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Shadow person

Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia

Spiritual Evidence Map/Last updated May 10, 2026/Claims v1.0.0-provisional/Sources v1.0.0/Scores provisional

Summary

Survey of 'shadow people' reports — humanoid silhouettes seen in peripheral vision or during half-sleep — and the standard explanations (sleep paralysis, hypnagogic / hypnopompic hallucination, pareidolia, expectation).

Why it matters here

Direct reference for the shadow-people claim; pair with sleep-paralysis and apparitional-experience entries for the underlying mechanisms.

Linked claims

Evidence score 3/10

Shadow people are external entities

Most reports happen at sleep boundaries or in peripheral vision — exactly where the brain is most prone to producing humanoid silhouettes. The 'external entity' reading is a much larger claim.

Related evidence hubs

Topic hub

Survival & Afterlife

Evidence around dying, near-death experience, and what (if anything) continues.

Evidence pillar

Survival after death

Whether anything of mind continues.

Evidence pillar

Mystical experiences

Psychedelic, contemplative, out-of-body experience.

Evidence pillar

Skeptical frameworks

Cryptomnesia, anoxia models, cold reading. Counter-anchors.