The Shadow People: Who Are They, and Are They Even Real?

Out of all the stories that are passed on about things that go bump in the night, none of them seem to be more prevalent than shadow people. There are tales that stretch back centuries ago, and many cultures globally have some sort of story dealing with them. So what really is a shadow person, and are they even real? 

What even is a "Shadow person"?

Shadow people are exactly what they sound like, non-human entities that take on human form as a dark shadow. They are one of the most common types of paranormal encounters, and reports of them are both numerous and ancient.

There are many theories as to what shadow people are. Some believe that they are the embodiment of a deceased person's spirit that has yet to move on to the afterlife. Some believe that they are entities from a different dimension, such as aliens, demons, angels, Jinn (Islam), or other creatures we do not fully understand. Others believe they might be humans time traveling or having an out of body experience.

Many believe that shadow people are physically harmless, mainly because they seem to ignore human beings and disappear on sight. However, there are reports of them having malevolent intentions that could negatively impact the emotional state of people around them.

Shadow people are believed to be massless and non-physical, but on rare occasions, they have been seen moving physical objects. Collectively, they seem to possess the ability to walk through walls and move at lightning fast speeds.

Shadow people most often are spotted out of the corners of one's eye (the peripheral vision), and many people have had instances where they saw something move nearby, but when looked directly at, there was nothing there. These types of encounters are very common. There is debate over whether these encounters are actually real cases of shadow people or simply the mind playing tricks on one's vision. 

Other encounters typically take place in dark environments, usually during one's sleep. A good portion of shadow people reports occurs when someone wakes up suddenly and sees a shadowy figure by their bed or in the corner of the room. Usually, these people are paralyzed and are in total shock & fear, which is why shadow people are very connected to sleep paralysis.

Scientific explanations of shadow people are that they are mostly illusions or hallucinations brought on by many different factors. Some might be due to our mind/vision playing tricks on us, some might be due to side effects of medications, drugs, or certain physiological circumstances such as sleep deprivation. For sleep paralysis, the effect of becoming suddenly awake and the fear of not being able to move as your body slowly regains control is thought to cause a sleepy and confused brain to picture a human figure in the darkness, especially if the incident occurred right after a dream. 

Examples of Shadow People. Real or Fake, you Decide.

A common shadow person experience, even for those out of North America, is that of "Hat Man". He is a solid shadow seen wearing a hat. Most of those who encounter him say he is a neutral observer, who is aware of the person watching him and tends to just stare until he disappears. He has been described as having an essence of violence, however. Here is an artist's interpretation:

Another case is of the Moundsville Penitentiary Shadow Man. 

The Penitentiary went out of commission in 1995, and nine years later this quite eerie photo was taken after Polly encountered the figure while walking down a hallway to the cafeteria. She described it as being like black static and was shaped like a man. As she shone her torch at it the light went through it and the figure seemed to notice what she had done. However she had her wits about her enough to take the photograph as she backed away. After that the figure was gone.

One common clip shared around the internet is the headless shadow ghost that appears in a Middle Eastern school. The shadow man appears about 2 minutes into the video, while a group of boys are exploring around the school. At the same time the shadow man appears, a nearby mosque starts a prayer call over a loudspeaker. The boys do not appear to notice the shadow person and continue on.

Yet more examples of a shadow person hiding in plain sight.

If you have the time, here is Art Bell leading a segment about shadow people on Coast to Coast AM.

So what is your opinion on this phenomena? Are shadow people just a figment of the imagination, or is there something real about them? If they are real, how often do you think they are confused with mind tricks, and what type of entity are they?

Thank you for reading. If you have any future suggestions for what paranormal beings I should write about next, please comment below.