David L NDE

Experience Description

On Sunday June 19, 1977, at 1:20 in the morning, I was in a car accident. Heading down the straightway, looking in my mirror, the police officer went straight through the stop sign where I had taken a left. Hitting third gear down the straightway, the car was doing about eighty mph. My friend could not find the place to buckle his seat belt, so I looked down to grab the connector so he could buckle up. When I looked back up at the road, there was gravel in the middle of the road. When the car hit the gravel at eighty mph, the car slid quickly to the left. To avoid hitting the trees, I tried to steer into a driveway.

We were sitting in the dark, but I thought we had made the driveway. I said, 'We made it.' Looking around, all that I could see was dark; pitch black. I asked my friend, 'Where are you?' There was no response.

Suddenly, I am walking down the middle of the road towards an old lady. I was saying, 'I am a mess. I am a mess. I am a mess.' As I walked closer towards her, I reached up to feel my face that was tingling and warm. My finger went up inside my sinus. At that moment, I started to walk away from myself. My vision was clear. My person, my body, was moving away from me. I reached out and tried to grab myself. My hand swept through me as if there was nothing there. I was about three feet behind myself when I watched my body falling to the street. For an instant, my vision was back from the perspective of my body. I saw the pavement in my face.

Back to the darkness, the pitch of black. Then it was as if I was looking down through the branches of a tree. There was an image, fuzzy and dark. I thought, 'What is that?' My friend answered, 'I do not know, what is that?' focusing all my concentration. The images were distorted like the sunlight that shines on the bottom of a swimming pool. The dim fuzzy dark image was illuminated clear for only an instant by the brighter lines moving across the field of view.

I said to my friend, 'That is my brother's car.' I could see a police car to the left, a group of people behind the police car on the left, an ambulance to the right with a police car to the right of the ambulance. My friend said, 'That is us.' At that moment, we both said, 'We are dead.'

As if in the snap of the fingers, the image was gone. I was in total darkness and feeling a hint of fear. Then a voice up, in front, and to my right said, 'Fear not. Do not be afraid.' My uneasy feeling went away as I asked, 'Who are you?' The voice answered, 'Just call me father.' In the center of my being I heard, 'Christ'. Then before me, there were images. Fuzzy and dark like the scene of the car below my friend and I. But these images were all around me 360 degrees of vision in a circle that curved up and away like a bowl.

I watched as a section of the image became brighter and clear. I could see myself at the age of two. Like a corridor of images stacked one in front of the other running away and up. As the bright area like a flashlight was moving from the center in front of me to the left, I watched as the corridors of images showed my life at three, four, five, six and so on until the bright area got to the three o'clock position to my right.

Then suddenly, I was standing in my mother's bedroom. The dog woke up and I said, 'Hampton, it is okay.' Then the voice up, in back, and to my right asked, 'Is this not your mother?' I said, 'Yes.' Then my vision was turned to the right where I could see through my younger brother's door. The voice asked, 'Is this not your brother?' I said, 'Yes.'

Then in the blink of an eye, I was twelve miles away outside my older brother's apartment. Looking down through the concrete floor of the second story, and looking through the steel security door of his apartment, I could see my brother reaching out to open the apartment door. Beside him was a shadowy figure. The voice up, behind me, and to the right said, 'Is this not your other brother?' Thinking that I could talk to the dog, and that my brother is awake, I started to say, 'Charles. Get me out of this. Charles. Get me out of this.'

The voice again said in a monotone voice, 'Is this not your other brother?' Again, I said, 'Charles. Get me out of this.' Then the voice said in a fainter voice, 'Is this not your other brother?' I said, 'Yes.' Then again, in the blink of an eye I was taken fifteen miles away to my father's apartment. I was hovering in the parking lot, looking through his apartment door, looking at him sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. I was looking through the newspaper at this face when I wondered where his wife was. I was told that she is in the bedroom. Then I was asked, 'Is this not your father?' I said, 'Yes'.

In an instant, I was back in the darkness where I saw the 360-degree vision. The last one quarter was quickly scanned. Then I had a sense of front and back. There were voices in a murmur behind me as if eight to ten people were all talking at once. The voice up and to the right told me something then to look around behind me and to my right. I saw an image of myself in a white robe. As if I were hanging on a hook that you would hang a coat. My head bowed down, and with my right hand holding my left wrist at arm's length resting on my belly.

As I turned forward, I could sense that the voice was gone. For when I saw a bluish white sesame seed in front of me, I wondered what is that? Up until that point, every time I wondered anything, the voice told me. Yet this time as I looked at the blue sesame seed, there was not voice. I watched as the seed approached me or I approached the seed. There was a low pitch rumble it was down the frequency range. Then as the seed got closer or I got closer to the seed, the low pitch started to rise up in tone. When the seed and I came together, light began to fill my eyes as if it was being poured into my head from a pitcher. The low pitch sound had become a high pitch ringing as the light started to become clear.

A 'ching' sound, like that of a sword pulling from it sheath, chilled my body as I became aware that there were people around me. A man kept asking me, 'Why did you do it?' I would respond, 'What did I do?' Then my father angrily said, 'Answer the officer.' I responded, 'What did I do?' My father said, 'You know what you did.' Then I looked down at my feet and saw that they were handcuffed. Looking at my feet, I saw my brother Charles. I said,' 'Charles, Charles, what did I do?' Charles came to my right side and said, 'You wrecked my car. Cline is dead.'

At that moment, from the crown of my head, a burning pins and needles feeling, like when your arm falls asleep, started to descend over the entire length of my body. I lay on the stretcher handcuffed hands and feet as my body tingled with the most excruciating pain that I have ever felt. I passed out from the pain. I woke up shortly in jail.

Then again, I woke up for good when a doctor at West Paces Ferry hospital was putting packs in my broken nose. The doctor told me that they were going to keep me for observation. After he left, I stood up and walked around the corner to get my clothes. I pushed open the doors of the emergency room where my mother got her first look at me. The nurse was walking behind me telling me that I could not leave.

As my mom asked me, 'Where are you going?' I said, 'I am going home.' She said, 'You need to stay here.' I said, 'NO. I need to go home to make sure that I am not dead.' My mother froze in her tracks as I walked out of the hospital.

Many weeks passed. My memories clearly confused me with the reality of my death experience. Trying to get back into life, I went to a party. As I stood in the middle of the room, Leslie saw me and ran over to give me a hug. She said, 'You do not know how good it is to see you.' I said, 'No you do not know how good it is to see you.' She said, 'I was out with your brother the night of your car wreck. We were getting ready to leave his apartment when he turned to me and said, something has happened.' I began to cry in the middle of the room as Leslie gave me a hug asking me what was wrong.

I said, 'It was not a dream.' She asked, 'What was not a dream?' I said, 'I was there. I tried talking to Charles. I died. It was not a dream.' At that moment, I became convinced that I truly died.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 19 Jun 1977

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes AccidentDirect head injury 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' Car accident.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I clearly left my body and existed outside it

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal Entire event.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Entire event.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning Time was like on hold. The events that I saw were my only time reference. In the world of the living, my mother, father, and brothers were shown to me as if in super slow motion.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Wave-like, blurry, as if looking through a temperature gradient.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I could hear several people talking to me at once, and understanding each of them.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes At the very end, I approached a bluish white sesame seed.

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes Did not see, but talked to a guide that told me to just call him father. A collection of people that were judging me. I felt that were family and friends.

The experience included: Void

The experience included: Darkness

The experience included: Light

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes At the very end, I approached a bluish white sesame seed.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A hint of apprehension at the very start, then peace, then apprehension at the very end.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

The experience included: Special Knowledge

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

The experience included: Life review

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control 360 degree vision. See my main report.

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from the world's future

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Atheist

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I became spiritual not religious.

What is your religion now? Liberal Spiritual

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I became spiritual not religious.

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes I would think a question and the answer would pop into my consciousness.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Most of my friends walked away. I value honesty over anything. Tough finding that is this world.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The very last part I was told something that I wish I could remember. The multiple voices that I could hear each and every one suddenly became blended together near the end.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Right from the start, most people thought I was crazy.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was probably real The event is such a strong memory, but went against my atheist way. It was not until a few weeks later when I went to a party and Leslie told me that she was out with my brother the night of my wreck. She said that my brother turned to her and said something happened.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real As above.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes On several occasions, I could feel the sensation of death. Within a couple of days, someone close to the family crossed over. September 16th, 2003, I looked at my memory of June 19, 1977 in reverse. I felt a presence of the people that talked to me in the void above me.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? For twenty-six years, I was at peace with my experience, and then on September 16th, 2003, I had a moment. Since then I have been trying to create a method to explain how I could have been a spirit looking on the physical world. I have done it.