What 'Alien Abductions' Say About Our Brains

You’re on the internet, so you probably know that people sometimes claim to have been abducted by aliens. When researchers start to look closely at these stories and where they come from, they begin to realize that there might be something really interesting happening here psychologically.

#Psychology #Brain #Memory #Psych #Science

Hosted by: Hank Green
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[hannah-nvlv]

plot twist: the studies/research were conducted by aliens

[Sybil_Detard]

I have experienced sleep paralysis, it is truly terrifying when it occurs.

[MattisProbably]

You know... All of this makes a lot of sense but it also sounds an awful lot like something an alien who doesn't want to be discovered would say 🤔

[THEandONLYHairfish]

I have sleep paralysis a couple of times a month, with the expected weird backstory every time. I've known about the phenomenon since I was a lot younger (I'm 60), so I've never claimed to have been abducted by aliens. The entities involved are not always aliens, either; sometimes it's demons, or lost loved ones, "shadow people, " or just weird but unidentifiable creatures.

I find that if I can turn the situation to something pleasurable, like sex, using Lucid Dreaming techniques, the bodily sensations are anything BUT scary. Often, if I force myself to feel an object in my hand, and find my hand empty when I wake up, the paralysis will end immediately.

[hhjk]

The first time I experienced sleep paralysis, I was 674% sure I was being haunted by a demon.

[purplefire]

Fun fact: all my knowledge of sleep paralysis allowed me to help my mom learn that her 2 biggest paranormal encounter events were probably sleep paralysis.

[enrique_villegas_]

I was visited twice by red fire ball ufos when I was 7. The fist time I called my parents and neighbors and they saw them with me.

[PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

Even knowing what sleep paralysis is when it happens it is still terrifying. I experience it a couple times a year and when you are in a panic it's difficult to remind yourself this isn't real and it will pass. Then again it warps your time perception so what is in fact only a couple minutes can seem like it went on for hours.

[SquirrelASMR]

Says our brains are so cool that aliens wanna do stuff to them

[Jobobn]

How Hank looked when he says "Consciousness" at 4:59 has officially convinced me that he is the only person qualified to play the Joker.

Now we just gotta get #HankGreenJoker trending and make it happen.

[solnocturna]

This sounds nothing like the abduction phenomenon. What "abductees" experience tends to be a very specific set of symptoms and visuals that sleep paralysis simply can't account for. What is being presented here is pure speculation while in reality we still have no idea how or why this phenomenon occurs.

[lukehe]

Then how do you explain the abductions of multiple people or with many witnesses?

[mineola_]

I didn't get this in my subscription box, but on the home page. Weird.

[by]

I've experience sleep paralysis a few times but it's been a while. My memory is of fear, but not knowing why. Slowly the paralysis wears off as does the fear. I had a very similar sensation when a tilt table test identified that I have POTS. Once laid back horizontal and my heart restarted, I was paralyzed for some time until it wore off, but once again I had the feeling of fear.

[sonyablade]

And what if people KNOW
how sleep paralysis feels like and claim it was not it, and what if that they DON'T aspire to be abducted by aliens, but still have very realistic feeling of abduction, along with strange markings on their body? What then?

[halfway]

Yay, I'm early? I guess the only way to find out is to raiding area 51!

[Meaghan]

Good Afternoon,
I think that this is very interesting but when it comes down to it, a second study would need to be conducted about why the three group had difficulty remembering. A hypothesis could be surrounding emotional flooding. The third group sounds like their feelings (possibly of fear) surrounding the event had not been explored, which, in general does produce a lowered ability to recall and an increased need to insert memories which cause similar feelings.

[DAN]

Do these types of experiences differ between cultures?

[valeriew]

I had sleep paralysis with a night terror last night and I was aware of sleep paralysis (it has happened to me 2 times before last night, always after being up for too many hours due to a major deadline or something that made me stay up longer than I wanted to) so I didn't completely freak out, but it is still very alarming. I could see a dark figure standing next to my bed looking down at me, but the room was too dark to see the figure. I was leaned on my right side and my vision was slightly obstructed, like as if the sheet was over my face and I was looking from under the sheet. There was a green flashing light that flashed about every 3 seconds, originating from a single point (when I woke up I immediately checked my room for anything like a fire alarm, glade plug in, electric toothbrush, or something that could have been blinking green like that, but nothing). I remember trying to move my arms and body, but having that feeling like when your arm falls asleep and you want to move it but can't. I always sleep with my bedroom door closed and locked. I have black out shades on both my windows.

I know how crazy this sounds, but I felt like something was studying me. I don't remember being moved or abducted, but it felt like the entity staring down at me was observing/monitoring me. No one can see into my room from the outside, so if something is able to teleport into my room via technology or through evolutionary means (we know alternate dimensions exist and there are parallel worlds, potentially infinite worlds), then that could explain it. I believe it was way more likely just sleep paralysis+night terrors and my brain trying to make sense of what I perceived, but I don't rule out alternate explanations regardless of how unlikely it is. The universe is vast, we are so small.

[ShadowYaz]

Man. I remember my sleep paralysis. I remember I couldn’t move or breath in my own and I was blind but had my peripheral vision. No aliens though.