Personal Experience

One day when my sister and I were very young, we were playing at our grandparents' house. We were 'walking' our dolls across the hallway into one of the bedrooms and back. When it was my sister's turn, she walked through the hallway, entered the bedroom, and suddenly I remember her starting to scream and cry. My grandmother also heard her, and both of us rushed to her to see what had happened. She explained that when she entered the room, she saw the shadow of a man on the wall. At first she thought it was my grandfather, but then she saw that he was still sleeping in the room next door, and there was no other male in the house.

Some may feel that because she was so young at the time, it was simply her imagination. However, now at age 21, she is still adamant about what she saw and still fears being in a dark room alone. Even before that day, though, I always felt that there was something strange about my grandparents' house, and I would get the creeps whenever I would walk down that hallway.

Several months after my sister saw the figure, both of my grandparents died. I am not sure if the shadow was an omen of their death or merely coincidence, but I became intrigued with shadow people and wanted to learn more about them.

What are shadow people?

Shadow people are exactly as the name implies: dark silhouettes that have a human form. Though many of the shadow people that have been seen are said to have the appearance of an adult male, the shadows of women and children have also reportedly been spotted.Though more rare, there are some accounts of sightings of shadows that have had the forms of different species of animals as well.

Other types of shadow people that have been seen include shadow mists and the more demonic looking shadow figures. It is believed that when shadow people are moving, they do not keep their shapes and thus will have the appearance of a dark mist. The demonic looking shadow people may have horns or red eyes and obviously have a much more frightening appearance.

What do shadow people signify?

There have been many interpretations of shadow people. Some believe that they are ghosts. However, ghosts are often seen as more of a whitish mist and usually have recognizable clothing and facial features. In contrast, a shadow person's face and clothing cannot be seen, except for perhaps a hat that the shadow figure may be wearing.

One very interesting theory is that they are the essences of people who are in the process of having out of body experiences. It has been believe by some that everyone travels outside of their bodies while they are sleeping, and the shadow person is simply the projection of the individual as he or she is having that experience.

Another idea is that shadow people are actually demons, and the reported sightings of those with the horns or red eyes may be seen by some as proof of this theory. However, there are others who believe that the shadow people that are seen with those more frightening features are simply ghosts who are skilled at disguising themselves to deceive and scare the individual.

Additional interpretations of shadow people are that they may be beings from another dimension, people from the future, and extraterrestrial beings. Some have even reported that they have seen shadow figures prior to the death of someone they know (which is related to my sister's situation), and therefore they may also be seen as 'angels of death'.

Of course, there are the skeptics who believe that shadow people are simply figures of the imagination, but those people usually have never seen a shadow person themselves.







