It's very real. I used to tell people about experiencing this
when I raced karts years ago. You're 6 inches away from other
racers at a high speed and everything around you outside the
immediate vicinity of the group of karts was just a blur. Yet
what was unfolding in front of and to the sides of you would
seem like a slow motion ballet. Like your brain speeds up it's
processing of info to the point it has to wait for things to happen.

The brain is an amazing organ. When I was 15, I was involved in a car
accident that, by rights, should have killed me. We hit an oak tree
head-on at over 40 mph (and accelerating -- the driver mistook the gas for
the brake) and the tree didn't budge an inch. The car stopped in about 3
feet, with the tree touching the windshield frame, and the car's engine and
transmission shoved into the back seat.

When I close my eyes I can still see every nanosecond of that accident.
Each frame took several seconds, although, of course, that's not possible.
I can see my friend driving, I can hear myself shouting, I can see the tree
in the headlights... Here comes the windshield -- this is gonna
hurt...bang!

Next thing I know, I'm outside the car, trying to figure out if everyone
else is okay. The whole thing seemed to take a full minute, from up the
curb, down the curb, and into the tree.

Very occasionally I'll get this sensation while flying. When that happens,
I can set the left wheel, then the right wheel (or vice versa) onto the
runway, ala Bob Hoover. Everything seems to be happening much more slowly
than normal, and everything is very easy.

Less often (luckily) I've also had it the other way, where everything is
happening too quickly, and I feel behind the plane. This happened a lot
more often when I was a new pilot, of course.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"