Out-of Body Experiences and the Near-Death Experience 

  Robert Pastorelli:  "I was in excruciating pain. Then, in the next second, there was no pain. Suddenly I realized I was out of my body. I was floating above myself, looking down at my unconscious body lying in the hospital emergency room with my eyes closed. I could see tubes down my nose and throat. I knew I was dying and I thought, 'Well, this must be death.' I even saw a priest giving me the last rites. But it was the most peaceful feeling in the world. Then I saw my father starting to faint out of grief. Two nurses grabbed him and sat him down in a chair across the room. When I looked down and saw my father's pain it had an effect on me. I firmly believe that at that moment I made a decision to live, not die. The next thing I knew I was waking up back in my body. Later, in the recovery room, when I was fully conscious, I told my father what had happened, his fainting and all. He was astounded." (Robert Pastorelli)

  David Goines: "I remember the fear of impact (getting hit), however, I have no recollection of the impact or having my body become totally integrated with the bicycle, nor hurtling over sixty feet through the air and landing in the canal. My next memory was quite a scene in the hospital emergency room. It was the most unique experience of my earthly life. Unique, because I was observing my own body in the emergency room and all the activity going on, except that I was not in my body. I was above it all - looking down. I was feeling no pain. Everyone was very busy. I knew by their activity that I was in serious trouble. There was much discussion about how to extract me from the tangled wreckage of my bike and/or whether they would need to leave me in it until I was stabilized enough to try. I could see and hear everything. It was gruesome. It was frightening. They finally decided they had me stable enough to get rid of the bike and they called for a welding specialist to bring a torch to help cut me out of the bike. Thank God my body seemed to be unconscious. All of this would have been quite enough for my young mind to endure - until one nurse, whom I knew, said to another, 'Well - it certainly makes you wonder if it is worth saving this mess.' She nearly scared me to death! At that moment, it was more than I could stand above and watch. I wanted to run away from this scene. I needed to escape. Quickly, I turned, took one step through the wall so to speak and found myself in total darkness." (David Goines)

  David Oakford: "I called out to my friends and nobody came. I tried to unplug the stereo but that did not work either. Every time I tried to touch the cord to unplug it I could not grasp it. It just kept on playing "LA Woman" and the sound rattled my very being. I ran all over the house calling for my friends, yelling repeatedly that the music was too loud but I was not heard. I pleaded for the music to be turned down. I tried to go outside but I could not feel the doorknob. I could see the daylight outside but could not go outside. I ended up hiding in the bathroom in an unsuccessful attempt to escape the noise. I looked in the mirror and could not see myself. That frightened me greatly. I went back into the family room and saw my body sitting in the chair. It looked like I was sleeping. I wondered how I could be looking at myself. I got a bit scared then because I could see me from outside of me, from all different angles except from the inside angle I was used to seeing myself. I was alone. I was confused and very scared. I tried to get back into my body but could not. I could not touch the ground either. I was floating. I rose up into a spot above my body and kind of just hung there. I could no longer move. I called out for help and nobody came. I tried to go out the door but like the stereo I could not touch the doorknob." (David Oakford)

  Kimberly Clark Sharp: "I was going back. I knew it. I was already on the way. I was on a trajectory headed straight for my body. That's when I saw my body for the first time, and when I realized I was no longer a part of it. Until this moment, I'd only seen myself straight on, as we usually do, in mirrors and photographs. Now I was jolted by the strange sight of me in profile from four feet away. I looked at my body, the body I knew so well, and was surprised by my detachment. I felt the same sort of gratitude toward my body that I had for my old winter coat when I put it away in the spring. It had served me well, but I no longer needed it. I had absolutely no attachment to it. Whatever constituted the self I knew as me was no longer there. My essence, my consciousness, my memories, my personality were outside, not in, that prison of flesh." (Kimberly Clark Sharp)

  Dr. Liz Dale's research subject: "Immediately after the impact from falling forward onto the metal grating, I felt myself floating up, out of my body, and hovering above my body and all the people who were watching it, and who seemed paralyzed by shock and horror at what had happened. I think they pretty much assumed that I was dead. I remember looking down and seeing my body three-dimensionally for the first time. And it was such a shock, because we never see ourselves except in a one-dimensional mirror reflection, or a photograph. But I felt no pain at all; I felt completely whole and free, and I thought, 'This is who I really am.' I saw my physical body, all crumpled and bloody and lifeless; and this enormous wave of compassion washed over me and I wanted to tell all of the bystanders that everything was going to be OK and not to be sad or alarmed. Then suddenly I felt myself being pulled, literally at the speed of light, farther from the physical earth, and I saw all of the people on the planet simultaneously in that one moment. I saw people in China and Sweden and Uruguay; I saw people sleeping and dreaming; I saw people preparing food in their homes and in restaurants; people traveling in all manner of transportation, to and from work and school and appointments; I saw children playing together, and bankers and teachers and factory workers at their jobs. I saw mothers giving birth to children, which was especially beautiful and moving to me." (Dr. Liz Dale)

  Rev. Howard Storm: "For a time there was a sense of being unconscious or asleep. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but I felt really strange, and I opened my eyes. To my surprise I was standing up next to the bed, and I was looking at my body laying in the bed. My first reaction was, 'This is crazy! I can't be standing here looking down at myself. That's not possible.' This wasn't what I expected, this wasn't right. Why was I still alive? I wanted oblivion. Yet I was looking at a thing that was my body, and it just didn't have that much meaning to me. Now knowing what was happening, I became upset. I started yelling and screaming at my wife, and she just sat there like a stone. She didn't look at me, she didn't move and I kept screaming profanities to get her to pay attention. Being confused, upset, and angry, I tried to get the attention of my room-mate, with the same result. He didn't react. I wanted this to be a dream, and I kept saying to myself, 'This has got to be a dream.' But I knew that it wasn't a dream. I became aware that strangely I felt more alert, more aware, more alive than I had ever felt in my entire life. All my senses were extremely acute. Everything felt tingly and alive. The floor was cool and my bare feet felt moist and clammy. This had to be real." (Rev. Howard Storm)

  Grace Bubulka: "I was then looking down from above the left foot area of my bed. The distance from my bed was as though I was against the ceiling corner. I could see the backs of the staff to the left of my bed and the faces of my doctors and the Filipino nurse. I was exasperated with them and with my futile attempt to connect with them. I had no strong feelings about my body lying on the bed. It was almost unfamiliar to me." (Grace Bubulka)

  Laurelynn Martin: "I awakened and found myself floating above my body, off to the right side, looking down, watching the attempts of the medical team trying to revive the lifeless form below. I viewed the scene with detachment. The surgical team was frantic. The color red was everywhere, splattered on their gowns, splattered on the floor, and a bright pool of a flowing red substance, in the now wide open abdominal cavity. At that moment, I didn't make the connection that the body being worked on was my own! It didn't matter anyway. I was in a state of floating freedom, experiencing no pain and having a great time. I wanted to shout to the distressed people below, "Hey, I'm okay. It's fantastic up here," but they were so intent on their work, I didn't want to interrupt their efforts. I had traveled to another realm of total and absolute peace. With no physical body my movement was unencumbered. Thought was the avenue for travel. I floated up through blackness where there was no fear, no pain, no misunderstandings, but instead a sense of well-being. I was enveloped by total bliss in an atmosphere of unconditional love and acceptance." (Laurelynn Martin)

  Josiane Antonette:  "Am I outside myself observing? I see my body and its pain. I look at my feet; they are pale and lifeless. My legs cannot move. My face is white and drawn ... Now I'm on the hospital room ceiling gazing down! Everything appears so small: I see my bed; my body looks small and colorless; the people around the bed are tiny. Overwhelming grief and sorrow fill the room, and yet I feel completely disconnected from the scene below me. I hover nearer and look at the strange form lying on the bed. I feel compassion beyond words. I understand everything, but I have no feeling of attachment to anyone. I look at each person standing at the bedside and feel tremendous love. I want to say to them, 'I'm all right. You don't have to worry. I'm all right. Look at me! I'm fine!'" (Josiane Antonette)

  Rev. Kenneth Hagin: "My heart stopped beating. This numbness spread to my feet, my ankles, my knees, my hips, my stomach, my heart and I leaped out of my body. I did not lose consciousness; I leaped out of my body like a diver would leap off a diving board into a swimming pool. I knew I was outside my body. I could see my family in the room, but I couldn't contact them. I began to descend down, down, into a pit, like you'd go down into a well, cavern or cave ...  Then, like a suction from above, I floated up, head first, through the darkness. Before I got to the top, I could see the light. I've been down in a well: it was like you were way down in a well and could see the light up above. I came up on the porch of my grandpa's house. Then I went through the wall not through the door, and not through the window through the wall, and seemed to leap inside my body like a man would slip his foot inside his boot in the morning time. Before I leaped inside my body, I could see my grandmother sitting on the edge of the bed holding me in her arms. When I got inside my body, I could communicate with her. 'I felt myself slipping,' I said, 'Granny, I'm going again. You've been a second mother to me when Momma was ill.' My heart stopped for a second time. I leaped out of my body and began to descend: down, down, down ... And then I was pulled up, head first. I could see the lights of the earth above me before I came up out of the pit. The only difference this time was that I came up at the foot of the bed. For a second time I stood there. I could see my body lying there on the bed. I could see Grandma as she sat there holding me in her arms." [Here Hagin says goodbye to his family] "I left a word for each one of them, and my heart stopped the third time. I could feel the circulation as it cut off. Suddenly my toes went numb. Faster than you can snap your fingers, my toes, feet, ankles, knees, hips, stomach and heart went dead and I leaped out of my body and began to descend ..."" [Hagin then enters his body again and recovers from his illness.] (Rev. Kenneth Hagin)

  Ricky Randolph:  "I felt myself leaving my body. I was floating a few feet in the air above the river. I looked on my body with mixed feelings. I was bleeding from my mouth, nose, ears, and saw a trickle of blood underneath me on the boulder. As I was reflecting on the state of my body, I felt a pulling and began to rise very fast. I was traveling at a high rate of speed upwards through the atmosphere." (Ricky Randolph)

  Rexella Van Impe:  The wife of television evangelist Dr. Jack Van Impe, Rexella, was injured in a car accident in Brussels in 1982. She discovered herself outside of her body watching her husband crying as he held her in his arms. The experience was told in their video, "Heaven: An Out-of-Body Adventure?" [This videotape, produced in 1992, is available through JVI Ministries, POB 7004, Troy, MI, USA 48007.]

  Chris Taylor: "On September 1993, I was at Papworth Hospital having my aortic valve replaced. I left my body and watched the surgeon operating on me. He was a bit of a maverick and had a red and white check head cover. He was listening to Meat Loaf's 'Bat out of hell' and invisible drumming to it. He splashed some blood on one of the nurses. She got angry. I asked him about this and he confirmed it by stating that I could not have seen this due to the screen around my face. On November 2001, I rushed back to Papworth with a dissecting aorta which is usually fatal. My son had seen me have the attack and my profound pain. He was scared and had tears streaming down his face. He made me promise that I would not die. I promised him. I underwent 10 hours of emergency surgery at the end of which my heart failed to spontaneously restart. The surgeon manually manipulated my heart for 26 minutes. At some stage in the procedure I left my body with a whooshing sound. I then was floating toward a bright light. All around me was a gray cloud-type thick fog. It had texture. The closer I approached the light I became aware of a fundamental sense of purity. I could feel my pain falling away. I became aware of PURE LOVE, peace, tranquility. I could hear voices that were welcoming me without speaking specific words; but, I understood that this was natural and normal. I also knew that I was leaving the two people I love the most - my wife and son. I was then aware of my son to my left sitting on a chair and sobbing into his hands. My wife walked up to him to comfort him. He said he was scared and my wife assured him I was strong and would live. He calmly said, 'I'm not scared of Dad dying. I know he will not die. He promised me and DAD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES. I then painfully zipped back into my body. Imagine being cold and wet, longing for a warm shower. Imagine taking off those cold wet clothes and getting into the shower. Now imagine getting back into the clothes. Got the message? When I came to, 28 hours later, my wife was told I was in a coma and brain dead. I was so angry for days. I was angry I had lived. That may sound weird but that is, in brief, my story. Two things: This experience has left me feeling over powered spiritually. Secondly, I am a Police Inspector and not prone to flights of fancy." (Chris Taylor)

  Nadia McCaffrey: "I was out of my body. I floated there for awhile, and looked down at lifeless body on the gurney. However, the real me had become a comfortable glowing shape. For a while, I watched on as the nurses and doctors worked quickly to revive me. Then, I lost interest and my attention turned towards a long dark tunnel." (Nadia McCaffrey)

  Beverly Brodsky: "I found myself floating on the ceiling over the bed looking down at my unconscious body. I barely had time to realize the glorious strangeness of the situation - that I was me but not in my body - when I was joined by a radiant being bathed in a shimmering white glow." (Beverly Brodsky) 

  Jan Price: "I remember being surprised as I observed the full heart arrest taking place. I suppose we never really think of ourselves as dying, but obviously I had died because I wasn't in my body anymore. (Jan Price) 

  Norman Paulsen: "There is my body lying at the foot of the telephone pole, covered with blankets. Without sensation, I enter it again. My eyes open to see concerned faces looking down upon me." (Norman Paulsen) 

  Valvita Jones: "Feeling so peaceful and free, I started moving upward. I realized my body was below me, and I vaguely remember observing efforts by the medical team to revive it. My main interest was that I was above the room. I was not even in the room but in the first sky. I say first sky in the heavens, because it seemed as though there were three heavens that I passed through." (Valvita Jones) 

  Laura: "After this infinite moment had passed, there began a battle for my life between the angels in heaven and the doctors on earth. Every time the doctors pounded on my chest, my spirit was sucked into my body for a split second, only to be pulled back again by the angels. They held me by my feet, struggling to keep me from coming back. Finally, the doctors pounded one last time. I heard an angel say, "They're stronger than we are," and I was sucked back into my body, sat up, screamed, and passed out." (Laura) 

  Caroline Sharp: "It is now almost 34 years ago, but with amazing clarity, I can remember the emotions I went through as I hovered above my body. It was a total euphoric happiness. Feeling totally unconcerned and faintly amused, I watched the two nurses and doctor working to resuscitate my lifeless body. I could relate with extreme clarity the actions they took in this procedure." (Caroline Sharp) 

  Mrs. Walters: "When I had my first child I had the experience of being out of my body and hovering above it attached to a thick cord. I could see myself on the bed and the doctor who was in a panic. I could also see the nurse and the instruments on a trolley in the corner of the room. The only way I could have seen the instrument was from the angle I was in. I would not have been able to see them from the bed. I remember thinking it was wonderful to be free of that cumbersome body and not really caring what happened to it." (Mrs. Walters) 

  Randy Gehling: "I didn't really know what had hit me. I just seemed to go flying through the air. And then a really funny thing happened. A part of me - I guess my soul - just kept flying, and I saw my body smash into the ground. I knew it had to hurt to land that hard, so I was happy that I was where I was - wherever that was. When I got a little higher, I saw that it had been Kurt's car that had hit me. I always told him that he drove too fast in the neighborhood." (Randy Gehling) 

  Jeanie Dicus: "I was floating above my body. I saw green shower caps. The people in the room all wore those stupid caps. There were five or six caps and they were panicky. Their fear was so thick I could feel it. I kept thinking, "Hey, I'm okay, don't worry," but they didn't get my message. This was a little frustrating. I found myself in the right-hand corner of the room. I lifted my arm and stretched. I had been immobile for so long. It felt like I had taken off a body girdle, and it was so delicious to get out of that cramped body." (Jeanie Dicus) 

  Peter Sellers: "Well, I felt myself leave my body. I just floated out of my physical form and I saw them cart my body away to the hospital. I went with it. (Peter Sellers) 

  Elaine Durham: "When I got to the hospital, it was not as if I was on the gurney look up, but I was moving, not necessarily walking, but I was at eye level along the right side of the gurney. And there was my body on it, but I did not have any relationship at all to that body." (Elaine Durham) 

  An accountant: "The next thing I remember was looking down on my body in the intensive care unit. I don't know how I got in there, but they were working on me. There was this young doctor in a white coat and two nurses and a black fellow in a white uniform and he was doing most of the work on me. This black fellow was shoving down on my chest and someone else was breathing for me and they were yelling to get this and that!' I learned later that this black fellow was a male nurse on the ward. I had never seen him before. I even remember the black bow tie he was wearing. Next thing I remember was going through this dark passage." (An accountant) 

  Helen: "I remember clearly floating up above myself, and looking down on my body. It was connected to numerous machines. I could see the drip and the oxygen mask. I could see the doctors working to restart my heart with electronic pads. I could see that my parents were there. It felt very peaceful, much better than where I had been before. I was bathed in warmth and light, and the calm was almost tangible. I felt it was up to me to decide where I wanted to be, up there or back in my body, but the peace was so overwhelming that I knew I wanted to stay." (Helen) 

  Carter Mills: A massive load of compressed cardboard Carter Mills was loading, slipped out of control, slamming him against a steel pole. He remembers a sharp pain, collapsing, being in a black void, then finding himself floating in a prone position twelve feet above his crumpled body. He saw and heard people running around, yelling for an ambulance and saying, "Don't touch him, give him air." His body went from white to blue; there was no breath. The sight filled him with awe. "I'm here, my body is there. How did this happen?" Not understanding how he could suddenly be airborne, Carter attempted to reenter his body. Crawling downward in swim-like strokes, he had almost reached his goal when a gentle but firm hand tugged his right arm. When he looked up, there were two angels replete with robes, wings, bare feet, and streaming hair - no color but opaque white - and no particular gender. (Carter Mills) 

  John Star: "Suddenly the world was calm and clear. I could see the shoreline, still in the distance and noticed the sun shining overhead. It seemed brighter than usual. When I looked down I got the surprise of my life. There was my body, still swimming toward shore, moving as straight and smooth as a motor boat. I watched for a while, indifferent to the plight of my body. I was far more concerned with trying to figure out where I was." (John Star) 

  Michael: "And then something exited my chest. Its hard to describe exactly what it was or what it felt like but it was a real presence, a definite feeling. Perhaps terms like "life force" or "energy" come closest to trying to describe what it was, but it seemed to contain my personality as well. Again, its extremely difficult to describe except that it was a real sensation of something immaterial leaving my physical body. This "force", for lack of a better word, then positioned itself in the corner of the bathroom ceiling (the bathroom was in darkness) and I stared down on my own motionless body, skinny and frail and apparently lifeless. This force which seemed to contain something of me certainly an awareness that "I" was no longer in my body, then moved at an amazing speed through somewhere black, like space in its vastness." (Michael) 

  Ida Acosta: "I was drifting in and out of my body, from darkness into light, simultaneously. There were sounds demanding that I leave my wonderful bliss to come back to life. Doctors calling my name. I looked upon it all with a strange indifference. And I could see myself. I could hear a machine beeping. People were slapping me, shaking me, tossing me around, sticking things into me, and I just didn't care. I was in bliss and I really just wanted to die, because at that moment I realized there was no death. It was exactly like drifting into the best sleep ever." (Ida Acosta) 

  Rose A.: "On this one day I found that part of me had separated from my physical body and had risen above my body to the ceiling. From above, I saw myself lying face down on the carpeting. Everything was so clear mentally and there was no pain; I sensed that the physical body was that which felt pain, that which would also hamper one's clarity of thinking. This other part of me, a spiritual me or a soul me, was so much more at peace being outside of the physical me. I knew that if my mother had entered the bedroom at that point, she would not have gotten a response from my physical body, but I would want her to know that everything was all right with me." (Rose A.) 

  Karen Floyd: "At this time, I had floated out of my body. I was floating just below the ceiling of the car looking down at myself on the seat of the car. I remember thinking how strange it was that I was up here when my body was still on the car seat! I could see my friend driving and looking back and talking to me. I also noticed that I didn't feel bad anymore." (Karen Floyd) 

  Sharon: "Sometime during the night I 'woke up' to find myself against the ceiling. I was literally floating and I could see myself from the chest up. I remember feeling no discomfort, such as heat or cold, just a nice peaceful feeling. While I was wondering why I was able to float against the ceiling, I looked down and saw myself sleeping on my back. This was strange enough, but the strangest part was how I thought of myself on the bed. I thought of myself in the third-person. I remember distinctly thinking, 'She is running out of air' and 'There is no oxygen in this room.' I did not think this in a state of panic, more like a peaceful concern for the body. The next thing I knew, I was hurling toward my body." (Sharon) 

  Jerriann Massey: "Three times she fought her way through the murky water and surfaced to suck air, she said. "The third time back under, I was out of my body. It was like when you are wearing pants way too tight and you take them off. Now, you can relax and breathe. That's what it felt like." (Jerriann Massey) 

  Alise: "At the height of the pain I left my body. I saw my body on the bed and tried to communicate to those tending to it but finally gave up and left out the roof of the hospital. I felt like a traitor as they were working very hard on my body but I did not want it any more. I did not want to go back. So I left very quickly and what was foremost in my mind was that I knew exactly where to go. There was no tunnel or light or anything, I just knew where to go and went. Like going 'home'. Getting 'out' of my body was like going through a magnetic field. Each magnet was attracted to the other and then to another and another until the first was attracted to the last and then I was free. I knew I had just gone through the elements of the earth that made up my physical body. This registered in my brain as pain but it wasn't pain exactly but the process of going through the elements and overcoming gravity." (Alise) 

  Martha A. St. Claire: As she began to drown, Martha remembers entering into a kind of dream-like state she feels was the beginning of her near-death experience. She states, "All of a sudden, I was out of my body watching myself being pulled along and thinking, 'This is really incredible. This is really quite amazing.'" (Martha A. St. Claire) 

  Mr. Thermal: "Before we got into the cars we had there, the lightening bolt came through a board in the side of the barn and got me. I felt myself falling but it didn't hurt. Then I noticed I was above myself looking down at me. My body was actually smoking. I watched one guy jump from the wagon he was on, to the ground. On his way over to me, it seemed like it took him 10 minutes to land. Everyone was moving so slow. I was speaking out loud. I could hear myself, but it seemed the others couldn't. I saw them gathering around me trying to wake me up, but I was awake. I was above them. I tried to look at my hands but couldn't see them. I knew they were there. I could feel them move. And I could feel my feet too, but again, my body was on the ground right beneath me." (Mr. Thermal) 

  Elizabeth: "His smile was wide and bright, as he took hold of my left arm, and we began to drift downward. It was comforting and safe to be with him, as we passed by stars in the night sky, drifting through clouds. I eventually could see my town and the top of my house. We drifted through the roof, entering my bedroom. At the ceiling, I noticed my daughter, still sleeping soundly. But then I noticed something else; I noticed another body next to hers. When we reach the floor, I realized it was my own. I was completely confused. He gently lifted me, placing me back into my body. I immediately jumped out of bed reaching for him. But by now, his light was escaping through the window, until finally completely gone. I sat on the edge of my bed, still engulfed with such joy. I took hold of my head, saying over and over again in my mind, I will not forget, I will not forget." (Elizabeth) 

  John Powell: "He then brought me again to this earth. When I saw my body lying on the bed I did not want to enter it again for I felt so happy out of it that I could not bear the thought of entering it again, but he said, 'Enter,' and I had to obey." (John Powell) 

  Sherry Gideon: "The last thing that happened was when I watched my spirit descend back into my body. I could suddenly see myself lying on my bed. I could feel a light coming through the window that was so powerful beyond words. As I watched my spirit return to this body on the bed. I could hear the last words spoken to me: "You must help the world to understand that they must give of themselves freely without expecting and love is all there is!" (Sherry Gideon) 

  Bruce Budden: "I could see my body lying on the lawn and a few cars and people around the scene ... The next thing I recall is almost like energizing over top of my physical body. I moved closer and was hovering a foot or so over my body. I then slowly turned over and then started sinking down into my body. The electrical energy of my spirit started flowing back into my physical body. As I was doing this, this almost sense of transformation, the feeling of being in the pure spirit form started changing to the feelings of the earthly realm. There was a great sense of heaviness, I felt the physical emotions starting to return, along with the emotions of the human animal. The next thing I recall is opening my eyes and seeing the lights of the cars around me and I looked around to find the light I was just in front of but I couldn't find it. Then it hit me, damn, I'm back. At that point I passed out." (Bruce Budden) 

  Vicki Moyer: "During my experience, I was standing in a beautiful garden and saw Jesus. He was sitting on a stone bench. We both were dressed in biblical gown and wore sandals. Jesus let me see through a dimension to where my body being operated on in surgery. I could see it. I remember how I felt. I felt like my body was only a shell and that it was not the true me. I felt like this was me, my soul. I remember him letting me hear my friends and love ones pray for me." (Vicki Moyer) 

  Dr. Habermas and Moreland's research:  Dr. Gary Habermas and J.P. Moreland documented two cases of veridical perception in their book, Immortality, The Other Side of Death. The first case was a young girl named Katie who nearly drowned in a pool. After being resuscitated in the emergency room, a CAT scan showed she had massive brain swelling. She was attached to an artificial lung to keep her breathing and given a ten percent chance of survival. Three days later, she completely recovered and told a remarkable story. Though she had been profoundly comatose, with her eyes closed throughout her entire treatment, she gave exact details regarding the physical features of her doctors, the hospital rooms in which she had been treated, and the medical procedures her doctors employed to save her. Amazingly, she was also able to describe, in minute detail, what her family was doing at home, awaiting news of her status, while she lie in the hospital! Then, Katie said she met Jesus and the heavenly Father. Their second case involves a five-year-old boy named Rick who suffered from meningitis. As Rick was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, he decided to stay behind. He later reported seeing his father crying in the car while he drove the family to the hospital. Rick then rushed to the hospital arriving before the ambulance. He saw hospital orderlies move a young girl out of the room he would be occupying. Rick's memories were corroborated by his family, and were particularly amazing due to the fact that he was comatose before he was taken in the ambulance and for several days afterward. (Habermas and Moreland)

  Guenter Wagner: "Suddenly it dawned on me that I was out of my body. It must have happened the moment this oozing stopped. I saw a body lying on the floor, which could only belong to me. I was shivering and I quickly wanted to return to my body and its warmth when I heard someone say, 'Stop! Before going back, see what it is like outside!' However, I did not pay any attention to the voice. Although I could not see any physical body but my own, this voice was quite near. Then I heard it again, this time it was begging me very earnestly, 'Please, do not go back, I beseech you. Why do you not want to discover your new faculties first? You may still go back if you do not like them.' I hesitated. After all, this voice was right. Why shouldn't I give it a try? On that the voice said quickly, 'Test your mind! If you do you will discover that you can think in a way you have never experienced before.' The voice was right again. I could think very lucidly indeed, and I was able to understand very quickly with a directness that did not leave a trace of doubt. Then I heard the voice again, 'If you are willing to stay outside of your body, you will make a wonderful journey and you will see many interesting things. However, you must decide quickly! So hurry up!' Eventually I began to consider the whole situation. It was really up to me whether I wanted to return to my body and live the life on earth with all its limitations and with all its joy or to stay outside in this condition of clear thinking. The voice again urged me to hurry up and to tell him whether I had made up my mind. I gave in. I decided to stay outside and I instantly realized that my body had to die, meaning total destruction by decay. I thought to myself, "How sad for my mother!' As for me, I did not feel any regrets, because my body was now only a wrapper to me, a burden of which I freed myself the moment I had decided to stay outside. Presently I realized that I was able to move freely about in a way I had never experienced before. I was floating right through the walls of our house (I saw my mother in front of the kitchen stove cooking a meal) and up into the sky. In the distance, I saw a great shining ball, which was the sun. I felt irresistibly attracted to it by its brightness and I wanted to go right into it. No sooner had I thought this when I hit something that catapulted me far out into blackness. I tried once more, but it all happened again. I quickly learned that there had to be an invisible barrier that I could only approach but not overcome. Then the Being of Light was gone. One of the other beings brought me back to earth. I do not know how. I only heard, while being tucked back into my body, a snapping sound like the sound that can be heard when you put the lid on top of a mess tin securing it with the catch." (Guenter Wagner)

  "Suddenly I seemed to be rocketing away from the planet on this stream of life. I saw the earth fly away. The solar system, in all its splendor, whizzed by and disappeared. At faster than light speed, I flew through the center of the galaxy, absorbing more knowledge as I went. I learned that this galaxy, and all of the Universe, is bursting with many different varieties of LIFE. I saw many worlds. The good news is that we are not alone in this Universe! As I rode this stream of consciousness through the center of the galaxy, the stream was expanding in awesome fractal waves of energy. The super clusters of galaxies with all their ancient wisdom flew by. At first I thought I was going somewhere; actually traveling. But then I realized that, as the stream was expanding, my own consciousness was also expanding to take in everything in the Universe!" (Mellen-Thomas Benedict)

  "And in your life review you'll be the universe and experience yourself in what you call your lifetime and how it affects the universe." (Thomas Sawyer)

  "My presence fills the room. And now I feel my presence in every room in the hospital. Even the tiniest space in the hospital is filled with this presence that is me. I sense myself beyond the hospital, above the city, even encompassing earth. I am melting into the universe. I am everywhere at once." (Josiane Antonette)

  "I felt caught up in all of this to the very depths of my being. I felt myself expanding and expanding until I thought, "I'm going to burst!" The moment I thought, "I'm going to burst!", I suddenly found myself alone, back where this being had met me, and he had gone." (Margaret Tweddell)