BYERS GLEN, Pennsylvania — Byers Glen Laundry will close at 9 p.m. this week while an electrician inspects its overhead fixtures and window lighting. Owner Marisol Pike changed the hours after customers and an attendant reported seeing shadows remain inside the store after the people casting them had left. Daytime service is unaffected.
The first report came from attendant Owen Parr during closing September 22. A customer had been sitting in a blue chair beside dryer 11 while waiting for a load. After she carried her basket to the parking lot, Parr saw the chair's shadow remain joined to a darker seated outline on the tile for about 40 seconds.
Parr assumed the outline came from a car outside. It did not move as two vehicles passed the front windows, he said, and disappeared when the dryer's cycle ended. The customer returned the next morning for a missing sock. She said she had noticed nothing unusual and declined Pike's offer to review the incident with her.
Three customers later described similar outlines. One stood beside a washing machine after its user went to a nearby store. Another remained at the folding counter with both arms extended. A third appeared beneath a row of chairs and moved from one seat to the next while the fluorescent lights and objects in the room stayed fixed.
Electrician Neel Harper inspected 28 ceiling fixtures, two exterior lamps and the illuminated front sign. Fluorescent tubes can flicker faster than the eye consciously registers, creating bands or delayed impressions around moving objects, he said. Harper replaced three aging ballasts but found no failure that would preserve a recognizable outline on the floor.
The laundry's pale tile and glass storefront produce overlapping reflections throughout the evening. Pike said the room has always carried more than one shadow for a person near the windows. The recent outlines differ because they remain where the person was, sometimes for the rest of a wash or dry cycle, rather than following a light source.
The reports have not caused an injury or formal complaint. They have affected business after 10 p.m., when several regular customers began waiting in their cars. Pike is offering free cycle restarts to anyone whose load is interrupted by the temporary closing time. She said she will not lock clothing inside overnight if a machine runs late.
On Saturday, Pike and Harper tested the room after closing with all machines empty. They switched off the front sign, covered the windows and turned the ceiling lights on in groups. Ordinary chair and equipment shadows shifted as expected. A narrow standing outline beside washer 4 remained visible under every lighting arrangement, including when the fixture above it was off.
Harper traced the outline lightly with removable tape and returned Sunday afternoon. In daylight, the tile inside and outside the boundary had the same color and surface temperature. Cleaning solution did not alter it because no mark was visible until after sunset. Pike removed the tape before reopening so customers would not treat the spot as an attraction.
The store will continue the shorter schedule through Friday. Pike has asked customers to report lingering outlines to the attendant rather than touching the floor or moving another person's laundry. Harper plans to check the electrical service and install one temporary work light aimed across the seating area.
At Monday's closing, Parr waited until the last customer collected a blanket from dryer 11. Her shadow remained seated in the blue chair after she left, although she had not used it that evening. Parr finished sweeping and held the door open. The outline rose, crossed the tile ahead of him and stopped on the inside of the locked glass door. It was no longer present when Pike arrived Tuesday morning.