A report on a brief out-of-body experience by Vladimir Efremov, a physicist and leading design engineer at a space research institute in St. Petersburg, caused a scientific sensation at a scientific congress! It could arguably be called the first attempt at scientific research into the afterlife by a scientist who had experienced clinical death. He recorded his experiences in great detail.
Efremov has an impeccable reputation among his colleagues. He is a renowned expert in artificial intelligence. He participated in the preparation of the first human spaceflight. He is known for his active involvement in the development of cutting-edge rocket systems. The team he worked with has been awarded the State Prize several times.
As befits a Soviet scientist, Vladimir Efremov was always an atheist, and he dismissed stories of the “other world” as religious intoxication. But then one day, something happened to him…
He died suddenly, in his sister's house. A sudden attack of severe coughing and… The air wheezed out of his lungs, and Vladimir realized his final moments had arrived. But consciousness remained, which surprised him. An unusual lightness set in, and the pain in his throat and heart was no longer bothering him…
As the scientist recalled, he couldn't feel or see his body, but the feelings and memories remained with him. He was flying through a vast tunnel. The sensations seemed familiar—he'd experienced them before in dreams. The surroundings seemed bright and interesting. The world seemed rolled up into a tube. The sun wasn't visible, but it was bright all around. It was impossible to determine up and down.
Vladimir mentally attempted to slow his flight, change direction. He succeeded! There was no fear, only amazement and joy…
I tried to analyze what was happening to him. Conclusions emerged lightning fast. The world he found himself in exists. He thinks, and therefore also exists. His thinking has the property of causality, since it can change direction and speed.
Vladimir noticed that his consciousness began to function differently in those moments. Time and distance ceased to exist. His consciousness encompassed everything at once and simultaneously. His memory seemed bottomless; he easily remembered everything he had flown over. And when he wanted to return to the place he had flown over, he found himself there instantly. This inspired Vladimir Grigorievich so much that, as a researcher, he decided to test whether it was possible to return to the past.
The scientist remembered his broken television and saw it… from all sides at once! Not only did he see it, but he suddenly realized he knew literally everything about it: how it was constructed, where the ore was mined to smelt the metal used in its manufacture. He knew the steelmaker who made it, and his family difficulties. He saw everything related to this household appliance as a whole, while also noticing the details. He also knew which part was broken. Later, he would replace it, and the appliance would work again.
The scientist within him awakened. He imagined the rocket his design bureau had been working on and saw a solution to the problem they'd been struggling with for two years! Upon his return, he would successfully implement this idea.
Efremov felt that thought was omnipotent. An answer to any question immediately appeared in his mind. At first, he perceived this as the result of his own reflections. However, soon the emerging information went beyond his previous knowledge. Gradually, he realized that he was being guided by Someone omnipresent, with limitless possibilities, omnipotent, and filled with love.
The scientist sensed this invisible being with his entire being. And suddenly he realized it was doing everything it could to avoid frightening him. And then he realized: it was he who was demonstrating phenomena and problems to him in their full cause-and-effect relationships. Vladimir, without seeing Him, sensed Him very, very keenly. And he realized: this is God!
…And suddenly Efremov felt a pull, like a turnip. Everything around him started flashing… He really didn't want to go back!
…It was the eighth minute. The nurse, a medical worker, was trying to resuscitate him, continuing artificial respiration. His heart started beating again, and he began breathing! Natalya looked with fear at the “almost dead man,” who was beaming with happiness and delight.
“Alive! I thought you were dead, that it was all over!” she cried.
And in response I heard:
“There is no death! There is life on the other side of life, but it's different. Better…”
Later he would write that for him death was an incredible, incomparable joy.
Returning after the incident, Efremov began studying the Bible as the only available source about the God who had met him beyond this life. In the Book of Genesis, he found confirmation of his personal otherworldly experience and his conclusions about the informational nature of the world:
— The Gospel of John says: “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” Perhaps this is a hint—in the Bible, the “word” conceals some kind of global informational essence that encompasses the comprehensive content of everything?
He applied the knowledge he gained there to his daily life. Realizing that every thought has a consequence, he warns:
To avoid harming yourself and others, you must adhere to religious rules of life. Holy Scripture was dictated by the Creator as a safety precaution for humans.
The scientist claimed that he was not afraid of death because he knew it was the entrance to another world…
In a number of articles, Efremov described the other world using scientific terminology. Those interested can find these materials, for example, in the journal “Scientific and Technical Bulletin of the Saint Petersburg State Technical University.”
