1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,968 [MUSIC PLAYING] 2 00:00:03,968 --> 00:00:17,860 3 00:00:17,860 --> 00:00:21,300 NARRATOR: Who can tell us the truth about life after death? 4 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:23,220 This American minister who claims he 5 00:00:23,220 --> 00:00:26,290 was swallowed up by the fires of Hell, 6 00:00:26,290 --> 00:00:29,410 this girl who says she saw her grandmother in the gardens 7 00:00:29,410 --> 00:00:33,170 of Heaven, or this Air Force doctor whose 8 00:00:33,170 --> 00:00:35,840 revolutionary experiments point to a more down 9 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:36,620 to earth solution? 10 00:00:36,620 --> 00:00:41,130 11 00:00:41,130 --> 00:00:43,950 Mysteries from the files of Arthur C. Clarke, 12 00:00:43,950 --> 00:00:48,450 author of "2001" and inventor of the communication satellite-- 13 00:00:48,450 --> 00:00:51,700 now in retreat in Sri Lanka, he ponders the riddles 14 00:00:51,700 --> 00:00:53,740 of this and other worlds. 15 00:00:53,740 --> 00:00:57,233 [MUSIC PLAYING] 16 00:00:57,233 --> 00:01:23,190 17 00:01:23,190 --> 00:01:24,650 ARTHUR C CLARKE: All religions face 18 00:01:24,650 --> 00:01:28,240 the greatest of mysteries-- what happens when we die? 19 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,570 The Buddhists believe we may be reincarnated in this world. 20 00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:35,520 Other faiths believe the soul discards the body 21 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,200 and enters a spiritual realm. 22 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:39,970 However, a growing number of people 23 00:01:39,970 --> 00:01:43,570 claim they have already glimpsed an after life. 24 00:01:43,570 --> 00:01:46,620 When they were revived after having been pronounced dead 25 00:01:46,620 --> 00:01:49,100 by doctors, they speak of floating 26 00:01:49,100 --> 00:01:53,480 peacefully down a dark tunnel towards a shining light. 27 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,400 Sometimes they meet dead friends and members of their family. 28 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,340 NARRATOR: Dr. Melvin Morse was inspired to investigate when 29 00:02:01,340 --> 00:02:04,470 child patients told him extraordinary stories of 30 00:02:04,470 --> 00:02:06,970 their near-death experiences. 31 00:02:06,970 --> 00:02:10,150 Many of them were too young to describe what they had seen, 32 00:02:10,150 --> 00:02:13,220 so Morse encouraged them to explain in pictures. 33 00:02:13,220 --> 00:02:15,670 The innocent artists produced graphic glimpses 34 00:02:15,670 --> 00:02:17,800 of childhood heaven. 35 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,440 Here's some drawings that children 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,756 have drawn for me of their near death experiences. 37 00:02:21,756 --> 00:02:24,380 38 00:02:24,380 --> 00:02:28,330 This is a six-year-old boy who nearly died 39 00:02:28,330 --> 00:02:29,780 during a routine tonsillectomy. 40 00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:33,050 He had three cardiac arrests, and here we 41 00:02:33,050 --> 00:02:37,680 see a long tunnel and leading to a rainbow bridge. 42 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,410 See the long, dark tunnel, and then 43 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:43,190 this very spectacular rainbow bridge to a place 44 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:43,950 he thought was heaven. 45 00:02:43,950 --> 00:02:54,400 46 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,400 This is a five-year-old girl who has 47 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,460 nearly died of bacterial meningitis 48 00:02:58,460 --> 00:03:00,700 here at Valley General Hospital. 49 00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:03,090 A great wealth of detail here that she was not 50 00:03:03,090 --> 00:03:05,450 able to articulate, and then we see 51 00:03:05,450 --> 00:03:09,070 her floating out of her body, so out of her body. 52 00:03:09,070 --> 00:03:12,240 Here's Jesus wearing a little red hat, who she said 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,070 was very nice. 54 00:03:14,070 --> 00:03:18,020 There's three angels, and then this rainbow she said 55 00:03:18,020 --> 00:03:23,840 is a light who told her who she was and where she was to go. 56 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,450 She also said this is a door where the dead people were, 57 00:03:27,450 --> 00:03:29,160 and this door here, she said, was 58 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,050 where grandpas and grandmas and babies 59 00:03:32,050 --> 00:03:34,870 who are waiting to be born. 60 00:03:34,870 --> 00:03:38,420 Now this is another patient of mine, Jessie Lott, 61 00:03:38,420 --> 00:03:41,830 and she nearly died of a fulminate liver failure 62 00:03:41,830 --> 00:03:44,270 from mononucleosis. 63 00:03:44,270 --> 00:03:46,830 She had to have a needle stuck into her heart 64 00:03:46,830 --> 00:03:49,120 to resuscitate her, so that's near death 65 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,650 by anyone's criteria. 66 00:03:52,650 --> 00:03:54,760 NARRATOR: Jessie bounced back to health 67 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,410 but vividly remembers her brush with death. 68 00:03:58,410 --> 00:04:01,760 Well, I was just sick, and then all of a sudden, 69 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,067 there was white lights or white cloud type thingies around me, 70 00:04:05,067 --> 00:04:06,600 and I saw my grandma, and she was just sitting 71 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,130 there in this wooden chair. 72 00:04:08,130 --> 00:04:10,670 And she was smiling, and she didn't say anything, 73 00:04:10,670 --> 00:04:12,237 but she looked happy. 74 00:04:12,237 --> 00:04:13,570 MELVIN MORSE: And here's her grandmother 75 00:04:13,570 --> 00:04:15,540 sitting on a brown chair. 76 00:04:15,540 --> 00:04:17,930 Her grandmother had already died. 77 00:04:17,930 --> 00:04:20,470 And then we see her grandmother surrounded 78 00:04:20,470 --> 00:04:21,750 but this white light. 79 00:04:21,750 --> 00:04:23,930 When I think about it, it just gives me that warm feeling 80 00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:26,110 inside, and it just touches me just 81 00:04:26,110 --> 00:04:29,160 to think about it to know that if I was near death, 82 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:30,500 my grandma was there. 83 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:32,570 She was there to be there with me. 84 00:04:32,570 --> 00:04:37,040 Now this is a patient of mine named Crystal Merzlock, 85 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,430 and she was seven years old when she nearly drowned 86 00:04:39,430 --> 00:04:41,590 in a community swimming pool. 87 00:04:41,590 --> 00:04:44,240 And she said that she floated out of her body 88 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,680 and went down a long tunnel, and here we 89 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:49,960 see the ground, which interestingly enough, 90 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,180 she draws blue as the sky. 91 00:04:53,180 --> 00:04:55,960 And then she said a hole opened up in heaven, 92 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,290 and she can see down to her brother. 93 00:04:58,290 --> 00:05:00,280 And she loves him very much, so she indicates 94 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,190 that with a red heart. 95 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:05,940 And as this hole opened up in heaven in which she could see 96 00:05:05,940 --> 00:05:07,860 her brother was a big factor in her 97 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:10,100 deciding to return to her body. 98 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:13,320 [CHILDREN PLAYING] 99 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:14,240 100 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,130 NARRATOR: Crystal is now grown up. 101 00:05:16,130 --> 00:05:18,570 She was the first of Dr. Morse's patients 102 00:05:18,570 --> 00:05:20,607 to describe an afterlife. 103 00:05:20,607 --> 00:05:21,740 CRYSTAL MERZLOCK: He asked me what 104 00:05:21,740 --> 00:05:25,870 it was like to be in a coma, and I said, oh, it was fun. 105 00:05:25,870 --> 00:05:28,400 Heaven was fun. 106 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,230 I was asked by Elizabeth, my guardian angel, 107 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:37,020 whether I wanted to stay or come back, and I said, no, why would 108 00:05:37,020 --> 00:05:38,300 I ever want to leave this place? 109 00:05:38,300 --> 00:05:39,220 It's so beautiful. 110 00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:41,180 There's so much love here. 111 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:43,060 And she said, OK. 112 00:05:43,060 --> 00:05:46,800 And I thought about it for a second, and I thought, no. 113 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:48,704 I want to go back. 114 00:05:48,704 --> 00:05:53,700 I thought, I wouldn't ever be able to hug my mom again 115 00:05:53,700 --> 00:05:55,400 or anybody I really loved. 116 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,700 And for that sole reason, I decided to come back. 117 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:02,180 NARRATOR: Within the covers of a family 118 00:06:02,180 --> 00:06:05,700 photograph album lay a forgotten picture which dramatically 119 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:08,570 backed up Crystal's story. 120 00:06:08,570 --> 00:06:11,890 We came to a page, and I came to realize 121 00:06:11,890 --> 00:06:15,480 that my great-grandma, Dora, was the grandma 122 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:16,400 that I saw up in heaven. 123 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,550 And I pointed to here, and I said, that's her. 124 00:06:18,550 --> 00:06:21,830 That's who I saw up in heaven, and that's my grandma Dora. 125 00:06:21,830 --> 00:06:23,960 And they were very surprised, because she 126 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,800 died before I'd been born. 127 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,630 Near death experiences tell us everything about death. 128 00:06:30,630 --> 00:06:36,440 The fact that when we die, our body just doesn't stop, 129 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,130 as I used to think before I started near death experiences. 130 00:06:39,130 --> 00:06:41,540 We just check out into the darkness. 131 00:06:41,540 --> 00:06:43,320 That clearly is not the case. 132 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,190 We will all have a near death experience when we die. 133 00:06:46,190 --> 00:06:49,710 In fact, they're the dying experience. 134 00:06:49,710 --> 00:06:52,180 NARRATOR: The impact of standing on the brink of death 135 00:06:52,180 --> 00:06:56,320 has left its mark on the members of this Seattle support group. 136 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,840 The annual Near Death Picnic provides 137 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:01,670 a chance to compare notes. 138 00:07:01,670 --> 00:07:03,960 Bill Vandenbush was hit by shrapnel 139 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:04,860 in a Vietnam airstrike. 140 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:08,660 141 00:07:08,660 --> 00:07:11,120 And as I moved in the tunnel, I suddenly 142 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,165 came into this bright white light, 143 00:07:14,165 --> 00:07:19,070 and once I entered the light, it was the most beautiful 144 00:07:19,070 --> 00:07:20,260 thing I'd ever experienced. 145 00:07:20,260 --> 00:07:22,050 It was just wonderful. 146 00:07:22,050 --> 00:07:26,022 I was able to have knowledge of everything-- 147 00:07:26,022 --> 00:07:28,750 why we're here, why we exist. 148 00:07:28,750 --> 00:07:33,450 It's by far the most incredible experience of my life. 149 00:07:33,450 --> 00:07:36,525 NARRATOR: Doris Jackson nearly died of dysentery in India. 150 00:07:36,525 --> 00:07:37,330 It changed her life. 151 00:07:37,330 --> 00:07:40,110 152 00:07:40,110 --> 00:07:41,960 DORIS JACKSON: I was walking at this path, 153 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:46,100 and I saw this light, and I realized that there 154 00:07:46,100 --> 00:07:47,760 was a presence there. 155 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,890 And this presence was warm, and it 156 00:07:50,890 --> 00:07:54,150 was all loving, all forgiving. 157 00:07:54,150 --> 00:07:57,930 And to walk into that presence is 158 00:07:57,930 --> 00:07:59,920 totally-- it's indescribable. 159 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:02,990 160 00:08:02,990 --> 00:08:06,550 No feelings that we have here can match that feeling. 161 00:08:06,550 --> 00:08:11,070 162 00:08:11,070 --> 00:08:15,190 NARRATOR: For Poole Carr, life's priorities are clear. 163 00:08:15,190 --> 00:08:17,225 POOLE CARR: The most important thing, I think, 164 00:08:17,225 --> 00:08:22,160 in life is knowing that this isn't it. 165 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:23,820 If anything, this is the illusion. 166 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:27,360 The reality is something larger. 167 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,530 NARRATOR: Georgina Boyson used to suffer from depression 168 00:08:30,530 --> 00:08:33,890 but now has hope. 169 00:08:33,890 --> 00:08:36,520 I should probably say that before the experience, 170 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:41,500 I considered myself an agnostic, and since the experience, 171 00:08:41,500 --> 00:08:45,090 I would say that there's something out there, 172 00:08:45,090 --> 00:08:47,530 kind of whatever it is. 173 00:08:47,530 --> 00:08:51,990 But there is something out there. 174 00:08:51,990 --> 00:08:54,570 NARRATOR: Some controversial researchers claim success 175 00:08:54,570 --> 00:08:58,710 in the search for proof that the human soul can survive death. 176 00:08:58,710 --> 00:09:02,090 In 1907, Dr. Duncan McDougal of Boston 177 00:09:02,090 --> 00:09:04,440 weighed patients as they died. 178 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,690 When one lost an ounce and a half, 179 00:09:06,690 --> 00:09:08,640 McDougal argued the weight loss was 180 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,900 caused by the soul's departure. 181 00:09:11,900 --> 00:09:14,800 French cyclical researcher, Dr. Henri Baraduc, 182 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,540 found his guinea pigs closer to home. 183 00:09:17,540 --> 00:09:20,330 As his son, Andre, died of consumption, 184 00:09:20,330 --> 00:09:23,930 Baraduc tried to photograph his departing spirit. 185 00:09:23,930 --> 00:09:26,580 Six months later, his wife sighed three times 186 00:09:26,580 --> 00:09:28,400 as she breathed her last. 187 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,480 Baraduc claimed he'd captured his loved ones' souls on film. 188 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:34,240 189 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,000 The idea that we all have a soul independent of the body 190 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,610 is reinforced by another quite common 191 00:09:40,610 --> 00:09:43,610 but uncanny type of experience. 192 00:09:43,610 --> 00:09:47,850 Survivors of accidents or people recovering from operations 193 00:09:47,850 --> 00:09:50,430 report having had a bird's eye view of themselves 194 00:09:50,430 --> 00:09:52,150 during this crisis. 195 00:09:52,150 --> 00:09:54,680 Some even claim to have seen things 196 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:57,105 that they couldn't possibly have known about otherwise. 197 00:09:57,105 --> 00:10:06,050 198 00:10:06,050 --> 00:10:07,550 NARRATOR: At [INAUDIBLE] in the Netherlands, 199 00:10:07,550 --> 00:10:10,490 an emergency admission turned into a classic case 200 00:10:10,490 --> 00:10:11,880 of an out of body experience. 201 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,660 202 00:10:15,660 --> 00:10:19,110 Nurse Tom Goossens was called to the coronary car unit 203 00:10:19,110 --> 00:10:21,080 to resuscitate a heart attack victim. 204 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,660 205 00:10:23,660 --> 00:10:27,340 TOM GOOSSENS: A short while later, just a week or so, 206 00:10:27,340 --> 00:10:31,720 the patient came back on our CCU unit, 207 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,490 and he had recovered very well. 208 00:10:34,490 --> 00:10:38,780 And when he saw me for the first time entering his room, 209 00:10:38,780 --> 00:10:42,720 he was very astonished, and he said, you got my teeth. 210 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,020 You know where my false teeth are. 211 00:10:46,020 --> 00:10:47,840 And I was every astonished. 212 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,970 I didn't believe what he said, because the time I had seen 213 00:10:51,970 --> 00:10:55,060 this man, he was unconscious. 214 00:10:55,060 --> 00:10:58,180 But he saw himself laying in bed out 215 00:10:58,180 --> 00:11:01,790 of a corner in the small room while the resuscitation 216 00:11:01,790 --> 00:11:03,590 was being done. 217 00:11:03,590 --> 00:11:07,650 And he saw himself above in that room in that small corner. 218 00:11:07,650 --> 00:11:11,370 He saw everything what happened. 219 00:11:11,370 --> 00:11:13,570 He saw us doing the heart massage. 220 00:11:13,570 --> 00:11:18,540 He saw us giving infusions, and he saw actually 221 00:11:18,540 --> 00:11:21,940 me removing his false teeth and put them on the shelf 222 00:11:21,940 --> 00:11:24,690 of just a crash cart. 223 00:11:24,690 --> 00:11:27,330 And it was so remarkable, because this man 224 00:11:27,330 --> 00:11:28,300 couldn't see at all. 225 00:11:28,300 --> 00:11:32,310 He was clinically dead at that moment. 226 00:11:32,310 --> 00:11:33,910 NARRATOR: Such astonishing stories 227 00:11:33,910 --> 00:11:36,650 have persuaded mainstream doctors to take near death 228 00:11:36,650 --> 00:11:38,930 experiences seriously. 229 00:11:38,930 --> 00:11:42,715 Dr. Van Lommel is one of Holland's top cardiologists. 230 00:11:42,715 --> 00:11:46,730 He interviewed heart attack survivors and found one in 10 231 00:11:46,730 --> 00:11:49,310 had floated out of their body. 232 00:11:49,310 --> 00:11:51,380 Van Lommel has designed an experiment 233 00:11:51,380 --> 00:11:55,190 to verify stories of bird's eye views from the ceiling. 234 00:11:55,190 --> 00:11:59,047 Its set in a resuscitation room. 235 00:11:59,047 --> 00:12:00,180 WILLEM VAN LOMMEL: When the people 236 00:12:00,180 --> 00:12:03,890 get their cardiac arrest, then their heartbeat stops. 237 00:12:03,890 --> 00:12:05,897 The pill stops the blood pressure. 238 00:12:05,897 --> 00:12:07,030 There's no blood pressure anymore. 239 00:12:07,030 --> 00:12:10,430 There's no breathing, and we start our resuscitation. 240 00:12:10,430 --> 00:12:11,895 It means heart massage. 241 00:12:11,895 --> 00:12:14,180 That means electrical shocks. 242 00:12:14,180 --> 00:12:16,270 That means drugs. 243 00:12:16,270 --> 00:12:19,320 And when we look to the monitor, you see 244 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,565 what happens to the heartbeat. 245 00:12:21,565 --> 00:12:27,750 It goes on, and you get a flat line on the ECG, 246 00:12:27,750 --> 00:12:31,010 and there's just a moment of people get unconscious. 247 00:12:31,010 --> 00:12:34,610 They are clinically dead, and that's the moment they can have 248 00:12:34,610 --> 00:12:36,380 their out of the body experience where they float 249 00:12:36,380 --> 00:12:40,590 around somewhere out of the body above near the ceiling, 250 00:12:40,590 --> 00:12:46,510 and they can see how people are doing the resuscitation 251 00:12:46,510 --> 00:12:47,600 on their own body. 252 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,430 And they can recognize everything. 253 00:12:49,430 --> 00:12:54,190 And in our research, we put a sign somewhere on our land 254 00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:56,830 that they can see a sign during the resuscitation, 255 00:12:56,830 --> 00:12:59,570 during the period of clinical death. 256 00:12:59,570 --> 00:13:01,250 NARRATOR: The message was designed and hidden 257 00:13:01,250 --> 00:13:03,580 by an independent researcher. 258 00:13:03,580 --> 00:13:07,250 So far no patient has found it, but Van Lommel believes 259 00:13:07,250 --> 00:13:09,210 it's just a matter of time. 260 00:13:09,210 --> 00:13:12,280 I think it will be clear at some time we will meet 261 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:13,560 somebody who saw that sign. 262 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:19,630 263 00:13:19,630 --> 00:13:22,570 NARRATOR: In 1992, a firestorm devastated 264 00:13:22,570 --> 00:13:26,480 homes and businesses on the hills of Oakland, California. 265 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,510 25 people were killed, but psychiatrist Catherine Classen 266 00:13:30,510 --> 00:13:33,660 of Stanford University believes the disaster may 267 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:35,960 have provided a clue to the root cause 268 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,880 of out of body experiences. 269 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,120 She met shocked survivors as they 270 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,820 left federal relief centers and asked them 271 00:13:43,820 --> 00:13:46,060 to fill out questionnaires. 272 00:13:46,060 --> 00:13:48,310 An astonishing number had felt the sensation. 273 00:13:48,310 --> 00:13:51,240 274 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,710 CATHERINE CLASSEN: I wasn't surprised 275 00:13:52,710 --> 00:13:56,970 that people have this sense of floating above their bodies, 276 00:13:56,970 --> 00:14:01,450 because people will do whatever they can to protect themselves. 277 00:14:01,450 --> 00:14:04,430 And if they can't physically protect themselves, 278 00:14:04,430 --> 00:14:06,440 they will attempt to protect themselves 279 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,580 psychologically or mentally. 280 00:14:08,580 --> 00:14:13,240 And so floating above the body, if you can't run away, 281 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:14,600 if you can float above your body, 282 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,380 it's a way to remove yourself from the event. 283 00:14:19,380 --> 00:14:24,140 What our study has to say is that it is possible 284 00:14:24,140 --> 00:14:28,490 that people in experiencing the ultimate trauma, 285 00:14:28,490 --> 00:14:35,010 which is dying, are using the out of body experience as a way 286 00:14:35,010 --> 00:14:36,200 to protect themselves. 287 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:42,600 So it's a defensive response to this possible event. 288 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,110 NARRATOR: For the person concerned, 289 00:14:44,110 --> 00:14:47,840 out of body experiences seem real, but in one case, 290 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,670 the idea that the soul soars free of the body 291 00:14:50,670 --> 00:14:52,540 hit the ground with a bump. 292 00:14:52,540 --> 00:14:54,470 Graham Tarr was racing a friend through 293 00:14:54,470 --> 00:14:56,760 the streets of Newcastle . 294 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,580 I was 17 at the time, and I was coming up Osborne Road here 295 00:15:00,580 --> 00:15:03,010 on my motorcycle far too quickly, 296 00:15:03,010 --> 00:15:05,910 and as I came up to this corner, I overshot the white line 297 00:15:05,910 --> 00:15:07,660 and crossed onto the wrong side of the road. 298 00:15:07,660 --> 00:15:08,826 As I came around, I realized I was 299 00:15:08,826 --> 00:15:12,100 going straight into the path of an oncoming car. 300 00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:13,660 The next thing I knew really was that I 301 00:15:13,660 --> 00:15:16,912 was being thrown into the air over the air 302 00:15:16,912 --> 00:15:19,180 and was flying up above it. 303 00:15:19,180 --> 00:15:21,810 I was just flying above the car. 304 00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:24,630 After watching my helmet slowly fly away from me 305 00:15:24,630 --> 00:15:26,010 and land in the garden. 306 00:15:26,010 --> 00:15:28,370 I turned back around and realized that I was inevitably 307 00:15:28,370 --> 00:15:30,555 heading over the car and towards the ground 308 00:15:30,555 --> 00:15:33,330 and decided that wasn't a good idea 309 00:15:33,330 --> 00:15:36,710 and that I wanted to stay precisely where I was. 310 00:15:36,710 --> 00:15:39,200 So in effect, that's what I did. 311 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,390 NARRATOR: Floating comfortably above the scene, 312 00:15:41,390 --> 00:15:44,030 Graham heard the Hallelujah chorus. 313 00:15:44,030 --> 00:15:46,220 He saw his body on the road, his bike 314 00:15:46,220 --> 00:15:49,540 to one side and his panic-stricken friend. 315 00:15:49,540 --> 00:15:52,856 Gradually, he regained consciousness. 316 00:15:52,856 --> 00:15:54,870 The first thing I noticed, obviously, 317 00:15:54,870 --> 00:15:57,880 was the [INAUDIBLE] was coming from the back of my motorcycle, 318 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:59,920 rather than being, as I'd seen it, 319 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:01,420 crumpled up at the front of the car. 320 00:16:01,420 --> 00:16:03,250 And it had to have followed me through the air, 321 00:16:03,250 --> 00:16:06,910 and it landed on top of me, with my leg through the frame of it, 322 00:16:06,910 --> 00:16:09,410 and the bone in the back of my leg on the exhaust. 323 00:16:09,410 --> 00:16:11,810 I looked around to see if I could see my friend anywhere, 324 00:16:11,810 --> 00:16:15,280 because I'd seen him stop and come back and be over me, 325 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,490 but I couldn't see him anywhere. 326 00:16:18,490 --> 00:16:20,875 The two [INAUDIBLE] on the pavement, 327 00:16:20,875 --> 00:16:23,110 looking at me terribly concerned, weren't there. 328 00:16:23,110 --> 00:16:25,370 And I just realized that the whole thing had been a fantasy, 329 00:16:25,370 --> 00:16:29,046 a dream, a hallucination. 330 00:16:29,046 --> 00:16:33,040 [CHURCH SINGING] 331 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,190 NARRATOR: The leader of this devout congregation 332 00:16:35,190 --> 00:16:37,940 is loved and respected by his flock, 333 00:16:37,940 --> 00:16:40,220 but 10 years ago, the Reverend Howard 334 00:16:40,220 --> 00:16:42,790 Storm was a university art professor 335 00:16:42,790 --> 00:16:44,465 and not the man he is today. 336 00:16:44,465 --> 00:16:48,000 337 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:49,150 HOWARD STORM: Personal philosophy 338 00:16:49,150 --> 00:16:52,550 was to be the biggest, baddest bear in the woods, 339 00:16:52,550 --> 00:16:58,930 and I tried to promote an image of being harsh and mean. 340 00:16:58,930 --> 00:17:02,300 I know a lot of people didn't like me and were afraid of me. 341 00:17:02,300 --> 00:17:04,470 NARRATOR: One summer, Howard and his wife Beverly 342 00:17:04,470 --> 00:17:06,670 went on holiday to France. 343 00:17:06,670 --> 00:17:10,420 Howard became critically ill with a hole in his stomach. 344 00:17:10,420 --> 00:17:12,589 Because he was far from home, he was 345 00:17:12,589 --> 00:17:15,180 left untreated for 11 hours. 346 00:17:15,180 --> 00:17:19,390 Doctors say it's a miracle that he survived at all. 347 00:17:19,390 --> 00:17:23,240 Back in Cincinnati, Howard confided in his doctor. 348 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,930 He told him his survival had been remarkable in more 349 00:17:25,930 --> 00:17:27,630 than just medical terms. 350 00:17:27,630 --> 00:17:32,330 JAMES LINNE: He described a very horrifying experience of going 351 00:17:32,330 --> 00:17:39,240 through a tunnel, and these little demon-like creatures 352 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,400 were coming at him and ripping off pieces of his skin. 353 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,090 So they had really torn away all the skin from his body. 354 00:17:47,090 --> 00:17:48,870 HOWARD STORM: I was sure that I was never 355 00:17:48,870 --> 00:17:50,320 going to be back in the world again, 356 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,260 that I was lost to the world, and that I'd ended up 357 00:17:52,260 --> 00:17:56,840 in this horrible, awful place full of like meanness 358 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:01,390 and absence of anything good or nice or decent. 359 00:18:01,390 --> 00:18:04,080 Just a place of cruelty and torment. 360 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,830 And I recalled myself as a little child 361 00:18:08,830 --> 00:18:14,030 singing "Jesus Loves Me," and I grasp at that out 362 00:18:14,030 --> 00:18:17,510 of desperation and called out for Jesus to save me, 363 00:18:17,510 --> 00:18:20,830 not knowing or believing but only hoping that there 364 00:18:20,830 --> 00:18:22,320 might be something to that. 365 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,670 And with that, a person of light came to me. 366 00:18:24,670 --> 00:18:30,380 He carried me out of there and took me into a world of light. 367 00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:32,730 NARRATOR: Howard had escaped from the jaws of Hell. 368 00:18:32,730 --> 00:18:34,770 He was transformed. 369 00:18:34,770 --> 00:18:38,290 He gave up his old ways, resigned from his job, 370 00:18:38,290 --> 00:18:39,160 and joined the church. 371 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,440 372 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,130 My wife said to me several times after the experience 373 00:18:47,130 --> 00:18:49,780 that the man that she had married and had been married 374 00:18:49,780 --> 00:18:52,800 to for over 20 years died that day in Paris, 375 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,410 and I was a complete stranger to her. 376 00:18:56,410 --> 00:18:57,810 NARRATOR: Bob and Margaret Vitz have 377 00:18:57,810 --> 00:19:00,270 known Howard for over 20 years. 378 00:19:00,270 --> 00:19:04,180 His radical change of character still amazes them. 379 00:19:04,180 --> 00:19:06,800 BOB VITZ: If someone had told me this 10 years ago, 380 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,970 I would've been astounded to even imagine 381 00:19:08,970 --> 00:19:11,060 that this would happen to him. 382 00:19:11,060 --> 00:19:13,430 I would've never imagined that he would give up being 383 00:19:13,430 --> 00:19:15,640 a professor at the university. 384 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,070 He studied religion very hard, and, of course, 385 00:19:19,070 --> 00:19:24,660 now as a minister, I would've never pictured any of this. 386 00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:27,310 Of all the people whom we knew, I 387 00:19:27,310 --> 00:19:30,430 think Howard would have just about been the last one 388 00:19:30,430 --> 00:19:33,915 we would have thought that would go through this transformation. 389 00:19:33,915 --> 00:19:36,960 390 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,365 HOWARD STORM: As far as I'm concerned, I went to that edge 391 00:19:40,365 --> 00:19:41,720 and beyond it. 392 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,380 I've been close enough that I've been where most people haven't. 393 00:19:45,380 --> 00:19:50,130 I've been to the edge of death and back. 394 00:19:50,130 --> 00:19:53,890 Many scientific discoveries are made by accident. 395 00:19:53,890 --> 00:19:57,430 A possible explanation of near death experiences 396 00:19:57,430 --> 00:20:00,170 was stumbled upon by American aviation 397 00:20:00,170 --> 00:20:04,450 doctors testing pilots to find the limits of human endurance. 398 00:20:04,450 --> 00:20:08,690 399 00:20:08,690 --> 00:20:11,050 NARRATOR: At the Naval Air Warfare Center, 400 00:20:11,050 --> 00:20:13,680 the pilots take their turn on the world's largest 401 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,010 and most powerful centrifuge. 402 00:20:15,010 --> 00:20:19,280 403 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,060 It can spin around more than 48 times a minute 404 00:20:22,060 --> 00:20:24,470 and simulate the massive gravitational 405 00:20:24,470 --> 00:20:28,360 pulls the G forces produced in a fighter jet. 406 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:30,910 These can knock the pilots unconscious 407 00:20:30,910 --> 00:20:34,755 and produce symptoms just like near death experiences. 408 00:20:34,755 --> 00:20:36,580 JAMES WHINNERY: So certainly, tunnel vision 409 00:20:36,580 --> 00:20:38,920 is one of the most frequent symptoms that we have. 410 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,050 Dreamlets that include seeing family, 411 00:20:41,050 --> 00:20:43,260 friends, loved ones, a sense of not 412 00:20:43,260 --> 00:20:47,680 wanting to be disturbed, because it's a pleasurable experience. 413 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,310 Those dreamlets and experiences being extremely vivid 414 00:20:52,310 --> 00:20:53,960 or loss of consciousness episodes 415 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,890 are remembered 20, 25 years after their occurrence 416 00:20:58,890 --> 00:21:00,380 in crystal clear detail. 417 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:08,780 418 00:21:08,780 --> 00:21:10,390 NARRATOR: Whinnery should know. 419 00:21:10,390 --> 00:21:12,260 He's had more rides in the centrifuge 420 00:21:12,260 --> 00:21:14,150 than any of his pilots. 421 00:21:14,150 --> 00:21:16,450 He knows it firsthand what it feels like. 422 00:21:16,450 --> 00:21:20,010 423 00:21:20,010 --> 00:21:23,290 The research team's logo portrays the Grim Reaper, 424 00:21:23,290 --> 00:21:25,340 because fighter pilots flirt with death 425 00:21:25,340 --> 00:21:27,980 as the G forces increase. 426 00:21:27,980 --> 00:21:29,750 The tunnel and shining light design 427 00:21:29,750 --> 00:21:32,046 reflects the frequency of apparent near death 428 00:21:32,046 --> 00:21:32,745 experiences. 429 00:21:32,745 --> 00:21:36,070 430 00:21:36,070 --> 00:21:37,510 JAMES WHINNERY: I can relate to you 431 00:21:37,510 --> 00:21:39,670 a series of loss of consciousness episodes 432 00:21:39,670 --> 00:21:42,420 that I had in which I think I had six 433 00:21:42,420 --> 00:21:44,380 or seven loss of conscious episodes over about 434 00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:49,080 a 15-minute period, successively worse 435 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,972 insults to the nervous system on each run. 436 00:21:51,972 --> 00:22:04,610 437 00:22:04,610 --> 00:22:07,090 NARRATOR: A video camera in the centrifuge cockpit 438 00:22:07,090 --> 00:22:08,870 recorded the moment when Whinnery 439 00:22:08,870 --> 00:22:10,795 lost consciousness on each run. 440 00:22:10,795 --> 00:22:16,240 441 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,050 As soon as the pilot blacks out, the centrifuge slows, 442 00:22:20,050 --> 00:22:23,685 the G force is reduced, and the pilot comes back. 443 00:22:23,685 --> 00:22:26,260 He has to press a button to shut off the alarm. 444 00:22:26,260 --> 00:22:29,116 445 00:22:29,116 --> 00:22:30,544 I don't think that was enough. 446 00:22:30,544 --> 00:22:33,890 447 00:22:33,890 --> 00:22:37,720 Just after I had left the centrifuge and gotten out 448 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,390 and was walking down the hall, all of a sudden, 449 00:22:40,390 --> 00:22:45,780 I found that I was no longer, if you will, inside myself. 450 00:22:45,780 --> 00:22:48,090 I was up behind myself looking down at myself 451 00:22:48,090 --> 00:22:52,740 at the same time, and that lasted about a minute 452 00:22:52,740 --> 00:22:54,270 to a minute and a half. 453 00:22:54,270 --> 00:22:57,580 We've seen that on rare occasion in some of our other subjects 454 00:22:57,580 --> 00:22:59,220 and our reports that we have. 455 00:22:59,220 --> 00:23:01,580 They're not frequently reported. 456 00:23:01,580 --> 00:23:02,960 We would probably anticipate that it 457 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,980 might be much more frequent if the insults were greater. 458 00:23:07,980 --> 00:23:09,900 NARRATOR: Rob McConnell's abiding memory 459 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:12,470 is of the tunnel and the light. 460 00:23:12,470 --> 00:23:16,330 ROB MCCONNELL: It was a loss of all peripheral vision, 461 00:23:16,330 --> 00:23:20,700 just if you could imagine losing everything 462 00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:26,590 except for a small area directly in front of you. 463 00:23:26,590 --> 00:23:30,520 And it would just be totally dark on the outside and coming 464 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:36,930 into a bright, real like grey, maybe a white area 465 00:23:36,930 --> 00:23:38,070 in the center of the vision. 466 00:23:38,070 --> 00:23:42,510 467 00:23:42,510 --> 00:23:45,600 NARRATOR: Rob had been trained to fight to stay conscious, 468 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,650 but the G forces won. 469 00:23:47,650 --> 00:23:49,940 His ordeal looks distressing, but it 470 00:23:49,940 --> 00:23:52,290 seemed quite different from where he was sitting. 471 00:23:52,290 --> 00:23:55,170 472 00:23:55,170 --> 00:23:59,030 ROB MCCONNELL: My feelings were just warm and pleasant, almost 473 00:23:59,030 --> 00:24:03,180 euphoric feeling that everything was OK, that there 474 00:24:03,180 --> 00:24:05,480 was no problem at all. 475 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,650 JAMES WHINNERY: Our research indicates that many 476 00:24:08,650 --> 00:24:14,960 of the experiences that someone with a near death experience 477 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:20,350 has would be similar to the loss of consciousness episodes we 478 00:24:20,350 --> 00:24:24,530 see, because they share in common lack of blood flow 479 00:24:24,530 --> 00:24:26,340 to the nervous system. 480 00:24:26,340 --> 00:24:30,407 For our pilots, the lack of blood flow, of course, 481 00:24:30,407 --> 00:24:34,030 is caused by being exposed to high G forces, 482 00:24:34,030 --> 00:24:35,620 and when someone's having a cardiac arrest, 483 00:24:35,620 --> 00:24:37,800 it's just because the heart's not pumping at all. 484 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,540 The one thing that the research has done 485 00:24:40,540 --> 00:24:43,440 is certainly makes me less fearful of death. 486 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,210 You can't die without losing consciousness. 487 00:24:47,210 --> 00:24:50,290 The last thing that I'll enter is the unconscious 488 00:24:50,290 --> 00:24:53,080 state prior to dying. 489 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,110 That's certainly not unpleasant whatsoever, so there's 490 00:24:56,110 --> 00:25:00,260 certain reassurance that the dying process is certainly 491 00:25:00,260 --> 00:25:04,291 not an unpleasant one in terms of the unconsciousness 492 00:25:04,291 --> 00:25:04,990 portion of it. 493 00:25:04,990 --> 00:25:08,720 So that's reassuring to a great extent. 494 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,870 So near death experiences may turn out to have a perfectly 495 00:25:12,870 --> 00:25:15,280 straightforward physical cause. 496 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,720 Yet, this need not disappoint us. 497 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,880 Even if they tell us nothing about an afterlife, 498 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,110 they give us hope that death may be far more peaceful and gentle 499 00:25:25,110 --> 00:25:27,030 than we sometimes fear. 500 00:25:27,030 --> 00:25:30,380 [MUSIC PLAYING] 501 00:25:30,380 --> 00:26:01,634