The Presence

The Presence is a recurring figure in the concept album Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails and its alternate reality game

Description
The Presence is a large, ghostly arm that occasionally reaches down from the sky in the dystopian future world of Year Zero. The number of fingers are inconsistent, some depictions show it having four, while others show five.

Although it was first thought that only those under the effects of drugs Opal and Parepin could see it, this was debunked when people who never took the drugs saw it. However, it is implied that those under the effects of the drugs are more likely to be affected. People affected by The Presence report feeling fearful. The entity was sighted in various locations around the world

The lyrics of "The Warning" directly references The Presence

Trivia

 * A stanza from the song "The Wretched" from the 1999 album The Fragile seems to reference The Presence, though the album was released 8 years before Year Zero.