More Pre-1975 Near-Death Experiences

 Near-death experiences first started to become well-known around 1975, with the popularity of Raymond Moody's book on the concept (entitled Life After Life). But we have very good reason to believe that such experiences have been a fact of human experience long before Moody's book.  In my posts below I document near-death experiences dating from long before 1975: 

Near-Death High-Speed Life Reviews From Before 1950

An Early Veridical Near-Death Experience

Out-of-Body Experiences and Near-Death Experiences Long Before 1975

The Evidence for Out-of-Body Experiences

Two More Near-Death Experiences of the Nineteenth Century

Four Near-Death Experiences of the Nineteenth Century

Old Newspaper Articles Describing Near-Death Experiences

Let us look at some more cases of near-death experiences or out-of-body experiences dating from long before 1975. The newspaper account below (which you can read here) is from 1935.  We read of a near-death experience of John Puckering, who claimed to visit some other realm of existence after his heart stopped for five minutes. Puckering says he saw there two or three friends from his village who had died. 

The same experience of John Puckering is described in the 1935 newspaper account below which you can read here, from the Evening Star, a newspaper I used to deliver when I was a boy.  It is predictable that arch-materialist J. B. S. Haldane turns a blind eye to the report, and tells us the blatant lie that there is nothing abnormal about a person being revived after the heart stopping for five minutes (in 1935 such a thing was very rare). Such a refusal to seriously study or consider important observations conflicting with materialist dogma (and lying in connection with such refusals) is very common for thinkers of Haldane's type. But it is surprising that physicist Oliver Lodge says he is not interested in the report, because the report corroborates exactly the kind of ideas suggested by Lodge's earlier book Raymond, or Life After Death and his earlier book The Survival of Man.  My only explanation of Lodge's lack of interest (other than his very elderly state at the time) is that perhaps he thought that such an account was a one-of-a-kind fluke, and failed to recognize that such accounts are common. The frequent occurrence of such accounts was not well-known until 1975 and after. 

The case was written up in the British Medical Journal, as discussed in the article here which provides some more details. The exact paper in that medical journal can be read here, in a paper entitled "Recovery After Complete Stoppage of the Heart for Five Minutes." 

The account below (which you can read here) is from 1937, and tells of a near-death experience of a boy (Theodore Prinz) whose heart stopped for five minutes. 

A 1920 news article tells us this about Mrs. Levi Shroyer: "Her heart stopped beating for five minutes and afterward, she declared, she experienced the feeling of entering another world and having been in the arms of her late husband." The web page here tells us this about a pre-1975 near-death experience of Thomas Joseph Kedrowski:

"When shot in Vietnam, he bled to death and his heart stopped for five minutes. The medics pumped adrenaline into his heart and revived him. He reported having an out-of-body experience. He often said the feeling during this experience was better than anything he had ever felt prior or since."

On page 5 of a 1944 periodical (the May 10, 1944 Psychic Observer which can be read here) George B. Bronwell MD gives this narrative of a near-death experience and out-of-body experience:

"I had been ill about three weeks, when early one morning, my temperature suddenly dropped from 104 to 95 degrees. The doctor and the nurse were present at the time. They saw me draw what they supposed to be my last breath, and saw every phase of death take place. At my wife's request, various tests for life, were made. The doctor then pronounced me dead.

The last thing I remember was my wife coming into the room when  suddenly I lost grasp of my consciousness. There was a momentary darkness, a void, then I became aware of another presence in the room. Beside me stood a beautiful young girl, whom I recognized as my wife’s sister. I was certain of her identity, although I was seeing her for the first time. She had passed away several years before. 'Come with me. George.'  requested, and started from the room. 

I followed, passing close to the nurse and the doctor, who were  working over my body. I tried to inform my wife of mv safety while absent, and to assure her that I would return. I found communication impossible. I touched her, but she seemed unconscious of mv presence. Suddenly I realized that she thought I still occupied that inert body, which was lying on the bed. All this took but a moment’s time as I was following mv companion from the room. Then an amazing thing happened. I became aware of a sudden, swift movement. I knew, then, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that my soul, free from the physical body, was about to enter another existence, entirely different from its existence on earth....We entered a park, where men and women stood about, singly and in groups. They were beautiful in their glistening soul bodies...A large, stately budding, dome shaped and constructed of the same or similar materials, occupied the center of the community. This was known as the Audience Hall. The grounds surrounding the structure, were extensive and beautifully landscaped. My companion led me up broad crystal steps and into the Assembly room. A lecturer just completed his lecture and the students were dispensing to their various occupations. The instructor came forward to meet me. 'Welcome, George.' he said. 'I have been expecting you. Few have the opportunity of an experience, such as this. Your physical weakness, at this time, made this transition easy of accomplishment.' ...The lessons taught me in the Audience Hall, covered many subjects. But as they are not a necessary part of this, I shall not discuss them here. All instructions were given in a concise, tangible form. Any fear of death, that I had ever entertained, was entirely eliminated. When the lesson was completed, mv companion immediately led me from the building....

Darkness and oblivion claimed me. once more. When I awoke, I was in my bed. with the nurse bending over me. testing my breathing. 'He breathes!' she exclaimed. 'He lives how marvelous!' It was late in the evening when the nurse had her first knowledge that I lived. I had been out of the body twelve hours. How much of that time I spent away from the earth. I shall never know. I immediately related my experience to mv wife and the mystified nurse, going over every detail of my mysterious experience."

On pages 245 to 248 of Volume 7 of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (1913), which can be read here, we have some remarkable accounts from Thomas Mulligan MD, written in 1908, describing events in 1900. Given the tendency of doctors to take meticulous notes, we can presume the accounts are based on notes taken at the time the events occurred.  On page 244 he states that while Mrs. M ------ was in a "stupor or comatose condition," he was able to ask questions of her mentally, and that she answered every question. We seem to have here a good anecdotal account providing evidence for the reality of telepathy. 

On page 246 we read that much later in 1908 Mrs. M ----- got much worse, and seemed to approach death:

"I thought it was all over, but told the daughter to take off her mother’s shoes and stockings. The battery had helped us so often I decided to try it again. We put a copper plate on the floor and placed her feet upon it, and attached one pole to the plate. The other I applied to the neck over the jugular vein. Respiration had stopped absolutely, and I could detect no pulse or heart sounds whatever. Both had stopped. Mrs. M------- was dead."

After discussing various medical measures to revive the patient, which apparently went on for hours, the doctor tells us this:

"At 2.45 I noticed a slight gasp, and about five minutes later observed the first sign of life, a twitching of the muscles in the neck. I feared to say a word that might arouse hopes too soon, but gradual animation began and the muscles grew more active, the eyelids began to flicker and she gasped again. I spoke sharply telling her to breathe again. She could not hear, but I kept steadily talking to her,

urging her to try to breathe deeply. Just here I noticed the first slight pulsation. I looked at my watch and found it was 3 o’clock. As her respiration became less labored, the tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Her eyes opened and closed quickly as if to shut out the light, the tears still trickling down her cheeks. The others in the room were deeply affected. I wiped away the tears, spoke soothingly and asked her to open her eyes and look at me. She did so, saying with unusual emphasis,' Don’t you be afraid to die.' Looking directly at me she said,' Oh. I’ve been so far away.” 'Have you?' I asked, 'and did you have a pleasant journey?' 'Very pleasant”, she whispered, ' very pleasant.' ' Did you see anybody you knew?' ' Oh, yes, I met Mother ” and turning to her husband, ' and Tom there.' Mrs. M------- 's mother died Dec. 5, 1888. I

learned from Mr. M------- that Tom was Tom Hobson, his sister's first husband, who died thirty years ago....

After a little wait I again asked her what she saw when

away. 'I saw so much it would be very difficult for me to tell

all: you know when one goes into a place with so many strange things one can't see them separately, and the collective beauty is bewildering. I saw a great many people, and they were so kind and friendly it does me good to think of it. I didn't know any of

them but Mother and Tom.' 'Did you seem to be in the open, and was grass growing there?' 'No, I don't recollect seeing any grass, but it does seem as though I saw trees or shrubbery in foliage, but it was so different from anything you ever saw. or that I ever saw, I can’t compare it with anything here.' 'Do you think you will forget this experience before to-morrow?' 'No. I can never forget it.' I told her I would go home and let her rest and think over where she had been so that she could tell me about it more clearly to-morrow....

On page 248 we read of what happened the next day. 

"When I called in the morning I found we had accomplished

something and could say for the first time that Mrs. M------

would get well. After inquiring how she felt. I asked if her

memory of the day before had changed. 'Oh, no, it can never

change, and I can never forget it.’ ' Was it light so that you

could see distinctly? ' ' Yes, but the light was so different from the light we have here.' ' Did it seem like sunlight, moonlight or planetary radiance? ' ' No, it was an indescribable glow coming from somewhere and invading everything, no shadows or dark places, beautiful beyond my power to describe or compare with anything we are familiar with here.' 'How were the people occupied?' ' I don't recollect that they were engaged at anything. Each seemed to be enjoying the association of the other. They were friendly and happy with a universal happiness.' How did your mother greet you?' ' Just as some friend you might meet in Hartford from an adjoining town that you had not seen for a long time. Every one was very friendly.'

' Was anything said that you can recall?' "No, nothing was

said that left any impression. I was given no instructions and

was told nothing in particular that I can call to mind.' ' Would you like to have remained there? ' ' I certainly would if it were not for Pap and Maggie. I want to stay with them a little longer, and (pathetically) Mother didn’t ask me to stay.' ' How was Tom Hobson?' ' He was very happy. I never saw him

look better. He was a good-looking man anyway, and he was so

glad to see me.' ' Did they ask any questions about their 

friends here?' ' No, I don't recollect having heard a question

asked. They seemed to know without asking me anything.'

' Were there any churches or prisons? ' 'No. no use for either.'

' Were there any thrones or exalted places?' ' No, there was

none of that there. There did not appear to be any enclosures,

distinctions or grading.' ' Did you see any golden harps or

musical instruments of any kind?' ' No, happiness permeated

everything. It didn't need to be toned down to music.' "

-- September 30, 1908   Thomas Mulligan MD

Below is a May 20, 1935 account of a young boy's out-of-body experience, from page 342 of the periodical Light:

You can read the account on page 342 of the document here:

http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/light/light_v55_n2838_may_20_1935.pdf

The account below of a near-death experience is to be found on page 226 of the April 11, 1935 edition of the periodical Light, which can be read here. The author is Dr. G. B. Kirkland.

" 'DIED' AND CAME BACK 

One last word about death. On the ninth of September, 1913, after a long series of disastrous operations when everything inside me seemed hopelessly wrong, grave-faced doctors stood beside the bed and told me it was impossible for me to last the night. At about one the following morning, I officially 'died,' and remained in suspended animation for some little time. I have been told how long but have forgotten, and like to stick to facts only. Now, during that time I had certain experiences.

 To my surprise, I found myself looking at myself lying on the bed. The thought just flashed through me that I didn’t think much of me—in fact, I did not approve of me at all. Then I was hurried off at great speed. Have you ever looked through a very long tunnel and seen the tiny speck of light at the far end ? It seems an incredible distance off. Well, I found myself with others vaguely discernible hurrying along just such a tunnel or passage—smoky or cloudy, colourless, grey, and very cold. I kept wrapping great clouds of grey material round me, but they were powerless against the cold. The others were passing me very rapidly, hurrying with all their might towards the light which was brightening, but my draperies or something clogged my feet, and I could scarcely crawl. After a bit, the going became easier, and I was just beginning to enjoy myself and get into a really good stride, when someone or something suddenly rose up before me blotting out the light. Instantly it became terribly cold again, and I was furious and fought madly, but I was gradually forced back. Then there was a complete black-out. It was as though I was knocked insensible in the struggle, and the next thing I knew was that I was alive again—only just, and very sorry for myself."

The account has features matching those of typical near-death experiences: viewing the body from outside of the body, a trip through a tunnel, and an approach towards a mysterious light. 

Mediums Who Reported Out-of-Body Experiences

 Following the beginning of the mysterious rap phenomena that began in 1848, there arose different types of persons calling themselves mediums.  There were mediums such as Daniel Dunglas Home, who were classified as physical mediums, because the mysterious effects reported around them were mainly physical effects such as musical instruments playing by themselves, and levitations of tables (or perhaps even a levitation of the medium himself). There were also mediums classified as mental mediums, who were involved with mysterious mental effects. A mental medium might claim to be able to contact the deceased by means of mental techniques long practiced by the medium, or by means of entering into a trance. Many of the mental mediums have used methods similar to methods that have been called "channeling" in recent decades. 

Some mental mediums held up very well to prolonged examination by scientists. Perhaps the most successful mental medium was the American medium Leonora Piper. A long account of her case is given in my post here. Leonora Piper held up very well to many years of very close and careful examination by members of the Society for Psychical Research. The main person examining her case was a person (Richard Hodgson) who was very skeptical at first, but later became convinced that Piper was actually communicating with the deceased.  

Innumerable times Leonora Piper seemed to display detailed knowledge of things that were known to her visitors, but should have been unknown to her, with the most impressive cases coming when Leonora did not even know the identity of her visitor.  Such knowledge often seemed to include knowing about obscure events or little-known persons known to her visitors, which she should have known nothing about.  This occurred around years such as 1897, where it was impossible to easily gather obscure information by techniques such as using the Internet. 

A British medium of the early twentieth century (Gladys Osborne Leonard) seemed to produce equally impressive results, results so impressive she was often called "the British Leonora Piper." The most impressive existing record of the results of Gladys Osborne Leonard is the 1916 book Raymond, or Life After Death by Sir Oliver Lodge, which can be read online for free here. The book is a meticulous account of interactions Lodge had with mediums after the death of his son Raymond, which occurred on September 14, 1915. The book has transcripts of quite a few sessions Lodge had with mediums such as Leonard.  

Summarizing these cases would be quite a chore, so instead I'll try to tackle the much easier task of describing out-of-body experiences reported by mediums such as Leonard. An account of such an experience appeared on page 149 of the July 1926 edition of The International Psychic Gazette, and is entitled "Travelling in the Astral: Remarkable Experiences." At the time the report was published, the term "out-of-body experience" was not in common use, and almost no one had heard of such experiences. There had developed the idea, however, that each human has a soul-like or immaterial "astral body" that might leave the physical body. It was sometimes said that such an astral body was made of "finer matter" or energy or matter that moved at a higher rate of vibration than ordinary matter. 

Gladys stated this:

"Then I felt a tingling sort of thrill as if a slight current of electricity were passing through my body, and I again had a sensation of not resting on the bed. I could think quite clearly, but taking a lesson from my previous disappointment I held my mind under quiet control, saying to myself that I would notice anything that happened but would not anticipate or wonder. What happened I shall never forget; it was wonderful ! I did not move consciously in any way, either limb or muscle, and my eyes were closed. I wondered how far my body might be above the bed, and by a little mental effort I opened my eyes and looked down and saw my physical body resting on the bed, while I in my astral body seemed to be resting above my physical body. To show you how clear my thoughts were, I noticed that the head of my physical body was lying on a particular nightdress case with an embroidered corner. I was surprised at seeing it there, because I was not aware of its having been changed that morning for the one I had been using. I thought, too, how funny it was that my head was resting on it, because I don’t usually do that. I was pleased at myself for noticing these things." 

"The next thing I felt was that my astral body was getting farther away from my physical body, and I seemed to be hovering over the edge of the bed for a few seconds. Then I began to feel just a little nervous, and the thought flashed across my mind—' Shall I be able to get back easily ? ' That question and slight fear drew me back about a foot towards my physical body. But my interest got the better of my fear, and I thought—' Whatever happens, let me go through with it !' "

"The moment I so determined I became aware of my husband opening our flat door, which makes a slight noise on being opened, and speaking to someone in the hall outside. He was speaking in a low voice, so as not to disturb me. I thought—' I should like to go and see to whom he is speaking,' and I don’t know how it happened, but I found myself at once standing at my husband’s elbow at the flat door. I was not aware of passing through the bedroom door, which is kept closed, but here I was. I looked through the open door, and saw that the man he was speaking to was from the Gas Company. What they were speaking about I did not notice, because just after I joined them (in my astral body) a maid from one of the upstairs flats passed them, and I saw my husband, without speaking to her, take a coin from his pocket and hand it to her. I thought—' That’s funny!  Why did he give that servant a coin ? ' I thought also— ' I will remember that and ask him.'  I arranged all this methodically thus—Two things to remember: (i) the gasman, and (2) the upstairs servant." 

"Then I found myself again back in the bedroom without knowing how. I noticed my clarity of thinking was leaving me, making me less conscious, and I thought that was possibly because I was about to return into my physical body. So I gave myself up to it, and ceased thinking, so as to make the return easier. In a moment or two I was surprised to find my mind begin to work again, but on looking around I saw at once that I was not on my bed, nor even in my bedroom, but in some other room I had never seen before. What interested me most was, I saw that the lady and gentleman I was expecting that afternoon were in this room, talking to a gentleman I had never seen before. I heard my own name mentioned by the lady. There was quite a conversation which I could not wholly catch, but I gathered that my sitters were inviting the stranger to share their sitting that afternoon. I pulled myself up at this and thought—' I must be dreaming, because these two people would never allow anyone to join them in what they regard as a very private and sacred matter.'  I looked at the stranger and saw he was a man of striking personality, not of an ordinary type at all. I got the impression of his appearance well in my mind, to carry it back with me into my physical body. I thought— ' I will hurry back and tell my husband at once, for it will be a good test if this gentleman should after all come with them.' " 

The out-of-body experience continues, and Gladys reports hearing of a Gertrude she had not met. Later Gladys told her husband about the experience. He confirmed that he had been talking to a man from the Gas Company, and that he had then paid a woman a coin for some favor done a few days before, doing this while not seeing Gladys nearby. Later the other part of the "astral body observation" was also apparently confirmed. Gladys says, "When I went into the room and saw the stranger he was so identically the same man as I had seen when in my astral body that I scarcely knew how to pull myself together and speak in an ordinary way to my sitters." Gladys also reports getting a confirmation about the reality of the Gertrude seen in her out-of-body experience. The account is too long and complicated for me to directly quote the whole account. 

We seem to have here a "veridical out-of-body experience" like the "veridical near-death experiences" described in my widely-read post here, both involving people seemingly having trips out of their body, and observing things they never should have seen while in their body, with the details later being confirmed by regular in-the-body observations. 

Another case of a female medium reporting an out-of-body experience can be read in the 1936 book 'Twixt Earth and Heaven by Annie Britain, which you can read here. On page 50 she states this:

"When I leave my body my mental volition is not entirely suspended, although my consciousness is directed towards certain things, and away from others. I am sometimes aware of my 'spirit body' and sometimes not. On one occasion I had sufficient volition to try an experiment. I tried to grasp and move some cups and saucers in the room, but my fingers passed through them as if they were shadows. On the same occasion I tried to slap and pinch the faces of the people in the room but could make no impression on them, and they did not take the least notice of me. I walked through a table as though it were an optical illusion. I remember feeling amused to think that I was so superior to flesh and blood, which usually comes off second best in encounter with wood, stone or steel. Tables, chairs, walls, the bodies of humans, seem as unsubstantial as shadows when one is out of the body. Yet whenever my attention is directed to my own spirit body, it seems solid and real, and as far as I have been able to observe, an exact replica of my earthly body."

Although the account above may seem too fantastic to believe,  there are actually quite a few other people who claim to have had similar experiences during out-of-body experiences: experiences recorded as being able to pass through solid matter. I list five other  such experiences in the third section of my long post here, which is one of the most extensive discussions ever published of the phenomenology of out-of-body experiences, and all of the strange types of things that people report when having such experiences. 

Annie states this about how her out-of-body experiences begin and end:

"I should mention in passing that I am seldom conscious of leaving the body. I simply find myself standing beside my sleeping form. The sensation on returning is always distinct; it is a sort of shock-the kind of physical shock one experiences when one wakes from sleep with a  start. How I really enter I cannot explain; we seem to fuse into each other with a sort of snap."

Annie then states on page 52 this very interesting passage in which she seems to describe out-of-body experiences that take her beyond this earthly realm of existence:

"In my spirit travels I am not always moving among earthly scenes, but sometimes I have the sensation of being propelled upwards through a bright atmosphere into a more ethereal world. It is a world in which I see trees and flowers, houses and people. And yet I am aware that I see other things that no earthly eye will ever see; but they do not seem strange to me, it is as if I had always known them, or had known them long ago, and had forgotten them. When I wake I can recall the trees, the flowers, the houses, but these other things elude me. It is, I think, the effects of light and colour that linger with me longest when I return. How shall I ever forget that radiant, light-drenched atmosphere! The sky is blue, but it is like blue fire. In some landscapes the colours are bright, in some they are of the softest shades, the most attenuated hues, but they blend and fade into others as they do in no earthly landscape. I have seen green forests rise up tier above tier, and fade away into blue night. I have seen the most vivid colours; meadows of a richer deeper green than those in which our lakeland cattle wade; valleys so verdant as to assuage all sorrow; blues that are soul searching; reds that are deeper than sunset or blood. In those happy regions an indescribable spell lies upon every flower and hedgerow and tree; it is like a sixth sense, and I seem to recapture the first fresh glory of earliest childhood."

The language reminds me of language that often appears in accounts of near-death experiences, in which people will often report seeing some strange ethereal realm that is very unworldly but also something that causes a person to have a feeling that he is "coming back home," as if he once lived in such a place. I discuss such accounts in my post here. 

On page 54 Annie makes these claims regarding a missing person. The reference to "the mesmeric sleep" is a reference to being hypnotized:

"My husband put me into mesmeric sleep, and suggested that I should trace the young woman if alive, or find her body if dead. I left the body, and found myself walking by a canal or river. It was dark and I could not see beyond the path and the water. I walked along till I came to a spot where the water was wider and there were rushes. I felt immediately that this was the spot, and saw in the distance an inky-blue coppice of trees and the shadowy outlines of a colliery. I did not see the body; I knew the experience would be gruesome and shrank from it. Soon afterwards I awoke and described my adventure. A few days later the body came to the surface in the very spot amongst the rushes that I had seen in my vision."

On page 56 we hear an astonishing tale which begins like this:

"I woke to find myself standing outside my body, gazing at the sleeping form in the chair. My cousin was by my side, a young man who had died some years before, and to whom I had been deeply attached. I was not greatly surprised to see him, as he had often escorted me on my spirit travels. Now he offered to take me out for the afternoon and see some of the spirit people. We passed out through the walls of the room, seeming to glide rather than to walk, with no more sense of motion than if we had been in a balloon."

Annie's accounts of her travels out of the body go and on, with many a fantastic adventure reported. I'm sure many of her 1936 readers must have thought that mere runaway imagination was involved. But about 1975 and thereafter many reports started to be published of near-death experiences, with people often reporting floating out of their bodies, and finding themselves traveling to unearthly mystical realms sounding like the one described by Annie. And such reports often involved claims of encountering the deceased,  claims similar to those Annie made. In the light of such near-death experience reports occurring so frequently, the accounts in Annie's books may not seem as hard-to-believe as they might have seemed to readers in 1936. 

A wide variety of mysterious psychic phenomena were reported in connection with Frederica Hauffe, a visionary (dubbed the Seeress of Provost) born in 1801. In an 1845 work by the physician Justinus Kerner, we read about such phenomena. Hauffe reportedly did quite a lot of spirit seeing, so we can classify her as a medium. On the page here and the next one we read that she had out-of-body experiences (like many others):

"She was frequently in that state in which persons, who, like her, have had the faculty of ghost-seeing, perceive their own spirit out of their body, which only enfolds it as a thin gauze. She often saw herself out of her body, and sometimes double. She said, ' It often appears to me that I am out of my body, and then I hover over it, and think of it ; but this is not a pleasant feeling, because I recognize my body.' "

In the same post in which I describe many stunning phenomena involving Frederica Hauffe,  I also describe many equally stunning phenomena involving the nineteenth century medium Adele Magnot, who seemed to be one of history's most successful mediums, although her name is all but forgotten today. As I report in that post, Adele Magnot seemed to be remarkably successful in describing deceased figures she could not have known about by normal means, when only given the names of such persons. 

If the topic of this post interested you, check out my free 292-page book "Eeriest Events," now available on www.archive.org using the link here. The book discusses phenomena such as near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, apparition sightings, deathbed visions and precognitive visions.  Using the native www.archive.org file viewer in single-page mode,  you can conveniently read the whole book by finger swiping. Scholars who are interested in following the links may prefer to download the book as a PDF file, which will allow opening links by right-clicking on a link. Those interested in whether modern scientists are able to explain accounts such as those discussed above may enjoy my recently uploaded 160-page  free online book "Near-Death Experiences and Out-of-Body Experiences," which can be read at www.archive.org using the link here. 

Early Newspaper Accounts of Out-of-Body Experiences

The Chronicling America web site and other web sites allow full-text searches of old newspapers. Using such sites, I found some interesting old newspaper accounts of out-of-body experiences. For example, there is the account below of a man claiming to have out-of-body experiences in which he traveled to the 1905 World's Fair in St. Louis. 

You can read the full account here:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85058130/1905-02-05/ed-1/seq-18/

Below is a 1903 account of a dying boy (Walter Smith) who reports a trip to Heaven during a close brush with death that was soon followed by actual death. We have elements of a near-death experience, an out-of-body experience and perhaps what is called terminal lucidity.  Click on the image to read it better. 

You can read the account below:

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRX19030814.2.2&srpos=752&e=-------en--20--741--txt-txTI-psychic-------

Below is a 1903 newspaper account:

"Jim Burlington of St. Joseph. Mo., is dead again, and has at last been buried. Burlington died, or appeared to die, about five years ago. The body was placed in a coffin and arrangements were made for its burial. Just as the funeral procession was about to leave the house life returned to Burlington's body. When he had regained consciousness Burlington declared his belief that he had really been dead. He said that he had been to heaven and told a beautiful story of the sights he had seen there. He was not a well-educated man, but described heaven as he said he had seen it in most remarkable language. Burlington's description of heaven was printed in a pamphlet soon afterward and was declared by scholars to be a most wonderful statement. Burlington was a member of a church and his statements were fully believed by the other members. One strange feature of the story was that Burlington said he saw a man in heaven who had formerly been a resident of St. Joseph, but who had moved away and was believed to he still living. Inquiry revealed the fact that the man was dead.—Sacramento Sunday News."

You can read the account using the link below:

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MDA19031115.2.37&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------

An 1892 newspaper account tells a story with many remarkable aspects. We hear of an 18-year-old young Mexican woman (Teresa Urrea) who had remarkable healing abilities after spending days in a death-like trance:

"She had spasms, and went into a trance that lasted thirteen days. Her parents thought her dead and were preparing for the funeral when she revived and recovered. Immediately after this she began to perform wonderful cures by the laying on of hands. A lame woman was her first case. This becoming rapidly gossiped about, the lame, blind and otherwise ailing began to arrive in crowds, walking on their knees as soon as they came in sight of the house, and reciting prayers and calling the young lady the 'holy maiden.' "

We are told Teresa gave proof of her power of mind-reading, and that she "has cured more than three hundred sufferers from all kinds of complaints." We read this claim of an out-of-body experience which Teresa seemed to produce at will, with someone else corroborating the reality of the experience: 

"One incredulous individual named Jose Parades laughed in the young girl's face, whereupon, so says the report, she slipped out of her body and stood before him for an instant in double form, both shapes being perceptible to him. Parades rubbed his eyes and his hair rose on end. 'What did you see?' asked Teresa. 'Nothing,' he stammered. 'That is, it was an optical illusion.'  But he was converted."

You can read the full account using the link below:

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MU18920811.2.2&srpos=44&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------

You might be inclined to completely dismiss the account above, claiming that no one ever reports seeing the apparition of a living person. But while such apparitions are reported much more rarely than apparitions of the dead, the literature of the paranormal does include some cases of people reporting apparitions of living people. Such cases are discussed in my post here. 

Another newspaper account of Teresa Urrea (from April 1892) states this:

It seems that the healing powers of Teresa Urrea lasted a long time. She eventually became a folk hero known as Saint Teresa (Santa Teresa).  Revolutionaries adopted her as an inspiration or patron saint, although she denied encouraging them directly. An 1893 newspaper article states this. 

A 1900 newspaper article (published eight years after the original reports of her healings) describes Teresa as being a famed healer who performed miraculous cures:

Do a Google image search for "Teresa Urrea" and you will find many articles about her. A search for newspaper articles on her using the search terms of "Teresa Urrea," "Theresa Urrea" and "Santa Teresa" or "Santa Theresa" produces quite a few matches. 

Teresa Urrea, called Santa Teresa

Some Accounts of Out-of-Body Experiences

 Using the search link below, you can search for references to particular topics that appeared in the British publication Psychic News.  

https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A2939726

Below are some interesting accounts that I got after searching for the phrase "out-of-body," as in "out-of-body experiences." (It worked much better to type the phrase in quotation marks rather than without them.) 

• A researcher who sent out a survey asking people if they had an out-of-body experience was surprised to find that 70 out of 110 people reporting such experiences reported them occurring more than once (link). 
• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (a leading researcher on death) reported that she had a spontaneous out-of-body experience after one of her exhausting five-day seminars (link). 
• A woman who had been blind from birth had an out-of-body experience during surgery, and after the surgery was able to report details of the operation that should have been unknown to her (link, link). 
• A patient who had an out-of-body experience during a dental operation reported seeing two pennies on top of a high shelf while the patient floated above her body. The dentist got a ladder, and found that the two pennies were really there (link). 
• An actor named Richard Squires reported that while doing a frantic dance while playing a role on stage, he suddenly had an out-of-body experience, and began viewing the audience from high above them, from what is known in the theater as the rafters (link). 
• Anthony Chamberlaine-Brothers reported having a similar out-of-body experience during his acting performance, with an additional twist making the story more interesting (link). 
• Marcel Picard reported having an out-of-body experience in which he floated above his body, eventually reaching other apartments below his (link). 
• A retired army major named Derek Scull reported having two out-of-body experiences in which he viewed his body from outside of it (link). 
•  Barbara Lambert said that during a difficult labor she floated out of her body to the ceiling, and saw her body from above, temporarily thinking that the body below her was her twin sister (link). 
• A person being viciously beaten by the Nazis reportedly had an out-of-body experience in which he returned to his home, only to see his wife cavorting there with another man (link). 
• A man having an out-of-body experience said that he felt more alive than ever before (link). 
• A woman (W.H. Westley) said that at her son's funeral her heart fluttered, and she found herself high above the funeral attendees, addressed by the very son who had died (link). 
• Arthur Sanders said he had an out-of-body experience during an operation. He says he felt himself "floating up, away from my  body," and then found himself in an open landscape, glittering with light (link). 
• Ami Greenstead suffered from a rare illness causing many fainting experiences, but reported to her mother that she had out-of-body experiences during such events, going up to the ceiling and observing her body from above (link). 
• Bryce Bond reports that when hospitalized from an allergic reaction, he rose up out of his body to the ceiling, before traveling through a dark tunnel, and meeting a dead relative he recognized (link). 
• Psychologist E. E. Bernard claims to have left his body, and says he verified the accuracy of details given by someone reporting an out-of-body experience to a place he had never been (link). 
• A wheelchair-bound young celebrity reported out-of-body experiences that may involve traveling far away from her body (link). 
• A nurse claimed that three different times she had an out-of-body experience when one of her patients was dying, saying that she kind of mystically traveled with them towards some otherworldly destination, before being told she must go back (link).
• Dick Battista reported floating above the operating table during a transplant operation and watching the surgeons do their work (link). 
• The well-known movie actress Gloria Swanson reported an out-of-body experience (link). 
• A road accident victim recalled separating from his body and watching from a distance as medical workers tried to revive him (link). 
• While suffering a pulmonary embolism and days of unconsciousness in a hospital, Alan Cheek reported having an out-of-body experience in which he first saw medical workers working on his body and then encountered seeing his dead father and mother (link). 
• Jason Winters reported that during an operation "I was aware that I had left my body," and found himself on a misty bridge before turning back (link). 
• Soosie Holbeche reported that during a Caesarean section operation she found herself looking down on her body, feeling as if she had taken a dress off, later passing through a tunnel and having an expansion of consciousness before returning to her body (link, link). 
• Olivia Robertson reported having an out-of-body experience that included a "long, long tunnel" and an encounter with her deceased mother (link). 
• Young Kanta Smith reported an out-of-body experience while "dead" for 15 minutes before being revived. She described meeting a grandfather she had never even seen in a photo, and a parent says the description matched that of the grandfather (link). 
• Stefan von Jankovich reported having an out-of-body experience during a car accident in which his heart stopped for six minutes. He reports floating out of his body, having a great feeling of peace, seeing accident bystanders and even reading their thoughts, hearing someone claim  it was too late and that Stefan was dead,  hearing heavenly music and having a life review in reverse order (link). 
• Tommy Clack reported having an out-of-body experience when his legs and one of his arms were blown off during the Vietnam war. He reported looking down on his body as people gathered it for medical evacuation, and also reported communicating with soldiers who had died (link). 
• Virginia Falce reported having an out-of-body experience as doctors were massaging her heart for three minutes, trying to revive her. She reported "I felt this absolute sense of love and peace embracing me, pulling me from somewhere. I looked over and could see it was coming from a glowing circle of light." 
• German government official Annamarie Renger reported leaving her body, and said that when she returned, it was like passing through a small tube (link). 
• Marjorie Hall reported that she had an out-of-body experience during childbirth. She says, "I felt myself lift out of my body and float upward, " She reported seeing from above her body giving birth, at a height about 15 feet (about five meters) above the scene (link). 
• A student claiming out-of-body experiences reportedly described correctly the home of her professor, which she had never physically seen, but claimed to have visited in an out-of-body experience (link). 

On page 77 of the February, 1926 edition of The International Psychic Gazette, we have an article by William A. Reid entitled "Out of the Body." He describes out-of-body experiences by himself and others, some of which may be near-death experiences. Below are some excerpts:

"I would confine my attention to the claim made by living persons that they have been out of the body. Mr. Oaten, the respected Editor of The Two Worlds, in the issue of his paper for January 1st, 1926, writes, ' I remember seeing my body on that bed, and saying to myself, " That left arm will be stiff and sore when I wake up." '  Then he describes what he saw—green fields, wonderful flowers, etc...There is a very large number of good solid folks, still in the flesh, who assert that they have been out of their bodies, and say that they saw their bodies in full consciousness and came back to reoccupy them. They have no story to tell of wonderful spirit journeys and experiences, as in the above instances. They merely assert that they saw their own bodies. I have had this simple experience ; and give it largely because of its unpretentiousness....I was fully awake. I looked down on my body, and felt tremendously elated. I should not describe the feeling as ecstasy or rapture ; it was rather that of joy and intense satisfaction. I was in no sense carried away by the feeling. I thought I was dead, and said to myself, ' Well, it’s all over, and I’m very glad.' Now I know that some will find fault with me for, so to speak, entering the Other World with a jest in my heart; but so it was. I seem to have become startled almost at once, for the next thing I felt was re-entering my body, gasping and panting and coughing. I thought I should have choked; but gradually the trouble subsided. Now this experience not only gave me the satisfactory proof that I am a spirit living in a body, but also that when the spirit leaves the body it experiences an exhilaration and uplift."

Those having an out-of-body experience may report being up near the ceiling....

        ...or a journey to some mystical realm 

Near-Death High-Speed Life Reviews From Before 1950

In accounts of near-death experiences we tend to hear the same narrative motifs repeated over and over. One very common motif is a report of the observer separating from his body.

Another common motif of near-death experiences is an account of being propelled through some mysterious tunnel, towards some mysterious light or mystical destination.

 

Another common characteristic of near-death experiences are so-called life review events in which someone may recall the events of life in very rapid succession and great vividness.  Researchers of such experiences claim that about 20% of those having near-death experiences have such a life review. At the 26:56 mark in the video below, we hear a woman recall having such an experience while being trapped underneath the water while rafting in rapids. She says this: "And then I was taken through a life review that was like nothing I personally could have imagined." We then hear another person saying this:

"One collection of phenomena are changes in your thought processes. Your thoughts seem to be going faster than usual, they're clearer than usual, they're more vivid than usual. You may have a complete review of your entire life. And this is happening again in the context of likely brain damage, or at least severely restricted oxygen to the brain, when you would not expect much of an experience at all, let alone hyper-acute senses and rapid clear thinking."

We also have at the 30:20 mark in the video a woman describing a life-review during a near-death experience. At the 32:11 mark the woman having the river accident says that in her life review, "I could experience thousands of things all at the same moment of time, but I was experiencing each of them independently."  

Claims that such life-review events occur in near-death experiences go back more than a hundred years before Raymond Moody's 1975 book Life After Life.  For example, on page 267 of the June 4, 1875 edition of The Spiritualist, we have a first-hand account of such an experience, told by the distinguished scholar William Stainton Moses. He states this, describing a life-review during a near-drowning during a sporting event:

"It never occurred to anybody, I suppose, that a man who could venture in a little cockleshell such as I was sculling, was unable to swim ; and so no particular effort was made to rescue me. I went down dazed and confused with the upset, and the shouts and objurgations of the crowd. I remember the shout of the coxswain, more forcible than polite, and then I floundered about until I suppose I became unconscious. At any rate a strange peacefulness took the place of my previous feeling. I recognised fully that I was drowning, but no sort of fear was present to my mind. I did not even regret the fact. By degrees, as it seemed—though the process must have been instantaneous—I recollected my life. The link was—well, I am drowning, and this life is done with. It has not been a very long one. . . . And so the events of it came before my mind, and seemed to shape themselves in outline and move before me. It was not that I thought, but that objective pictures of events seemed to float before me, a moving tableau, as though depicted on the mass of water that weighed upon my eyes. I seemed to see the tableau, but not with the eye of sense: with that mysterious inner vision with which I have since discerned spiritual things. The silky, velvety appearance of the tableau, which seemed as I say to float before me, was very prominently impressed upon me. The events were all scenes in which I had been an actor, and no very trivial or unimportant ones were depicted, though they were not all serious, some indeed laughable enough. Nor was my frame of mind particularly solemn. I was an interested spectator ; little more. One incident of which I had no previous knowledge was recalled to my mind on that occasion, and has never again left it. My memory of it is now as clear as of other things. The next thing I remember was the interruption of this peaceful state by a series of most unpleasant sensations which were attendant on resuscitation."

In the same 1875 publication on page 268 we read, "Mr. Serjeant Cox said that several persons, on being resuscitated from hanging, had spoken of the memory of their lives having passed before them at the moment of suffocation." Similarly, on page 292 of the June 18, 1875 edition of The Spiritualist we have a similar account:

"Mr. Jencken said that six years ago he was attacked by a mob in Spain, and practically speaking he died four times that night, for he swooned away and came to again four times. The whole of his life passed before him like a panorama ; he thus read off a part of his life, then became conscious again of the onslaughts of the mob. A gun was fired at him, the mob disappeared to his consciousness, and again the vision of his past life returned, taking up the thread of events where it had left off. This occurred four times, each successive reverie beginning where the other had finished." 

Similarly, on page 410 of the 1876 book The Marvellous Country by Samuel Woodworth Cozzens, we have an account of a life review during a terrifying fall that almost killed the author:

"All this time I was acquiring greater momentum, until it seemed as though I was fairly flying into the very arms of the horrible death which stood staring me so steadily in the face. Not a bush or shrub could I see growing upon the precipitous sides; there was nothing, absolutely nothing, for me to cling to, and the stones and earth which I disturbed in my descent were falling in a shower around me.

Convinced that death was inevitable, I became perfectly reconciled to the thought. My mind comprehended in a moment the acts of a life-time. Transactions of the most trivial character, circumstances the remembrance of which had been buried deep in memory’s vault for years, stood before me in bold relief; my mind recalled with the rapidity of lightning, and yet retained a distinct impression of every thought.

I seemed to be gliding swiftly and surely out of the world, but felt no fear, experienced no regret at the thought; on the contrary, rejoiced that I was so soon to see with my own eyes the great mystery concealed behind the veil; that I was to cross the deep waters and be at rest.

I thought I heard the sound of many voices, in wonderful harmony, coming from the far-off distance, though from what direction I could not tell.

My momentum had become so great that I seemed to experience much difficulty in breathing; and I remember that I was trying to explain to my own satisfaction why this should be so, when the heel of my right boot struck the corner of a small stone that chanced to be firmly imbedded in the earth and therefore offered so much resistance to my descent, that upon striking it I was thrown forward upon my face. This stone without doubt saved my life."

The book has this illustration to depict the situation:

In 1892 Albert Heim produced a paper in German entitled "Notizen über den Tod durch Absturz," which can be translated as "The Experience of Dying from Falls" or "Notes About Death from Falling."  The original German text of the paper can be read here. Below is a translation I got using Google Translate. First Heim notes how he got his accounts of people who had close brushes with death after falling:

"In mountaineering and other literature we come across relevant stories here and there, although rarely. In the Hamburg Laza-rethen in the war year 1870, as well as on various later occasions, I interviewed war wounded. Several doctors who had a lot of contact with victims were able to tell me about their statements. I researched several bricklayers and roofers who had fallen from scaffolding and roofs, half-injured workers in mines, on railway lines, etc. A large number ...who fell without losing their lives were able to give me precise information. Those who were thrown away by the air strike during the Elm landslide and became unconscious told me their experiences. I also received detailed reports from some club members who had crashed and were rescued, from three fellow professionals, etc. A fisherman who had been swept deep under water when the Zug bank collapsed told me his experiences. We have some good accounts of the Mönchenstein railway accident from those who narrowly escaped with their lives, e.g. from a locomotive driver, from some passengers, etc. etc. But what has caused me not to miss an opportunity to write such notes for more than 25 years collect, were my own experiences." 

Then Heim notes a remarkable similarity in the accounts:

"For the vast majority of those who have had an accident - probably 95% - regardless of their level of education, the symptoms are exactly the same, only experienced slightly differently in degree. In the face of death due to a sudden accident, almost everyone experiences the same mental state - a completely different state than in the face of a less sudden cause of death. It can be briefly characterized as follows:

No pain is felt, nor is there any paralyzing shock that can occur in the event of minor danger (fire outbreak, etc.). No fear, no trace of despair, no pain, rather calm seriousness, deep resignation, commanding spiritual security and speed. The activity of thought is enormous, increased to a hundredfold speed or intensity, the conditions and the eventualities of the outcome are objectively clearly seen far away, no confusion occurs. The time seems very extended. You act quickly and think carefully. In many cases this is followed by a sudden look back into one's entire past. Finally, the faller often hears beautiful music and then falls into a wonderful blue sky with little rose-colored clouds. Then consciousness disappears painlessly - usually at the moment of awakening, which is only heard and never painfully felt. Of the senses, hearing is probably the last to disappear."

Heim discusses a strange increase in the speed of thought:

"Anxiety paralysis does not occur, thought activity appears to be enormously increased, and time is lengthened in the same proportion. The judgment remains clearly objective, and as far as the external circumstances allow it, the person who falls remains able to act at lightning speed."

Heim quotes a first-hand account by one person who nearly died in a terrifying fall:

"Meanwhile, a whole flood of thoughts had time to move through the brain in a clear way: The next blow will bring you a grim death, it was said. A series of pictures showed me in quick succession all the beauty and love that I had experienced in this world, and in between them the sermon that I had heard from Mr. Obersthelfer that morning sounded like a powerful melody: God is almighty, heaven and earth rest his hand; We must remain silent about his will. Infinite calm came over me at this thought, in the midst of all the terrible turmoil. The car was thrown up twice more; then the front part suddenly drove vertically down into the Birs, and the rear part with me was thrown sideways over the embankment down into the Birs. The wagon was shattered."

Heim gives this first-hand account of a fall he experienced, noting that his thought seemed greatly speeded-up:

"Then I saw, as if on a stage from a distance, my entire past life played out in numerous images. I saw myself as the main character playing. Everything was as if transfigured of a heavenly light and everything was beautiful and without pain, without fear, without torment. The memory of very sad experiences was also clear, but still not sad. No fighting or strife, the fight had also become love. Sublime and reconciling thoughts dominated and connected the individual images, and a divine calm passed through my soul like wonderful music. More and more a wonderfully blue sky surrounded me with little rosy and especially delicate violet clouds - I floated out into it without any pain and gently, while I saw that I was now flying freely through the air and that there was still a field of snow below me. Objective observation, thinking and subjective feeling occurred simultaneously side by side. Then I heard my thud and my fall was over."

Mentions of accounts such as these occur in published literature as early as 1847. Below is a quote from page 71 of the 1847 book "The Unseen World" by John Mason Neale:

"The nearest approach that man has ever made to the invisible world is probably in those persons who, having been to all appearance drowned, have been recovered on the use of the proper means. And what is singular is this ; by all accounts, after the first short struggle is over, there is perfect consciousness, but no pain. It is said that every action of past life is borne in upon a drowning man's mind with perfect clearness ; all rush on his memory together, yet each distinctly ; and if there be any suffering, it is entirely the moral pain which may result from that retrospect ; for there is no physical anguish. On the contrary, the prevailing sensation is an indescribable calm, accompanied by a pleasant green light, they say, like green fields : the agony begins with the attempt at resuscitation. It is believed that a gentleman, who occupies a distinguished place in scientific literature, and who is said to have been longer under water than any one who has ever been brought back to life, also, in a more remarkable degree than any one else, saw something of those 'unspeakable things which it is not lawful for a man to utter.' ''

This post is one of eight posts in which I have documented accounts of near-death experiences dating from before 1975. You can read the other posts here. 

In the video at the top of this post, we have a remarkable example of what is called a veridical near-death experience. At the 22:09 mark a doctor recalls his "first day as a doctor" on a long shift at a hospital. A second-year resident promised the doctor that he would be with the doctor throughout his long shift. Soon a patient went into cardiac arrest, and the doctor was able to prevent him from dying (the second-year resident being absent). The doctor recalls talking with the patient's wife using rather gloomy language, and eating the patient's lunch (which the patient was too sick to eat). Days later the patient spoke to the doctor, and recalls floating out of his body during his cardiac arrest. The patient scolded the doctor for eating his lunch, and talking to his wife using such gloomy language. The doctor is stunned to hear the patient claim that at the time of his resuscitation from cardiac arrest, the doctor was feeling sorry for himself because the second-year resident did not stay with him as he promised. This was a rather embarrassing thought that the doctor had kept to himself, and had expressed to no one. 

We have here a good example of what is called a veridical out-of-body experience, in which a subject recalls making observations while out of his body which should have been impossible for him to make, given his medical situation at the time. See my post here for many similar cases. The video at the top of the post at the 22:00 mark has a very remarkable account of a veridical out-of-body experience, in which a doctor reports someone reading his mind during an out-of-body experience.