Who Or What Are The Shadow People?
Jeffry R. Palmer

Shadow People, also known as Shadow Folk, or Shadow Beings, are usually attracted to one person or location for unknown reasons. Often they are seen as dark silhouettes of human-shape, generally male, that prefer to watch someone unseen and flee the moment they are noticed. Still this doesn't always fit the experience. While some people distinctly see a shadowy human form others have dexcribed shapeless wispy black blobs and swirling columns of dark smoke.

The personalities or characteristics of shadow people range greatly from shy and skittish to downright nasty and malevelent, with a few witnesses describing them as the ultimate essence of pure evil. Accounts of shadow people have been reported all over the world. There has been an increase of reported sightings of these creatures within the last five to ten years, though there is anectdotal evidence of these creatures appearing before human witnesses through out our history.

Reports of shadow people are in many respects different from accounts of ghosts. Ghosts are said to be the disembodied spirits of deceased people and are usually said to take on the appearance and characteristics of human beings. Orbs of light, ectoplasm and glowing mists have also been associated with ghost sightings. None of which is common he occurance of shadow people. Although many accounts describe shadow beings as having human-like form, they are generally not described as resembling actual individuals , living or deceased. It is unheard of in my experience that shadow people ever communicate verbally with witnesses. Feelings of dread, intense fear or panic and paralysis have been ascribed to the expereince of wtnessing a shadow person.

The more consistent accounts of shadow people typically describe a feeling of dread associated with the presence of this phenomena, and animals are said to react to the phenomena with fear and hostility. Shadow Beings are said to move extremely fast and travel through solid matter. They typically are said to have no discernible features such as mouths, noses, or eyes. Their forms are usually described as somewhat thin or smoke-like

Direct visual contact is rarely reported by most eye witnesses of shadow people; they are said to usually disappear before they can be seen clearly, and are seen "in the corner of one's eye. These beings are said to often appear in mirrors.

There are many proposed explanations of this phenomena. Some of these explanations are outlined below,

One of the more creative theories is that shadow beings are manifest thought forms, meaning that they are collections of negative psychic energy from areas where traumatic events have taken place and evil people frequent. The negative psychic energy begins to manifest and takes on form and motive, thriving on fear and negative emotions for sustenance.

Shadow beings have also been described as forms of ghosts, demons, inter-dimensional beings.The most popular explanation seems to be that they are some sort of other-dimensional beings whose dimension of origin occasionally overlaps with ours, which is said to explain their ethereal appearance and fleeting nature.

As with most supernatural phenomena there is usually a proposed logical, scientifically valid explanation for credible experiences that neither vilify eyewitnesses, nor require violation of generally accepted scientific principles. Several probable rational explanations for illusions resulting in the believed perception of shadow beings are outlined below.

There is a condition known as hypnoagagia (waking sleep) which amounts to a state of semi-consciousness in which a person can be thinking clearly and yet perceiving images that are being dreamed. This state is probably responsible for most so-called supernatural experiences by honest, rational people.

It has also been proven recently that areas with erratic or powerful electromagnetic fields can interfere with the electrical impulses or firing synapses of the human mind, thus influencing people subjected to such environments over time to believe that they are hearing or seeing ghosts, aliens, or perhaps shadow beings. Such environments include old buildings with substandard wiring, power plants, and areas with naturally occurring strong magnetic fields.

Perhaps the only aspect of alleged eye witness accounts of shadow people that remains difficult to explain in objective scientific terms is the similarity of the beings being seen in these alleged accounts, especially the tall man with a hat that is reported as often by 4 year old children as with adults.
However, this could simply be a result of common archetypes (note similarities between many shadow people reports and the grim reaper) shared in the subconscious of all people, just as people all over the world report dreams of flying and falling.

Jeffry R. Palmer © 2006

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