My Library

Immediately thereafter, I would see and semiexperience an event or incident like a dream, except that I retained all of my consciousness and sense awareness. The dream would be superimposed directly over outside stimuli. I could perceive both quite readily. I could not and cannot produce the effect at will. It merely happened or was triggered by some non-conscious mechanism. At first, I paid no particular attention to the phenomenon, attributing the dream visions to release of material from the unconscious. A major event brought it strongly to my attention. It is important enough to take directly from the notes. During the early morning, the "valve" opened again, and what I saw has concerned me only because it was so vivid. I was about to board a commercial airplane. Standing by the door of the plane waiting was D.D., a man I've known for more than ten years. I got on the plane and took a seat. I noticed that there were plenty of seats and the plane was almost ready to go, so I was sure my friend would make it aboard. I noticed a group talking up in front near the door, and they joined a young Negro man who had just come in the door. They were very jolly, and were glad the young Negro was going along. The group was composed of two older Negro men, an older white man, and the young Negro. They noticed that the plane was about to leave, so they all went down the aisle past me and took their seats. I leaned forward to see if my friend would get on, and in doing so, I became aware that the woman in front of me was agitated. Just as the plane was starting, my friend got aboard and took a seat. I was about to get up and go over to join him when the plane started to move and I sat back. The plane started down the runway and seemed to take a long time to get off, and I grew a little tense. We finally took off, and we climbed low over boulevard streets (winding, with cloverleaf intersections). We stayed at low altitude and the plane climbed very little. In a few moments, I heard the stewardess speaking through the plane's speaker system. She stated that in a few minutes the pilot would decide whether to take the plane on one of two routes, the one to the left (going around) or the "under the wire" route. After a few moments' wait, I noticed that the plane passed a given point (low over a city)t and I realized before the hostess spoke again that we were taking the "under the wire" route. When the hostess announced it, her voice seemed a bit too light and too casual, and I could sense a slight tension in her, too. Looking out the plane window, I saw the area ahead with wires stretched out in every direction. The plane approached and went under the wires, staying very low. I was tense, and watched ahead looking for openings in the wires