Saw a strange shadow - please give me a logical explanation

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*Let me preface this post by saying my grandfather passed away in the last year who I was extremely close to and who moulded a huge part of my childhood, with many, many fond memories. He's on my mind every day without fail, mainly just feelings of missing him and reminiscing about good times. I would also like to mention I am not religious and don't really believe in "that stuff".

Anyway, I'm up late tonight working on a project, went out to my back garden for a quick smoke break and let my dog out to go to the toilet. As I was walking down my stairs I was thinking about my granda, and how the last time I saw him was in the very hall I was walking through. I get to my back door and as I'm standing there I look to my left and catch my reflection on the back door window, beside me on the wall is a shadow - my shadow - it caught me off guard and after brief moment of "wtf", for lack of a better term, I realise it was my shadow, but in that moment a strong feeling of my granda being present came over me for some reason.

So I continued to puff away, and at the very back of my fence I noticed a dark shadow on it, very distinct, which appeared to be pacing along the back of the fence. It was human height and tapered down over the shoulders and down the arms. Another "wtf" moment ensued. I lent over and covered the outdoor light with my hand to see if the shadow went away, but it never. I then turned the light out to see if it was a streetlight reflecting on a tree or something but once I turned the light out the fence went completely dark. I also tried moving right out of the back doorway to make sure it wasn't my shadow again from the light on in my kitchen - it wasn't. There are no houses behind my house, only fields. I stood fixated, watching this shadow as it paced along a 3 metre section of my back fence, I was waiting on it becoming apparent what it was so my "wtf" moment would cease, but it never. I stepped back into the house to calm myself down, then went back outside again to see if it was there but it had disappeared. So I stood again for maybe another minute and it reappeared, but only this time about 6 feet further to the right, and this time not pacing, just standing still. I watched it again for about 2 minutes, totally frozen with all hairs on my body standing up (which is also happening as I type this) before I decided I wasn't man enough anymore and came in to the house and locked the door.

Alas, here I now am, posting this thread looking for a logical explanation to this. I have never witnessed anything like this in my life before, but I know I wasn't seeing things, there was a shadow there behaving in the exact manor that I described - but what was it?

Apologies if this is poorly worded, it's late and I'm now both tired and also scared ****less.
 
Soldato
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How long have you been working? And by "smoke break" you mean normal cigs right? :D

The bit that's confusing me is you say you covered the light yet the shadow persisted but upon turning the light off the fence went dark. If there's no external light source as proved by turning the light off then how can covering the light not produce the same result? :confused:

Chances are it's a well placed insect in front of the light your mind is making up the rest.

Sorry for your loss :(.
 
Soldato
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Soldato
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*Let me preface this post by saying my grandfather passed away in the last year who I was extremely close to and who moulded a huge part of my childhood, with many, many fond memories. He's on my mind every day without fail, mainly just feelings of missing him and reminiscing about good times. I would also like to mention I am not religious and don't really believe in "that stuff".

I would say this, combined with the capacity of the human mind and imagination is your explanation. You're thinking about your recently departed grandfather always, perhaps your mind is projecting those thoughts onto what you are sensing.

Condolences for your loss :(
 
Soldato
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Are shadow people and Hat Man the same thing ?

The Hat Man is a common archetype of a shadow person. I have never seen a shadow person but a man in a hat looking exactly like the depictions shown in artists impressions used to chase me in reoccurring nightmares for about 3-4 years when I was a child. It was only a couple of years ago I heard that the hat man was a thing and it freaked me right out.

As for a logical explanation, it was dark and your mind is designed to see faces and human forms in all things. It is a evolutionary response to keep you constantly looking for threats. The fact that your own shadow gave you a scare will have put you into a fight or flight mode and the part of your subconscious checking for threats will have been working overtime and trying to make any shape into something recognisable. That is one explanation, another is that it's the spirit of your Grandpa, but if so why on earth would he want to give you a scare and just be pacing? Was he a practical joker? :)
 
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Soldato
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It's possible your mind was filling in the blanks as some kind of coping mechanism. It would have been interesting to have filmed it to see if it was still visible.
 
Soldato
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The same thing happened to me,Shortly after my Grandad died we inherited his house (on his wishes) and i was only about 15? or so age but i remember it very clearly.

i was sitting at the top of the kitchen on the worktop,And it was a very long kitchen and down the bottom there was the front door,I seen something that day as i can only explain as a dull dark figure shoot right across the door and through the wall,Never ever have i experienced this again..i just know what i seen that day was not normal.
 
Man of Honour
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The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. Maybe he came back to see how you were. Strange events like this do happen but I wouldn't dwell on it.
 
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