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Shadow people


Tarnibritan

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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone would be able to enlighten me a little on the topic of shadow people?

Are they ghosts trying to take another form or possibly something else entirely. I guess im just curious as the most recent ive seen one was a few weeks ago-where i live, I saw a tall shadow of a person walk out of the katchen-turn to look at me and then walk out the front door :blush:

The first time was years ago at my Grandmothers house when i thought i saw my sister walk into the laundry and i went to go and talk to her, but no-one was there, they tend to move so quick and i find them quite alarming.

Any opinions are welcome as to what you think they might be (or your own personal encounters)

Thanks Tarni

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Welcome to UM Tarni...

I have only experienced "shadow people" once...

The one I had seen was approximately 5' 6" and looked like they was either wearing a hood/ hoody or had long hair past their shoulder's

They walked from the stair door diagonally across the room to the kitchen door, they moved slowly, without looking at me or knowing I was there (that is what it seemed like anyway)

Here is the wiki link for shadow people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_people

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An interesting take of the shadow people phenomenon:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4175

The conclusion:

These experiences are weird, and can be scary. But they're also fascinating, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience the true power of your brain. To conclude that it's a supernatural being is to rob yourself of the real wonder of what's probably happening. Faith in the supernatural offers you nothing better than an implausible and ignorant supposition that stifles further understanding, while the willingness to accept science gives you a whole universe without limits.

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They seem almost like the polar opposite of ghosts (obviously not 'alive' as we consider it :P), unfamiliar, solid, dark and pretty interactive, if not rather creepy in how they go about their business.. whatever that may be...

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hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, add a dash of gullibility, and there ya have it - shadow people.

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"hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, add a dash of gullibility, and there ya have it - shadow people. "

Nope, that’s not it.

It’s too simplified to say all these individuals are having; hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, and that they add a dash of gullibility.

Under the Stories & Experiences section, there’s a thread titled “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman,” has 75 pages (mostly) of individuals relaying their experiences. People from various locations throughout the world and of different ages, gender, and most importantly, different life experiences growing up.

Aside from this site, I’ve found quite a few other sites where individuals report seeing the same entities. Most of the responses start with; I thought I was the only one that was seeing these shadow/hatman. Too many reports from individuals that don’t each other for the phenomenon to be purely hallucinations and/or overactive imaginations.

And, no, I have never seen one.

Edited by 71Barracuda
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"hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, add a dash of gullibility, and there ya have it - shadow people. "

Nope, that’s not it.

It’s too simplified to say all these individuals are having; hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, and that they add a dash of gullibility.

Under the Stories & Experiences section, there’s a thread titled “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman,” has 75 pages (mostly) of individuals relaying their experiences. People from various locations throughout the world and of different ages, gender, and most importantly, different life experiences growing up.

Aside from this site, I’ve found quite a few other sites where individuals report seeing the same entities. Most of the responses start with; I thought I was the only one that was seeing these shadow/hatman. Too many reports from individuals that don’t each other for the phenomenon to be purely hallucinations and/or overactive imaginations.

And, no, I have never seen one.

sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one. i don't care how many posts there are on the matter here - do you realize this is the type of site that attracts those who would either hoax or fall into the categories i listed earlier?

have you also counted the number of posts here from those who believe they're vampires? werewolves? demons?

please post some proof (not first person accounts - proof) that these entities exists as something more than fantasy.

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Sometimes we think we see movement in our peripheral vision. Our vision is poor in those areas so our brains are easily fooled into thinking that for a moment we saw something that disappeared just before we looked at it.

Most people will disregard these experiences but some people have decided that what they think they saw must have really existed. They've created a new paranormal field called "Shadow People". To believe in them you have to believe in living creatures with no physical form that appear and disappear with no purpose. Since you can't take pictures of them, the field 100% anecdotal evidence.

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- Have you also counted the number of posts here from those who believe they're vampires? werewolves? demons?

-- Aside from demons, I don’t remember any firsthand accounts on werewolves and/or vampires

- Please post some proof (not first person accounts - proof) that these entities exists as something more than fantasy.

-- As far as I know, there is no physical evidence (at this time)

Going back to the “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman” thread, there are many accounts of seeing these entities straight on, not just a peripheral-vision encounter.

They’re not asleep and they aren’t hallucinating.

Here comes your reference to gullibility; I believe them, I do not think that they are lying. Yes, there’s a few I’ve read that sound too farfetched to believe, but I think vast majority (90+%) are telling the truth.

The truth being that they actually did see an entity of some kind that we do not understand.

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People claiming to see specters and spirits is nothing new. The only thing new is that they're calling them "Shadow People" now.

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sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one. i don't care how many posts there are on the matter here - do you realize this is the type of site that attracts those who would either hoax or fall into the categories i listed earlier?

have you also counted the number of posts here from those who believe they're vampires? werewolves? demons?

please post some proof (not first person accounts - proof) that these entities exists as something more than fantasy.

Yes there are some people that post hoaxes etc on a site like this and other site's....

But with that being said that does NOT mean everyone that post's their experiences on this site or any other are all hoaxer's...

Excuse me for NOT having a video or photographic camera handy when I had my experience....

At the time of my experience with a "shadow person" I was watching TV at the time and had no reason to need any type of camera

Even if I did have a camera handy and I managed to take a photo or video, would You also debunk that as a hoax or some form of fantasy ?

Sometimes we think we see movement in our peripheral vision. Our vision is poor in those areas so our brains are easily fooled into thinking that for a moment we saw something that disappeared just before we looked at it.

Most people will disregard these experiences but some people have decided that what they think they saw must have really existed. They've created a new paranormal field called "Shadow People". To believe in them you have to believe in living creatures with no physical form that appear and disappear with no purpose. Since you can't take pictures of them, the field 100% anecdotal evidence.

My experience was in a very well lit room, illuminated with a 100 watt lightbulb, the wall's was painted a magnolia colour

At first it was sighted out of the corner of my eye as I was seated, watching TV at the time , but as soon as I had seen it I stood up and watched it full on as it walked from the stair door to the kitchen door diagonally across the room, I never took my eye's off of it, it was visible for 10 - 15 second's approximately

At the time I did not know what it was called it was only after reading other people's experience's that I determined it to be a "shadow person"

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At the time I did not know what it was called it was only after reading other people's experience's that I determined it to be a "shadow person"

So where did it go? Why do Shadow People need to walk?

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Yes there are some people that post hoaxes etc on a site like this and other site's....

But with that being said that does NOT mean everyone that post's their experiences on this site or any other are all hoaxer's...

Excuse me for NOT having a video or photographic camera handy when I had my experience....

At the time of my experience with a "shadow person" I was watching TV at the time and had no reason to need any type of camera

Even if I did have a camera handy and I managed to take a photo or video, would You also debunk that as a hoax or some form of fantasy ?

did i ask you for pictures? actually i don't recall asking you for anything.

my post was in reference to the idea that because there is a thread with 75 or more posts of people with this experience that it must lend some credence to it being a real entity. i was simply pointing out that there are other threads with many posts where other claims are made by many people as well. it does not add any validity to whether the phenomenon is hoaxed, real, whether it has a scientific or medical cause, or whether it is just superstitious nonsense.

if you want to say something exists and you want others to take that seriously you need to show empirical evidence that supports your claim. otherwise you are telling a story, do you understand that?

your taking a picture or video would be interesting but in itself would also not be proof. it's too easy to manipulate. so, when i suggest proof i am talking about incontrovertible proof.

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So where did it go? Why do Shadow People need to walk?

When it got to the kitchen door it disappeared, and no I never opened the kitchen door to find out if it went into the kitchen or not

Probably the same reason we need to walk...

I am not 100% sure the one I had seen walked, I assume it walked due to moving like it did, but I never did see any feet, not that I was looking for feet at the time I was primarily thinking to myself WTF is that, I was not expecting to see what I saw

did i ask you for pictures? actually i don't recall asking you for anything.

my post was in reference to the idea that because there is a thread with 75 or more posts of people with this experience that it must lend some credence to it being a real entity. i was simply pointing out that there are other threads with many posts where other claims are made by many people as well. it does not add any validity to whether the phenomenon is hoaxed, real, whether it has a scientific or medical cause, or whether it is just superstitious nonsense.

if you want to say something exists and you want others to take that seriously you need to show empirical evidence that supports your claim. otherwise you are telling a story, do you understand that?

your taking a picture or video would be interesting but in itself would also not be proof. it's too easy to manipulate. so, when i suggest proof i am talking about incontrovertible proof.

No I dont believe You asked me for any such thing

I was just replying to Your post, explaining why I never took any photographic or video evidence at the time, and that not everyone goes around with a camera ready to make a video or photograph of the next inexplicable thing that happen's

I agree that just having a photgraph or having a video as evidence is not good enough, having multiple photograph's and video's and from multiple source's of the same thing happening at the same location is what I would call or class as credible evidence, as long as that evidence was not or had not been tampered with in any way...

There is quite a few thread's about the same topic and I partly agree with You that it does not necessarily mean it add's any credence to it being a real entity, there are other thing's that are going around like "Slender Man" that is not real and was originally started off as a story (as far as I am aware)

But at the same time if it is not a real entity then why are so many different people from different part's of the world and from different walk's of life, stating they have had similiar or the same experience's ?

There may be some that are hoaxes but due to myself seeing what I described I do not believe that all are hoaxes

I can and do understand why You would require empirical evidence, there is time's I would like or have liked to have had the same thing

As stated I have no such evidence as I did not have any type of camera at the time

If people do not believe me then that is their choice, which they are welcome to, I could not really care one way or the other TBH if anyone believe's me, it is simply my own experience, and yes I do understand that

I am just simply stating what I saw and what the condition's of the lighting etc (that may be/is relevent) was like at the time of seeing it

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When I was a kid,there were no such things as shadow people,or the hatman .

I knew all the lore ,and these are relatively new ,in the total scheme of things .

So they do not register for me. No one I know has ever seen either .

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When I was a kid,there were no such things as shadow people,or the hatman .

I knew all the lore ,and these are relatively new ,in the total scheme of things .

So they do not register for me. No one I know has ever seen either .

I am 37 yrs old and I used to read up on ghost's etc when I was younger, I never heard of them either before my experience, until after I had my experience and tried to get answer's and found a site like this with info on them, so I would say You could be right in the way they (Shadow people) are relatively new

No one I know has ever seen a shadow person either (as far as I am aware) unless they have and just have not talked about their experience, due to them not wanting people to think they are crazy or whatever, as some skeptic's/people like to fling that about a bit...

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"hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, add a dash of gullibility, and there ya have it - shadow people. "

Nope, that’s not it.

It’s too simplified to say all these individuals are having; hallucinations and/or overactive imagination, and that they add a dash of gullibility.

Under the Stories & Experiences section, there’s a thread titled “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman,” has 75 pages (mostly) of individuals relaying their experiences. People from various locations throughout the world and of different ages, gender, and most importantly, different life experiences growing up.

Aside from this site, I’ve found quite a few other sites where individuals report seeing the same entities. Most of the responses start with; I thought I was the only one that was seeing these shadow/hatman. Too many reports from individuals that don’t each other for the phenomenon to be purely hallucinations and/or overactive imaginations.

And, no, I have never seen one.

Did you listen to/read the info I posted? The reason the phenomenon is so common is that it's how our brains/eyes work.

Why do so many people have anxiety dreams about school or work where we've forgotten an assignment or forgotten to go to class. Why do so many people have dreams about being naked or in your underwear in front of a crowd.

Again, it's how our brain is wired.

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I am 37 yrs old and I used to read up on ghost's etc when I was younger, I never heard of them either before my experience, until after I had my experience and tried to get answer's and found a site like this with info on them, so I would say You could be right in the way they (Shadow people) are relatively new

No one I know has ever seen a shadow person either (as far as I am aware) unless they have and just have not talked about their experience, due to them not wanting people to think they are crazy or whatever, as some skeptic's/people like to fling that about a bit...

hello jackofalltrades, the term shadow people is new but the phenomenon must be as old as human race itself.

shadow people were already popular in different cultures under names like shades,astral spirits, djinns, demons. The demons that most holy scriptures speak of are these entities. The astral spirits of the lower planes that astral travellers speak of are these entities.

A radio host made this misleading term "shadow people" popular most probably to dupe western audience into thinking that something new was discovered in the paranormal field. Media plays such tricks all the time for marketing.

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When I was a kid,there were no such things as shadow people,or the hatman .

I knew all the lore ,and these are relatively new ,in the total scheme of things .

So they do not register for me. No one I know has ever seen either .

They are just a new manifestation of an older phenomenon. Obviously if they were real creatures from the deep places of the spirit world, they would not care to keep up with fashion and project top hats. Nor would they be interested in poking and messing with people while they sleep. You would think a "demon" or "lower dimentional entity" would have better things to do then to mess with humans in very petty ways.

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“Did you listen to/read the info I posted? “

Yes I read the article (see link http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4175).

He offered two explanations: hypnogogia and sleep paralysis. Both are based upon being asleep or right before or after sleep.

But, as Jack of All Trades experience, the reports come from individuals wide awake, not anywhere near their bed.

And a personal statement, I don’t believe the author bothered to do proper research against the reported sightings. His mind made up and hypnogogia and sleep paralysis are the answers. His condescending attitude towards Heidi Hollis makes it very apparent.

So, I read your article, did you read the 75 pages of “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman”?

Most of the reports are rather interesting. It’s actually worth the read

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There's a lot of argument in this thread, nobody is right or wrong (until evidence - such a funny word! - proves otherwise) but I just believe that every single reported case cannot be a hallucination/dream/trick of the mind etc just as every reported 'paranormal' incident cannot be legitimate, it works both ways and there has to be ground given on both sides sometimes I have never come across a shadow figure but certainly do believe they exist and also think sightings can be mistaken, each case has to be taken on its own unique conditions.

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Dancing Corpse,

Good morning.

I totally agree with your statement on not all reports are misinterpretations as well as not all reports are actual sightings.

Oh, my apologies if our conversations come across as arguing. We’ve all been very civil to one another. I’d rather have these conversations at a bar than here, having to write everything out. Although this is a great way to communicate, the human factor of body language and speech pitch, hesitation, etc, is lost. Anyway, I don’t think anyone here is intentionally being mean/rude.

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“Did you listen to/read the info I posted? “

Yes I read the article (see link http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4175).

He offered two explanations: hypnogogia and sleep paralysis. Both are based upon being asleep or right before or after sleep.

But, as Jack of All Trades experience, the reports come from individuals wide awake, not anywhere near their bed.

And a personal statement, I don’t believe the author bothered to do proper research against the reported sightings. His mind made up and hypnogogia and sleep paralysis are the answers. His condescending attitude towards Heidi Hollis makes it very apparent.

So, I read your article, did you read the 75 pages of “Those who’ve seen the Hatman/Shadowman”?

Most of the reports are rather interesting. It’s actually worth the read

The vast majority of reports are in and around periods of sleep. Anything around here that starts with "i was sleeping" or "i was lying in bed" is instantly attributable to hypnogogia or sleep paralysis in my opinion. And as Mr. Dunning related in his Sesame Street experience, he firmly believed he was fully awake and even took notes of what he was seeing. But yet, he was sound asleep.

Many of the other reports talk about seeing something out of the 'corner of my eye" or to my "side" - again, perfectly explainable. That's simply how our eyes/mind works.

And frankly, anything else that is presented without evidence is simply a "cool story bro" as far as I'm concerned.

I watched the most recent episode of Ghost Hunters last night on the investigation in the old (and beautiful) theater in Joliet, IL. Those guys were chasing shadows until they were blue in the face. Every time one of them looked up they were saying "did you see that". Coincidentally, most of the experiences were in the grand foyer which was dark and floor to ceiling highly reflective marble. Or course their eyes would play tricks on them in that environment.

As an aside, I continue to be amused around here how when someone doesn't agree with someone they are being condescending, mean, and/or rude. Contrary to your opinion, I found nothing of the sort in Mr. Dunning's comments toward Ms Hollis. He simply disagreed with her and offered a more plausible and scientific explanation.

Edited by Rafterman
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Speaking of shows like "Ghost Hunters": I love watching "Ghost Adventures" on the travel channel, and they seem to come up with some great evidence. I've heard some outstanding EVPs on that show and some great visuals of what could be "Shadow People". That brings us to what was being talked about earlier; how even though there are photographs, video, and audio, these findings still can't prove to the majority of people, the existence of the "paranormal". Even though these "EVPs" and "Shadow People" are being professionally captured by experts, people who are skeptic to paranormal activity seem to just brush it off and say, "It's just a television show." In my opinion, these "paranormal" findings should be on front pages of newspapers from time to time and talked about frequently in the national media.

What do yo think about the evidence being provided by the television show, "Ghost Adventures"?

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