Out of body experiences after death – are they real or drug induced illusions?

Some people who have nearly died report being able to soar out of their bodies and look down on themselves and medical staff.

Now at last some British and American hospital doctors are going to try and find out if it’s true. They will study the near-death experiences of 1500 heart attack patients. It will take 3 years and will be co-ordinated by Southampton University.

Now here’s the interesting bit. Images will be placed on shelves which are only visible from the ceiling – very sneaky. This should determine if the patients can recall these pictures or not.

Dr Sam Parnia, said: 'If you can demonstrate that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.

'It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens, but we have to be open-minded. But if no one sees the pictures it proves that these out of body experiences are only illusions.’

He added: 'Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment. 'It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases to function - a medical condition termed cardiac arrest, which from a biological viewpoint is synonymous with clinical death.

'During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present. There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process.

'What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to experience during the dying process.

Among the British hospitals taking part in the study are Addenbrookes in Cambridge, University Hospital in Birmingham and the Morriston in Swansea.

I can’t wait for the results.

I believe in the ‘white light’ tunnel theory myself. You’ve heard the story - you die on the operating table, or in a car accident, or whatever, then suddenly you’re looking down at your body while the doctors and nurses work frantically to save your life. Then you’re inside a tunnel and drawn towards a brilliant white light at the end of it – you strive to get there because there is an overwhelming feeling of peace associated with the light. When you finally get to the end of the tunnel, the next thing you know, all your loved ones are greeting you and you can’t believe how wonderful everything is. Then suddenly the process reverses itself, you go back down the tunnel into your body and back onto the operating table/crash scene. It’s just not your time to go.

I fully expect to go through that tunnel and look forward to meeting all my dead friends and relations at the other end.

Stop laughing - prove me wrong if you can.