Joe F FDE

Experience Description

At 16 years old, I was a passenger on my friend's motorcycle. It had just finished raining a typical southern downpour and we left the highway to turn around in a parking lot and head back home. There was a large pothole covered with water in the lot and my friend drove right through it thinking it shallow. It was actually pretty deep and the front wheel of the motorcycle stuck and we were thrown from the vehicle (neither of us were wearing helmets). As I tumbled through the air, I had a partial pleasant life review, as though I was in a movie theatre, and many memories/experiences of my current life up to that point were played out on the movie screen. Luckily for both of us we landed in a nearby seasonal creek and other than a few bruises were unharmed.

I never mentioned this life review to my friend nor anyone else for many years, not sure it really happened, though it seemed real. For a few years I had some occasional disassociated feelings that I didn't exist or my life was unreal but those eventually passed I haven't had those feelings for many decades. Some years later in college I took a psychology course that discussed this life review phenomenon and validated that what I had experienced previously was real and not too uncommon given the circumstances.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 11/1/1964

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Life threatening event, but not clinical death Motorcycle accident

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness No recollection

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? As I was flying through the air before landing in the creek.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual Hard to say but it was quite a review of previous pleasant events in my young life, and none that I can recall today.

Were your senses More vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. About the same

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. No recollection

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? None that I remember

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control Only recall is that they were pleasant past experiences

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Catholic

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife definitely exists No

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life I now believe we have spiritual guides and no longer discount psychic phenomena.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I do not know how my remembrance of the experience compares to my remembrance of other life events t

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I have had evidence of spiritual beings around me.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? My wife passed last year after a long battle with cancer and I feel her presence around the house. I often smell her favorite perfume around the house.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes My neighbors are very supportive - they are retired like me - and they believe my experiences are real.

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 I remember thinking that my life review most likely happened though I never discussed it with anyone for years

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real It is well documented that life review is a real phenomenon.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I thought the questionnaire was very thorough.