I didn’t know there was a “Hat Man Phenomenon” until this evening. I thought the experience was mine, alone, until I watched a documentary on sleep paralysis today. I was struck by the similarities that some of the people experienced to what I experienced as a teenager in the mid to late 80s, and decided to Google it, by describing the characteristics of what I saw.

I will give a description here: I was around 15 years old and had stayed up late in the family room watching tv while the rest of the family slept upstairs. I was tired so I turned the tv off and fell asleep on the couch. I had been asleep for a little while when I faintly heard someone call my name. I was tired, and I also wasn’t quite sure I heard anything at all, so I ignored it and fell back to sleep easily. A few seconds later, I heard it again, only more pronounced. I opened my eyes and saw 2 people sitting in the chairs opposite the couch on the other side of the room. At that time, I vaguely remember thinking it must have been my parents. The 2 figures stood up and slowly started moving toward me.

At this point, I was not afraid. I was under the impression that I had “sleep” in my eyes, or my eyes wouldn’t open far enough to see past my eyelashes. All I could see were these 2 dark figures. One was very tall, and as I described it to my mother the next day, appeared to be wearing a hat similar to Abraham Lincoln’s, with a long trench coat type of jacket. The other appeared to be a shorter female-type body. But I could see no details. No faces. Nothing but a semi-solid dark black outline. Sort of. It is hard to explain. It was solid looking and I could tell it was 3D. So anyway, back to the incident. As they came toward me across the room, I was still not afraid. I was confused. I kept blinking my eyes, rubbing them, and at one point had actually tried to hold my eyelids open farther.

When they were about a foot away from me, it dawned on me that I WAS seeing them clearly. At this point, I became very afraid. I froze out of fear. I tried to call for my mother but no sound worth calling it sound would come out. The tall man with the hat leaned forward and reached out his hand to touch me, and at that moment I pulled the blanket over my face. I had never in my life been so afraid. I stayed under that blanket, afraid to look, every muscle in my body at full tension for hours until I saw the first bit of light pass through. I then hightailed it up the stairs to my mother’s room as fast as my sore legs would take me. I was sore over my entire body for a week after that incident.

I had eventually chalked the whole thing up to being in a dream state and having a very active imagination, until today, when I read blog after blog, describing this “man” and his actions, almost to a tee. I will be processing this for some time. I am sure.