Spring-heeled Jack sightings in South London – am I losing it?

This is going to sound absolutely mental, but I need to get it out there. I live in Peckham, and over the past three months I've had three separate instances where I've seen something that I can only describe as matching the Victorian Spring-heeled Jack description. I know, I know - it's a 19th century urban legend, but hear me out.

The first time was around 11 PM in October, coming back from the Tesco. I saw a figure leap from the roof of a warehouse - and I mean leap, like 15 feet horizontally minimum. It had a silhouette that didn't look quite right. Long coat, unusual gait. By the time I processed what I'd seen, it was gone into the alleyway behind the Civic Centre.

Second sighting was near Nunhead Cemetery in November. My partner was with me this time, thank God, because she saw it too. Same basic description - impossible jumping height, moved weird. We both swear it looked at us.

Has anyone else in the London area experienced anything similar? I'm not religious, but I've started carrying salt in my jacket.

Peckham resident here too. I've heard the stories from older folks in the community - there's definitely a local legend about something like this doing the rounds. Most likely explanation: parkour enthusiasts, unusual lighting, and pattern-seeking brain. But I'm not dismissing it entirely because weird stuff does happen in this area.

Spring-heeled Jack was debunked about 150 years ago. It was mass hysteria coupled with real criminals taking advantage of the legend. Your brain is doing the same pattern-matching thing that people in Lambeth did in 1837. Sorry to be blunt, but carrying salt won't help.

Actually, there's been a surprising number of reports of unusual figures with unnatural movement patterns across London in the past few years. Not necessarily Spring-heeled Jack, but something. I'd be curious whether you felt any electromagnetic disturbance or temperature drop when you saw it?

By the time I processed what I'd seen, it was gone into the alleyway

I don't live in London but I've read extensively about the original Spring-heeled Jack accounts and there's some genuinely weird testimony from multiple independent witnesses in the 1830s. I'm not saying it's a ghost, but the original phenomenon was never satisfactorily explained. Your sightings might be coincidence, might be copycat criminals, or might be something else entirely. Document everything.