In the small town of Strašice near Rokycany in the Czech Republic, the Mračkových family has been struggling for five weeks with a mysterious phenomenon in their home. Wall sockets burst into flames, light bulbs explode and none of the experts have been able to explain the cause of this oddity. If they are still unable to come up with an explanation within the next few days, the family will be forced to leave their house. The local authority will provide them with alternative housing.

Tissues, wall sockets, towels, curtains, a painting and even police tape. All of these have been caught on fire in the last five weeks in the Mračkových couple's home. And even though the electricity has been disconnected, the phenomenon continues.

There are days when the blue flames do not appear, but more often than not someone hollers from the bedrooms, bathroom or kitchen, another desperate: "We have another fire in here!" On other days it happens up to sixty times. As if that was not enough, the mysterious events are accompanied by bursting light bulbs and shattering of other glass objects.

Despite help from local residents as well as from technicians of the dominant electricity provider CEZ, a geophysicist and experts from the Czech Technical University in Prague, so far no one has been able to clearly say what is the cause of the mysterious flames and breaking glass.

The Czech Army and the Czech Radiocommunications Bureau have denied any involvement in damaging the light bulbs and wall sockets. None of their equipment that could be the cause of these events is in the area. One last chance to discover the cause of the fires is a specially equipped vehicle from the Czech Radiocommunications Bureau that is able to detect high frequency charges. It should arrive on Tuesday.

Jiri Mraček offers his simple theory: "The problem starts when it's sunny outside." On Sunday, a number of geophone detectors designed to detect ground vibrations were installed around the house.

"If it fails to be explained in the next few days, I'll have to ask the family to be moved out of the house," says George Hahner, mayor of the village of two and a half thousand inhabitants.

More photos from the house.

This article has been translated from Czech to English by SoTT Editors