Ever been in a tunnel? Yeah? Well, you know how a tunnel works, dark inside, bright spot at the end, right? Hey, wait a sec, was your heart beating at the time? No? Man, here I was thinking we were talking cars and trains and symbols for sex, but turns out we’re talking Near-Death Experiences (NDEs).

NDEs are being documented with greater frequency all the time, and they are strange creatures; no two are ever alike, though many are similar. The tunnel is often involved, a bright light at the end of it. Sometimes the NDE-er will zoom up this tunnel at great speeds, sometimes s/he won’t. Sometimes one is simply engulfed in light, or surrounded by beings of light (who can be dead relatives, or “angels,” or some say Jesus). Often there is a life-review, almost always there is a great tranquility, sometimes someone who has had an NDE will say s/he met God. In some cases, the NDE-er will be given an opportunity to choose their destiny, either to stay or go. Most want to stay, but want to spend a little more time with their family first, or are told it’s not their time yet. Accounts and setting vary greatly with each person; the choice can take the form of a door or a button or a stairway.

The most intriguing NDEs often involve an out-of-body experience, since these are somewhat verifiable. A patient will say that while the body was on the operating table, s/he was above watching it all, and can recount it in vivid detail, including things they could not possibly be privy to. (One patient told her doctor there was a shoe on the ledge outside her window, around the corner; there was, well out of view from inside the hospital.)

Now, one should be skeptical. These are pretty large claims people are making, and it’s important to study the methods used to gather this information. In one case, Dr. Melvin Morse decided to do a study on NDEs in children; he interviewed both those who were near death and those who weren’t, but were in the intensive care unit of a hospital, under the influence of the same medications and of roughly the same age. No child who hadn’t been near death reported an NDE, while 70% of those who were clinically dead for some period of time did have vivid memories of these spiritual and mystic experiences. Bear in mind, the kids were all interviewed before NDEs were really talked about, so it’s doubtful they had any cultural influence that might have affected them. This is especially true in the case of very young children, as young as nine months, who still remember their experience.

If all that isn’t crazy enough for you, how about this little tidbit: NDEs and out-of-body experiences have been stimulated by scientists electrically probing the brain. It happened when a group of neurologists (led by Dr. Robert Penfield) were trying to map the functions of the brain; touch here with a prick of electricity, you smell cardboard, touch there, your right hand goes up, touch another spot, you remember grandma. Touch the right temporal lobe located just above the ear (in an area known as the Sylian fissure) you leave your body. Sometimes a patient would say “I’m half in and half out.” Other times they would zoom along a tunnel, or hear beautiful music, or “see God.”

So it looks like NDEs are real, but what does that mean? They do occur, they are programmed into your head, but why? Could it be a physical entranceway to heaven? Could it just be an incredibly effective tranquilizer, taking away fear which, in life-and-death situations, you certainly don’t want cluttering your thoughts? Could it be well beyond the scope of our current philosophies? Whatever the reason, it is nice to know that our final moments are often our most pleasant.