Strange to learn that one of the most exciting advances in consciousness research comes from Jim Whinnery, a flight surgeon for the National Warfare Institute. Jim and I are on the Board of the National Institute of Discovery Science together, where I saw videotapes and interviews with test fighter pilots who have had NDEs.

Well, not actually NDEs. They have "acceleration induced loss of consciousness experiences". Jim was learning the ability of the human brain to withstand high G forces by accelerating test pilots in a centrifuge.

He discovered that at the end of their runs, after the pilots lost consciousness, had seizures, loss of muscle tone, and theoretical stoppage of blood flow in their brains, then they would have "dreamlets".

These dreamlets sound suspiciously like NDes, including out of body perceptions, and "I was on a desert island looking up at the sun, it was very pleasant."

We have all heard adults gushing endlessly over their NDEs, but when you hear similar experiences in the clipped monotone of fighter pilot talk, it gives you a chilll.

Also, you can access the National Institute of discovery Science website, which has an abstract of his work, I will have it as a link on my site as soon as I get to it.

For those who get Aviation, Space, and Environmental medicine, look through your back issues for:

Whinnery JE: Observations on the neurophysiological theory of acceleration induced loss of consciousness. Aviat Space Environ med 1989 60:589-93

or easier to find: Whinnery JE: Acceleration induced loss of consciousness. Arch Neurol 1990 47:764-776