Thought I’d share a bizarre experience to see if anyone can make heads or tales of it. To the best of my memory this incident occurred sometime in 1994. I’d been living in an old, two-story twin house with my then girlfriend. I can’t remember too many details of what we did earlier that night, but some time perhaps between 2:30 and 3:30 am after we were long asleep, I had a terrifying attack. As I slept there was an incredibly loud buzzing noise in my ear and a crushing pain in my chest. It was a very tangible pain. I was locked in my body trying to wake up, perhaps like someone whose anesthesia wears off during mid surgery.
Soon the noise and pain subsided and I realized I was viewing something that was more realistic than just some dream. I was in what seemed to be a fancy hotel by a large rectangular swimming pool. I remember seeing a lot of green carpeting and pretty palm trees. I was hovering above a group of men dressed in suits, holding briefcases and walking swiftly. I noticed that one of the men was none other than the actor James Garner, It seemed as if I was witnessing something that already happened because he looked much younger than he did back in 1994. Then I noticed an old man following closely behind the group trying to get the attention of Mr. Garner. There were words spoken but I couldn’t hear them. It seemed as if there was contention between the parties. They kept giving scowls to the old man like he was someone they knew and hated. Still this old guy, small in stature kept trying to keep up and tell them something they didn’t want to hear. Eventually this walking conversation continued all the way down a hallway and into an elevator. Suddenly, I saw the old man holding his chest in agony. He sunk to his knees. I remember seeing James Garner looking more irritated than concerned. Then I heard the buzzing noise again and felt the painful crushing in my chest and saw a bright light. Soon I awoke yelling and startled my girlfriend awake too. The weird thing was that our entire upstairs bedroom was illuminated by this green light and all we could both hear was this crazy buzzing noise. After about twenty seconds or so it all stopped. And we were both just kind of in the middle of our bed holding each other in shock.

What always struck me about the incident besides the fact that both my girlfriend and I were witness to it, was that I'd never even followed the career of James Garner, and at most had seen an episode or two of the Rockford files when I was a kid.

I never told my girlfriend the business about James Garner that night. It seemed as if it was deeply personal and I just wanted to keep it to myself, and I have up until now. If that was a dream it was one of the craziest I’ve had. I wish I knew James Garner or someone else who did so they could run this by him ask him if this ever really happened.

What you are describing fit’s an episode of Hypnagogia:

Experienced qualities vary, and include fear, awareness of a "presence," chest or back pressure, an inability to breathe (hence the folkloric notion of mara-like creatures tormenting sleepers) or an inability to move (paralysis), open the eyes, speak, cry out for help or scream, or a falling/floating sensation or a feeling of tripping (as hypnic jerks or myclonic jerks are interpreted by the brain). Exploding head syndrome may also be experienced, or just an overwhelmingly loud sound, like an inexplicable buzzing or ringing sound. Other symptoms may include numb, heavy, tingling and/or electric sensations and vibrations as well as feeling something touching the body or ants crawling on the skin (formication).
The hypnagogic state is sometimes proposed as an explanation for experiences such as alien abduction, apparitions, demon oppressions, or visions.
Those who experience it and are aware (i.e. an involuntary variety of lucid dreaming) of the dream are usually - but not always - extremely terrified by the experience and are overcome with an exaggerated sense of dread and helplessness, and sometimes, the sense that if the dreamer cannot awaken soon enough to end the experience they might die of suffocation. Note that this is not the same as sleep apnea.

Some folks might say that you had a type of OBE, but its really just a sleep induced hallucination from your brain still being in REM sleep. I hope that helps some.

It's not really a medical issue, it can happen to anyone if they wake out of REM sleep too rapidly for some reason, which is why your girlfriend probably also experienced something similar. As to the actual experience, I cannot say, it would be like interpreting a dream.

[edit on 4/21/2008 by defcon5]