Near-death experiences (NDEs) are far more common than many people probably believe based on the more than 5,300 stories that NDERF has catalogued of people who claim to have had them. It is a volunteer-operated public resource that exists to tell the world about NDEs, what they are, and what they might mean.

Dr. Jeffrey Long, MD, author of God and the Afterlife, is one of the featured personalities at NDERF. He conducted a scientific exploration into accounts of NDEs in which the experiencers claim to have encountered what they perceive as God, as well as other spiritual beings.

Jody Long, JD, a retired attorney, is also listed at the NDERF site as one of the project heads who is "helping people not to be afraid of death." Long has been the webmaster of NDERF for more than 20 years, providing support and a forum for NDErs and those who "want to know about the afterlife."

(Related: Speaking of death, did you know that the leading cause of it in America today is pharmaceuticals?)

One of the most recent NDEs highlighted at NDERF comes from someone named Sean who claims to have spoken with his dad, and nobody else, during his NDE while suffering from swine flu.

"Even though it was 15 years ago, I remember his exact words; 'If you want to see Colleen and those boys again, you'd better go straight back down. You'd better start breathing and you'd better start fighting!"

In another account from the United Kingdom, a lady named Margo who was undergoing a painful delivery recalled seeing her "soul" dog who died in 2021 during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic."

"He was truly more of a child to me than a pet and his death was incredibly traumatic," Margo said. "He was right near my face and telling me to make my choice. I could go with him if I felt the time was right, or I could stay and fight for my son."

Another NDE story out of Indonesia claims the experiencer, who was just nine or 10 years old at the time, "flew around the neighborhood" before going back to school. This individual says that while he was flying back onto the "big field," he "saw a bright light in the sky" contrasted by a "very dark" display on the other side of the sky.

"The shape was unclear, but it looked like two centers of the brightest and darkest portals," this person recalled. "I was interested, but I didn't know which one I wanted to see first."

A Swedish man named Johnny who had an "exceptional" NDE due to respiratory illness recalled his experience covered 57 years of time "in an instant."

"I got to see every moment from my perspective and also from the other person's perspective," Johnny said. "It was excruciating at times and I felt a great pang of selfishness and self-absorption from me."

"Despondent, I said, 'I had failed.' But the light figure said with an almost humorous warmth in his voice, 'Nothing was wrong. Everything was perfect. As it should be.' He said that I was human and as such, it is not possible to do everything right. It was about learning. That love and its consequences mean everything."