Shadow ghost

So, recently I was walking up a gently sloping path (lit by streetlights) in the evening. I saw a very dark figure of small stature, probably a young person, some 30m ahead of me. The figure was on one side of the path right up against a fence. I could distinctly see a head and more vaguely a body below. The figure seemed to be moving towards me. I could see no features in the figure, even the face. Nevertheless I had no reason to think it was anything other than a real person until, after a couple of seconds, it vanished.  So, a shadow ghost!

And now a crucial fact – I was wearing glasses and a face mask, as many people do these days. My glasses were partly steamed up and I think the apparition was  caused by the changing misty shapes on my glasses. The only definite part of the ‘figure’ I saw was the ‘face’ was effectively just a dark circle. The rest of the figure was vague. I think it was the position and size of the circle which suggested a head - it was in the right place for a person of small stature walking along the path. Had the circle been seen elsewhere I probably would have dismissed it as a patch of mist. I have noticed this important point before. A non-human object is much more likely to be seen as a human figure if it is in a position where a person is expected to be.

Interestingly, further up the path I saw a real young person coming towards me. They looked uncannily similar to my shadow ghost. However as they approached I could start to see features. Note that the illustration is not the actual path!