I've been reading ATS for quite some time and can say with a certainty that I have been entertained, amused, provoked, and challenged with the wide variety of subject matter. It remains one of my favorite regular stops on the web. I have a couple of personal experiences that have kept me coming back hoping to find answers or plausible explanations. I think I have satisfied myself in reaching a conclusion to one of the two. I would like to preface this by saying that I have always believed that there is a rational explanation to both of these experiences, however, I had to find people with possibly similar experiences in order to define what it was I had experienced. Of course, I knew by doing this, I could finally define the experiences logically thus taking the mystery out of the event.

I was able to figure out that the first experience is known as sleep paralysis. I have had this anywhere from 6 to 12 times in my life and it is always terrifying. Thanks to ATS, I was able to put a name to it, and through my reading, have come to the conclusion that it was most likely brought on by lack of sleep. I do not subscribe to the whole "demon" aspect of it as noted through history. My experiences have been after periods of heavy drinking and/or sleep deprivation. There were a couple of notable experiences where there were apocalyptic or alien esque type visions that accompanied the sensation, however, I do strongly feel that this was manifested by a very low battery as a result of drinking or lack of sleep.

The other experience I have not been able to define. My hope is that somebody will read this and give a serious response as to what it could be. The story begins when I was a teenager growing up in my parents home in California. Drinking and / or drugs could not be blamed as I was a squeaky clean young lad (at this point). I remember the time period because Richard Ramirez was still on the loose and only known as the "Night Stalker". It was definitely in the warmer months as I remember being in shorts and a t-shirt. I was going around the back of the house with the trash can from the kitchen in order to empty it in the cans on the side of the house. There was a gate that I had to unlatch in order to enter the side yard from the back yard. As I reached to unlatch the gate, a leather gloved hand, that was wearing a jacket better suited for colder weather, reached over at the same time for the latch. It scared the living hell out of me. I dropped the trash can right there and ran back into the house. The hand quickly withdrew hearing me on the other side. When I told my family members what had just happened, nobody really flinched or gave it a second thought. I ran around to the front of the house and looked up and down the street but saw nobody. I looked down the side yard but nobody was there. It was almost like the person vanished into thin air. The only other piece to the puzzle I can add is that the jacket and gloves were pretty upscale. They were reminiscent of what Dan Aykroyd, for lack of a better comparison, would have worn in trading places as the snooty rich guy. Again, what struck me more is how unseasonable the attire was. I will end by saying, no I don't think it could have been the Night Stalker. Even though this took place shortly before the Mission Viejo attack in August, I don't think it is tied together. We lived in the next city over but the descriptions of his apparel in the various attacks don't match. That said, are there stories of similar type of run-ins with curiously inappropriately dressed arms being caught in similar situations? Of course, I'm being sarcastic as I believe it was attached to a body. This is something that has been stuck in my head since I was 16 and that I have never really talked about since. But it still bugs me to this day. Anybody?? Please, I'm not looking for some sensational answer either.

I was really hoping to get some response to the second half of my post. I realize this is the introduction section so it possibly has been ignored. Not really sure how to get this "out there" in ATS land. However, I'm very serious about wanting to get some thoughtful responses. Though it doesn't keep me up at night, it does make me wonder from time to time what it could have been. I don't see me posting a lot outside of this as I really don't have much else to contribute in the way of interesting and unique experiences other than what is stated in this post. Hopefully this will be enough.

I would think there was the possibility of someone sneaking around at the time you were in the yard. They obviously were not arriving as a guest since they didn't say anything. There is probably a common place explanation but I can see how it would be frightening.

Agreed. However, the time it took me to get up to the front yard through the house would have required the individual to haul a** out of there. Again, quite possible. The part that bugs me is how "he" was dressed. Southern California does not usually require gloves and a warm jacket even in the coldest of months. However, if we were talking December rather than the warmer months I would have less of a problem with it. The fact that I was in shorts and a t-shirt really made this part stand out for me. The fact that both gloves and jacket were formal in nature made it stand out even more so. There would have been absolutely no reason for it what so ever.

Now, I'm only stressing this part of it, not to insinuate that it is something unexplainable, rather getting a consensus that A) It is pretty strange and it is understandable I'm still freaked out all these years later, and B) People venturing some plausible explanations. I'm 43 now and I have not been able to come up with anything remotely plausible since that day.

The most obvious would be some sort of disguise worn by somebody that was about to commit a home invasion. The only problem with that is we were most definitely in a middle class area not known for its wealth. Less than several miles from my house was a well known residential area with large homes of celebrities, sports figures, and professionals. That would seem a more likely target.