I have something interesting to contribute to the discussion of OBE’S.
When I was a paramedic, we often did routine transports from hospitals to nursing homes, etc…
Well . . . I once transported a patient from a hospital to a hospice facility, so that he could die in congenial surroundings, as he had an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer that had metastized to every corner of his body.
We were wheeling him down the hospital halway, and he stopped talking when we got on the elevator, and started laughing when we got off on the ground floor.
I asked him to share the joke, as hospice transports often left me slightly depressed, and I could have used a good laugh.
He explained to me that he had just had an out-of-body experience, and described–in vivid detail–the sensations of floating above his body and looking down at himself, and was momentarily convinced that he had died on my stretcher.
Here’s where I get to the point: we came back to that same hospital later that night for another call, and this is when I discovered that the elevator had a mirrored ceiling.
Evidentally, the euphoria from the morphine combined with the downward motion of the elevator (which makes you feel lighter) and the act of contemplating himself in the mirrored ceiling created an out-of-body experience for my patient.
This was how I discovered that you can create your own out-of-body experience with nothing more than an elevator with a mirrored ceiling (an assistant is helpful for the timing).
You spin around like a dervish until you’re really dizzy, and then lie on the elevator floor while your assistant pushes the down button.
I wrote letters about this that were published in Skeptical Inquirer in the November/December 2003 issue.