1. It was as if I were being pushed into a tunnel of stars.

“I felt my shoulders seized by an indescribable force. It was as if I were being pushed into a tunnel of stars. I was going so fast that the stars were dashing by me at light speed. Then suddenly, everything stood still. I found myself hovering in one place that was in the most absolute and dense darkness. I remember I was vainly struggling to discern something. I noticed I could see 360° in all directions at once. I remember this feeling of waiting, as if something or somebody was to arrive. I had the feeling that there was something else after that standstill. Slowly, the thick and unfathomable darkness turned into a warm and comfy gray color. I began to realize that I wasn’t afraid. I glanced downward and to my amazement I found that my body looked different. At chest height, there was a candid sphere of white light emanating rays. I could see the surroundings, although there was still all darkness beyond that. I wouldn’t know how to describe it otherwise.”

—Brigitte

2. There was no longer any beginning and any ending.

“I looked up and saw the light above from beneath the rippling water. It made a beautiful, asymmetrical pattern above, as all the waves collided overhead. At first I was looking at the light on the bathroom ceiling, but it shifted into an endless expanse of the most comforting and soothing, beautiful light. The light was both warm and cool at the same time. In the same way that the light engulfed me, so did the most sublime and serene sense of love and peace envelop me. There was no longer any beginning and any ending. It was as if all of time, it was all, exactly now. I gained the infinite knowledge that absolutely nothing is impossible. I was brought back from that place just as unexpectedly and I had arrived there.”

—Cheryl

3. I was floating over my body.

“I was floating over my body. I could see and hear everything that was being said and done. I left the room for a short while and then returned to where my body lay. I knew why I died. It was because I couldn’t breathe….I could see my spirit standing before me. My spirit was so beautifully perfect, dressed in a white gown that was loose, free-flowing, and below the knee. From my spirit there emanated a bright, soft-white halo. My spirit was standing six to eight feet from my body. It was so strange, for I could see my spirit and my spirit could see my pathetic body. I had not an ounce of color and I looked all withered and cold and lifeless. My spirit felt warm and so, so celestial. As my spirit slowly moved away, my spirit told my body goodbye, for my spirit saw the light and wanted to go into it. The light was like a circular opening that was warm and bright.”

—Jazmyne

4. Everything stops for a moment.

“I hear a bark, and racing toward me is a dog I once had, a black poodle named Pepe. When I see him, I feel an emotional floodgate open. Tears fill my eyes. He jumps into my arms, licking my face. As I hold him, he is real, more real than I had ever experienced him. I can smell him, feel him, hear his breathing, and sense his great joy at being with me again. I put my dog on the ground and step forward to embrace my stepfather, when a very strong voice is heard in my consciousness. Not yet, it says. I scream out, Why? Then this inner voice says, What have you learned, and whom have you helped? I am dumbfounded. The voice seems to be from without as well as within. Everything stops for a moment. I have to think of what was asked of me. I cannot answer what I have learned, but I can answer whom I have helped. I feel the presence of my dog around me as I ponder those two questions. Then I hear barking, and other dogs appear, dogs I once had. As I stand there for what seems to be an eternity. I want to embrace and be absorbed and merge. I want to stay. The sensation of not wanting to come back is overwhelming….I heard a voice say, ‘Welcome back.’ I never asked who said that nor did I care. I was told by the doctor that I had been dead for over ten minutes.”

—Bryce

5. There was a tiny black dot in the center of all the yellow. Somehow I knew that the dot was me.

“What happened was this: Everything was bright yellow. There was a tiny black dot in the center of all the yellow. Somehow I knew that the dot was me. The dot began to divide. First there was two, then four, then eight. After there had been enough division, the dots formed into a pinwheel and began to spin. As the pinwheel spun, the dots began to rejoin in the same manner as they had divided. I knew that when they were all one again, I would be dead, so I began to fight. The next thing I remember is the doctor trying to awaken me and keep me on the delivery table, because I was getting up. When my daughter was born, her head was flattened from her forehead to a point in back. They told me that she had lodged against my pelvic bone. But the doctor had already delivered two others that night and was in a hurry to get home. He took her with forceps. I’ve often wondered if my experience was actually hers, instead….I survived and became very strong….I believe maybe it was sent to show me that I could be strong. I certainly needed that strength in the years that came after.”

—Jeanne

6. I recall being pulled down into a spinning vortex.

“I recall being pulled down into a spinning vortex. At first, I did not know what was happening. Then I realized my body was being drawn downward, head-first. I panicked and fought, trying to grab at the sides of the vortex. All I could think of was my two children. No one would care for them. I pleaded, Please, not now, but I kept moving downward….I tried to see something, but all there was to see was this cyclonic void that tapered into a funnel. I kept grabbing at the sides but my fingers had nothing to grasp. Terror set in, true terror. I saw a black spot, darker than the funnel and like a black curtain, falling in front of me. Then there was a white dot, like a bright light at the end of the funnel. But as I grew closer, it was a small white skull. It became larger, grinning at me with bare sockets and gaping mouth, and traveling straight toward me like a baseball. Not only was I terrified, I was really livid, too. I struggled to grab hold of anything to keep me from falling, but the skull loomed larger. ‘My kids, my baby is so little. My little boy, he’s only two years old. No!’ My words rang in my head and ears. With a bellowing yell, I screamed: ‘No! damn it, no! Let me go. My babies need me! No! No! No! No!’…The skull shattered into fragments and I slowed in movement. A white light, the brightest light I have ever known or will ever see again was in place of the skull. It was so bright yet it did not blind me. It was a welcome, calming light. The black spot or curtain was gone. I felt absolute peace of mind and sensed myself floating upward, and I was back. I heard my husband calling me, off in the distance. I opened my eyes but could not see him. Two doctors were at the foot of my bed—both were angry and compassionate at the same time. I was taken to the operating room, given several pints of blood, and was released one week later.”

—Gloria

7. I felt myself floating into pitch blackness accompanied by an incredible feeling of peace and tranquility.

“I felt myself floating into pitch blackness accompanied by an incredible feeling of peace and tranquility. It was the most serene and beautiful experience imaginable. I couldn’t see anything in this darkness, yet I could feel an overwhelming peace and serenity. It was an amazingly beautiful experience. I don’t know how long this lasted, but I didn’t want it to stop. The next thing I recall was a very annoying jab in my right arm. The paramedics had arrived with adrenaline.”

—Greg

8. While I was in this tunnel, I felt at peace and yet scared at the same time.

“The first thing I remember is being in a tunnel and looking out of a round window or opening. I could see my husband holding me and telling me not to go, to stay, and to come back. I didn’t feel any pain. I never turned around as I kept looking through this window. I could see myself lying there. I remember thinking that I needed to go back because I couldn’t leave my husband. I also remember thinking that I had to make sure that I could move my fingers and toes first to make sure I wasn’t paralyzed. When I could move them, I was instantly drawn back into my body. Then, I felt the intense pain. While I was in this tunnel, I felt at peace and yet scared at the same time. My husband told me later that my eyes were open in a dead stare with no blinking, as if I was dead. I also remember looking through the window and everything was in black, white, and gray tones. There was no color. I try to make sense of all of this and all I can say is that I truly had died and was gone for a short bit.”

—Debra

9. I was suspended in a vast black darkness.

“I was suspended in a vast black darkness. I was terrified, heading towards a black mist. It was not a wet mist, but more like a black fog. At this point, I am watching these events from both inside my body as well as outside my body. As I enter this fog, feet first on my back, the feeling begins to leave my body starting at my feet. The feeling creeps towards my head. I am terrified as I am surrounded by vast darkness and black fog. I am screaming and crying, ‘No! No! I do not want to go! Please God, I don’t want to go there!’ I have never been so terrified. As the fog passes my legs and moves upward to my midsection, I am losing feeling in my arms. The panic really sets in. I continue begging God to please help and pull me back out of this blackness. A presence grabs my upper body and pulls me out of the fog.”

—Paul

10. Suddenly, I was across the room watching the entire scene.

“I felt my soul leave my body. Suddenly, I was across the room watching the entire scene. As I looked at the bright golden light, I was standing there wondering if I should stay on earth or go home. At this time, I didn’t feel any pain and I felt at peace. I was facing the light about to go home, then the next thing I know, I was being pulled back into my body. I breathed deep, arched my back, and came back to consciousness.”

—Laura

11. I don’t know how long it took but I finally realized that I was dead.

“After this, I felt like something had taken ahold of my spirit, soul or energy source, and was forcefully pulling it out of me. I know it was forceful because it felt as if my energy source was resisting. Gradually it began to be pulled out the top of my head. It felt like a rubber band stretching out but finally it gave up resistance and it all came out of the body. As I was floating above my body, my first reaction was to tell myself to move but my body refused to move. I don’t know how long it took but I finally realized that I was dead. With this realization came a feeling of extreme distress. I kept worrying and wondering what to do about it next. At this time a voice came to me from somewhere and it told me to stop worrying as all my troubles had stayed behind with my body. After this I felt a sense of wellbeing that I never felt before or since. It felt like I had been carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders and someone had liberated me of this burden. Then, I went through the ceiling and entered some type of tunnel where I traveled at extreme speed. All I have related to this time felt completely real, but what happened next felt like a dream. In this dream my sister and grandmother came to me and told me that it was not yet my time, with this dream I awoke, apparently I had been taken to a nearby clinic where I had been resuscitated.”

—Thomas

12. I was in this land of contentment.

“I found myself in total darkness with no contact to the earth. I was extremely happy and content. I knew who I was and had no fear. I did not care about the past and only wanted to continue being extremely content. Over the next half hour, one sense came back at a time. This happened very slowly until I was in a lot of pain. I did not have a care in the world but knew I wanted to stay where I was in this land of contentment. I had absolutely no senses.”

—Vikki

13. The creatures that I saw there were more terrifying than anything I even saw in a horror movie.

“The creatures that I saw there were more terrifying than anything I even saw in a horror movie. Today I know that they were demons. As soldiers they where marching past me, and in the middle of them were people that were screaming with pain. It was very difficult to breathe down there, because of the terrible smell of this place. I saw a lake, which looked like the inner part of a volcano, where people were cursing because of great pain.”

—Veronika

14. I felt like a speck of dust being drawn up into a beam of sunlight.

“From the darkness I began to hear men’s voices screaming at me telling me to ‘shut up’—that I ‘deserved to be there’—-that I was ‘in Hell.’ I couldn’t believe it, but as I stood there a radiant beam of light shone through the darkness and immediately began to lift me upward. I found myself being translated up into an incredibly brilliant beam of pure white light—it seemed to be emanating from a circular opening far above me (I felt like a speck of dust being drawn up into a beam of sunlight).”

—Ian

15. It was a dream-like scene where I found myself floating high above Earth, looking down from outer space.

“It was a dream-like scene where I found myself floating high above Earth, looking down from outer space. The blackness was all around highlighting the colors I could see below me—all blues, greens and yellows marking out the countries and seas. I could see the entire globe so I must have been a long, long way away. There was also a slender, silver cord attached to my left hand side, reaching all the way back to Earth. I felt very tranquil as though it was the most natural thing to be happening, even though I had no idea what I was looking at. This happened in 1951. No color photos of the world like that had yet been taken, let alone produced for a toddler to look at, and we didn’t even have a black-and-white television. How could I have known what the Earth looked like?”

—Anne

16. They are terrifying creatures.

“In blinks of the eye, there are black dots that are in a irregular shaped semicircle. In my mind, I feel they are behind me as well, but I never look back. At what I am guessing is the blink of an eye the dots become larger forms as they have moved closer without me seeing them move. This keeps happening a few times until they are within about 20 feet. They are terrifying creatures. As best I can describe they are about four feet tall and of stocky build. They look to be made of tar and are bubbly, but not dripping. I don’t recall any eyes but seem like they had sunken areas for them as well as a gaping mouth with no teeth or tongue. I could hear a low gurgling sound coming from them. At the next blink they were on me like a football pileup. I was weighed down and could barely breathe. Gurgling, they squeezed the air from me and there were so many that all I could do was pull at their bodies in front of my face to try to get air. I pulled upon a hole and could see that bright area in the fog at the end of the cloud. I saw a white shape there and it moved toward me. It didn’t move like the other shapes, this one glided steadily. It had the exact shape like a male manikin with a completely shapeless head and smooth area for genitalia and faintly seemed to have a white glow from within. As it stopped about 15 feet from the pile I wanted to speak out to it and ask for help, but I could not speak. I seemed to know that it could hear my thoughts and pleaded with it for help. It slowly bobbed up and down, emanating a piercing screech and the inner glow became intensely bright. Just as the black shapes had come they went, bounding backwards in blinks of my eye until they disappeared.”

—Doug

17. The feeling was like going up in an elevator real fast.

“There was a sensation like being pulled, but not against your will. I was going on my own accord because I wanted to go. I have different metaphors to try to explain this. It was like the Wizard of Oz—being taken up in a tornado vortex, only you’re not spinning around like you’ve got vertigo. You’re very focused and you have a place to go. The feeling was like going up in an elevator real fast. And there was a sensation, but it wasn’t a bodily, physical sensation. It was like a tunnel but it wasn’t a tunnel….But then I got to the end of it and saw the thing, my body. I didn’t want to get into it….It looked terrible, like a train wreck. It looked like what it was: dead. I believe it was covered. It scared me and I didn’t want to look at it. It was communicated to me that it was like jumping into a swimming pool. No problem, just jump right into the swimming pool. I didn’t want to, but I guess I was late or something because he [the uncle] pushed me. I felt a definite repelling and at the same time a pulling from the body. The body was pulling and the tunnel was pushing … It was like diving into a pool of ice water … It hurt! When I came back, they were playing Hotel California and the line was “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.” I mentioned [later] to Dr. Brown that that was incredibly insensitive and he told me that I needed to sleep more.”

—Pam

18. I was jolted by the strange sight of me in profile from four feet away.

“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