A quiet hotel room near Stone Mountain, Atlanta. The TV hums softly. A 16-year-old scrolls through YouTube on a tablet. Alone for a couple of hours, something catches their peripheral vision—a dark, vibrating mass.
This is the scene described by Reddit user Triton_the_Dragon in a post shared on August 22, 2025. The unverified account details an eerie encounter from 2017 that still lingers in their memory. No malice felt at the time, but the memory grows unsettling with age.
The Eyewitness Report
The trip involved the poster, their mom, and her ex-boyfriend visiting Atlanta. At the unnamed hotel near Stone Mountain, the adults stepped out, leaving the teen to relax.
“While I’m chilling in bed browsing YouTube I saw this vibrating dark mass,” the user wrote. Details emerged only from the corner of their eye: “It looked like a vibrating hoody but had quickly developed into a figure.”
The shape appeared to vibrate or “clipping? Jostling?” in front of a table. It formed for mere seconds before direct eye contact made it “shot through the wall into the next room behind our beds.”
“Strangely it didn’t feel malicious, or scary. It just sorta happened,” they added. To illustrate, the poster shared a pencil sketch on lined paper, titled “The Vibrating Dark Figure I saw in 2017 in Atlanta.” The drawing shows an elongated, shadowy humanoid with curving tendrils, labeled playfully: “He Zoomin He spookin But he chill a.f.”
The post ends with a question: “Anyone see anything similar??” No major comments followed, save a moderator note on photo reviews.
Skeptical Angles and Paranormal Links
This sighting aligns with reports of shadow people—dark silhouettes often seen in peripheral vision that vanish when focused on. Some view them as spirits or otherworldly beings, but skeptics point to psychological explanations.
For instance, such visions can stem from sleep paralysis or hypnogogic states, where the brain creates hallucinations during wake-sleep transitions. Peripheral vision, sensitive to motion but poor on details, often tricks the mind into seeing figures. Fatigue, stress, or even chemical imbalances might amplify these illusions.
No scientific evidence supports paranormal causes for ghosts or shadow entities. Instead, experts suggest the brain fills in gaps, turning ordinary shadows into eerie forms.
Locally, hotels near Stone Mountain have their own ghost lore. The historic Village Inn Bed and Breakfast, built in 1820 and now the Stillwell House, reports apparitions and activity. Stone Mountain Manor also draws mentions of paranormal vibes. Yet, without the exact hotel named, connections remain speculative.
Was this a chill shadow visitor zooming by? Or a simple optical glitch? The account, while vivid, stays unconfirmed by officials or experts. It reminds us how the mind can play spooky tricks.
Seen a similar figure? Email Reports@ParaRational.com.
