People have believed in extraterrestrial civilizations for centuries. Books, films, and the media often describe flying saucers visiting our planet. Even Elvis Presley and John Lennon reported having come into contact with aliens. At the same time, many such stories are associated with sleep paralysis or awakening. Or are they just a kind of dream?
This question interested Russian researchers from the Phase Research Center, who published the results of an unusual experiment. Michael Raduga, Andrey Shashkov, and Zhanna Zhunusova conducted an experiment involving 152 lucid dreaming practitioners. The volunteers had to deliberately meet with aliens in a dream to compare how such contacts would differ from “real” reported ones. As a result, 114 people reported a successful experience of communicating with extraterrestrial civilizations. Someone even managed to talk to the aliens and board their space craft.
The researchers divided these “contact reports” into two groups: absurd (including dream-like experiences) and realistic (when the events described could, in theory, be confused with reality). It turned out that fear and sleep paralysis, which is typical for many “real” contacts with extraterrestrial civilizations, often occurred in the second group. This fact is the researchers’ main finding, being a strong argument in favor of the dreamlike nature of many “encounters.”
As the authors note, it is still unknown how phase states (i.e. lucid dreams, false awakenings, sleep paralysis, etc.) work and how they emulate our expectations. But the experiment confirmed the researchers’ hypothesis: it seems that meetings with extraterrestrials can be simulated at will. And if it is possible to do so deliberately, how often do such situations occur by accident?
Most likely, many “abductees” did not invent their stories – they simply did not have enough knowledge about what it was they were actually experiencing. Therefore, as the authors add, extraterrestrial civilizations better stop abducting people from their beds if they don’t wish to be confused with phase states.
The article was published in July 2021 in the International Journal of Dream Research.
