This happened while I was completely sober. I had been meditating and trying to astral project for quite a while with no success.
Eventually I gave up, went to the kitchen, drank some water, came back to bed and decided to sleep.
Maybe 5–10 minutes after lying down trying to sleep, I suddenly felt extremely strong “heartbeats,” almost like an adrenaline rush, together with intense vibrations throughout my body. I’m not even sure my heart was actually beating that hard—it may have just been the sensation of it.
I immediately felt like this was the moment.
I remembered the rope technique. I didn’t see a rope; I just imagined myself grabbing one and climbing it. I concentrated really hard and kept mentally climbing, hoping the sensation wouldn’t disappear.
Then there was a moment where I just knew: it worked.
The first thing I encountered was an extremely tall being that looked almost like a mummy.
The strange part was the feeling that it was already there waiting specifically for me, almost like it was welcoming me.
It didn’t say anything, but somehow I understood that it wanted me to follow it. It went ahead and I followed behind.
We started going downward through something that looked like a cave, tomb or graveyard.
I was extremely conscious throughout this. I remembered being in bed. I remembered that I had just been attempting AP. I was thinking normally and was actually really excited that I’d finally managed to do it.
But while following this being, I started getting scared.
Because of the environment, I thought: What if it’s leading me toward death?
So I decided to get away from it.
There was something like a roof above me. I remember thinking, “I’m not physical here, so this shouldn’t stop me.”
I went upward and passed straight through the roof.
I got as far away from the being as I could and eventually found myself high above the clouds.
I could see lights very far below me, so I decided to travel toward them. It actually felt like it took some time to get there.
When I arrived, I saw something that looked like a Ferris wheel covered in lights.
Then I noticed something much stranger.
There were lots of figures that looked like people, but they were completely motionless. They seemed unconscious—just standing there in fixed positions, not moving or reacting.
My immediate thought at the time was: Are these sleeping people?
I tried speaking to them.
“Hello.”
Nothing.
I also tried speaking to them in different languages—Arabic: “Marhaba,” and French: “Salut.”
Still nothing. Nobody moved or responded.
Seeing so many of them like that made me start thinking that something might be wrong. What’s strange is that I didn’t actually feel fear in the normal sense. I had no sense of a physical body at all—I was more like a floating point of awareness, almost like a camera moving through and observing everything.
So when I say I became scared, it wasn’t the physical or emotional sensation of fear you normally get in your body. It was more of a logical fear: I was completely conscious, analyzing what I was seeing, and started thinking, “What if I become like them? What if I get trapped here and can’t return?”
It was the conclusion that worried me, rather than an actual physical feeling of panic.
So I decided I wanted to go back.
I thought about my physical body in bed, expecting that would bring me back.
Nothing happened.
That’s when the thought became much more serious. I remember thinking: What if I’m actually dead?
Eventually I decided to scream.
As soon as I did, I suddenly felt myself being pulled or launched backward incredibly fast. It felt like I was being pushed through multiple walls, layers, or dimensions one after another.
And then I woke up in bed.
Completely fine.
The weird thing is that after waking up, I wasn’t scared at all. I was actually incredibly happy and excited because I couldn’t believe I’d finally had an experience like that.
What really stays with me is how conscious I felt the whole time. I remembered my body was in bed and that I had just attempted AP. I could analyze what was happening, make decisions, choose to stop following the being, try different languages with the people, decide where to travel, and eventually deliberately try to return.
Has anyone experienced anything similar?
I’m especially curious about:
* A being that seemed to be waiting for you as soon as you entered
* Being led somewhere like a graveyard by an entity without any verbal communication
* Seeing large numbers of motionless/unresponsive people
* The sensation of being pulled through multiple “layers” right before waking up
I’d really like to hear from anyone who’s experienced any of these things, and what you think was happening.