276 Whitehorse Ln by HJ Dutton

Chester County Residents Flock to Devon Family’s Home to See Sourceless Shadow
Oct 19, 2004
Lowri Buckley

“I might have to start charging admission,” joked Mr. Cecil Roth, whose children, on Saturday, Oct 12, discovered a giant, bird-shaped shadow on the side of his family’s small home at 276 Whitehorse Ln, Devon, PA. The shadow resembles a stork.

Since the discovery, Cecil explained, both neighbors and people from out of town have flocked to their house to see the phenomenon for themselves. Though the Roths did not keep track of visitors, it’s estimated that around 900 people visited the property on Oct 15 alone.

The Roths’ next-door neighbor, Isaiah Byrd, made a Facebook post about the shadow with the family’s permission. “It’s the eighth wonder of the world!” Isaiah said when asked about his part in the local spectacle.

Amelie Hickman, a researcher at West Chester University who specializes in sciography, visited the family’s home on Oct 14 to conduct studies. During her time at the house, Hickman confirmed the couple’s claims that the shadow has no identifiable source. “It resembles the blast shadows in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Hickman explained, “but the similarities end there. I don’t know what to make of it.”

The Roths – Cecil, Nettie, and their two small children Russell and Lily-May – moved into 276 Whitehorse Ave in March of last year. Cecil and Nettie both claimed that neither they or their children witnessed the shadow prior to its discovery earlier this week. They only discovered it while Cecil was doing yard work on Oct 12, and his children ran to him “screaming about something on the wall.”

“Sometimes, my sister and I see it move,” seven-year-old Russell Roth said. “It’s gotten taller, too. We don’t go near it.”

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Sourceless Shadow Scares Family Out of Devon Home

Oct 21, 2004
Lowri Buckley

On Oct 20, the Roths – Cecil, Nettie, and their two young children Russel and Lily-May – moved out of 276 Whitehorse Ln in Devon after they made headlines with their discovery of a sourceless shadow on the outside of their small home.

According to Cecil Roth himself, he and his wife Nettie Roth made the decision to leave the night prior after “an incident” occurred. Neither Cecil nor Nettie would elaborate further on this incident. When questioned about where the family planned to go, Nettie Roth declined to comment. “Far away,” Cecil Roth said.

In the days before the Roths departed, neighbors claimed the shadow had grown taller. “The day before they left, that thing was just beneath one of the second-floor windows” said the Roths’ neighbor Isaiah Byrd, who posted the blog that brought the phenomenon to the attention of the larger Devon community. “We assumed it was just the afternoon light making it look that way, so we didn’t think much of it.”

Since the Roths moved, the shadow, which once drew residents from across the county, has not been seen.

HJ Dutton is a Pennsylvania-based writer whose fiction has appeared in Horrific Scribes and Creepy: A Horror Podcast. More of his fiction is forthcoming in Quotidian Bagatelle, Schlock, Audience Askew, and Cryptic Frog Quarterly.