Did I just have an OOBE???

[adhesive]

Hi guys... I have been really interested in oobes for quite some time now, read a couple of books (Bulhman, Monroe, Bruce), and reading around internet...
Never been able to produce one willingly though.

But something happened a few days ago while I was away on a trip with my college... I was very exhausted, not too much sleep, a lot of alcohol over the days... (might be relevant as my body was in a different state).
One day I decided to take a nap just to rest a bit.. My friend was in his bed next to mine as well, sleeping.
So, this is what I remember... Some dream that was pretty weird, about some kids calling me to get in their van and go for a ride, bla bla, until suddenly I realized in the middle of the dream that I was dreaming.... I became lucid. It is not the first time I was lucid, but it was the first time after I got interested in Astral Projection. So, after fooling around just for a little while, I decided - I want to go out of my body! I remembered that affirmations are very important, so I concentrated on that thought very hard, but only after a few moments I felt some strange tingle and sound (though it was not as nearly intense as it was described in the books - "somewhat like a jet of the plane") and all I saw was some blackness...not all black but like when you close your eyes, and see some white as well... So i decided to request some clarity in my vision through affirmations... My vision started getting in focus, black colors mixing with the white, until they formed the recognizable shape... - it was me in my bed! I seems like my perspective was at just one meter from myself , because I could only see my head from closeup... couldn't see the surroundings and if it was really the hotel room. Next part is a bit fuzzy, but I remember the sound that was present constantly, like a rhythmic breathing of an animal... That scared me a bit, but I just decided to look at my friend as well while i was in astral ... Instantly his head was right in front of me, like i was looking at him from a very close distance. But he didn't have his own face, he looked like one of my other friends, and was making weird faces...
I was pretty sure then that I was having an AP, but then I decided it is time to come back, it was enough for first time... As soon as i wished to wake up, it happened and i was in my bed (face up - read somewhere that this is the best position for projection) (however, when i thing about it now, It seems to me when i saw myself in 'astral', i was sleeping on my side). Seems to me like for the next few brief moments i couldn't move (sleep paralysis, because of the was my dream ended suddenly?)... I turned around and saw my friend on the bed next to mine, and he was snoring very hard (hence the sound i heard in 'astral).
I was not scared really, just very excited but in the same time full of doubt that this was in fact AP.

What do you think? Have I had a first AP? Or my mind just made a lucid dream seem like AP because all of the things I know about it (I was expecting the vibrations, the problems with vision focus etc...).

Thanks

[VagusEques]

Was it actual projection? I doubt it. But my criterion is fairly strict. Basically, to count as a verification, I require that I retrieve some information I couldn't possibly have otherwise known and then verify it upon waking. The fact that you mention you saw both yourself and your friend not as you actually are leads me to believe it was just a lucid dream based on your desire to AP. But at any rate, good job on being lucid and good luck on your journey.

[EscapeVelocity]

Personally, I'd qualify it as a projection, but as VagusEques says, you had a lot of dreamstate overlay/interference.

That's a large part of the fun in deciphering just what's going on, especially in the early stages.

But your excellent, detailed description shows, at least to me, that you had good awareness and good memory of the event. You became aware early on, and you apparently , consciously ended the experience.
There was plenty of 'reality fluctuation' as Robert Bruce puts it, but you reported it quite clearly.

Being in an 'unfamiliar place', with not totally 'familiar people' made for a confusing environment where all sorts of misunderstanding could occur.

So the question of 'was it real or dreamstate?' becomes a question of degree...and that, is ultimately, up to you.

EV