Posthuman Blues

Night of the Crusher

"In the past 10 years, psychologist J. Allan Cheyne of the University of Waterloo in Canada has collected more than 28,000 tales of sleep paralysis. According to one of the chroniclers, 'The first time I experienced this, I saw a shadow of a moving figure, arms outstretched, and I was absolutely sure it was supernatural and evil.' Another person recalled awakening 'to find a half-snake/half-human thing shouting gibberish in my ear.' Yet another person reported periodically waking with a start just after falling asleep, sensing an ominous presence nearby. The tale continues: 'Then, something comes over me and smothers me, as if with a pillow. I fight but I can't move. I try to scream. I wake up gasping for air.'"





Having experienced sleep paralysis, there is no doubt in my mind that it constitutes a significant percentage of "abduction" accounts. The last time I experienced a "sense of presence" was late at night and I had the intuitive certainty that my bedroom had become a hive of unseen activity. I never suspected aliens or folkloric monsters, but it was distressing enough while it was happening.

As an episodic sleep paralysis "victim," I welcome scientific research into this bizarre phenomenon. I think dream-states have much to tell us. At the same time, I'm exasperated by the conventional debunking tactic that uses "sleep paralysis" to "explain" all alleged encounters with mysterious entities, many of which take place in full daylight and some in the presence of witnesses.

Sleep paralysis is undoubtedly part of the alien abduction puzzle. But the willful misidentification of the phenomenon at the hands of over-eager pseudoskeptics is a hindrance to both sleep psychology and close encounter research.