Weird experience when I was younger... what happened to us?

I was just thinking back and remembered a weird thing that once happened to me and a friend which we still can't explain... so I decided i'd post it up here for opinions.

i'll set the scene:

I was about 18 or 19 in the early 90's in the UK. We did a lot of clubbing, with the rise of acid house/rave parties. Every weekend we were out clubbing, had very little sleep and used the recreational enhancers of the time every time we went out, along with other softer options during the week. We frequently went without sleep were used to the effects of this as well as the effects of the recreational substances. (sorry for mentioning this; but it's key to the story)

myself and a friend were driving home from another mate's house on a late summer evening, it was dusk, almost dark. We had no car stereo, so had to portable "3d subwoofer" on the back shelf of the car. Changing the tape/volume was a real hassle and involved mate folding the seat down, leaning back and fiddling with the controls (not ideal in a small car) As we were driving, the sound suddenly cut out, like the power had been switched off. As this sounded like it might need some investigation and seat folding, I checked mirrors etc and the coast was clear, so i stopped the car momentarily while mate investigated the music situation.
Upon investigation, he said that it was weird that the unit had completely turned off with the power switch. I was still facing forward as he continued sorting the sound. Suddenly the whole view through the windscreen looked very odd. The world outside the car starting to melt. (If you imagine all the colours bleeding downwards). I watched for a few seconds and couldn't believe what was happening. There was an intense fear inside me. I uttered "what the f***". I don't remember if the music had been restarted at this point. My friend returned to his normal seating position, looked forward and said "WHAT THE??".. I asked if he was seeing what I was and we exchanged some words along the lines of "what the **** is happening" "are you seeing this?" etc.... It seemed to last a while, but was really quick. I think the fear increased my visual processing tenfold as it does in these situations... All of a sudden, the "effect" vanished, the view returned to normal in a split second. We both saw it go at exactly the same time, looked at each other and continued the fear driven repeat of "what the?" etc. I was shaking with a combination of fear and complete excitement, so was my friend. I drove off immediately, dropped off my friend after a lengthy discussion about the event and went home.

We discussed it for years. I recently asked him over facebook to describe what he thought happened and he still recalls it more or less the same as I wrote above. As for what i think it was:

1. some kind of panic attack which i managed to pass on to him without speaking
2. an unexplained phenomenon such as UFO/time shift/wormhole/whatever else
3. Some kind of adverse reaction to the recreational substances (note: i've used these throughout my life and have NEVER experienced anything like this again)
4. a complete fabrication. (note: I did start to wonder recently if I made this up, or at least parts of it. However i've spoken to my friend who confirms it)

So... any ideas?
nb. Have I posted this in the wrong place?

That experience sounds really interesting and scary at the same time. Were you still in an altered state of mind when this occurred? If so, then it is hard to say it could have been anything else but that state you were in.

I say it was the drugs!!!! LOL Drugs can have that kind of effect on people. Sounds like you will never forget this experience. I hope you find out what it really was. Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by ceetee


Did you notice any missing time? When the music came back on did you notice if you of your friends were positioned in an awkward position? Did the car engine, car lights shut-off?

Originally posted by MamaJ
That experience sounds really interesting and scary at the same time. Were you still in an altered state of mind when this occurred? If so, then it is hard to say it could have been anything else but that state you were in.

Sorry i didn't make it very clear. This happened midweek, no serious mind altering adjustments Like I say I've never had anything like that happen again.