Things in the Room

[BrandonD]

Has anything like this happened to anyone here?

Last night, I awoke very gradually from a dream and had the distinct feeling that something was in the room with me, sitting beside the bed and observing me. I could hear it moving, but I couldn't see it. Even so, I had an image in my head of what it looked like... it was small and black and my only point of reference was a black cat. So for whatever reason, I thought there was a black cat sitting next to my bed. So I decided to sit up and shout so that I could scare it away. But any time that I made the effort to either sit up or make a sound, a wave of fear went through my body. I remember several times trying to fight it, it was a physical fear that made no sense and I remember thinking to myself, "Why am I so afraid, it's just a cat."

At one point, another black thing came into the room and there was a conflict of some sort. I had the feeling that the first one was defending it's territory against the second one, and the second one eventually left.

Anyway, after a while it occurred to me that there's no reason why a cat should be in my bedroom and I snapped out of this paralysis and sat up. The sound, however, didn't immediately disappear but faded gradually. It was like something moving around, it was very early morning so I looked around but could see nothing in the room.

 

[Tony2013]

Funny, something very similar happened to my fiancee and I last night in our apartment. We had just gotten in bed and were drifting off when I felt someone touching my left leg. I looked back thinking it was one of the cats, but nothing there. A minute later, my fiancee gasps and bolts up in bed. She says, "I just saw someone walking into the living room." She described it as being milky white, blurry, very tall, but human. She also got a really ecstatic, happy feeling afterwards.

It's not the first time she's seen spirits; it's been intermittent for the last few years now. Ever since her grandmother died in 2002 her abilities to see things have gotten stronger.

Now if we could just foresee some lottery numbers....

 

[spookyparadigm]

The OP uses the term paralysis, because I assume you are guessing sleep paralysis. Hufford's book book on sleep paralysis The Terror that Comes in the Night includes numerous interview transcripts of sleep paralysis events, and yours fits in perfectly. The presence, the image, the unnatural terror (at least a couple of the transcripts specifically mention this) the sound (one of the cases in the book involves the sound of someone walking on wooden floors). Some of the transcripts are quite creepy to read.

 

[BrandonD]

The OP uses the term paralysis, because I assume you are guessing sleep paralysis. Hufford's book book on sleep paralysis The Terror that Comes in the Night includes numerous interview transcripts of sleep paralysis events, and yours fits in perfectly. The presence, the image, the unnatural terror (at least a couple of the transcripts specifically mention this) the sound (one of the cases in the book involves the sound of someone walking on wooden floors). Some of the transcripts are quite creepy to read.

Actually I'm not guessing sleep paralysis, though I think the sleep state was significant in the experience. Writing an experience off as sleep paralysis is the equivalent of saying Beethoven was able to write incredible symphonies while deaf because he was a "genius". What's being done in both situations is to give the unknown a name, nothing more than that. It doesn't actually explain anything at all, it just allows people to ignore it and go on pretending the world makes sense.

Why does sleep paralysis universally cause a feeling of presence? Why does sleep paralysis universally cause the visions of a dark shadow figure, an experience described worldwide? Why does sleep paralysis create an irrationally high level of fear? And it's certainly not because it's a frightening or unfamiliar state, I seriously just thought a cat was in my room, nothing more than that, and I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so scared. It was genuinely perplexing to me at the time.

Naming unknowns is a disregarding tactic by conventional thinkers (if we are so generous to grant them the term "thinkers")... when the mystery is given a name, people are free to treat it as though it's solved. Though I do think there is certainly something significant associated with the altered state of sleep and these experiences.

So the book you reference might be describing something related to my experience, but I don't think it is "all in the imagination", which is the subtext of the sleep paralysis explanation.

 

[spookyparadigm]

Ok then.

 

[BrandonD]

Ok then.

Sorry didn't mean to bite your head off, I've actually been meaning to bring up the subject of sleep paralysis for a long time and you were unfortunately the catalyst. I think it was a reasonable question to pose.

 

[mike]

im currently expoloring an event that is either SP, or a visitation
the first aspect that is unusual is the clarity of my perception in regards to the room , the sensory input was definatly direct optics i could "see" the room and only from the angles possible from where i lay.
i am certain i did not "dream" the images

the second aspect is the terror, this was real live awake terror, not the sort of dread i associate with dreams, (ie being chased by a crocodile and the faster you run the slower you go)

ive never fainted in fright before, but thats the only way to describe how it ended, i litterally fainted in fear.

i was so profoundly affected that people at work the next day asked me what was wrong as soon as they clapped eyes on me

the noise was also unusual, our house creaks in the night and we have rottweiler dogs that sleep on a platform under the stairs (my trolls under the bridge), the noise was neither the house or the dogs. it was like someone was fiddling about with things in the lounge with no regard for secrecy, no thats not right it was as if they were trying to be quiet but were clumsy, like being burgled by someone whos trying to be quiet, but not quite succeding

having said all that however this excerp from Mr Hopkins site

"In later decades, when bedroom abduction cases began to be reported, might some of these involve sleep paralysis and nothing more? Of course. The possibility always exists that some sleep paralysis experiences might have been misinterpreted by the individuals reporting them as UFO abductions, particularly by susceptible people who have been devouring books on UFOs."

has my experience written all over it

full article
http://www.intrudersfoundation.org/junk_science_paralysis.html

i have to ask myself is my interest in the topic "creating" my reality, or is some hidden "reality" creating my interest

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Yes I've had stuff like this occur. I consider it SP, or a lucid dream about an encounter or lucid dream about sp and nothing more.

 

[Frootloop]

Has anybody here ever had a night terror? not featuring sleep paralysis, but a terror that feels so real and leaves you feeling more frightened than anything else youve ever experienced?

Ive had a couple personally of relatively recent years and am amazed at the simularities between mine and other individual accounts of what is experienced.

 

[CapnG]

Why does sleep paralysis universally cause a feeling of presence?

In theory because the "other" is you. The brain is shifting gears from unconcious to concious and has gotten momentarily stuck (popped the clutch, as it were). So the two "yous" who are never normally in direct contact, are suddenly sitting together in the same room, hence presence.

Why does sleep paralysis universally cause the visions of a dark shadow figure, an experience described worldwide?

It doesn't. I've read accounts of SP where the presence has been described in all manner of ways: dark, light, ashen, waxy, stretched, flattened and on and on...

Why does sleep paralysis create an irrationally high level of fear? And it's certainly not because it's a frightening or unfamiliar state, I seriously just thought a cat was in my room, nothing more than that, and I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so scared. It was genuinely perplexing to me at the time.

Because it's an error, a malfunction. The fear is out of scale because the "normal" input conditions are fubar.

Naming unknowns is a disregarding tactic by conventional thinkers (if we are so generous to grant them the term "thinkers")... when the mystery is given a name, people are free to treat it as though it's solved.

But it's not an unknown, it's a recognized, studied condition and more research is being done all the time. And while that doesn't make it "solved" it's hardly a mystery.

Though I do think there is certainly something significant associated with the altered state of sleep and these experiences.

An opinion, which you're entitled to of course but hardly grounds for poo-pooing those who don't share it.

 

[BrandonD]

In theory because the "other" is you. The brain is shifting gears from unconcious to concious and has gotten momentarily stuck (popped the clutch, as it were). So the two "yous" who are never normally in direct contact, are suddenly sitting together in the same room, hence presence.

The reason it's "in theory" is because there is nothing at all supporting this idea. There is no mechanism to explain it, and no analog in ordinary experience to compare it to. It's an idea entirely fabricated in the minds of people who want to write off the experience.

It doesn't. I've read accounts of SP where the presence has been described in all manner of ways: dark, light, ashen, waxy, stretched, flattened and on and on...

Yes and I've read accounts of aliens with one eye and bat wings, but certain specific types are involved in the majority of ufo encounters. It is the same with this experience. The majority of figures seen are dark shadow figures. That is why the term "shadow people" exists, and no term exists for "ashen people" or "waxy people" or "stretched people" or "flattened people", and on and on...

Because it's an error, a malfunction. The fear is out of scale because the "normal" input conditions are fubar.

Once again, a baseless assumption propagated by people who don't want to think too deeply into a subject.

But it's not an unknown, it's a recognized, studied condition and more research is being done all the time. And while that doesn't make it "solved" it's hardly a mystery.

An opinion, which you're entitled to of course.

 

[Chuckleberryfinn]

Has anybody here ever had a night terror? not featuring sleep paralysis, but a terror that feels so real and leaves you feeling more frightened than anything else youve ever experienced?

Ive had a couple personally of relatively recent years and am amazed at the simularities between mine and other individual accounts of what is experienced.

I have had night terrors throughout my entire life, from childhood to now. I describe one of them here:

http://theparacast.com/forums/succubus-t-1040.html#pid14038

There are more, some stranger than what is described here.

 

[CapnG]

It's an idea entirely fabricated in the minds of people who want to write off the experience.

As opposed to ideas entirely fabricated in the minds of people who want to assign meaning to the experience that it may not warrant?

The majority of figures seen are dark shadow figures. That is why the term "shadow people" exists, and no term exists for "ashen people" or "waxy people" or "stretched people" or "flattened people", and on and on...

It's my understanding that shadow people are generally seen by people who are awake, during daylight hours (thus providing the necessary contrast to make them "shadowy"). I have heard of them being reported in SP cases but with no more frequency than anything else, although to be clear, I draw a distinction between beings supposedly "composed" of shadow and those merely hidden within them.

Once again, a baseless assumption propagated by people who don't want to think too deeply into a subject.

As opposed (once again) to a baseless assumption propagated by people who think entirely too deeply into a subject? I find this resistance to prosaic explanations for no apparent reason other than to resist them curious...

 

[TClaeys]

The reason it's "in theory" is because there is nothing at all supporting this idea. There is no mechanism to explain it, and no analog in ordinary experience to compare it to. It's an idea entirely fabricated in the minds of people who want to write off the experience.



Once again, a baseless assumption propagated by people who don't want to think too deeply into a subject.

[/quote]

Fabricated ideas and baseless assumptions are not what I believe Capn is talking about. Baseless and assumption are words associated with NO evidence. But, on the contrary there IS evidence on this matter.

Persingers experiments have reproduced nearly every element of mystical, paranormal, and visitation experience. These were reproduced using varied different electrical stimulations on different areas of the brain.

A mechanism for such an experience may be forthcoming. You can't figure everything out at once. But the fact that this is reproducable under controlled conditions seems to hint that we are getting somewhere. If verified scientific experiments are baseless, then I don't know what you are looking for.

Some "abductees" have been successfully treated with medications. More research will surely be done. On the other hand, maybe it doesn't explain everything. Surely everything will never be adequately explained.

In the meantime, the nature of this phenomena has and is being studied with results. I guess I don't understand the "fabrication, assumption, and baseless" comments when we have research staring us in the face

 

[schticknz]

Just to throw in my tuppence for what its worth:

Last night I couldn't sleep. I got up and made a cup of herbal tea to help me sleep. As the kettle boiled I made sure that all of our cats were safely inside and asleep (we've had to put the cat flap on one way to prevent a couple of strays coming into the house and nabbing our cats food when nobody is looking). All cats (3 of them) were all accounted for.

Before I went back to bed I had to let one of them in (she had gone out sometime during the hour and so wanted in. She's very neurotic and doesn't like being outside for very long). So I let her in ... and made sure the three cats were all safely indoors again before I switched off all the lights and got back into bed.

I was in bed for a few minutes when there was a rustling sort of noise and movement in the bedroom near the window. It even woke my partner up who thought it was one of our cats (they tend to work their way into the bedroom without you realising it sometimes ... cats are strange like that). But nope ... I was 100% sure that none of them had made their way in ... and no cat could have got in through the windows since the only one that was ajar could have only let in small flying objects.

So the mystery remains. No cat appeared. No cat could have got in ... and all 3 cats were safely inside in other rooms asleep or in the case of the 3rd cat eating food in the kitchen.

I remain gentle reader severely baffled

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Has anybody here ever had a night terror? not featuring sleep paralysis, but a terror that feels so real and leaves you feeling more frightened than anything else youve ever experienced?

Ive had a couple personally of relatively recent years and am amazed at the simularities between mine and other individual accounts of what is experienced.

I suffer from panic attacks which is similar.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

In theory because the "other" is you. The brain is shifting gears from unconcious to concious and has gotten momentarily stuck (popped the clutch, as it were). So the two "yous" who are never normally in direct contact, are suddenly sitting together in the same room, hence presence.

Also because the human mind likes to jump to the conclusion that something outside of itself is responsible.

But as for me, the sense of presence came due to reading too many abduction reports.

 

[BrandonD]

Fabricated ideas and baseless assumptions are not what I believe Capn is talking about. Baseless and assumption are words associated with NO evidence. But, on the contrary there IS evidence on this matter.

Persingers experiments have reproduced nearly every element of mystical, paranormal, and visitation experience. These were reproduced using varied different electrical stimulations on different areas of the brain.

You can be electrically stimulated to see people that are not there. This does not mean that people don't exist. It means that you can be artificially stimulated to see something that, in fact, also happens to exist outside of the laboratory experiment.

So, the fact that something can be created in a laboratory actually does nothing to "explain away" a phenomenon. It only means that the phenomenon can be artificially created.

 

[BrandonD]

As opposed (once again) to a baseless assumption propagated by people who think entirely too deeply into a subject? I find this resistance to prosaic explanations for no apparent reason other than to resist them curious...

You're right, I might be reading too much into this.

Still, I'm strongly opposed to the cultural pressure to "swim with the pack" which always seems to accompany paranormal subjects. Judging from my personal experience, there is *something* behind ghosts/shadow people other than just imagination. We will not reach that something if we succumb to the social pressure to view everything in terms of what we already think we know.

 

[TClaeys]

So, the fact that something can be created in a laboratory actually does nothing to "explain away" a phenomenon. It only means that the phenomenon can be artificially created.

Yes it DOES explain something. To say it does nothing is ignorant. Because perhaps the phenomenon IS artificial in the first place. Ohterwise it would be quite a coincidence don't you think?

I'm not saying all phenomena can be explained in this way. And you seem to continue to call it "explaining away" for whatever reason, when what we are talking about is some answers to the experience itself. I don't think it is a debunking or explaining away. It is a reasonable scientific approach to understand a phenomena.

If the some of the phenomena is not artificial, then why can people be treated successfully with medication?? If it were outside of the area of artificial reality then medication would have no effect, yet it does.

I understand the need to believe in other theories that suggest something else is going on, especially if you have had personal accounts. But, geez, you just seem to resist solid evidence by "explaining it away" with phrases like "It does nothing" and "it only means...". When, again, in fact it does explain and provides insight on this manner.

I think that the only way to the truth is to have a centered position of being open-minded yet truly skeptical. Taking into account people's experiences and stories(which is all we have) and that fact that we can reproduce the same things in a lab sways me towards the idea that PERHAPS it is all in the brain.

What are your reasons for thinking it is.... well, whatever you think it is??