Often described as a Shadow Person with a fedora or wide brimmed hat, there is no exact explanation of what the Hat Man may be. After reading many stories and even hearing accounts from close friends who have woken up to "a shadow with a hat", we have our own theories on who or what the Hat Man is.
If we had to categorize the Hat Man, the most general would be as a spiritual entity.
The one constant in most stories is the Hat Man is not malicious. It's a frightening experience to see this entity, but this entity doesn't attack people. There are a handful of stories where people feel as if the Hat Man wanted to attack them. Because of this, we believe that there are more than one that exists. While most are non-threatening, there may be a few that have become slightly malicious.
The other constant in the stories we've read is that the Hat Man usually appears after there is a death either in the family or in the house. It is our belief that the purpose of the Hat Man is to guide lost or stubborn souls to the afterlife. The spirits of people who are refusing to acknowledge that they have passed away or are the actual spirits haunting these houses. One of our close friends told us that the Hat Man pointed directly at him during his encounter. Following the "collector of souls" theory, I told my friend that he may have had a spirit behind him at that moment, as if the spirit itself was using our friend as a shield from the Hat Man.
There are theories that the Hat Man is an alien or inter-dimensional being who is observing humans.
Some accounts have also paired the Hat Man with sighting of a little girl spirit that is mostly light. Is this little girl his sidekick in finding lost souls? Is the Hat Man tracking down the little girl in a spiritual version of "Catch Me If You Can"? Or are these just coincidences of a few accounts?
In the end, your interpretation will fall inside of what you believe about all things unknown.