In-depth article: Near-death experiences – what do people see at the moment of death?
Before we begin with any theoretical discussions, let me ask you a very straightforward question: Have you ever been afraid of death?
I believe the vast majority of people would answer yes.
We fear the torment of illness, the separation from loved ones, the fading of everything in the world, and even more so, the utter nothingness after death – the dissipation of consciousness, the return to zero perception, and the complete cessation of "me" in the world.
But over the past few decades, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who have survived near-death experiences have given completely opposite answers.
Many survivors who experienced clinical death and were resuscitated have unanimously described a remarkably similar experience: after their heart stopped beating, their brains shut down, and they lost vital signs, consciousness did not disappear. They would float, pass through dark tunnels, encounter deceased loved ones, and step into a warm white light – without pain, without fear, only ultimate peace.
This is the topic that has been debated online for decades: near-death experiences.
Many people's first reaction: Isn't this just a hallucination caused by death? Is it a delusion concocted by the brain?
But if it's just a hallucination, why do hundreds of millions of people from different countries, races, cultures, and religions across East and West have such highly overlapping near-death experiences? Why can some people who were in a deep coma or brain dead accurately recount the entire resuscitation process after waking up? Why can some people who were born via cesarean section and never experienced the pressure of the birth canal still see the death tunnel?
Some say it's an out-of-body experience, confirming the existence of an afterlife; others dismiss it as feudal superstition and a brain hoax. The scientific community has debated this for two centuries, from theologians and psychologists to neuroscientists and cardiac surgeons, yet there is still no definitive conclusion that is 100% convincing.
In this article, I'll set aside metaphysical marketing, religious hype, and sensationalist rumors from social media. I'll use hard science logic, combining firsthand accounts from real survivors, a century of scientific research, and top-tier medical experiments to break down near-death experiences in plain language.
The story begins with a special documentary from 2006.
That year marked the 30th anniversary of the Tangshan earthquake. An official commemorative documentary was broadcast, featuring interviews with several earthquake survivors. One survivor's account caused a huge sensation at the time and quietly planted the seed for my research into near-death experiences.
This survivor recalled that the moment the earthquake struck, heavy objects crashed down, instantly knocking him unconscious and rendering him completely numb—medically speaking, close to clinical death.
In that instant of complete loss of consciousness, he didn't fall into darkness or a dreamless void. Instead, he felt himself floating lightly away from his body, slowly rising upwards.
Below him lay collapsed ruins, dust, and wailing cries. He didn't need to walk; his feet dangled in the air, slowly gliding forward along an endless black tunnel. The tunnel was crowded with strangers whose faces he couldn't see. Everyone was expressionless, silent, and floating in the same direction. No one spoke a word; the atmosphere was eerie yet calm.
His mind was filled with questions: Where are we going? What is this place?
Before he could even process what was happening, a warm hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and gripped his wrist tightly. The force wasn't strong, but it was irresistible, dragging him backward.
The next second, a blinding light pierced his eyes, and he abruptly opened them to find himself lying on a hospital bed, covered in IV drips, surrounded by busy doctors and nurses.
This publicly broadcast account, twenty years ago, would have been mind-blowing.
But what struck me most wasn't the bizarre experience itself, but the feeling—a feeling I'd heard countless similar versions of throughout my life.
Including my own personal experience of a miniature "near-death experience" as a child.
When I was seven or eight, I lived in a remote village. One winter, I suddenly developed a high fever, my temperature soaring to 40 degrees Celsius. After taking fever-reducing medication, I lay in bed, half-asleep, half-awake, my consciousness hazy.
I was completely paralyzed, my eyelids felt like lead, yet my gaze uncontrollably drifted upwards. The previously high ceiling suddenly loomed close, the old electrical wires on the roof almost touching my nose.
The feeling was incredibly real; it wasn't a dream. I clearly felt the ceiling slowly pressing down, the wires swaying back and forth. I desperately tried to open my eyes, to turn over, but all my muscles were completely paralyzed; I could only passively wait for the ceiling to collapse.
The next day, after my fever subsided, I told my parents about it, still shaken. They dismissed it with a casual, "You're delirious from the fever, it was just a dream."
I was young then and didn't delve into it, until, as an adult, a friend told me about his near-drowning experience, instantly stirring up memories long buried in my mind.
In early 2006, he went on vacation to the Maldives, went snorkeling, and without proper precautions, choked on water and drowned. In just a few seconds, he suffocated from lack of oxygen and lost consciousness completely.
Normally, drowning is an extremely painful, terrifying, and desperate experience. But after he regained consciousness, he clearly told me that the moment he lost consciousness, all fear vanished instantly. The suffocating feeling in his chest disappeared without a trace, and he felt as light as a broken kite, floating directly into the air.
Looking down, he could clearly see the azure sea, the beach, and the tourists; he could even pinpoint the exact location of his flip-flops that he had taken off before entering the water.
After hearing his description, a chill ran down my spine.
The floating sensation I experienced due to a high fever, the tunnel-floating feeling of the Tangshan earthquake survivor, and his aerial perspective after drowning—these three events, with different scenarios and triggers, shared a strikingly similar experience.
Could it be that at that moment, our so-called "consciousness" truly left the body? Is the popular belief about out-of-body experiences not just nonsense?
From that moment on, I delved into historical records, medical papers, and traced a century of research, becoming completely engrossed in the field of near-death experiences.
The deeper I dug, the more I discovered: the experiences of the Tangshan earthquake survivors were never isolated cases.
Back in 1987, eleven years after the Tangshan earthquake, two senior psychiatrists in Tianjin initiated a project to interview numerous survivors who had been severely injured, unconscious, or rescued from the earthquake. At that time, many of the injured were in severe shock, with weak brain waves and respiratory arrest, fully meeting the clinical criteria for death.
Prior to this, the medical community generally accepted that after complete brain shock and unconsciousness, the brain ceases to function, consciousness is zero, and clear memories are impossible.
However, the results of this investigation directly overturned this established understanding.
After regaining consciousness, a large number of survivors recounted extremely clear and detailed near-death experiences. Each person's experience was different, but the core feelings were identical.
Some fell into boundless darkness, then rushed through tunnels towards distant light; some experienced a flashback of their entire lives, with every fragment of their childhood replaying incessantly; some heard ethereal, grand, and unfamiliar sounds; some were instantly transported back to their hometowns, seeing their long-deceased grandparents and relatives.
One 28-year-old bank employee had the most bizarre experience; his interview transcript from that time is still intact.
When the earthquake struck, he was struck in the chest and abdomen by a falling beam, instantly stopping breathing and dilating his pupils. The attending physician declared him beyond saving. According to medical records, he was "dead" for a full three minutes and forty seconds.
However, upon regaining consciousness, his memory was incredibly clear, without a trace of confusion.
He recalled that after losing consciousness, he was surrounded by darkness. In the distance, a humanoid figure slowly approached, its outline complete, but without facial features; its entire face was a blank white, its features forever obscured.
The faceless figure remained silent, turned, and slowly walked forward, subconsciously gesturing for him to follow closely. He was not in control of his body, passively following the shadowy figure. Soon, a magnificent, ancient palace appeared out of nowhere before him.
Upon reaching the palace entrance, the faceless figure stopped, turned, and walked alone into the main hall, leaving him alone. A moment later, a deep, resonant voice echoed from within the hall, each word crystal clear:
"Your name is not in the Book of Life and Death. Your lifespan is not yet over. Return immediately."
The moment the words fell, the world spun, and he abruptly opened his eyes, lying on an emergency bed, surrounded by medical staff taking turns performing chest compressions and electric shocks to resuscitate him.
From a folk perspective, this account is a tangible account of the underworld, with judges verifying lifespans; but from a medical perspective, how can someone who has been brain dead for three minutes produce a logically complete, coherent, and precisely worded memory?
This is the core question that has plagued everyone for decades: Is a near-death experience a hallucination fabricated by the brain, or a real experience of consciousness leaving the body?
Many habitually refute this: Chinese people are superstitious, hence the fabrication of the soul and the underworld; Westerners, who value science, wouldn't have such an absurd experience.
The truth is quite the opposite.
Western medical circles and mass media began researching near-death experiences over a century earlier than in China, with a greater number of publicly available celebrity testimonials and more detailed accounts.
Oprah Winfrey, the top American talk show host, has dedicated decades to this field, interviewing hundreds of near-death experience survivors, including many household names and top celebrities. These individuals have achieved both fame and fortune; they have no need to fabricate stories for publicity.
The first is Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1993, Taylor appeared on Oprah's show and publicly revealed her death experience, which had been kept secret for over thirty years. Throughout the interview, she remained composed, without sensationalizing the ordeal or resorting to emotional manipulation.
The incident occurred in 1961. Taylor suffered a sudden onset of severe lung disease, leading to lung failure, respiratory arrest, and a deep coma. All vital signs disappeared, and doctors prepared a death certificate, awaiting only the official declaration of death.
According to Taylor's own account, the moment she collapsed and lost consciousness, the excruciating pain vanished instantly, and her soul seemed to detach from her body, floating in mid-air in the hospital room.
A soft white light then enveloped her, guiding her into a long, narrow tunnel. The entire journey was warm and comfortable, without a trace of cold or suffocation. At the end of the tunnel stood her husband, Mike Todd, who had passed away three years prior.
Three years later, her deceased husband looked exactly the same as he had on the day of his burial, his expression gentle and peaceful.
Taylor felt a pang of longing and instinctively wanted to stay in the world of white light, to be with her husband. But Mike gently shook his head, his voice firm as he urged her to return: "Now is not the time for you to come. You must return to the human world, no matter how difficult it is."
The next second, Taylor suddenly awoke, her fists clenched tightly, her body stiff. Doctors later confirmed that her vital signs had been absent for a full four minutes and twenty-seven seconds, meeting the legal criteria for death.
There's also the globally popular, million-copy bestseller, *The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven*.
In 2004, six-year-old Alex was traveling with his father when they were involved in a serious car accident at an intersection. The vehicle overturned and struck them, seriously injuring both father and son. Alex suffered a head injury, fell into a coma at the scene, and was left with lifelong physical disabilities.
Upon regaining consciousness, the six-year-old boy recounted the entire car accident in a clear and coherent manner: At the moment of the collision, his father was thrown from the car window, and a luminous angel appeared in mid-air, catching him and placing him safely in an open area; then an ambulance arrived and took both father and son to the hospital.
Immediately afterwards, the angel guided his consciousness to the gates of heaven, where he saw Jesus and the two briefly conversed face-to-face.
The child had no religious training, and his descriptions of the details of heaven, the appearance of the angels, and the dialogue were completely different from adult-indoctrinated narratives. The book topped the New York Times bestseller list in its second year of publication, selling over a million copies worldwide and moving countless readers.
Until 2015, eleven years after its initial sensation, Alex publicly admitted that his entire near-death experience was fabricated.
He confessed that in his rebellious youth, he craved attention and cooperated with his father to fabricate the experience for profit. Publishers and fathers exploited the "heaven" theme to amass enormous wealth, becoming mere pawns.
This case of deception is particularly crucial, directly shattering many misconceptions: not all near-death experiences are genuine; numerous commercial stories and narratives designed for online buzz are deliberately crafted lies.
But setting aside these fabricated stories, why do hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, strangers with no vested interests, share such strikingly similar experiences?
Many mistakenly believe that near-death experiences are a new concept hyped by modern social media, but human research into this topic spans nearly two centuries.
As early as the 18th century, before modern medicine was fully developed, European battlefield medics discovered anomalies.
French military doctor Monchau, stationed on the battlefield for many years, treated numerous soldiers severely wounded and near death. Many soldiers suffered cardiac arrest and hemorrhage shock, and after being declared dead, miraculously revived.
During the treatment, Monchau discovered an inexplicable pattern: all the soldiers who returned from the dead, upon regaining consciousness, would proactively recount their fantastical experiences during their coma. Some saw themselves suspended in mid-air, watching military doctors operate on them; others saw holy light and deities; some experienced a rapid replay of their lives' mistakes and joys; still others bluntly stated that the other world was warm and peaceful, and they had no desire to return to their war-torn, painful bodies.
Monshaw, a devout Catholic who already believed in the existence of Heaven and Hell, became even more convinced of the afterlife after collecting numerous soldiers' accounts. After retiring from the military, he compiled all the case studies and oral accounts into "Medical Anecdotes," leaving behind the first official manuscript of near-death experiences in human history.
This manuscript is also currently recognized globally as the earliest research material on near-death experiences.
It was American psychologist Raymond Moody who truly popularized near-death experiences and established an official term for them.
Many marketing accounts tout Moody as a top theological master, but this is not true. He had a formal undergraduate degree in psychology, and his research motivation was purely accidental.
In 1965, Moody, then a student at the University of Virginia, had a chance encounter with Dr. Richie, a professor of psychiatry, in one of his classes. Richie shared his near-death experience at the age of twenty: he had suffered a severe accident and remained without breathing, heartbeat, or brain waves for a full nine minutes, clinically pronounced dead.
But during those nine minutes, he was extremely conscious: first, he saw a white-clad figure bathed in soft light, gazing at a peaceful heaven; then, the scene shifted instantly, plunging him into a place of contradiction, repression, and despair, where love and hate intertwined, greed and kindness tugged at each other, suffocating and oppressive.
Richie's exact words at the time: "There's no fiery torture here, but boundless despair; this is hell."
This personal experience completely ignited Moody's curiosity. For the next ten years, he gave up his leisure time to interview surviving patients full-time, collecting hundreds of highly overlapping near-death accounts, sorting and eliminating exaggerated and fabricated content, and publishing his book *The Afterlife* in 1975.
It was also in this book that Moody first coined the term "Near-Death Experience" (NDE), which is still used globally today.
Following the book's immense popularity, the academic community in Europe and America restarted research that had been dormant for a century. Leading scholars Grayson, Kenneth Lynn, and Sabom spearheaded the formal inclusion of NDEs in mainstream academic research, no longer categorizing them as metaphysics or theology.
In 1980, Kenneth Lynn simplified all cases, dividing them into the classic five-stage model, covering 90% of real-life experiences:
Stage 1: Shedding pain, achieving inner peace;
Stage 2: Out-of-body experience, levitating, observing the physical body;
Stage 3: Falling into darkness, traversing a narrow tunnel;
Stage 4: Encountering a distant white light;
Stage 5: Stepping into light, touching another world.
The most crucial scientific conclusion is: this experience has absolutely no relation to the cause of death.
Suicide by jumping from a building, drowning, being crushed in a major earthquake, sudden cardiac death, or massive hemorrhage and shock—no matter how much pain one endures before death, once reaching a near-death state, all pain vanishes, and the experience is exactly the same.
The only difference lies in the details of the images: Buddhists see the Buddha, Christians see angels, Chinese people see their ancestors, and those without religion see white light and black shadows.
In short, the outer shell is influenced by cultural perception, while the core is globally unified.
At this point, everyone is undoubtedly most concerned about one question: can we conduct scientific experiments to realistically verify that out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences are real?
The world's most authoritative, rigorous, and unparalleled experiment was initiated by Sam Parnia, a leading British cardiac surgeon. He has dedicated over twenty years to cardiac arrest resuscitation, treating thousands of near-death patients, many of whom have told him that after their hearts stopped beating, they floated in the air.
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