It might be a trick, but it’s certainly a Hallowe’en treat for readers who love a ghostly mystery.
They’ve been off our screens for a good few years now, but maybe it’s time paranormal investigators Mulder and Scully returned... to investigate a Luton X-File.
It could be a spook-tacular prank, but staff at Jimmy’s World Grill & Bar in the town centre – and their head office – assure me they’ve been left scratching their heads by unexplained activity at their restaurant.
CCTV footage they’ve sent me suggests that a poltergeist is on the loose. About 50 seconds into the clip, a chair appears to move on its own. Then a napkin flies up in the air, a menu shifts a bit, and cutlery and a plate fly off the left edge of the table.
Manager Rehan Anwar said: “The incident was brought to my attention by a customer who was sitting a few tables away and heard a loud crash.
“When she turned around there was no body sat at the table which baffled her. I instantly went over to the table where the incident had taken place to find a broken plate and cutlery on the floor. I didn’t think too much of it at the time but when talking to the staff about it a couple of days later they joked about it being a ghost.
“Then someone suggested looking at the CCTV on the closest camera to see if that table was covered. It was.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw. At first all I saw was the plate fly off the table but looking back again you can see the chair move and the napkin. There is no explanation for how a plate can fly off a table with that force which makes it extremely bizarre.
Rehan added: “The suspected ghost or poltergeist has created a lot of interest amongst the staff and it makes locking up at night a little bit scary.
“You do hear other noises in certain areas of the restaurant but whether it’s haunted or not, I don’t know but I can’t think of an explanation to what is clearly visible on the camera. It will certainly make Hallowe’en an interesting night for us.”
Mukesh Vyas, from Jimmy’s head office, said: “When we heard about the footage, we thought it was a set up and staff having a bit of fun. However, we have been assured this wasn’t the case and on further inspection of the footage we cannot explain how this has happened.”
So maybe Mulder and Scully can return in an X-files 3 movie focused on Jimmy’s? – although I think I’d prefer a conclusion to the alien colonisation plot (come on, make it happen Chris Carter!)
Failing that it’s over to Luton Paranormal Society...
What do you make of the video? Email steve.sims@jpress.co.uk.
> This is an extract from the Simply Sims column featured every Wednesday in the Luton News.