I was dreaming, and felt an opportunity to float above my body. As the sensation began I enjoyed it, welcomed it, then hesitated for a moment kind of partly in and partly out, the part that started going out first was just below my chest. So I first welcomed the sensation, then hesitated part way, and went back in the body. A moment later I felt more daring and tried again, this time going all the way out, and in control of the rate of assent.

About half way between the body and the ceiling of the bedroom I hesitated, then wanted to see if the ceiling was a boundary. It was, and I bumped the ceiling, while turning 90 degrees upon assent. I had a strong sense that the direction of north had changed to west, this occurred while rotating 90 degrees upon assent to the ceiling. My body was lying face down in bed, a normal sleeping posture for me, and my floating body (presence of mind) had it's back to the ceiling. Once near the ceiling I was curious if the wall was a boundary, and floated feet first towards the wall, then bumped the wall, and pushed forward almost as if in a swimming glide until my hands reached the far wall. Then I moved back to the center of the room.

Movement became quicker in this new environment, and I glided without pushing to the left then the right. My floating body began moving quickly I became scared. Started hollering for help, but could not speak, just thought about shouting. My physical body felt a touch, and my floating body quickly descended and filled into the physical cavity, then reoriented itself.

During the time of waking up, my wife had a hold of my arm near the shoulder, and I could hear myself moaning, then I woke up completely and was very alert. During the first recollection, I was most curious as to why my sense of north was changed, then I remembered first having this out of body floating experience several times as a child about 6 years old. Experienced this maybe a dozen times between then and my mid 20s, but have not experienced it in a long time. Each have been limited to the bedroom, all though I feel as if I could go elsewhere, except I get scared and want to return to my body.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience:  No

Was the experience difficult to express in words?  No

At the time of the experience, was there an associated life threatening event?  Uncertain

      Describe:  I was feeling chest pains before bed, took a Maalox anti acid tablet (which I rarely do). About 45 minutes after going to sleep the event occurred. I felt I was out of my body because it was useless.

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?  Very alert, but somewhat confused by the new sensation. As if I could sense all directions at the same time, in 360 degrees around my body, all physical sensations were heightened.

Was the experience dream like in any way?  Yes, it was dream like, in that towards the end of the experience I wanted to wake up.

Did you experience a separation of consciousness from your body?  Yes

Describe your appearance or form apart from your body:  Ghost like at first, then the longer I experimented with boundaries and movement, the less resemblance I had to the human shape and more towards a sphere.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?  Moods and emotions were combined, and came in this order... curiosity, tentativeness, joy, playfulness, sternness, fear.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?  The only sound I recall is the sound of my physical voice moaning as I awoke. My wife said I sounded scared when attempting to awaken me, and she quickly went back to sleep.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?  Yes

      Describe:  Only the sensation that I wanted to shout to get my wife's attention, and upon awakening, I heard myself moaning, and she heard me moaning and said I sounded scared. 

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?  No

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?  Yes

      Describe:  Time seemed to move at different speeds, in relation to my movement. The faster my presence traveled about the room the slower time seemed to move. And space seemed altered in that what appears to be a strong sense of the direction north had gone astray, like a compass spinning out of control.

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?  Yes

      Describe:  I felt that I could return to this state and experiment more, but am afraid to try because of unknown consequences and a feeling of nurture for my young children.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?  Yes

      Describe:  I had a sense of boundary in vertical by the ceiling, but felt that the boundary was created and applied upon my assent. As if I wanted the boundary to be there and it was comforting to have it. Same applies to horizontal movement by the four walls in my bedroom. Felt as if I could have gone through a small opening in the bedroom door, but did not want to experiment leaving the site of my body on the bed.

Did you become aware of future events?  No

Were you involved in or aware of a decision to return to the body?  Yes

      Describe:  Yes, I was becoming scared because time was passing slowly as I moved about quickly and my form was loosing its human shape. I felt it was becoming difficult to return to my body, and thought about shouting. My floating form was shouting loudly, and my physical form was but a mere moan.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?  Uncertain

      Describe:  Within 15 minutes of the experience, I found this website and began to document the event. A gift I am reminded of, is that we are in these physical bodies for a limited time.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?  Uncertain

      Describe:  Until this questioning, I have had little time to reflect upon the event, but feel that my confidence in myself is greater.

Has the experience affected your relationships?  Daily life?  Religious practices etc.?  Career choices?  It's been less than an hour, too early to say.

Have you shared this experience with others?  Yes

      Describe:  I told my wife, but she was very tired and went back to sleep.

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  I recall the fear of not being able to return to my body, and this was the strongest emotion upon awaking.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?  The best part was enjoying the sensation of floating about the room, being able to move about effortlessly. The worst part is that my sense of direction and time seemed skewed.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?  I feel that I could return to the state of mind in which this all occurred, but have some concerns about experimenting again.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?  No

      Describe:  To early to tell.

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?  Yes

Please offer any suggestions you have to improve the www.oberf.org questionnaire?  Having found a place to share the experience, and validate that it happened to me and has happened to others (I'm interested in reading other stories) has helped calm me down to get back to sleep for the night. It's currently 2:26am, I usually sleep from 11pm to 7 am.