I don't know quite how to categorize this, other than to say nothing like it has ever happened to me before.

I was having some kind of sci-fi dream reminiscent of Aliens. Ripley and I were in some kind of facility at the bottom of a shaft. It was dark, and we were hunting for aliens, I guess. Without warning, she turned on me and became strange and zombie-like. She was sitting on top of me, and her face was a few inches from mine. In the dim light, it looked beastly. She looked like she wanted to eat me or something, and liquid was dripping from her jaws. I decided this was way too creepy for my taste, and I forced myself to wake up.

This is where it gets weird.

At the foot of my bed was a silent, spherical swarm of insects, about a foot and a half in diameter. I felt very, very weak physically, like all my energy had been drained. It took every effort to lift my legs and push them away. When I pushed the blankets up into the swarm, it partially clumped together but retained its shape. After a few excruciating moments, I was able to rise up and shoo it away with my hands. But before I could reach it, the swarm drifted back and dissipated right into my bookshelf a few feet away.

I sat up in bed for a few minutes, trying to work out what I saw. I don't take any drugs or use any medication. This was happening in broad daylight. I felt no fear, only irritation at this swarm and frustration with the difficulty I had had with moving around. I felt no paralysis, only weakness. It might have been hypnagogia, but it's my understanding is that that phenomenon is rarely this vivid. I know I was genuinely awake when this happened, because I checked the clock several times -- it was about 6:30 AM.

I've been working on and off for the past week on lucid dreaming and partially succeeded a few days ago. Maybe that has something to do with it.