Mar 09 2009
Ghost, Alien Abduction or Sleep Paralysis?
Too often, people seek the help of ghost hunters to explain a phenomenon that feels like they are being supressed by a spirit, alien or other non-living entity. I’ve had this happen a few times, so I speak as an empathetic soul.
My experience:
I was having a hard time adjusting to a new work schedule which kept me up into late hours of the night. I had been battling insomnia and weird sleep patterns all week. After having a good 3-4 hours of sleep one night, I woke up lying in bed, thinking about getting up to use the bathroom. As I lay there looking around the room so my eyes could adjust to the dark, I heard sweeping footsteps on the carpet moving across the foot of my bed. I thought it was my oldest daughter who was up too soon herself. My eyes drawn to the foot of the bed, I didn’t see anyone. Suddenly I felt the pressure of someone climbing onto my bed near my legs. I felt the blanket being pulled taught against my skin as far up as my chest. There was a pressure of someone being on top of me. I felt and heard breath approaching my head. Still no one was there. By this time I was freaking out a bit. I tried to nudge my sleeping husband with my elbow. This is when I realized I couldn’t move anything but my eyes. I panicked. I heard what sounded like a low-vibration pulsating in my ears, then a static-electricity sound (clicks). All of a sudden I could move and the whole thing stopped instantly. I looked around and saw that no one else heard or felt a thing. I had my 18 month old sleeping in her crib next to my bed and she was still peacefully sleeping. Had I just been visited by some entity? I was so sure I was fully awake and fully conscious the whole time! What the hell just happened??
The medical term for this phenomenon is sleep paralysis or hypnogogic paralysis. Some would say it was a visit form the “old hag.” Some believe it to be a visti from aliens holding them down to conduct experiments. I have had dreams that I thought were so real it caused me to think twice on whether the events really happened. Rule of thumb is, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
So why do so many people experiencing sleep paralysis believe they’ve had a paranormal or alien experience? Let’s take a look at the symptoms:
*inability to move or speak
*visual and/or auditory hallucinations
*sensation of pressure being applied to any part of the body
*happens upon just falling asleep or just prior to fully awakening
*sensation of a presence in the room
What is happening? In a nutshell, a certain part of the brain wakes up before the rest of the brain and body. If you were in a dream, sometimes parts of the dream may be pulled out into the conscious mind from the uncounscious (hence the hallucinations). As I know very well myself, the experience seems very real, very intense and triggers the person to find some sort of meaning behind what has happened. If one is already inclined to believe in things like ghosts and aliens, of course this will slant their perceptions of their experience.
Most people that experience an episode of sleep paralysis are suffering from irregular sleep patterns or a lot of stress. Naturally if you are already convinced that you may have a ghost in the house you’re probably not sleeping too well at night anyway. A significant percentage of reported SP accounts are very similar, and when they are validating their experiences with others who may also believe in ghosts will feel even more convinced that this was paranormal. Keep this sort of thing in mind the next time you hear someone say the are being visited by a ghost while laying in bed.
this happened to me before, except I saw a ghost. It looked very real to me, I remember not being able to move or breath for that matter.. Its crazy how the mind plays tricks on you..
My hallucinations have only been auditory, but I have a friend who had the full visual hallucination too….she was freaked out for some time.
I don’t blame her I was too for awhile.
well , Its nice to know i am not alone .But passing it off as sleep paralysis is too easy .What ive been experiencing is much more.these painful things happening to my back .Somebody actually communicating to me telling me things .I am not going to get into alot of it .I am not a ufo buff or anything like that infact I really didn’t believe in anything supernatural but then these things started to happen.
I am having troubles living in this reality
Twice I’ve had the experience of being woken up by loud insistent knocking on my bedroom door. I then got up to open the door only to see nothing. These experiences happened years apart from each other. At the time I carefully verified that these were not a hoaxes by anybody in the house. I’ve also woken up many times feeling like someone was holding me down in bed and I was unable to move. I would have to muster herculian strength to overcome the pressure and rise up in bed. I’ve also been woken up by a voice calling out my name. I have never seen anything during these experiences - I just heard the loud knocks, my name being called and I felt those pressures. Hopefully its all just “sleep paralysis” but these experiences have been pretty damned vivid!
I have had MANY of these experiences, the latest being July 1st of 2009. I awoke in my bed and lay on my right side. Looking at the white wall I was facing, I saw strange black symbols being flashed on the wall before me.
I tried to get up, but could not move at all. I was left just watching these strange symbols flashed before my eyes. I kept trying to rock over to my left and was finally able to move slightly. My very large dog was asleep in the living room and I tried desperately to call out to her.
After what seemed to be 30 seconds or so, I was finally able to enunciate her name in what I would describe as terrified cries for help.Shortly thereafter I was able to rock over to my left side and finally move freely. I got up, looked at my blank white wall and went to check on the dog. She was outside the bedroom door, not crossing the threshold, so I know she came to my aid, but would not enter.
I know what I experienced was real, as I know the techniques of awakening from lucid dreaming and have utilized them previous with success. I went and got a cigarette and cried in terror as to what had just transpired.
One of my previous experiences involved an actual “grey” sitting at the end of my bed. I was able to actually physically respond to that by crying out, bolting upright and throwing 2 punches at the apparition. My fist waved right through it and it vanished. I was awake and able to move and speak, so I know for a fact that what I just described was real.
All I can say to sceptics is that they have not experienced this phenomenon and can not fully appreciate the fear and helplessness involved. It IS real and unless you go through it, it is only fable to you.
Hear me now and believe me later, it IS real!