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Your friends experience is one of the big answers to your question. This is a state called "Sleep Paralysis" and actually accounts for a large number of experiences that are perceived as paranormal. Actually the cause of this is well known and is related to chemicals in the brain which aid in the transition between sleep and awake.

There are many things that cause people to believe they have had a paranormal experience.

Another big issue is called "Confirmation Bias". This is where someone believes something and looks exclusively for things that will confirm this belief, but ignore the bulk of evidence. For example, someone believes they are psychic and every time they make a correct guess at something they confirm their belief, even if they made 100 wrong guesses leading up to that correct guess. This can apply to any belief system, not just psychics.

Another big thing these days is photographic anomalies. If a photo doesn't come out the way the photographer wanted or something unexpected shows up, then they blame spirits. The majority of haunted photos that I have seen are not fakes (which is another topic altogether) but not spirits either. Usually stray light, shadows, or dust orbs.

There are countless other things that cause paranormal experiences, I don't think I could list them all, even if I tried. However, your friend experienced a perfectly normal and not so uncommon sleep problem that is fairly well known about called sleep paralysis.

I've had these many times,science don't have a clue what it is,just like they still haven't figured out how we think and feel yet,or how we got here,they are more clueless then the rest of us.It could definitely be spirit trying to communicate or overwhelm the person or it could be an internal conflict(battle with ones self)or psychic attack from another source.Remember Japanese culture is much more spiritual than the west,as a whole they believe and except that spirits are all around us and a part of our everyday life,including their ancestor spirits,of course there is a lot of enlightened people of the west but too many are still believing the materialist mantra crap from the 19th century and hence do not believe in anything not concrete.When I'm being paralyzed I fight it and can break out of it in seconds,now of course in my dream it feels like seconds but who knows how long it is.I'm not gonna insult you or your friend by saying go to the doctor,most doctors couldn't diagnose a cold,but everyone I know have had these and we are all sane and drug free,don't be too worried by it!!!

Actually, for all of the people that think this is silly, I've had the exact same experience. Its funny that you mention that you heard this goes on in most Asian cultures because I am to (part) Japanese. Honestly, i would of believe that this could of been imaginative except for the fact that my dog started randomly barking at my closet one day when absolutely nothing was there and they claim that animals sense spirits, etc...

Anyways, when it happened to me, I thought it was the devil sending demons to take me even further (i'm agnostic) away from god though now I don't know what to think it was... and I don't really know what exactly the explanation could be, but I do believe it was some type of spiritual connection.

You have to really want to or you have an overactive imagination.To have one it's necessary to have something out of the ordinary occur.It usually happens around sleep(your friend),it could be a dream or hallucination.It also could be as simple as a door slamming or an animals dying cries in the woods.Take any of those and refuse to investigate with an open mind and you have a paranormal experience.

chances are, its merely sleep paralysis. Before jumping to conclusions that its paranormal, she should see a doctor. If it was to turn out paranormal, a simple blessing and rebuking should take care of the problem, along with a sealing of the house

I have had that happen to me many times. Usually part dream part awake. It is really scary. I think it is just part of your brain asleep and part awake. But not being able to move is strange. Usually I will make myself wake all the way up but it is not always easy and takes a few minutes.

Your friend is experiencing what is referred to as an "Incubi", which is a male spirit seeking sexual contact with a female. During an incarnation this spirit may have loved or been hurt by your friend, upon dying the other continued to look for his enemy or lover in the spirit world, this search may have lasted for centuries, until one day his search is found, but the soul he searches is reincarnated, temporarily out of his reach, determined not to lose sight of his lover/enemy, he prepares to wait patiently for death to reunite them.

Your friend should seek help, for, if the spiritual watcher is one of hatred and discord because of past issues her life could become a living hell.

Its her own body trying to get back in her body as she sleeps!

Dear friend,

Greetings in peace, love and light. It seems to me your friend experienced anxiety and stress that leads her to not enough rest.

In peace, love and light.

Augustine

It's probably just sleep paralysis, and the hallucinations that go with it. Look it up on Wikipedia.