Richard B Probable NDE

Experience Description

The experience requires two stories. Both of them begin as I was flying my little amphibious SeaRey aircraft, on a bright summer day. I planned that hour, to land in a farmer's field not far from the airport. I knew the owner of the field, and I've had years of experience, flying into off-airport fields. The SeaRey can land in a little over a hundred feet, and the field was nearly 2,000 feet long. There was nothing difficult about making this landing safely.

On final approach, at 40 feet above the ground, my story splits into two separate stories.

Story One: My right main landing gear struck a power line. The result was that the SeaRey instantly turned upside down and crashed inverted on the ground. There were some small fires from the broken power lines, but the airplane itself did not catch fire. Bystanders watched the crash, called the police, and soon a rescue helicopter arrived. They cut me out of the cockpit and flew my body to the hospital in Seattle. I had broken a rib and sustained a traumatic head injury and a few other problems. The doctors thought the injuries were serious enough to keep me in critical care for a while. They told my wife that I may never learn to read, talk, or to walk again. I had been in a coma for six days.

Story Two: I had no indication that we had caught any wire, anywhere. At about one foot over the field, I heard the quick little click-click-click of my wheels as they hit grass blades a second before the wheels touched the earth. I remember thinking that this was going to be a perfect landing. Then everything went black. I said to myself, 'Oh. I thought I was flying, but this is a dream, instead.' I waited patiently for the black to disappear. It took a long time, or so I thought.

The next thing that happened I was in the air again, over a lovely landscape. There were rolling hills and lush forests. It was just beautiful! I thought I was flying about 900 feet over the scene and saw a little village to the right. My airplane was gone, and I was the only passenger in some kind of aerial vehicle. Was it a dirigible? Seemed to be so, but there was no balloon or sign of a lifting surface attached to the vehicle. I saw no crew or controls anywhere. There were large glass windows all around me. On the ground and near the village there were 20 or so children playing a game. Most of them stood in a circle, and one ran around the circle. It was as though the game was Ring Around the Rosie, which I had played when I was about seven years old.

A quarter of a mile ahead of me was a small river, and a stone bridge over it. I knew I'd be crossing over the river soon. I watched the landscape passing me. I was about parallel to the village when I heard an emotionless human voice say, 'Would you like to go back to your life on Earth?' I had no idea what that meant, and I was silent. The voice said the same thing again, and I knew that I could stay in this land or I could return back to my life as it had been. For the third time, the voice said the same thing. I realized that I had not said good-bye to my wife, and I wanted to go back to her. I said, 'Yes!' and in the next split second, I opened my eyes, and found that I was in a hospital bed, and there next to the bed was my wife.

I felt perfectly fine. Although later, I discovered that there were tubes attached to my body for reasons I didn't know. My first question to her, was, 'Did you bring your car?' She nodded and said 'Yes.' I asked, 'Can we get out of here now?'

I stayed in the hospital for a month. Some said I was a miracle patient, for there were no problems being myself again soon after I awoke.. She remembers that she taught me how to read a clock, and after that she said an affirmation for me: 'You are a perfect expression of perfect Love, here and now. You will have a perfect healing and there will be no permanent damage.' I said that too, for thousands of times in the next month and even now, I say the first sentence, as she does, too..

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: August 31, 2012

NDE Elements:

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

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 No

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 knew that this was a lesson for me and to anyone who would listen to the experience..

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? As I returned to the body.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

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. It was the same vision that I use in dreams. A lovely countryside, but not the 'greener than green' sense that others have.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. It seemed normal, except that the words I heard had no one to speak them.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain. The blackness had no form. If it was a tunnel I wasn't aware of it.

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

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

The experience included: Darkness

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

Did you see an unearthly light? No

The experience included: A landscape or city

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place. An absolutely beautiful land beneath me. I've flown for many thousand hours over this earth and never so anything quite so beautiful.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I knew this was a dream, so events seemed normal for a dream.

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? I felt no longer in conflict with nature

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

The experience included: Boundary

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Uncertain Was the river I saw below, was that a limit? It may have been, as I think about the experience, but I don't know.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life. It was essential that I say good-bye to my wife. Something must have known that this was a death event, or never would I have thought that was necessary.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

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

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated. I was a Christian Scientist from age 14 till the mid 30's

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

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

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 not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience. I've known about NDEs for years (thanks to Raymond Moody and Kenneth Ring), but never expected that I'd be offered the chance to return.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes. Certainty, again. No question why we're here.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I heard a voice I could not identify. I saw no one in this aerial vehicle, no crew, no pilot, no one. Yet there was someone with me who asked the same question three times.

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

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? No

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Uncertain I had no idea why I was over this land, who the children were, what the river and the bridge meant. The question seemed seemed to be a straight request, as though it would be fine if I decided to stay. Yet I knew no one there, the place, though beautiful, was not home for me.

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

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

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

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists. Yes. Clearly when the voice mentioned going back to my life on Earth, I knew that this place was not my life on Earth.

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I did not fear death

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

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Not 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 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

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Yes I knew at some point that the experience was a learning event, of a kind I had never experienced before. I never believed that I would be permanently injured. No question but that I would be perfectly healed. (in fact, though, I kept double vision to the present time, and it's easiest for me just to close one eye.)

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

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes It was essential for me to be with my wife and tell her how much I loved her and our life together.

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life Certainty. There is no question that everything that happens to us has a reason behind it. A reason that's not all that difficult (at least for me) to find.

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 remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. I have a terrible memory for normal life events. Yet it is extremely accurate, a near-perfect recollection of NDE-sort of events. In 1962 I had an NDE? in which I saw that brilliant light, the one that didn't hurt my eyes. But it happened in a nap and I was not remotely in any danger. In 2001 I had collapse in Argenti-na for a minute, and had a life review there. The table, the five elders there, the (guardian angel) behind and to the left. Lots of laughter then and it was 'just a mid-life check-in,' as they said. It seemed to take a fairly long time, but it happened in about 60 seconds of Earth-time.

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? Just the fact that they happened to me, personally, that's significant.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Right away, to my wife and close friends, later in a book.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes A number of books about NDEs. It was important for me to know that many people have these events, many have much more interesting events that mine.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real I thought for a while that it was a dream, but when I heard the voice and its question, I knew that it was real, all right!

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Three of these events...How dumb can I be to reject them all?

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? I'd just like them to add to the weight of the other evidence for interested readers.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Remind us that we're not crazy to have these events, remind us that millions of people around the world are having similar events, every day, every hour.