In the evenings, I am often to be found sitting at the computer in the dining area of our L-shaped living/dining room. As you can see from the diagram below, I am sitting at the far left wall with the rest of the living/dining room area to my right.
Floorplan
In recent months, I have started to notice a moving figure shape out of the corner of my eye to my right – as though someone is coming past the fireplace towards the couch.
This shape is so figure-like that I tend to assume it is my son coming downstairs to get something. I instinctively look around – only to find there is no-one there and in fact I’m the only person downstairs at the time.
Possible explanations I have considered are:
- “floaters” in my eye (small debris in the jelly of the eye – like dust or a small insect – which can seem to look like actual objects).
- a simple case of something to my right catching my eye, which has incorrectly translated into “movement” by my brain. You’ll notice that the fireplace actually rounds the corner of the L-shape, so there are often objects sitting on the mantelpiece – perhaps something there is catching my eye?
However, as it seemed to be happening quite regularly – and only ever at that time of day and in that particular part in the room, I started to wonder if there was more to it.
So, I mentioned my experiences to my brother and he suggested that it could be likened to descriptions of Shadow People.
A quick search of Google confirmed that my experience could almost be considered “textbook” for Shadow People. According to the Wikipedia entry:
“Shadow people (also known as shadow ghosts, shadow figures, shadow beings, shadow men, or shadow folk) are supernatural shadow-like humanoid figures that, according to believers, are seen mostly in peripheral vision and move quickly.”
For most people, the experience of seeing a Shadow Person seems similar to mine: a fleeting glimpse of a shadow-like figure in the corner of your eye. But some have reported to see Shadow People straight in front of them – and some have even reported seeing red eyes on the shadow beings.
The theory is that Shadow People aren’t your typical “dead people” ghosts. In fact, many believe that Shadow People are time travellers, while others believe that they are aliens from another planet.
And Shadow People sightings must be one of the most common “ghost” sightings in the world. Experiences similar to mine are reported all over the world, every day of the week.
So, there’s only one thing for it: to try and catch evidence! I’m going to set a video camera running any time I am sitting downstairs on the computer, pointed at the area where I usually see the fleeting glances of a moving shadow figure. I’m also going to sit my mobile phone with EMF detector app running on the mantelpiece (i.e. near the source of the sighting) and ideally try to capture some audio EVPs while I’m at it.
It’ll be very interesting to see if anything can be seen or heard – and most importantly CAPTURED – at the very moment I have a shadow person experience.
Stay tuned for updates!
A new walking tour has just opened up at the abandoned Aradale psychiatric hospital at Ararat. Lasting around 2 hours, the tour is described as being ‘not for the faint hearted’! You’ll learn all about the medical practices of the 1800s and the controversial experiments that took place in that time.
