Is there anyone out there?!

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: Boggy1 Well the chances of life having lived (or living?) on Mars just shot up by a few hundred percent with the discovery of ice water, and soil that is packed-full of nutrients and minerals. If we can find these essential elements for *our* sort of life on a planet in the same solar system as Earth; then the chances of life being present (hell the chances of life being so common as to be mind-boggling) is so huge that it's pretty silly to think otherwise.quote>

Since this solar system was calloused (  is that a word?)

out of the same cloud of matter the terrestrial plants should have similar mineral/chemical make ups.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Since this solar system was calloused (  is that a word?)

out of the same cloud of matter the terrestrial plants should have similar mineral/chemical make ups.

quote>

 I think the word you are looking for is  "coelasced"

–verb (used without object)

1.	to grow together or into one body: The two lakes coalesced into one.

2.	to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc.: The various groups coalesced into a crowd.

3.	to blend or come together: Their ideas coalesced into one theory.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to cause to unite in one body or mass.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Since this solar system was calloused (  is that a word?)

out of the same cloud of matter the terrestrial plants should have similar mineral/chemical make ups.

quote>

 I think the word you are looking for is  "coelasced"

–verb (used without object)

1.	to grow together or into one body: The two lakes coalesced into one.

2.	to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc.: The various groups coalesced into a crowd.

3.	to blend or come together: Their ideas coalesced into one theory.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to cause to unite in one body or mass.

quote>

 

Thanks thats the word i needed. Had massive blank spot when trying to remeber that word.

[Meg 368]

Aliens are out there, says former Nasa astronaut

A Nasa astronaut who has walked on the moon has claimed that UFOs are real and aliens have visited the earth.

By Laura Clout

Last Updated: 9:02AM BST 26 Jul 2008

Although there is no shortage of subscribers to theories that 'we are not alone’, the fact that Edgar Mitchell, who holds the joint record for the longest moon walk, is among them will come as a surprise to many.

Dr Mitchell, who holds two Bachelor of Science degrees and a doctorate in aeronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, made his comments during an interview with a UK radio station this week.

Asked whether he believed there was life on other planets, he replied: “Oh yes. There’s not much question at all that there is life throughout the universe. I’m totally sure we are not alone.”

The presenter for Birmingham-based Kerrang! Radio could be heard to inhale sharply, before Dr Mitchell continued that he had intelligence “that we have been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomenon is real - though it’s been covered up by governments for the last 60 years or so.”

Dr Mitchell spent nine hours on the moon on February 9 1971 as part of the Apollo 14 mission.

Although he has referred to the existence of extra-terrestrial before, this is the first time the former astronaut has given so much detail about his beliefs.

In a statement, Nasa said: “Nasa does not track UFOs. Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinion on this issue.”

quote>

[confused04 14]

Hmmm... interesting.

Regardless of his touted credentials, I think he's a nut case. But I guess technically I have no less evidence than he does, I'm just using my own rationale.

Quite honestly, I always find it mind boggling that almost all aliens share a strikingly similar anthropomorphic form to humans. I mean, look at our own biological diversity. Just looking the mammalian group, we see anthropomorphism is rather limited. Its probable that there is a high degree of cephalization (pretty advantageous to have a centralized nervous system and sensory system). A few years ago some researchers claimed that the stereotypical alien image was actually a near match to how babies viewed their parents (specifically the mother) shortly after birth. I.E. the image is a latent image from our infant days that remains buried in our subconscious.

Additionally, I find the idea of a saucer quite inefficient for atmosphere flight (as many people have discovered trying including certain governments). And in terms of space flight, it doesn't really matter what shape you pick. If you're gonna argue that UFO's are using levitation technology, why a saucer shape? Humans are creative enough to make thousands of different shapes for their starships, why does the vast majority claim that saucers are the galactic preferred mode of transportation.

Finally... if aliens could travel thousands upon thousands of light years or even if they took the long snail method of actually taking some several hundred years from the nearest star (which would make their Terran encounter COMPLETELY coincidental since our electromagnetic presence is not even a century old), why are they so silent. I guess I can go ahead and argue against the coincidental encounter by a sleeper ship do to the sheer number of UFO encounters (i.e what are the chances of thousands of extremely unlikely coincidences?). I'd figure ONE alien would have taken the initiative to come down and say hi to the masses. Hijack our airwaves... study us in a non-orifice probing manner. I mean, just because Star Trek has a prime directive, I'm sure the galaxy would have a varying set of moral beliefs. But noooo all the aliens are the same... scared little men who would rather abduct primarily rural people.

The idea of aliens visiting us via UFO's and studying us etc.... is just far beyond me. I guess I TECHNICALLY can't say its "impossible" but I dare say its the little line just NEXT to impossible on the probability scale. Do I believe in alien life, for sure. I mean, we formed, I don't see why someone else can't form. Besides, if there is a deity, perhaps he wanted to test us in our devotion on a scale that doesn't just involve different cultures, but different species... but I do doubt that they've been here, that they've even heard us (only the stars and their respective planets in the nearest 70 light years will have received our messages). I also doubt that they have the ability to get here so quickly and that they are all 5 ft 3 skinny extra white big black beady eye practically featureless beings who apparently have adopted the Prime Directive.

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Since this solar system was calloused (  is that a word?)

out of the same cloud of matter the terrestrial plants should have similar mineral/chemical make ups.

quote>

Not necessarily. Without going into great detail (specifically cause I don't have the text in hand), planetary make up does not have to be similar just because we are terrestrial or in the same solar system. Much has to do with the distance the planet forms in relation to its host star. Many chemicals cannot persist closer to the sun due to their volatility (water is the most quoted example). But there are other examples. Since chemicals have different volatilities, they will form bands of higher concentrations going in  to out  (less volatiles closer to the sun than higher volatiles). This is why the Oort could objects are very water rich (and likely why we originally weren't). It is argued that without the gravity wells of Jupiter and the other gas giants that many of the water providing comets would not have hit Earth making us significantly drier. But ignoring water, even "rocky" material follows this principal. The composition of the inner four planets do differ significantly. Theories have suggested that Venus' carbon dioxide filled atmosphere was possibly due to increased concentrations of carbon. This is taking a lot of what I read and summing it up probably using incorrect terms, but the point is that our planetary composition isn't necessarily that close. Besides, 1% differences in one element can have huge complications for a variety of processes, particularly because 1% of a planet can be measured in the trillions of kilograms.

All this comes from I believe "Rare Earth" by Brownlee and Ward. They do a much better job of explaining it (in far more pages). Some it up... Complex life is rare due to a list of some 50 factors (some of which immediately eliminate 25% of stars off the bat).

[hummer0328 6]

This isn't easy for me to say.  The only people who I've ever told are 2 open minded cousins who I happen to be very close with.  As for the rest of my family, well I really don't want to be labeled as the family nut and have have been to afraid to tell them a thing.

At one point I really did think I might be going nuts.  Several months ago I awoke from sleep paralysis(SP).  Having severe narcolepsy, SP is a very common occurrence and just a fact of life for me.  By my estimates, I have probably had at least several thousand SP episodes over the years.  I haven't had fear or lost sleep because of since the 1st year or 2 it started happening.  However, after I woke up I became very frightened.  The question of what I was frightened of wouldn't be answered for several weeks.  I started becoming more fearful during the night.  This very powerful apprehension and fear would take ahold of me.  I was afraid to go to sleep.  I was afraid to enter my room at night.  I spent several weeks on the couch and was afraid to turn the lights or TV off.   During the day I was perfectly fine and couldn't understand for the life of me why I was so afraid, but once nighttime hit I would quickly remember that fear.

Then a couple weeks ago something happened.  I hadn't taken my sleeping medication yet and was still camped out on my couch.  On my own I have a hard time sleeping between 10pm and 2am.  It was about midnight and I felt a sudden inclination to go to sleep and it wasn't like my usual tired.  It's a little hard to explain, but it was like I knew I should go to sleep so (without taking my medication which was sitting right on the coffee table) layed down and shut my eyes.  Within a minute I suddenly noticed I was in SP.  I have to say that this was the most sudden and intense SP I have EVER experienced.  I usually don't fall asleep to SP either, it's usually while awakening that it happens.  It was so intense and sudden.  It felt like the world around me was rushing and my entire body felt like it was vibrating.  I've never felt such a strong rushing or vibrating feeling and never so suddenly.  I'm usually VERY good at fighting SP and can be out of it in seconds if I wish (which I almost always just decide to go back to sleep, since it doesn't really scare me anymore).  I tried to fight it and felt myself coming back.  It was then I heard a voice in my mind tell me "stop fighting, everything will be alright, you having nothing to fear".  For some reason that I can't explain the voice comforted me, I complied, and I just let the SP take ahold of my body in what was the strangest and most intense episode I ever remember.

The next thing I knew I was opening my eyes laying on the couch.  I wasn't aware that any time had passed.  I quickly remembered the SP episode and something just felt off.  I got up and looked at the clock.  It was 2am.  Now some people might say that I was just sleeping, but the only way that I wouldn't have been aware of the passage of time is if I was in stage 3-4 deep sleep (delta waves).  Because of the severe narcolepsy, it is almost impossible for my body to get any deep sleep, much less 2 hours of it.

It was then that a memory suddenly came to the surface.  I was in a dark large room laying on some sort of table elevated several feet above the ground.  I was paralyzed, but could move my eyes and I knew I was awake.  I wasn't afraid or physically uncomfortable and remember feeling very calm and content.  In my peripheral vision I could barely make out these pale figures working in the background.  Then I heard a voice in my head say that 5 beings were about to enter and to not be afraid.  Out of the corner of my eye (above my head) I could barely see 1 other being enter.  This one was taller than the rest and looked just like the alien greys you always hear about (pale skin, slightly large almond shaped eyes.  It approached me from above my head and looked down on me.  I felt a strong loving sensation and felt so comforted.  It was like I had known this being all my life.  That is all I remember, and it is a bit hazy.

After this I was startling not afraid and quite relaxed.  I took my medication and went to sleep.  I stopped being so afraid and started sleeping in my room again, although I still keep the light on and still have a little apprehension.  I have felt that strange SP once again a few nights ago and that same voice telling me not to be afraid, and same missing time (although this time no memory).

This weekend me and a two of my cousins got together.  I reluctantly told them what happened.  One of them looked a little shocked and told me that throughout his life he has had similar occurrences.   He was so afraid if it that he stopped working day jobs and finally explains to me why he always insisted on night shifts.  He said he started having conscious abductions in his late teens and only later realized that it had been happening his whole life.  As the years moved on (he is 29 now) he became more and more conscious of them.

He has done quite a bit of research into the phenomena and started explaining to me how he realized it had been going on since he was a small kid.  It was then that I realized that the same was true for me.  When I was young I was very afraid of the dark and spent years sleeping in my sisters room and on the couch w/ the TV on.  I remember the 1st time I saw a picture of an alien grey on some discovery channel documentary.  It completely freaked me out and almost crapped my pants.   That never changed.  I have always been deathly afraid to even look at pictures of them.  I just start panicking.  I also have an isolated memory of a bright red light coming out of the sky and shining through the thick curtain in my bedroom window as a young kid.  I also remember several very vivid "dreams" of being in the backyard of the house I lived in as a kid at night looking out at the field behind the house.  I remember looking up at the stars and some of them began to move.  I remember feeling very relaxed.  I remember a UFO halting above me.  In one of these "dreams" I VERY vaguely remember being greeted by a being with the knowledge I was about to enter the ship and thats were the "dream" ends.  This has been a recurring dream throughout my life and until now I never though anything of it.

I know one of my aunt's always recounts a very vivid abduction "dream" as a child.  From what I've read this is known to happen in families for whatever reason and have a strange feeling that others on that side of the family have had similar experiences, but am afraid to ask. 

Sorry if I sound like a nutcase lol, but I just thought I would share my experience with you guys.  hope I don't regret it...

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: hummer0328

Sorry if I sound like a nutcase lol, but I just thought I would share my experience with you guys.  hope I don't regret it... quote>

I wouldn't say you sound like a nutcase.   That's almost the "classic" abduction story.  There are many people who have had similar experiences.  

There are several possibilities:   it could be a massive hoax perpetrated by a widespread series of people throughout the years.  It could be a "power of suggestion" thing.  or maybe something is actually going on. 

At any rate, I hope you are okay and manage to get some significant, restful sleep.

[panthersimcity4 162]

Hmm, that's actually a very interesting. I don't think it's a nutty story. I never understood why people label other people as nutcases just because they have some kind of strange experience, it just goes to show how close-minded and shallow some people are. 

[duack 14]

your experiences at first seemed like the typical alien story but then you got in depth and almost sounded believable. but on the other hand, most sleep paralysis visions occur out of fear and paranoia. it seems like it all started when you were a kid and saw the alien picture and then accelerated from there. however, fear leads to more fear so basically the more paranoid you are the more paranoid you get. if you tried looking at it from a different perspective then maybe it would go away but i dont know i just learnt all this stuff from documentaries.

anywho aliens do really exist. viruses are living and they are aliens so somewhere there has to be "cool" aliens (like ones you can actually see) but i ddoubt theyre anyplace close to earth.

[fukuda 351]

Originally posted by: duack viruses are living and they are aliensquote>

huh?

[tepodon 29]

i hate to be the most insensitive one out there, but to hummer0328, it does sound like a pretty nutty experience.

I mean common ppl, the whole story is so classical. Look he has a sleeping problem, that was put out there first, that just completely explains precisely why he probably felt that he had such experiences. Sleep deprivation does some crazy stuff to you, I worked several long hour shifts over the summer this year, and I had several experiences, where I thought was in kanashibari (Japanese term for basically being sat on or attacked by a ghost, usually in ur sleep), but as i kept repeating this extremely unhealthy routine of less sleep more work i kept getting more of these things, but after i worked out my unhealthy routine, started getting more sleep, it just stopped. I never get it during the school year in uni, where i sleep more than study, lolz.

Hummer0328 specifically states that he has sleeping problems, and when he had this particular experience he did not take his medication, these are signs pointing to an alien abduction, their signs that he just has a tough time sleeping.

While I understand his pain, i suggest he continues to use medication, because it does sound like a crazy story.

its a sleeping problem, its not an alien abduction.

[Patricius Maximus 236]

hummer0328, you do not sound like a nutcase. I do think that there is something happening, and it is extrinsic to your mind. Add to that another person has had similar experiences.

However, it may be actual aliens, it might not. But something not good is going on there.

tepodon, you sound like the usual skeptic on the History Channel who explains everything away with false memories and hallucinations.

Sleep deprivation does not produce phonomena quite like that. He does state that he did go to sleep because of some kind of voice, and people don't go into delta-wave deep sleep like the touch of a button.

The hours that he was initially not aware of are the ones where he was with the aliens.

In sleep deprivation, do people have hallucinations and not remember them? After going to sleep? No. There is something else at work here.

Now, if you wish to prove or disprove Tepodon's hypothesis -- the next time you feel that sensation, take the medication, and see if you have the same experience.

anywho aliens do really exist. viruses are living and they are aliens so somewhere there has to be "cool" aliens (like ones you can actually see) but i ddoubt theyre anyplace close to earth.quote>

huh?quote>

I believe that duack was referring to the Panspermia hypothesis, in which viruses from another planet get hit by a meteor impact, and leave their own planet's gravity. Then the viruses impact another planet, "seeding" the atmosphere with alien germs.

In fact, I believe that the Bubonic Plague may have been one of those alien viruses -- it just suddenly appeared in China in the 13th and 14th centuries.

[Sam 163]

Originally posted by: Patricius Maximus

...

In sleep deprivation, do people have hallucinations and not remember them? After going to sleep?

...

quote>

Yes, it is probably quite common in cases of sleep deprivation. Hallucinations (especially hypnagogic) and unusual dreams (especially vivid ones) are a common result of sleep deprivation and some people are affected after only fairly short periods of sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation can also affect memory and perception, as can medications that affect sleep. Hypnagogic hallucinations are also a feature in many cases of narcolepsy.

Also see this quote from Wikipedia regarding sleep paralysis in the article on hypnagogic hallucinations which interestingly lists experiences apparently similar to what Tepodon described:

Sleep paralysis

Humming, roaring, hissing, rushing and buzzing noises are frequent in conjunction with sleep paralysis (SP). This happens when the REM atonia sets in sooner than usual, before the person is fully asleep, or persists longer than usual, after the person has (in other respects) fully awoken.^[30] SP is reportedly very frequent among narcoleptics. It occurs frequently in about 6% of the rest of the population, and occurs occasionally in 60%.^[31] In surveys from Canada, China, England, Japan and Nigeria, 20 to 60% of individuals reported having experienced SP at least once in their lifetime.^[32][33] The paralysis itself is frequently accompanied by additional phenomena. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric ‘tingles’ or ‘vibrations’, imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotion: fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings.^[34][35] SP has been proposed as an explanation for at least some alien abduction experiences.^[36]

quote>

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

There are several possibilities:   it could be a massive hoax perpetrated by a widespread series of people throughout the years.  It could be a "power of suggestion" thing.  or maybe something is actually going on. 

quote>

Culture may also have an effect. For example those of us who watched X-Files and similar western type stories for years might translate an experience into aliens, but someone from a Japanese background might be more likely to perceive ghosts than aliens from what may be the same experience.

Anyway Hummer, whatever is causing it  I hope you get some good sleep soon. Sleep problems are awful to live through and many people don't understand how debilitating they can be.

[Boggy1 45]

Okay, let's play with Occam's Razor for a moment here. Simple question, which explanation is the most likely?

That one, Hummer and his cousin, since he was a child, has been repeatedly abducted by extraterrestrial life forms, experimented on, researched on.

Or that two, Hummer and his cousin experienced hallucinations, dreams, or hypnagogia, or all three or more.

To play the critic here, and no, this is not at all accusing you Hummer of lying or of being a nutcase, but the most likely explanation is number two. You have severe narcolepsy. You have sleep paralysis. Both of these very often produce hypnagogia, which is very vivid sensory and tactile phenomenon that are experienced in the transition period between wakefulness and asleep.

Sleep deprivation DOES in fact also produce phenomena like that. Subjects do experience surreal hallucinations, audio, visual, and tactile phenomena. It can be very real. And often subjects will forget all about the hallucination when they properly wake up, akin to how many people forget dreams when they wake up.

Add to the fact that your experience, as tepodon mentioned, is the CLASSIC "alien abduction" scenario, right down to the image of the Greys appearing. You're mind has of course been subjected to these sorta of scenario for most of your life through the media, so of course, if you were to have an experience, it would follow the 'norm'. Suggestion is a very powerful thing.

Let me hypothesize what happened.

1. You were tired. You have narcolepsy. The brain is a clever organ, and it can sub-consciously tell you to go to sleep. Often when I am up late, I will suddenly feel that I need to go to sleep. All it is is my brain warning me that I need sleep right now. You've no idea the amount of times that the brain takes control over your body and thoughts to direct you away from dangerous situations.

2. You immediately had severe sleep paralysis, which is very common to narcoleptics. SP can vary hugely from night to night, so it's quite possible that, due to a conglomeration of factors, you happened to have a bad one.

3. Sleep paralysis then often leads straight to hypnagogia. This was the rushing and vibrating feeling you felt. You've probably experienced hypnagogia many times in the past, but never remembered it. This time you did, due to the surprising severity of the SP (you mention you usually go back to sleep during a session of SP, so you probably miss the session of hypnagogia).

4. You then go to sleep. It's quite possible you enter REM sleep without going into a deep stage four or three sleep, due to the interruption of sleep cycles. You are, after all, a severe narcoleptic. And you dream. And you dream of becoming abducted, and of extraterrestrial beings, that fit exactly the classic abduction story.

5. It is perfectly reasonable that you could have been in a shallow sleep for two hours. I often will wake up at 7.00am, turn over, look back, and find that it's 9.00am. It happens in a flash, I'm not aware of the time, but I also haven't gone into deep REM sleep.

6. The memory was most likely ruminants of the dream or dreams. I will wake up, and remember odd patches of dreams. Sometimes they can be so real, that I have trouble separating dream and reality.

7. Then, your cousin tells you of his experiences, reaffirming yours. You 'realise' the same was true for you; but most likely you are filling in the gaps of your memory with what you think is plausible explanations. Happens all the time. These memories you have had are probably not even memories. They could be very old dreams, or things you spotted on TV or film, or even stories told to you, which you've imagined yourself.

Granted, I've used a lot of assumptions here. But that's because we can't possibly know the entire story of events. We can't know the thousands of factors that could've affected you. But nevertheless, the chances that all of this was a by-product of your narcolepsy and state of mind is pretty high. The chances that you were abducted is not too high. I'm not trying to ridicule you. But it's very very unlikely there are outside forces at work here.

[Muck308 55]

If there are indeed some forms of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, and if these forms have indeed traveled to Earth... then surely some of them must be ST members. Could it be they were trying to tell us something not too long ago, perhaps by declaring themselves as... grays? Boggy I beleive you were in on that trend. Fess up. You're an alien and you are keeping Hummer from getting some decent sleep.

I am not trying to make fun. Not in the very least, so please don't take any offense. We all have occurences in our pasts that we remember as being very real, but memories are very deceiving. Especially with an incident like this, you could have been experiencing sensory overload, Hummer. I cannot say I have a similar story, but I did in fact see something that one would best desrcibe as a UFO.

About 10 years ago, when I was in high school, I was driving home from a friends house in Franklin Park, PA. I don't recall what time of year it was, or what time. I only remember it was just before dusk. I was driving down the road at about 35 mph and I glanced up at something that caught my eye. It was some sort of craft, very high in the sky that had a green light on it. Yes, it was the same color green light you would expect to find on the starboard side of a commercial aircaraft. There was no red light however.(to signify the port side) This thing was not moving. It was also not possible that this thing WAS moving through space exactly in my direction. (I understand Frame of Reference plays a big part... The object could have been moving right at me but was so far away it appeared to not move at all.) I get that, but it couldn't be because then out of nowhere, the thing just flies away, off to the west (I was going east) If it had been moving toward me and then changed course, it would have appeared to start moving slowly, like it was travelling on an arc (which is how aircraft move at high speeds). But there was no acceleration. It was stopped one instant, and the next it was speeding out of my view, right over my head until the inside of the roof of my car blocked it from view. What was it? Aliens? Communists? Could it be from Mexicans on my tv? Messing with me sub-lim-in-ally? [sorry, love ST (suicidal tendencies,not SimTropolis, which I also love.] Anyway, I would love to think that this was an alien craft, but what the heck were they doing in a Pittsburgh suburb? Come to think of it... what was I doing in a Pittsburgh suburb? I never had any experiences with abduction or contact, and to tell you the truth I'd prefer it stays that way.

To sum things up, I believe there must be something else out there, and I also believe that they may very well be so far away that we will never know it. 

Now this was ten years ago, and what I have just described to you is a memory that has surely been distorted over time. When it happened I didn't think much of it, but I was then as I am now able to label it as odd. Airplanes don't change course at an exact point leaving behind a nice clean obtuse angle in their contrails. But I also didn't call up NASA and tell them to dispatch scientists to my quiet neighborhood. Hummer your experience was much more recent so it is good that you have collected your thoughts on it so soon. However, your incident is still based on memories, and studies have shown that memories can become distorted as quickly as a few seconds after something happens, especially in cases of dreaming, which you may well have been doing. Personally, I hope it is all true, because it doesn't sound like the grays wish you any harm. Maybe they wanna help you get some rest. 

Good luck with your SP, you've got friends here at ST!

[fukuda 351]

I believe that duack was referring to the Panspermia hypothesis, in which viruses from another planet get hit by a meteor impact, and leave their own planet's gravity. Then the viruses impact another planet, "seeding" the atmosphere with alien germs.quote>

Panspermia refers to primitive bacteria and not viruses. Viruses are formed by a protein capsid and a DNA (or RNA) fragment. Parasiting other cells is the key of their survival and reproduction as they can't do it by themselves, therefore they can't exist without living cells.

The valid panspermia hypothesis only refers to the beginnings of life on Earth, no germ, bacteria, virus or whatever has never been found with alien caracteristics (they all share common ones and none shows an outstanding chemical or morphological caracteristic in structure or metabolism) therefore saying that our atmosphere has been seeded in the past by alien germs is ludicrous.

In fact, I believe that the Bubonic Plague may have been one of those alien viruses -- it just suddenly appeared in China in the 13th and 14th centuries.quote>

Ouch!

The Black Plague was caused by a normal bacteria with links to other known terrestrial bacteria, no alien plague or divine punishment there.

The bubonic agent was discovered in vivo inside the bodies of sick people

[hummer0328 6]

Appreciate the criticism, in a way I think I actually wanted somebody to tell me it was all in my head.  Yet some questions haven't been answered and somethings just don't make sense. You must understand that I am highly knowledgeable when it comes to sleep.  My neurologist has even admitted to me I know more about it than he does. Here are some of the problems I still see.

Originally posted by: Boggy1

Let me hypothesize what happened.

1. You were tired. You have narcolepsy. The brain is a clever organ, and it can sub-consciously tell you to go to sleep. Often when I am up late, I will suddenly feel that I need to go to sleep. All it is is my brain warning me that I need sleep right now. You've no idea the amount of times that the brain takes control over your body and thoughts to direct you away from dangerous situations.quote>

Having narcolepsy, my brain hasn't stopped telling me to go to sleep in years.  Thats all I know.  I understand that feeling like most probably can't imagine.  i'm also great at ignoring it and if I suddenly didn't have narcolepsy I bet I could stay up for a week straight without too much effort.  This was different (sorry kinda hard to explain).  I wasn't even actually tired. Like I said, I usually feel the most awake during that time at night and that night was no exception.  I didn't bother taking my medication, I didn't brush my teeth, and I didn't take out my contacts.

2. You immediately had severe sleep paralysis, which is very common to narcoleptics. SP can vary hugely from night to night, so it's quite possible that, due to a conglomeration of factors, you happened to have a bad one.quote>

My current daytime medication is pretty good at decreasing (to a point) SP. By itself it doesn't do anything to increase deep sleep (stage 3-4), but it does have the side effect of helping increase sleep onset REM latency to the point were SP has become less common. Still experience it every now and then, usually in the morning or while napping, and not as severe as before.  Even several months ago when my N was at its worse and for other reasons I had to be taken off all meds, I experienced very intense rebound SP, but it still came nothing close to this. And I wasn't afraid at the time either.  Fear is what makes SP worse.  The amygdala (emotional center of brain) becomes very hyperactive during REM. Normally while awake, orexin, a protein produced in the lateral hypothalamus, projects down to the reticular formation in the brain stem and releases serotonin. When your amygdala fires during the day you don't experience REM-atonia (cause of paralysis during REM) because of the serotonin. The daytime and sleeping medication have the effect of helping to elevate that serotonin so I don't experience REM-atonia while awake (cataplexy) and also helps with the SP. When you enter REM, that serotonin system turns off.  This allows the amygdala to fire into the reticular formation and activate the area that causes REM-atonia.  when the amygdala becomes hyperactive you become afraid during SP, and the more afraid you let yourself become, the stronger the SP and also the stronger the accompanying hallucinations.  I wasn't afraid, and that's how I'm am usually able to fight it off. I could have faught this off, but I listened to the voice (have never ever had auditory hallucinations like that during SP) I felt calm and let myself drift off to sleep.  As I did this the SP became much stronger again. Biologically, it just doesn't make any sense.

3. Sleep paralysis then often leads straight to hypnagogia. This was the rushing and vibrating feeling you felt. You've probably experienced hypnagogia many times in the past, but never remembered it. This time you did, due to the surprising severity of the SP (you mention you usually go back to sleep during a session of SP, so you probably miss the session of hypnagogia). quote>

I should mention that the only time I usually go back to sleep is when I have already sleeping and am just waking up.  I'm just far to tired to wake up and just fall back asleep.  During these attacks I also tend to be far less conscious while awakening from SP.  I was pretty conscious when the attack in question happened, and like I said above, I wasn't tired.  I've felt the vibrating and rushing before, but only while "toying" around with the SP.  I have purposely scared myself further and further into SP to see how strong I could get it and to see how long I could make it last.  The record is 20 minutes!  I could have gone longer, but it got kinda old after a while.

4. You then go to sleep. It's quite possible you enter REM sleep without going into a deep stage four or three sleep, due to the interruption of sleep cycles. You are, after all, a severe narcoleptic. And you dream. And you dream of becoming abducted, and of extraterrestrial beings, that fit exactly the classic abduction story.

5. It is perfectly reasonable that you could have been in a shallow sleep for two hours. I often will wake up at 7.00am, turn over, look back, and find that it's 9.00am. It happens in a flash, I'm not aware of the time, but I also haven't gone into deep REM sleep. quote>

You might not be able to tell the difference between stage 1-2, light REM vs stage 3-4, but believe me, I sure can.  Last time I had a PSG (night sleep study), I was able to tell my doctor what stages I was in and when.  He thought it was pretty funny.  Believe me, if it was all a dream, I sure wasn't in stage 1-2, and definitely not in light REM.  When I started this sleeping medication (4 months ago), I was shocked at the kind of sleep I was getting.  It's because I was actually getting stage 3-4.  I just didn't remember what it felt like.  So, if I really was just sleeping, I know that I was in stage 3-4 for at least most of that 2 hours.  That is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE without having taken my medication WHEN I went to bed.  Could I have forgotten that I had taken my medication?  No, my medication makes ambien look like Tylenol PM.  I would have known if I was all drugged up, and I would have still felt it 2 hours later when I woke up.

And if it was a dream, why with my amygdala in it's hyperactive REM state and me having always been (and still am) deathly afraid of alien grey pictures, why wasn't there any fear?  I was very indifferent until the taller grey entered and then as it got closer I was happy?  Emotional processing of REM sleep?  No, because then I would have been fearful and facing that fear, but in the "experience" I wasn't really facing anything. If it was a dream I would have been absolutely terrified, probably to the point that I would have woken up.

6. The memory was most likely ruminants of the dream or dreams. I will wake up, and remember odd patches of dreams. Sometimes they can be so real, that I have trouble separating dream and reality. quote>

Never had that problem with anything near vivid dreams.  I do have problems separating the very boring long non-vivid dreams, and it's always small things I get confused with like: did I pay that check, cause I can vaguely remember writing it.  I would say that this is probably the most vivid dream I ever remember having (and prior to my medication I have dreamt alot over the past few years).

7. Then, your cousin tells you of his experiences, reaffirming yours. You 'realize' the same was true for you; but most likely you are filling in the gaps of your memory with what you think is plausible explanations. Happens all the time. These memories you have had are probably not even memories. They could be very old dreams, or things you spotted on TV or film, or even stories told to you, which you've imagined yourself. quote>

Could easily be. It just when I start adding it all up together is when it looks like something might be happening.  I really would like to chalk it up to narcolepsy + overactive imagination, but I'm just not convinced that's the case.  To many questions that don't allow that to make sense... yet.

Granted, I've used a lot of assumptions here. But that's because we can't possibly know the entire story of events. We can't know the thousands of factors that could've affected you. But nevertheless, the chances that all of this was a by-product of your narcolepsy and state of mind is pretty high. The chances that you were abducted is not too high. I'm not trying to ridicule you. But it's very very unlikely there are outside forces at work here.quote>

Hopefully your right.  Cause it sounds much better than the other possibility... that it's real.