I don't know. My original theory could still hold up, that it was some alternate plane, and those sleeping people -- the ones that "went home" -- are over in that building we can't access. But no explanation I've heard of really explains it.
[rubs at his head a little] This place makes no sense sometimes. And after the mess I made trying a summoning, I don't want to try anything else until I know it has a chance to work.