This took place roughly 10 years ago at my parents' house. My fiancee' at the time was out of town and my daughter and I had planned on spending the night with my parents. It was a Saturday, and being a typical Saturday for us it included dinner and a night of paranormal investigation on the Gettysburg Battlefield. I remember that we were in the area of the Peace Light Memorial located on the 1st day's Battle are of the park.
Here I need to add a little background information to explain some of my thoughts later on. During the time frame, my group was having regular communication with a spirit we dubbed "Ed". He showed up each week like clockwork and "talked" to us through EVP. He followed me home on at least one occasion where I was also able to record EVP. Around the same time I had an experience with a mirror in my room- I had seen a face (not my own) in the mirror and it terrified me to the point where I removed it from the wall. To this day I still refuse to look into the mirror directly. Back to the story...
So, after a night of investigation, I headed back to the house to hit the hay. Sometime during the middle of the night, I woke up to see a shadowy figure at the foot of my bed. There were no facial features visible at all, just the black silhouette. It was a male figure, roughly 6ft tall and wearing a wide brimmed hat. I had the impression he was wearing some type of jacket or coat as I was able to discern cuffs of some sort and a collar. He had his left arm hanging by his side and the right was holding onto the post of the 4-poster bed. I distinctly remember seeing his fingers curled around the post. The post was white so there was a lot of contrast. He terrified me. I can not explain where the sudden fear came from. Afterall, I go searching for ghosts and while they make me edgey and slightly spooked, I have never had a feeling of total terror before. I was so terrified that I immediately closed my eyes tight, held onto my celtic cross necklace and said the Lord's Prayer over and over again. At some point I fell asleep, but it wasn't for at least 2 hours and when I woke up I was still holding the cross in my fist.
The next morning there was no sign that anything had happened except that my glasses were nowhere to be found. I place them in the same spot each night as I have my own personal (nearly OCD) bedtime rituals. They weren't there. My mother and I tore the house apart but found nothing. I need my glasses to see- I wear them all day until bedtime. So I went off to work (15 minutes late) without my glasses. At the time, my manager was also a paranormal enthusiast and often accompanied me on investigations. I told her what had happened the night before and how I lost my glasses. She looked down at my bag of clothes and sitting on top neatly folded were the glasses in question. I personally checked that bag- dumping everything out and going through all the pockets and repacked the bag myself too. There were no glasses.
Around the same time frame I was also seeing a "shadow boy" of sorts peeking at me from around corners in my parents' house. One day I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and I ignored it for a minute and then suddenly turned my head to see what was there. I was able to distinguish head and shoulders of someone small/short pull back around the corner. Thinking it was my brother playing tricks, I searched the house- I was alone.
My daughter was not immune to the paranormal at my parents' house either. In fact, she told one person who stayed in her room that if they felt like someone was leaning over them staring at them it was just her guardian angel and if they heard tapping it was just Ed and tell him to stop. She never spoke of seeing shadow figures.
I always chalked the experience up to something following me home from an investigation. Ed often came home with us (this sounds absolutely crazy I know- but he seemed to have attached himself to me)
So today I read something about this "Hat Man". I can honestly say that I have never heard of him before at all and never assumed that my experience had anything to do with something other than the typical ghost haunting. However, here is some info on Hat Man:
*He is a shadow person who wears a trenchcoat and a large hat. One person described
the hat as being like a witch's hat with the pointy part cut off. (same as mine)
*He is accompanied by dread or overwhelming fear. (check- had that)
*While there is rarely any discernable facial features, eyes, when seen, are described as
red and glowing. (No eyes on mine- Thank goodness)
*Shadow people are also seen in reflections, i.e., mirrors and TV screens. (had that- I still don't
look in that mirror)
*With the exception of the Hat Man, most shadow figures are seen only out of the corner
of the eye before quickly disappearing. (Had that happen too)
I would have to say that I definitely had an encounter with the infamous Hat Man and his band of merry shadow people. But what is most disturbing to me is the speculation over what or who the Hat Man is. Some say that it's possible that the Hat Man and these shadow people are merely guardian angle type creatures, something along the lines of Mothman- in a loose way. While that is a nice thought, and my daughter certainly described something that watches her as her guardian angel, that opinion is shared by the least amount of people. Others claim that the Hat Man is somehow related to aliens- especially those with darker or more sinister intent- specifically lizard men and greys. I don't hold much stock in lizard men (who supposedly live in the earth's core and come out and feed on humans- which explains all the missing people in the world) and while I won't say aliens don't exist (I think it's arrogant to assume humans are the superior race and the only one) I don't necessarily think the Hat Man is an alien. The 3rd and most common explanation is that this Hat Man has some relation to the devil or a demon. Do you know how terrifying it is to know you might have been watched by a demon?? And while I am not Saying that I was visited by a demon, I’m not even sure that I believe wholeheartedly in them (in all my years of paranormal investigation I have yet to come across something like that) I am also not saying that they don’t exist either. Demons are just one of those things that are tangled up in religion and personal beliefs- which in itself is a touchy subject. What I know is that I have never know such instant fear- to the point of reciting the first prayer I could think of over and over until exhaustion hit. I also know that if I were to share this story with my very devout Catholic aunt, I would receive another coffee can of Holy Water (I am not joking- had one can in the fridge so long it rusted).
So, anyway, just wanted to put this story out there. I welcome questions or comments or even a story you might have about the Hat Man
i would say if u think the lords pray helped u u must rethink your belife in demons.THE LORD cast down satan(he was an angle more powerfull then gabriel at the time of his dismissle,as our lord has angles saten has demons realy there the same thing with a diffrent goal... i think all paranomale activity comes from satan if u studdy the bible it says man is a soul and his soul belongs to god when he dies his soul returns to god psalms 146.3-4 says "Do not put your trust in nobles Nor in the son of earthly man to who no salvation belongs 4. His spirt goes back to the ground in that day his thoughts perish. To me this means when u die your dead end of story your soul goes back to god and will be reawakend when judgement day comes. just some food for thought.In some form lower our higher all these thing good guardian bad demons.. they are not people in the sence that we know them to be..............read the bible dont let it be tought our preached to u.......... i would say the hat man is probly someone u dont want to see again !!!!!!.......................
ReplyDeleteI've seen whatever this man is. He is am man, i'm inclined to say. When I saw him, he had his lovely looking red eyes with him. The eyes are the only reason I've never convinced myself he wasnt there. Though, really, you can't lie to yourself when you've seen him. The picture of him,it made me jump back and nearly throw my laptop across the room. And reading all the stories is just gobsmacking for me. I only researched it last year after me and my friend were talking about it. I had no reason to know about him before I saw him as i was 5. I even ran to my mother's room, when I looked up and across the room he was there again. He just stood. Red, glowing, still eyes glowing against black.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time i've commented on one of these things. It's as if talking about him properly will bring him back.
in 1979 i saw the same thing on the beach of atlantic city we went there when 3 mile iland was happening. i was on the beach by my self around 830 am. I saw this figure about 100 yards away it was damp and faggy. i got up and headed back the the motel i turn around after about 20 feet and the figure was twice half the distance closer so i ran up the sand doon i turn and i was closer i started to yell for my parents when the got there all we saw was my foot prints thats it. in 1993 i was watching ripleys beleivit or not and they had 3 ladies on there and they told there story about what they saw .they say they saw a angel and when they discribided it. It was the same thing i saw in 1979,I am also from gettysburg pa. All i can saw i know what i saw and it was a angel.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Stevie Ray Vaughan. lol jk
ReplyDeleteMy brother and I both saw it (in separate rooms) in my grandmothers house over 30 years ago. We were both paralyzed and thought it was Abraham Lincoln. I was scared and paralyzed and so was he. The next morning I ran to my parents and told them I had seen something and my brother blurted out he had seen Abraham Lincoln. Ours was classic, in doorway, top hat, cape. We talk about it all the time even 30 years after.
ReplyDeletewow so weird. im interested in the demons gouls ghosts and etc.too!!! i just looked him up yesterday but the picture wasnt as creepy and freeky!!!! *screams* ok got tht out of my sytem.... any ways, ive got a question for u. how do u tell if ur a ghost mortal or not????? because ive been getting random cuts in class, when im asleep. bbt its weird i dont get em when im with my dadd!!!! freaky
ReplyDeletehi its me again, from the comment above.
ReplyDeletei was looking on bing , and i found out tht wen some one is dieing in ur family, u will hear a wailing sound, from a banshee...(female spirit or demon/ghost). soooo just saying watch out ........ any ways............. can u comment back with some spells and chants tht wood be nice. thnx
Wow, this is truely amazing. I can't believe others have seen the hat man too. It is Stevie Ray Vaughan (at least the hat man I saw). I was reading a book about Vaughan and had finished about 2/3 of it. The book was about his life and how he dwelled in the spirit realm. I went to bed one night and had been asleep for a short while. I awoke to a bad feeling of someone being on top of me. I could not move a muscle, I was paralized. He was holding me down and I felt like I was about to be raped by him. Again, I could not move a muscle. I could not utter a sound as hard as I tried, nothing would come out of my mouth. I was definately awake by this time. I was finally able to free myself for his hold. As I looked up at the ceiling, there were 3 other shadows circling the room. He joined them. It was like they had smokey black shadow faces with a comet tail following them. They just kept circling the room. I started praying to God and I was finally able to get up and turn a light on. That was when they disappeared. I know I was awake and this was not a dream. Needless to say, I wasn't able to go back to sleep that night. The lights were left on all night. I did not finish reading the book about Stevie Ray Vaughan. All of this happened about 15 years ago in Texas. The picture above gives me the creaps because that is exactly the shape he looked like to me.
ReplyDeleteFor years I have been searching for an explanation to what I saw...I have spoken to very few people about what I saw one night walking home as a child. I am relieved to know I am not alone
ReplyDeleteI had a weird thing happen to me when I was around 4 or 5. I always slept with my mum (as I was scared of the dark) and I always slept on the right side on the edge of the bed for some reason. It was an old house but was very large and oddly shaped. The bed in my mother's room was situated beside a doorway which led out to a long hallway. The hallway had three large windows with white lace curtains, which would reflect the moonlight at night and light up. I woke up one night (no idea what woke me up) and saw these Hat men. But it wasn't just one man. These shadows would walk across the white curtains and into my sisters room one after the other. They all wore hats and coats. But that's not the weird part.
ReplyDeleteAfter some men in hats had passed, these detached hands (like in Adam's family) would crawl around the perimeter of the curtain once and then disappear into the other room and then these creatures that looked like crocodiles, would do the same thing and then the men would return. Eventually, after about 5 minutes, I turned over and snuggled up close to my mum.
I have been trying to figure out the significance of the hands and the crocodiles but I just can't make any sense of it. Some of my friends have told me that they have seen shadows of snakes on their bedroom floor and that sort of stuff but nothing like what I saw. I am terrified of ghosts and the dark, but this encounter didn't scare me. Whether it was because I was young, I'm not sure. But all I know is that I wasn't dreaming.
I was 13 when I encountered the hat man. I can't believe other people have shared this experience. At the time, I was recently diagnosed with major depression disorder and taking started taking medication. I thought I was crazy after seeing him in my room. He was a frequent visitor. I remember writing dark poetry in my room, with only black lights shedding light on the pages. I remember being so sad, alone, and wanting to give up on life. I remember not being able to sleep because I would try to wait up to see him again. I'm the early morning hours of 1,2,3 am, he would hide in the darkest corners of my room. I would see him in the mirrors as if he could move from one to the other with ease. At the time I had 4 different mirrors in which I became terrified of. I remember having to sleep with sheets covering the mirrors. I remember the terror and feeling unsafe. I remember he had his hand on my shoulder. He was so cold, and I couldn't tell whether to be afraid or if he was trying to comfort me. I remember hiding under the sheets. I remember waking up with minor cuts, scratches, and bruises that I didn't have before falling asleep. I have recently starting talking about this memory in therapy which made me interested in researching the topic. I cant believe how many people he has casted his shadow upon. It felt like he fed on my misery, my saddness, my want to give in to his darkness. I still feel like he is some how apart of me, though I haven't seen him in 10 years. I still refuse to have mirrors in my room.
ReplyDelete