Colby B SOBE

Experience Description

When I was 4 years old, I remember the moment I became aware. I found myself having just walked through the door into my preschool classroom after my parents dropped me off. I found myself standing in the middle of the classroom, having just entered, when I said out loud to myself, "It feels like I was just born."

I then proceeded to explore my environment. It felt like I was experiencing existence for the first time. I was fascinated by all of the toys in my classroom. I recall walking into the other room in my preschool to check out what else there was to explore.

The next memory I recall is difficult to place exactly in time. I believe it may have happened the same day as the previously mentioned experience. It was possibly connected with the prior experience, as I was walking toward the area where the experience occurred when my memory of it ends.

I don't remember how this initiated, only that it did, but here is my story. I recall finding myself gently floating upward around my classroom to the corner of the ceiling. I recall passing a cabinet that was close to the ceiling, one I was too short to have seen the top of. When I passed it, I thought to myself something along the lines of "So that's what's up there." I was in awe that I could see the top of this cabinet. Somehow I didn't find floating unusual, but I did find it incredibly interesting that I was able to see up there. It was like I was accessing a hidden area, like teleporting outside the map in a video game.

I then proceeded to keep floating to the corner of the room until I had a bird's-eye view of the classroom. The memory ends there.

During this experience, I felt a very distinct and alien quality of conscious experience. It felt as though I was somehow "above" human emotions and feelings. The best way to describe it was that I was in a spectator-like mode. I felt no emotions whatsoever; however, it wasn't frightening, but it also wasn't really peaceful either. It felt neutral, like I was simply "observing." I guess the experience leaned a tad more toward peaceful, but that word makes it sound like this experience had a euphoric quality to it, which it didn't. It just felt like I was only observing, as I floated around the classroom.

I had always thought this was some sort of dream, until years later when I began researching near-death experiences and read a report by someone who described exactly what I had experienced during my NDE, in extreme detail specific to the account I mentioned. The specific details were incredibly niche and nothing like the common themes you see discussed by experiencers.

The reporter had described my observer-mode state perfectly, with additional detail. They distinctly referenced feeling no emotions in the same manner I did. They also mentioned that they weren't really focusing on anything while floating until something interesting happened. This was unusually accurate about my experience, as I remember this exact transition occurring.

They described it as watching boring infomercials and zoning out through them until something interesting came on to grab their attention. Prior to the interesting thing happening, they were just observing. This is exactly what I experienced, and I felt this exact shift as soon as I passed the cabinet while floating. It only grabbed my attention because I could see the top of it for the first time. The transition between zoning out while floating to "wow, that's interesting" was the most distinct memory of my experience, and it was exactly what this person reported.

They also mentioned that they felt no emotions, just like I did, and that they were just "observing." This person then even mentioned that they watched and verified everything that happened around them as they had some sort of medical emergency at the time. They reported watching their entire family react to the experience from the same perspective I had, in the corner of the room. They verified what everyone was doing later on.

Not to drift into someone else's report, but I mention it because, to me, it is proof that what I experienced was not a dream and carries identical qualities to NDEs. I believe it was genuinely my soul separating from my physical body after having just entered it, as if my body had some sort of malfunction keeping my soul inside. The specific experience I mentioned here is extremely niche and not talked about in NDE media. You wouldn't even be able to understand the bit about the infomercials and no emotions without having this experience yourself either. They aren't particularly interesting features of NDEs, so I don't believe this person was fabricating their experience.

I've always been skeptical of NDEs and struggle to believe many of them due to the financial incentives. I've since been trying to listen to more NDEs, but it's disheartening to see people attempting to capitalize on their assumed experiences by offering strange sorts of services like psychic readings, public speaking events, and spiritual consultations. It comes off as far too suspicious to me.

That said, my niche experiences mirroring those of others who had verified their own NDEs, as well as having seen the top of that cabinet as a child, have solidified my belief that there's something greater going on that we don't understand.

What people don't understand about OBEs is that if OBEs are real experiences of existing independently of the body, then they are direct evidence of dualism. It is impossible to obtain visual information while dead. You don't need to be dead: if you have an out-of-body experience and verify something such as a real event, then to you, it is direct evidence of dualism.

And if that's the case, then what does that say about the nature of reality and what we are? There is a mode of being that conveniently triggers when we die, by which we enter a spectator-like mode, completely separate from everything going on with our physical bodies. I've read many NDEs at this point and have made a note of all of the uniquely reported capabilities that emerge during this state. It is astounding when you look at all of it together.

Try to keep this in perspective: People who have died have entered into the body of a new physiological host that is not experiencing what their physical bodies are experiencing. All pain and emotional suffering is turned off. This indicates that they are operating inside of a different host compared to their biological one. Experiencers also gain the ability to fly, phase through walls, teleport to places by thinking about them, see people's moods and thoughts, and see in 360 degrees.

If these are all true, then we must be some sort of god-like beings that have far more agency over reality than we can imagine. The phenomenon of OBEs in this regard indicates intentional design. It's like freecam when you die in Call of Duty. It's like whatever made us has the mind of a video game developer. It's a perfect transition period rather than instantly respawning onto Agartha or whatever comes next (Gen Z joke). If you were a god, making a world, wouldn't you want to create a temporary spectator mode like this for players after they died? It's almost like what you'd expect to exist from a development standpoint.

If a mode like this really exists, I can only imagine what we're actually capable of outside of this existence.

I struggle to comprehend all of this. As a hyper-analytical biochemistry student, I struggle to integrate these concepts when mapping them onto my experience. I cannot believe that this experience happened to me and that it maps onto actual NDEs. The primal part of my brain always wants to doubt my logic, because it is associated with death and seems so unbelievable. However, the logical part of my brain knows that what I experienced is direct evidence for myself that there's something greater going on. And that inference of what I just wrote out is what comes along when OBEs are taken at face value.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date of NDE: 10/20/2005

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain
As mentioned, I do not recall the details before the onset of the experience. For all I know I may have fainted, but I do not recall that information.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Neither pleasant NOR distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? 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? Passing by the cabinet, when I engaged in my thinking processes.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness? Normal consciousness and alertness

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual
It felt like time was slowed down in the moment. However, that may just have been because I was slowly floating.

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 I don't recall the specifics regarding this.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience I don't remember hearing anything during this experience.

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? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased 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 another world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? They were removed, other than the awe feelings I had when passing by the cabinet.

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 understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? No

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? 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 - Other Christian

Have your religious practices changed? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated - Agnostic

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 had not thought about it prior to this 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 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? 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? Slight changes in my life
It has made me more open-minded towards NDEs and the potential of life after death.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes
The quality of how I existed was extremely alien, as I had mentioned. It was nothing like anything I had ever experienced.

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
Somehow I retained this memory for my entire life. I don't remember any dreams from my childhood. I remember that as this experience was happening, it felt as real as any other experience.

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? Seeing the top of the cabinet. That was the highlight of my experience as it verified that what I was experiencing was not a dream, because I was able to gather information about my environment that I did not have access to previously.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
Most of them did not seem interested and switched topics. I believe they think it was a dream.

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
I always believed it was possibly a dream. I don't really remember anything from around age 4 other than this experience and the one of becoming aware.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was probably real
Because the features map onto niche experiences reported by NDErs.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes
I recall one other memory where I felt I was floating around outside of my body. It's the only other memory I remember that is along these lines, but it is distinctly different and I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not. My sister and her friend were playing at my house when I was a child. Something was going on where I had locked myself in the bathroom and my sister and her friend were trying to get in the door. I recall flying around my living room to observe what they were doing. I recall zooming around and seeing them through the door while understanding that I was inside the bathroom. Other than that, I've not had another out of body experience.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes

Anything else to add? No.