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From the High Desert book cover

From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

Thumbnail for September 16, 2015: Shadow People - David Weatherly

September 16, 2015: Shadow People - David Weatherly

Sep 16, 2015
2h 15m
0:00 / 0:00
Art Bell welcomes paranormal investigator David Weatherly to discuss the deeply unsettling phenomenon of shadow people. Art opens the show by sharing his own terrifying encounter with a shadow being in his ham radio room, describing a semi-transparent human-shaped figure that appeared on his right, then behind him, then to his left before vanishing with a faint visual effect resembling a portal.

Weatherly draws on over 35 years of research to explain that shadow people reports span centuries, from medieval accounts of phantom monks to modern encounters worldwide. He discusses the spectrum of experiences, from silent observers to rare physical attacks, including a harrowing account of a man dragged by a shadow being with glowing red eyes. The conversation explores theories linking these entities to other dimensions, the stone tape theory, and how emotional turmoil or altered consciousness may create conditions for encounters.

The discussion expands to include black-eyed children, mysterious figures who appear at doorsteps demanding to be invited inside, and the grinning man phenomenon. Callers share their own shadow people experiences from around the world, while Weatherly offers practical advice including playing classical music as a potential deterrent against these disturbing visitors.

Key Moments

  1. Art's shadow exits like a portal: Art describes the shadow figure moving around his room and vanishing with a tiny warp-drive-like effect, as if through a portal.

  2. Shadow monks across centuries: Weatherly traces shadow people back to medieval reports of shadow or phantom monks with hooded robes, glowing eyes, and a sense of being watched.

  3. Seeing one makes another more likely: Weatherly tells Art that people who encounter shadow beings are more likely to see them again later.

  4. Classical music as defense: Weatherly says he has had success advising people to play classical music in the background to disrupt or settle the conditions that allow shadow encounters.

  5. Black-eyed child vanishes: A caller says a black-eyed child in old-fashioned clothing asked to come inside, then vanished while she looked for her phone.