Was my childhood imaginary friend a shadow person

Hi everyone,

Although i have been a member of ATS for some time i have never really had anything interesting enough to start a thread about, however yesterday I was reading this thread in which one of the posters named truthseeker made a comment about shadow people (page 1 of the thread above).

Obviously, during my time on ATS i have seen the term shadow people referred to before however as it’s something i have previously had no interest in I have never really taken much notice or put in the time to read any literature relating to this subject.

What piqued my interest were the comments that truthseeker made about how some shadow people are often seen wearing a long trenchcoat coat and a hat. Now i don’t know why but this description immediately reminded me of an ‘imaginary’ friend that i had when i was a child.

When i was 4/5 years old i had an imaginary friend... His name was Doug.

Obviously i can’t remember that much about him as it was some time ago (I’m in my thirties now) however my mother, grandmother and other family who were adults at the time seem to remember it all very well.

They have told me that throughout this period:

>I was never without him and that i would constantly talk and play with him.

>I would always have to seek his approval/praise through showing him stuff i had done (paintings, etc) and I would often say things like “Doug says I’m a really clever boy, etc ”... Obviously that quote isn’t verbatim.

>Whenever i sat down for dinner i would not eat my food until they had set a place for him.

>The only time i would leave him behind is on a Sunday when we went to church and that i used to say to them that Doug had told me he wasn’t allowed to go to church.

As i said i can’t remember too much about him although i do remember him and his name has always stayed with me. I do also have memories of seeing Doug, i can remember where he was standing and funnily enough i can even remember the detail on the wallpaper that was on the wall behind him however in my memories he has always remained this blacked out shape.

Up until reading the post by truthseeker I have always just assumed that the reason i was remembering a blacked out shape was because he was imaginary and it was simply a case of my mind not being able to fill in the details of his appearance because he wasn’t really there (just my imagination) however i can clearly remember this shape, i can remember him towering above me and i have always been aware that in my memories this shape consisted of a long trench coat and a hat with a large rim. As i said i only have a couple of memories of this but to this day they are still very clear in my mind.

Finally, another thing that seems slightly weird is that as I have written this i have spelt the name Doug the traditional way but something is telling me that I’m spelling it wrong and that it should be spelt 'Dug' instead... When i say something telling me I don’t mean a voice in my ear or anything like that at all but it’s more like a distant memory or a nagging in my mind kind of thing. A good way to put this is that i think i know it should be spelt dug but I don’t know why I know this.

I do accept that there is a good chance that all of this is just pure coincidence and that all my imaginary friend ever was was just an imaginary friend and nothing more however it really has got my interest and so I would love to hear your views on this.

Thanks for reading my first thread,

Have a cool day,

chroot

My aunt had a similar experience to yours. She told me a man in a trenchcoat and hat used to watch her when she was little. He would never talk to or touch her, but just stand there watching. She completely forgot about him until I brought up shadow people one day in conversation.

Have you read the Hat Man thread?

reply to post by chroot


Hey there chroot,

I found your OP particularly interesting and thought you might find this old ATS thread an interesting read;


>>>HAT MAN

reply to post by chroot


Interesting experience.

I would love to hear more about it. Did you feel safe with "Dug"? Did he ever scare you? Do you remember when you stopped talking or seeing him?

Thats another story to add to the list of many. who have experinced this same trench coat dick tracy looking punk lol .


Me and my buddies would see weird things in his basement but wouldnt really pay much attention to it . Untill one day we decided to talk about it and we all saw the same thing and described the same shadow figure . Getting goosebumps just talking about it . It would be there in the cornor of our eyes then go away many times . But when we described it everyone knew instantly what the shadow figure was and to us it look like a dark dick tracy looking dude . I wanna meet one of these punk shadow i'll scare the shi*(T outta you entities..lool









just looking at some of the members avatars on this page lool some scary ones wow

reply to post by chroot


I always find these threads Interesting. I have read about and researched shadow people for years now. I have heard many stories and have had personal experiences. From what I have come to learn is Shadow people, Or shadow entity's are experienced in many different ways and forms, Drawing the conclusion that there are more then one entity at work here.

I have always believed that maybe the human consciousness can not draw a conclusion to what it is seeing so it comes in the form of a shadow, or in some cases black mass. For example I believe the mind can only see what it know's. So this could quite possibly be your eyes getting a glimpse into a fourth dimension.

But enough about that. In your case seeing shadow people at such a young age is Very common. In fact children are more susceptible to this I believe it is because there mind's are still pure. That is open for debate. But your story reminds me of a classic case of Possession. Possibly a Demon entity.

Hi xxshadowsecretxx.... Hi woodwytch,

Thanks for the replies.

No i have never read that thread, im just taking a look at it now..

I did notice that the OP on the hatman thread states being able to see the hat very clearly.. This is the same as it was for me.. The sillhouette of the hat has always been a very prominent feature in my memories. also the opening image in this thread is also identical to how my imaginary friend has always been in my memories.

You know, last night i lay in bed and tried so hard to remember more about this as up until now i have always dismissed this as just an imaginary friend and nothing else... Its annoying me now that i cant remember anything else of importance.

Im gonna quiz some members of my family over the next few days (as and when i speak to them) and hopefully try to get a bit more information that may stir up a few more memories.

Have a nice day both

chroot

reply to post by chroot


Don't forget to keep us updated if you find-out any more from family and / or recall details yourself.

As I mention in the Hat Man thread this entity is one of the very few paranormal things that has freaked me out.

Woody

reply to post by MindSpin


Hi MindSpin..

To be honest i dont think i was ever afraid or scared in anyway but i also have no memories of feeling 'safe' with him...

Im not sure if this makes any sense but when i try to recall how i felt its more like a child and adult relationship... Difficult to put into words but possibly that i looked up to him in some way.

Hope that helps..but thats all that really comes to mind at the moment when i try to remember my feelings associated with him.

I dont remember when he went but i am aware that i have had a conversation with my mother some time ago about this. I think it was when i went to school (I may be wrong on that) however i will endevour to get more info on this particular aspect when i speak to her...

Have a good day,

chroot

reply to post by woodwytch


No probs at all woody.. Im going to see if i can find some time to call my mom later and get some more info about this in the hope that i will be able to expand further.

Ive spoken to her and other family members about it before however our conversations have always been in the context of it being a simple childhood imaginary friend (more so the novelty of it, etc) and so i have never really attached that much weight to what they have told me.

Have a good day friend...

chroot

I would love to believe these are guardian spirits, but after reading some other stories, it wouldn't seem so. I say that because they seem to inspire deep fear in most of the witnesses.

I think it's really strange that your friend "Dug" could not follow you to church. That makes it seem malicious.

i never realized that the "hat" was a universal trait for the shadow figures. I always noticed it in my shadow person, and posted this (sixth post from bottom on page one www.abovetopsecret.com... ) (don't know if it's related, but there is a news video link about my bar burning down with me inside)

i am definitely a little more freaked out now that others have corroborated the "hat"

with your figure...children are more apt to see paranormal things than adults, the walls of the mind are not build up yet.....so i would say......possible.

reply to post by WickettheRabbit


Hi WickettheRabbit,

I know what you mean about the deep fear, I have been reading the 'Hat Man' thread mentioned earlier by xxshadowsecretxx and woodwytch as well as reading some of the websites that that thread links to. It certainly does seem that the 'hat man' is associated with negative feelings (terror, fear, etc) however i find it strange that with myself, if this was a 'hat man' then this was not the case.

As for the church... Yeah, i did make that connection too but i was weary about relaying it in the opening post as i was attempting to avoid speculation and stick to the facts in order to relay it more effectivley...Also, if i start to think along those lines it gives me the heeeby jeeebies and i aint gonna be sleeping tonight, lol.

Have a good one..

chroot

reply to post by chroot


So, chroot, do you remember if Dug interacted with you or just watched you? Also, did he literally follow you around, or would he just pop out sometimes? It's okay if you don't remember, I am just really interested in shadow people and would love to find out more about them!

Two years ago I was delivering goods to a base in Tunbridge wells in the UK.
It was a hot bright sunny day, I got out of the cab and went into a side door of the van to retrive an item then walked around to the back of it. Just as I came round the back a figure walked round the opposite side, we both did that startled stop so we didn't bump into one another...then it quickly turned heel and ran off back around the way it came and vanished.
A few things I noticed, the figure was transparent but had a smokey appearance, as soon as it vanished there was a change in atmosphere as in the stillness went and the birds became more audible.
I wasn't alarmed or scared but amazed and pleased I had this privileged moment.

reply to post by WickettheRabbit


I can't get my mind pass the fact, that he was not allowed in church!
If my child told me that Dug could not go to church, I would have chased that imaginary friend, back to hell!

reply to post by madleo


Yeah, that part freaks me out too! This really makes me wonder why these kind of entities are here and what they want.

reply to post by BadBoYeed


Hi Badbo,

Yeah i already checked out your post and link when i was reading that thread yesterday, very interesting to say the least.

I too had no idea or had ever heard of the hat man before the comment made in that thread however im surprised at the amount of information that is out there when you start looking for it.. As i said in a previous post, i do find it wierd though that all of the other experiences seem to be quite negative where as i dont remember mine being associated with negative feelings in anyway.

Have a good one brother...

chroot

reply to post by chroot


i was also wondering...do you remember any temperature variations when you were dealing with Dug?

Hey everyone,

I just called my mum and she is busy eating toast, lol

She is gonna give me a call back in a little bit and i will pick her brains.

Chat in a bit,

Chroot