The Hat Man, Hatman, Hat men

I'd long known about shadow people, I can even say I might have seen one several years ago (at least seventeen years ago). In broad daylight. I looked up, out the window, and for the briefest moment it appeared that a slender shadowy man was standing on our porch. Of course there's a lot of other explanations for seeing such things; optical illusions, vibration of the liquid in the eye, pareidolia, sleep paralysis, lack of sleep, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. But a friend of mine suggested that I and other friends might be seeing his late grandfather, a supposedly powerful witch who he believed had become a shadow man when he died. This has never been confirmed, but it's an interesting concept.

I'm not sure if it was before or after that that I first heard of 'The Hat Man', but it was definitely after I'd learned about shadow people. He's supposed to be a stark black entity in a top hat that supposedly stalks and intimidates children and teens for reasons not yet known. Other shadow people seemed largely unconcerned with humans, sometimes wandering past them on parade at night, appearing in the derelict halls of old asylums, or occasionally pranking them in the wilderness of California. But the Hat Man was different, he actively sought out youngsters, to intimidate them. I remember Jason on Ghost Hunters saying something about how lots of kids were seeing him, and how much that bothered him, though I've been unable to locate the actual episode. (Ghost Hunters was good early on, they actively debunked stuff and were reluctant to say the remaining unexplained activity was ghosts. After that, the changing make-up of the team and subsequent shows coupled with accusations of hoaxing and scamming is what becomes 'interesting'.)

But over time I came to notice something, there didn't seem to be one hat man. There were hat men, some wore top hats, or wide brim hats, some wore bowlers, or as I've recently learned, fedoras. Some hat men appeared as the outline of a man in a suit, while others appeared to wear a long coat. Their physical forms were different too, some were exceptionally skinny, some had long spindly fingers like slenderman's, and some had white faces like masks contrasting the uniform black of the rest of their bodies (like No-Face from spirited away). Sometimes their eyes were as dark as their bodies, other times they glowed red. There was also a split in nature, while many were frighten and intimidated by them, other people seemed to derive peace and calm from their presence.

So naturally, I set out to get an idea of what traits seemed most common and just how many Hat Men there might be. And let me tell you, I did not know how deep that rabbit hole goes. I explored a bit on The Hatman Project blog (which unfortunately hasn't seen any action in four years), reviewed a few videos (many of which seem to have something like confirmation bias and only collected hat man accounts that match their aesthetic), and reached out on reddit (where there is a whole subreddit specifically dedicated to The Hat Man, and on chats like discord.

And what I found was interesting. First off, so many articles and videos blame hat man on sleep paralysis, but it seems like about half of encounters happen when the reporter was wide awake. So, it would seem something more is going on there.

And secondly, for those that had seen hat men and other shadow people (including some hooded shadow people), the accounts were as varied as the people that had see him; as though hat men and shadow people in general represented a diverse population similar to the diversity in a human population. AngelFox1's hat man carried a fancy cane and had a long nose. Mjainwitch's had eyes light firefly light, while others have reported black eyes, red eyes, and yellow cat-like eyes.

Some people like SpringIsCancelled, even reported seeing multiple hat man entities who were distinct in height and mannerism. Others have reported hat men alongside other shadow people, almost always in a position of authority or dominance. This is paralleled by many alien abduction/contact encounters, where a tall alien will seem to be in charge of several smaller aliens. It's worth noting aliens are another common sleep paralysis subject, along with hags, ghosts, and demons. Though many who have seen hat men report seeing them during the day while wide awake (despite the top result on google for 'The Hat Man' being about sleep paralysis).

The theories are pretty varied as well, from classical demons to insectoid aliens. Demons makes sense to a certain degree, incorporeal creatures that exist to torment the living or lure them to sin, thus they are dressed to impress and a dark reflection of how we understand angels as beings of light. Other spiritual entities they’ve been theorized to be include loa (intermediaries between man and god similar to angels, but with domains and often acting as patrons - see the wikipedia link in Further Reading/Viewing & Resources below for more), djinn, and human souls. All three of which would account for there being multiple hat men, as well as the fact that some seem to exude evil, while others seem benign, a possible flaw in the demon theory. Well, except for those that claim he seemed benign at first, but now they know better.

Another theory claims they may be death or servants of death, or at least a way we envision death. Similarly, a video piece by Quartz News suggests they may be a reflection of modern horror, such as Freddy Kruger. This fits well for sleep paralysis accounts, which is what the video focused on, but not so well with daytime accounts.

And what of the idea that they could be extraterrestrials, extra-dimensional, or time travelers? Well, as a simple thought experiment, it's hard to see why aliens (from space or another dimension) would feel the need to come all the way to Earth just to spy on us in our bedrooms. Why is this more plausible for time travelers in my mind? Probably because they have a vested interest in specific ancestors and some protocol of non-contact that they're obviously not very good at following. But given how humans treat observing animals, I have doubts extraterrestrial and extra-dimensional beings would worry too much about if we see them. Plus it accounts for the eyes sometimes being insect or cat/reptile-like, and the few cases where UFOs were seen in close proximity to hat men, if you subscribe to the whole idea of UFOs being alien craft in the first place.

There's also the option, which 1divinehamm3r reminded me of, that it doesn't have to be exclusively any of the above. Maybe there is a mixture of different entities that account for the differences in appearance and behavior, the way viceroy butterflies look like monarchs and catsears flowers look like dandelions. And maybe for a few people it really is just all in their heads, which can be both a comforting and discomforting thought. But whatever it is, if you experienced it, your experience is valid. So if you've seen a hat man or shadow person and would like to share, I'm interested in hearing your story.

Further Reading/Viewing & Resources:

“Hat Man nightmares and sleep paralysis are happening around the world” Quartz News
(Uploaded 2019-03-15)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYbA6Tjux24

“Loa” Wikipedia
(Last Modified 2020-06-04)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loa

“San Antonio's Shadowy Hat Man Spooks Residents” San Antonio Current
(Last Modified 2012-09-14)
https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2012/09/14/san-antonios-shadowy-hat-man-spooks-residents

“Shadow Person” Wikipedia
(Last Modified 2020-06-29)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_person

“The Hat Man” Reddit
r/HatMan

The Hatman Project [Blog]
(Last Modified 2016-02-15)
http://thehatmanproject.com/

“The Untold Truth Of Ghost Hunters” Grunge
(Uploaded 2020-01-13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-W76FrnHBw

“Why is Jason Hawes Not on ‘Ghost Hunters’?” TheCinemaholic
(Last Modified 2020-04-07)
https://www.thecinemaholic.com/jason-hawes-ghost-hunters/
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UFOs and Witches and Stuff. . .

It feels really hard to write a post when I've been away for a year, and only posted once in the previous year. I mean do I apologize? Do I explain what I've been up to as if there's been questions about it? Idk. . . okay. . . so, I'm still alive. And I've not lost my interest in studying the paranormal either, so I don't really have much of an excuse or an explanation. Doesn't help much either knowing that blogs are basically clickbait bot food, so who knows if anyone is really reading this here anyways. I hope they are.

Anyways. . .

There's multiple reports of lights in the sky in the past night or two (and every night if I'm being honest, check out MUFON sometime), some explained and some not. Honestly some the the explained footage is more interesting than the unexplained:
https://abc7.com/houston-mysterious-lights-spotting-in-the-sky-wednesday-june-24-ufo/6269024/

I imagine you've seen the video released by the US Air-force acknowledging 'Unexplained Aerial Phenomenon' (read as UFO), a few months ago. The videos were out there already, this was just confirmation that they weren't hoaxes, 'to clear up misconceptions'. So then, what are they? Well, whether you call them UAPs or UFOs, we still don't know. Popular fantasy is aliens, but why aliens would come all this way to joyride in our mostly nitrogen atmosphere is pretty unclear. Secret weapons and aircraft testing seems more plausible, though you'd think the air-force would be the ones doing the testing. . .

I've been called out before on not mentioning that spirits, demons, and witches are also explanation for UFOs, so let's talk about that too (I was under the impression that this was the explanation for smaller orbs, will-o'-wisp, ball lightning, etc; but it also applies to UFOs and St Elmo's Fire apparently). The idea of demons flying around in bright balls of fire does seem a little farfetched in the modern scientific era, but the lack of explanation for some of this phenomenon does beg the question; what's to say it's not? And would these hypothetical devils profit from modern man's disbelief? Honestly, would they even care? Probably depends which religion you ask. Further, what if we could prove it was demons? What would change if we had tangible evidence of an evil spirit or creature cruising through the air? Could we maybe even catch them, assuming they weren't just intangible? Western religions would be all over that for sure. Definitely would be a big day at the Vatican.

But, I don't have all the answers. And maybe that's okay sometimes. After all, I enjoy investigating the paranormal.

Until next time, stay safe and stay curious.
- VPM
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Cyptobotany - Fern Flowers

So it's the evening of the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the shortest night of the year. So, why is that significant (other then all the cool scientific implications)? Well, it's the night the Fern Flowers are supposed to bloom.

Hunting for Fern Flowers, aside from being innuendo for young couples that wander off into the bushes (in some areas it's actually part of a ritual to encourage engagement among young adults), is the possibly futile search for something science says doesn't exist. Ferns are non-flowering plants, they reproduce with spores. . . or do they? Legend has it the Fern Flowers bloom just this one night a year, and withers before morning. And also, they're extremely magical, though the exact nature of that magic is somewhat debated. They might bring good luck, or grant wishes, or allow one to speak to animals. But there's usually a catch (because isn't there always?); sometimes the fortune or wishes can't be shared with others, and other times the flowers are guarded by evil spirits.

This bears and interesting resemblance to a magical method of treasure hunting which is of Mormon origins. The treasure hunting party first uses a ritual to summon a ghost, which is supposed to lead them to treasure buried in the woods. The area will be guarded by a devil which can attack if they speak. So they must silently drive metal bars into the ground, draw a magic circle, and finally dig up the treasure, all while the devil tries to scare them into cursing. The reward for both is great, but so is the risk.

However the Fern Flower offers the finder a choice; take the flower with it's riches and curses, or appreciate it's fleeting beauty and leave it be. In treasure hunting that choice was already made, because no one goes looking for buried treasure to not dig it up.

Sources and Further Reading:

“Fern Flower” Criptid Wiki
(Last Modified prior to 2019-06-21)
https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Fern_Flower

“Fern flower” Wikipeida
(Last Modified 2019-01-28)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern_flower

“The Fern Flower” World Stories
(Last Modified prior to 2019-06-21)
http://worldstories.org.uk/stories/the-fern-flower/

Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

(sorry, I don't know what edition I read from)
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Sounds of Terror

Through a series of bad YouTube decisions, I found myself listening to a clip of the WKCR Hijacking (aka The Old Tape) near midnight. I had viewed many cursed image, and listened to some mild to truly horrifying sounds in the preceding hour or so. Horrifying for what they meant, like how a nuclear siren might be the last thing thousands of people ever hear, or the true fear in the voices of 911 callers, or the usually high pitch of some video games' music that many people found so unnerving they wrote creepypastas about them.

But this was different. This sounded like something I should not hear, something I was never meant to hear. To me, this sound was the one that was truly unnerving. The best part; it's one of the few sounds I listened to that was probably a hoax.

The story goes that a 4chan user found a recording they made in 1994 or 1995, of the radio station WKCR 89.9 when the broadcast was suddenly interrupted for five minutes by disturbing sounds including the voice of a woman reading off obituaries of people that died in the 1980's. This list included some higher profile deaths, like Frank Oppenheimer and plane crash victims.

Some people call this the Max Headroom Incident of the radio, while others note the quality seems too good to have been recorded in 1994/1995. Some even claim to hear a 1998 date in the list, meaning it could not have been recorded before then without access to prophecies or time travel. Others believe it was real broadcast, but since the station is college run, it was intentionally broadcast as a prank, experiment, or art project. The host and woman are even said to sound similar. But this, with the fact that no one else seems to have come forward with memories of this hijack, much less a second recording with unique markers, suggests it's probably a hoax.

You can listen to the whole five and a half minutes on YouTube or another site, to decide for yourself, but do you really want to? Even knowing what I know now, I still feel unnerved hearing bits of it. Then again, maybe listening to the whole thing will alleviate some of those feelings?

The audio clip I listened to (and other spooky sounds if you want to listen to the whole video):

https://youtu.be/4dnO1Ky5454?t=300

Full audio (for the brave or stupid):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LlO2MOQK20

Some WKCR Hijacking details (on a blog I'll need to revisit):

https://silentthrill.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/wkcr-hijacking/

Info on the WKCR-FM station itself (in which the incident is not mentioned):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKCR-FM

Wikipedia's list of Broadcast Signal Intrusions (which does not include it either, how weird):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion

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The Haunted Waters of Lincoln City

There lots of good reasons to visit the Oregon coast; gorgeous views, historic locations, fresh seafood, spacious beaches, local festivals, and even ghosts and cryptids. That's right, there's a ton of supposedly haunted locations along the Oregon coast. And Lincoln City has it's fair share of these, from restaurants, to museums, to cemeteries, and even the very waters around the city. Two particular bodies of water are said to be haunted (or inhabited) there; Devils Lake and Siletz Bay.

Devils Lake (not to be confused with Devil's Lake, Wisconsin), in the north, is a large calm fresh water lake, that empties into the ocean via one of the world's shortest rivers, D River (if I remember correctly, this is what happens when boy scouts get to name things). Legend has it this lake is inhabited by a monster, either a giant fish, or a large tentacled monstrosity, distinct from know giant squid, octopus, or even the legendary kraken, in that it has a freshwater environment. According to the legends, Native Americans fishing here would experience the churning water as the monster passed below, and on one particular full moon night, canoes full of warriors were pulled under the water by the angry monster as they tried to impress maidens who were watching them from the shore.
 

(Devils Lake photos taken at Blue Heron Landing Boat Rentals)

I didn't get any pictures of the monster on my visit to the lake, just some rather content looking ducks.

(It's almost like they have no idea of the potential death lurking below the lake's surface.)

Further south is Siletz Bay, named for the Siletz tribe. Here a ghostly schooner (or similar vessel) is said to sail just above the waters, one last remnant of the vessel that washed ashore over a century and a half ago, and is now buried in the mudflats. This phenomenon is supposed to happen on foggy days however, so the weather was probably too nice on my latest visit. Which is when you unsurprisingly, get clearer more easily identified pictures.

(Siletz Bay photo taken from the Public Beach Access on the north side) 

 

 
Sources/Further Reading:

“Devils Lake (Lincoln County, Oregon)” Wikipeida
(Last Modified 2018-04-01)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Lake_(Lincoln_County,_Oregon)

“Ghostly Encounters - Lincoln City, OR” Visit Lincoln City on Oregon's Central Coast

(Last modification unknown)
Http://www.oregoncoast.org/things-to-do/itineraries/ghostly-encounters/

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Fourth Lotus Block Update - The Lotus Falls

First off, I want to correct my previous comments on how the whole of the Lotus' block was coming down. That was the impression I'd gotten from the articles I'd read. But in reality, it appears the McCarthy-Holtus building is going to be left standing, and the new hotel will wrap around this building. As such, the building is still open, and has been given a protective coat of paint on the two exposed sides (I assume the Lotus side will get one as well, when the last of it comes down). These painted walls, will of course be hidden by the new, possibly haunted, building.

Anyways onto photos of the Lotus' destruction. Here it is last week, just starting to come down:

 

And this week with just a small section of wall remaining:

 

Prep work on the previously cleared areas has continued as well. It should not be long now, before actual construction starts:

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Bad horror movie review/summary: The Remains

So, I've picked a horror movie with really bad reviews to enjoy, analyze, and whatnot; The Remains. Yes, this will contain SPOLIERS. It starts off with heavy handed blast of music, one of the complaints in the reviews, so, good start right?

Then it opens with a Ouija board rules without a board séance with plot devices, “You must ask only yes or no questions. And do not break the circle.” Can anyone else hear the CinemaSins ding? But honestly, I did not expect the twist that took. So maybe this movie is not as bad as the online reviews say?

Cue the 80's setting montage (in a 2016 movie) and we jump to present day, California. And now the classic house hunting single parent family, who conveniently buy the first house we see on screen. I want to see one of these movies where the first house we see is not the one they buy. So we spend that whole scene looking for a creepy moment, and surprise it’s not the haunted house. With maybe a cat based jump scare to keep things from being too boring.

Little boy, “can we just pick a house already?” Calm down, kid, you've only looked at one.

House has a smaller version of the house inside, because classy. Ding.

And cue the creepy occurrences; flashing lights, shadowy apparitions, and ghost that apparently only come in grey scale. So far nothing is set up well enough to be a successful jump scare. The attic seems no more haunted then the rest of the house, but we're obviously supposed to believe it's the worst of it, because there's antiques up there.

Dad literally just throws down a box of stuff to look at a pocket watch his son found. Meanwhile the almost legal teenage daughter is showering, and frankly her shoulders are more nudity then we needed. This scene added literally nothing to the plot, except to let us know, she's supposed to be the sexy character.

Living room is mysteriously trashed. Dad is the only one not swearing. Teenage daughter character switches from kid to wife mode instantly, almost like she go the lines of a cut character. Seriously, did no one question her jailbait portrayal in the script?

Pretty neighbor lady that looks kind of like the Dad's dead wife shows up, and is super friendly. Kids meanwhile are acting like zombies.

BLOOD EGGS!

Real-estate agent checks in on them, because this always happens in these movies. Has this ever happened in real life? Seriously guys, does it happen? She has no knowledge of the previous owners, but an unhealthy obsession with spirit photography. And how did the photos even get in the attic? Who developed the photos and thought these belong in the attic, not the police department? - The younger children are suddenly in distress while they’re talking cliché. At least it wasn't the trapped in a room or fell in the lake version of this cliché. This movie does get some credit for trying to be original.

Dad chews out teen daughter for not knowing anything had happened while she was in her room with headphones on, so she immediately invites her bad boy boyfriend over. Creepy half-naked make-out session mixed with failed jump scare. Honestly the ghost was more interesting then the romance, if we can call it that, though I'm sure if this movie has any teen viewers they were freaking excited, and then freaking scared. Does she have white star tattoos? Her conservative dad paid for that? Cut to a close-up of Jailbait eating a fast food hotdog since they can't actually show sex at her age, and aren't we all thankful?

Radio malfunctions, and dad confronts a ghost. Burn them! Nice and cryptic. But I assume she means burn the photos or antiques in general.

Internet proves the realtor should have known who owned the house before. It also reminds us of the fact the photos should not be in the attic, as they would never have been developed, or would have permanently ended up in the police station's evidence storage. Everything goes back in the trunk, and just encase it's not unbelievable enough yet, apparently the pocket watch is still ticking after all these years.

Music flares up again. But honestly I don't know what everyone was complaining about. . . this seems appropriated to the violence that happens right after.

Dad could have packed up the whole trunk, but no, he boxes the contents instead. Younger daughter interrupts, but luckily a playback of the séance expedites the packing process.

Apparently the son gets all the good lines in the movie, “Are we going to eat take-out every night?” Too bad he's deadpan all the time, which could be read as he's half-zombiefied, though most the reviews attribute this to bed acting.

Dad confronts the realtor over the phone about her lack of knowledge on the house, resulting in a HAL sounding reply, “Why would I lie to you, John?”

He comes home to look for his kids, finds a ghost first, then the neighbor lady teaching the kids about tarot cards. Everyone starts fighting. But she had cake! Still, Dad's cussing now too.

Antiques are not longer packed in the sealed box. I feel like this movie must be close to the end now. Neighbor lady comes back to apologize. . . and only now bothers to mention her father's stroke happened in the house when he was putting down mouse traps, because the city would totally hire a neighbor for pest control in this situation.

Grounded teen sneaks out to see her secret boyfriend. Wait, why did she have him come to the house earlier if he's a secret?

Everything in this movie revolves around the witching hour (which is the 3am version in this case). The next round of spooky paranormal possession stuff starts out fine, but ends up coming off as silly. Off-screen violence, just in time for the teenager to get home, and not notice anything is happening. . . again. . . but then gets up to check on everyone anyways, because she's suddenly switched back into mom mode.

Burn the trunk. She's surprisingly strong for her build. Trunk contents catch fire way too easy. Even stuff that's supposed to burn, doesn't catch fire like that. But finally, it's over. . . or is it?

Cue the weird credit music.
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