sleep paralysis, Ive read a lot about this too, Ive had this happen to me more then, well lets just say sevral times.
I want to thank you for sharing your experience.
Here is an experience that seemd very real to me, im still not sure if it was real or a dream.

Firstly I would like to point out to people that long before I knew about sleep paralysis, I would aften as a child come to my sinces in bed crying, running to my father and mother screaming (*I was awake and couldnt move, I couldnt move most of my body),
The only parts I could move where my eyes and my neck)
I would try to scream, But only air would come out, It was like even my voice was being held back by some force, Even moveing my neck and eyes where a strain, It didnt hurt at all, It just took so much energy to move even the slightest little bit :(
My mom who almost always denounced them as nightmars, rarely concerned herself with these episodes.

(The parts where I am explaing this to my dad is not a dream this really happened) My Dad who, I can only describe as the most loveing father in the whole world.
No matter what my problems was, he would try his best to help me.
He asked me how long this had been going on, And I said As long as I can remember,
He said then why are you only telling me now, And I said ive always told you dad, you always said they where dreams.
Then he said well, Im sorry, Ive never seen you this scared before, If I had known this was such a problem I wouldnt have handeld this like that.
I told him well, That was because I had never been this scared before.
And he said why?, and I said because before when I couldnt move, I was still dreaming.
This time I was awake, He hugged me and asked me to describe in detale every thing that happens when I wake up scared like that.
And I told him everything. That sometimes I will wake up from sleep from what feels like a droped feeling, Like I was droped into bed, And the shock of the landing is what wakes me up, I told him about how somtimes ill be haveing normal dreams, And then all of the sudden it will feel like im truely not alone in that dream anymore and not like its part of the dream, truely like somone else very real is there with me in them.
He asked me if that scared me. And i said yes, He said why. I said because I know my drems are only in my head and There arnt supposed to be other real people there with me.
HE said what do you do when you see these other real people, I said Ive seen them but they never look the same, He asked me what I meant, I said they always look like somone I know or somone im afraid of and I try not to talk to them or run away but they chase me.
He Said do they catch you? I said almost always *(I was crying really hard at this point, I was about five then)
What happens when they catch you? I said its a bad feeling, Its like tingles go all through me and I cant move at all.
How many times has this happened. I said a lot. He said how many. I said I dont know Mosr then i want it too, (Now that im older and have a better concept of time It happned about once every six months, And without fail continues too untill this day)
(recuring dreams possibly?)
Then he asked me some weird questions.
He said when you get that feeling do you ever see little people
I said little people? i said my shadow friends are little,

*Id like to get very real for a few minuets, This like the last paragraph is not part of any dream* I told him about my friends, he asked who they where.
I said they where like shadows, he said what do thay do, I said well nothing they just watch me. Watch you?! he said, I said yeah. He said you arnt afraid of them?
I said I wasnt at first, because all they did was just watch me. thats it. He said then why are you afraid of them now?
Because now there,there every night and when I try to talk to them they never talk back, he said have they ever tried to talk to you, I said no I dont think they can talk, I said they do movie around when I talk to them, So I know they can hear me
*My father spent the next night sleeping in the chair next to my bed. (*Worlds best dad :) )
That night They never came.
The next night he told me if I ever saw them again To yell for him as loud as I could, that he would be istening and come as fast as he can.
My brother he was a good brother to me. Saw I was pretty upset, And had his own cure,I trusted my brother completely, He gave me a peice of ordenary candy, he told me it was magic. He said if I eat this, It will make me really strong in my dreams and it would also make the shadow people afraid of me. So I ate the candy.
Fully believeing what my brother had told me.
I was much more confident. The next time I saw the shadow people, I told them to go away forever and dont ever come back!!,
Strangy they did come back but only a few times,but they kept there distance tho, and then just stoped comeing all together.
My dreams stoped for a long time too. I didnt have another deam like that untill I was older, about 13 years old. Strangely these dreams started happening about the same time as my other story about the shadow like figure outside my doorway.
now these events where completely real, they wernt dreams, And I apologize, When I go into explination, I like to go into dapth,

Now back to my experience that im not sure about.
This night when I was about 16 years old. What you would call sleep paralysis came over me again, By this time I was an old pro at dealing with it, I had even learned that with an exrtaordenary ammount of willpower I could overcome it (somtimes). Fighting it with everything I had, Somthing different happend. Most usualy I would see shadow figures, And fight the paralysis, but this did not work, I was in controll of nothing. I fought and fought (nothing). Then I saw the shadow figures,there where three of them.
But this much didnt phase me any more then normal really, untill they did somthing they hadnt did since I was a child. They approached me very closly and touched me,
Only in a way as to hold me down.
This really made me angry, So I fought with everything I had.
The first sign of the paralysis leting up was in my right arm, after it broke free the rest of me was free, I jumped up, standing in my bed, and the shadow figures all backed away. And then somthing that wasnt a shadow came in the room (same shape same size same perportions, just not a shadow).
(Im not going to describe this thing), It was scary, But im not going to describe it, Because im not sure that what I was seeing was really what it was,
But it had a cleraly visible form, And I could go into great detale describing it.
It seemd to have no weapons or equipment on its person at all, And Its hands where empty,It seemed to move very very rapidly with little effort,before I knew it it was standing right in front of me, and then it held its hand up away from my face, all of the sudden somthing was in it, Its not like it meteralized there, It was just like, nothing was there, then somthing was, This thing looked like a (Y) shaped thing and on each side of the top of the Y where two very shiny flat spots. the whole thing glowed a green color, It made me dizzy And I was already scared out of my mind,
And was afraid to move, Non The less I tried to make noise to maybe wake my dad up,
So pushed myself aginst the wall by my bed, Hopeing that it would do what it always does, knock a picture from the wall in his room, and cause him to come in there to see whats ging on.
The next thing I remember, dad is standing by the bed next to me, im standing up aginst the wall, And he is asking me whats going on.
Till this day,I ask myself, Was it a dream?
And my dad is a little too understanding about my experiences, ive asked him why, and he just changes the subject.