Mar 25 2009
|
|
Sleep Terrors…
(Beware The Incubus)
For anyone and everyone interested in the controversy surrounding “Alien Abductions” and a variety of other Fortean phenomena, the latest edition of Tim Binnall’s Binnall of America will be essential: it focuses on the controversial issue of “Sleep Paralaysis” and “Supernatural Assault.”
And here’s Tim with all the details:
Andrew Barnes & Paul Taitt
Your Worst Nightmare: Supernatural Assault
2 Hours, 14 minutes
It’s another BoA:Audio dual-guest interview, as we welcome Andrew Barnes & Paul Taitt, creators of the film Your Worst Nightmare which details the sleep paralysis and supernatural assault phenomena. The duo will explain just what these incidents are, how one seems to lead to the other, what “experiencers” of the phenomenon say happens when they are attacked, has anyone tried to communicate with the attacking entities, what proof do we have that these things are real, what the clergy says about it, how the phenomenon has been erased from the Western world, shadow entitites, OBEs, the Cambodian connection, the “God Helmet,” and a bizarre moment of technical difficulties that will either make you laugh or spook you out.
It’s a highly entertaining edition of BoA:Audio that covers a ton of ground in an otherwise fringe genre of esoterica: sleep paralysis & supernatural assault.
Full Preview: We kick things off with the bio/background on Andrew Barnes & Paul Taitt, finding out how they got interested in Sleep Paralysis and also how their production company “Soulsmack” was formed. We then move on to the main subject of the interview: sleep paralysis and supernatural assault. Andrew explains what sleep paralysis and supernatural assault are and how they are not the same thing, but merely one phenomenon “opening the door” for another. Paul reveals some remarkable statistics on how many people experience sleep paralysis and then, from those people, what percentage experience the supernatural assault. Andrew then shares an anecdote that illustrates how many people have these experiences, but are afraid of talking about them.
We then move into the supernatural assault part of the equation, first with Andrew detailing some of what has been reported by victims of the phenomenon. Paul then recounts his own personal, frightening, experience with supernatural assault during sleep paralysis. This segues into Paul telling us about some of the accounts of shadow creatures that appear during the supernatural assault. Paul discusses how painful it was for some of the witnesses to describe their experiences for the film and then Andrew tells us about how they found the experiencers to feature in the documentary, since many people have a reluctance to speak out about what happened to them. Andrew also laments about how modern psychiatrists are often “misdiagnosing” people who have supernatural assault experiences.
Next we discuss how there has been an upsurge, it seems, in reports of “shadow entities” and Paul talks about some of the various shadow creatures that have been reported in recent years. He also theorizes on why these entities all seem to take on the form of a shadow and how it may be based more in science than some people would expect. This leads to some discussion on how sleep paralysis has been lumped in with debunking of abductions, causing it to have gotten a “bad rap” with the esoteric community and Andrew talks about the scientific world’s problems dealing with sleep paralysis in general. Paul then contributes his take on science having a problem dealing with sleep paralysis and supernatural assault.
We find out if there have been many studies into sleep paralysis, with the intent of conjuring up some of these supernatural assault type events. Andrew tells us about the Shamanic traditions of using sleep paralysis experiences for rituals. Paul then talks about how lengthier sleep paralysis episodes can lead to out of body experiences (OBEs). We then find out, from Andrew, what sort of official scientific studies have been done on sleep paralysis and how much science really knows about what is going on in the brain when it happens. Paul then shares an amazing story about a sleep study that involved infrared filming, an orb, and a truly bizarre turn of events.
Jumping on an observation made in the film by a sleep paralysis expert, we talk about how the phenomenon (and the related supernatural assaults) have been virtually erased from the history books and in contemporary scientific discussion, despite once being a fairly mainstream phenomenon. Andrew details how sleep paralysis and supernatural assault have similarities in cultures throughout the world, except for the Western world. He then talks about how they had been trying to get members of the clergy interviewed for the film, what the clergy had to say about the phenomenon, and why they don’t appear in Your Worst Nightmare. Andrew then details one continual trend with these sleep paralysis events and how it relates the faith.
We discuss if anyone has ever communicated with these perceived entities attacking them during sleep paralysis and Andrew shares a frightening story of one person who “challenged” the entities which were attacking him. This leads to some more discussion on whether this is a spiritual phenomenon or merely a supernatural one and Paul talks about some of the warnings they received from the Church about studying the topic of sleep paralysis and supernatural assaults. He also talks about some of the strange events that have befallen people associated with the film.
Next, we ponder if this experience is always negative, as the witnesses in the film say, or if there are some folks who view the phenomenon as a positive. Andrew talks about one person, who is featured in the film, that did view it as a positive and he also talks about the overall reaction of people from the film to their experiences. Following that, we discuss any significant trends that may have been uncovered, from talking to so many experiencers, and Andrew details the one key link amongst them. Paul tells us about the amazingly high number of incidents in the Cambodian population and how it may, somehow, tie into trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Taking a skeptical look at the phenomenon, we find out if there is any tangible evidence for the supernatural assaults, such as scratches or marks left on the victims. Andrew talks about the problems with looking for “proof” of supernatural assaults and Paul discusses the striking prevalence of sleep paralysis incidents, borne out from their “man on the street” interviews found in the film. Paul also relates the story of the Hmong people, refugees from South East Asia, who had a series of mysterious deaths that some link to the sleep paralysis / supernatural assault phenomenon.
We find out if science has put forth any theories as to what is happening with sleep paralysis / paranormal assault. Paul details the story of Persinger and the “God Helmet,” which seems to be able to create such events using electromagnetic stimulus of the brain. We then get the filmmakers’ opinions on what should/could be done next with the topic, as far as scientific studies, if money were no object, and Paul lays out his ideal SP study. Andrew then suggests an alternative approach to looking at the phenomenon as well. This leads to some discussion on science and the paranormal, in general, and how they never seem to be able to co-exist.
Wrapping things up, we find out what folks can or should do if they are experiencing sleep paralysis / supernatural assault and they want it to stop. Paul also shares how one could, potentially, induce sleep paralysis, though we DO NOT recommend you try it. Following that, we experience bizarre technical difficulties, which we, for the first time ever, include in the show, since they were so strange/amusing. Wrapping things up, we find out what’s next for Soulsmack films and where folks can pick up a copy of Your Worst Nightmare.
This interview was recorded on 3.6.2009.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 5:27 am and is filed under Abductions, Alien Encounters, Anomalous Phenomena, Audio, Breaking News, Close Encounters, Evidence, Eyewitness Accounts, Fortean, Guest Column, History, Media Appearances, Occult/Esoteric, Psychic Phenomena, The Redfern Files, UFOlogy. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response or trackback from your site.
- Related News Stories:
- UFO Mag On-Line »
- Winged Things Again »
- Intrusions of the Dark Kind »
- Bridging the Unknown »
- Micah Hanks’ New Book »
- Captain Robert Salas And The UFO Missile Shutdown »
- Sorry, I Was Out »
- Fort’s Writing Catalogued »
- Gabe Valdez Passes »
- Reviewing the Shadow People »
|
March 27th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Nick — “sleep paralysis” gets mentioned in the director commentary for the DvD I just watched SIX DAYS IN ROSWELL. If you haven’t seen this it’s a brilliant “docu-comedy” road-trip from my home-town down to Roswell. There were two trips made with interviews of many of the experts plus tons of coverage on the festival, parade and the local events. Abduction is the focus of the film — the star wants to get abducted — and then interviews people to see if they can help him.
March 27th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Thanks Drew, I will definitely check out the DVD.
Cheers,
Nick
March 27th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Nick, I suffered with sleep paralysis from my late teens into my early 30s. Still have sporadic episodes occasionally.
It got to the point, in my early 20s, where it happened so frequently, I hated going to sleep.
This fear led to my eventual meth addiction…
Just kidding.
No meth.
And no aliens.
No incubi or succubi either.
My wife learned to just shove my ass out of bed whenever she’d hear the strangled little squeek I’d always make as I panicked on the threshold of consciousness.
Wait, there was one incident, around 18, when I was sure there was a completely black shadow man with glowing eyes sitting on the couch across from me.
Maybe I was too ugly to abduct.
Or haunt.
Cause I never saw it again.
My money’s on a dream, but, ya never know….
March 28th, 2009 at 1:58 am
That was silly…
Simple common logical sense says that before you try to explain how something works, you first have to prove that what you trying to explain exists or took place.
Case in point, there is no evidence whatsoever of the existence of the supernatural — end of discussion.
Another case in point, is that sleep paralysis is most common among Blacks, and those with narcolepsy — two things which are very uncommon among UFO experiencers. Sleep paralysis is also most often accompanied by hallucinations of an old woman or demon sitting on their chest, not of being carried away or experimented on. Even if sleep paralysis could be used as a valid explanation for some claimed UFO experiences, what about all the other vast majority of claimed UFO experiences that don’t take place in the bedroom, much less at night? It seems to me that sleep paralysis is nothing more than a popular fad being sold to believers because they don’t know any better.
Of course, this completely sidesteps the issue of whether ETs or flying saucers even exist.
The moral of the story is, using one make believe thing to explain another make believe thing just ain’t right.
March 28th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Carl C. Bell, M.D. in the May 2008 National Medical Association report notes that JAMA explains why blacks have more sleep paralysis — they more often get less than 8 hours of sleep a stretch and more likely 5 hours of sleep. This means they wake up more during R.E.M. which then induces sleep paralysis.
So the increase in alien abductions could be linked to an increase in sleep deprivation, which is known to be true. People are increasingly lacking a full night’s sleep in the U.S.
March 28th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
“Carl C. Bell, M.D. in the May 2008 National Medical Association report notes that JAMA explains why blacks have more sleep paralysis”
If that were true, it still doesn’t explain why the majority of UFO experiences are by non-blacks then. That kind of makes the sleep paralysis “theory”, invalid.
October 25th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
The reason science and the supernatural don’t co-exist is that the former relies on solid, physical evidence and the latter isn’t (How can you prove that something physical exists,if there is no proof it s physical?).
Second point, science works on reproducible results – the paranormal is spontaneous (Doesn’t perform like a tied up monkey because to work it has to be free or freed energy).
They are mutually exclusive like matter and anti-matter. In fact like matter (actual) and energy (potential). It’s like a volcano – the live part is raw, unformed, undifferentiated power (future possibility), whereas the cone is layers of history (known, certain records of the past). Think of the mind and will as opposed to the body and inert matter. The living part of us is like the volcanic lava (hot, flowing, energetic, emotional) and the dead part, like the Earth’s crust (cold, hard, stolid, crystallized, intellect).
I had one incident of sleep paralysis and another of sleep walking in my childhood but I’m not black and am aware of sleep deprivation and ’seeing things’(Shamanism uses this as a deliberate tool,along with drugs and constant motion (exhaustion)to break down the barriers to learning something new). What you must remember, getting back to the volcanic analogy, is that one half of the population needs and wants to hold onto dear life, to ground themselves and the other is so bored with it all that they spontaneously let go and live a new life (sickened by conformity, they vomit the same old rhythmic certainty back out, in search of adventure and difference, even if it kills them (ego/ body – who they ‘think’ they are as in the best Zen tradition).