What did I See in My Basement?

Question
Hi Diane,
I live in  central Maryland in a wooden suburban area.  This morning I saw some animal on my basement concrete block wall, high up near the ceiling. It was on a vertical wall, but walking horizontally across the wall. It was jet black, about 6 inches long, 1 inch wide and moved slowly. It looked to be either a lizard or a spider.  However, lizards move fairly quickly and this moved slowly.  Before I could respond, it hid behind some boxes and we could not find it.  You should also know that a couple of days ago, I believe that this creature caused my security alarm to go off because it triggered the motion detector.  I can't even recall seeing anything like this outside on my property and I have no idea how it got in or what it is.  Any ideas?  Thank you for your help!  Sign me as Fearful in Pasadena.

Answer
Hi Nancy,
What you might have seen is a salamander... the Jefferson Salamander fits the description you gave..  

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1032
Does this look like what you saw?  Not all lizards move fast...some tend to move slower especially if they feel "someone is watching"
If the weather is dry and hot there right now, a salamander may have decided your basement offered a nice cool area to spend some time in. They can find the smallest areas to squeeze into.  
If it is indeed a salamander, rest assured you can't harm you.  It would be wonderful if you could catch the little monster and take him to a nice wooded area with water.
If what you saw doesn't look like the salamander above, you can try a search on www.google.com to see if you can identify it that way... Salamanders are generally shiny and wet looking with smooth skin...lizards are dry looking and usually have scales. would be great if you could get a picture!! I actually have a common spotted salamander that was rescued several years ago.  He was injured when a stone wall was being moved.  He is thriving on earthworms, and other insects..as that his recovery took longer than anticipated and could not be released back into the wild.