Heaven and Horror Share a Destination: The Unexpected Aftermath Connecting Near-Death Experiences and Alien Abductions

During a surgical procedure, Jaime's endotracheal tube—which facilitates life-preserving respiration while under anesthesia—malfunctioned, causing his heart to convert to an abnormal rhythm that cannot sustain life. He found himself floating in darkness, eventually discovering it to be a tunnel lined with doors on both sides. Jaime was being pulled towards a point at the "end" of the tunnel, a magnificent light source that grew in size as he floated closer to it. Suddenly finding himself inside the light, Jaime was overwhelmed with a sense of euphoria that was "like the best drug." He was met there by his grandmother, who had died of dementia. She stood a radiant figure, appearing as Jaime remembered her when in her thirties, donning a purple dress that was spotted with fluorescent yellow flowers. Jaime sat with his grandmother at a table. They had a brief conversation and even drank "coffee." Finally, she told him to tell their family that she loves them very much, but that he had to go back, that this was not his time. The doctors and nurses successfully resuscitated him, and much to his chagrin, Jaime found himself immediately back inside his body, painfully still attached to machines by the standard tubes and intravenous lines (IVs) with his (living) family standing over him.¹

People that experience traumatic events that bring them to the brink of death, or actually leave them clinically dead like Jaime—for a brief period of time—commonly report having such near-death experiences (NDE). No two NDEs are the same, but there are some features that tend to recur. Experiencers will report tunnels of light; being inundated with an incomprehensible sense of peace; and often will meet with departed loved ones, beings of light, or religious icons. While there are exceptions, most that experience NDEs report them to be dramatically positive experiences.

On a seemingly-ordinary September evening in 1966 near Greensboro, North Carolina, David and two of his friends were driving through the countryside, trying to kill time while awaiting a local nightclub to open. For reasons that forever remained unclear, the driver exited onto a side road and brought the car to a halt. The three boys then saw a large, mysterious orange light hovering above the tree line. They were transfixed by the spectacle, wanting to talk to one another but somehow unable to do so. The next thing David remembered was driving back to the club with his friends and walking inside. The clock on the wall indicated that two hours had passed, for which they were unable to account. Eventually, David submitted to hypnotic regression and was taken subconsciously back to the moment when he and his friends saw the strange light. Investigator Budd Hopkins, who was present during the regression, commented that the sense of horror and trauma that David exhibited as he recounted the forgotten experience was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. Unable to move, David saw figures emanating from the light that took him from the car and into this light—apparently a craft of some kind—where he was involuntarily restrained and subjected to an invasive examination. The obvious discomfort that David demonstrated while reliving this harrowing process betrayed the excruciatingly-painful nature of the experience. Finally, David was taken back to the car where his friends still sat, evidently in suspended animation.²

Alien abductions could not seem to be more different than NDEs. Instead of tunnels of light, abductees report being involuntarily raised into a space craft or taken into an underground chamber or matrix-like reality. Instead of meeting angels or departed loved ones, abductees' captors are frequently frightening (e.g., the grays, who are four feet tall, with thin, horizontal slits for mouths, vestigial-to-nonexistent noses and ears, and black wraparound eyes). As with David, frequently the abductee is placed on a table and made to undergo horrifying procedures at the hands of their emotionally-indifferent abductors. Often these frightful experiences will recur multiple times in the abductee's life. The aftermath of these harrowing experiences is commonly marked by nightmares and other post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and a dreadful anticipation of future abductions. Abductees' houses are often left haunted, plaguing them with poltergeist and other disturbing paranormal phenomena. And if they are really unlucky, they may be visited by sinister Men-in-Black who intimidate them into staying silent about their experiences.

Nevertheless, when we dig beyond the surface, there is an unexpected and mysterious correlation in the aftereffects of those that experience NDEs and those that experience alien abduction.

1. Most experiences are positive. Yes, you've read that correctly. While this makes sense with heavenly NDEs, how could it possibly be the case with abductees? Quite surprising initially to me, surveys have demonstrated that most abductees eventually are happy to have undergone the experience of abduction. While not exclusively polling abductees, the massive FREE Experiencer Research Study revealed that 66 percent of UFO-related contact experiencers viewed their experiences as "Mainly Positive," 29 percent viewed the encounter as "Neutral," while merely 5 percent considered the experience to be "Mainly Negative."³ According to the MUFON Experiencer Survey, 75 percent of abductees answered in the negative when questioned if they would make their abduction experiences stop if it was within their power to do so.⁴ Commonly abductees claim that, while their experiences were initially traumatic, they come to think of their captors as benevolent, and that they are being shown the way to higher levels of consciousness that result in the unleashing of new abilities. More on this presently.
   
   
2. Positive life changes. Experiencers of both NDEs and abduction tend to be more altruistic afterwards, often to the point that they acquire occupations that help people. Not uncommonly, experiencers discover newly found artistic talents. They also are more likely to give up unhealthy vices and addictions.
   
   
3. More appreciative of life. Life has greater meaning for those that have experienced NDEs and for those that have claimed to have undergone experiences of abduction. Almost paradoxically, those that have had a NDE following a suicide attempt are actually less likely to have a subsequent attempt. Experiencers of both stripes are suddenly mission-driven, finding new purpose in life.
   
   
4. Less fear of death. NDErs and abductees often find themselves certain that the demise of our bodies is not the end of consciousness. In other words, confidence in the reality of an afterlife is typically increased among both types of experiencers.
   
   
5. Concern for the health of the planet. Abductees are often shown visions of a post-apocalyptic future caused by nuclear or environmental catastrophe. In the aftermath, they tend to take up more environmentally-friendly behaviors. The same is true of those that experience NDEs.
   
   
6. Enhanced psychic abilities. Abductees and NDErs often report the ability to see auras around people. They also find themselves more empathic, claiming the ability to sense what others are thinking and feeling. Those in both camps may develop intuitions about the future that they did not have before their experiences. They might have precognitive visions—glimpses of the future that come to pass. Psychokinetic effects—affecting matter through the use of the mind—also may occur in both groups. These are often spontaneously occurring (i.e. poltergeist effects), but some claim to be able to achieve such effects deliberately.
   
   
7. Sensitivity to electromagnetism. Both abductees and NDErs commonly report electrical appliances and devices shorting out or malfunctioning in their presence. Mysteriously, batteries will rapidly drain for no obvious reason.
   
   
8. Apparitions. This enhanced sensitivity to the paranormal makes abductees and NDErs more likely to experience apparitions of their dearly departed or have visions of religious figures or entities of a more demonic or malevolent nature.
   
   
9. Healings. Abductees sometimes report chronic illnesses improving, or even being fully cured, in the aftermath of their abduction experiences. Sometimes said healings are miraculous, surpassing the current abilities of medical science and technology. Old traumatic injuries that linger for years are said to have been alleviated. People suffering from heart disease, kidney disease, and even metastatic cancer have claimed to have been healed within the context of an alien abduction. Sometimes the purpose of the abduction seems to have been, in part, to bring about a healing. After having studied the curative powers of these strange experiences, ufologist Preston Dennett referred to UFOs as "floating hospitals [more] than anything else."⁵ Similar claims have been made by those who have experienced NDEs. Not only are they resuscitated, but on rare occasion, they will find underlying, chronic health conditions have improved or have been cured in the aftermath of the experience. Relatedly, both NDErs and abductees often claim that they have the ability to miraculously heal others.

For more information supporting the items in the above list, the reader is strongly encouraged to consult the sources listed below.⁶

Conclusion
The obvious differences between near-death experiences and alien abduction experiences cannot be ignored. Initial appearances suggest very different provenances—one is dressed in heavenly imagery, the other in the guise of an extraterrestrial encounter. However, when looking beyond what the experiencers encountered and focusing instead on what they become, a shockingly similar pattern emerges time and again.

Transformed by these ineffable encounters, experiencers return with a newfound sense of purpose. Equipped with new interests and abilities, they shun former self-destructive behaviors and are more altruistic. No less intriguingly, they often find themselves to be more sensitive to dimensions of reality that are imperceptible to most of us.

This convergence of aftereffects common to experiencers of NDEs and alien abduction is unlikely to be coincidental. In The Metaphysics of UFOs, I argue that there is more to the abduction phenomenon than meets the eye. These are more than just encounters with technologically-sophisticated extraterrestrials, as remarkable as that alone would be. No, the phenomenon hints at something more, something much deeper than that. In my estimation, experiencers meet with intelligences that operate from beyond the limits of our ordinary three-dimensional reality. Against such a backdrop, it is my contention that the spacecraft are stages, the abductors are actors, while the examination table and the surgical tools are merely props. They all serve as part of a theatrical performance laden with symbolism whose purpose is to awaken obscure, latent abilities in the experiencer and, more importantly, calibrate their moral compass.

If this is correct, the transformation is not a mere side effect. It is precisely the point. Encounters with these other realms are meant to change us. "What are UFOs?" and, "Are we alone in the universe?" are important questions. The most unsettling question of all, however, may be, "What do they want us to become?"  

Bibliography
1. Jeffrey Long and Paul Perry, Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences. (HarperCollins e-books, 2010). Ch. 6: Proof #4: Impossibly Conscious, "Five Case Studies: NDEs That Took Place Under Anesthesia."
2. Budd Hopkins, Missing Time: A Documented study of UFO Abductions. (White Crow Books. 2021), Ch. 4: The Blue Light in the Pine Barrens.
3. Reinerio Hernandez et al. "A Report on Phase I and II of FREE's Experiencer Research Study: The Results of a Quantitative Study," 35.
4. Kathleen Marden, Extraterrestrial Contact: What to Do When You've Been Abducted, Ch. 5: What Social Researchers Have Learned About Contact, "The MUFON Experiencer Survey."
5. Preston Dennett, The Healing Power of UFOs: 300 True Accounts of People Healed by Extraterrestrials. (Blue Giant Books, 2019), "Introduction."
6. On psychic phenomena and healings associated with NDEs, see Titus Rivas et al. The Self Does Not Die: Verified Paranormal Phenomena From Near-Death Experiences. 2nd ed. (IANDS Publications, 2023). See Dennett, Healing Power, for numerous healings reported in association with alien abductions. For survey data regarding psychic effects and healings in association with alien abductions, see Hernandez et al, "Report," 1–65; Marden, Extraterrestrial Contact, Ch. 5, "The MUFON Experiencer Survey"; Marden, "The Marden-Stoner Study on Commonalities Among UFO Abduction Experiencers." kathleen-marden.com/ufo-abductee-study.php. Accessed 5/23/2026. Finally, for a comparative study of NDEs and alien abductions that is highly relevant to the material presented here, see Kenneth Ring, The Omega Project: Near-Death Experiences, UFO Encounters, and Mind at Large. (William Morrow, 2011).