According to sleep researchers, what lies behind ghosts, demons, and aliens

 If you believe in the supernatural, you won't be surprised if you hear tales of dead loved ones emerging in the middle of the night, massive explosions heard right as everyone is drifting off with no apparent cause, and other strange phenomena. What happens if you don't?

Chris French, who investigates accounts of ghost experiences, piqued my curiosity in the paranormal. He told me of countless people who had seen similar things. These encounters usually began as I was lying in bed. Then something odd will happen, such as a devil appearing, the world appearing different, or a perceived presence. The individual getting this experience can also feel stuck to their mattress, tarmacked into the sheet, and completely immobile.

It's understandable that people who have such experiences may think they're paranormal. However, certain phenomena, such as sleep paralysis, provide a viable solution to paranormal theories. As a sleep researcher, this piqued my interest in the subject.

Sleep paralysis

We cycle through various periods of sleep. We begin the night in a state of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which gradually deepens. We then repeat the loop until we reach REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. We are more likely to have vivid visions during REM sleep. We are all paralyzed at this stage, perhaps as a protective valve to prevent us from carrying out our dreams and attempting to fly.

However, during sleep paralysis, REM sleep characteristics persist into waking life. Many who witness it may be conscious, but may have dream-like hallucinations and have difficulty moving. This is a fairly normal occurrence, with about 8% of people experiencing it (although estimates vary dramatically depending on who we are asking). Sleep paralysis can also be induced in certain individuals by disturbing their sleep in particular ways.

Certain scholars, including those in France, claim this explains a large amount of paranormal reports. Sleep paralysis is slowly making its way into the mainstream consciousness, but we do need to learn more about this widespread complaint.

Our preliminary research, which I detail in my new book Nodding Off: The Science of Sleep from Cradle to Grave, suggests that genetic and environmental factors may play a role in why certain people are more susceptible to sleep paralysis than others. This must now be repeated with even larger samples. In our review of the literature, we discovered a slew of other factors linked to this widespread occurrence, including fatigue, trauma, psychological issues, and physical illnesses.

Exploding head syndrome

Aside from sleep paralysis, how else are sleep experts assisting with the explanation of paranormal experiences? People have reported hearing massive blasts in the middle of the night that they can't understand. There is no proof that a shelf has collapsed or that a vehicle has exploded. No one is strumming an acoustic guitar next to their head.

Again, this is related to our sleep, except this time it's demonstrated by "exploding head syndrome," a concept invented by neurologist JMS Pearce only recently. The reticular formation of the brainstem (a portion of our brain involved in consciousness) usually begins to impair our capacity to move, see, and hear things as we fall asleep. It's possible that a "bang" in our sleep is caused by a pause in this process. Instead of the auditory neurons being shut down by the reticular assembly, they can all fire at the same time.

Imps and ghouls

What do scientists think of precognitive dreaming, in the end? We may have a dream about a friend we haven't seen in years, just to be contacted the next day. French believes that science should also have an interpretation. He illustrates how, while such an event will be unexpected on any given day, it is more likely to occur over time, citing work by John Allen Paulos that focuses on probability.

For example Mrs Sinclair is a 70-year-old widow who lives alone tell story of a phantom she believed was dwelling in her home, an imp throttling her in the middle of the night, and other terrifying experiences. She found scientific theories to be somewhat comforting, and she no longer trusts in paranormal explanations for her experiences.

Hope that scientific theories of paranormal events will reduce fear in others. Reduced anxiety has also been proposed as a possible means of reducing sleep paralysis. So, by disclosing more detail about these strange occurrences, hopefully things would become less likely to go bump in the night.

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