Editing Out-of-body experience (section)

==OBE theories==

===Psychological===
In the fields of [[cognitive science]] and [[psychology]] OBEs are considered dissociative experiences arising from different [[psychological]] and neurological factors.<ref name="Brent, S. B. 1979 pp. 89- 123"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Zusne, L. 1989"/><ref name="Blanke 2004"/><ref name=Meyerson>{{cite journal | url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-623520141 | title=Therapeutic Utilization of Spontaneous Out-of-Body Experiences in Hypnotherapy | author1=Meyerson, Joseph | author2=Gelkopf, Marc | journal=American Journal of Psychotherapy | year=2004 | volume=58 | issue=1 | pages=90–102 | doi=10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2004.58.1.90 | pmid=15106402 | doi-access=free }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Cheyne>{{cite journal | url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-190099336 | title=When Is an OBE Not an OBE? A New Look at Out-of-Body Experiences | author=Cheyne, James Allan | journal=Skeptic | date=Fall 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Blanke>{{cite journal | title=Out Of Body Experiences And Their Neural Basis: They Are Linked To Multisensory And Cognitive Processing In The Brain | author=Blanke, Olaf | journal=British Medical Journal |date=December 2004 | volume=329 | issue=7480 | pages=1414–1415 | quote=The reviewed evidence from neurological patients experiencing this striking dissociation between self and body shows that out of body experiences are culturally invariant phenomena that can be investigated scientifically. | jstor=25469629 | doi=10.1136/bmj.329.7480.1414| pmid=15604159 | pmc=535951 }}</ref> Scientists consider the OBE to be an experience from a mental state, like a dream or an [[altered state of consciousness]] without recourse to the [[paranormal]].<ref>{{cite book|contribution=Out-of-Body Experiences |author-last=Blackmore |author-first=Susan J.|author-link=Susan Blackmore |title=[[The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience]] |editor-last=Shermer |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Shermer |date=2002 |pages=164–169 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-653-8}}</ref>

[[Charles Richet]] (1887) held that OBEs are created by the subject's [[memory]] and [[imagination]] processes and are no different from [[dreams]].<ref>Richet, C. (1887). ''L 'homme et l'intelligence: Fragments de physiologie et de psychologie'' (2nd ed.). Paris: Felix Alcan.</ref><ref>Richet, C. (1922). ''Traith de metapsychique''. Paris: Felix Alcan.</ref> [[James H. Hyslop]] (1912) wrote that OBEs occur when the activity of the [[Subconscious|subconscious mind]] dramatizes certain images to give the impression the subject is in a different physical location.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Hyslop JH|year=1912|title=A review, a record and a discussion|journal=Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research|volume=6|pages=490–516}}</ref> 
[[Eugéne Osty]] (1930) considered OBEs to be nothing more than the product of [[imagination]].<ref>Osty, E. (1930). ''La vision de soi. Revue metapsychique''. No. 3, 185-197.</ref> Other early researchers (such as Schmeing, 1938) supported [[Psychophysiology|psychophysiological]] theories.<ref>Schmeing, K. (1938). ''Flugtraiume und "Exkursion des Ich''. Archiv für die Gesamte Psychologie.</ref> [[G. N. M. Tyrrell]] interpreted OBEs as hallucinatory constructs relating to subconscious levels of [[personality]].<ref>Tyrrell, G. N. M. (1953). ''Apparitions''. London: Gerald Duckworth. (Originally published, 1942.)</ref>

[[Donovan Rawcliffe]] (1959) connected the OBE experience with [[psychosis]] and [[hysteria]].<ref>Rawcliffe, D.H. (1959). ''Illusions and Delusions of the Supernatural and the Occult''. New York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1952).</ref> Other researchers have discussed the phenomena of the OBE in terms of a distortion of the body image (Horowitz, 1970) and [[depersonalization]] (Whitlock, 1978).<ref>Horowitz, M. J. (1970). ''Image formation and cognition''. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Whitlock FA|year=1978|title=The psychiatry and psychopathology of paranormal phenomena|journal=Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry|volume=12|issue=1|pages=11–19|doi= 10.3109/00048677809159583|pmid= 277171|s2cid=34344069}}</ref> The psychologists [[Nandor Fodor]] (1959) and [[Jan Ehrenwald]] (1974) proposed that an OBE is a defense mechanism designed to deal with the threat of death.<ref>Fodor, N. (1959). ''The Haunted Mind''. New York: Helix Press.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Ehrenwald J|year=1974|title=Out-of-the-body experiences and the denial of death|journal=Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease|volume=159|issue=4|pages=227–233|doi= 10.1097/00005053-197410000-00001|pmid= 4422769|s2cid=26493164}}</ref> According to (Irin and Watt, 2007) Jan Ehrenwald had described the out-of-body experience (OBE) "as an imaginal confirmation of the quest for immortality, a delusory attempt to assure ourselves that we possess a soul that exists independently of the physical body".<ref>Harvey J. Irwin, Caroline Watt ''An Introduction to Parapsychology'' 2007, p. 188</ref> The psychologists [[Donald O. Hebb|Donald Hebb]] (1960) and [[Cyril Burt]] (1968) wrote on the psychological interpretation of the OBE involving [[body image]] and visual imagery.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Hebb DO|year=1960|title=The American Revolution|journal=American Psychologist|volume=15|issue=12|pages=735–745|doi= 10.1037/h0043506}}</ref><ref>Burt, C. (1968). ''Psychology and Psychical Research''. London: Society for Psychical Research.</ref> [[Graham Reed (psychologist)|Graham Reed]] (1974) suggested that the OBE is a stress reaction to a painful situation, such as the loss of love.<ref>Reed, Graham. (1974). ''The Psychology of Anomalous Experience''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.</ref> John Palmer (1978) wrote that the OBE is a response to a body image change causing a threat to [[personal identity]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Palmer J|year=1978|title=The out-of-body experience: A psychological theory|journal=Parapsychology Review|volume=9|issue=5|pages=19–22}}</ref>

[[Carl Sagan]] (1977) and Barbara Honegger (1983) wrote that the OBE experience may be based on a rebirth fantasy or reliving of the birth process based on reports of tunnel-like passageways and a [[Silver cord|cord-like connection]] by some OBErs which they compared to an [[umbilical cord]].<ref>Sagan, C. (1977). ''Broca's Brain''. Random House.</ref><ref>Honegger, B. (1983). ''The OBE as a near-birth experience''. In Roll, W. G., Beloff, J., and White, R. A. (Eds.), ''Research in Parapsychology''. Scarecrow Press. pp. 230-231.</ref> [[Susan Blackmore]] (1978) came to the conclusion that the OBE is a hallucinatory fantasy as it has the characteristics of imaginary perceptions, perceptual distortions and fantasy-like perceptions of the self (such as having no body).<ref>[[Susan Blackmore|Blackmore, Susan]] (1978). ''Parapsychology and out-of-the-body experiences''. London: Transpersonal Books/Society for Psychical Research.</ref><ref>Sheikh, Anees. (1983). ''Imagery: Current Theory, Research, and Application''. John Wiley & Sons. p. 372. "Blackmore (1978) reviewed the evidence that indicates that out-of-the- body experiences have the following characteristics that can be expected of hallucinatory fantasies: (1) imaginary perceptions; (2) errors in perception; (3) perceptual distortions (such as seeing through things); (4) instantaneous traveling to distant locations; and (5) fantasy like perceptions of self such as not having a body, having a replica of one's body, and perceiving oneself as a point or a ball of light. She concluded from the data that out-of-the-body experiences should be viewed as hallucinatory fantasies."</ref> [[Ronald K. Siegel|Ronald Siegel]] (1980) also wrote that OBEs are hallucinatory fantasies.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Siegel RK|year=1980|title=The Psychology of Life After Death|journal=American Psychologist|volume=35|issue=10|pages=911–931|doi= 10.1037/0003-066x.35.10.911|pmid=7436117}}</ref>

Harvey Irwin (1985) presented a theory of the OBE involving attentional cognitive processes and [[Somatosensory system|somatic sensory activity]]. His theory involved a cognitive personality construct known as [[Absorption (psychology)|psychological absorption]] and gave instances of the classification of an OBE as examples of [[autoscopy]], [[depersonalization]] and [[Dissociation (psychology)|mental dissociation]].<ref name="Irwin, Harvey 1985"/> The psychophysiologist [[Stephen Laberge]] (1985) has written that the explanation for OBEs can be found in [[lucid dreaming]].<ref>LaBerge, S. (1985). ''Lucid Dreaming''. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher.</ref> David Hufford (1989) linked the OBE experience with a phenomenon he described as a [[nightmare]] waking experience, a type of [[sleep paralysis]].<ref>Hufford, David. (1989) ''The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions (Publications of the American Folklore Society)''. University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|978-0812213058}}</ref> Other scientists have also linked OBEs to cases of [[hypnagogia]] and sleep paralysis ([[cataplexy]]).<ref>Adler, Shelley. (2010) ''Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection (Studies in Medical Anthropology)''. Rutgers University Press. {{ISBN|978-0813548869}}.</ref><ref>Mavromatis, Andreas. (2010). ''Hypnagogia: The Unique State of Consciousness Between Wakefulness and Sleep''. Thyrsos Press. {{ISBN|978-0955305214}}</ref>

In case studies [[Fantasy (psychology)|fantasy proneness]] has been shown to be higher among OBErs than those who have not had an OBE.<ref>Myers. S. A., Austrin, H. R., Grisso, J. T., & Nickeson, R. C. (1983). ''Personality Characteristics as related to the out-of-body experience''. Journal of Parapsychology, 47. 131-144.</ref> The data has shown a link between the OBE experience in some cases to [[fantasy prone personality]] (FPP).<ref>Wilson, S. C., & Barber T. X. (1982). ''The fantasy-prone personality: Implications for understanding imagery, hypnosis, and parapsychological phenomena.'' In A. A. Sheikh (Ed.) ''Imagery: Current theory, Research and Application''. New York: John Wiley.</ref> In a case study involving 167 participants the findings revealed that those who claimed to have experienced the OBE were "more fantasy prone, higher in their belief in the paranormal and displayed greater somatoform dissociation."<ref>Gow, K., Lang, T. and Chant, D. (2004). ''Fantasy proneness, paranormal beliefs and personality features in out-of-body experiences''. Contemp. Hypnosis, 21: 107–125.</ref> Research from studies has also suggested that OBEs are related to cognitive-perceptual [[schizotypy]].<ref>Parra, Alejandro. (2009). ''Out-of-Body Experiences and Hallucinatory Experiences: A Psychological Approach''. Journal: Imagination, Cognition and Personality, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 211-223</ref>

===Neurological===
{{see also|Neurology|Cognitive science}}
[[Terence Hines]] (2003) has written that spontaneous out-of-body experiences can be generated by artificial stimulation of the brain and this strongly suggests that the OBE experience is caused from "temporary, minor brain malfunctions, not by the person's spirit actually leaving the body."<ref>{{harvnb|Hines|2003|pp=104–106}}</ref> In a study review of [[Neurology|neurological]] and [[neurocognitive]] data (Bünning and Blanke, 2005) wrote that OBEs are due to "functional disintegration of lower-level [[Multisensory integration|multisensory processing]] and abnormal higher-level self-processing at the [[temporoparietal junction]]."<ref>{{cite book | author = Bünning S., Blanke O. | title = The Boundaries of Consciousness: Neurobiology and Neuropathology | year = 2005 | chapter = The out-of body experience: precipitating factors and neural correlates | chapter-url = http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/154893| series = Progress in Brain Research | volume = 150 | pages = 331–50 | doi = 10.1016/S0079-6123(05)50024-4 | pmid = 16186034 | isbn = 9780444518514 }}</ref> Some scientists suspect that OBEs are the result of a mismatch between visual and tactile signals.<ref name="Out-of-body experience recreated">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6960612.stm |work=BBC News |title=Out-of-body experience recreated |date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=May 20, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Blakeslee |first=Sandra |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/health/psychology/03shad.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 |title=Out-of-Body Experience? Your Brain Is to Blame |work=The New York Times |date=2006-10-03 |access-date=2011-10-06}}</ref>

[[Richard Wiseman]] (2011) has noted that OBE research has focused on finding a psychological explanation and "out-of-body experiences are not paranormal and do not provide evidence for the soul. Instead, they reveal something far more remarkable about the everyday workings of your brain and body."<ref name="Wiseman 2011">{{cite book|last=Wiseman |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Wiseman |date=2011 |title=Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There |publisher=Macmillan |page=60 |isbn=978-0-230-75298-6}}</ref> A study conducted by Jason Braithwaite and colleagues (2011) linked the OBE to "neural instabilities in the brain's temporal lobes and to errors in the body's sense of itself".<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Braithwaite Jason J. |author2=Samson Dana |author3=Apperly Ian |author4=Broglia Emma |author5=Hulleman Johan | year = 2011 | title = Cognitive correlates of the spontaneous out-of-body experience (OBE) in the psychologically normal population: Evidence for an increased role of temporal-lobe instability, body-distortion processing, and impairments in own-body transformations | journal = Cortex | volume = 47 | issue = 7| pages = 839–853 | doi=10.1016/j.cortex.2010.05.002 | pmid=20598679|s2cid=206983737 |url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/cognitive-correlates-of-the-spontaneous-outofbody-experience-obe-in-the-psychologically-normal-population-evidence-for-an-increased-role-of-temporallobe-instability-bodydistortion-processing-and-impairments-in-ownbody-transformations(9faf12dc-e369-41bc-af03-84498e4c6f75).html }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110711081249.htm |title=Out-of-body experiences linked to neural instability and biases in body representation |date=2011-07-11 |website=[[ScienceDaily]]}}</ref> Braithwaite ''et al''. (2013) reported that the "current and dominant view is that the OBE occurs due to a temporary disruption in multi-sensory integration processes."<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Braithwaite JJ, James K, Dewe H, Medford N, Takahashi C, Kessler K|year=2013|title=Fractionating the unitary notion of dissociation: Disembodied but not embodied dissociative experiences are associated with exocentric perspective-taking|journal=Frontiers in Neuroscience|volume=7|page=719|doi= 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00719|pmid= 24198776|pmc= 3812871|doi-access=free}}</ref>
A study led by Josef Parvizi found that direct electrical stimulation of the anterior portion of the [[precuneus]] can induce an out-of-body experience.<ref name="j-hamilton">{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/07/28/1190816885/this-sausage-shaped-part-of-your-brain-causes-out-of-body-experiences |title=This sausage-shaped part of your brain causes out-of-body experiences |author=Jon Hamilton |date=August 4, 2023 |publisher=NPR |work=Short Wave}}</ref>

===Paranormal===
Writers in the fields of [[parapsychology]] and [[occultism]] have written that OBEs are not psychological and that a [[soul]], spirit or [[subtle body]] can detach itself out of the body and visit distant locations. Out-of-the-body experiences were known during the Victorian period in [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] literature as "travelling clairvoyance". In old Indian scriptures, such a state of consciousness is also referred to as [[Turiya]], which can be achieved by deep yogic and meditative activities, during which yogis may be liberated from the duality of mind and body, allowing them to intentionally leave the body and then return to it. The body carrying out this journey is called "Vigyan dehi" (''"Scientific body"''). The psychical researcher [[Frederic W. H. Myers|Frederic Myers]] referred to the OBE as a "psychical excursion".<ref>{{cite book|title=Table-Rappers: The Victorians and the Occult |last=Pearsall |first=Ronald J. |author-link=Ronald Pearsall |year=2004 |orig-year=1972 |publisher=The History Press Ltd |edition=New |page=197 |isbn=978-0-75-093684-2}}</ref> An early study that described alleged cases of OBE was the two-volume ''[[Phantasms of the Living]]'', published in 1886 by the psychical researchers [[Edmund Gurney]], Myers, and [[Frank Podmore]]. The book was largely criticized by the scientific community because the anecdotal reports in almost every case lacked evidential substantiation.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Where Are the Letters? A Cross-Examination of Certain Phantasms |last=Innes |first=Alexander Taylor |author-link=Alexander Taylor Innes |year=1887 |periodical=[[The Nineteenth Century (periodical)|The Nineteenth Century]] |issue=22 |pages=174–194}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, Volume 4 |last=Peirce |first=Charles Sanders |author-link=Charles Sanders Peirce |year=1958 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=360}}</ref>

[[File:Schiavonetti Soul leaving body 1808.jpg|thumb|A 19th-century illustration of [[Robert Blair (poet)|Robert Blair]]'s poem ''[[The Grave (poem)|The Grave]]'', depicting the soul leaving the body]]
The [[Theosophy|theosophist]] [[Arthur E. Powell|Arthur Powell]] (1927) was an early author to advocate the subtle body theory of OBEs.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Astral Body and Other Astral Phenomena |last=Powell |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur E. Powell |year=2010 |orig-year=1927 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-162-57095-2}}</ref> [[Sylvan Muldoon]] (1936) embraced the concept of an [[etheric body]] to explain the OBE experience.<ref name="Muldoon, S. 1936">{{cite book|title=The Case for Astral Projection: Hallucination or Reality! |last=Muldoon |first=Sylvan |author-link=Sylvan Muldoon |year=2010 |orig-year=1936 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-162-73868-0}}</ref> The psychical researcher [[Ernesto Bozzano]] (1938) had also supported a similar view describing the phenomena of the OBE experience in terms of [[bilocation]] in which an "etheric body" can release itself from the physical body in rare circumstances.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Discarnate Influence in Human Life: A review of the case for spirit intervention |last=Bozzano |first=Ernesto |author-link=Ernesto Bozzano |date=1938-08-27 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=142 |issue=3591 |pages=376–ff |doi=10.1038/142376c0|s2cid=4023701 }}</ref> The subtle body theory was also supported by occult writers such as Ralph Shirley (1938), [[Benjamin Walker (author)|Benjamin Walker]] (1977), and Douglas Baker (1979).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Mystery of the Human Double: The Case for Astral Projection |last=Shirley |first=Ralph |year=2010 |orig-year=1938 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-162-73867-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Beyond the Body: Human Double and the Astral Planes |last=Walker |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Walker (author) |year=1977 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7100-8581-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Practical Techniques of Astral Projection |last=Baker |first=Douglas |year=1977 |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |isbn=978-0-87728-321-8}}</ref> James Baker (1954) wrote that a [[mental body]] enters an "intercosmic region" during the OBE.<ref>{{cite book|title=The exteriorization of the mental body: A scientific interpretation of the out-of-the-body experience known as pneumakinesis |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030974268#page/1/mode/1up | last=Baker | first=James Jr. |date=1954 |publisher=The William-Frederick Press |location=New York}}</ref> Robert Crookall supported the subtle body theory of OBEs in several publications.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Study and Practice of Astral Projection |last=Crookall |first=Robert |publisher=Literary Licensing |location=Whitefish, MT |year=2011 |orig-year=1961 |isbn=978-1-258-00883-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Intimations of Immortality: 'Seeing' that leads to 'believing' |last=Crookall |first=Robert |year=1987|orig-year=1965 |publisher=James Clarke & Co Ltd |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0-227-67662-2}}</ref>

The paranormal interpretation of OBEs has not been supported by all researchers within the study of parapsychology. [[Gardner Murphy]] (1961) wrote that OBEs are "not very far from the known terrain of general psychology, which we are beginning to understand more and more without recourse to the paranormal".<ref>{{cite book|title=Challenge of Psychical Research: Primer of Parapsychology |last=Murphy |first=Gardner |author-link1=Gardner Murphy |publisher=Praeger Publishers |edition=New |year=1979 |orig-year=1961 |isbn=978-0-31320944-4}}</ref>

In the 1970s, [[Karlis Osis]] conducted many OBE experiments with the psychic Alex Tanous. In one series of these experiments, he was asked whilst in an OBE state whether he could identify coloured targets that were placed in remote locations. Osis reported that there were 114 hits in 197 trials. However, the controls for the experiments have been criticized and, according to [[Susan Blackmore]], the final result was not particularly significant since 108 hits would have been expected by chance alone. Blackmore noted that the results provide "no evidence for accurate perception in the OBE".<ref>{{cite book|title=[[Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out-of-the-Body Experiences]] |author-last=Blackmore |author-first=Susan J. |author-link=Susan Blackmore |orig-year=1983 |year=1992 |edition=illustrated, reprint |publisher=Academy Chicago Publishers |pages=193–195 |isbn=978-0-89733-344-3}}</ref>

In April 1977, a patient from [[Harborview Medical Center]] known as Maria claimed to have experienced an out-of-body experience. During her OBE she claimed to have floated outside her body and outside the hospital. Maria later told her social worker Kimberly Clark that during the OBE she had observed a [[Athletic shoe|tennis shoe]] on the third floor window ledge to the north side of the building. Clark then went to the north wing of the building and by looking out of the window could see a tennis shoe on one of the ledges. Clark published the account in 1984. The story has since been used in many paranormal books as evidence that a spirit can leave the body.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives |contribution=Clinical Interventions with Near-Death Experiencers |last=Clark |first=Kimberly |date=1984 |editor1-last=Greyson |editor1-first=Bruce |editor-link1=Bruce Greyson |editor2-last=Flynn |editor2-first=Charles P. |location=Springfield, IL |publisher=Charles C. Thomas Publishers |pages=242–255 |isbn=978-0-398-05008-5}}</ref><ref name="Wiseman 2011 pp.44-45">{{harvnb|Wiseman|2011|pp=44–45}}</ref>

In 1996, Hayden Ebbern, Sean Mulligan and [[Barry Beyerstein]] visited the Medical Center to investigate Clark's story. They placed a tennis shoe on the same ledge and found that it was visible from within the building and could easily have been observed by a patient lying in bed. They also discovered that the tennis shoe was easy to observe from outside the building and suggested that Maria may have overheard a comment about it during her three days in the hospital and then incorporated it into her OBE. They concluded "Maria's story merely reveals the naiveté and the power of wishful thinking" from OBE researchers seeking a paranormal explanation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Maria's Near-Death Experience: Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop |url=https://malvma.viu.ca/www/ipp/pdf/NDE.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926091436/https://malvma.viu.ca/www/ipp/pdf/NDE.pdf |archive-date=2020-09-26 |url-status=live |last1=Ebbern |first1=Hayden |last2=Mulligan |first2=Sean |last3=Beyerstein |first3=Barry |author-link3=Barry Beyerstein |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |date=July–August 1996 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=27–33}}</ref> Clark did not publish the description of the case until seven years after it happened, casting doubt on the story. [[Richard Wiseman]] has said that although the story is not evidence for anything paranormal it has been "endlessly repeated by writers who either couldn't be bothered to check the facts, or were unwilling to present their readers with the more skeptical side of the story."<ref name="Wiseman 2011 pp.44-45" /> Clark responded to the accusations made in a separate paper.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Kimberley |title=The Other Shoe Drops: Commentary on "Does Paranormal Perception Occur in Near-Death Experiences?" |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc798924/m2/1/high_res_d/vol25-no4-245.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725004310/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc798924/m2/1/high_res_d/vol25-no4-245.pdf |archive-date=2018-07-25 |url-status=live |publisher=University of North Texas Libraries |accessdate=September 13, 2021}}</ref>

====Astral projection====
{{Main|Astral projection}}

Astral projection is a paranormal interpretation of out-of-body experiences that assumes the existence of one or more non-physical planes of existence and an associated body beyond the physical. Commonly such planes are called ''astral'', ''[[etheric body|etheric]]'', or ''[[spirituality|spiritual]]''. Astral projection is often experienced as the [[Soul (spirit)|spirit]] or [[astral body]] leaving the [[human anatomy|physical body]] to travel in the spirit world or [[astral plane]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://parapsych.org/historical_terms.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030219182148/http://parapsych.org/historical_terms.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-02-19 |title=Historical Terms Glossary – ASTRAL BODY |publisher=[[Parapsychological Association]] |website=parapsych.org |access-date=2011-10-06}}</ref>