What is this??

Hi all, after trolling the internet and having no success looking for an answer to my question I decided to give some online forums a try. I am hoping for some input on what it is I am experiencing while sleeping. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

My name is Brian, I am 34 years young:) My whole life I have experienced some sort of surreal sleeping disorder I can't seem to diagnose or find any credible information regarding it. Since I have been a child I have had countless nightmares, and even night terrors at times. I have researched these conditions and they relate a lot of it to anxiety, stress, caffeine etc. I even went to see several professionals regarding it over the years and their answer is "give him a pill" or I have I have issues I need to work through that are subconsciously playing out in my sleep. I have elected over the years never to take anything for this condition and always felt it had some sort of meaning to all of it.

Over the last 10 years I would say I have been experiencing something way beyond nightmares or terrors. I awake in the morning knowing how to do things I never knew how to do before. Like something downloaded while sleeping, perhaps something awoke as well. That is the feeling I experience when I have had these mornings in which I wake up and know how to do this things I was never taught in school, never witnessed anyone doing and or never even thought of prior to going to sleep the night before. For example; one morning I awoke and got on my pc and was able to navigate, crack, hack, program, and build a pc. Overnight I became more experienced on a computer than my Mother or Father that worked for IBM for 30 years as executives. I have no background in this as well. There are so many more examples of this. On some mornings I would wake up and know how to calculate math equations way beyond my education level, be able to decipher codes, figure out complex puzzles, and know how to fix complex electronics, etc. It has even flowed over into my personal life with seeing and hearing people differently. They have almost become transparent to my eyes and ears. I could go on and on about these experiences. It has become such second nature to wake up in the AM and be able to do something new way beyond my educational background and or experience, that when I wake up in the morning and I haven't had these episodes I feel like something is wrong with me.

If I was to interpret these events myself and try to understand how and why they occur I truly feel it has something to do with the subconscious awakening something in my brain at night while I sleep. Like I said before it almost feels like something was downloading while sleeping.

I am really looking for others that have had similar experiences or someone knowledgeable of this condition that could shed some light.

Thanks,
Brian

Allowing duplicate thread for BD. Very interesting! Hope you can find some answers, at least some clues.

This thread is for non-paranormal themed replies only.
If you would like to respond to this with a paranormal-themed response, please post in this thread in Beyond Dreaming: http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=80037

Sounds interesting. I never heard of anything like this.
Is there a way you can prove any of this? Not that I dont believe you but it sounds a little too out of the normal, even in an LD forum.

Are you (lucidly) dreaming before you have these experiences?
Can you control it in some way? For instance, say you wanted to learn how to become a (much) better chess player or learn a new language, could you make it happen at a given night?

From a biological standpoint, your brain would have to undergo major redistributions of neurological pathways and connections in a very short amount of time. I'm not quite sure if this is even possible in the way you described it (taking just one night) or if it might be harmful or dangerous for your brain.

Maybe you could elaborate more on these experiences. If this is true than this would be awesome, if not, nice prank ;)

It is possible that you are some sort of savant. Do you have any history of autism?

I could see it being possible if you are subconsciously picking things up while awake, but don't realize it. Then, while you are sleeping, your brain finally consolidates all this information, making it seem like you learned it in your sleep. It is well established that sleeping has some role in helping you form memories and learn skills. Maybe you are just an extreme case?

I would definitely recommend getting a reference from your doctor for a specialist in this area. I could see people being very interested in your case. Like Lemmefly suggested, it would help to put together some sort of proof so a busy and skeptical doctor would take you seriously and really want to pursue this.

Have you tried testing your ability? Maybe skim or speed-read a very complicated book, then sleep on it and see what you remember in the morning?

Thanks for responding!

I wouldn't know where to begin to try to prove these occurrences, but many family members have witnessed these waking episodes countless times. Even peers outside my home recognize a difference in my skills. Normally the questions of "where did you learn this, did you go to school for this, how do you know how to do all these new things??" arise.

Yesterday was the very first day of my life I decided to put myself out there and try to find others with similar experiences after thoroughly researching this with no closure.

I don't know if I am lucid dreaming or not. To be honest I never practiced trying to control my dreams or having any realization I am doing so consciously or subconsciously. I will try to explain to the best of my ability what occurs on these particular days.

1. Before I go to sleep on any of those nights, I know when I am going to have one of these episodes. I consciously know that they are going to occur and I even warn my wife to it like second nature now, due to the fact it usual means a sleepless night for her.

2. My wife witnesses me sitting up with my eyes wide open as if I am awake talking to someone or something or perhaps even myself. Sometimes she says that I am looking right at her talking to her and even speaking in other languages fluently( I only speak English). She also goes on to say that when this is occurring it looks like me but it isn't me. Initially she was scared of this but now she has come to terms with it. This goes on for much of the night. In the past she has attempted to wake me up but cannot at all.

3. When I awake the next morning I cannot recall anything. Although I feel like I haven't slept a wink. Something tells me I was very active but again I cannot ever recall anything I was doing or saying.

4. After these nights occur I find myself during that day falling into some sort of what I would call a trance state. This is when I start doing something that I have never done before way beyond any my educational background, experience and or expertise. In the main example I gave in my initial post I explained I was able to navigate, crack, hack, program etc. To many others out there this is something they had learned or studied. I was able to do all these things within seconds of logging onto my pc without ever doing it before. But when I am doing these things I recall staring at my computer in almost a sleep state. Like I just let go and something takes over. Like I am staring through the pc. Like I am recalling something I already knew inside me. When this occurs I don't fight it, I don't control it , I go with it. It feels natural, it feels like I knew it all along but how could I. I mean I am doing things I never ever seen anyone do without 3rd party software or services. I will also share that when I am in this state sometimes I don't even know how I got there or it feels like a blink of an eye and I had accomplished it within seconds of beginning it. Almost like no times has passed at all. This has happened countless times to me. I consciously remember asking myself "what are you doing" but the end result always confirms it was something I needed to know and be able to do. Not like a worthless skill. This even happens with my interaction with people the very next day after that night's episode. I find myself conversing with someone but not listening to them verbally speak but staring so deep within their eyes that I see and hear them and know all their intentions. I cannot say I control this but rather when I feel like I totally let go it occurs. Again I feel like I am in a trance state. ( I sound crazy)

I was in our chat yesterday and I was sharing an experience in my life that I always go back and think about since it is where and when these episodes began for me. It happened when I was 15, I fell 35 feet out of a tree onto pavement. I can recall being knocked out and the feeling was amazing. They said I was out for approx 12 minutes. When I awoke I felt very different. I was so angry, very mad at them for reviving me. They picked me up and placed me on my Youth Group Directors bed and proceeded to have bible study. They attempted to reach my parents and then 2 hours later my Dad shows up yelling and screaming at them. Wondering why they didn't call 911 or bring me to the hospital. My Father brought me to Coral Springs Medical Center and after a few hours of being there, countless X-Rays, they sent me home with having a slight concussion. My Dad brought me home and I went to sleep, 4 hours later the hospital called and my Dad came running into the room and asked me not to move. The hospital picked me up and brought me back to have a CAT scan only to find I had broken my back and neck. They couldn't believe I was walking around this whole time with a broken neck and back. They had overlooked the X-Rays. They immediately sent me down to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. During all this time something happened and I lost total feeling in my whole left side of my body. I couldn't move at all.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Seeing the doctors talking to my Mom and Dad. I knew it was bad. The doctors later came in and told me that one of the bones from the burst fracture in my neck had damaged my spinal cord. That I would never regain those functions again. Weeks passed and I am in full traction in the hospital and this is when the first episode I can recall occurred. I had fallen asleep and woke up like I felt as I described above. Felt like I hadn't slept at all. Like I was in a trance. Then all of a sudden I was scratching my face with my left arm. I believed I could and I did. I knew I was fine and told myself so. I regained all my motor skills. I was no longer paralyzed. I can go on and on about this particular situation as everyone was saying it was a miracle and Doctors were puzzled/dumbfounded. I made a full recover with NO impairments to date.

I am sharing one of my life stories with you because I truly believe that this particular incident is what started all of it for me. As I was stating earlier, when I fell and awoke I was so angry. This was a new feeling for me. It didn't feel like me at all. What I am trying to say is, It felt like my conscious and my subconscious flipped places. Because immediately following me being revived I was so different. I always had embraced religion, believed everything I was taught, told and shared with me. In an instance I threw it all out. Like I could see through all the lies and BS. I was de-programmed in an instance. There was such clarity and I took out the trash without second thought. It felt like Brian but was the other side of Brian. It's very difficult to articulate this.

Another example of this occurred when I was 21. I went to the Doctor for the standard HIV/VD tests. I knew inside me that I had contracted it. I can't explain it but knew it. Yet again the night previous to going into the doctor I had one of my sleep episodes. I went in and sat down in his office and as he was speaking but I found myself in that trance state again. I was able to hear him and listen but at the same time I was seeing through him and felt I was absent from the conversation. He goes on to say. I have good and bad news. You contracted HIV, Syphilis, and Hep. Your body made an immunity to it, and you are not a carrier either. As most would be shocked, it was as if I already knew. He goes on to tell me I am one of a handful of people worldwide that has this ability. I felt inside of me I knew I had done this and it was me effecting my body.

So not only am I waking up and being able to do new things beyond my capabilities when these episodes occur when I am sleeping but it has translated into me doing remarkable things with my body as well. It must have something to do with effecting your illusion, being in touch with you conscious and subconscious at the same time. Mind over matter, seeing past things, embracing yourself, letting go of control, believing it can be done, tapping into other parts of the brain, able to subconsciously take other peoples skill in sleep, recalling it in a past life perhaps.. I don't know.... I honestly have hundreds of theories.

Any input is greatly appreciated

Brian

Thanx for the elaborate post Brian, it shed some new light on the whole story.

Still, I have some more questions to get the big picture.
You say you know it before the night starts, but how do you know it? Is it a certain feeling (can you describe it)? Do you know beforehand what it will be about (can you control it in any way)?

How often does this occur, roughly? Have you ever tried filming yourself in one of those nights and watch yourself in that state afterwards?

Also, you say that the next day you get into a trance state when applying your newly learned skills. Is it a feeble or a strong trance? Can you stop or control it? Is it like you are just watching yourself do these things or are you actively using your cognitive mind? For example, while programming, do you just let your fingers run over the keyboard or actively thinking about how the structure of the program has to look like and what step has to be done next?

And of course, what other skills are there that you have gained, and would you say that once you have learned one of these skills, can you use it everytime you want afterwards or does it get weaker over time?


It certainly looks like that accident has sth. to do with it in some way (35 feet...damn). I think one of the more rational and not too out-of-this-world solutions would be that during the accident your spine might have penetrated parts of your brains cortal and/or other areas, thereby changing its working and functioning in some way. Have you had your head X-rayed in the recent past and have experts look for strange patterns and structures?

I agree with RobotButler that this seems like some sort of autism or savant-like abilities. These people are able to very efficiently use certain parts of the brain that most people can not acces that way, but almost always this goes hand in hand with a lack in social abilities (for instance, they might not be able to understand sarcasm or read body language at all, because they are so trained on just processing hard and cold information that other parts of their brains come short and are extremely under-developed).

You say that you can basically "read through" people, so that would contradict this theory a bit. Would you consider yourself a normal person in social interactions (probably hard to answer that question yourself)? Or better, how do you think others perceive you while interacting (talking)? Do you think they get confused about your staring them into the eyes? Can you stop that if you want or is it hard to fight it?


Lots of questions :) , but this is just really intersting and fascinating.

If you could control your ability, this would obviously be great. On the other hand, you say you are seeking help, so you might not be too happy about it and see some dark sides to it, maybe you could elaborate on that point a little more, too.

I call shenanigans. Barring some paranormal explanation (aliens, you're a superhero), this seems absolutely impossible (at our tech level, anyway).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stygian

I call shenanigans. Barring some paranormal explanation (aliens, you're a superhero), this seems absolutely impossible (at our tech level, anyway).

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At our tech level this is not completely impossible at all. It might be unlikely given the circumstances, but certainly not impossible.

Anyway, I don't really have an opinion on this topic other than it is interesting, at the moment.

Well, thats definitely different. this could make a great movie... interesting!

oh yeah,

:welcome:

hope you find some answers ;)

Very interesting but I have no idea what to tell you.

Good luck.

This is absolutely fascinating to me. While it does seem a little like a form of autism, with the "transparent people" and all, since when do autistic people, men and women indifferent, master new skills in their sleep? Plus, how would autism affect your physical body by making immunities to diseases you've (correct me if I am wrong) never had before? Now that you mention it, it does seem a lot like the abilities your subconscious has got conveyed into your conscious mind. For example, if you hear a loud scream, you may start to correlate other sounds you hear with this, like the sound of a sledgehammer hitting something. Your subconscious might imagine that someone was being murdered with a sledgehammer, and might begin building hallucinations around this. I sometimes read articles about paranormal activities, such as ghosts or demons, and regret it. Soon afterward, I do double-takes when turning corners, because that hat stand by the door at first looks like a ghost holding an axe.

A few questions; you say you know when these "episodes" will happen. Can you stop them from happening? Can you control what new skill you will learn? For instance, say you go back to college for one reason or another. You have a big French test. Will you suddenly pick up French overnight? And can you use these skills without going into the trance?

I suggest trying to perform a WILD, or Wake-Induced Lucid Dream, to see what your mind will create in a dream. The tutorial can be found here: http://dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=66238. See if you can will yourself into learning a new language, math equation, etc. and then wake up with it in the morning. I have a feeling your dreams might in someway induce what you learn. Kindly post your results! I'll wait in anticipation.

Best wishes,
RP

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Royalpeach

This is absolutely fascinating to me. While it does seem a little like a form of autism, with the "transparent people" and all, since when do autistic people, men and women indifferent, master new skills in their sleep? Plus, how would autism affect your physical body by making immunities to diseases you've (correct me if I am wrong) never had before? Now that you mention it, it does seem a lot like the abilities your subconscious has got conveyed into your conscious mind. For example, if you hear a loud scream, you may start to correlate other sounds you hear with this, like the sound of a sledgehammer hitting something. Your subconscious might imagine that someone was being murdered with a sledgehammer, and might begin building hallucinations around this. I sometimes read articles about paranormal activities, such as ghosts or demons, and regret it. Soon afterward, I do double-takes when turning corners, because that hat stand by the door at first looks like a ghost holding an axe.

A few questions; you say you know when these "episodes" will happen. Can you stop them from happening? Can you control what new skill you will learn? For instance, say you go back to college for one reason or another. You have a big French test. Will you suddenly pick up French overnight? And can you use these skills without going into the trance?

I suggest trying to perform a WILD, or Wake-Induced Lucid Dream, to see what your mind will create in a dream. The tutorial can be found here: http://dreamviews.com/community/showthread.php?t=66238. See if you can will yourself into learning a new language, math equation, etc. and then wake up with it in the morning. I have a feeling your dreams might in someway induce what you learn. Kindly post your results! I'll wait in anticipation.

Best wishes,
RP

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Thanks for replying!

I agree with you 100%. I somehow know there is a direct connection with what is occurring when I am sleeping (subconscious state) and then when I am in real time in a trance state with the subconscious/conscious melded/married as one. I think this is where it crosses over from.

In reply to your question. I have never attempted to control them. For me, it seems that giving into control is the secret. Not attempting or trying to manipulate it allows me to go in and out of these phases. I always relate control to doing something consciously, and when I allow for things to just occur I seem to have these episodes. I really feel that when you get your head involved in controlling things it cannot understand and or relate to a defensive barrier appears to block out what can potential cross over. Maybe this is just how it works for me. But in all honesty when I let go of control I find it works for me.

When I retain new skills it is something I can recall once the trance state episode concludes in real time. I do not have to be in a trance state once that has concluded for me to use the skills again. Like I said in my 2nd post, all the new skills I have acquired always seem to be something I needed to know and or something that would lead me to the next thing I was to fully grasp/understand. I have never had an episode where I gain knowledge to a useless skill. Perhaps this is my journey.. A tool of awakening I am experiencing. Something that is bringing me closer to truth.

Thanks again for your input, it was very useful. Check this topic out under Beyond Dreaming. I believe an admin had copied it over there and it makes it easier for me to keep responding to replies.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lemmefly

Thanx for the elaborate post Brian, it shed some new light on the whole story.

Still, I have some more questions to get the big picture.
You say you know it before the night starts, but how do you know it? Is it a certain feeling (can you describe it)? Do you know beforehand what it will be about (can you control it in any way)?

How often does this occur, roughly? Have you ever tried filming yourself in one of those nights and watch yourself in that state afterwards?

Also, you say that the next day you get into a trance state when applying your newly learned skills. Is it a feeble or a strong trance? Can you stop or control it? Is it like you are just watching yourself do these things or are you actively using your cognitive mind? For example, while programming, do you just let your fingers run over the keyboard or actively thinking about how the structure of the program has to look like and what step has to be done next?

And of course, what other skills are there that you have gained, and would you say that once you have learned one of these skills, can you use it everytime you want afterwards or does it get weaker over time?


It certainly looks like that accident has sth. to do with it in some way (35 feet...damn). I think one of the more rational and not too out-of-this-world solutions would be that during the accident your spine might have penetrated parts of your brains cortal and/or other areas, thereby changing its working and functioning in some way. Have you had your head X-rayed in the recent past and have experts look for strange patterns and structures?

I agree with RobotButler that this seems like some sort of autism or savant-like abilities. These people are able to very efficiently use certain parts of the brain that most people can not acces that way, but almost always this goes hand in hand with a lack in social abilities (for instance, they might not be able to understand sarcasm or read body language at all, because they are so trained on just processing hard and cold information that other parts of their brains come short and are extremely under-developed).

You say that you can basically "read through" people, so that would contradict this theory a bit. Would you consider yourself a normal person in social interactions (probably hard to answer that question yourself)? Or better, how do you think others perceive you while interacting (talking)? Do you think they get confused about your staring them into the eyes? Can you stop that if you want or is it hard to fight it?


Lots of questions :) , but this is just really intersting and fascinating.

If you could control your ability, this would obviously be great. On the other hand, you say you are seeking help, so you might not be too happy about it and see some dark sides to it, maybe you could elaborate on that point a little more, too.

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Hi and thanks again. I will answer in the order your questions were raised in to the best of my ability.

1. I do know when it is going to occur. If I have to translate the feeling into words it would best be described as "great amounts of anxiety, tense physical feeling, usually proceeding me being very tired/drained, a feeling of complete mental exhaustion, like I'm checking out". I never seem to know what it will be about, no. I have stated to many others, I don't seem to control it nor want to. I have whole heartedly felt that not attempting to control it is what allows for it, at least for me. I have always felt strongly in regards to any of this that not controlling it is the secret to it. Totally embracing it, allowing it, going with it, just letting all my walls down is what brings it upon me easier. Perhaps this is why it occurs when I am totally mentally exhausted as well. There seems to be a direct connection with it.

2. I have never filmed it. It happens when I least expect it but often enough that when it doesn't occur I feel as if something is wrong with me. I really should record them, the only reason why I think I haven't attempted to do so is my wife is already on edge every night we go to sleep and recording the event wouldn't give me any personal insight to why it was occurring but rather an entertaining side to it:) Also, I think that it would consciously seep into my subconscious and this natural occurrence wouldn't come forth.

3. When I enter the trance state following the night episode it seems to be a trance state in which I am consciously aware but not there. Like I had mentioned, sometimes hours went by but felt like seconds to me. I can be disturbed but when that has occurred I feel as if I am extremely bothered by it. I get very angry. Probably since I cannot go back into that state by the means of control so any interference feels like an annoyance and screws me of the journey feeling. I would also add that it does not feel like I am watching myself do it but rather something is coming through me. It feels like I am asleep but I am there.. Like a dream state. This is where I believe it is my subconscious coming through. My motor skills seem to be linked to whatever is holding me in that state. I can't say I have ever made a conscious thought of whether or not I am controlling my appendages during this trance state. I don't actively think about anything. Sometimes I get to the end of it and don't even remember how I began it but what is clear is I retained the ability to do it again consciously on command.

4. Like I tried to explain, the skills set I seem to retain always has something to do with a direction/question I had. Even more so it seems like I needed to retain these new skills for the next ones to build upon. It's always a skills for a solutions or question I had. Never has there been a useless skill retained. What is even stranger is that even though I am retaining certain knowledge that has to do with a particular skill set its meaning is always so much deeper. For i.e.: When I acquired to ability to hack it was in direct correlation to me being involved in the 2001 Enron scandal. In 1999 I owned an attorney's office and my biggest client was the heirs to the land in which Enron oil leased off of. To make a very long story short. These new computer abilities allowed me to find ALL the fictitious corporations, the illegal LLP's and enterprises, the "real" people behind the scene. I had uncovered and put together the entire story behind Enron scandal way before it became public. My research was later subpoena by the Senate Investigation Committee. The lesson I felt I had learned was not one in which I could find a needle in a hay stack but the skills allowed for me to see the bigger picture. The TRUTH if you may. I was part of exposing the Enron scandal but that wasn't the underline objective. For me it was finally seeing the TRUTH on how everything really works in the world. Seeing and knowing the truth behind government, corporations, secret societies, understanding how it all works and completely giving into the idea EVERYTHING IS EXACTLY OPPOSITE of what we have been told/taught. That what we perceive to be true really isn't and that there is so much more behind the scenes that only a few good conspiracy theories have even come close to touch on.

I have learned: to hack, program, build intricate electronics, see and hear things beyond most people's abilities (see people's true subconscious thoughts/feelings written in books, played out in movies, written in songs---way past subliminal conscious outlines), manipulate my body, heal others, mind read, see through people's true intentions, grasp advance science and mathematics, understand time travel and ancient beliefs that correspond with today, break codes, listen to animals, in touch with reality and effecting it in real-time, seeing through layers/years of lies to embrace truth in or society, seeing things before they happen, etc etc etc etc etc. Most seems way too outlandish even for this site.

4. I do feel that my accident when I was younger has had a direct effect on what I have experienced since. A lot of people want to relate this to something physical that had occurred and to a degree I find some relating truth in it. I find comfort in the feeling that all things happen for a reason whether we understand them at that particular time or later find some real relevance to it all. I don't know what could of changed in my brain, or the chemical makeup of my body and the way it functions but it has allowed for something to come through. All test I have ever had have concluded I had NO abnormal brain functions and or damage.

5. I do have the ability to "read through people". No, I don't consider myself to be normal in social interactions. I always feel out of place. Like I am surrounded by people that just don't get it. Not a feeling of knowing more but perhaps seeing and hearing more or just coming to terms with things and not ignoring realities truth. I am not absent in conversations but normally the one that commands a magnetic attraction. People seem to swarm and find a lot of comfort around me. I seem to always draw people but then I also seem to scare them away. This is not anything that is verbally spoken and or body language related but rather I feel as if I am too much for them to compute. They see something that brings a curtain of doubt down around them and they become almost like fear stricken in my presence. But again this has to do with me projecting on them in person. I do think it also has something to do with when I am staring through them. I think something subconscious in them is made aware and it closes down. I still have the ability to see through their curtains even thou this defense is erected. When I am staring at their "eye" I also feel as if it is one of those trance states I have described but it isn't something you can see me doing. I don't uncomfortably stare into their face with body language that can be identified when doing so.

6. Again, I give into control. I allow for these things to come forth w/out any conscious control effort. Perhaps by me mentally acknowledging I won't control it, it is this that allows for it to come out and maybe that is my subconscious way of control. Like I have said before, I don't know how to control these episodes but what I do know how to do it use what I have retained after the awakening has occurred. I am very grateful for having this condition but like everyone else, you find comfort in knowing others are having similar experiences. There are some directly affected fallout from being like this and having these experiences but I firmly believe that we only learn from bad experiences in life---never from the good ones.

http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=80037

Not that I don't believe you (I feel that you have gone into way too much detail and have given enough life experiences that I don't know how you would be lying:) ), but I'm sure there are a lot of skeptics. Maybe you could show us an actual, physical example of something you've learned/done after you were done sleeping. For example, a program you have programmed, or maybe a screen shot of something you have done (or maybe both), or maybe you could do a long math equation that most of us wouldn't be able to do. Just kind of as a way to prove yourself.

I personally believe you and think that it is possibly one of the most unique things I have ever even heard of. Maybe some solid proof would enlighten us even more though. (If you get what I'm saying)

I have indirectly related thoughts to offer. You mention that you remain unaware during these episodes. This seems somewhat analogous to how most people dream; perhaps it is fortunate that you have come to a lucid dreaming forum.

Lucid dreaming essentially works by either maintaining or raising your awareness while you sleep – and then you would be able to recognize that you are dreaming and so on. This may be a useful avenue to pursue, as if you are able to remain aware during these episodes, you may come upon insight into what is actually happening.

For starters, I would recommend checking the Attaining Lucidity section. One useful habit is to continually become aware of your surroundings and the present moment throughout the day. This will bleed into your sleeping habits. WILDing may be particularly useful, as you would maintain your waking level of conscious awareness through the transition states, and into sleep. Hopefully, with enough effort and time, you may be able to witness these events.