Accounts / Case Studies

[Thomas Durant]

Here is the place to talk about your Shadow Person experiences! Was it a Shadow Person, or was it something else? Come here what people are experiencing and help us to find out what these entities actually are!

[lynettems]

Well, since no one else has told their Shadow People story, I will jump in with mine. I know I told Tom this story once at a talk he was giving, but I'll tell it again for anyone else that's interested.

My one and only Shadow Person experience happened on the night of my 38th birthday. I had gone out with friends to celebrate and had a drink or two but was not drunk. I also had some added stress on me because I knew my father had gone in for tests on his liver that day for what we were afraid was a recurrence of cancer... and we found out later that's exactly what it was. He was gone 6 months later. (I'm explaining all that to give background to my mindset) I got home and went to bed around midnight.

At 1 a.m. I woke up, but here's the strange part -- when I woke up, I was already seated upright in bed with my eyes wide open. My knees were drawn up to my chest, my heart was pounding and I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea why I became conscious in such a state.

I decided to start looking around my bedroom in order to try to figure out why I woke up so full of fear. As I looked around the room, I suddenly saw a deep black figure standing next to my bed. I did not see any detail. It was just the general shape of a man, (no hat). My terror level ratcheted up even further because I believed this was a live human being who had gotten into my home and was about to harm me. I flinched away from this "man" and as I did that, he shot off diagonally across my bed and through my ceiling. I sat there stunned for a moment, but the fear left almost immediately. I walked around the house to make sure that no one really had gotten in. Everything was quiet so I went back to sleep and slept solidly through the night.

So there it is, my Shadow Person story. Any thoughts?

[greatmang]

In October of 2005, two friends and I stayed the night at my mom's house near Fresno. I lived in this house since birth until age 18 when I moved out to go to college in Ventura. The house is built over an area that is supposedly Native American burial ground, and a number of people that live in the area have shared their stories of paranormal happenings with me. But I never experienced anything until this night that was approximately one month after I moved out.
I woke up in the middle of the night thirsty. So, I got up to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. I opened the door to the hallway, and looked out to see who I thought was my mom coming out of my nephew's room. He was five at the time, and my mom would sometimes check on him at night (he sleep walks). The hallway is relatively small, so I stood in the doorway of my bedroom and waited until she went back to her room or to the bathroom, or wherever. It was dark, so I was watching the bottom of her robe to see where she would go. This figure, that I realized was NOT my mom moved forward about 3 feet towards me and stopped. All I could do was stare at this black robed figure (no hat) for a matter of seconds until I wasn't staring at anything at all. It completely disappeared. Needless to say I ran to turn on the lights and hate walking through that hallway at night now.
I didn't know what it was or why it was there, but since then I've heard other peoples' stories of black figures and shadow people and wonder if what I saw was a shadow person?

[Thomas Durant]

Thanks Greatmang and Lynette for your stories, please keep them coming. I would love to let this board be a MAJOR hub for any shadow person discussions and theories.

Mang, in response to your post, I would say it's very possible. If it was outside your nephew's room, has he shown any signs of being psychic/sensitive? Does he have any extra sensory perception or unusual abilities? If not, do you yourself have any of these abilities? These are generally my first questions as they may be able to answer up front whether or not it was a true "Shadow Person" but the robe seems consistent with some reports... Any other thoughts?

[Whbishop75]

Ok. I have only told my experiences with my wife. I have never heard of shadwo people until I heard the podcast of your show. Once I heard some of the experiences that you shared on your show, I was astounded by how much they remind me of my own. When I was very young, about 2 or 3, I started seeing a dark form in my grandmother's house. It was the typical 6' male in a trenchcoat with the white slightly glowing eyes. I would see him walk down the hallway and into the different rooms in her house at varying time. I seemed to be the only one that saw him. He would come down the hallway and stare at me when I was in bed. I would cry for my mother to come and she would walk right past him and he would smile and turn away and go to another room. At these points he would vanish. I told my mother I was seeing this man and she said it was my imagination and to stop making up stories. I thought she was right but then I noticed that he would periodically "take" things and then later "return" them back somewhere else. My mother placed her cigarette pack on her chair while talking to my grandparents. Then, while I was playing cards on the floor, he walked up behind her and grabbed the cigarette pack and smiled to me, placed his finger to his lips and clearly I heard "shhhhhh". I just sat there staring at the doorway. Then my mother went for another cigarette, and noticed the pack was gone. She searched all around the chair and could not find it. Later, she found it in her purse, which was in another room. She knew she had not placed it there, but somehow, it wounf up there. I told my mother, and she slapped me across the face and told me to stop it. After a couple of more incidents like this, I stopped mentioning him, but I would continue seeing him and he seemed to enjoy the fact that I felt uncomfortable but couldn't tell anyone. Finally, I kept wishing he would go away, and slowly, he stopped appearing. Then, when I was in college, I had some friends that liked the whole, "let's go to a graveyard" thing. I kept saying that I did not want to go but, they drug me with them. So there we were, and I noticed off to the side, by the woods, there appeared to be a person in a trenchcoat with his back to me. I thought this was my friend. I said "Hey"! He turned around and smiled at me. He was not the same one from my child hood because he had no eyes. It was just black holes. Not black eyes, but just empty sockets. I jumped back and ran back to my friends. They too saw him and started running to the cars. I thought it was just my imagination if everyone else hadn't seen it too. After that, I noticed a lot of people in trenchcoats watching me constantly. I thought at first that the government was after me or that I was under investigation. Then, I just started ignoring the various strange occurances. Once again, they stopped appearing or I stopped noticing. I have thought long and hard about what I used to see and thought that maybe I am just insane. Now, after hearing you, I am thinking there may be more to this. I also had a couple of odd experiences in my dorm room involving levitating and moving books and messages typing themselves on my word processor when I was alone in the room. One said look outside, I did and there was a figure in a trenchcoat looking at my window. I turned back around when it went off again and this time said turn around and the figure was just outside my window. I decided to take a picture of the figure, if for no other reason than just to convince myself that I was seeing something real and not going crazy. When I turned and went to get my camera, a man was standing at the closet door, holding my camera. He smiled and disappeared with the camera. I was never able to find that camera after that. I feel like maybe I am crazy. Then I hear your show and think, maybe not crazy but having an experience like you describe. I went to a minister at a church and told him about a couple of the experiences (albeit toned down a bit) and he said it was just Satan feeding on my own fear and paranoia. Problem is that I was not afraid every time I have seen these figures. I have never seen a female, like you describe just male. Some with glowing eyes, and two with no eyes. Sorry if this is long and rambling, but I have wanted to talk about these to someone for a long time but didn't think anyone would believe me. Still not sure anyone will....
Love your show. Glad I found you.

Scott

[TomyD]

Glad you found us on here too Scott. All these stories link up in a number of ways and I know we'll get to the bottom of this at some point, hopefully within our lifetime.

Cheers,
Tomy D

[vulpesvulpes]

Personally, my experiences with the Shadow People have been slightly different from a lot of those described here, and indeed might even fall completely outside of the Tier system you have recognised elsewhere.

My ex-girlfriend and I came under extended scrutiny for a period of about several months in late 2006-mid 2007. The village in which she lived was known for paranormal phenomena, seeing as it was in close proximity to the Hellfire Caves (a paranormal hotspot if there ever was one) and the neighbouring village is a major centre for Quakerism, the burial place of William Penn and has a real 'Stepford Wives' feel to it. Both villages, while small, punch way above their weight in ominous vibes, especially at night, and they both feel like there's something nasty bubbling under the surface, waiting to strike.

I'm a sensitive, remember, so the whole ominous vibes thing really got to me, putting me on edge and magnifying the slightest seemingly paranormal event a thousandfold in my perception, at least at the actual time. I'm an honest guy, I've got nothing to gain from trying to deny that some of the supposed manifestations were down to simple stress/emotional overload/etc., though that said the thought of the appearances of the entities I took to be shadow people at the time still fill me with revulsion even now, and I am convinced that those memories at least, don't lie.

The creatures came in three types, or at least, two types and a subtype for the third. The first was a hunched, solid shadow, eyeless, bent almost double with long arms down to its knees. It had larger than normal hands, almost like paws, and what appeared to either be long fingers or thick, blunt claws. I never actually saw this one, though I felt it, and this is the image that my minds eye conjured up both at the time and now when I try to summon up the memory. Not the most reliable evidence I know, but the best I can do.

The second and third were akin to the darters and peepers you describe, though oddly enough, naked and sexless, almost like a child's bad drawing if they were playing with Sharpie's. all straight edges and very few actual curves, no distinguishing features and a very, very odd, almost mist like way of moving, almost as if they were swirling as opposed to actually gliding. The reason I am going to make a distinction here is because while the paragraph up until this point accurately describes the majority of cases where we actually saw the 'kind of' darters/peepers, there was another. On that occasion I actually saw one flowing, in a far more dispersed manner through the branches of the tree's in the woodland around my ex girlfriend's parent's home. It was like it was almost sticky, and it seemed to actually have some kind of weight to it, though not enough to damage the trees as it passed through them.

Enough to move the branches though, and yes, all three types when moving in any way seemed to make some sort of noise, not footsteps exactly but a rustle through the leaves. When 'teleporting' (yeah, I know, a terrible term for it) they always seemed to turn sideways first, and try to move behind some intervening terrain feature if they could as well. oh, and that 'fear aura', as I came to call it? Very pronounced with the invisible clawed ones, and it also took on something of an antagonistic flavour with the naked kind, almost like an outright challenge.

I realise in hindsight that either rogue thought forms left over from all the black magick performed in the area, elementals or even (gulp) demonic entities might well fit the evidence better than the actual shadow people, but they were my first instinct at the time. I'm no longer in contact with my ex, so I'm afraid you only have my word to go on. I don't expect to change the direction of your research, as I realise that the evidence I present is circumstantial at best, though perhaps it will fill in a few gaps for you. I guess you could say that I am returning the favour for your research doing the same for me.

[Thomas Durant]

Vulpes,

All the information is necessary to find the truth behind the phenomenon. I "could" dismiss it as servitors, PK, etc... but the truth is, until we have more "facts" or "evidence" there is little that we should discount...I don't believe these are demonic, but does it mean that I am right? Not at all, but based on the "current" evidence, that is what I believe to be true.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I'd love to talk to you further about your experiences. You can email me at [e-mail]

Lets keep these forums active everyone!

[vulpesvulpes]

Sounds cool, I'm more than happy to share. I'll send you an email later tonight with a more considered version of my above experience, something more fitting of an researcher's archive.

;D

EDIT 24/03/2009

Hiya guys. Just so y'know, my LiveJournal is now up. It is deliberately geared toward my long running research into the occult, and I should hopefully be updating the essays often. Feel free to drop by if you are interested in such matters, cookies and cake are on me.

vulpesoccultist.livejournal.com/

Right, I'm outta here. Speak to you all soon...

;D

[justinb1983]

New to the boards. Long time listener. Cannot guarantee I will be on a lot, but I got to occurences with "Shadow" people.

I have never really had any experiences in my life, but have always been interested in the paranormal ever since my first brush with Leonard Nimoy and the 1970's show that I cannot think of right now.

Anyways, these were very brief encounters, the first one was about a year or so ago I was taking out the trash(this was middle of the day too), and out of the corner of my eye I saw what i can only describe as a Shadow Man. It had what looked like a long coat and a long brimmed hat on. All black. As I turned to make full visual contact with this, it grabbed the front of its hat, put its head down and took off. I stopped in my tracks to make sure this was not just some strange human, but there was no evidence of a human aroud.

My second occurence was very brief. My family and I had gone on a vacation to Phoenix to see family. While there we went to tombstone. I had researched Haunted Hotels in tombstone. The Tombstone Motel was the only hotel that was Haunted. My fiance an dI requested to stay in one of the rooms that was allegedly haunted. We never did stay in the room. It was very musty, smoky and old. The owner said that every time they try to update the room, something tears up whatever they do. We checked out the room, it had that feeling. We went to get my parents to let them see it. On the way back to the room, I was the first to enter, and as I opened the door, a shadow took off into the bathroom. That was all. A few months after I was researching and found a story just like mine, but with more contact.

That is all I have for now, I just wanted to get it out to people who Believe.

Thanks guys

[mallard]

Thomas I think you are on to something believing that shadow people may be demonic in nature. I have had several encounters with them over the past few years and it was only when I was discussing with a friend a possible demonic presence near his home.

I can sense the presence and can describe to a letter what he is experiencing in his home; it is being caused by this entity. He is shocked that I can describe in such detail the things happening; to me it comes like a memory of an event I can’t explain it any other way. I also can sense the emotion of the entity, when I speak of it I can feel its anger and I can also feel it moving away from where I sense it being, pulling away from me, it doesn’t like being known and is angered. Any way sorry for the long fill in there, I normally talk to my friend outside because my wife is frightened of the paranormal so I try and not talk about it in front of her.

What has become common is when I try and get the name of the entity or describe its influence on him and his family my back yard starts to streak of black masses that are maybe three to four feet tall, they are fast and have more of a shape like a small child wearing a black bed sheet. They almost appear to be circling me, my yard is about an acre and they are on the edges of the property. There are no distinct features what so ever. They have always been at ground level but last week a black mass blocked out a dusk to dawn light and casted a shadow on two occasions, there were several shadow people seen streaking through the end of the yard just after that. I have not recalled ever seeing them before until I discovered the presence of that entity near my friends’ home and started talking about it. I only see them when talking about that thing. I don’t know if they are influenced by the entity or are there because of the entity, I do feel comfortable saying that they are somehow related.

[Thomas Durant]

Hey Justin, Mallard,

Thanks so much for your stories. Let me start by addressing Justin's message:

I would say the first account you describe does accurately portray a true "Shadow Person" encounter. The second comes across to me as possibly being a haunting in the hotel and someone didn't want to get caught "haunting" your room, so they booked it! Around the time of the first encounter though, where there any other strange occurrences happening in/around your home at the time? Any military ties in the immediate family? Anyone in the immediate family convicted of a federal crime or a suspect in a federal crime? Have you seen anything after your latest encounter in the hotel room? I would love to hear more, please email me at [e-mail] if you don't mind sharing your story...

...Now, Mallard (by the way, one of my favorite ducks), I don't believe that all "Shadow People" encounters are demonic in nature. I believe the demonic can appear like a great many things, including "Shadow People". I also think it's easy for them to take a shadowy "humanoid" appearance which can sometimes be mistaken as "Shadow People". Do I believe it's possible that "Shadow People are demonic? Absolutely, but the evidence I've gathered tends to make me believe they are more trans-dimensional in nature as opposed to "demonic". Thoughts?

[Ski girl]

I had an experience 13 yrs ago while I was pregnant. I woke up in the middle of the night and I distinctly remember that I was awake and not dreaming. I then felt my bed covers being lifted off of me to my right. As I turned to look it flew to the foot of my bed, next I felt weight on either side of my knees, then something pressing my shoulders down. It felt male but didn't have any features that I could describe. I was terrified and tried to scream but I couldn't move at all and the only noise that would come out was air. I immediately started to pray and demand that it leave. It did but what was even scarier is that it came back 3 times that night. I slept with the light on for 3 weeks and researched everything I could to figure out what this was. All I found was information on the "old hag" and sleep paralysis. I don't believe it was sleep paralysis at all. It felt evil and male. It has not come back! I wish we Knew more about this.