...
The temperatures dropped quite drastically here today, which resulted in the windows being opened and the a/c turning off. Eventually, it got so cool in the house that I turned off the ceiling fans, as well.
My dilemma? Sophie disappeared. It didn't take long for me to realize she wasn't under my feet like she always is, so I went looking to make sure she wasn't in a closet or cabinet. I found her under my bed, and she refused to come out. Knowing that cats hide when they are ill, I was worried. Finally, she was coaxed with some treats and a favorite toy, but she was very jumpy. While I held her, she kept glancing nervously at the ceilings in each room. I also got a nasty scratch as she finally had enough and squirmed to get back into a hiding place.
The only thing that I can surmise is that she is afraid of the ceiling fans now that they are off. It's not funny, in any comical way, but it is funny odd. Sophie Grace is still eating, using the litter box normally, doing the things she absolutely HAS to do. But, she keeps looking over her shoulder at the fans and crouching low to the floor until she is hiding again. I don't know how to break it to her that the fans aren't on in the winter here, poor baby.
Is this normal? Has anyone else's cats ever done this? Joe is finding it amusing, but I'm hurting for my babygirl because she is obviously quite frightened. My son even did an experiment, turning the fan back on in the kitchen, and she calmed down immediately. I've never heard of this! Any ideas would be very much appreciated, as my only other option is to keep the fans on and suffer hypothermia tonight.

Do the fans make any sound? Low humming? If so, maybe it is the sudden abscense of the sound she is afraid of? Kind of like if a predator is coming around in the forest - all the animals are quiet.

I think my Clinton is about the same age as Sophie, except he's not a huge advocate of my ceiling fan. I have a ceiling fan in my bedroom and Clinton is fine with it being on during the day if I'm working on my music or something, but when night comes, he won't sleep with me if he can feel the fan on him. And since he's also afraid of the traffic noises outside (a good thing but immaterial as we're on the fourth floor!) it's air conditioning for us, therefore my gas & electric company 's me!

Maybe our babies got set in their ways early?

As an experiment, try using some other sound as a background noise, perhaps a calming music CD, and see if that helps. If it does, you might want to look for one of those "white noise" machines. I picked one up at a garage sale for three bucks. Some of them have different sounds you can play like waterfalls, spring rain, summer evening with cricket sounds, etc. Perhaps something like that would substitute for the ceiling fan background sound.

awwww pooor sophie and the rest of the little cute kitties

Happy to report that, after one day, my brave girl has conquered her fear of the vicious ceiling fans! She is acting perfectly normal today, totally ignoring the fans. Such a smart kitty!

What a brave girl, YAY Sophie!