Demons and witches and aliens...oh my

[Blog of Reason]

Discussion thread for the blog entry "Demons and witches and aliens...oh my" by rabbitpirate.

Permalink: http://blog.leagueofreason.org.uk/reason/demons-and-witches-and-aliens-oh-my/

 

[Th1sWasATriumph]

Nice. Sleep-related disorders and hallucinations are fascinating stuff, though the most severe thing I've ever suffered is when you kick or jump in a dream and in real life you PROPEL YOURSELF THROUGH A WALL.

And thumbs up for being the first to use the "continue reading" button. Suddenly everything seems somewhat more professional and tidy.

 

[babblebeth]

I've experienced sleep paralysis several times. It's always terrifying and completely believable when it happens.

I'm convinced that all "ghost" or "alien" encounters can be classified in 4 different categories.

1. Sleep Paralysis: This is probably most of the cases, because it is very believable when it happens.

2. Lies: This is also a high portion

3. Creating new memories to hide a real traumatic event: Like telling yourself you weren't raped but instead captured by aliens...very possible especially if mixed with hypnosis.

4. Genuine Unexplained Phenomenon: Extremely rare and just because it's unexplained doesn't mean it's aliens or ghosts. Just means it's some weird bit of science we don't have an explanation for. (Time and Space is more weird then supernatural stories)

But yeah, most stuff is Sleep Paralysis...which can be scary if you don't know what it is.

 

[Josan]

You did a very good job Mr. Rabbit, and I am not sure wether or not you have heard Brian Dunning's podcast Skeptoid - in which he has a episode about this very phenomena that is very similar. If you have not heard it, I recommend you check it out here: chapter 8.

I remember some times when I was younger when I had this Hypnagogia happening to me. I never really saw much, I just remember lying in my bed half-asleep and feeling extremely threatened and frightened, I always wanted to shout for help but was always unable to shout out for it. I usually fell asleep again before waking the next morning, when I never paid it any more attention or read anything into it. And once, even though I never belived in ghosts, I did hallucinate a flying bed-sheet . Strange as it sounds...

 

[Giliell]

Thanx for the informative article.
It seems to me that people encounter only those things they were previously convinced of anyway.

You want real bedtime-horror? going to bed alone, waking, feeling a hand touching your breast. Not notcing it's your own hand because you must have lain on your arm and stopped blood from circulating so the stupid thing is totally insensitive.
Happend to me and I jumped up, almost breaking that same stupid hand on my bedroom-wall.
But I'm pretty sure that no alien was involved.
Wait, maybe they paralyzed my hand so I could neither feel nor move it? :lol:

 

[borrofburi]

OMG YOU ARE AMAZING... I have never had words to describe the tetris effect before, but I suffer severely from it, I seem to cause it in me every single day, whether through a video game, or too much debating, or too much rock climbing, or too much of anything else.

 

[AstronomySetMeFree]

Excellent article, I was just talking to my mother about this last week, she suffers from it and so do I although much much less these days, in fact I cant remember the last time I experienced it.
I come from a Mormon upbringing, and when this first happened I thought I was being visited by an evil spirit lol. Now when I think back about it I cringe with embarrasement. It mostly happened when i was sleeping on my back, so i stopped doing that and the "evil spirits" stopped coming. On the occasions it does happen I just fight my way through it, I visualize a physical battle and throw boxing combinations at my invisible foe in my minds eye. I always end up winning and being able to move again, at which point i roll over and sleep on my side

 

[LeCramp]

Cool article.

I've experienced sleep paralazys myself some years ago. And it is an.. interresting .. experience to say the least.

It was at a time where I was reading alot about UFOs and such. I had seen a documentary on sleep paralazys on Discovery in the evening. I went to bed, and I woke sometime during the morning just around first light, I found myself unable to move.
At first I sorta panicked a bit, as it's very unsetteling. I could move my eyes, so I was looking around at the odd shadows being cast from the tiny bit of light starting to slip through the window.

I was fully concious, and I clearly remember thinking that all I need now is an alien coming through the window (which was open). And just as thought that a silhouette appeared at the window, and started to crawl in through it. It was shaped like a classic Grey alien, but all I could ever see of it was a silhouette. It would move in odd erky movements. What I mean is, it would move normally for 1 sec, then suddenly skip/teleport half a meter towrds me, and so on. It seemed very artificial. And there was absoloutely no sounds. One more started to appear at the window, and also started to climb through it.

At this point I started to think "how cool is this!" while still being terrified. Then I remembered the documentary from the night before. And I got even more excited. And I felt like I could actually control what was happening. I had expected an alien to appear, and it did. Now as I realized what was heppening I expected it to disspear, and it slipped back out the window.

For a little while I was lying there - and nothing would happen. Still could not move, and I started to get a tad frustrated. Then I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye - to the right og me, but couldn't make it out. Then I saw movement at the other corner of my eye to the left of me. Then faces started coming out of the walls. Like the wallpaper being stretched with faces being pressed against it. Even though I was well aware that I was dreaming, this was getting scary.

Then, suddenly I was able to move. I sat up, and everything was normal again. No faces coming out of the walls. No alien silhouettes. I didn't sleep much for the rest of the night.

This experience have helped me greatly. I felt I truely started to understand why some people are convinced they have been abducted by aliens. Why some people believe they have been visited by angels or demons during the night. These experiences are very very powerful, and seems very real, and they leave a very big impact on you. To me it also shows why people experience different things. I saw what I expected to see, and could therefore to some degree control some of what was happening. People who expect to see aliens, will likely see just that.

 

[Kricket]

Great Article!

My brother went through the exact same thing you described. He was visited by something "evil" at night and paralyzed him, but it was once he invoked Jesus Christ's name did the evil retreat. This is his biggest reason for his belief. I've tried explaining hypnagogia to him but nothing will convince him that the encounter was anything but 100% real. The main thing he always points out to me (with a A-ha! attitude) is that the evil retreated when he spoke Jesus's name. I didn't know the act of trying to speak would wake you up.

I never thought I had experienced hypnagogia but after reading the end of the article I realized I've experienced the audio version many times. Often while I'm napping I'll imagine hearing the doorbell ring. I get up, check the door and no one is ever there.

 

[Lunar Sonata]

[Youtube]

Cliche, but still good!


Sleep paralysis has happened to me enough times that I've learned to just enjoy the experience. I can't move because half my brain is asleep and half is conscious. I can't speak> Which is a good thing b.c I'd probably be screaming and/or bitching/cursing up a storm to end all storms.

If it happens, I Just relax. Enjoy myself! It's such a mind rape anyways.

It is incredibly strange, the feeling I mean. So out of our hands and WTF'ish. To have one foot crossing over into bodily consciousness and another foot crossing over into dreamland. And there we are at the middle of it. In normal circumstances the line between dream and wake would clearly be drawn. Waking to reality from a dream which was bound by no constraints... dizziness ensues.

Reminds me of Facts In the case of M_____ Valdemore.

"For God's sake!,quick!,quick!,put me to sleep,or, quick!,waken me!,quick!,I say to you that I am dead!"

Well, only a little. Luckily enough for us, when we wake from these episodes, we are generally alive. And not a puddle of loathesome, of detestable putrescence.

Despite relative unease with the thought of some impish evil creature holding illimitable dominion over my soul, I find these episodes to be very stimulating and look forward to them.