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Out-of-body experiences

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An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is a parapsychological phenomena, an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, seeing one's physical body from a place outside one's body (autoscopy). Approximately one in ten people claim to have had an out-of-body experience at some time in their lives.[1] For some, the phenomenon occurs spontaneously, while for others it is linked to dangerous circumstances, a dream-like state, a near-death experience, or use of psychedelic drugs. A few have been able to induce the experience deliberately through visualizations while in a relaxed, meditative state, or through a lucid dream. Relatively little is known with certainty about OBEs.[2] Recent studies have shown that OBEs can be induced by stimulating the angular gyrus at the temporal-parietal lobe junction.

In some cases, the subject of an OBE has either willed themselves out of their bodies or found themselves being pulled from their bodies (these were usually preceded by the feeling of paralysis). In other cases, the feeling of being outside the body was something suddenly realized after the fact; the subjects saw their bodies almost by accident. [3]

Subjects claim they can (at will or otherwise) see a silver cord linking their astral form to their physical body. This cord mainly appears to a beginning traveler as assurance they will not become lost. However, even experienced travelers find it useful, claiming it is a fast way to return to the body.

The OBE is not generally long; on the order of a minute or so. Those who experience an OBE may note that the subjective experience is much longer than the objective time passing.

The OBE may or may not be followed by other experiences which are self-reported as being "as real" as the OBE feeling; alternatively, the subject may fade into a state self-reported as dreaming, or they may wake completely. The OBE is sometimes ended due to a fearful feeling of getting "too far away" from the body. Many end with a feeling of suddenly "popping" or "snapping" back into their bodies.

Some subjects experience spiritual epiphanies; others experience a general feeling of peacefulness and love; still others experience fearfulness and anxiety. Finally, some experience only the OBE itself, with no direct spiritual experience.

A majority describe the end of the experience as "then I woke up". It's worth noting that even (perhaps especially) those who describe the experience as something fantastic that occurs during sleep, and who describe the end of the experience by saying "and then I woke up", are very specific in describing the experience as one which was clearly not a dream; many described their sense of feeling more awake than they felt when they were normally awake. One compared the experience to that of lucid dreaming, but said that it was "more real".

Types of OBEEdit

Spontaneous OBEEdit



Initiated during/after sleepEdit

Main article: Sleep paralysis



Induced OBEs (non-spontaneous)Edit


  • Electrical stimulation of the brain (See below).

Near-death experiencesEdit

Main article: Near-death experience


External verification of OBEsEdit


Other observations of OBEs Edit

Not every OBE has exactly the same aspects, but although there are several different types of OBEs with different causes and meanings, there are some common elements:

  • These people claim they are not "faking" their experiences.
  • They were not, in general, "trying" to have the experience through auto-suggestion, hypnotic trance, etc. Many seemed frightened and/or confused by the experience; some even to the point of doubting their sanity.
  • A belief that they were physically "out of body" is a key feature of the experience. Even though other features of their experience might be self-described as dreamlike, the OBE part was experienced "lucidly", and was very real to the subjects. Several described their subjective state as "very awake", "more awake than usual", etc. Some quotes:
  • "I knew that these were not dreams, I can now tell the difference and that's what frightened me [sic], a dream you can ignore but not an experience like these [sic] it made me want to try and find out why are [sic] these things happening to me."
  • "Consciousness was as clear and lucid as any wakening experience."
  • "I was very alert. It was exactly as if I was awake."

The quality of the experiences which were strictly part of the OBE had no direct bearing on the remainder of the experience. For example, some describe vivid spiritual experiences following the OBE, which continue to influence their lives. On the other hand, others describe a kind of fading into what are self-reported as dreams of no consequence. Conversely, many people report spiritual experiences during sleep or otherwise which are not preceded by an OBE.

Possible explanationsEdit

Opinions regarding the objective reality of OBEs are varied. Some people believe the phenomenon is exactly what it feels like, and involves the soul or subtle body leaving the body and exploring[How to reference and link to summary or text].

Many OBE accounts are positive that the usual explanation, that the experience is illusory or purely subjective, is insufficient and often cite the experience as having a spiritual effect[How to reference and link to summary or text]. See examples:

  • "If it was [a dream], why am I still so affected by it?"
  • "I just don't understand this – how can this happen?"
  • "I realized at that instant my body was just a vehicle, a work horse, so to speak."
  • "The experience changed my life, and was profound."
  • "It has made me want to explore and learn as much as I can."
  • "This experience is as vivid to me today, as it was the night it actually happened. I will always remember it."

Despite claims of some "projectors" who aver that they can initiate the experience at will, there is to date no reliable evidence that any imagery or information acquired during the experience could not have come from normal sources[How to reference and link to summary or text] (see near-death experience for some inconclusive attempts to test this skeptical hypothesis).


Main article: Skepticism

English psychologist Susan Blackmore [6], suggests that an OBE begins when a person loses contact with sensory input from the body while remaining conscious. The person retains the illusion of having a body, but that perception is no longer derived from the senses. The perceived world resembles the world he or she generally inhabits while awake, but this perception does not come from the senses either. The vivid body and world is made by our brain's ability to create fully convincing realms, even in the absence of sensory information. This process is witnessed by each of us every night in our dreams. Technically all dreams could be called OBEs in that in them we experience events and places quite apart from the location and activity of our normally perceived body and world.[7]

Neuroscientific perspectivesEdit

Olaf Blanke studiesEdit

There is now an ongoing research project into the neuroscience of OBEs being undertaken by Olaf Blanke in Switzerland. This line of research acknowledges the experiences as reported by the subjects as valid. That is, people really do feel as if they have left their body. However, researchers have found that it is possible to reliably elicit such experiences by stimulating regions of the brain called the right temporal-parietal junction (TPJ; a region where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe of the brain come together). This evidence calls into question the idea a second or astral body is an objective reality within these experiences. Blanke however does not dismiss the idea that these experiences may have objective factors, in a 2002 BBC Radio interview he stated that one of his patients had accurately perceived information outside of her sensory range after stimulation of her right-angular gyrus. He went on to say that more research was needed. [8]

Olaf Blanke and his collaborators in Switzerland [9] have explored the neural basis of OBEs by showing that they are reliably associated with lesions in the right TPJ region[1] and that they can be reliably elicited with electrical stimulation of this region in a patient with epilepsy [2]. These elicited experiences include percepts of transformations of the patient's arm and legs (complex somatosensory responses) and whole-body displacements (vestibular responses), all of which are commonly reported in OBEs.



Michael Persinger studiesEdit


Other types of projectionEdit

Astral projectionEdit

Main article: Astral projection

Astral projection is an interpretation of forced out-of-body experiences achieved consciously, via visualisation techniques, lucid dreaming or deep meditation. Proponents of astral projection maintain that their consciousness or soul has transferred into an astral body (or "double"), which moves free of the physical body in a parallel world known as the "astral plane," which is said to exist via the "collective unconscious". Unlike the typical OBE, astral projection does not typically posit that one's consciousness or soul actually travels through the day-to-day physical realm.

Virtual reality projectionEdit

Part astral and part real time (as mentioned above), called Virtual Reality Projection by most, is when a projector moves on the physical plane, yet interacts with the astral plane at the same time. An example of this is if one walks into a "real" poster or picture, they are transported to a perfect reconstruction of this place/world by concentrated experiences and thoughts of every beholder of the concept of the picture. This is part of the reason many try to project, but admittedly only a speck in the (literally) infinite possibilities. This concept is associated with the occult and the New Age movement, and is not accepted by the majority of the scientific community.

Remote viewingEdit

In some instances, astral projectors have described details of the outside world whilst in projection that they could not have known beforehand. This has been studied extensively and is known as remote viewing. In remote viewing, however, the viewer does not leave his or her body, but "sees" remote sites by other means.

In some instances, such as patients during surgery, people describe OBEs in which they see something they could not possibly have seen while under anesthesia (for instance, one woman accurately described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as conversation that occurred while she was clinically dead). [10]


"Astral projection" was the earlier common term for OBE (see discussion under Astral Projection, below). More recently, "out-of-body experience," was suggested by parapsychologist Charles Tart and has become the standard term. Other terms include:

  • altered mind-body perception
  • astral elevation
  • astral excursion
  • astral travel
  • autoscopic hallucination
  • bilocation
  • coat travel
  • consciousness localized in space- </br> outside the body
  • disembodiment
  • dissociation between body and mind
  • dormiens vigila
  • dream time
  • dream travel
  • dream walking
  • eckstacy
  • ecsomatic experience
  • ecsomaticity
  • ecstasys
  • eidolon
  • ESP projection
  • etheric projection
  • ex-corporeal consciousness
  • exteriorization
  • externalisation
  • extrasensory travel
  • extrasomatic localization
  • false sight
  • flight of the soul
  • interdimensional traveling
  • kosha-state
  • leaving the body
  • little death
  • mental projection
  • mind projection
  • mind traveling
  • mystic death
  • night travel
  • projection of consciousness
  • projection of the etheric body
  • pseudopia
  • psi-projection
  • psychic navigation
  • psychic travel
  • psychological death
  • psychonavigation
  • roaming sight
  • sacred silence
  • scrying in the spirit vision
  • self-projection
  • separation
  • shamanic journey
  • shamanic ecstasy
  • slipping out
  • soul travel
  • spirit journey
  • spirit travel
  • spirit walking
  • statuvolism
  • trance journey
  • traveling clairvoyance
  • traveling ESP
  • traveling telepathy
  • traveling spiritually

See also Edit

References Edit

  4. Arzy, S., Thut, G., Mohr, C., Michel, C. M., & Blanke, O. (2006). Neural basis of embodiment: Distinct contributions of temporoparietal junction and extrastriate body area. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(31), 8074-8081.
  5. Blanke, O., & Arzy, S. (2005). The out-of-body experience: Disturbed self-processing at the temporo-parietal junction. Neuroscientist, 11(1), 16-24
  6. Persinger, Michael M. (2001). The neuropsychiatry of paranormal experiences Neuropsychiatric Practice and Opinion, 13(4), 521-522.

External linksEdit


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