Imagine yourself just getting home from a long day of work. It’s around 3:00 a.m. as you pull up to your driveway, exit your vehicle, and open the door to your house.
You’re alone. As soon as you step inside your residence, you hear the floor creaking in another room. You proceed slowly to investigate but find nothing. Paranoia begins to sets in as you start to think that eyes are following you.
“It’s just my imagination,” you tell yourself.
You retreat to your bedroom and immediately shut the door behind you. Leaving a light on for a clear view of your surroundings, you slide into bed and throw the sheets over your face.
Right before you feel yourself slip off into sleep, the creaking noise returns with even more intensity.You notice a shadow of two feet at the entrance of your closed door.
Paralysis grips your body. You open your mouth to shout, but no matter how hard you attempt scream, not a sound is made. In the corner of your eye, you notice something approaching you.
One thousand pounds of weight has suddenly fallen on your chest as all the air escapes your body. In your final moment you see the shadowy culprit looming over you before you finally suffocate to death.
This is actually the description of a random human phenomenon called Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUNDS), in which people randomly die in their sleep due to a combination of heart palpitations and sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis is somewhat common, but when mixed with heart irregularities, it can be deadly. People who survived this nightmare claimed they witnessed a “shadowy figure” in their presence, paralyzing and suffocating the victim. Survivors claimed that attempting to wiggle their big toe would restore heart pace and cure paralysis.
Although there are only a few documented cases, some surviving reports mirror each other in description, causing some speculation. The event seems to be prevalent in the Philippines in young men, but SUNDS has also been reported in some parts of America.
One theory about SUNDS is that if one truly believes they are being watched, then they mind will conjure the image of a watcher. This ‘belief’ in the watcher existing is actually the cause of death.
I don’t believe science can answer everything in the universe, and no amount human of knowledge will ever change that. So with that in mind, I choose not to rule anything out.