Silhouettes of Fear

Thank you. We'll be right back. What is going on, everybody? And thank you all so very much for joining us here on Expanded Perspectives with me, Cam Hale. And as always, the master of disaster is here today, folks. The king of the hockey references, Kyle Filson. How's it going, everybody? Yes, I'm here in studio. He is actually wearing. I need to go ahead and let you all know. He's got on his skates. He's got on his pads, his pants, his sweater. He doesn't have his helmet on because he gets in the way of his headphones. He's got his stick propped up in the corner. He's fully dressed. Looks like one of the Hanson brothers. And I'm not talking the mbop. We're talking slapshot. Grow up. That's what he's dressed as. Yeah, man, I'm here in studio. I am pumped. The Olympics have been going exactly as planned. been looking really good. For you? For me so far. Now listen, we've been down this route several times, and I think we all know who we're playing. We're probably going to be playing Canada. That's what it's going to be. Because why? Because they didn't let Russia play. That is a major factor that I think everybody's not considering. As you know, the best goal scorer ever, Ovechkin, can't play, is on a team that's not allowed in the Olympics. It would be a totally different Olympics if Russia was on there. I wouldn't allow him in there either. Yeah, right? Ovi the Great. Philly, how you been? I've been good, man. I hope everybody's doing good out there. Yeah, I've been doing good, man. Staying out of trouble? Keeping the granddaughter? Staying out of trouble, yeah. Be keeping the granddaughter a lot. She's kept you hopping. We took her to the zoo the other day for the first time. How'd that go? She loved it? It was good, but a lot of the zoo was closed down, and I understand it's probably because it's winter. They're doing all the renovations. However, the price to get in was not discounted, and nobody let you know before you go in that only about 60% of the zoo's open. I got you. Our zoo is awesome. She's only 18 months old, so what does she know? Yeah. Yeah, I'll have to send you some pictures. Our zoo is great. It's one of the best in the U.S. We're very lucky to have it. It may even be the best. We're very lucky to have it. I know San Diego had that title for a long time, but the Fort Worth Zoo is amazing. I think Fort Worth is number one. I've been to the Dallas Zoo. I don't know if you've ever been there. Don't go. It's not like that one. But the Dallas World Aquarium downtown is awesome. Now, my family's been to that. I haven't gone, but I haven't gone to the Dallas Zoo simply because of your statement right there. folks I'll let you in on a little something if I haven't watched a movie and I'm thinking about watching it looks interesting I'll text Kyle and I'm like have you seen it and if he hadn't seen it okay but if he has I'm like what's your hot take on it and he's if he's like it's garbage I don't even watch it I don't even waste my time with it because if he don't like it I know I'm not gonna like it so I just don't go with it so if he's like don't go I don't know that's like I've been enjoying the new HBO show the Knights of the Seven Kingdoms yeah you've You've been telling me I've got to wait. I didn't care for the last one, The House of the Dragon. No. It wasn't my favorite. This one, of course, isn't my favorite, but I like it. I like the story. I've heard it's really, really good. It's short, too. It's only six episodes. I like that. I think there's four out now. When it's all out, I'm going to binge it like a psycho. And it takes place long before Game of Thrones. It looks good. It was good. It looks really good. So far, it's good. It's not over. Yeah. Anyways. It looks really good. Let's get into some stories. Don't hit me with it. I know I'm speaking of a long time ago. I've got a story here, and people like these kind of stories. These like time traveler stories. These guys from another time that just show up. You know, it's weird. That's like you. Just a guy from another time that just shows up. He's born in the late 1900s, folks. It's Kyle Filson. In June of 1992, a retired Maryland attorney, identified here as MB, was assigned a pro bono client. I knew I was waiting for you to say something. I know his brother. He was in a movie called Hateful Eight. LB is his brother. waiting on you to say something. I ain't never going back out there again. Anyways, this attorney was assigned a pro bono client who had been placed by court order in a state hospital in the Baltimore metro area. Now, MB at the time maintained multiple offices throughout the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. corridor and regularly represented individuals with mental disabilities on behalf of the state. Why did you point at me? I didn't. I was just doing this. Whatever. Go on. MB interviewed the client at the hospital. Now, the man had been arrested for possession of a small vintage Marlon Derringer handgun and ammunition, which were found in his pants pocket, along with a minor with some minor vagrancy violations. I was going to say that's a big pocket if you had a minor in there. During intake, the client identified himself as Morris Withthorpe. He claimed to be from New Jersey and stated that he had lived most of his life in New York City. Now, official records showed that Morris Winthrop had never resided in the state of Maryland. When arrested, Morris was wearing a high collar, white shirt and a brown frock coat with matching pants. MB later discovered that the clothing closely resembled authentic Victorian era menswear dating from approximately 1870 to 1880. Among Morris's personal effects was a small silver metal case, similar in size and appearance to a cigarette case. In case you don't know what that does look like. Cam, I know you do. Inside was a square piece of black material that resembled hard plastic. Now, hospital staff allowed Morris to retain this object during his confinement. Physically, Morris appeared to be in his early 30s. His face was completely hairless, lacking even stubble. His eyebrows were thin, his hair wispy and blonde, and his complexion unusually pale. MB noted that Morris's eyes were a deep, dark blue, bordering on violet and strikingly intense. Now, throughout the interview, Morris maintained direct eye contact and smiled calmly. He answered very few questions beyond stating his name, his association with New York City, and his uncertainty about how he arrived in Baltimore. A hospital physician suggested that Morris may have been suffering from shock or memory loss. MB did not share that impression. He felt strongly that Morris was fully aware of his circumstances, though he could not articulate why this conviction felt so certain. At the conclusion of the interview, MB explained that Morris was being held under court order and that a hearing date would be requested. Morris responded politely, thanking MB for his service and stating, I will contact you, I promise. The following day, MB was informed by the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office that his legal services were no longer required. No explanation was offered. When MB contacted the treating physician, he was told that Morris was no longer at the facility and that any further inquiries would need to be directed to the state attorney's office. For nearly two years, No official information regarding Morris Winthrop was available. In 1994, MB was privately approached by a hospital attendant who had worked during Morris' brief stay. The attendant reported that Morris had vanished from the ward shortly after his evening meal. A full search of the facility produced no results. Morris' clothing had been retained by the state attorney's office, but all other personal items, including the silver medal case, were missing. The location of the firearm was never disclosed, though MB assumed it was transferred to state police custody. Driven by unanswered questions, MB initiated a private investigation. A licensed investigator uncovered a single historical reference to a man named Morris Winthrop, age 32, who resided in New York City in 1877. That Morris disappeared without a trace, leaving all personal property behind. Now, contemporary police records from that period reported no evidence of foul play. Over the next 19 years, MB hired additional investigators, but no further records surfaced. They promised Morris May, during their final exchange, continued to weigh heavily on MB. Remember, he said, I'll contact you later. Yeah. who questioned whether his former client was something far stranger than a lost man. If Morris was a traveler displaced in time, MB wondered if that promised contact would ever occur. So this guy was picked up by police, put and placed in custody. He was dressed like from an earlier era. And then after his evening meal, they couldn't find the guy. His belongings were gone. Like he just disappeared from 1977. Appeared in 19. What year did they say? that I'm trying to remember what year, but 1992. He time slipped them. And then bloop, went back. Or maybe went somewhere else in time. What a crazy story. That's so wild. I love those stories. I love the time. Everybody loves a good time slip story. Because you could put yourself in the position of like, imagine it being you. Like, imagine right now. We like to think about it like, oh, the guy came into the future. Well, imagine if that's what you did. Right now, you jumped into the future 75 years. Yeah. I could blow your mind what you would see. I know. Can you imagine what the world, well, I know it'll be run by cybernetic organisms. Yeah, we'll be fighting the T-1000s is what's coming. Yeah, that's coming. That's what's going to go. Yeah, we'll be fighting robots. Thank God I'm almost 50. That's what we talked about at the game the other night. I said, if the Terranator war breaks out, I hope they kill me first. Right? I want to be in one of the places where the nuke hits. Right on top of my head. Yeah, I want to be at ground zero, baby. Yeah, I don't want to fight robots the last 20 years of my life. You're just here talking about shadow beings. Next thing you know, you're vaporized. Yeah, I don't want to have to fight robots in my old age. We should have had the robot war when I was in my 20s. I probably could have done something, right? Like, now my back hurts. My shoulders are kind of sore. Like, you've seen the memes where a guy's playing with a gun or something, and then, like, the light switches, and he's, like, up in heaven with Jesus, and he doesn't know what happened. That's what it's going to be like. He's exactly like, wait, what? Oh, okay. Well, I guess the Terminator got me. So y'all all know how much I love the ocean and just crave getting in the water. I love the saltwater. Never. Okay. This is one of those reasons why. Let me lay this on you. You like going kayak fishing and stuff. I'll go kayak fishing, but I'm sitting on top of the water. See how that works? See, I'm separated by a piece of plastic. Don't bring that up. Don't talk about it, dude. I'll get panicky. I'll get panicky. So I'm going to talk about this. Kyle used to always want to visit this place, so that's why I'm going to tell him about this. Kyle, this took place in 2005 near Azerbaijan. Oh, I wasn't aware I wanted to go there. I used to always talk about it. Here we go. Residents of coastal communities along the Caspian Sea, particularly between Astara and Likoran in Azerbaijan and neighboring Iranian waters, have long described an unusual amphibious being appearing both offshore and near the coastline. Are we talking like Nessie or something? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's worse. Interest intensified in March of 2005 when the crew of an Azeri trawler named Baku came forward with a detailed account later published by the Iranian newspaper Zendagi. According to Captain Gafar Ghasanov, the entity swam parallel to the trawler for an extended period during the afternoon hours. At first glance, the crew assumed it was a large fish. Upon closer observation, it revealed hair on the head, and what initially appeared to be fins were in fact arms with webbed hands. The entire crew describes this creature as distinctively humanoid with its upper body structure. Upon returning to Azerbaijan, the captain and crew were ridiculed and accused of intoxication. However, following publication of the report in Iran, the newspaper received numerous letters from fishermen and coastal residents who claim to have witnessed the exact same or very similar entity. Several noted that sightings increased after volcanic activity on the seabed near Bobsoller intensified in February, coinciding with expanded offshore production in Caspian, in the Caspian Sea there. So it says eyewitness descriptions are strikingly uniform. This is what they report. What is this thing? The creature is an estimated 165 to 168 centimeters tall, thick set with protruding abdomen. Its feet are pinnipid and its hands possess four webbed fingers. Oh, so this thing's humanoid. Yes. The skin is described as pale white to yellowish gray with stiff black green hair on its head. Arms and legs appear shorter and heavier than those of an average human. A merman or a triton. A triton. Additionally, anatomical features include sharp nails on the fingers and an unusual nail or hardened growth at the tip of its nose, forming a structure reminiscent of a dolphin's beak. The ears are not visible. The eyes are large and round. The mouth is wide with a protruding lower jaw and no discernible chin as the lip flow flows directly down into the neck. Fishermen reported unusual behavioral effects associated with the sightings. Fish caught in the net reportedly became agitated, producing faint gurgling sounds moments before the entity surfaced. Some witnesses claimed that the creature responded with similarly throaty sounds. Others stated that the water in areas where the entity appeared became exceptionally clear for several days afterwards. In Iran, the being is referred to as a Renan Shah, translated as Master of the Seas and Rivers. Local speculation suggests that the entity may not be solitary but yet part of a small population of underwater humanoids possibly displaced or drawn to the surface by ecological disruptions Longstanding complaints from the Askaran fishermen regarding declining sturgeon populations add further context to the concerns about environmental stress within the Caspian Basin. The thing likes caviar. So it could be pollution, could be what's driving this thing to come in and do whatever it's doing. But yeah, it seems like it's going after sturgeon row and hanging out. Or like an oncoming eruption. You know, that'll be stir stuff. Every time they find those big ribbon fish, they say there's going to be an earthquake. Yeah, as they beach themselves, like to get out of the water or something. Like they know about it. Yeah. So maybe that's what it is. But so since 05, I would like to know if there's any good updates because they could be going on. We just don't know. But I would imagine. But I like the fact that, oh, yeah, they're a bunch of drunk sailors. They publish it, and dozens of stories come in like, that's what we saw. That's what we saw. So if you've got, like we talked about with the giant shark that passed by. It wasn't just one dude that talked about seeing the shark. Oh, the guy, the Navy sailor that rode in and said, I don't remember which ship it was, but the whole ship saw it. We called and talked to him, and that's what he's saying. He's like, people on both ships. He's like, there's hundreds of people saw this thing. that's the same thing that's going on here. You have a whole fishing crew. And I'm sure it's not near as big as a damn battleship or forward observer, destroyer, whatever he was on. But at least there's eight to 12 dudes on this ship that are all standing there, tell the exact same story. Yeah. And this is what they saw. I don't know. And there's nothing surprises me comes out of the ocean anymore. Absolutely nothing. I agree. We know nothing about it. It doesn't surprise me. Man, that is spooky. You speaking of spooky, nothing gets scarier than things in the dark, like shadow beings. Let's take a break. And when we get back from the break, we're going to be talking about some people who've had encounters with shadow people. Stick with us, folks. You're listening to Expanded Perspectives. As many of you know, podcasting isn't my full-time job. When I'm not in the studio recording, I'm out running my real estate appraisal business. And in that world, there are times when underwriters and I don't exactly see eye to eye on valuation. When that happens, I don't just need opinions. I need clear, defensible explanations. And sometimes I need help articulating exactly what I'm trying to say. And that's where AI comes in. What AI do I trust? Well, I use Claude. When underwriters push back on evaluation, I need more than guesswork. I need research. I need structure. I need answers that I can stand behind. Claude doesn't just give me results. It helps me think through complex problems. Surfaces research I'd probably never find on my own and backs it all up with solid citations that I can actually show clients. It's like having a research partner that works at machine speed. Claude's internal and external research capabilities go way deeper than basic web search. They're talking comprehensive, reliable analysis with real sourcing, turning hours of digging into just minutes. And here's where it gets even better. You can connect Claude directly to tools you already use through MCP connectors like GitHub, Jira, HubSpot, Notion, and Google Workspace. And suddenly it becomes a command center with context from all of your work. If your job depends on research, accuracy, and being able to explain your conclusions with confidence, Claude is worth a serious look. Claude is the AI for minds that don't stop at good enough. It's the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow and thinks with you, not just for you. See, whether you're debugging code at midnight or strategizing your next business move, Claude extends your thinking to tackle the problems that matter. Co-Work brings Claude's code's eugenic power to your desktop. No terminal required. so anyone can use and have Claude do real work. Point it to a folder on your computer or add connectors like Google Drive and Gmail. Describe what you need and it handles the rest, like organizing files, building spreadsheets, or drafting reports from your scattered notes. Cue up tasks and just come back to finish work. Ready to tackle bigger problems? Get started with Claude today at Claude.ai slash expanded. That's claude.ai. And check out Claude Pro. And that includes access to all of the features mentioned in today's episode. That's claude.ai. I know you're listening to your podcast. I'm going to listen to you, so I'll keep it short. Because if you think it's important to make a sustainable choices, can ASR maybe help? I think I'm going to think, how then? For example, when you're selling a sustainable products that you love are, you want to know more about the insurance where a sustainable sustainable is? Go to asr.nl slash duurzamekeuzes. This is ASR for you and a sustainable society. ASR does it. So, now you can listen to your podcast. starting a business can be overwhelming you're juggling multiple roles designer marketer logistics manager all while bringing your vision to life shopify helps millions of business sell online build fast with templates and ai descriptions and photos inventory and shipping sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl that's shopify.nl it's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. And we're back with Expanded Perspectives. Yeah, this is a subject that... I hate it. I just want to go on the record. I hate it. You hate discussing it or you just hate the subject? Everything about shadow beings, because like I've pointed out in the past, everybody that's listening right now, just stop, look around you. There's shadows. Yeah. There's shadows. You're in your car, there's a shadow underneath your seat. He could be down there. Well, it's a subject that we've talked about several times. And over the years, several people have emailed us. And so we continually get emails and we usually just compile them. And then every year or so or every couple months, every six months or so, we will do another show. You love diving into these unsettling shadow man stories. It's just so intriguing. You love it. Because what could they be, right? And like we said, they're everywhere. I think they could be lots of things. You think they're evil spirits? That's what I think. But I don't understand the hat man sightings. Like, what is it with the fedora? You don't have the cowboy hat sightings. You don't have guys with beret sightings. You don't have shadow guys with a little rascal's hat on. You don't think about a beret. You don't see a shadow guy with a hat with a propeller on there. His little rascal's hat. You know what I'm saying? It's always a fedora. What is the deal with that? I want my shadow man to have the beer helmet on where it holds like the four beers. That's how my shadow man shows up. There's no ball cap shadow man Reverse ball cap Yeah The bicycling hat Remember the brim folds up Like you used to wear in paintball Yes You never see that Nobody's got a helmet on The boonie hat shadow man Yeah you don't see boonie hats What is the deal with the fedora? That's the only thing reported I want the little propeller hat shadow man Or Well it's the The hat man is a snappy dresser I mean like he's I'm thinking a three piece suit Maybe he's just trying to deliver information. Maybe it's the devil. Don't even joke. Maybe it is. Maybe he's the big, you thinking he's the BBEG, the big bad evil guy? He's going to sign a deal with you. You want to be the best Pokemon player on earth? You've got to sign this document. Right? And then at the end, when you're about to die, you have to have a Pokemon playoff with somebody else he's already signed, right? I have a feeling you're poking fun at our buddy Jim that we've played D&D with. I'm taking the story of the show Crossroads, remember, where Ralph Macchio signs a deal? I know what you're doing. But I have a feeling that you're poking fun at gym. I'm exchanging the electric guitar for Pokemon. We got a sponsor the other day. God, I hate you so much. We got a sponsor that was a card, digital card things or whatever. And I'm thinking they're talking about baseball cards. And then the final thing says, the hosts that are going to read this have to be Pokemon collectors and tell us your favorite Pokemon. I'm like, I have no idea. I have no idea. But it reminded me of gym. You know, I know of two Pokemon. It's huge. The Olympics are sponsored by Pokemon. I've seen 20 Pokemon commercials watching the Olympics. I know of three now. I know Pikachu. I just remembered his name. But I think of Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Squirtle's the only one. Those are the two that make me laugh so much, but Squirtle's my go-to, man. Sorry, go ahead. I ate a Popeye's chicken the other day, and I got the Squirtle's. I got the Squirtle's. Oh, stop! I'm not going back. I was in a place that had only like three restaurants to choose from. You're so terrible. You're a horrible human being. Anyways. The Squirtle. For lots of reasons. other than that. So I've got some stories here that were sent into the show, and then I've got one that I found. So I'm going to start with the one that I found, and this is about a guy named Dan. Now, the first time Dan spoke about it, they said that his voice still carried the tremor of someone who had stared into something that should not exist. Dan was a hard-edged biker from Barstow, deep in the furnace heat of the San Bernardino County. He was not a man that was easily shaken. So you can picture this guy, right? Big, burly, a biker. Maybe he's a true one percenter. Maybe. This was the kind of man who meets trouble head on. So this guy's not a coward, right? It's not like me. He's scared of everything. He's like, I'm not going out there. The kind who sleeps in lonely places like most people won't even hike through during the daytime. But in early 2011, something found him and it did not stop. That summer, Dan pitched his tent on the slopes of Mount Rainier, a towering ancient presence clawing more than 14,000 feet into the sky. He spent four days hiking the vast wilderness, surrounded by endless forest and the crushing weight of isolation. Looking back, he says that was the first mistake. The second was falling asleep. Around 3 a.m., Dan snapped awake, not from a noise, but from a feeling. The unmistakable suffocating sensation that something was standing over him, watching, studying, waiting. He didn't move. He didn't breathe. His fists balled up and tightened inside of his sleeping bag as pure instinct screamed at him. You are not alone. Then it happened, he said. Without warning, two shapes rushed him. They were tall, thin, and they looked wrong. Their bodies stretched into spindly, humanoid silhouettes, darker than the darkness that was inside the tent. They moved with impossible speed, gliding rather than stepping, as if reality itself barely applied to them. Dan, he tried to fight, but he couldn't. His body was locked, every muscle frozen in place. His lungs felt like they were filling with wet cement. Weakness poured through him like poison. Cold sweat drenched his skin. The things, whatever they were, hovered over him. Slowly, deliberately, they each extended one long unnatural finger and pressed it into his stomach. The moment they touched him, Dan says it felt like something was being pulled out of him. Not blood, not air, something deeper. Something he described as vital. He couldn't scream. He couldn't move. he couldn't, he could barely think. He could only feel himself draining away. Then just as suddenly as it started, they pulled their fingers back quickly. The weakness vanished. The fingers turned and shot out of the tent with terrifying speed, vanishing into the night like smoke being sucked into a void. Dan didn't stay to question it. He exploded out of his tent, threw his gear together with shaking hands, jumped into his truck and drove. No sleep, no hesitation, just distance. He wanted the hell out of there. But whatever visited him, well, it wasn't finished. Three nights later, inside the supposed safety of his Barstow apartment, it happened again. Same time, same sleep paralysis, same fingers, same draining and suffocating weakness. And the worst part, they kept coming. Weeks later, then again, and finally in August 2014, more than three years after it had begun, Dan became convinced that these things could take his strength whenever they wanted, that each visit left him a little bit emptier than before. He started calling it being zapped because he didn't know what else to call it. But the word never really captured the terror of it, he said, because deep down he believed something was feeding on him, like predators that hunt in silence, like supernatural parasites rising only in the dead of the night. What haunted him most is what wasn't just what they did. It was that they followed him home. They knew where he lived. And to this day, Dan still doesn't know why they chose him. and the scariest part, he doesn't know if they're finished with him or not. And that's his story. It's like psychic, I mean, like energy vampires, right? Like these demons. Colin Ferguson's draining him. They're not Ferguson. It's what is that? Colin Robinson. Colin Robinson's draining him. It's but whatever these things are, they're like, what are they draining from his soul? Yeah. Like they're getting energy from his soul. He was camping solo up on Mount Rainier by himself and he awoke to them. They found him on the side of that mountain, whatever they were. Now, maybe they weren't demons. Maybe they're extraterrestrials. Maybe that's how they cloaked themselves is in darkness. Hey, good call. Yeah. What is it? I don't remember what ufologist said it. I think it was Bob Lazar that he said that these aliens, or maybe it was- Oh, I know what you're going to say. They're after our souls. They view us as vessels. Yeah, right. Yeah. Maybe that's what they were doing to Dan, or maybe still are. They view us as like batteries. Yeah. And souls is what powers whatever it is that they need powered or something. At least I hope not. Let's get into some of the stories that have been sent in from our grateful listeners. Well, I've got one here that I think you're going to enjoy. It says, now I've gone back and says, hey, guys, I've gone back and forth about writing this for years. I don't even know if you'll believe me, but I need to tell someone who won't immediately think or say that I'm crazy. My name is Steven. I grew up in Bury in greater Manchester England And I think whatever it was has followed me It started when I was only five years old The first time I remember it, I thought someone had broken into a house. This was probably around 1986. My mom took me to her friend to visit there in a local estate. Now, I remember walking into her kitchen and stopping dead in the doorway. The walls, the cupboards, even parts of the ceiling were all covered in handprints, not smudges, not fingerprints, full handprints, thick and black, like something had dipped its hands in tar and just pressed them everywhere. And they didn't look right. Too big and too stretched, almost animal-like. Now, I didn't say anything because I was five. So I just assumed that her house had been burgled or vandalized. Years later, I asked my mom about it, and she just looked at me and said, there was nothing on the wall, Stephen. Nothing. Now, I know what I saw, and apparently my mom's friend had told her that she'd seen shadows move across the walls and dark faces forming out of them. But my mother never saw a thing. From that day on, things started showing up around me. At first, it was just shapes, movements in corners. But as I got older, they became more clear. Now I see massive black shape with red eyes standing at my bedroom door sometimes. There's also what I like to call the hat man, always behind everything, always watching. And then there are others, the ones that look almost like normal shadows, like the kind you'd see on a sunny day. I call them joeys. I don't even know why. That's just a name that came to me one evening. And I see joeys mostly in dreams. And most of my dreams are violent. Almost every time I encounter them, I'm aware I'm in bed, but I can't move. I feel heavy and sluggish like I'm trapped underwater. And I can only see my own body lying there breathing while I am somewhere else. They chase me. They block doorways. They try to scratch me. They try to touch me. Now, the doctors tell me it's just a sleep disorder. But when they're there in the presence, the room hums like electricity buzzing through the air, like standing too close to a power line. And I know something is in the room with me. When I was 16, I had a dream that I was being chased through my garden. And I ran into the house. I ran upstairs, jumped into my bed. And I started and this thing followed me and started swallowing me. This whole bed started pulling me down like it was alive. I woke up. I couldn't move. My heart was pounding like I'd just run a marathon. My left leg was cramped so bad that I couldn't straighten it. And as I got older, it got worse. I wake up exhausted, muscles aching like I've been fighting for my life all night. Fingers sore. Twice, I've woken up with scratches down the right side of my body. And every time during these encounters, the joeys come close. But the hat man just stands back, observing. But none of that compares to what I call the attack. Now, this took place about three years ago. I went to bed like normal. Then I got that familiar buzzing feeling in my body, like static building under my skin. Then I fell asleep. The next thing I know, I'm standing beside my bed, looking down at myself, lying next to my girlfriend, my eyes wide open, a frozen stare. I knew instantly something was wrong. I thought I was dying. Then I turned and they were in my room. Two joeys and the hat man. One of them rushed me. The other reached out like it was trying to grab or scratch me and I could barely move. Like moving through deep water. But I fought anyway. I teach jujitsu. So instinct just took over. I swung at them and they didn't really fight back. I grabbed one through punches, then backed away, retreating behind the hat man like he was in charge. So he scared one off. Yeah. Then something happened. I've never told anyone except in this email. I turned and saw something attached to my back. A thin silver line like a cord, like a tail made of light. Then I woke up, soaked in sweat, heart racing, but I could still feel them in the room. So I checked myself in the mirror. There was a slap mark on the left side of my face, and my fingers hurt for two days. Since that night, the encounters happen about every two weeks, but they don't attack anymore. Now they just circle me like I'm something they don't understand or something that they're studying. I've tried to accept what the doctors tell me, that it's my brain, that something's wrong with me, but my gut tells me it isn't. I'm 31 now, and I really don't think this is ever going to stop, and I just want to know what this is. And then something happened that shook me even more. A few years ago, I got really sick with a bacterial infection, high fever, and ended up in the hospital. My ex, and we're still close, told me something she had never told me before. The night before she took me to the hospital, I was sweating and breathing hard in my sleep. She leaned over to wake me up, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a man. A tall shadow standing in the room, lit faintly by the streetlight outside. She blinked and it was still there. She blinked again and it was gone. Apparently, I woke up right after and said, did he scare you? He won't even leave me alone when I'm ill. I don't remember saying that, but she told me. After that, she never believed what doctors said about me again. After that night, she started sleeping with the lights on. Anyway, that's everything. I don't know if you'll read this on the show and I don't even know if you should, But if you do, just tell people I'm still here and they are, too. Steven. And here I complain about having a hard time sleeping because my granddaughter likes to roll like crazy next to me. You're not fighting for your life every time you close your eyes. And again, is it alien abduction? Is it a mental illness or is it happening? Because he's like, apparently his ex-wife doesn't believe it. He doesn't believe he's like, no, dude, something's going on. Well, and these stories about sleep paralysis, this isn't new. This has been going on for a long time. What is the old hag syndrome? And there's been other, what are the Fae that come and visit you at night? I mean, these are long archetypes. Have you ever had sleep paralysis? I have like once or twice. I've never had it. I didn't see like so many cases where the person sees themselves in bed. It wasn't like that for me. I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn't get myself to wake. I see what you're saying. And then I tried, tried, tried, tried. And then I woke up, and I snapped out of it. But I didn't see anything creepy or anything. I felt like I was dreaming that I couldn't move. I think my sister-in-law, one of my sister-in-laws, she has sleep paralysis pretty bad. She says it happens like seven times a year. Wow. But she's aware of it. Yeah. I asked her, do you see figures in the room? And she said no. I'm so afraid when I die that I'm going to learn so much that I was so unaware of. I'm so oblivious to all of that stuff. Oh, dude. You know what I'm saying? The amount will be unfathomable. It's going to be so insane. I didn't have that. You see that? I never saw that. None of that cool stuff ever happens. Not that this is cool. I don't want this to happen. I don't either. That's why you say your prayers when you go to sleep at night. Every time. Get the room saged. I got one here. Check this out. It says, expanded perspectives is fantastic. Thanks. I want to thank the both of you for making a safe space for people to share their encounters without judgment. Who are you going to thank more, me or Kyle? Probably me. It's okay. I have a story I would like to share with you as well as the other listeners. It says, I've debated sending this in for a long time because even writing it out makes my skin crawl. But I've heard these stories you've read, and this feels like the only place I can put this where something might actually, or someone might actually understand. This started a few months after I moved into my current house. One night, I stayed up later than usual. Nothing weird, just showered, got ready for bed, and turned on my usual nighttime podcast and laid down like I always do. That's when the feeling started. That heavy, suffocating feeling that someone is watching you, even though you know you're alone. I remember slowly looking toward my window, and there he was, standing just outside. He was tall, maybe six, six and a half feet, completely black. Not like a person standing in a shadow. I mean like he was a shadow. I couldn't see his face, no eyes, no features, just a human shape made out of darkness. The fear, it hit me instantly, like ice water dumped down my spine. I turned away. I pulled the covers over my face like a little kid, and I tried to convince myself that I imagined it all. I barely slept that night. The next night, I told myself I was going to prove it wasn't real. I walked straight to the window. I looked outside, and sure enough, nothing was there. So I turned the lights off, and I went to bed. Within just a few minutes, that same feeling came back, like something was watching. So I slowly peeked over my blanket, and there he was, standing at my glass window, looking straight at me. Gotcha! Same build, not big, not skinny, just average, like a normal man, except completely black, faceless, just standing there watching. I stared back for a few seconds to sign before too much fear hit again and I hid under the covers like before. And then it kept happening every night. And every night he was a little bit closer. window at first then at the foot of my bed then the middle of my room until finally he was standing right beside me getting brave leaning over me like he was studying me oh no every time he got closer i felt heavier like something was physically pushing me down into the mattress i could move but it felt like moving through thick mud eventually i got angry like fight or flight finally picked fight. I yelled out loud, be gone. I don't want you here. Then I just started praying over and over, not even thinking, just repeating words until I finally fell asleep. The next night he was gone. I have no idea what it was. And honestly, I'm not sure I want to know, but I still hate looking at that window after dark. B word. So see, like I was mentioning before, Say your prayers. Seems to work, but I don't know what it is. What is that thing just leaned over looking at you while you sleep? Well, and you and I know people. A faceless shadow. That have had strange paranormal experiences, and they're the same way. They're like, I don't know what it was, and I really don't want to know. Yeah. Because somewhere you kind of just feel better not knowing. After all the years, and you and I just had this conversation within the last two weeks, within all the time of the stuff that we have looked into and the people we've talked to and the stories we've done, ignorance is truly bliss. Yeah, I agree. I wish I didn't know some of this stuff because we get a lot of messages from y'all that like to listen to this podcast when y'all are going to sleep. Y'all are crazy. Look, because I've said it before. We talk about it all the time during hunting season when you're out there before daylight or after dark and I'm walking around in the woods. I freak myself out so bad sometimes. Oh, yeah. You just got to try to do this. You got to listen to something like funny. Yeah, you start thinking about it. I'm like, bro, I don't know how they do it. I really don't know how y'all do it listening to us. That's crazy. It is. Not when you go to bed like that. That geeks me out. I got one here. You were speaking about it watching you sleep. Listen, it says, hello, gentlemen. I don't really know how to explain this without sounding insane. So I'll just say it exactly how it is. For years, and I mean years, I would wake up in the middle of the night and see people standing around my bed. At first, I thought it was home intruders. I'd wake up, throw my hands up to protect myself. Then I'd blink. They'd be gone. But it didn't stop. Every night, it was someone different. Sometimes one, sometimes two, hell, sometimes three. Always just standing there, watching me. Around the same time, something else started happening. I realized I could sense spirits, then see them, then communicate with them. I started practicing mediumship, doing readings, and it came naturally to me, almost too naturally. I could see spirits around people at the grocery store, in cemeteries, in old buildings. I could talk to them and they would talk back, sometimes nonstop. But the ones around my bed never spoke. And that scared me more than anything. Because I could see every detail. Wrinkles, eye colors, clothing, expressions. They looked real. more real than the spirits I see when I'm awake. I started asking them directly every night, who are you? What do you want? Nothing. Years of this. Total silence. Eventually, I learned how to call in protection, spirit guides, shields, whatever you want to call it, and it helped. Now they rarely wake me up anymore. Sometimes, but sometimes. One slips through. And honestly, I don't even get scared anymore. I get angry. I've woken up and straight up yelled at them to get the hell out. Right. And weirdly, it works. But I still don't know who they are or why they watch me sleep. Well, maybe this is going to help somebody because at least it's showing at least one way of combating them. Yeah. If you're having a problem with them. True. You know, I think it's so interesting because people that there are people I've heard that claim they could see auras around people. Yes, I have. Yeah. I remember somebody, they did a study or something over that was talking about people could see them. Yeah, and how predictable, like somebody with a really glowing aura, they had no idea who the stranger was. Then when they looked into the stranger, they had like a really great past. Like they really was a good person. And the same with somebody who, yeah, it turns out that guy was like a sex offender or something. He had a dark aura, you know what I'm saying? Amber is the color of your energy. Whoa. Yeah, I wonder what my color is. I got a few colors, I can tell you. The fighting, the fighting them back. I mean, it's similar to other stories. And it reminds me of the Travis Walton story, the fire in the sky. When he tried to physically fight back they all left the room like they not They want to mess with you But in the moment you want to like physically start fighting they like we not having that Well think about it if there was a group of veterinarians working over a silverback and the silverback decided I tired of this They're going to leave the room. And predators when it's on the lab? When he gets up? Yeah, he's like, all right. You know, that's like an Umarex air gun she's using that's painted white. Yeah. When I saw that, I'm like, man, that looks familiar. We need some of those. I need me a fancy pellet gun. I got another one here. All right. Says, hey, bruds. Hey. I've never told this story publicly, but after hearing so many similar stories on your show, I think it's time. When I was a kid, my older brother was babysitting me and my twin. We were playing hide and seek in my uncle's house. I hid in my uncle's closet down in the basement. Mistake. I sat down on the floor and after a minute or two, I felt a hand to rest on my shoulder. Uh-oh. I assumed it was my twin brother and said, Are you hiding in here too? But I got no answer. I sat there for another five minutes, feeling colder and colder. Finally, I got up and went upstairs. Both my brothers were on the couch. They swore they never came downstairs. That basement always felt wrong to them anyway. A few nights later, my older brother was babysitting me again. My twin was out with my mom and uncle. We were wrestling and playing around on the ground and ended up in my uncle's room. Then the closet door slammed open. Not creaked, not slowly opened. It slammed open like someone kicked it. And something walked out. A tall, shadow-shaped like a man. My brother ran instantly. He left me there. The thing walked toward me and stopped right in front of me. I ran straight upstairs. I was crying when my family got home. Eventually we moved. My mom said it was because rent went up. Years later, I asked my uncle if his room, you know, ever felt creepy. And he got quiet and white as a ghost. He told me his closet used to open by itself at night. And sometimes a shadow man would walk out and stand at the foot of his bed. But he said something that still messes with me. He said it didn't feel evil to him. He said it felt calm, almost comforting. Then he told me why we really moved. He said there was a hidden cubbyhole in that closet that connected to another crawlspace under the house. And back in the 1970s, a man was murdered in that house. His body was found in that cubbyhole. My mom found out and moved us immediately. Told us it was because of the rent. Now, my uncle knew the truth the whole time and never told us. I still think about that hand on my shoulder. And sometimes I wonder if it was trying to scare me or if it was trying to let me know that it knew I was there. If you read any of this on the show, feel free to leave my name out. I just needed someone to hear it. Wow. Isn't that crazy? Wow. So this time it seems almost like a ghost. A ghost might be in there. But he felt a hand on his... So it touched him. Man. It had physical weight to it. Dude, I'm going to tell you right now. If I have any of that go down in my house. You're moving. My wife's still out of town. I've been in the home alone for the last week. If any of that goes down, you're going to know because this is what you're going to hear at your house. Let me in, bud. There's something going on over there. You need to come over here. Yeah, man. Oh, man. Well, let's take a break, folks. It's about that time. We've got to pay some bills. Stick with us. You're listening to Expanded Perspectives. Kyle, do you own physical gold? Yeah. See, okay, most people don't. But Acre Gold's going to change that. Folks, here's how it works. You pick a subscription that fits your budget. You make small monthly payments. Once you've stacked it up enough, they ship beautifully designed 24-carat Swiss gold straight to your door. It's not a number on a screen. It's not in an app. It's yours. Exit digital, own physical. And now, by the way, gold's up 65% this year, right? And over year. And experts say it's not slowing down. And I know that sounds crazy. Still going. Look, we've tried it. It's legit. OK, they've got subscribers stacking for five years because once you start, it kind of becomes a thing. you don't really want to stop. Plus, they're always running free giveaways. And right now, you can win three limited edition gold bars from their ancient collection and exclusive gear. So to start your subscription and enter today, you just go to getacregold.com. That's getacregold, G-E-T-A-C-R-E gold.com. Thank you. You and a valuable community. ASR does it. So, we can now listen to your podcast. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. And we're back. Yeah. Enough with the unsettling stuff. And the sad thing is, y'all need to be elite members because the next show is going to have more of it. He's got a pile of stories that were sent in to us of completely and utterly unsettling things. Yeah. Of people sleeping around crazy shadow beings. But I want to leave you all with something. Before we wrap this puppy up, everybody knows we got a little something coming out pretty quick. It's going to hit soon. Yeah. So I'm going to stick this in there just for you all folks. This is a Glimmer Man encounter from Burlington, Kansas. Oh, yeah. The cool thing about Burlington, Kansas, if you don't know, is it's basically in between two lakes, which is like a reservoir. I think it's called the Redmond Reservoir. And what is the other one? Coffee? Coffee Country? Coffee County? Lake? There's two lakes right there. So anytime I ever see a setup like that, I always think of like the LBJ, right? Like the land between the lakes. And you start talking about all this, it kind of starts fitting into this. Let me lay this on you. This is what goes down. The witness was standing on his apartment balcony in Burlington, Kansas, which provided a clear, elevated view of a smooth, smooth leftward bend in the road that runs past the town's river dam. The evening appeared uneventful until a vehicle approached the curve. According to the observer, the driver navigated the initial jog to the left without difficulty. Suddenly, the vehicle jerked sharply to the right as though the driver was attempting to avoid striking something positioned in the roadway to the left side of the road. The car veered off the pavement and then into a ditch. The driver exited cautiously and began looking towards an area just inches into the grass, approximately 25 foot from where his car had come to rest. Now, at first glance, the witness believed he was seeing a dense swarm of gnats or possibly dust suspended in the air. However, the formation held its position and appeared upright. The driver removed his phone and took several photographs. Photographs his body language suggested alarm. He quickly retreated to his vehicle, apparently contacting someone for assistance. approximately five minutes later a truck arrived to pull the vehicle from the ditch throughout this time the anomaly the anomaly anomaly that's what a stroke sounds like remained stationary the witness described it as maintaining an upright human-like posture although no facial or anatomical details were discernible the form was clearly defined against the background. The headlights from the stranded vehicle did not pass clearly and cleanly through the anomaly. Instead, the light appeared to distort, bending around it rather than traveling in a straight line. The figure was translucent, similar to fogged or lightly smoked glass. The observer could see through it, though not clearly. Notably, no visible shadow appeared on the ground surrounding this entity. After the vehicle was removed and both drivers departed, the anomaly lingered briefly before vanishing completely. The witness later speculated that such entities may be capable of altering their physical state, becoming transparent or shimmering as they move in and out of our perceptual reality. He referenced biblical accounts of sudden disappearance, including Phillips in the book of Acts, as possible parallels to instantaneous relocation or dimensional transition. While acknowledging this as a personal theory, he believed these beings may be able to shift between realms. Right. Yeah. That's one of the possible theories. The realm walker. You know, nobody knows what these are. These time travelers are these extraterrestrials. Is it just high tech? More crazy Glimmerman stuff. It's cool. And they just seem to be observing. Yeah, there's very, very few cases where it's like trying to hurt you or anything. Or any type of interaction. No. Other than like following you. There's a lot of it where they track people in the woods. They follow folks and make folks freak out because they're being followed. Things like that. And they're seen in the trees a lot for some reason. Yeah. Very rarely inside. But there are cases where they've been seen inside. The other crazy thing about them being seen in the trees is lots of times the trees, sometimes people claim that they react to the weight. Like you could tell it's something physical. And other times it's like the trees don't react to it at all. Yeah, like it's staying on just a sapling. And you're like, dude, that should not be able to support the weight of that. And it's just standing on it, looking at it. Yeah, it's like you're in a video game where you can like climb up and just stand on stuff you shouldn't be standing on. That's what it is. What are the little glitches in Call of Duty that you used to do that on? Yeah, you used to get into a rock in Modern 2. Remember to run out there and you had to do a certain thing and back up into the rock and you could snap out of it? So yeah, there you all go, folks. It's another Glimmer Man story. Man, I love it. If you have any shadow being stories, Glimmer Man stories, or anything else you want to share with us, Just stories! Email the show expandedperspectives at yahoo.com. You can call the hotline 888-393-2783. I know the Olympics are going on. So far, it's working out good, and I hope it continues. What do you got planned for the rest of your week? Because that's what I'm going to be doing, is watching the rest of the Olympics. Oh, yeah, you got the Olympic stuff going on. I don't really know right now. I probably need to get, we got some 3D shoots coming up, a few archery events coming up. I need to do some more shooting, stay on top of that. And then I think we're going to go hang out with Chris during turkey season. Oh, yeah, spring turkey season is coming. So spring turkey season will come up and we'll drag the crooked sticks off up there and try to get some turkeys. I haven't shot my recurve in months. Well, it looks like it's time. Yeah, well, the weather's getting nice. This week was nice. I would like to go play disc golf, but it's been like two years. Yeah. I need to go play, but my arm hurts just thinking about it. So we'll see. Well, let's not forget about our wonderful sponsors. Ready to tackle bigger problems. Get started with Claude today. That's Claude.ai slash expanded. That's Claude, C-L-A-U-D-E dot A-I slash expanded. And gold prices have climbed more than 40% in the past year. And the momentum is still strong. If you want to start growing your money instead of chasing it, now is the time. visit getacregold.com to sign up that's getacregold.com to sign up if you want more expanded perspectives you want to help out the show and you want to hear more don't forget about expanded perspectives elite you can go over to patreon search for us there it's expanded perspectives elite and you can also give the gift of elites just go to patreon.com slash expanded perspectives elite slash gift you can pick the tier and the duration and all kinds of things over there and I hope everybody out there has a good week till next time I'm Kyle, he's Kim Peace y'all We'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank you. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side.