One of the things aliens are great at is mind control. Is this the real reason many people suspect that “imaginary friends” are actually tulpas, which Buddhists believe are created by the power of the mind?

Although you have tended to doubt this at first blush, this can be true in some cases, that young children are channeling their higher self and see it as a friend and it will act in that role because the person is desiring this to happen, just as you can reach out to your higher self and the higher self of others and ask questions and have an interaction and a true conversation. So this is not a high percentage of children. It is more likely they are picking up a dark entity of some kind than the higher self, but both things can happen.