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Common fear: of heights? of the dark? of crowds? of public speaking? of needles? of losing a loved one? of your own death? of illness? of flying? of a certain animal? If the latter, snakes? spiders? dogs?

Did the "something" that happened turn the feared event/object/creature into something harmless? something actually positive? or going the other way, did it make the feared thing actually worse?

When I saw this puzzle earlier this morning, I had just woken up from a series of dreams about unusual weather (this was despite me not actually knowing about the real-life extreme weather that is unfolding over much of the US this week, due to me not living in an affected area). In one of the scenes from the dream, I was looking out my bedroom windows, on the second floor, and feeling that the house was floating up in the air. The trees below were slowly moving by. The closest I've found to what I saw was the scenes from this VFX Youtube video with the city scrolling by below the window, except I was much lower to the ground in the dream, maybe like being in a 6-story building instead of a 2-story one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZsp1tgXkUI). This dream could be said to have combined a common fear (heights) with an equally common desire (flight).

Is this fear more common as a nightmare than it is in the real world? Like a dream about teeth falling out, or having to go back to high school/university and realizing it's the day of finals and you haven't attended studied or attended any classes?

Is the fear of some physical danger? Emotional danger?

Was the thing that happened good? Bad? both? Neither? Possible? Realistic?

Common fear: of heights? of the dark? of crowds? of public speaking? of needles? of losing a loved one? of your own death? This is involved in it, Yes. No to rest of illness? of flying? of a certain animal? If the latter, snakes? spiders? dogs?

Is this fear more common as a nightmare than it is in the real world? Yes Like a dream about teeth falling out, or having to go back to high school/university and realizing it's the day of finals and you haven't attended studied or attended any classes? Not these though

Is the fear of some physical danger? Emotional danger? Both are involved but it's more physical

Was the thing that happened good? Bad? This both? Neither?
Possible? Realistic? Not sure how to answer these

Did the "something" that happened turn the feared event/object/creature into something harmless? something actually positive? or going the other way, did it make the feared thing actually worse? No to all

When I saw this puzzle earlier this morning, I had just woken up from a series of dreams about unusual weather (this was despite me not actually knowing about the real-life extreme weather that is unfolding over much of the US this week, due to me not living in an affected area). In one of the scenes from the dream, I was looking out my bedroom windows, on the second floor, and feeling that the house was floating up in the air. The trees below were slowly moving by. The closest I've found to what I saw was the scenes from this VFX Youtube video with the city scrolling by below the window, except I was much lower to the ground in the dream, maybe like being in a 6-story building instead of a 2-story one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZsp1tgXkUI). This dream could be said to have combined a common fear (heights) with an equally common desire (flight). That's a really beautiful video that makes me incredibly sad for some reason.

Falling? WAG: Is a lateral thinking puzzle relevant?

Did you die in the dream? Did you not wake up in a dream situation that typically leads to people waking up?

Falling? WAG: Is a lateral thinking puzzle relevant? No, but I like the guess

Did you die in the dream? Yes Did you not wake up in a dream situation that typically leads to people waking up? Probably. I actually died multiple times in the dream. Don't think that's extremely relevant though

Did the unusual thing that happened (the thing you have never seen shown in depictions of this fear before) concern what happened after you died? is continued consciousness--or lack thereof--of the world around you relevant? what others did/said about you after death relevant? being out of body?

Did the dream involve being buried?

Did the unusual thing that happened (the thing you have never seen shown in depictions of this fear before) concern what happened after you died? Yes is continued consciousness--or lack thereof--of the world around you relevant? Yope -- OTRT what others did/said about you after death relevant? No being out of body? No

Did the dream involve being buried? No

Did you come back to life? Become a zombie? Become disoncorporated? Stay in your body? Become someone else? Get another body? Dream that you woke up, but kept on dreaming? (this sometimes happens to me.) Relevant what: happened to you? What you did? What someone else did?

Did you come back to life? Become a zombie? Become disoncorporated? At a certain point, this is the relevant bitStay in your body? Become someone else? Get another body? Dream that you woke up, but kept on dreaming? (this sometimes happens to me.) It's happened to me too.
Relevant what: happened to you? This, in terms of getting the exact fear. No to all for the "something happened." What you did? What someone else did?

Is dying the relevant fear? Is it a fear of how you died? Did you die the same way each time?

Did being disincorporated mean living on but without a body? Did you become a ghost? Did you become something else? Fear of ghosts relevant? Fear of the unknown? Fear of the afterlife? Reincarnation relevant?

Relevant how you died in the dream? If so, by falling? Drowning? Freezing? Fire? Firearm? Other weapon? Traffic accident? Illness? Old age? Suicide? War?

Is dying the relevant fear? No Is it a fear of how you died? Not exactly Did you die the same way each time? Yes but Irrel

Did being disincorporated mean living on but without a body? See below Did you become a ghost? No Did you become something else? Not exactly
Fear of ghosts relevant? Fear of the unknown? Fear of the afterlife? This is OTRT, No to rest Reincarnation relevant?

Relevant how you died in the dream? Not relevant, but it was... If so, by falling? ...this Drowning? Freezing? Fire? Firearm? Other weapon? Traffic accident? Illness? Old age? Suicide? War?

Religion relevant? Atheism?

Religion relevant? Slightly (i.e. it's not exclusively a religious fear, but there are elements of it that connect to religion) Atheism? No

Are certain aspects of the afterlife as depicted by religions relevant? Such as: that there is one in the first place? Being judged? Being stuck somewhere? Going to a good place? To a bad place? Meeting dead loved ones? Afterliving on forever and ever? Rapture? Other end-of-the-world scenario? Being a soul rather than a living human? Losing one's individuality? Seeing everything? Understanding everything? Having to decide what to do next?

Do you go on to an afterlife in your dream? Were there any other people or animals in your dream?

Are certain aspects of the afterlife as depicted by religions relevant? Yes... Such as: that there is one in the first place? Being judged? Being stuck somewhere? Going to a good place? To a bad place? Meeting dead loved ones? Afterliving on forever and ever? Rapture? No to these, but... Other end-of-the-world scenario? THIS -- the specific fear is the fear of the world ending Being a soul rather than a living human? Losing one's individuality? Seeing everything? Understanding everything? Having to decide what to do next? No to these

Do you go on to an afterlife in your dream? I started to, but woke up before I got there. Explore this Were there any other people or animals in your dream? Yes, other people

Did the world end? Did others die? Did others end up like you? Is the relevant end of the world: the end of the universe? The physical destruction of Earth? The end of life on Earth? The end of all humans? Some sort of judgement day?

I had a dream once where the Earth "fell over" and stopped rotating. The sun was stuck very low in the south, and we had to flee because our latitudes would soon become inhospitable.

Did the world end? Yes Did others die? Yes Did others end up like you? Yes Is the relevant end of the world: the end of the universe? The physical destruction of Earth? The end of life on Earth? Both of these last two The end of all humans? Some sort of judgement day?

Should add that "Going to a good place?" from your last set of questions is also relevant.

I had a dream once where the Earth "fell over" and stopped rotating. The sun was stuck very low in the south, and we had to flee because our latitudes would soon become inhospitable. Wow. Mine... I don't know what the cause was, but everyone knew it was the last day of the world because it was in the almanac.

Was the Earth and its population "reborn" after it disappeared? I've long thought of that as what "should" happen (as in, that's the sort of sci-fi story I would write) if humans all committed mass suicide and the human race disappeared--that a new planet would eventually "evolve into" a new "Earth" and the process of life developing and humans arising would recur. It could be even that us modern humans' consciousnesses would be reborn into those new bodies "instantly" feeling as if no time had passed in between, even if it was billions of years. Was it anything like this?

Was the Earth and its population "reborn" after it disappeared? I've long thought of that as what "should" happen (as in, that's the sort of sci-fi story I would write) if humans all committed mass suicide and the human race disappeared--that a new planet would eventually "evolve into" a new "Earth" and the process of life developing and humans arising would recur. It could be even that us modern humans' consciousnesses would be reborn into those new bodies "instantly" feeling as if no time had passed in between, even if it was billions of years. Was it anything like this? That's really fascinating, but No

Relevant which kind of afterlife you were heading for? Were you all heading for the same place? Relevant? Is the Abrahamic god relevant? Other god(s)? Other non-Earth being(s)? Relevant how you were heading there? Did you walk? float? Move on your own in some other fashion? Get moved? Get herded? Was the thing from the puzzle statement that happened scary? Unpleasant? Nice? Neutral?

Relevant which kind of afterlife you were heading for? Yes Were you all heading for the same place? I don't remember, I didn't see anyone else when this was happening Relevant? No
Is the Abrahamic god relevant? Only in that I was heading toward heaven Other god(s)? No Other non-Earth being(s)? No
Relevant how you were heading there? Yes Did you walk? float? This, and very relevant Move on your own in some other fashion? Get moved? Get herded?
Was the thing from the puzzle statement that happened scary? Unpleasant? Nice? No to these Neutral? I'd say so

Is floating towards Heaven the thing that happened? If not, did it happen while floating towards heaven? Were you floating in our normal atmosphere? Above the ground of the earth? Was there a problem with your floating? Such as losing buoyancy? Drifting? Turbulence? Air traffic control chewing you out for not following their directions?

Is floating towards Heaven the thing that happened? No and Yes, actually... explore/specify If not, did it happen while floating towards heaven? I actually paused while floating towards heaven, this thing happened, and then I woke up Were you floating in our normal atmosphere? Yes Above the ground of the earth? Yes
Was there a problem with your floating? No Such as losing buoyancy? Drifting? Turbulence? These are great guesses but No Air traffic control chewing you out for not following their directions? I love this guess, it's got a similar type of humor IMO, but No

Are any other beings involved in the event? God? Angels? Were you floating incorrectly? Not supposed to float? Did you have wings? Did you pause due to something you: saw? Heard? Felt? Thought?

Was the thing that happened triggered by something IRL? Something that your brain created a reason for in the dream? (An alarm going off, a song coming on, a dog starting to lick your foot, etc.?)

Are any other beings involved in the event? No God? Angels? Neither
Were you floating incorrectly? No Not supposed to float? No Did you have wings? No
Did you pause due to something you: saw? Not sure about "due to," but what's relevant is what I saw next. No to rest Heard? Felt? Thought?

Did you see an object? Being? Situation? Problem? Event? Phenomenon? Machine?

Could whatever happened be explained by the laws of physics (assuming you were indeed able to float)? like you stopped going up because the air got thinner?

Was there a leaky roof, a storm, or other water-based item or phenomenon? Was there something which suggested you were somewhere else rather than in your bed? Was anyone else involved, actually, imaginatively or otherwise?

I think you missed my questions.

I think you missed my questions. My bad -- I've got them now.

Was the thing that happened triggered by something IRL? No, AFAIK Something that your brain created a reason for in the dream? (An alarm going off, a song coming on, a dog starting to lick your foot, etc.?) No, nothing like these

Did you see an object? For SVV of "object." No to rest Being? Situation? Problem? Event? Phenomenon? Machine?

Could whatever happened be explained by the laws of physics (assuming you were indeed able to float)? Irrel, actually like you stopped going up because the air got thinner? No

Was there a leaky roof, a storm, or other water-based item or phenomenon? No Was there something which suggested you were somewhere else rather than in your bed? In the dream I was outside, but that isn't relevant to the solution Was anyone else involved, actually, imaginatively or otherwise? Yes (not real people, just imagined dream-personages) but also Irrel

Did you see the Earth from a distance, like you would from outer space? the Sun, with the planets orbiting it? the entire galaxy? something even larger on the cosmic scale?

Vaguely object: cloud? Smoke? Contrail? Sunset? Flock of birds? Something normally found up in the air? Weather relevant? Did you see something so impossible that you concluded that you were dreaming?

Did you stop going up? deliberately? or did that just happen? did you want to continue going up? stay? go back to Earth?
Were you in control of where you were floating to? Did you realize that you don't know the direction?
Did you see other people floating with you? did you overtake them?

Did you see the Earth from a distance, like you would from outer space? the Sun, with the planets orbiting it? the entire galaxy? something even larger on the cosmic scale? No to all

Vaguely object: cloud? Smoke? Contrail? Sunset? Flock of birds? No to all
Something normally found up in the air? No
Weather relevant? No
Did you see something so impossible that you concluded that you were dreaming? No

Did you stop going up? Yes deliberately? or did that just happen? This did you want to continue going up? stay? go back to Earth? Don't remember, Irrel
Were you in control of where you were floating to? No Did you realize that you don't know the direction? No
Did you see other people floating with you? Don't remember, Irrel did you overtake them?

Vaguely object: substance? Entity? Light? Radiation? Phenomenon? Ozone? Fire? Vacuum? Something consisting of atoms? Something manmade? Something normally found on the ground? Something normally not found anywhere? Did the thing stop you from going up? If so, by physically hindering you? By distracting you?

Going to a good place is relevant? Is going to a bad place relevant? Is the show The Good Place relevant? Did you want to go to heaven? Was heaven a good place to go to, in your opinion? Did you want to go somewhere else? Hell? Purgatory? Another afterlife? Did you not want to have an afterlife at all?

Re: object stuff. Did you see multiple objects? One thing which has many parts? Was it coming down from heaven? Also going to heaven? Just crossing your path? Was it the Pearly Gates? Another version of the entrance to heaven? Is it an object found on Earth? Is it a household object? Would most people own one? Is it an object that is often in the air? A hot air balloon? Did seeing it cause you a mental disconnect (or a laugh) that caused you to wake up?

Vaguely object: substance? Entity? Light? Radiation? Phenomenon? Ozone? Fire? Vacuum? None of these Something consisting of atoms? ...I'm going to say No Something manmade? DOYD Something normally found on the ground? No Something normally not found anywhere? No Did the thing stop you from going up? No If so, by physically hindering you? No By distracting you? No

Going to a good place is relevant? Only in that, as has been determined: it signified the end of the world, and it involved going upwards
Is going to a bad place relevant? Is the show The Good Place relevant? Did you want to go to heaven? Was heaven a good place to go to, in your opinion? Did you want to go somewhere else? Hell? Purgatory? Another afterlife? Did you not want to have an afterlife at all? All irrel

Re: object stuff. Did you see multiple objects? Yes One thing which has many parts? No Was it coming down from heaven? Also going to heaven? This -- the direction is relevant Just crossing your path? Was it the Pearly Gates? No Another version of the entrance to heaven? No Is it an object found on Earth? They exist on Earth but I'm not sure I'd use the word "found" Is it a household object? They are far from exclusive to houses Would most people own one? Wouldn't say "own," No Is it an object that is often in the air? Yope? A hot air balloon? No Did seeing it cause you a mental disconnect (or a laugh) that caused you to wake up? Possibly -- I remember waking up scared, remembering this part of the dream, and laughing

Souls? People? Bodies? Animals? Lights? Things that were also going to the good place? Something alive?

Souls? People? Bodies? Animals? Lights? No to all Things that were also going to the good place? Not necessarily Something alive? No

So these mystery "objects (gathering/checking what we know):

Exist on Earth? may be manmade or not depending on your perspective? are at least sometimes NOT made of atoms? and therefore I'm assuming, not made of physical matter at all? are not light rays? are not some life essence like a soul? and while they exist both inside and outside of houses, people wouldn't be said to own them? Have we ruled out the possibility that they are alive? (and even if they ARE, living things--at least their bodies--are still clearly made of atoms so that wouldn't really solve the mystery anyway)

Are they something that can take on both tangible, physical forms, AND intangible forms, but have some shape, purpose, etc. in common in both cases? something like symbols or geometric shapes? For example, letters (of the alphabet, not the kind you put in an envelope) do exist on Earth, both indoors and outdoors, and they can be written with a pencil or pen, painted, engraved into a surface with a chisel, illuminated on a screen, etc., so they are not by definition "made" of anything, and nobody "owns" the letter A or B either, even if they own many objects bearing those letters. The only thing that doesn't fit is that letters are clearly manmade. But this is about the only sort of object I can think of that would fit the others (digits, geometric shapes, punctuation marks, various types of diagrams like charts, mazes, etc. also belong in this category). Is it anything along these lines?

So these mystery "objects (gathering/checking what we know):

Exist on Earth? may be manmade or not depending on your perspective? are at least sometimes NOT made of atoms? and therefore I'm assuming, not made of physical matter at all? are not light rays? are not some life essence like a soul? and while they exist both inside and outside of houses, people wouldn't be said to own them? Pretty much, yeah
Have we ruled out the possibility that they are alive? They are not alive (and even if they ARE, living things--at least their bodies--are still clearly made of atoms so that wouldn't really solve the mystery anyway)

Are they something that can take on both tangible, physical forms, AND intangible forms, but have some shape, purpose, etc. in common in both cases? Yes something like symbols or geometric shapes? Yes, see next... For example, letters (of the alphabet, not the kind you put in an envelope) do exist on Earth, both indoors and outdoors, and they can be written with a pencil or pen, painted, engraved into a surface with a chisel, illuminated on a screen, etc., so they are not by definition "made" of anything, and nobody "owns" the letter A or B either, even if they own many objects bearing those letters. The only thing that doesn't fit is that letters are clearly manmade. But this is about the only sort of object I can think of that would fit the others (digits, geometric shapes, punctuation marks, various types of diagrams like charts, mazes, etc. also belong in this category). Is it anything along these lines? Letters are part of the things, so Yes, very much OTRT!

Are they signs? Books? Stories? Poems? LTPF posts? Something else with words? Sentences? Paragraphs?

Are they signs? Books? Stories? Poems? LTPF posts? Sentences? Paragraphs? Not these...
Something else with words? ...therefore this, the thing in question is "words"

Were these separate, single words? words forming a phrase? in English? some other language? just gibberish?
Were you able to grasp the meaning of these words?
Did the words indicate: instructions? directions? places? events? moments in time? names? your name?

Relevant where they came from? Why they were there? What they were doing? Their size? Length? Meaning?

Did you see huge letters in the clouds spelling out "THE END", kind of like in this game https://www.crazygames.com/game/5-differences ?

Did the words spell out something coherent? A sentence? Multiple sentences? A paragraph? Paragraphs? Something longer? Were the words in English?

Did they say, “stairway” or “elevator” or something? Were they the lyrics to Stairway To Heaven? To another song? Were they from some other artistic work? “Do not go gentle,” perhaps?

Did the words tell you this was a dream? Were they like traffic signals that you’d see on Earth? Stop, train crossing, yield for pedestrians, etc.?

Were these separate, single words? For the most part words forming a phrase? ...not phrases, but some were multi-word terms in English? Yes some other language? just gibberish?
Were you able to grasp the meaning of these words? Yes (though I can't remember the exact words now)
Did the words indicate: instructions? directions? places? events? moments in time? names? Some of them were names. No to rest your name?

Relevant where they came from? Why they were there? What they were doing? This might help. No to rest Their size? Length? Meaning?

Did you see huge letters in the clouds spelling out "THE END", kind of like in this game? No

Did the words spell out something coherent? Yes A sentence? Multiple sentences? A paragraph? Paragraphs? Something longer? No to these Were the words in English? Yes

Did they say, “stairway” or “elevator” or something? Were they the lyrics to Stairway To Heaven? To another song? Were they from some other artistic work? “Do not go gentle,” perhaps? No to all

Did the words tell you this was a dream? No Were they like traffic signals that you’d see on Earth? No Stop, train crossing, yield for pedestrians, etc.? No

Were the words also going to heaven? We're all words different? Did they come from the Earth? From people? Were they someone's last words? Everybody's last words?

Were they words of goodbye? Words of welcome? Were they in relevant colours? Fonts? Does their size matter? Does it matter what the words were made of (clouds? wood? ink?)

Were the words also going to heaven? ...I think it's more relevant that they were going up Were all words different? Yes Did they come from the Earth? ...from that direction, Yes From people? No Were they someone's last words? No Everybody's last words? No

Were they words of goodbye? Not in the way you mean Words of welcome? No Were they in relevant colours? No Fonts? No Does their size matter? Not significantly Does it matter what the words were made of (clouds? wood? ink?) They were just words, rising. Material is irrelevant

Did the meaning of the words relate somehow to the action of rising? were they "uplifting" words in a mood sense?

Did the message of the words somehow contradict their appearance? (like the words say "come down" but were floating upwards)

Star Wars relevant?

Did the meaning of the words relate somehow to the action of rising? No were they "uplifting" words in a mood sense? No

Did the message of the words somehow contradict their appearance? (like the words say "come down" but were floating upwards) No

Star Wars relevant? No, but a good guess

Were they going: up in general? Towards some point? Originalting from some point? Or several? Were they going fast? Like a rocket? Slow? Like a balloon? Did they overtake you? Follow you? Did you overtake them? Did they slow down? Speed up? Relevant? Were they spinning? Swirling? Changing? Doing some other relevant motion apart from ascending?

Were they going: up in general? This Towards some point? Originating from some point? They were going directly up from the direction of the earth Or several? No, one starting point
Were they going fast? No Like a rocket? Slow? Like a balloon? About this speed
Did they overtake you? I stopped and they passed me Follow you? Did you overtake them?
Did they slow down? Speed up? Neither Relevant? Yes
Were they spinning? Swirling? Changing? No to all Doing some other relevant motion apart from ascending? They were not

Relevant why you stopped? Were all the words at the same altitude while ascending? Like a cloud layer? Or were they streaming upwards? Like smoke from chimneys? Relevant? Did you want them to stop? Try to make them stop? Otherwise interact with them? Did you read them?

So the actual words don't matter, right? The only thing about them that matters is that they were going up? Would this have worked if they were numbers?

Did seeing all these words floating up make you think of something else? Did you know the words were there before they overtook you? Did they alert you to their presence somehow?

Can't remember. Does the font of the words matter? The size? The colour?

Was there anything else happening (other than you and the words ascending) that matters? Were there any relevant sounds?

Does it matter what triggered this apocalyptic end of the world scenario? Were the words fleeing as well? Like, of their own choosing? Were they afraid of becoming a dead language? Something silly like that?

Relevant why you stopped? I think it was to read the words
Were all the words at the same altitude while ascending? Like a cloud layer? No
Or were they streaming upwards? Like smoke from chimneys? Yes Relevant? Yes
Did you want them to stop? Try to make them stop? Otherwise interact with them? Don't remember / Irrel Did you read them? Yes but I don't remember what they said

So the actual words don't matter, right? Correct The only thing about them that matters is that they were going up? I would say it also matters what purpose they served in the dream Would this have worked if they were numbers? No

Did seeing all these words floating up make you think of something else? No Did you know the words were there before they overtook you? Yes, I could see them rising from below Did they alert you to their presence somehow? No

Can't remember. Does the font of the words matter? The size? The colour? No to all

Was there anything else happening (other than you and the words ascending) that matters? No Were there any relevant sounds? No

Does it matter what triggered this apocalyptic end of the world scenario? No Were the words fleeing as well? No Like, of their own choosing?
Were they afraid of becoming a dead language? Something silly like that? I love this guess, but No

Was the purpose of the words to convey information? Did the fact that there words were there at all tell you something? Did they affirm the existence of a god? Of life still existing on Earth? Of life somewhere else?

Does this have anything to do with the laws of physics? Or like violating the laws of physics? Or proving that they still exist, or something?

Was the purpose of the words to convey information? Yes Did the fact that there words were there at all tell you something? It told me the dream was over Did they affirm the existence of a god? Of life still existing on Earth? Of life somewhere else? No to these

Does this have anything to do with the laws of physics? Or like violating the laws of physics? Or proving that they still exist, or something? No to these

Were they like movie credits? perhaps all the people you had met in your life and what role they had played in it?

Can we get a recap?

Is there anything about the apocalyptic circumstances that's relevant? Is there something we've already discovered that we've forgotten about that would help us out here?

Can we get a recap? No need, because...

Were they like movie credits? ...this is the answer!

I hope that's the answer. End credits for the end of the world! Perfect dream logic. Exactly how I felt after I woke up!

****SPOILER****

I had a nightmare in which the world ended. As I was floating to heaven, I paused halfway up and watched the world's ending credits rise into the sky -- only in dream logic would the world end with credits like a film.

Well done everyone and thank you for the patience as forum activity has slowed. I do have another puzzle on the way -- hope we can get tech issues sorted out and bring more people (not the thousands of spambots) onboard.