Oh no, I've got brilliant "splotches" in my own shadow!
I just moved in a new house with my sister in April. One day I walked around and spotted that my shadow became really strange. It was not caused by overdose of Lain and it was REAL. I wrote this up so that you can reproduce it too.
Gomen if you find the illustration disturbing (due to my poor drawing skill).
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Let me first explanation how to reproduce it. To get a better result, carry out this procedure at night. Firstly you need a light source from a room, I recommend a light bulb rated 40W or above. Torches usually are not bright enough. The reason for having a light source in a room is that one can use the door of the room to adjust how much light can come out. For best result, the area outside the room is preferably pitch dark so that the shadow projected can be clear seen.
The shadow need to be projected to a wall. If a wall is not present, you can use a cardboard or equivalent to catch your shadow.
To produce the brilliant "splotches", light need to be redirected to the shadow. This can be done by putting a reflective material between yourself and the wall (the blue rectangle). Semi-reflective material such as a transparent plastic box cover is recommended. A rectangle mirror will only give you a boring rectangle on your shadow. The shape of the splotches can be adjusted by the shape of the reflective material and also the position of your legs.
I hope I've now convinced you that it was not a hallucination. The new house that I moved in had polish wooden floor, so it was already a semi-reflective material. And that was why I could make this discovery.
Go and try it. Let me know if it works for you.
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