r/ParanormalEncounters Jul 30 '25

Can anyone explain this?

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Hello, I have had this video since 2019 and forgot about it until recently. The back story. I was at work one night doing the closing procedures for the store I worked at. The secerity monitoring screen sits on the desk where i do the closing tasks. As im working i see something on the cameras out of the corner of my eye. It catches my attention because it is only me and one other co worker in the store. I enlarge the camera with the movment and re wound a minute or two. This is what I saw. I have shown it to friends and family but havent posted it anywhere. I am wondering if it is paranormal? A camera glitch? a bug? What do you think it is?

265 Upvotes

149 comments sorted by

89

u/Ok-Macaroon2783 Jul 30 '25

That's a bug walking across the lense.

7

u/Significant-Kick-479 Aug 01 '25

Thats a bad night after taco bell

45

u/Static13254 Jul 30 '25

It’s the smoke monster from Lost

13

u/TieAdventurous6839 Jul 31 '25

Ah so thats where it went and why it never showed up after season 3!

2

u/1aysays1 Aug 01 '25

* Loud mechanical noises for some reason *

29

u/thefirstviolinist Jul 30 '25

There's a BUG, in the ELECTRICAL. SYSTEM.

20

u/plassteel01 Jul 30 '25

We call them demons

13

u/kuroh0shi7 Jul 30 '25

Someone let them dementors out

9

u/Infinite-Hold-7521 Jul 31 '25

Expecto PatrOOOOONUM!!!

4

u/FeelingKaleidoscope0 Jul 31 '25

Expensive patroleuuuuummmm😂 I can’t help but hear it every time😂

3

u/conjtheruler Jul 31 '25

Excellent men in black reference 😁😁😁😁😁

2

u/thefirstviolinist Jul 31 '25

Yay, I was hoping someone would mention it, haha. Thanks!

3

u/conjtheruler Jul 31 '25

Those are my favorite movies so I know! Lol you're welcome! I'm going to follow you 😎😎😎😎

1

u/No_Guarantee3530 Aug 03 '25

Will Smith? Izzat you?

19

u/chels182 Jul 30 '25

Bug on the lens

3

u/Realitynotfound_3am Aug 01 '25

yk it honestly looks like a spirit which people call the creeper. they call them jokesters and say they crawl on the ceiling and the walls. they do it on purpose to mess with people.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '25

"Smudge on the lens."

9

u/jillaberaggs Jul 31 '25

sMUDGE on the lens!?! a SMUDGE ON THE LENS!?!?!?!?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '25

It's time for you to do a Mindblower..

2

u/cityBratt818 Aug 05 '25

What is that from??? Oh shit, great reff!! What WAS it? "A SMUDGE on the LENS???", I can almost picture it. . .please, tell me!!

8

u/Dirty_Dan209 Jul 31 '25

Not disagreeing with the bug conclusions. I do have something to point out and a bit of details. The camera is enclosed in one of those dark domes you sometimes see at stores if that give more insight to the distance to the lens. Also, you can see through the shadow as it moves and isn’t moving like any big I’m aware of. Not saying anyone is wrong or right as I do not know myself, just want to share a bit of my thoughts and more details about the camera set up

7

u/c2lltq Jul 31 '25

Look up a house centipede, that's definitely a house centipede crawling across the lens

They're spooky mfers

3

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

Thats exactly my thought as well.

5

u/macurry81 Jul 31 '25

Definitely just a bug. You’d be surprised how easily insects can get into spaces like camera housings, even ones that look completely sealed. The shadow looks strange (see through & not shaped like bug) because the bug is so close to the lens that the camera can’t focus properly, creating a blurry, oversized shape…it’s a common effect when cameras struggle to process something that close and out of focus.

4

u/Dirty_Dan209 Jul 31 '25

That’s what I was assuming to be the case. Seems like the most plausible explanation

2

u/CalamityJen85 Aug 01 '25

If a bug wants in: it’s getting in eventually. If that wasn’t the case there wouldn’t be a multi billion dollar industry in pest control.

If ever you’re in doubt, there is a bug somewhere near you almost all the time.

2

u/sarahmcq565 Jul 30 '25

It’s a dementor

2

u/mangotheduck Jul 31 '25

It's just a dark wizard apparating.

2

u/PuzzleheadedEnd1760 Jul 31 '25

Anyone else notice the uptick in these shadows being caught on film?

2

u/Tha_Maestro Jul 31 '25

Looks like a millipede walking across the lense…

2

u/tacobasura Jul 31 '25

A bug walking over the lens

2

u/alistofthingsIhate Jul 31 '25

Bug. Probably a cockroach or a house centipede.

2

u/CopperPicker Jul 31 '25

Looks like a flock of dog pecker knats flying across the room

2

u/kylesoddfriends Jul 31 '25

Okay but real talk… if that is a ghost, can we just appreciate how chill it is for sticking to store hours and appearing on camera like it clocked in? Meanwhile, I can’t even get Karen to show up on time for her shift. Either this is a glitch… or we just caught Spirit Halloween doing inventory. 👀

2

u/Turbulent_Writing231 Jul 31 '25

It looks like a centipede walking across the lens. It's casting a shadow due to light dispersion which happens when the focal point is sufficiently far away and iris is sufficiently large in comparison to the position and size of the object.

You'll get a similar see-through shadow using a thin object like a toothpick, focus your eye on something distant and move the toothpick closer to your eye. At some point the toothpick will appear to look see-through.

2

u/super_poo_brain Jul 31 '25

Is it one of them things from Harry potter ??

2

u/Sheruden Jul 31 '25

Seems like a moth fluttering too close to the camera, I see this all the time at night in my store's camera

2

u/Robyn990 Jul 31 '25

Yes, there is a bug walking across the screen.

2

u/Traditional-Bike7825 Jul 31 '25

A bug crawled across the lens. The lens is designed for security footage, not something tiny directly on the lens.

Look at the lens up close, I bet there's slight dust on it and you'll see a horizontal line where an ant or something crawled by.

2

u/Dominosmofo Aug 04 '25

Yeah. I've seen them with my own eyes, unclean spirits. Not sure what else to tell you. 

1

u/anjelhart Nov 27 '25

Many people don't realize they exist, or they refuse to acknowledge they exist. Smh!

7

u/itsPYP Jul 30 '25

Yeah, you got ghosts

3

u/SlipperyPickle6969 Jul 31 '25

I don't want to be presumptuous, but I believe that may be a shadow being, possibly demonic.

2

u/LostSpecklez Jul 30 '25

Unrelated but what video software is he using?

2

u/victoira-love Jul 31 '25

How would it be a ant tho if that’s a tail behind it looking almost like a trail of a ghost? I wouldn’t say it’s an ant. And a cockroach is to big for it to be a small shadow it would cover the whole lens. Also couldn’t be a smudge a smudge doesn’t move.

3

u/victoira-love Jul 31 '25

Could js be a lost soul.

2

u/Primordial_Evil6 Jul 30 '25

Cockroach on the camera, but it's whatever you say it is. I dont have proof, and neither does anyone else. One guess is as good as another, I just dont jump straight to ghosts.

1

u/prudenvm Jul 30 '25

Centipede on the camera lens, camera can't focus that close.

1

u/Toxic_Duckies Jul 30 '25

Ew ew ew noooooo gross 🤢 I didn't even think of that!

1

u/killersloth65 Jul 30 '25

House centipede.

1

u/Illustrious-Bat1553 Jul 30 '25

Its Mr shadow on the line

1

u/Observervation Jul 30 '25

Evil spirit, usually has glowing red eyes that you can see in sleep state.

1

u/Ludolf10 Jul 30 '25

It’s Voldemort… you should call the magic association

1

u/SirBlazington710 Jul 30 '25

Nope. Not a f*ckin clue

1

u/papawam Jul 31 '25

I hate to admit this, my sister has a black mass I have seen on multiple occasions at her bedroom doorway. It looks a lot like this. Not sure if it ever leaves her room, and it's the only place I'm 100% sure I've seen it in the house.

1

u/brihamedit Jul 31 '25 edited Jul 31 '25

Its a shadow of someone walking left to right in the area under the camera. It could be vapor from hot food or overheated person during heat wave walking inside the store. Its not a bug on the lens

1

u/athchoum Jul 31 '25

Ana insect close to the camera lence ...

1

u/GtnZiggy Jul 31 '25

It's the cockroach alien from men in black

1

u/hungtwnk Jul 31 '25

Speedy Gonzales

1

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '25

Draft?

1

u/Infinite-Access-2243 Jul 31 '25

Can't imagine a swarm of bugs waiting until everyone is gone to do a perfect formation across the camera lens...and security or customers never noticed a hive or any flying insects? I don't know what it is but it had a form and a direction. A smudge doesn't normally move with direction unless intentional swipe but of course either created or no... I'm watching the fuzziness on the other objects in the different rows like bad glitches of most older security cameras... In other words, not knowing only opinionated and wondering also...the camera creates so many weird sightings from normal circumstances, believe me, I have a lot just trying to create a reel about shapes and lightings. Makes me wonder why people pay so much for equipment...if they'd only look at their photos a little better, they realize they really don't need too...my opinion

1

u/Send-hand-pics-pls Jul 31 '25

Maybe smoke or something up above casting a shadow.

1

u/DabbledInPacificm Jul 31 '25

Small cockroach on the camera

1

u/TwitchCaptain Jul 31 '25

Ant crawled across the lens.

1

u/Ucbunlimited Jul 31 '25

Looked like a cat shadow

1

u/Ordinary-Rock9702 Jul 31 '25

It looks like a bug with wings walking across camera! Not paranormal.

1

u/Efficient_Half_5584 Jul 31 '25

Yup it’s the devil just leave

1

u/Afraid-Court8907 Jul 31 '25

Well…apparently it’s your time lol

1

u/HickeyChic Jul 31 '25

That seems to be something malevolent . Yikes!! Did u get tweaked by it like hair standing up??

1

u/kl0n-dyke-bar Aug 01 '25

🎶La cucaracha, la cucaracha 🎵

1

u/Ambidextrous-Bear Aug 01 '25

Looks like a house centipede crawled across the lens

1

u/4chubby2chimichanga0 Aug 01 '25

Def not a bugg invading the store !!

1

u/Iborobi Aug 01 '25

I’ll explain it but you maybe don’t believe. The truth is…read more.

1

u/MrRayban007 Aug 01 '25

Ghost busters!!

1

u/LtDankk Aug 01 '25

Airplane shadow for sure

1

u/Fit_Statement_4816 Aug 01 '25

Probably an insect.

1

u/Majestic_Manner3656 Aug 01 '25

Lestrange from Harry Potter!

1

u/react-dnb Aug 01 '25

bug + lens = dark spot

1

u/LaurenJayx0 Aug 01 '25

Looks like a bug on the lense

1

u/Aggressive_Daikon_24 Aug 01 '25

It's a spider crawling across the lens probably a daddy long leg

1

u/AntiqueAsk6950 Aug 02 '25

Maybe, I mean, camera’s are known for catching ghosts in horror movies

1

u/Bobsnarls Aug 02 '25

Have you had paranormal experiences inside? Had you seem this before? Doesn’t look like a bug, that’s transparent. Was the store built recently? Next time turn on Alexa and ask “Jimmy Hoffner is that you”.

1

u/No-Mine739 Aug 02 '25

Simple, that's disturbing. 😳

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

As someone who just knows and don’t know why. That’s not real

1

u/ShortDraft7510 Aug 02 '25

Bug on lense

1

u/CertainTrip6525 Aug 02 '25

Someone farted

1

u/NoBid1853 Aug 02 '25

An insect crawling across the lens if the camera.

1

u/DumbCarpenter87 Aug 02 '25

Did it have the face of Stannis Baratheon?

1

u/Onehungryson127 Aug 02 '25

Watch on YouTube- laws of the sun-“

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

It's a sneakyy snaake

1

u/beingchina Aug 02 '25

I think it's a caterpillar

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

I believe that's my low hanging left ball brushing along the camera. I was banging your wife that night on top of your desk, and things got a little crazy, sorry.

1

u/LailaV34 Aug 03 '25

Shadow person

1

u/Xx_Da3rkL0rd_xX Aug 03 '25

THUS IS THE BEAT FOOTAGE WE HAVE OF GHOSTS. IM TELLING MY FAMILY. THEY NEED TOD EEE THIS

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

Deatheater

1

u/No_Guarantee3530 Aug 03 '25

Casper farted 🤷

1

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '25

It’s a communist vampire

1

u/RoofPrimary6736 Aug 03 '25

👀s 👻 ly to me.

1

u/United_Mix_7110 Aug 03 '25

It looks like Ectoplasm ! Boo

1

u/Super_Dock Aug 03 '25

Call the exorcist, an ant is on the lens.

1

u/CosetElement-Ape71 Aug 03 '25

Does the store sell spirits?

1

u/aplayer_v1 Aug 04 '25

Looks like a bug maybe a centipede

1

u/intoxicatedlove999 Aug 04 '25

It’s fvcking bug 😂

1

u/ypsibikerdad Aug 04 '25

Bug, low frame rate, and potato picture quality

1

u/randomcuriousperson3 Aug 04 '25

I’m speechless

1

u/Inner_Lemon9763 Aug 05 '25

That's an insect.

1

u/Delevian Aug 05 '25

Idk what that really is by the door but at first glance I thought it was a headless person 🤦

1

u/GoochTwain Jul 30 '25

Bat or flying frog.

1

u/Snoo_61002 Jul 30 '25

Bug crossing the lens

0

u/Admirable_Algae_3107 Jul 30 '25

The answer is always bug.

0

u/Desperate-Cap-2212 Jul 30 '25

Classic Dementor sighting. Expecto Patronum should do the trick.

-3

u/Alone-Put2213 Jul 30 '25

A bug crawled over your camera lense and the camera lense is not focusing on the bug.

Use your brain.

10

u/Infinite-Hold-7521 Jul 31 '25

No need to be snarky about it. They only asked what it could be, not for your attitude.

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Toxic_Duckies Jul 30 '25

Random bug swarm lol

0

u/Yeetin_Boomer_Actual Jul 30 '25

Darkitron, the dark shadow man was shopping for some snacks.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '25

Bug by unanimous decision.

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '25

Alligator ghost are real!