One night a few years ago (2019ish), I woke up and looked toward my closet. In my closet I saw a man standing slightly hunched at the neck and shoulders in my closet (there isn’t standing room in my closet). He was probably close to 6′. I couldn’t see any distinguishing features as he was all black….like someone dressed in all black in the dark. He had a hat. I was half sitting up and couldn’t stop staring trying to figure out what I was seeing.
My husband eventually woke up and started tapping me on the arm asking if I was ok. It took him a few times doing it for me to answer. I knew he was tapping on my arm and could hear him, but I was very focused on this thing in my closet. I looked away and answered him and then when I looked back, this thing was gone. Nothing in my closet had that shape.
Fast forward to a year or so later and my daughter and I were watching a movie on sleep paralysis. They brought up the hat man. I was shocked. I told her I had seen him. It definitely wasn’t part of sleep paralysis, as I could move and talk. It’s crazy to know I have seen something so many others have and prior to me knowing it was a thing.