Horizon Documentary "Close Encounters" (1995)

Still think your dreams can't impact your waking life?  Think again.  The brain goes through the experience of dreaming the same way as it does for events for waking life.  The senses are engaged, which helps dreamers remember their dreams. 

The brain does shut off the body so it (mostly) stays still, so we do not get up and act out our dreams.  (Those that do have a big problem, but that's another subject.) Or you could be like me and occasionally wake up to a paralysed body.  That can be frightening.  This is a powerful experience.  You aren't really paralysed -- but it sure feels like it!

In 1995, Horizon aired a documentary called "Close Encounters." It was hosted by Dr. Susan Blackmore looking for some sort of explanation for the alien abduction phenomenon.  One of the explanations was that people could have vivid dreams /or sleep paralysis.  She also talks about what parts of the brain are really active during sleep, such as the temporal lobes.  When the temporal lobes are stimulated, people can feel as if they are leaving or have left their bodies. (Note: the following video is about 47 minutes long.)

One big advantage of learning to have lucid dreams is to distinguish between waking life and dreams -- even when in sleep paralysis.  So how do you know?  Usually when something illogical happens, like seeing a bald eagle being used as a wall clock, that's a big tip-off.

Your subconscious has a better memory than your consciousness.  Your brain also searches for patterns in order to make sense of the world.  When you experience strange sensations (awake or asleep), your brain immediately sets about to explain what is going on.  Because the alien abduction myth is part of Western culture, your subconscious may jump onto it as an explanation and begins to generate the images as an alien abduction or a visitation by angels, evil  spirits or God.