Experience Description

When I was three years old my parents took me to visit friends of theirs who had a swimming pool. We were all outside although no one was swimming. They had gotten caught up in conversation and somehow, I had managed to separate myself from them. I walked down towards the pool, got too close to the edge, and fell in. Being so young, I still hadn't learned how to swim and so I remained submerged underwater with my feet above my head as I struggled to fight my way back to the surface. But it was of no use. My need for oxygen grew stronger and stronger and after only about thirty seconds or so, I accepted my fate and everything faded to black.

To the best of my knowledge, I never lost consciousness. Once everything got black, my need for oxygen dissipated and I began to feel a pulling sensation and I knew my soul was leaving my body. My soul just automatically left my body. Once I was out of my body I could see again and noticed that I was floating upwards and out of the pool to a height of around ten feet above the surface of the water. I remember thinking to myself, 'This is great!' It was such a huge relief to have the threat of death finally behind me. Even at such a young age the mind is aware of our mortality whether we ourselves know it or not. Once I reached ten feet above the water, I stopped.

I didn't have any control over my actions from that point on. I couldn't move. All I could do was observe. I was positioned on my back although not entirely horizontal and I was facing the sky. I looked down and could see my parents frantically trying to fetch my lifeless body from the bottom of the pool. That day it was a blue sky with no clouds whatsoever. It was around 2:00 or 3:00 pm at the time of my experience. I took my attention away from my parents and back towards the sky when it began to 'dissolve' before me.

Now I understand that was probably my transition into another dimension. Big blobs of blue sky evaporated into absolute darkness. Once the darkness surrounded me, I was able to see what appeared to be thousands and thousands of little dots of white light moving in precise uniformity and they were all equally spaced from each other. I presumed these white dots to be other souls like me. I sensed they were looking at me as they moved in unison. Their movement resembled a pattern similar to the mathematical symbol for infinity (a sideways figure 8). After a few seconds, I noticed a giant grey being descending at a forty-five degree angle down towards me. As it got closer, it conveyed to me a feeling of love so strong that I could not only sense it, but I could FEEL it too. It was the strongest feeling of emotion I have ever felt even to this day.

Eventually it was face to face with me. It was probably the equivalent to being seven or eight feet tall. It didn't really have any defining physical characteristics such as eyes, or a nose, or mouth. But it did have an area that resembled a face. It had blue and purple jewels around its head like a thin crown. There were no wings, no arms, and no legs. But it did have the relative shape of a human. It didn't speak to me, not at first. We waited there together for a few seconds.

Eventually, we were joined by another being who was much smaller than the first one. This one was probably half the size of the other one. It was at this point they began to communicate with me. The most important part of this section of my experience is how we communicated. We didn't speak verbally with mouths. Instead, it was telepathic. In my mind, I would receive a sentence or phrase from them and then I would interpret that as sound. The difference being that in the real world when we hear speech we hear each word one at a time. In my experience, I heard the words all at once. It was very strange but also very easy and familiar. From what I can gather, they were trying to gauge my state-of-mind. They asked me if I was all right and if I understood what had happened to me. I could sense they thought I was taking it all too lightly. But that was just because I was so young and I hadn't had time in life to develop any really strong emotional attachments.

Finally the smaller being left us and was gone for a short time. Then the area where our conversation had been began to fade from darkness and slowly transform into a beautiful golden light. The light eventually surrounded us. From the epicenter of this light came the smaller being. It floated down and got into position behind me and out of sight. That's when the larger being said to me telepathically, 'There's nothing we can do, you have to go back.' It was at this point that I became instantly filled with absolute anger. It was totally uncontrollable. I was going to have to die again someday and that was just too much for me to cope with at that moment. I tried to plead with them to let me stay but it was no use. The larger being looked back at the center of the light, then back towards me, and just slowly shook its head.

At that moment, I could see my parents again. My dad was holding me in his arms and I remember saying to the larger being, 'But look how frail and weak my body is. I don't want to re-enter that.' But I had no choice. The beings waited until an attempt was made to resuscitate my body and then pushed me into it. When I re-entered I heard a 'click' and then I could hear my mother's voice. I opened my eyes. I was back but I wasn't pleased. Now years later of course I'm thankful that I was allowed to return but at the time, I didn't want to.

I've always wondered who those two beings were and the only explanation I can come up with is that the larger being was the Angel of Death, and the smaller one was my Guardian angel.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 1984

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Drowning Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function) I drowned in a swimming pool.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

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? Normal consciousness and alertness As above.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I was fully conscious and alert the entire duration of the experience.

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

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I communicated with beings telepathically.

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? No

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 I did not know them. Refer to main narrative.

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

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm I saw other dimensions, refer to #3

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Love, anger.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

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

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

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

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? Conservative/fundamentalist none

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I was raised Christian but now I'm just not sure if religion is all that important for everyone. I know it gives some people comfort, but having this memory of my NDE is all the comfort I need.

What is your religion now? Conservative/fundamentalist spiritual

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I was raised Christian but now I'm just not sure if religion is all that important for everyone. I know it gives some people comfort, but having this memory of my NDE is all the comfort I need.

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? No

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

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? Yes Sometimes I sense spirits and they say random things to me. It never seems to be anything very relevant though.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes This happened to me when I was three years old. I didn't remember it however until I was sixteen and experimenting with marijuana. I'm under the impression that having my conscious mind altered slightly by the marijuana somehow 'unlocked' this memory that for whatever reason I had involuntarily forgotten. I've only told a couple of friends and they were shocked. They also knew that I wouldn't make up such a story. My mom shrugged it off as my imagination and my dad believed me he just didn't want to think about it.

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 After the experience I forgot about it until I was sixteen.

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

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes Marijuana triggered my memory of this experience.