You wake up one night and can't breathe. You flick on the light, and for a split second, you are certain you see a black shadow person--his hands around your throat, trying to choke the life out of you.

Or, you are just sitting watching TV and suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you are sure you see a small, rapidly moving shadow, possibly with a hat on, as it moves across your peripheral vision. When you look directly at it, there is nothing there.

If you have had such experiences, or heard of others having them, then you are not alone.

I too have had these experiences and it led me to investigate this paranormal phenonmenon--a phenomenon called 'Shadow People.'

Shadow people are typically said to possess no discernible facial features. They are often described as somewhat thin or even smoke like. Direct visual contact is rarely reported by most persons because they are said to disappear before they can be seen clearly and are only noticed out of the corner of one side. They often appear to people in mirrors and there are many proposed explanations for what these phenomena are.

One of the more creative theories is that shadow beings manifest themselves through thought forms. They may be collections of negative psychic energy from locations where negative events are taking place.

Places where bad people or highly negative people frequent the negative energy begins to manifest and takes on a form thriving on fear and negative emotions for substance.

Shadow beings have also been described as forms of ghosts the most popular explanation seems to be that they are some sort of other dimensional beings of a transparent and fleeting nature.

Is there a way to differentiate between the shadow person and just a simple black apparition?

Yes there is and I will cover them shortly. 

First, however there is the question you are no doubt wondering: ' is there any reason why a person might be watched by such shadow  beings?'

One of the theories is of course that they are beings from another dimension -- in other words two different dimensions may be overlapping for a moment and we can  see them for a fleeting moment but it is unknown whether those people from another dimension can see us.

Secondly, if  they can are they deliberately making the intra-dimensional shift? But of course there is no conclusive answer to this question.

The so-called 'man with the hat' is one kind of shadow most reported by persons young (as young as 4 years old) and the more mature.  He might be explained as  the result of common archetypes. There are many similarities between shadow people reports and the archetype of the "Grim Reaper"--who is a  common archetypes shared in the subconscious of all peoples.

For several  years I have been studying alien abduction and sleep paralysis and I have come  to the conclusion that a large portion of alien abduction stories can be attributed to sleep paralysis. And sleep paralysis can also play a role in the shadow people phenomenon.

This, however,  is not to say that everything is caused simply by sleep paralysis.

Nevertheless some  of the experiences that people undergo with shadow people are similar to symptoms of sleep paralysis.

Many witnesses to this shadow phenomenon report that the experiences occur just before falling asleep and just after waking.

Sleep paralysis can also cause hallucinations. While there is some evidence that shadow people experiences may be related to sleep disturbances it is important to note the many shadow creatures appear during times of full consciousness.

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by temporary paralysis of the body shortly after waking up. And this is also known as hypnopalmic paralysis shortly before falling asleep (it is also known as hypnogogic paralysis). Physiologically it is closely related to the normal process that occurs during REM sleep (or rapid eye movement sleep).

Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from an REM state into an essentially normal fully awake state but the body paralysis is still occurring. This causes the person to be fully aware but unable to move.

In addition the state is usually accompanied by hypnogogic hallucinations. When in an REM state to brain disconnects itself from the body in order to keep one's body from acting out what one is dreaming.

As mentioned already, the most common shadow person is The Hat Man.

Witnesses often report a widebrimmed hat somewhat similar to President Lincoln's top hat. The hat worn by this type of shadow person is described as having a brim as wide as the creature's shoulders. In every other respect the hat man mimics a typical shadow person of the human variety.

Shadow people of the human variety are semitransparent and dark and resemble masculine gender. They appear between two and five seconds before they disappear. In many cases witnesses described the sense of being watched looking up to see if someone is in the room and discovered discovering a shadow person observing them. Once noticed the shadow person often flees rapidly sometimes traveling through walls or closed doors.

Another type of shadow person is the black smoke or black mist person. Experiences with the black smoke or black mist shadow people are often associated with feelings of dread or malevolence.

Another type is called the shadow animal. This type is less common than the human shape or the smoke variety. These are described as vaguely animallike creatures with a darkened semitransparent appearance. Many witnesses have described these beings as being roughly rabbit sized or even the size of a guinea pig. These creatures have been witnessed indoors and outside equally and they exhibit some sort of other worldly qualities as do other types of shadow beings.

Another type of shadow person is the peeking shadow person. This type is a childlike shadow form which appears to peek around corners and quickly vanishes when noticed. Many who have witnessed these mysterious shadow forms described them as being perceptible out of the corner of their eyes. Like other shadow people a sense of curiosity is attached to these creatures.

Is this a pattern-- that most shadow people are in fact observing us?

A final shadow being is the red eyed shadow person. These are perhaps the most frightening of the shadow people. This type of shadow person is described as having glowing red eyes which causes the person who has seen them to feel paralysis and extreme terror. They have been described as the embodiment of pure evil.

Hence, you can take the red eyed shadow persons and take the black smoke or the black mist shadow people and put them in the same type of category.

Can it be that shadow people are an attempt of our subconscious to relate to our conscious mind a message?

In the psychology of Carl Jung, the famous Swedish psychiatrist and contemporary of Sigmund Freud, the archetype of the shadow deals with primeval survival instincts.

This shadow self derives from our pre- human animal past when our most important concerns were limited to survival and reproduction. It is the dark side of the ego; where is stored the evil that all men are capable of.

Like animals perhaps the dark side of our psyche relies on instinct. From our civilized perspective the animal world seems rather brutal. And so the shadow is the dark side of the person characterized by inferior animal qualities which the human ego wishes to hide from others.

In general, shadow beings are not reported as being dangerous however the sense of foreboding that they can bring with them can create an atmosphere of evil. Ghost hunters psychics and the clergy are sometimes prevailed upon when shadow people become a problem.

Finally, it has been said that Waverly Hills sanitarium in Kentucky is one of the most haunted locations to observe shadow people in addition to as of a large variety of types and while it is now in a state of ruin a visit there overnight is guarenteed to give you a run-in with shadow people that you will never forget...or if you are lucky...you WILL.