Shadow people are probably the most common type of phenomenon seen in the paranormal field. Many theories are offered to address the shadow person. Shadow people are associated with aliens, demons, ghosts, hallucinations, or simply shadows cast by real people. While there is no perfect explanation for the phenomenon, one thing is certain: it can be a life altering event to encounter a shadow person.

The picture above was submitted by Antoine to Missouri Paranormal Society. It was taken on Zombie Road area in Missouri. Take a look at the full picture here. The shadows do not seem to be cast by people standing behind the camera. Notice how there are no long trails leading from the bottom of the photo to the shadows. The photographer claims that no manipulation of the photo occurred. The EXIF data of the photo also reveals no note of manipulation or tampering.

One of our team had an encounter with a shadow person. She was asleep one evening and was woken by something. She watched a shadow move down the hallway and stop at her door. Thinking it was her son, she turned on her bedside lamp to see what he wanted. Upon switching on the light, the shadow vanished. That was eerie enough but she dismissed it as her imagination or a dream perhaps. She then turned the light off to go back to sleep. When the light was turned off, the shadow reappeared. It turned around and headed back down the hallway.

This is not the typical shadow person experience. most shadow people encounters seem to be fleeting. Someone will see a shadow in their peripheral vision and turn to see it head on. Upon facing the shadow, it has disappeared. These types of stories are easily dismissed as matrixing or imagination. It is accurate to dismiss most of these types of experiences because of how our mind and our eyes function. In our eyes, there are rods and cones, the types of cells that receive light and turn them into information our brains can use. Cones are good at picking up color and distinguishing shape, while rods are best at picking up motion. Rods are primarily responsible for our peripheral vision. Because they cannot see color or shape, our brains do the best they can to put together some sort of image for us to interpret. Our brains err on the side of caution and associate a shape with the images the rods send them. A large shape may be interpreted with something that we would typically take more notice of such as an animal or person. It is a survival mechanism that we have developed over time.

Photographic evidence is out there but much of it easily disputed. There are some choice photos that raise curiosity and are not so easy to dismiss. While there is no definite answer to explain shadow people, the phenomenon warrants further investigation. Perhaps shadow people are the most commonly seen proof of spirits and the paranormal.

To examine some possible theories of the shadow person phenomenon, please visit the following site:

About.Com Paranormal Phenomenon

Official Shadow People Archive