Have you ever gotten a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye? A simple movement caught in your peripheral vision, perhaps. Most will simply dismiss these occurrences as shadows brought about by a flickering candle, or a pet jumping down from a piece of furniture.
But then there's that one elusive sight. It can easily be explained by the above conditions or another mundane rationale, but something feels wrong about it. It causes a chill down your spine, a slight pain in your side, maybe even a complete blanking of your mind, only for it to return moments later.
Should any of these symptoms be felt, there may be cause for worry. Our peripheral vision is designed to catch motion, even in the dark. This was used to defend against predators in our early days; as with many aspects of our human nature, it has remained, but been weakened. The view out of the corner of our eyes still alerts us to activity, and although natural predators have dropped on the list of dangers we face today, they do remain.
Should you ever feel that queer chill in your back, try not to focus on that shadow you saw in the corner of your eye. It might be better not to notice.
Original author unknown
Originally uploaded on August 9th, 2010