03-05-2003, 10:34 PM
You're exactly right, it is essentially dreaming while you are awake. It can manifest for different people in different ways, in other words, not everyone feels like they're being abducted. For example, I saw a show about it that was trying to explain the abduction phenomena with sleep paralysis. They have done plenty of research on it, and it does definitely occur. A lot of people can have visions of little grey men with big eyes, float off their beds, be paralyzed, and so forth. This one guy, a deeply religious man, experienced a demon-like creature grab his feet and drag him off his bed. Their explanation is that he is religious, so a terrifying experience for a religious person occurred. For the rest of us, we can be influenced by the media and our knowledge of alien abductions, and that comes out. They also argue that in the past, people experienced sleep paralysis but saw the incubus instead, or something like that.
So to answer why they're similar, it's not completely known. You wouldn't think that experiences would be so strikingly similar, other than the fact that the symptoms are usually the same. One, completely paralyzed to the point that you cannot speak, pretty much all you can do is move your eyes (that's what I experienced). Everyone has the same feeling of complete terror. Everyone usually feels a presence in the room. This is where it changes for people, a lot may see shapes, or they see beings, or they see aliens in detail. Some may feel like they're floating and being dragged off. Some hear weird sounds, like footsteps. I only experienced the paralysis, feeling of terror and presence of something in the room. They could be similar because we all hear about how abductions are supposed to occur, and that comes out in the dream we have during the paralysis. I actually remember consciously thinking, "Am I being abducted? People report being paralyzed and taken away." Then you have to argue, where did the first experience come from then?
So far I don't know if it can be induced, probably not. Perhaps they can make a drug that causes the person to awaken and yet the neurotransmitter continues to flow and make you paralyzed. But then, would the same experience occur? And chances are you will experience it. I forgot the statistic, but essentially most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once in their life. I am glad mine wasn't as terrifying as some of these people. Maybe now that you know more about it, it could occur just because it exists in your brain.
From what I remember, I fell back to sleep. You're not completely awake, just awake long enough to remember it. That's the amazing part, it can occur, and you will remember it the next morning, and it gives you chills. But no, you do not become completely awake. Come to think of it, maybe it does occur more often than we think, and don't remember the experience. The human brain usually loses any information from the last five minutes before you fall asleep.
I don't like the argument of the distance traveled thing. One, perhaps they have "space stations" in multiple solar systems, and have established colonies. If they are so advanced (probably millions of years more than us), they could avoid our detection considering we're the only intelligent lifeform in this solar system. That's a bit far off, but the alternative is that they have no trouble travelling these far distances, via wormholes or warp, or something we don't even know about. Is it really that unlikely? Imagine how our technology has changed for travel in the last 100 years... and imagine if we can improve upon it by millions? We cannot assume that all of our scientific knowledge has come to a stop, like we know everything, and technology can only go so far, blah blah. They said the same thing about the damn moon.
Perhaps they have a dominating tendency, that's a cynical point of view. Perhaps after so long they shed that instinct to dominate lower species. Besides that, it's not like we're just some slugs on a barren planet. We do have technology and are on the rise, they probably would like to know more about us, perhaps a porthole into their own past. If we found alien species that had the capacity for language and technology, we'd be more fascinated and not wanna enslave them.
So to answer why they're similar, it's not completely known. You wouldn't think that experiences would be so strikingly similar, other than the fact that the symptoms are usually the same. One, completely paralyzed to the point that you cannot speak, pretty much all you can do is move your eyes (that's what I experienced). Everyone has the same feeling of complete terror. Everyone usually feels a presence in the room. This is where it changes for people, a lot may see shapes, or they see beings, or they see aliens in detail. Some may feel like they're floating and being dragged off. Some hear weird sounds, like footsteps. I only experienced the paralysis, feeling of terror and presence of something in the room. They could be similar because we all hear about how abductions are supposed to occur, and that comes out in the dream we have during the paralysis. I actually remember consciously thinking, "Am I being abducted? People report being paralyzed and taken away." Then you have to argue, where did the first experience come from then?
So far I don't know if it can be induced, probably not. Perhaps they can make a drug that causes the person to awaken and yet the neurotransmitter continues to flow and make you paralyzed. But then, would the same experience occur? And chances are you will experience it. I forgot the statistic, but essentially most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once in their life. I am glad mine wasn't as terrifying as some of these people. Maybe now that you know more about it, it could occur just because it exists in your brain.
From what I remember, I fell back to sleep. You're not completely awake, just awake long enough to remember it. That's the amazing part, it can occur, and you will remember it the next morning, and it gives you chills. But no, you do not become completely awake. Come to think of it, maybe it does occur more often than we think, and don't remember the experience. The human brain usually loses any information from the last five minutes before you fall asleep.
I don't like the argument of the distance traveled thing. One, perhaps they have "space stations" in multiple solar systems, and have established colonies. If they are so advanced (probably millions of years more than us), they could avoid our detection considering we're the only intelligent lifeform in this solar system. That's a bit far off, but the alternative is that they have no trouble travelling these far distances, via wormholes or warp, or something we don't even know about. Is it really that unlikely? Imagine how our technology has changed for travel in the last 100 years... and imagine if we can improve upon it by millions? We cannot assume that all of our scientific knowledge has come to a stop, like we know everything, and technology can only go so far, blah blah. They said the same thing about the damn moon.
Perhaps they have a dominating tendency, that's a cynical point of view. Perhaps after so long they shed that instinct to dominate lower species. Besides that, it's not like we're just some slugs on a barren planet. We do have technology and are on the rise, they probably would like to know more about us, perhaps a porthole into their own past. If we found alien species that had the capacity for language and technology, we'd be more fascinated and not wanna enslave them.