An artist’s depiction of a Shadow Person
borrowed from :
Your first encounter may appear out of the corner of your eye, cautiously darting out of view when you turn to look directly at them, but now they’re gone. Is your imagination a little over active or did you really just see a shadow person?
Nervously pushing the image out of your mind, you convince your-self that it was some glitch in your vision, however the feeling still lingers that someone or something is watching you. For weeks, sometimes even months or years, the quick movements in your peripheral vision are dismissed until without warning, one evening, you see the shadow face to face, blacker than black, darker than dark; it appears like a void or a hole into the pitch-black of the night itself.
Often it looks like the silhouette of a person, usually male, but not displaying other characteristics suggesting male or female. This is thought to be one of the notorious shadow beings. They may appear as hooded shadows or cloaked ones; they emerge as solid but can also be considered as delicate, murky types. Sometimes they become visible as having ‘form’ only from waist up. Others have legs that are seen scurrying away from view. They dart into closets, pass through walls, jump into dark corners, or hide behind a television set, a building, or that lone tree in the back yard. They have the uncanny ability to fade into the dim recesses of the darkness. “Intensely Dark” is one common characteristic which is the same regarding the different types of shadow people that enter our world. But as you might guess, there are always exceptions.
The first question you should asked, “What is their purpose?” One thing is certain, the personalities or the intentions of shadow people are just as varied as the many causes of global warming. An unknown number of witnesses believe that shadow people act as compassionate guardians watching and guiding us; but just as many witnesses insist that they are nothing short of purely evil beings. Originally, I thought the shadow people could be what we might call ghosts, but the stories I’ve read lately seem to be more convincing in suggesting that shadow people are actually a type of inter-dimensional being. One can only hope that serious research into this paranormal (or psychological) field will paint a better understanding of the character and make-up of these dark unexplained ‘people’. That day is yet come but it may be a relief of a sort for you to know that research is in fact in progress.
Here is perhaps the most recent line of thought: Shadow people are also known as shadow ghosts, shadow figures, shadow beings, shadow men, or shadow folk. They are said to be supernatural shadow-like humanoid beings that, according to believers, are primarily seen in the peripheral vision. They are often regarded in modern folklore and the paranormal popular culture, as malicious or evil spirits.
Several scientific principles can be used to explain reports of shadow people; including optical illusions or hallucinations. Such sightings can be brought on by physiological/psychological circumstances such as drug use or side effects from prescribed medication. According to recent research, the illusion of a shadow person can be created when the left temporoparietal junction, which is a very specific region of the brain, is stimulated.
This is of course just a theory; we are all allowed to have at least one you know, and in my humble opinion there is certainly no guarantee that this is the correct evaluation of shadow people. After all, the human brain is beyond doubts, very complex; it’s been called the most powerful computer know to exist on earth.
In other words, may-be the specific area of the brain described as being “stimulated” so as to create the image of shadow people can be described as little more than the ‘reaction’ by that remote segment of the ultimate computer, the brain; such research is in no way convincing nor explains the shadow person you are sure you saw.
Sources …
I suggest that this phenomenon, among others, is merely an example of apophenia. Our brains are hardwired to recognize and even seek out patterns, faces, and figures; this is a protective mechanism which evolved over centuries of living in the wild; the need to recognize a camouflaged creature was once more critical that it is now.
ReplyDeleteAnother link from your friendly skepchick:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
Also of interest:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradolia
And . . . another visual phenomenon that probably doesn't explain shadow people but is just as creepy and unsettling is Charles Bonnet Syndrome, in patients who have lost much of their central vision.