Around one quarter of near-death survivors report encountering the dead, as I did. Some were long-dead relatives, some were the recently dead, and some were not yet known to have died. One American soldier responded to an appeal in military publications for near-death experiences with this account of a helicopter crash in Vietnam: “It was peaceful and cool. I could see others like myself just sort of floating around only inches from the ground… dead [Viet Cong]. Our eyes meet, but there are no hard feelings between us, just something we have in common… people walk past you, and you know what
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