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* [[Sleep paralysis]] | * [[Sleep paralysis]] | ||
* [[Anomalistic Psychology]] | * [[Anomalistic Psychology]] | ||
* [[ | * [[Chris French]] | ||
* [[:Category:Ghosts and Hauntings|Ghosts and Hauntings]] | * [[:Category:Ghosts and Hauntings|Ghosts and Hauntings]] | ||
* [[Precognition]] | * [[Precognition]] | ||
Revision as of 18:21, 1 August 2026
A hallucination is a perceptual experience — seeing, hearing, feeling, or otherwise sensing something — that occurs without a corresponding external stimulus, while still feeling as real and vivid as ordinary perception. Hallucinations are one of the most commonly cited non-paranormal explanations for reported ghost sightings, sensed presences, and similar experiences catalogued elsewhere on The Vault, and this page covers that specific overlap rather than hallucination as a broader clinical or psychiatric topic.
It's worth stating plainly: experiencing a hallucination of this kind is common, and on its own says nothing about a person's mental health. Several of the specific types below occur in a large share of the general population and are not associated with any underlying condition.
Sleep paralysis
One of the most consistently documented sources of reported ghost and "shadow figure" sightings — see Sleep paralysis for the full account of the phenomenon, its mechanism, prevalence, and cross-cultural folk traditions such as the Old Hag.
Hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations
More broadly, hypnagogic (occurring while falling asleep) and hypnopompic (occurring while waking up) hallucinations can happen independently of full sleep paralysis, producing brief visual, auditory, or felt-presence experiences during the transition between sleep and wakefulness.[1] A large community survey of nearly 5,000 people in the UK found that 37% reported experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations at some point, and 12.5% reported hypnopompic hallucinations, with both being significantly more common among people also experiencing insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness.[2] Like sleep paralysis itself, these are common and are not, on their own, considered a sign of any underlying condition.[1]
Bereavement hallucinations
Separately from sleep-related hallucinations, many people who have lost someone close to them report sensing, seeing, or hearing that person afterward — a well-documented and common experience among the bereaved, sometimes called a "post-bereavement hallucination" or "sense of presence." This was first systematically studied by British general practitioner W. Dewi Rees, whose landmark 1971 study of 293 bereaved patients found that around half reported such an experience of their deceased spouse.[3] A more recent systematic review and meta-analysis across 21 studies put the overall prevalence at around 56.6%, with the specific figure varying depending on the sense involved (visual, auditory, tactile, or a general felt presence) and factors such as the bereaved person's age.[4]
These experiences are widely regarded by researchers as a normal, non-pathological part of grief, rather than an indicator of a mental health condition, and are frequently reported even by people with no other hallucinatory experiences of any kind.[5] Where the experience is comforting rather than distressing, researchers increasingly frame it within a "continuing bonds" model of grief — a way of maintaining an emotional connection to the person who has died — rather than as a symptom requiring treatment.[5]
Relevance to paranormal case files
Sleep-related and bereavement hallucinations are frequently proposed as an explanation for individual reports catalogued elsewhere on The Vault — a sensed presence in a bedroom, a shadow figure glimpsed at night, or a deceased loved one seemingly seen or heard. Documenting this possibility alongside a case file is not the same as dismissing the report; The Vault records reports as given and notes plausible conventional explanations where relevant, consistent with the approach taken across Anomalistic Psychology more broadly.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hypnagogic Hallucinations."Cleveland Clinic.
- ↑ "Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations: Pathological Phenomena?."The British Journal of Psychiatry.
- ↑ "Grief hallucinations."The British Psychological Society.
- ↑ "Experiences of continued presence: On the practical consequences of 'hallucinations' in bereavement."ResearchGate.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Sensory and Quasi-Sensory Experiences of the Deceased in Bereavement: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Review."PubMed.