The mystery of the haunted dining room

When I was young the living room was the living room and the dining room was the dying room.

Maybe is IS haunted.

Or, perhaps, that house is under the control of aliens from another galaxy, and the light is part of a "network" of lights, meant to guide their various visiting space ships. If that is the case, I think that my over-the-fence neighbors are a part of that system, as they never turn out the damn light on their back deck. It's even on during the day.



I can't think of another explanation that would span 10 years, and 3 sets of occupants. If there is a faulty switch, I would expect that someone would have thought to call an electrician ... for the sake of safety, if not out of consideration for the electric bill.



A fire station in the city of Livermore, in northern California, has a light bulb that is said to have been burning, continuously, for 117 years.  It pops up in the news, from time to time.  Maybe your neighbors are trying to set another record.


Add Edit: [lurl]https://www.centennialbulb.org/[/url]  





 

Detective Salzmank's the best ... let's put it in his hands (and mind).

Too kind, folks, but thank you!

I agree that three different couples’ doing it is much odder than a single couple’s.


A couple questions, though, Ack:

1. Is it just the dining-room lights? No other lights in the house? Regular ceiling-light? Or could it be some kind of nightlight?

2. Is the dining room on the ground floor? 

3. You said lights aren’t on on certain nights. Have you noticed a pattern as to when it’s on?


One prosaic solution that does occur to me offhand is that the lights are intended to ward off potential burglars. (That doesn’t seem particularly effective to me, but apparently it’s fairly common.) I don’t think it beyond the realm of coincidence that the first two couples could have done it to feel more secure. And the second couple could have passed that tradition on to their daughter, who now owns the house.

Another possibility, with the same pass-down situation, is that the lights show the way in case someone gets up to go the kitchen (midnight snack, water) or the bathroom.

If you’re close with your neighbors, I don’t think asking them would seem too peeping-tom-ish depending on how you phrase it. Just a “Hey, I woke up the other night and saw all these lights on—was everything OK?” doesn’t seem too weird to me.

By the way, I had a similar scenario when I was staying with a relative in Rhode Island: on my second night there, every light in the house next door went on at midnight—porch and every room in the house. Thought the whole thing so bizarre—but never found out!