When Shadows Move

​Have you ever seen shadows that move out of the corner of you eye? Maybe you saw a human shaped silhouette move in a dark room? What did you see? Was it even there, or just your imagination at play?
There is a lot of speculation around what shadow people are. I have read everything from demons to egregores. Each theory has its merits, who knows which one, or ones, are correct. Maybe we will never know for sure. Their motives, if they have any, seem to vary. Some accounts of sightings tell of warnings of danger, some say they felt menacing, angry or negative, while others say they were just there, and then they were gone.
From a psychology point of view, shadow people are often attributed to hypnagogic hallucinations, which is when the brain sees things that are not there when you are in that groggy half-awake/half-asleep state. This can sometimes be accompanied by sleep paralysis. They say it can happen when the temporoparietal junction in the brain is stimulated and can be a symptom of extreme stress, fatigue, anxiety, abuse or overconsumption of antihistamines, or even some psychotic disorders. While I do love psychology, I believe these phenomena cannot be boiled down to mere mental hallucinations.
So what about the other theories? Could they be demons come to terrorize us in the night? Could they be a warning of danger? One book I read proposed that seeing them was indicative of a bigger problem. That they appeared, like bottom feeders, to feed of residual negative energy caused or brought by worse entities in the area. Still others claim they are another/shapeshifted form of djinn (trickster demon or spirit, made of smokeless fire, able to possess humans. They come from Arabic and Muslim lore). The other theory mentioned was that they are an egregore. This would be an entity created by the thoughts/feelings/intent of a person or group of people, usually for a purpose, though they can be made unintentionally. I am not inclined to believe all shadow people are this, though some could be; particularly if they were created unintentionally.
We cannot talk about shadow people without mentioning the Hat Man. If you have never heard of him, he is a shadowy figure described as wearing a trench coat and a hat that resembles a fedora. Usually these sighting are reported as having a malevolent energy, though a few sightings have also been reported as a brief appearance as a warning. One difference commonly associated with the Hat Man that is not with other shadow figures is either bright red or dark pools for eyes. The psychological causes for seeing him are the same as those for shadow people. While there have been many accounts told of the Hat man, all with similar descriptions, the “scientific” consensus is that it is a “widespread shared experience” and complete fiction.
One thing that I question about either experience is how it is perceived. Does the knowledge and experience of the person determine how they perceive the intent of the shadow figures? Does one’s own fear direct that experience to be more negative? Would a wider knowledge base of the paranormal bring a more curious or even positive reaction than a fearful one? They do say that, generally speaking, we fear what we do not understand.
There is much that happens in the human experience that science cannot readily explain, and sightings of any sort of spiritual or ghostly phenomena are mostly ignored or even mocked. What we should keep in mind is that throughout time anything that could not be explained at the time was thought to be magical or the work of the gods (whichever ones they believed in). Every day our “modern science” proves things we once denied were possible (quantum physics in particular). Just because we cannot explain something does not mean it isn’t so, and just because we can explain it doesn’t make it any less magical that it is so.
So what do you believe? Have you ever seen a shadow person or the Hat Man? Were you afraid, or do you think you would be if you had this experience? I would love to know.