shadow man?

[ulm4lyf]

Hello all. I am new to this forum so if I am posting this in the wrong place please let me know.

In 1985 I was living in Jacksonville ,FL in what I would call "The Projects", a trio of very low income apartment complexes that were all nestled quite closely together. One summer night, my whole family, about 8 of us at the time, were outside throwing a football around in the parking lot with the other people living in the complex. It was starting to get dark so me(age 8) and my sister(age 6) were told to go inside. We were in a bedroom putting a puzzle together when I saw something move in the hallway. As I looked up to see who/what it was the "thing" came into the room. The best way that I could describe the "thing" is that it looked like a shadow in human form, but without a human. It was approx. 6 ft tall, taller than my step-dad who is 5ft 9. The "shadow man" came into the room, looked at us, then turned off the light by using the light switch. There was no face, only a shadow that you couldn't see through. My sister started screaming and I immediately turned the light back on. I ran down the hallway because even though I saw the "shadow man" I still thought that maybe my cousin was pranking me or something because I had never seen anything like that before( or since). When I got to the front door I could still see all of the other family members outside in the parking lot. There is no possible way that anyone could have made it outside that fast since we were 2 floors up and I had quickly reacted to the light being turned off. My mom said that no one had been in the apartment except my and my sister. To this day I still do not know what it was. I still have a VERY vivid memory of the incident. The light didn't flicker out. The power didn't shut off. I had to physically turn the switch back on to restore the light. This is the only weird or paranormal or whatever you want to call it experience that I have ever had. I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it. Again, if this is in the wrong place, then mods, please move it. This looks like an interesting forum so I may stick around!

Edited June 25, 2009 by ulm4lyf

[Lolipopkid]

Your placement should be fine.

Shadow people are widely discussed. I have heard many idea's on them. Even President Washington and President Lincoln had experiences with them from what I have read. There was even a professor who did research on the phenomena with very interesting results. There are many threads here on them if you want to do a quick search for them.

Oh, and by the way. welcome to UM

[CausticGnostic]

I find several things really interesting in your account, ulm4lyf: First, that you and your sister both saw this Shadow Person; second, that you and she were both awake at the time and engaged in a specific activity (working on a puzzle); and, third, that the SP supposedly turned off the lights by using the light switch! I don't recall, off-hand, any Shadow Person stories in which an SP interacted with objects or people physically.

That you specifically remember that you and your sister were awake and working on a puzzle eliminates one of the main features and explanations of many SP accounts; namely, being in bed at night and either dreaming or experiencing sleep paralysis.

By the way, does your sister recall the incident, too? If so, does she recall it the same way that you do, that is, a Shadow Man coming into the room and turning off the light? It would be fascinating to hear her version of the incident, both for corroboration and for additional details.

You neglected, however, to tell us when and how the Shadow Man vanished or fled. Did it just disappear when you and your sister started screaming? Or did it (as many other SP accounts assert) dart off? I'm very curious as to why the SP would turn off the light and draw attention to itself, when, in most SP accounts, they seem to be hiding from people while observing them covertly.

Finally, Ulm (if I may be so forward as to abbreviate your user name), I invite you to visit Amarali's Shadow Person thread elsewhere on this Forum. She's assembled a lot of information and theories about SPs which you might enjoy reading and which might give you some new perspectives on your experience.

Oh, and welcome to UM!

Edited June 25, 2009 by CausticGnostic

[ulm4lyf]

CG..... My sister was 6 years old at the time. She vaguely remembers it. We have discussed it before when we both became adults and she and I both think that it may have been some sort of demon. As for the figure, when it turned off the light the whole room plunged into darkness, which essentially camouflaged it. When I turned the light back on, it was gone. It made no sound at all, verbally or physically. I do know that we both looked straight at it, it was not a corner of the eye kind of thing. Since we were children, we weren't both hallucinating on acid or anything like that! lol! If I remember correctly she told me during one of our discussions about it she mentioned some other instances where she saw the figure or some other thing at a later time. She is now stationed in Iraq so I can't confirm anything with her right now since she rarely has any outside communication.

[billthunder]

Did you only have an experience with it a few times? Is there anyway that in trying to force yourself to remember, you fabricated the memory without realizing it?