Shadow People... Real or Imagined?

One of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the realm of the paranormal, reported sightings of Shadow People goes back thousands of years. They are defined usually as being male with a sense of foreboding emanating from them. Unlike a ghostly sighting of an apparition, Shadow People are dark, without discernible features or clothing, and generally do not attempt to communicate. They are most often caught out of our peripheral vision, disappearing as suddenly as we thought we caught a glimpse of them.

So what exactly are they? No one can say for certain, although there is no lacking of theories. Some will adamantly state that they are in fact ghosts. Nothing more and nothing less. The problem that this author has with that theory however, is the lack of description. With a ghost, one could describe the style clothing that he or she bore. One could describe facial features, perhaps even expression. Unlike the dark enveloped Shadow Person, a ghost is also most often reported as evanescent, white and generally without the feeling of menace. A ghost will often times attempt to communicate, whereas a Shadow Person will not.

Another theory is that they are demonic in nature. This comes from a basic teaching that dark equals evil. Couple that with the feelings of menace that one often perceives from seeing a Shadow Person and one can better understand this theory. But if they are in fact demons, what is there purpose for being here? To date there are no reports that Shadow People have ever harmed anyone. Are they simply sent to frighten us?

A favorite theory of skeptics is that these Shadow People are just fragments of our imagination. Optical illusions as the human mind and the sense of sight are both easily fooled. But would everybody's imagination conjure up the same dark description?

Whatever Shadow People are or are not, one thing is certain. Hundreds of thousands of people have been reporting their sightings down through the ages of time.