Standing broom in Prattville sweeps in paranormal researchers and the curious

everal hundred people have stopped by Vintage Blu, a yet-to-be-opened consignment shop, since the phenomenon was discovered Aug. 20. Dozens of theories to explain what's going on have been thrown out. There must be glue on the bristles of the broom, or there are magnets in the floor working in concert with the buildings electrical system, or maybe ... just maybe ... it's something from beyond at work. "I think it's more strange than spooky," said Christy Burdett, the shop's owner, who has been working for several weeks to get the business open. "But it's been fun." No, there isn't any glue, and there are no magnets in the floor. As to something otherworldly going on, people will have to use their own judgment. It all started out innocently enough. The broom was leaning against a set of mobile shelves when Della Benton, Burdett's sister, moved the shelves on Aug. 20. When Benton looked back, she was surprised to see the broom standing on the floor. "Christy was behind the counter and I told her to get her camera quick and take a picture. I thought the broom would fall over in just a few seconds," Benton said. "We had people walk past it the rest of the day. It stayed there. Spence (Williamson) from the fire department shoved the handle to the side; it went over a few inches and swung back into place." Some 25 hours later a friend stopping by the store touched the broom's handle and it toppled. "We told her she had the Holy Spirit, and she drove the ghosts away," Christy Burdett said with a laugh. The broom is a run-of-the-mill item, purchased from Dollar General. "It's just your average $2.99 broom," said Phillip Burdett, Christy's husband and a Prattville firefighter. "I don't know how to explain it. We've had people just walk in since it happened every day we've been down here. They want to see the broom."