I have been searching for an appropriate place to post this. I am going to post it at several sites. This happened October 11, 2007, when I was 51 years old. I was lying in bed sleeping in the morning. I awakened with an eerie feeling, that funny feeling that someone was staring at me. That feeling is distinct, and real, that someone is watching you (ref: "Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: Two meta-analyses" British Journal of Psychology (2004), 95, 235-247. q. 2004 The British Psychological Society. Stefan Schmidt1, Rainer Schneider1, Jessica Utts2, and Harald Walach1. 1 University Hospital Freiburg, Germany; 2 University of California, Davis, USA).
I opened my eyes a crack. Sitting on my bed, not quite two feet away from me, was a tiny person, perhaps about 10 inches tall. I quickly shut my eyes, assuming this was some sort of sleep-induced hallucination. I felt curiosity, but mostly disbelief. I decided to open my eyes again to get a better look at it, but not too wide, I didn’t want it to know that I was looking at it, I didn’t want to frighten it. I was so big and it was so tiny, I was concerned that it might be afraid of me. I purposely kept my breath slow and even, trying to feign sleep. I opened my eyes just a bit wider this time, got a better look at it, then quickly shut my eyes again.
The little person was still watching me intently, with an expression similar to someone observing an animal in a zoo. It was perhaps 8 to 10 inches tall, this was not easy to estimate as it was sitting. It was sitting in a cross-legged position looking directly at me.
I was sure I must be sleep-hallucinating. This little person simply wasn’t possible. I decided I would open my eyes wide, and it would be gone. I stopped feigning sleep. I was wide awake, and I opened my eyes all the way. To my amazement it was still there. We looked at each other for a long moment. Maybe 5 to 10 seconds.
The little person had a very human look, but its eyes were slightly large in proportion to its head size. It had thick brown hair, in sort of a “bowl” haircut style. It wore a dark brown jacket and dark green trousers. There was something archaic about the cut of the jacket, it had extra large lapels with a double row of buttons. I could not tell if it was male or female. It was either male with a slightly effeminate facial structure, or female with a slightly masculine facial structure.
Now I was very concerned that I would frighten it. I wanted it to know that I was a peaceful person and meant it no harm. I wanted to try to engage it in conversation. Could it understand English? Where was it from? How did it get here? Was it from another planet, a parallel world? My curiosity was overwhelming. I opened my eyes a fourth time.

It was gone.

I actually searched my room for it, for several minutes. But it had gone back to where ever it came from. It was SO real. It was not the product of some hallucinatory state. I became convinced that we, the human race, have been visited by non-humans, maybe for thousands of years. They are curious about us, and discreetly observe us. These little people may have given rise to our many legends of fairies, elves, imps, that permeate all human cultures. My perception of the technological superiority of the human race was shattered.
Aren’t we supreme in science?
We have traveled in space, we have gone to the moon, how could some other race have trumped our technological accomplishments?
Does some other race of beings, a tiny race, have interdimensional travel?
The human race does not reign supreme? How can this be?

UPDATE January, 2009 I was watching a television documentary on the life of astronomer George Ellery Hale, builder of the Palomar 200 inch telescope. His discoveries and accomplishments have led to our current understanding of the structure of the universe. Hale was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics. To my shock there was a mention in the documentary that Hale had been visited by an “elf.” The next day I did an internet search and found an explanation that a biographer had misunderstood that the elf visitation was merely a metaphor. But I wonder if this metaphor misinterpretation explanation was actually a coverup for his real elf sighting. This is understandable, after all, it is totally inappropriate for a scientist of Hale’s caliber to have a fairytale story attached to his illustrious memory.