Witnessed something genuinely strange on the London Underground (Victoria Line, 11:47 PM)

Not sure if this is the right forum but I'm still feeling a bit shaken up and need to write it down while it's fresh. This happened last Tuesday night (8th November, around 11:47 PM) on the Victoria Line between King's Cross and Vauxhall.

I was heading home after work, the carriage was nearly empty - just me, an older gentleman reading a newspaper, and a woman in a grey coat. We stopped at King's Cross and the elderly man got off. The woman and I stayed on. Then between King's Cross and the next stop, she just... wasn't there anymore. I'm not talking about her leaving or me not noticing - I'm talking about she was standing maybe three metres from me, holding the rail, and then I looked away for literally five seconds to check my mobile, and when I looked back her entire section of the carriage was empty. The doors hadn't opened. Nobody got off. I looked through into the next carriage and she wasn't there either.

Is this a known thing? Has anyone else experienced anything similar on the London Underground? I'm trying not to sound completely mental but I can't think of a rational explanation and it's bugging me.

The London Underground is absolutely riddled with strange occurrences, especially the deeper lines. There's a whole history of phantom passengers and unexplained disappearances. Victoria Line in particular has a lot of reports - though admittedly most of them are probably just people misremembering or being tired at night. That said, the Tube is genuinely one of the more atmospheric locations in London. Have you looked into the history of that particular stretch?

Could've been a trick of the lights? The Tube can play funny games with your perception when you're tired. Flickering fluorescents, reflections, that sort of thing. Plus you were on your mobile - easy to miss someone actually just walking between cars or getting off at a stop you didn't notice. Not trying to dismiss your experience, but the Underground is also just a confusing place late at night.

Is this a known thing?

Mate, the London Underground literally has ghost stories dating back to Victorian times. There are documented cases of phantom trains, mysterious passengers disappearing, and stations that officially don't exist anymore but people swear they've been to. Your experience isn't unique. Whether it's genuinely paranormal or just the weird psychology of the Tube late at night is another question though.

I would actually take this more seriously. The TfL has stopped publishing incident reports on certain lines and there's been a noticeable increase in anecdotal accounts on Reddit and other forums over the past few years. Something's definitely off about the deeper stations. Keep a record of the exact time, date, and carriage if you experience it again.

This is probably nothing paranormal - just a woman who got off at the next stop and you don't remember noticing - but honestly props for documenting it properly with times and locations. That's exactly what actual investigators do instead of just posting "creepy thing happened, was it a ghost?" So yeah, might be nothing, but you've got the data down properly which is what matters.