What happens after death? Is there life after death or one just vanishes into oblivion? These questions have flummoxed many, and been a matter of debate, study and experiments for ages. A Kentucky-based doctor has now claimed that all the talks of afterlife are not without any basis, recalling people's experiences of crossing into "another realm" and coming back to life. He, however, mentioned that there is no "plausible physical explanation for this phenomenon".
"Many pass through a tunnel and experience a bright light. Then, they're greeted by deceased loved ones, including pets, who are in the prime of their lives," US-based radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long, who has been researching near-death experiences and is the founder of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation wrote in an essay published in Insider. He described what people felt when they were being "transported into another realm", and said most people reported an overwhelming sense of love and peace and felt like this other realm was their real home.
In the essay, Long said he was certain that afterlife exists, after studying over 5,000 near-death experiences. The subject caught his attention first when he came across an article describing near-death experiences in a journal of the American Medical Association. "...I was reading from a cardiologist describing patients who had died and then came back to life, reporting very distinct, almost unbelievable experiences." After years of medical training, he said, reading about people coming back to life after death got him hooked on the subject.
What Is A 'Near-Death Experience'?
Long defined a near-death experience as someone who was "either comatose or clinically dead, without a heartbeat, having a lucid experience where they see, hear, feel emotions, and interact with other beings".
As Long started collecting stories of people's near-death experiences, he wrote, witnessed a consistent pattern with nearly 45 per cent reporting an out-of-body experience. He said during a near-death experience, people's consciousness separated from their physical body, usually hovering above the body and that the person could see and hear what was happening around them, including frantic attempts to revive them.
"One woman even reported a doctor throwing a tool on the floor when he picked up the wrong one—something the doctor later confirmed," he said.
Recalling the experience of another person he said, "One woman lost consciousness while riding her horse on a trail. Her body stayed on the trail while her consciousness traveled with her horse as he galloped back to the barn. Later, she was able to describe exactly what happened at the barn because she had seen it despite her body not being there. Others who hadn't spoken to her confirmed her account."
No Scientific Explanation
Long said these experiences such as the bright light, being greeted by loved ones and the tunnel sounded cliched and he believed they had cultural tropes. But he also recounted children having the same experiences and felt it was unlikely that they had heard about the scenarios after death at that age.
However, he said, he could not come to a possible physical explanation after reading brain research and considering possible explanations for the near-death experiences. "I'm a medical doctor. I've read brain research and considered every possible explanation for NDEs. The bottom line is that none of them hold water. There isn't even a remotely plausible physical explanation for this phenomenon."