"While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus," Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama, wrote in a book published last year."It was a very beautiful place and it was really green."
I have not read her book ("Very Strange Things I've Encountered"), and I'll concede that she may be goofy, but out-of-body experiences and alien encounters are occasional manifestations of the very common parasomnia "sleep paralysis." I've thought of starting a separate blog for this topic, but for now will just note this instance in passing.
I had something similar happen once when I was in grade school. It is a strange experience, though I recognized by the next morning it was not real, but an effect of my brain waking up from sleep. The story did freak my wife out when I told it to her :)
ReplyDeletePeople with narcolepsy experience this a lot -- but it also occurs occasionally for those who don't have a sleep disorder. When tied in with hypnogogic hallucinations I think it's a legitimate explanation not only for a lot of alien abduction stories, but also older tales of the succubus and incubus.
ReplyDeleteglencbr - I agree with you totally. I used to give some killer lectures on SP and its relation to folklore, mythology etc. I may start a separate blog on the topic. When I have time...
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