David R SOBE

Experience Description

My first out-of-body experience happened in Vietnam in 1969 during the war. It was around 2 a.m. when North Vietnamese sappers, specially trained enemy soldiers, managed to crawl through our barbed-wire perimeter without setting off the trip flares. They entered our compound and placed explosive charges on an armored personnel carrier (APC) parked overnight between our manned bunkers. After killing everyone inside the APC, they began attacking our compound with explosives and AK-47s, attempting to destroy our men and equipment. At the same time, other North Vietnamese forces were firing B-40 rockets at us from behind a mountain ridge near our base.

Our men in the adjacent bunkers turned their .50-caliber and M60 machine guns around and began firing into our compound at the enemy. Meanwhile, troops inside the compound were firing outward toward our bunker positions. This created a deadly crossfire and unbelievable chaos.

I was jolted awake when the first explosion went off. I jumped out of my bunk, threw off my mosquito net, stepped into my jungle boots, and grabbed my M16, flak jacket, ammunition bandolier, and helmet, seemingly all in one motion. I put on my helmet and ran out of the tent in my underwear while pulling on my flak jacket. Tracer bullets were flying in every direction, and someone was yelling, "Incoming!" I could hear the B-40 rockets whistling toward our compound.

I ran toward our underground command post to escape the tracer bullets and threw myself against the sandbags surrounding the command bunker. I switched off the safety on my M16 and waited for the enemy to come into my line of sight. Someone shouted for me to stay in position and protect the command bunker.

Mortars were launching flares into the night sky. As they burst into brilliant light and slowly descended beneath their parachutes, the darkness became as bright as daytime. I remember the flares swinging back and forth as they descended, causing the shadows to move and making everything appear to be in motion. The noise of the battle was excruciatingly loud, and my ears were ringing.

I remember being tense, but I was not afraid. I had grown up on a farm and had been shooting guns for as long as I could remember. My father was a weapons instructor during World War II and had competed on an adult rifle team when he was a teenager. He made sure I learned to shoot well. Growing up, I hunted throughout the year and became proficient with everything from BB guns and .22 rifles to shotguns. I could shoot expertly with any of them. I knew that if an enemy soldier came into my line of sight, I could take him down in a heartbeat.

I was pressed tightly against the bunker sandbags, trying to make myself as small as possible to avoid being hit by a bullet or bomb fragment. Then, all of a sudden, it happened.

In an instant, the deafening noise of the war dropped to a whisper. At the same time, I found myself looking down at the battlefield from approximately 100 to 150 feet above my physical body.

I could see myself pressed against the bunker sandbags. As I looked across the battlefield, I could see tracer bullets ricocheting upward after striking objects and changing direction. Flares were exploding in front of me at about the same height as my viewpoint, while other explosions were going off below me throughout our compound.

As I floated above my body, something extraordinary happened. A wave of energy began moving slowly through me. Wherever the energy passed, all the tension I had been feeling immediately disappeared, leaving me completely calm and relaxed. It seemed to move through me at a speed of perhaps one mile per hour, gently washing away every trace of tension.

The strangest thing about this energy was how familiar it felt. I remember wondering how that could be possible. I was only 21 years old and had never experienced anything like this before. Yet the feeling was strangely familiar, as though I had known it somewhere before.

I thought I was either dead or about to die. I believed God had pulled me out of my body just before I was going to be killed because He did not want me to suffer.

As I continued watching the battle below, my first thought was, "Boy, is my mom going to be sad." My mother had always worried that something might happen to me.

A few moments later, I thought, "Gee, it's a shame I'm going to die and never had the chance to have a child."

No sooner had that thought entered my mind than I was instantly back inside my physical body. The volume of the battle suddenly returned to its previous deafening intensity.

I remember thinking, "What the hell just happened to me?"

Eventually, the enemy soldiers inside our compound were killed, and the shooting and explosions stopped. Daylight approached, and calm finally returned to our company and our lives.

I never told anyone what had happened to me that night. I was afraid people would think I had lost my mind and needed a psychiatrist. Even after returning home from Vietnam, I kept the experience to myself. I did not tell my family or friends.

It was not until the early 1980s, when I began hearing other people discuss something called "out-of-body experiences," that I finally shared my story. The accounts I heard usually involved people who had been mortally wounded and then brought back from death. I had never heard of anyone having such an experience without being physically wounded, even though I had been in extreme danger and believed I was close to death.

That is the story of my first out-of-body experience. I had a second out-of-body experience in 1983 while meditating, but that is a story for another time.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date of NDE: 00/00/1969

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes
An attack by North Vietnamese Sappers on our compound, with the enemy inside our compound trying to destroy our equipment and kill as many of us as they could before they were killed themselves.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? I clearly left my body and existed outside it
Please read the experience I wrote; it should be self-explanatory.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? At all times.

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

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience Night and day. Nothing like that had ever happened to me in my life prior to that event.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience The same.

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? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm
Read my experience.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? None while I was out of body.

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

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
I went to church as a child with my grandfather, who taught adult Sunday school while I attended Sunday school for children. After my grandfather's passing, I didn't really go to church often, perhaps only at Easter or Christmas services.

Have your religious practices changed? Yes
Read the above response.

What is your religion now? Christian - Other Christian
I have studied Christianity and Buddhism.

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 never knew you could be alive and out of your body at the same time.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes
I went from a sort of belief in God to knowing for a fact that God exists.

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? Yes
That I could be alive and not dead and be out of my body at the same time.

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? Large changes in my life
I had another out-of-body experience in 1983, and during this out-of-body experience I had a one-on-one experience with God Almighty. That's another story entirely, and I've recently made a YouTube video of the experience I had with God. It's available for you to watch on YouTube.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes
I now live on a higher plane of life and am no longer asleep regarding life, God, and our relationship to Him.

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
The experience I had changed my life forever.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes
I became psychic for a few weeks, then it faded away just as quickly as it came, and now I have none.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The whole experience was mind-blowing.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
It was 14 years before I told anyone. Their reactions ranged from finding it really interesting to being skeptical.

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 knew it was real and it changed my life forever. I knew for sure that we were more than our bodies, that we had a consciousness, and that we could live outside our bodies while still being alive.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
You can't go back to being unaware in life after something like this.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes
I had another out-of-body experience in 1983, during which God and I had a one-on-one experience.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes
What's to explain? My experience is as written by me.