When you think of the classic phrase "things that go bump in the night", you might imagine a child hearing monsters in the closet or under the bed. Are those footsteps you're hearing coming up the stairs toward you or could it just be the old wooden staircase “settling in?” The questions are numerous when it comes to those mysterious sounds many have reported, albeit without full justification as to what they are. But what if there were no sounds? Instead while sleeping; suddenly you open your eyes only to find a motionless figure at the foot of your bed, and not just one time but multiple times. This is what has happened to Kelly, a single woman in her 40’s living in New York City. Kelly doesn’t know what to make of this repetitious scenario, but what she does know is that these regular nightly visits are real to her. This is her story.
Kelly – I would say my earliest recollection of it happening was when I first lived on my own in Brooklyn in the mid 90’s, and even prior to that when I was little, I remember being a very light sleeper and just feeling like there was a presence in the room. But specifically when I lived in Brooklyn, I would be in bed and would be asleep. I have very vivid dreams and I feel like I would dream constantly. I feel like I dream an awful lot. What happens is I will be in bed and typically this happens anywhere between 2-5am. I do feel like I’ve been dreaming and maybe that’s the reason why I am startled awake.
Whatever’s going on in my dream, it seems to kind of traverse into real life. Something will startle me and it’s either in my dream that I sense this presence and I open my eyes with a start. I’ll sit up and often times I will make a sound like “uh!” A very startled sound. I see an image in my room. It’s usually in the corner of the room or at the foot of the bed or right outside my door. It’s just a form. I don’t see any eyes I don’t see hair or any facial features - just an outline. They’re not menacing, or threatening or aggressive, they’re just there.
Alexis – Are they moving?
Kelly – No. They’re just standing there; like they’ve been observing me.
Alexis – You’ve never seen any movement of any kind. Does it look like a snapshot or still shot of anyone?
Kelly – I feel like they’re a presence; a living breathing presence. There’s definitely substance to them. It’s three dimensional. Recently though, I had an experience where I was very afraid because I thought that someone was going to attack me, but I think this might have been something in my dream.
Alexis - This is an important point – You said something really interesting. You said that you’re a vivid dreamer and that somehow there’s a link or bridge between the dream and when you open your eyes and actually see this image. Does that happen consistently? Does the dream always precede the presence in the room?
Kelly – I can’t tell. I don’t know for sure. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been sleeping pretty soundly and all of a sudden I’m jolted out of bed and I sit upright. And I’m very afraid. I usually turn on my light and look out my door and I look up and down the hall to see if there’s anything there.
Alexis – So you do get out of bed?
Kelly – Yes. And I say to myself “Are you insane? What if there is someone there?” But I can’t stay in the bed, I have to go and check it out. But of course there’s nothing. There’s never been anything.
Alexis – When you’re in the bed and your eyes open, have you ever felt a sense of paralysis or that you can’t move, are there any other sensations?
Kelly – No, but in my dreams I feel that sometimes. I feel like I’m on the verge of being awake. Like a lucid dreaming state. I realize I’m in a dream and I’m in danger but I can’t move. I say to myself, “You’re in a dream, but you have to wake up, you have to wake up!” But when I experience this being or presence in my room and I get up, I can move and I do move and I always get up to check out what’s happening.
Alexis – So as you’re getting up, is the being still there?
Kelly – No
Alexis – So the being is only there when you’re in bed. The moment you make a move to get up, the being is gone?
Kelly – Yes. When I’m sitting up, I don’t know if my eyes are open right away or what, but right after I open my eyes I see it, but then it goes right away.
Alexis – Have you seen it literally dematerialize or is there a gap and you look away and then back and then it’s gone?
Kelly – It’s hard to tell. I can’t really explain that.
Alexis – Do you sense that the being is male or female?
Kelly – Male. Always male.
Alexis – Are you always alone when this happens or has anyone ever been in the house with you?
Kelly – I remember one time, my brother had been visiting and while he was there I remember sitting up and screaming. But I asked him the next morning if he heard me and he said no. I don’t remember if there was an image there.
Alexis – And how often does this happen, on average?
Kelly – Maybe two times a month.
Alexis – But this has been pretty consistent for years?
Kelly – Yes, pretty consistent.
Alexis – Let me ask you this: what do you think this is?
Kelly – This is not a threatening thing. When I open my eyes and see this presence, it’s never been coming at me or anything. I like to think that it is someone who is just watching over me. Except for a couple of times, when it was a menacing thing, I felt like they were just watching over me. You know, I’ve lived on my own a lot. Maybe this presence has been protecting me. I’ve been on my own in NYC since 1989. For all intent and purposes the past 23 or 24 years. Maybe it’s a guardian.
Alexis – I find it interesting that there’s this definite link for you between the dreamscape and the waking state. If you look at the dreamscape like we might a landscape, you might call it another level of reality that we truly participate in. Many people that work in this field and have had these experiences say that our dream life is another reality; just as real as what we call this 3D reality. And sometimes a bridge can form between that reality (the dream) and this one (the waking state). I’ve heard cases of people who have had overtly menacing dreams. Some have even been attacked in the dreamscape where they’ve been scratched. When they wake up they will find scratches on parts of their body. There have been many reported cases like that.
It seems like you are participating in another reality and this entity that you’re encountering may be following you from the dream into the 3D…that’s the bridge.
Kelly – Sometimes I do feel like it’s a dream that has literally pulled me up. But other times something wakes me up and it’s the presence, and I open my eyes and I see this person. So it’s not always the dream. Now when I mentioned a couple weeks ago when I felt there was a menacing presence in the room, that I’m pretty sure was a dream, and there was something at the foot of my bed, ready to ‘get’ me.
Alexis – Did it look the same?
Kelly – No, this one was fuller, meaning it had a full head of hair (strange, I know). But I couldn’t see the features. It was a silhouette.
Kelly has been plagued by these experiences for years. Although she admits that the regular visitor she encounters does not seem threatening, on occasion her experiences have shifted to one of greater alarm and concern. Either way, Kelly seems to be experiencing a phenomenon that she simply cannot fully explain and these encounters don’t seem to be relenting.
We were very interested in hearing Kelly’s story. Will we ever learn the truth of these strange encounters? Are these and many others we’ve heard before the results of an over-active imagination, or perhaps the remnants of some unresolved trauma deep seeded within the human psyche? Or are we getting a glimpse of the multidimensional reality that many say we are always immersed within?
As philosopher Richard Feynman once said, “…it does no harm to the mystery to know a little about it!”
Have you had a similar encounter and want to share it with us? Please visit our Facebook page and tell us all about it. These experiences are also integral parts of our journey through life and our quest to understand ourselves and the true nature of reality.
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