Shadow People

## Overview and Evidence

**Shadow People** are an allegedly paranormal race of humanoid entities that have been reported around the world for a very long time. Tales of shadowy humanoids date back hundreds or even thousands of years in various cultures' mythologies, from the Persian myth of the djinn/jinn and the shades of Greek mythology. Alleged sightings of these shadowy figures continue into the modern day with hundreds of sighting reported yearly on various paranormal-centered forums and subreddits.

There are generally two different types of shadow people. The first and more literal type is the shadow person that actually manifests as a two-dimensional shadow projected onto a wall or other surface. The second type is a more three-dimensional (comparatively speaking) variant that can seemingly manifest on its own. The second type is certainly more common in modern sightings. Both variants are said to stand around six feet in height and be composed entirely of pure black shadows, seemingly absorbing all lights. Oftentimes they are only seen through one's peripheral vision, out of the corner of one's eye, often in quick vague flashes. Alleged shadow person behavior also varies wildly. In some accounts, they appear to be merely curious and watch from afar, but some reports depict them as 'emitting' an aura of negativity. A third, more specific variant of the shadow person also exists in the form of the 'Hat Man'. The Hat Man is described as a normal shadow person that wears what appears to be a long trench coat and a fedora-like hat, and this variant is almost always described as being malevolent in nature.

Those who believe shadow people to be of a supernatural nature generally claim that they are either ghosts or evil non-human spirits. Some even go so far as to claim that they are interdimensional beings, though it should be noted that this is largely an unfalsifiable hypothesis. The scientific community, on the other hand, has suggested the alternate idea that sightings of shadow figures are likely just tricks of the mind. This could explain why many alleged sightings occur at night and/or in dark rooms. In such an environment that most would already consider 'creepy', an active imagination combined with knowledge of shadow people from popular culture could easily cause people to 'see' vague figures and shapes in the darkness as their brains attempt to make sense of the darkened environment. In fact, numerous experiments have actually induced 'sightings' of shadow people by stimulating certain areas of the brain.

## Alleged Sightings

### First-Person Accounts

* alittlewaysaway

When I was around 10 years old I lived with my dad and his new wife part time. I woke up one morning around 5 am and walked out to the living room after hearing a repetitive noise thinking it was my stepmom, who often had problems sleeping which resulted in her waking up early or staying up late.

When I walked into the living room I saw a shadow in the kitchen, making a noise that sounded like a spoon hitting the side of an empty bowl. I don’t know why but I figured it was my stepmom making pudding. I stared for a while, and thought it was weird that she was doing this without the lights on, and even weirder that the more I stared at her the more I realized that I wasn’t able to make out any of her features. I remember thinking she looked like she was made up of the colors you see when you close your eyes.

After staring for a while and trying to make out what I saw I called out to her and the mixing sound stopped. I stood and stared a little longer before I realized that it wasn’t my stepmom in the kitchen. I ran back to my room and covered my head with my blanket, not daring to close my door because my parents kept bells on the door and they would have made too much noise. After hiding under my covers for a few moments and trying to convince myself that it was nothing, I decided to peek out. To my horror I saw the same shadow figure walk into my doorway. I hid myself back under the covers and hyperventilated until I fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning I asked my stepmom if she was awake and in the kitchen earlier, which she denied, confused. I ended up telling my mom about it when she picked me up, and to this day she teases me about “the mixing bowl ghost”. I always thought it was a ghost until I saw someone mention shadow people in this subreddit. [sic]
## Sources

1. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=aBK8Nr4edm4C&pg=PA117#v=onepage&q&f=false
2. ↑ https://www.liveabout.com/shadow-people-2596772
3. ↑ https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/what-are-shadow-people
4. ↑ https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2006/09/illuminating-shadow-people
5. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Humanoidencounters/comments/jqsni2/a\_shadow\_person\_followed\_me\_back\_to\_my\_room/

## Gallery

### Image Gallery

An artist's interpretation (original artist unknown)