The experience that I am about to talk about is the first significant odd event in my life that I can recall. I like to consider this event the one that might have sparked my individualization path.

I was about 18 years old when this first happened. I remember falling asleep but waking up because I felt something was in my room. That feeling can best be described as a rush of energy nearby. When I opened my eyes, I remember seeing gray figures in my room. Still, I couldn't fight back because an intense sensation immediately rushed into my head – almost telepathically. Now, this is much different than a sleep paralysis experience which I’ve had multiple times. As I was lying in my bed, practically tranquilized by this intense energy coming into my brain, I felt as if I was receiving an immense amount of information and data at the speed of light. I felt like I was being programmed.

When I woke up, I tried to understand what had just happened that previous night. Was it a bad dream? As I was lying in bed, I realized I was on my blanket – meaning my bed was already made. I could not understand how my bed could have been made unless I was sleepwalking – which I’ve never done. I thought perhaps, my mother or anyone in my family would be able to verify this possibility and maybe even tucked me in last night. However, that possibility was no longer an option since my family did not see me up that night or experience anything unusual. I guess there was still the possibility that I had sleepwalked only within my room and tucked myself in. However, what I soon discovered later as I was changing near the mirror added another strangeness to this experience. At the bottom of my back was a scar I had never had, and the scar is still there to this day.

Analyzing and providing a logical perspective on what occurred that night is still challenging. The common skepticism I receive from peers and family on this experience is that it is a case of sleep paralysis or I was dreaming. As I mentioned, I've had my fair cases of sleep paralysis, and I can vividly describe them. Each sleep paralysis I’ve encountered occurs with me waking up in terror, almost feeling as if there is an entity or something on top of my chest, and unable to move. It is this phenomenon of being aware of your surroundings and sometimes feeling a strange presence in your room. It is that feeling of trying to scream, but nothing comes out. This was not the case.

In terms of it being a possible dream, the experience was too vivid for me to believe this theory. Also, how could sleep paralysis and dreams explain the scar I had received on my back? While I could not find a reasonable explanation for what happened, I tried to take a different approach, which is considering that period of my life. Looking back, I realize my life drastically changed right after.

I believe I was 18 or maybe turning 18 at this point in my life, and some might call that age a significant point in a man's life. I remember that circumstances had intensified quite a bit at this point in my life as college and even career prospects began to formulate in my mind. I remember even starting to be more rebellious and embracing myself as an individual. I also made a huge decision not to play football my senior year despite the expectations that the coaches, friends, and family had of me. For many years, I did what society told me to do – be a follower. The sense of not doing what was expected of me was a pivotal moment in pursuing an individual path. Looking back, it might seem silly, but as a young man in modern society, there are not many moments that allow us to make an individual choice, given the influence that teachers, friends, and family have in the first 18 years of our life.

As I write this, these new thought patterns and a new way of thinking that transpired soon after these events can seem foreign to the person I was before the experience. Where did the sense of individuality and rebellion come from, if not from my parents and friends? These new concepts and ideas must have originated somewhere to influence my thought.

This leads me to two other questions to think about:

• Could it have been that the telepathic data transmitted into my brain were the foreign concepts that would soon play a pivotal part in my development as a young man?

• Could our brain process foreign ideas and concepts and manifests them into this world as what modern culture describes as Aliens and UFOs?

It is important to note that this interpretation does not dismiss the possibility of UFOs being real physical objects. Instead, I am emphasizing the symbolic representation they hold within the psyche.