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Sleep Paralysis, Or Something Else...?

 

My name is Brittany, I'm 18 years old, and I live in a small town in Pennsylvania. I have always been extremely interested in the paranormal, which actually started right around the TV show, Ghost Adventures, went on air.

Around 2009 or 2010 I went to see a movie called The Fourth Kind, which is coincidentally about alien abductions, with a friend of mine and returned home pretty late. When I got home I passed out as soon as I hit my pillow.

Sometime between 3:00 and 3:45 in the morning I woke up, but then realized that I was unable to move. I was literally frozen, as if I were being held down on my bed. I had heard of sleep paralysis before and it would have been easy blow it off as being that, if it weren't for what I saw.

When you walked into my room, my bed was to the left of the door and my window directly across from my bed. During the time I was laying there trying to figure out what was going on, a very bright light shone from my window. I didn't know what to think of it, it was huge and took up my entire window. As I was trying to come up with some conclusion on what was happening, I slowly drifted back to sleep.

What must have been a minute felt like an hour. I woke up sometime in the afternoon the next day and sat in my bed just trying to think of any explanation I could. Most people would pass it off as a dream, but I know for a fact I was awake when it happened and I know what I saw.

Even looking back on it now I still cannot figure out what I had seen. Could it have been sleep paralysis, or could there maybe be something more to it?

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, braeder42911, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

sds (14 stories) (1436 posts)
+3
10 years ago (2014-08-08)
Hi braeder, I think that it was sleep paralysis you experienced. In sleep paralysis, you tend to even halucinate and think that it is real. And because of a very uncomfortable feeling, you might feel that it was hours before you came out of it. Like others said the movie might have had its effect.

Regards and respects to you.

SDS
Sceptic-Ari (2 stories) (611 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-08-08)
Dear braeder42911,
I agree with elnoraemily on this one and I second her with this very informative video documentary:

The Entity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmbpOucNVn4

Have a looksie if you will.

Regards
elnoraemily (guest)
+1
10 years ago (2014-08-07)
I hate to be nit picky, but I am OCD and I'll start obsessing if I don't say something.
Old hag syndrome is what sleep paralysis was mistaken for.
It was named old hag syndrome because of the feeling of being held down and the hallucinations that come with it (i.e., creepy people doing creepy things).

Whatever you call it, it's the same thing- and overall, incredibly uncomfortable to experience.

During sleep paralysis, you will see dreams (essentially), which does explain the light you saw, even though that is not as common as seeing figures or hearing words.

I definitely believe that watching that movie influenced what you saw. Your mind used what it saw earlier to create it's dream and, unfortunately, you also experienced sleep paralysis with it.
waterfalls123 (7 posts)
-2
10 years ago (2014-08-07)
The light I cannot explain but it may have been sleep paralysis or old hag syndrome which Is when a demon or ghost holds you down and may or may not whisper evil or mean things to you. If you felt something physically holding you down it was probably old hag syndrome. If you could feel a force evenly holding you down it may just be sleep paralysis. I believe sleep paralysis is scientific not paranormal like old hag syndrome
Rosedemonchild (1 posts)
 
11 years ago (2014-04-07)
Experiences like this should not be just immediatly linked to ghosts or the supernatural. There are other reasons to sp and maybe this should be taken up with your doctor. If it is the work supernatural it is always the best idea to talk to an expect.
lady-glow (16 stories) (3190 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2014-04-05)
braeder42911: I think you had an episode of sleep paralysis and, at the same time, a dream influenced by the movie you watched earlier.
I agree with spiritwaiting and think the light could have been from a natural source.
Still, SP is never a nice experience! 😐

Thanks for sharing.
spiritwaiting (42 stories) (843 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2014-04-05)
braeder42911, Ok This crosses me as sleep paralyses. During an episode your not fully asleep, yet not fully awake, well in some cases. Other times you wake up suddenly, but your body hasnt registered yet. The bright light could have been a passing car, or truck or even an helicopter. Is your bedroom window upstairs, or on just a single level home? It may have even been a flashlight from a neighbor. I'm not saying at all that you didn't experience anything, but it doesn't seem to paranormal.
LanaIsQueen (4 posts)
 
11 years ago (2014-04-05)
That experience was totally creepy. But I've read an article about this sleep paralysis and the brain secreting some kind of a hormone during 2AM-3AM (which could be the cause why too many people wakes up for no apparent reason and couldn't get themselves to get back to sleep). Apparently though, I can't remember where I read this so I won't be able to post the link or scan the copy if it was published.
I hope you won't be able to experience that again because it really is creepy. 😐

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