Have you ever experienced a paranormal phenomenon?

[Kuko 4000]

My paranormal experiences include alien abduction..

Could you tell me the name of the thread? I tried search but ended up with almost nothing, or too much stuff to go through, thanks.

 

[JihadJane]

Quote:

someone's joking...

That would be a selection bias - that trait may be over-represented in the population from which the sample was drawn.

Linda

Very true!

 

[fls]

Could you tell me the name of the thread? I tried search but ended up with almost nothing, or too much stuff to go through, thanks.

I was hoping no one would ask so I wouldn't have to go through the work of finding it again. But since I've have my first cup of coffee and I feel up to it...

I think this is the thread I meant, but now that you made me go look it up, I see that I didn't really describe anything. I must have conflated my memory of describing it to someone else with what I wrote in that thread.

It first happened about 25 years ago. I woke up when it was still dark outside. A light appeared at my window and gradually increased in intensity until the whitest, most intense light you could imagine completely filled my room. I knew it was aliens, although I don't know how I knew this (I have a sense that my rationalization at the time was that the light was unprecedented as an earth-born phenomenon), I just remember absolute certainty. I wanted to get up and warn or be with the other people in the house, but when I tried I was paralyzed. I lay there feeling helpless and then all of a sudden it was morning and normal daylight outside, as though several hours had suddenly disappeared.

At other times I would awaken to see shadowy, alien figures moving about me, or have the sense of being restrained, but without the emotional impact of that first event (at least partly due to having a better understanding/familiarity with what was really happening).

Linda

 

[Kuko 4000]

I was hoping no one would ask so I wouldn't have to go through the work of finding it again. But since I've have my first cup of coffee and I feel up to it...

I was hoping you'd remember the thread without too much digging, apologies and thanks for the effort and description. I realise this is probably old news, but I'm curious to know how you rationalized your experience?

 

[fls]

I was hoping you'd remember the thread without too much digging, apologies and thanks for the effort and description. I realise this is probably old news, but I'm curious to know how you rationalized your experience?

I had had a few hypnagogic hallucinations prior to that one. I didn't know what they were, but I thought they might not be real (if only because the creatures were so fantastical ), but rather related somehow to dreaming (even though they felt real). The episode I described was quite different from the prior hallucinations, but I wondered if it was the same process. I must admit that I was unconvinced for quite a while, but as time passed and everything else seemed normal, I became less certain that anything real had happened. Later, as I had more hypnagogic hallucinations/sleep paralysis and discovered that these were well-recognized phenomena, it made more sense that all these experiences were related. Also, I have had lucid dreams for as long as I can remember, and when I could control the content of my hallucinations in the same way that I could control the content of my dreams, that seemed to confirm that I wasn't having a real experience.

Linda

 

[Kuko 4000]

I don't see too many "strong" dreams, but couple of times I've felt that I've been able to realise that what I'm currently experiencing is a dream instead of the ordinary physical reality. Since it first happened I've always been interested in trying to take control of the dreams without waking up, but I never took the time to look into it. It was only about a year ago that I found out about lucid dreaming and that some people really can control their dreams, I still have a feeling that this could have some very potential uses. Good stuff, the human mind

 

[juryjone]

I have never had desire to submit myself to JREF's dubious mercies anymore than I want go on Reality TV to seek my fortune. I'm not short of cash and don't consider myself a "psychic". Mostly I find "debunkers" to be quite unpleasantly aggressive, rude, arrogant and, quite often, scarily obsessed and easily as insane as those they long to debunk! I do not seek to represent the James Randi Foundation food source or act as a sacrificial victim for obsessive "debunker" cranks! Why does the "paranormal" concern you so much that you so quickly need to appropriate the services of terminally ill children to feed your conviction that it's all bunk? Does it threaten something?

All I know is that 'psi' is real, and so there must be a mechanism. Maybe this one, maybe not.

JihadJane and Limbo to JREF (quote from Plan 9 from Outer Space):
Eros: You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!

 

[I Ratant]

I don't see too many "strong" dreams, but couple of times I've felt that I've been able to realise that what I'm currently experiencing is a dream instead of the ordinary physical reality. Since it first happened I've always been interested in trying to take control of the dreams without waking up, but I never took the time to look into it. It was only about a year ago that I found out about lucid dreaming and that some people really can control their dreams, I still have a feeling that this could have some very potential uses. Good stuff, the human mind

.
Lucid dreams are fun most of the time.
I know I'm doing it, but usually the details evaporate from my memory almost instantly on waking fully.

 

[JihadJane]

JihadJane and Limbo to JREF (quote from Plan 9 from Outer Space):
Eros: You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!

Thanks. I am happier for absorbing the name Dudley Manlove but none the wiser otherwise.

Where is the mind?:

http://www.med.unc.edu/wellness/main/links/cellular%20memory.htm

 

[arthwollipot]

 

[Clairvoyant_Kyle]

Of course it can. There are 18,000 members here, so you'd expect 360 to have experienced alien abduction. If only 5 percent are active and noticed your thread title or the poll, that makes 18 people that could be expected to answer yes.

So are you saying 5% of the world’s population has claimed to of been abducted? I am a bit confused on that 5%. Can you clear that up?

Later, as I had more hypnagogic hallucinations/sleep paralysis and discovered that these were well-recognized phenomena, it made more sense that all these experiences were related.

I am glad to see you wrote this so I didn’t have to. But why do you claim to have been abducted then? Once sleep paralysis made me witness a very paranormal dream where I experienced ghost and it felt so real. I woke up in total fear. That doesn’t mean I claim I have experienced ghost. But maybe I am getting you wrong on this too.

-Kyle

 

[TinfoilCat]

I've always wondered how come all of the alien/ufo sightings/experiences all seem consistent with each other. I never experienced any of these phenomena and there isn;t enough clear evidence for me to form an opinion on this matter. However I've had my share of spiritual experiences.

 

[ExMinister]

The OP specifically said the poll was to measure whether we have experienced events the general public would consider paranormal and not whether we personally would explain it that way, which is why I voted yes on 2 categories. It did feel strange to vote yes, but based on the explanation it made sense.

 

[fls]

Thanks. I am happier for absorbing the name Dudley Manlove but none the wiser otherwise.

Where is the mind?:

http://www.med.unc.edu/wellness/main/links/cellular%20memory.htm

She describes research that would be quite ground-breaking if valid. I wonder why it wasn't published in a high impact journal like Nature or New England Journal of Medicine, instead of a publication that seems to be so little read that I can't find an impact factor or a listing in PubMed?

Linda

 

[fls]

So are you saying 5% of the world’s population has claimed to of been abducted? I am a bit confused on that 5%. Can you clear that up?

The 5% was a conservative guess as to which proportion of the JREF membership actually actively participates in the forum and could be expected to vote in the poll.

I am glad to see you wrote this so I didn’t have to. But why do you claim to have been abducted then?

I was answering the OP, which asked about experiences which the general public interpreted as alien abductions.

Linda

 

[arthwollipot]

I've always wondered how come all of the alien/ufo sightings/experiences all seem consistent with each other. I never experienced any of these phenomena and there isn;t enough clear evidence for me to form an opinion on this matter. However I've had my share of spiritual experiences.

It's influenced by popular culture. Three hundred years ago, it would have been described as a demonic visitation or the work of witches. Since popular culture now runs around the world, it's not all that surprising that what people report is consistent with what is currently popular. Today, that effectively means .

 

[Clairvoyant_Kyle]

The 5% was a conservative guess as to which proportion of the JREF membership actually actively participates in the forum and could be expected to vote in the poll.



I was answering the OP, which asked about experiences which the general public interpreted as alien abductions.

Linda

Oh, ok that makes sense.

-Kyle

 

[Clairvoyant_Kyle]

It's influenced by popular culture. Three hundred years ago, it would have been described as a demonic visitation or the work of witches. Since popular culture now runs around the world, it's not all that surprising that what people report is consistent with what is currently popular. Today, that effectively means .

That’s the smartest thing I have read all day. I better go to bed before some one responds to you and takes the title.

-Kyle

 

[arthwollipot]

That’s the smartest thing I have read all day. I better go to bed before some one responds to you and takes the title.

-Kyle

 

[Skeptic Guy]

Also, it may be because of their "abduction" that these people went in search of a website like this. The sample may already skewed.