By Tim Binnall
Illinois police have put an end to a short-lived viral mystery surrounding an abandoned house that, some believed, was flashing 'SOS' with its lights. According to a local media report, the peculiar case began on Sunday when a TikTok user posted a video of the residence located in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield. "I was driving past a boarded-up house, and I noticed both the front and back porch lights were flashing like a signal," wrote the witness, who speculated that the strangeness was a call for help using Morse code.
In the days that followed, the video captured the imagination of people online, spreading like wildfire and spawning various theories about what could be happening at the home, as well as inspiring thrill-seekers to venture out to Plainfield to see the spooky house for themselves. The chatter became significant enough that the local authorities were eventually forced to respond to the situation. In a post on social media, the Will County Sheriff’s Office indicated that deputies "have visited the home multiple times and everything is locked or boarded up with no signs of anyone living there."
A subsequent update from the sheriff's office revealed that they had solved the mystery of the 'SOS house', and the resolution was far less fantastic than the online speculation suggested. Upon reaching out to the owner of the home, the department learned that the flashing was not the work of ghosts or a chilling cry for help. On the contrary, the 'phenomenon' was simply the result of faulty solar lights that have now been replaced.