Is this for real?

It has been documented and yes, it appears to exist.

I wonder if these people were taking any drugs. I know that some prescription drugs, like Ambien, have been associated with sleep-driving, eating, and all sorts of weird sleep behaviors.

hudgal1, that sleep driving side effect is really scary. Can you imagine waking up in your car?

As a matter of fact, I have done that. Well, not actually sleep-driving, but I did, like, blank out while driving once. When I snapped out of it, I had to look around to figure out where I was. My mind obviously went on auto-pilot, because I had driven half-way home in the right direction, but had no conscious recollection of making the turns.
Very scary.