strange encounters, looking for explanations

[nutriman]

Hi everyone, this might be something for the "beyond dreaming" subforum but I do not believe in those things so easily so that's why I post it here. For about a year now I'm having strange encounters where I don't even know if this happens in reality or just in a dream (maybe something in between?) It's been 4 or 5 so far, the last one just happened a few days ago and brought me here. Maybe some of you share this kind of experience or can explain what goes on here. First off some things you need to know: In the company I work for we have a room where one can take a nap, very refreshing! I do that occasionally on my lunchbreak when I feel more tired than hungry. Imagine this room like you would find in a doctor's office: three cots each seperated with a cloth curtain. Most of the time I'm in there alone but if someone comes in I wake up immediately from the noise the door makes. Even if you'd try you just can't open it silently and I have the lightest sleep of any persons I know. (The volume of my alarm clock is ridiculous my friends say...) It's only in this very room where I've made these strange encounters. So here's what exactly happened so far: I was lying on the cot napping, then I woke up and turned my head towards the cloth curtain where I saw something strange. The cloth was jerking as if someone on the other side poked around with a finger on the curtain. How the heck could I not recognize somebody coming in?? I watched the cloth moving until it stopped (about half a minute) and fell back asleep. When it was time to get back to work I got up very silently cause I didn't want to disturb that somebody but as I got to the door I could see there wasn't anyone in ANY cot. How could I missed the noise of the door, TWICE (!?) and what's with the strange movements on the curtain?!?! Kept me thinking for days... When it happened again weeks later I swore I'm goin to make a thorough reality check next time this happens. The cots and the curtains were rearranged in the meantime which lead to a another intense encounter: I was lying on a cot with only space for one more cot to my left, further left there is a big window. The light from there illuminated the curtain (unlike the times before the rearrangement). So when I woke up this time I was able to see what's going on behind the curtain from the shadow that was cast upon it. I could clearly see a person moving on the other side and I'm not talking about some hazy kind of shadow but a clear silhuette. Again, I hadn't heard anyone coming in - impossible! This sight made me so sure this was real but after continuing my nap and again not hearing anyone leaving I peeked through a gap of the curtain/frame and - you guess right - nobody lying there! I even checked how the shadow of my hand looked like on the curtain to see if it matched the shadow and the direction of the light of the person's shadow I saw before, which it did. This was getting a bit disturbing...but not as disturbing as my last encounter so far which happened a few days ago. Lying on the cot I was dreaming about a cat whose paws got caught up on my clothes. I woke up seeing the ceiling of the room but still feeling a drag on my blanket. I actually had to hang on to it and clamp it in between my legs. I opened my eyes wide to check if this was real. I know this is a rather lame and unreliable reality check and all encounters have one thing in common: After it I always fall back asleep which makes me quite unshure about the whole thing. I can only say it feels so darn real, it feels nothing like a lucid dream, nothing like a dream at all and nothing like a sleeping paralysis which I experienced some years ago. So is this some other kind of phenomenon? My only explanation would be false awakening, but why does it only happen in that room?? I swear I am not making this up and I'm going to update this thread once I have another encounter which can take weeks for the next one... Well, I'd love to hear your thoughts, experiences and possible explanations, greatly appreciated, thanks alot!

[Paradox-db3]

I'm no expert, but as I was reading I was thinking False Awakening. But the only other thought I have is practical joke! Do you have some jokers where you work? I understand you say there's no one in the room, but is it possible they are aware of how light you sleep? Or could they be hiding (that one's a bit of a stretch, but hey...just exploring all options!).

[Paradox-db3]

I'd also like to add that sometimes we are looking for the unexplainable. You know...because it's mystical and kind of fun!

[Hukif]

Easy to check wheter your awake or not, just take something to write in the floor with you and use it to write in the floor while you think your awake, if it stays that way when you wake up for sure, then be afraid! I mean... get more info <.<

[forsakendreams]

I find with daytime naps, especially if I'm tired, I slip into REM sleep much more quickly and so my dreams seem more vivid and I recall them much more clearly when I wake up.. sometimes that I'm slightly disoriented and confused when I wake up because the dream was so vivid and fresh in my mind. When you nap in the room, you say you are a light sleeper. Do you experience any slight anxiety about being walked in on, or something unknown coming into the room while you are napping? That type of minor stress could easily induce the seemingly anxiety type of dreams you are experiencing - mysterious shadow form walked into the room without your noticing. Sometimes when I take a nap at work, I slip right into REM sleep and dream vividly of the looming deadlines in the afternoon or any other unfinished business I have on my mind, often concerning co-workers, work, or bosses. Or sometimes in my dream I complete some task, thinking I'm finished, and then wake up to reality realizing the task is still undone. That writing a message while thinking you're awake is a great idea though!

[MindDaguerreotype]

I'm thinking of a false awakening as well. FA and lucid dreams can be more frequent when sleeping in unusual places (it's the case for me anyway). You should do a reality check everytime you wake up in this nap room, strange encounter or not (choose a reliable RC, my favorite is pinching my nose to test if I can still breathe). Writing on a paper is a good idea too, but with the RC you have the advantage of having a lucid dream. Do both !

[nutriman]

Thanks alot for your replies guys. I do have some new experiences and it seems I've found the answer but please read on, it get's very weird now! First one: A couple of days after posting this I went back to that room, anticipating. And then it happened: I woke up because I heard steps around me! The kind of squeaky noise you'd expect from walking on wet rubber soles on linoleum floor. Which is impossible since there was nobody and there's a carpet floor. So that was the first real confirmation for me that this must have been FA. but check out the next one, most disturbing but at the same time revealing experience so far...

[nutriman]

next one, this was intense: Off to that room again, ready to demystify... Took a nap for like 20minutes. I woke up, saw the ceiling but nothing else special like unusual sounds or sights. So I decided to do a reality check. (You know sometimes when you're feeling dumb about doing a reality check because you just know exactly that you are awake? Well that was one of those moments but anyway I decided to do a RC) Best thing I could think of was to take a look at my cellphone and try to read what's on the display. So while still lying watching the ceiling I reached into my pocket, grabbed it and held it in front of me. Already the sensation of lifting my arm and feeling the phone in my hand was so real that I expected nothing but awakeness. But what I saw then was undescribable, I couldn't believe my eyes!!! I did NOT see my hand and my cellphone, I still saw the ceiling and some kind of refraction where my arm/ hand/ cellphone should have been. If somebody can recall the movie predator: The appearance of the creatures when in invisible stealth mode. Oh Boy, what an experience.... Man, I'd never thought it could be that intense and I could be fooled that way. I have lucid dreams frequently and I'm fairly experienced when it comes to recognizing dreams (when in bed!) but this seems like a completely different level of dreaming!! @farsakendreams: It really seems that this time of day is very, very prone to FA. Well the mystery seems to be solved which doesn't make it any less spectacular. If I wouldn't know about FA and other expreriences that are related to it I would be lying on a psychiatrists couch right now. Thanks for all your answers.

[nutriman]

I put this together quick and dirty so you can imagine how it looked like: it's not the actual backdrop and cell phone. Now ain't that something... Would be interesting if some of you had a similar experience.