The Black Man

Hey All,

Some of you know I work on a large vineyard. While discussing some things in ATS chat one night, the topic swung around to hauntings, and I added my few experiences in. This is one of them.

Out here where I live and work, we have a spirit named “The Black Man”. This isn't a malevolent or evil spirit, more of an inquisitive one. It has been discussed in the workplace before, and is generally accepted by the long term employees around here. We do not tell the causal people who come in to do some work. I mean what are we meant to say? “Watch out for snakes, oh and if you see a man made of black tar, don't be alarmed?”

Appearance:
Stands around the same height as a person (say 5'11'')
Totally black. I would liken it to black tar, rather then smoke or fog. Very sharp, defined edges to the shape.
Has an outline of what appears to be a hat on.
Always appears relaxed, not threatening in any way.

I can't stress enough that this spirit is not a shadow person. It can be seen while directly looking at it, and will quickly fade into nothingness within a few seconds.

Three times I've seen this spirit. Once for every year I've been on this vineyard.

Sighting One:
While pruning around 1:00pm. Figure appeared to my left and when I looked to see what it was, the shape of a human remained for about a second before fading into nothingness. Didn't feel threatning at all.

Sighting Two:
Same year, but this time I was wire dropping. While running along a row, I glanced up and saw a very distinct shape about 10 metres in front of me. Slammed to a halt and the figure was gone.

Sighting Three:
While pruning the next year, same block, same approx time of day as the first sighting.

After the first three sightings, seeing it became routine, and as such I would only say something like “Instead of lurking around here, why don't you give me a hand” or something like that each time I saw the figure.

Other people's sightings:

The Korean Girl
Last year (as usual) we had a large number of pruners come into the property to prune the vines. This is a large job, and takes 15 pruners about 3 months to complete.

One Korean girl, called Jennifer (Korean people will chose a western name and use that while travelling) suddenly screamed out and ran back to her car. She drove quickly to the office/shed and handed in her secateurs. The only thing my boss could get out of her was “No more work here, no good” or words to that effect. Her friends remained for another few days and then left.

It certainly wasn't the lack of money (she was making around $25.00 per hour). I have gone back thru the time sheets and found this girls real name (which I won't publish here to give some privacy) and also located her employment contract, which gave an email address. I have sent an email to her, but as of today have received no reply.

M.
One employee, who I'll refer to as M, has seen the Black Man several times. Most often while driving a tractor. Typically, he will see it a few rows over from where he is driving, give it a wave, and keep on driving.

The reason the figure is so often seen from the corner of your eye is simply because of the way we work here. Facing the vines and working you way left or right down the rows. Few jobs here actually involve looking directly down the rows.

Has anyone else seen such a spirit? Clearly defined, black and visible while directly looking at it. Will post some more tomorrow detailing my experiences with it. For now, I'd just like to know if anyone else was seen anything like it.

Here's some pics of the vineyard so you can see the landscape involved.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/26c78b17c6f7.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/839842828213.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e11d1275373d.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e3c769673326.jpg[/atsimg]

Cheers
Shane

p.s just re-read this post and, well sorry about the quality. So tired right now. Better version to come. Promise

[edit on 27/7/10 by shamus78]

Seems like the kind of landscape that easily allows for your eyes to play tricks on you. Interesting story. Perhaps you could get the entity to pose for a photo, that would be great . Does it appear to enjoy the attention it gets from people? Have you heard it make any noises? Have you considered getting a medium to head over there some time and see if they can communicate with it?

my son says he saw a" black man" with a hat on in our house one morning. He saw him walk across a doorway into the kitchen toward a wall. My son followed him and he was just gone.
My very 1st thread was about this 'sighting'. Some people told me it was The Hat Man. www.abovetopsecret.com...
I just cant seem to get my son to tell me if he was a shadow or just black tar like you described. He defiantly just said he was a black man.

Thanks for the read.

Can't say I have much of an input though, but thanks for sharing.

we also have "the black man" in my neighborhood. we are also told if we see him in the night to run away. just kidding.

Great thread. I do not particularly believe in spirits like these (I do not, however, completely believe in their nonexistence), but I have seen stuff that I cannot explain.

The human subconsciousness can see an identifiable object in something else entirely. Our mind fills in the gaps. It is like staring at the clouds and seeing objects or even people. Some people, see Christ in grilled cheese sandwiches.

Having worked several jobs outside and at different times of the day, I have seen my fair share of dark 'people'. I have even talked to them out of boredom. Shadows play tricks on you, and the mind is very creative on its own.

When I worked outside at night, I would think I saw many things. Every time, around 20 minutes into working, I would see something and I figured out why. My eyes were adjusting to the night and I could see shadows from light sources I couldn't even see minutes before.

Some times there are logical explanations, some times not. I hope there is a logical explanation for you.... and a little I hope there is not.

Good luck

I think you are seeing the Hat Man. Saw this guy when I was almost 4, clearly defined. He was looking in my window at night (the night before Easter, I clearly remember). I thought I was screaming and was wondering why my mom didn't wake up (I slept in the same room with her and was still sleeping in a crib since I was small and we didn't have money for another bed). There is plenty on the internet about the Hat Man, altho some people do refer to him as a Shadow Person. I did not see him out of the corner of my eye, I was staring straight at him. I can still see him in my mind's eye where he was and where I was.

I've seen this man at my house a few times. I called him a shadow man, but he really didn't look like a shadow. He looked more like you describe. Blacker than black, fully formed, long coat, and hat. He wasn't creeping along a wall. He walked across the room, just like you and I, but he was pitch black with no shading at all to tell when his coat met his pants, etc. I made an illustration of him.
Does he look like what you saw?

btw--Once I saw him in my backyard walking right in front of my fence line which has green bushes from one end to the other. This black man walking past all this green really made him stand out. I saw him head on, and there was no mistaking what I saw.



[edit on 28-7-2010 by virraszto]

[edit on 28-7-2010 by virraszto]

Where is this located at? And can i get a job.

[edit on 28-7-2010 by Squirt1]

it sounds like you telling the truth and the landscape could play tricks but if the figure is 5,11 it looks true

Sounds like a classic shadow person sighting to me.
Neat stuff.

All I can say is i wish i had cool stories like this to recall but i dont, i wish i could get some proof for myself but it never comes.

also i really want some of whatever is in that wine out there

The title of the thread had me thinking of something different than what it ended up being.

Anyway, I definitely believe in shadow people. I remember always seeing them out of the corner of my eye when I was young. Over time, I grew out of that supernaturally open stage, or maybe learned to block them out.

Cool thread. Those pictures in the OP are gorgeous.

-Sol

reply to post by virraszto


Yes, but way more relaxed. Think of a classic Ozzie Drover or something like that. But as clearly defined as that pic.

Great post OP and very interesting experiences..as usual the first reply is a 'your minds playing tricks on you' response, yes because its s so well know these things couldnt possible happen and alternative beings to ourself also but me silliness
Another has said it here, but would agree it sounds like you may be seeing whats know as 'the hat man' and it tends to be considered one of the kinds of shadow beings, but this one doesnt appear as a shadow, its an ink black solid form. But then again, with the hat man, most reports i know of, people feel a very sinister presense, where you have said you didnt feel any negativity from the being.. hmmm

reply to post by shamus78


Hey there shamus78,

Just got your u2u and here I am ... also sent you a reply btw.

Looking forward to your update later but from what I've read in your OP my gut instinct is that this is something known as 'The Hat Man' ... he certainly seems to fit your description.

There's an old thread on here about the very subject ... which includes an account of my own experience of him and my son's.

>>>THE HAT MAN THREAD>PICTURE FROM THE THREAD>EDIT TO ADD

Interesting story, thanks for sharing. Hope that you might capture some evidence one day, take a camera out with you.
Make sure its a camera that can take a picture straight away though. I know most digital cameras these days, you have to hold the button and wait for it to focus.

Hi All,

Thanks very much for the replies so far. I'm still working on the update, trying to get some research done on the property.

This update is about something that inspired me to actually make this thread. About two weeks ago, while chatting on ATS with some other members, I agreed to do this thread. What followed that night was rather strange.

Some details -

I use a 3G Mobile Broadband modem to access the Net. I also have a medium gain antenna mounted on my roof to give really good reception. Since moving out to the vineyard, I have never had anything less then full reception (5 out of 5 bars). Rain hail or fine, it's always full strength.

So, I was chatting away and somehow the topic of the Black Man came up. I agreed to do the thread and continued chatting.

Suddenly I got kicked out of chat. I looked over to my modem to see it flashing, trying to gain a signal. I opened my connection manager and saw the reception bars going from zero bars, up to full strength again, and back down to zero again. This continued for about four or five minutes. What happened during those few minutes scared the absolute crap out of me.

Suddenly, and without warning, while watching my modem cycle from no reception to full and back again, I began to feel an absolute feeling of terror. Terror unlike anything I've never felt before. The hairs on my body started to rise, and for some reason tears began to stream down my face. It was a completely passive release, without any of the emotions usually associated with crying. I have never experienced anything like it. The tears were pouring down like a waterfall.

I began to get the distinct feeling that somebody was outside my window.

My body was absolutely frozen in place, and only my eyes could move around. This lasted for what seemed ages, but looking back was probably only a minute. It was a terror so great that I was frozen in place. A terror that seemed to be used as a weapon directed at me.

Now, I've had a lot of training in dealing with high stress situations. I rock climb and go solo caving often, and in both of these situations you simply cannot panic or let fear get the best of you. So to feel so swept away in this feeling was really strange to me. I did the only thing I could do. I focused my mind (and this was terribly hard, it was like the terror was trying to stop me) and tried to calm myself down. I regained the ability to move, but at that moment felt that to make any noise or move around would invite more attention from whatever was outside my window. Even writing about it now brings goose-bumps up on my skin.

When dealing with anything spiritual, I always deal with them like they were any other person. I do not see any reason to pretend that they're anything different from me. So I began to think - “Whoever you are get out. You are not wanted. My name is ****** and I order you to leave” (see my Original Name thread if you want more info about this. And although I'll always use my name here on threads, my Original Name is for me only).

I repeated this several times, and with each repetition, could feel my ability to think getting clearer and clearer. I did not call upon any God or spirit to help me - as I always do, I use my own name to give me strength. The feeling of this terror leaving was simply like a person walking away. The further away it got, the less I felt consumed by it's power. It took a great deal of concentration to push this felling away.

Remember, while all this was going on, my modem was going crazy, flashing from full reception to no reception and back again. Once this feeling left, my modem simply went back to full strength, and has remained so since.

One the terror left, if was gone. Simply not there anymore. I had no residual feelings, and walked outside to see if anything was there. I found nothing. I came back into my room and went back on chat, where I told some others about what had just happened. And that was it. Even in high stress situations, there is usually some residual feeling of something left after the event, but in this case – nothing. I slept well that night and didn't wake once - actually dreamed I was a world class powerboat driver on snow, which was nice .

Some points – All connections were secure and the aerial was in the same position as usual. While this was going on, I noticed my cell phone (which is not connected to anything) was also doing the same thing.

See, I don't like to present this without any tangible evidence. The only thing I can do is get the chat logs from ATS and present them as some kind of proof that something did happen. I'll U2U a mod tonight and ask if that's possible. Failing that, I'll get some of the people that I talked to to comment.

This feeling was totally unlike what I had previously experienced with the Black Man, and I personally do not feel the two are the same. I don't like not being able to justify my beliefs in this regard, so I just have to go off my feelings.

I cannot stress enough what a powerful experience it was to go thru. Terror such as what I felt, that came from nowhere and faded again into nothingness was an almost life changing experience.

But that wasn't the end of it. Now I had experienced the terror, I knew I could control it's power over me. So I wanted this feeling to come back. But so far it has not. But now I always keep a camera in my room, ready to shoot. I can be rather aggressive when dealing with things like this, and see it as no different from a person doing the same thing to me.

Any how I'll update tomorrow hopefully. Just wanted to give you a better understanding on why I made this thread.

And yes, studying Hat Men now as well. Thanks for all your input.

Cheers
Shane

reply to post by shamus78


Very interesting ... if you've read some of my other threads you'll already know that I've recently been dealing with something that has tried to intimidate and strike terror into it's victims.

You dealt with this encounter the best way you could under the circumstances ... whether that was intuitive or by design does not matter.

I particularly like your comments about your 'name' ... being a Witch I too have a name that is mine alone that holds the power within ... the ancient Egyptians knew all about the power held within the chosen name ... that's why they protected them within a cartouche.

I think your actions (even though you felt the terrors) showed whatever it was that you were a strong one who would not be easy to manipulate the energy of.

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Woody

reply to post by shamus78


Wow, these are some scary experiences you're having. I've gone through some similar ones but they were still quite different. Mine involved sleep paralysis at 2 different times in 2 completely different locations. During the actual experience I saw a dark figure above me, and before both experiences I felt that the room I was in was not safe--that an unwelcome presence was there with me.

I believe you're dealing with some mischievous Jinns. When you ordered the presence in your room to leave, this reminded me of an Islamic tradition. According to a Hadith (I'm Muslim by the way), one is supposed to tell a Jinn (who is unwelcome in your home) to leave, and they will go. Although the Jinn have abilities different from humans, they are a lesser creation than man.