(A True Experience)
by Kenneth B. Pritchard
Everyone has seen shadows, but I'll wager that there are exceedingly
few who have seen the kind I did, beside those who were with me at the
time it happened.
You have read weird stories of shadows, or of people who cast none.
What I am about to relate is true; I have witnesses to prove it.
It was twilight of a summer day in the year '27 or '28. Our little
group was gathered in the rear of our homes--we called it the backyard,
though it was composed of roadways. We were talking and the stars began
to peep out of the skies. The street lamps began to glow, and the
windows of the surrounding houses began to show lights. And thus, the
stage was set.
Our eyes wandered. About fifteen feet away lay a large shadow.
It was mainly because of its size that I thought it might have been
caused by a friend of mine sitting by a window in a nearby building. I
became curious; thinking I could attract his attention so he would come
and join us, I walked to a point of vantage. There was no one by the
window, yet the shadow persisted in remaining!
Upon looking further, being fully aroused, I could find no cause for
its existence. There was no possible, or probable source of blocked
light. I did not forget the sun, the stars, or the sky itself. I found
no flaw; the heavens and all ordinary light were normal. But there was
a shadow covering an area of from 100 to 150 square feet.
The others gave it up. We could draw no satisfactory conclusion. I can
tell you that it was an eerie feeling I had in observing a disembodied
shadow. My mind went riot with thoughts of time travellers, visitors
from space, etc.
Since then, I have tried to think of it as being caused by a kink in an
otherwise clear atmosphere; but my reason seems to tell me differently.
What was it? What strange thing had occurred that evening? Was this
planet of ours visited by some half-seen beings from another world?
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