Paul F STE

Experience Description

I was lying in bed in my dorm room, alone, after having walked home during half time from a basketball game. I felt strange and had a severe, pounding headache.

As I lay on my bed, a shining white mountain appeared over the top of my head. I got up, leaving my body on the bed. I climbed several steps to a plateau of the mountain. At the plateau, I confronted an extremely bright white light on my right, while on my left appeared a huge white screen that looked rather like a movie screen in a theater. The screen was opaque from my side, but it was shining and very white. There were beings on the other side of the screen that I couldn't see, but I could tell they were whispering or softly talking about me, but not TO me. I asked the white light and the screen whether my girlfriend and I would break up. A disembodied voice told me that, no, we would be together all our lives.

Then I asked what it was like in the spiritual area in which I was. A voice told me that a good analogy would be a jellyfish. From the top of the water, it just looks like a small, inflated blob, but under the water, it has threads or feelers that reach deeply a long way into the water. Our life on earth was just like the top of the jellyfish, but our life in this dimension had the feelings and depth of the long, trailing threads of the jellyfish. The analogy meant that life on earth was just a very small part of what we would experience in this place. All the threads and strands of the jellyfish on the other side of the screen were animated with deep feelings, and over there we perceived reality in a much more profound way.

I retreated to my body and realized again that I had a terrible headache, which I hadn't felt up on the plateau. I tried to sleep. Then my girlfriend's brother, who was staying in my room with me, approached me with a thermometer. I had a fever of 104 degrees. I went to the school's health center, where it appeared I was delirious and not making any sense. I was diagnosed with severe tonsillitis, put to bed, and given a series of antibiotic shots over the next several days. My girlfriend and I have now been married for 44 years. We have a wonderful relationship and two grown daughters.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: January 1969

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain. Illness, trauma or other condition not considered life threatening. My girlfriend and I were at the point of breaking up because neither of us would convert to the other's religion. The event happened when I left a college basketball game at halftime feeling strange and with a severe headache.

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

The experience included: Out of body experience

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? More consciousness and alertness than normal I don't see shining white things in ordinary light, nor movie-screen images with beings talking behind them.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The entire time I felt out of my body.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. During the time I had left the basketball game, it was evening, and everything seemed dim and cloudy. It was what I would refer to as 'normal' reality.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I heard things that weren't uttered in words, and the questions I asked were also not in words, but in a kind of telepathy.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? I sensed their presence

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Uncertain I don't know what the beings whispering about me behind the bright screen looked like. All I could tell is that they were talking to each other about me. I don't know what they said.

The experience included: Unearthly light

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes Brighter than any light, I had seen. I couldn't look directly at it because of its brightness.

The experience included: A landscape or city

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm A white plateau above a shining white mountain, populated by unseen, but somewhat audible beings

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Exalted and happy

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt no longer in conflict with nature

The experience included: Special knowledge or purpose

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about myself or others I understood what the feeling of being in that place was. It was profound and impossible to experience on earth.

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

The experience included: Awareness of the future

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 importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Greatly important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Protestant This happened at the very time in college that my girlfriend and I were about to break up over belonging to different religious denominations.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Slightly important to me

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Agnostic

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

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I heard a voice I could not identify The voice seemed to be disembodied. I don't know how I heard it, through my ears or telepathically.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I sensed their presence

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? Yes That my girlfriend and I would be together all our lives.

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

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God definitely exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Uncertain All I saw was white light and a white movie-screen object as if at a theater. I am uncertain if God exists.

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? I am uncertain if God exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes That I would marry my girlfriend

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are probably meaningful and significant

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Uncertain Just the predicted event and the image of the jellyfish

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife definitely exists

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists No

Did you fear death prior to your experience? Unknown

Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Slightly fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are probably meaningful and significant

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are meaningful and significant

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No The experience of the jellyfish was about how profound the love was in this reality.

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

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I married my girlfriend. I joined her church denomination.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Uncertain I told my girlfriend about it on the way to the health center, and she said I was delirious and not making sense; and what I described couldn't have actually happened. I was mad that she didn't believe me.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience.

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

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I shared it with my girlfriend about ten minutes after I had the experience, and she laughed. I was angry that she didn't believe it or take it seriously.

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 definitely real It was too vivid and bright not to believe the reality of it.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real It was too distinct and specific not to believe.

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

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? It made me wish I could stay there.