Paranormal apparition?

So I was in a shop recently, keeping as far away from other people as I could, as you do. I noticed a tall man moving towards me on an aisle that intersected with mine. So I prepared to take evasive action. My view of the man was briefly blocked by a pillar just as I approached the intersection so I couldn't see him for a few seconds. On reaching the intersection I looked nervously along the other aisle. There was absolutely no one there! I felt a strange feeling. Had I just seen a paranormal apparition?

It's possible. However, my observations couldn't entirely eliminate natural explanations for my sighting. I was sure it wasn't a misperception as there was no object in aisle, moving or otherwise, to misperceive. Could it have been a real person? If it was then they would have had to turn around and walk rapidly back the way they had come just at the moment I lost sight of them behind the pillar. In addition, since he couldn't have got far in those few seconds. the man would have to be leaning over in another aisle for me not to see him. I had a good look round and saw no one like the tall man. It's possible the man behaved in just the way I've described but it would be an incredible coincidence. Another possible explanation, the one I consider most likely, is that it was a hallucination. Just about everyone, even those with no relevant medical condition, hallucinates occasionally. So if I did, why then? Like many people at the moment I am very wary of coming close to others and shops are one of the most difficult places to avoid encounters. I haven't noticed myself hallucinating recently but I have had a number of glance misperceptions (see previous post). So maybe I am in the right mental state to hallucinate occasionally right now.

This incident illustrates how difficult it is the eliminate natural explanations in reports of apparent paranormal phenomena. To have eliminated hallucination as an explanation I'd have needed a second witness to confirm what I'd seen. To eliminate a man quickly walking away I'd have needed another witness from another angle who could observe what the man did after I lost sight of him. Of course, some people think ghosts ARE hallucinations caused by telepathy. Eliminating that would be difficult. But I would want some additional evidence that telepathy was involved in this particular incident to accept it as the most likely explanation.