Weird Sleep And Half-Asleep Experiences

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Last night as I was listening to the radio and trying to sleep, I suddenly heard a loud crash/bang that seemed to come from the room next door; it was very loud and very (or so I thought at the time) real. (And to clarify: it definitely wasn't on the radio). My initial thought was something falling from the top of a bookshelf or cupboard, perhaps (i.e. something falling from a height).

I was too frightened to go and look but I woke Mr Zebra and he said he hadn't heard anything (well he had been asleep). He suggested the bin might have blown over outside (it was rather windy).

But in the morning we found the bin was still upright, and also nothing was amiss in the room where I thought the crash had come from (or anywhere else in the house for that matter).

So... could I possibly have imagined the sound, in a sort of half-asleep state (hypnagogic/pompic/whichever it is)? It sounded unbelievably real though, plus I didn't think I was half asleep at the time although I suppose I could have been. I thought I was wide awake, listening to the radio, trying to sleep.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[escargot]

Last night as I was listening to the radio and trying to sleep, I suddenly heard a loud crash/bang that seemed to come from the room next door; it was very loud and very (or so I thought at the time) real. (And to clarify: it definitely wasn't on the radio). My initial thought was something falling from the top of a bookshelf or cupboard, perhaps (i.e. something falling from a height).

I was too frightened to go and look but I woke Mr Zebra and he said he hadn't heard anything (well he had been asleep). He suggested the bin might have blown over outside (it was rather windy).

But in the morning we found the bin was still upright, and also nothing was amiss in the room where I thought the crash had come from (or anywhere else in the house for that matter).

So... could I possibly have imagined the sound, in a sort of half-asleep state (hypnagogic/pompic/whichever it is)? It sounded unbelievably real though, plus I didn't think I was half asleep at the time although I suppose I could have been. I thought I was wide awake, listening to the radio, trying to sleep.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Hearing a big BANG while falling asleep is not at all unusual. Happens to me now and then, doesn't worry me as I know it's imaginary.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Hearing a big BANG while falling asleep is not at all unusual. Happens to me now and then, doesn't worry me as I know it's imaginary.

Hypnagogic noise - typically a percussive bang or similar abrupt / percussive sound as Zebs described. See:

Exploding Head Syndrome (Hypnagogic Noise(s))
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/exploding-head-syndrome-hypnagogic-noise-s.115/

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Hypnagogic noise - typically a percussive bang or similar abrupt / percussive sound as Zebs described. See:

Exploding Head Syndrome (Hypnagogic Noise(s))
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/exploding-head-syndrome-hypnagogic-noise-s.115/

Hmm interesting thread, thank you for that. I hope its a one-off though as I'm quite uneasy at the thought of it happening again :wide: so I'm worried I'll be thinking about it and making it more likely to happen, or something.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Hmm interesting thread, thank you for that. I hope its a one-off though as I'm quite uneasy at the thought of it happening again :wide: so I'm worried I'll be thinking about it and making it more likely to happen, or something.

It's perfectly natural ... I've had it happen innumerable times during my life from my teen years onward.

My (ex) wife used to tell (and tease ... ) me that I regularly exhibited a noticeable hypnagogic "jerk" (spasm) when dropping off to sleep. My personal theory is that the perception of a hypnagogic blast (or voice, or doorbell, or phone ringing) occurs when your body reaches the brink to drop off into the abyss of a sleep state but the brain isn't quite shut down enough to peacefully slip off the edge along with the meat. I think there's a residual shot of brain activity that the not-quite-dormant mind registers as an familiar compelling sound memory.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

It's perfectly natural ... I've had it happen innumerable times during my life from my teen years onward.

My (ex) wife used to tell (and tease ... ) me that I regularly exhibited a noticeable hypnagogic "jerk" (spasm) when dropping off to sleep. My personal theory is that the perception of a hypnagogic blast (or voice, or doorbell, or phone ringing) occurs when your body reaches the brink to drop off into the abyss of a sleep state but the brain isn't quite shut down enough to peacefully slip off the edge along with the meat. I think there's a residual shot of brain activity that the not-quite-dormant mind registers as an familiar compelling sound memory.

Ahhh ok. I've had the spasm thing many times over the years, quite disconcerting in itself but I'm used to it so it doesn't really bother me. The loud noise thing is a new one for me though, no idea why it happened (and why I thought I was perfectly awake at the time!)

(In a slightly amusing coincidence/or-not it may be worth noting that my current favourite song - which has been the case for several days, well before this event occurred - is called Crash Boom Bang )

 

[Ulalume]

Once I had an experience of perfectly mixed dream and reality. I was 12 years old at the time. Earlier that evening, I'd been out at the skating rink, where I'd spent some of the time in a dark corner kissing a boy named J.D. J.D. had come to the rink with his older brother, whom I surmised must had had an authoritarian streak, as J.D. had remarked he hoped his brother wouldn't catch us.

At home, later, just around midnight, I was falling asleep thinking about these adventures when the hallway phone rang, an unusual thing at that time of night. My mother answered it, but there was no one on the line.

Just at the time the phone had started to ring, though, I was entering that liminal state of sleep, and thought that J.D.'s brother must have tracked down my name and phone number somehow and was calling to shout at me.

The intriguing thing about this was how nice this mixed state of dream and reality felt, sort of giddy and joyful, which is why it's stuck with me all these years.

Fast-forward ahead many years, and my teenage son has a similar experience of mixed dream and reality.

Late one night when everyone else was asleep, the power went out. I grabbed a flashlight and walked through my son's room to check the fuse box. I stumbled a bit in the dark, which must have disturbed my son's sleep, because he muttered "Ethan? What are you doing here?" He told me later that he'd been dreaming about Ethan, a kid in his class, and when he'd woken he'd seen Ethan, not me, carrying a flashlight through his room.

Son described this experience also as strangely pleasant, joyful, much like my own.

While we've both had plenty of experiences of reality impinging on dreams (conversations, alarm clocks and whatnot) none of these have been the same and certainly not having that pleasant feeling attached. That's why I figure there must have been an equal measure of dream and reality present, which is what made the differnce.

 

[catseye]

I also hear noises and bangs and voices when dropping off to sleep. So the other night when I heard a loud 'bang' I ignored it and fell asleep.

So I was a bit annoyed to wake up and go to the bathroom to find that the shower head had fallen off and into the shower. I am now not sure which bit of Forteana this fits into...

 

[escargot]

I also hear noises and bangs and voices when dropping off to sleep. So the other night when I heard a loud 'bang' I ignored it and fell asleep.

So I was a bit annoyed to wake up and go to the bathroom to find that the shower head had fallen off and into the shower. I am now not sure which bit of Forteana this fits into...

You and me both. I used to live in an end terrace where my bedroom window faced next door's over a path. One night I was fast asleep when I heard a huge CRASH, sounding like something really heavy being chucked against my window. I was so alarmed I jumped out of bed and rang 999, to my then-husband's disapproval, and the police came right away.

The ex thought I'd been dreaming as he'd heard nothing but there certainly had been a bang. The woman next door had thrown out her violent drunkard boyfriend and he'd been demanding to be let in and slinging rubble at her bedroom window. She was pleased I'd called the Filth as her phone had been cut off.