Waking Before an Unexpected Alarm
Appeal for information
Many people have experienced waking up just before their alarm clock goes off. The precision with which people wake (often within a few minutes of the alarm) and the fact that this frequently happens at nonroutine times make the phenomenon difficult to attribute entirely to a biological clock.
Another possibility is precognition or presentiment. There is now considerable experimental evidence for presentiment — feeling the future — in the form of unconscious physiological responses that occur shortly before emotionally significant stimuli. An alarm is, by definition, an arousing stimulus. This could well be preceded by a physiological arousal, as in presentiment experiments. From an evolutionary perspective, such an ability might stem from the survival advantage an organism would gain if it could anticipate potentially threatening events.
If this is the case, then more alarming alarms should have more effect than less alarming ones, and similar effects should also occur with unexpected “alarms” such as fire alarms.
I am currently collecting reports of these experiences. Have you ever woken up shortly before:
• A fire alarm or smoke alarm went off?
• An alarm clock (set by someone else), when you did not know exactly when it was due to go off?
• An unexpected phone call?
These cases are particularly interesting because they do not involve consciously intending to wake up at a specific time and are difficult to explain in terms of a biological clock.
If you have had an experience like this, I would be very grateful if you would email me a detailed account. Please include as much information as possible, such as:
• How long before the alarm, call, or other event did you wake up?
• Was the event expected or unexpected?
• Who called, in the case of a phone call? And why?
• What kind of alarm was it? Electronic or mechanical? Was it loud and unpleasant?
• Did you hear the phone ring or was it on silent?
• In the case of alarms, who set it?
• Were there any unusual feelings, dreams, impressions, or bodily sensations before or during waking?
• Has this happened to you more than once?
Please email us your account.
Many thanks