Always just out of the corner of your eye and vanishing before getting a good look, shadow people have been described throughout history and myth. Nowadays, it’s one of the most regularly reported supernatural experiences!

It’s possible that shadow people may not be cryptids, but due to their lack of evidence despite prevalent sightings… it can be classified as such.
Shadow people resemble an upright humanoid shadow, without the human attached to it.
They range from looking mist-like and being semi to full transparent, to being fully solid and opaque.
The move somewhat jerky and are quick to vanish upon extended scrutiny.
Oftentimes, the witness only sees shadow people for a brief instant, out of the corner of their eye, before the creature is gone. Due to this, skeptics attribute the sightings to hallucinations due to sleep deprivation or heightened emotions (among non-psychosis based examples) or even something as simple as a misidentified eye floater.
Shadow people often show up during episodes of sleep paralysis: where the REM stage of sleep and waking stage dysfunctionally overlap, causing a waking dream/nightmare.
Assuming these sightings cannot be explained scientifically, there is debate on what these creatures actually are.
In the paranormal community, shadow people are seen as ghosts, cryptids, other-dimensional beings and aliens (to name a few!)

Due to their prevalence in modern beliefs of people all over the world, as well as humanity’s subconscious fear of darkness and the unknown (since unknown could mean an unexpected danger and whatnot), shadow people are here to stay.
Maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of your eye?
Featured image from Flickr. Illustration from WikiMedia Commons. Photograph from Pixabay. All images on this site are free usage!