And that’s because scientists have proven, with a rather deceitful method, that you were merely mistaken all along and that there’s no possible way you could actually have had an out-of-body experience. Why? Because your senses were just confused and they tricked you into believing it happened.

Those that have “experienced” the actual being out of a body are so convinced that it happened to them that there’s no point really arguing with them.

Now you can, according to Professor Olaf Blanke and his University of Geneva team.

These guys got clever and developed a virtual test, so to speak, by giving volunteers virtual reality goggles to wear while a computer enhanced 3D virtual version or avatar of themselves was shown in front of them.

Presenting his findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Washington, Professor Blanke said of the experiments:

Through vision and touch they lost themselves. They start thinking that the avatar is their own body. We created a partial out-of-body experience.

We were able to dissociate touch and vision and make people think that their body was two metres in front of them.

To cut a long story short, the scientists conducted tests including one whereby a pen was used to “stroke” the back of the person while the reproduced avatar was also seen experiencing the pen stroking, although it was just a fake representation courtesy of the goggles.

What happens is the brain and senses such as sight, touch and balance then become confused resulting in the perceived experience.

Coincidentally, most out-of-body experiences occur during sleep or waking as well as through drug use, trauma and under anaesthetic. Basically all hallucinogenic type situations.

[Source: Telegraph]