Perhaps you've seen one. A flitting shadow out of the corner of your eye as you sit quietly in your living room watching TV or reading a book. No big deal. It happens. But then it happens again, as you're lying in bed, or when you're down in the laundry room, fussing with the dirty clothes. And you realize that it's not just an ordinary shadow you're looking at....it's...dear God...
a shadow person. But is it real? Do shadow people truly exist? People have been claiming to see them for a long time, long before the concept filtered into the mainstream consciousness via ghost hunting shows and paranormal podcasts.
THE INFAMOUS "HAT MAN"
Among those people who claim to have encountered the so-called "shadow people", there seems to be detail in particular that surfaces again and again. Describing what they've seen, a disproportionate number of witnesses mention the fact that the shadowy entity was wearing a hat. In fact, sightings of hat-wearing shadow people are so common that there are entire websites devoted to the infamous "hat man." Descriotions of "Hat Man" often include references to other items of apparel, such as a white collared shirt, a black trench coat, and the fact that the hat "he" was wearing was a flat "gaucho" type. But there are exceptions to this common description. My own encounter...for one.
Back in the late 80s, shortly after the birth of my daughter, I began experiencing a phenomenon known as "sleep paralysis." It was a frightening time in my life. On one hand, I was in what was at the time a happy relationship and had no qualms at all about having brought a child into the world. But several nights a week, I found myself waking suddenly in the night, unable to move so much as a finger even though my brain and eyes seemed to be working just fine. Sometimes the paralysis was accompanied by a faint whooshing sound which was followed by the disconcerting sensation of feeling myself being pulled toward the foot of the bed. More often than not, out of the corners of my eyes, I could also make out indistinct shapes that seemed to be faces. It was terrifying. I tried to scream, but my throat muscles were as useless as the rest of my body. The only way to combat the situation and regain control of my body was to do force myself to relax entirely until, finally, I was able to wiggle a finger or a toe, at which point, the sense of paralysis would disappate and everything returned to normal...at least as far as what I could see around me in the darkness.
However, on one occasion, after having put my daughter to bed and collapsed in my own following a dinner party that had gone well into the night, I woke several hours later to the familiar sense of paralysis
and the horrifying sight of a man standing at the foot of my bed. Or, to be more precise, the black sillouhette of a man. Yet, even though he seemed to be completely and solidly black (i.e. a shadow), I had the distinct impression that he was wearing glasses. And I could see that he was wearing a hat. It was what I would describe as a "short" stove pipe hat. A miniature version of the kind that Abraham Lincoln used to wear. That was unsettling enough. But, then, as I lay there staring at him, I heard the whooshing sound and felt the sensation of being pulled toward the bottom of the bed. Just then, as though he had been waiting for the moment to occur, the "hat man" reached out and clamped a hand around my ankle. "Stay in there," he whispered, very emphatically. "Just stay in there." Then he disappeared. Or perhaps I just woke up. Either way, he was gone...never to come again. But it was several minutes before the sensation of his fingers around my ankle vanished as well.
So, are shadow people real? I don't know. I wasn't drunk that night. I'm pretty certain it wasn't a dream, although to prove that is far beyond my capabilities. I only know what I experienced. That's all anyone ever knows, I suppose. But I
do know this. In having had this particular kind of experience, I'm far from alone.
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