Typically, upon waking, I would open my eyes, without moving my body, and look out the bedroom window which looked out on a garden.  I would just lay there for a while and look out at the garden thinking.  Then I would get up and start my day.  And so, this time, I did also.  After I checked for the bees, I looked out the window.  At some point, I noticed that there was snow outside.  This fact didn't shock me; it simply interested me as there is no snow in Houston.  So, I sat up (I thought) to get a closer look.  However, now my vantage point was no longer from in the bed.  I was now standing outside on a balcony.   How I had gotten there I didn't know, I simply thought, 'what am I doing out here.'  The fact that my bedroom was on the first floor, and I was now on a second floor balcony didn't shock me either, but merely interested me.  So I looked around and inspected this balcony.  It looked as though it must be attached to log cabin styled structure.  The walls of the balcony were a light pine color and the logs were very large.  Like 'modern log cabin' style.  I then looked out over the balcony and saw a beautiful view of a mountain road covered in snow.  I was situated near the bottom of a long and winding road and the snowscape was beautiful.  There was a couple, a man and a woman, walking down the road and they were very happy together.  They were laughing and chatting and it seemed teasing each other, though I couldn't hear a sound.  Suddenly the thought struck me again, 'There's snow.  It doesn't snow in Houston.  This isn't my street.  I'm on a second floor balcony.  I don't have a balcony.'  All of these thoughts started running through my head at the same time as I heard the distinct sound of (a man's) footsteps approaching from behind.  When I suddenly realized I was out of my body somewhere, I was instantly awash with fear, and at that same instant of understanding and fear, I was back in my body. 

My eyes were open the whole time.  I know this because, when I returned to my body, I didn't open my eyes, or blink or anything.  My eyes were open and the scene outside them changed. 

Verification:  About a year later, a very close girlfriend of mine moved to Santa Fe, NM and invited me there to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays with her.  I had never been to New Mexico and wanted very much to visit Santa Fe.  One night, we were up talking until about 2 in the morning, my girlfriend suggests that we jump in the car and drive to Taos.  I wanted to visit Taos also, so we go.  It's very late when we arrive and there are no business establishment lights on to brighten the road, so I can't see anything of what the town looks like.  We drive into a hotel, which is right on the road, check into our room and go to sleep.  When I wake in the morning, the sun is shining and I instantly get up and walk to a set of French doors.  I open them and step out on the balcony.  My room is on the second floor and I am looking over a beautiful snowscape.  I turn my head to the left and look up the road and see a couple walking down, laughing, smiling and chatting.  I recognize her.  And then I look around and recognize the large, light pine logs.  I look back out at the couple and the road and I know it's the balcony I landed on the year before.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?   Uncertain    I was given a pain medication at the hospital that morning.  When the pain started up again, I did not take another pill.  So, if that medication passed through my system in the approximately 22 hours before the experience, then there was no medication to affect it.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?   No   

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?   No   

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?   I thought that I was awake.  I was as alert as everyday.

Was the experience dream like in any way?   Not at all dream like.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?   Yes   I don't think I experienced a 'feeling' of the separation but at one point I simply 'knew' that I was separated from my body.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?    During the majority of the experience I simply felt inquisitive.  At the instant of understanding, I felt intense fear.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?    For most of the experience, I 'heard' total silence.  I could 'feel' the silence.  However, before it started, I heard the buzzing sound near the ceiling, and at the very end, I, very distinctly, heard the sound of heavy footsteps (somehow I knew it was a male) approaching me from behind.  The sound of the footsteps was loud.

Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?    No   

Did you see a light?    No   

Did you meet or see any other beings?    Uncertain    I don't think they were 'beings'.  I saw a man and a woman on earth. (the earth plane?)

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state?   Yes    I saw a place that I had never been to, and I saw two people that I had never met.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?   Yes    I visited the exact location and saw the same people about 1 year later.

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?    Yes    My hearing was different.  It felt as though my ears were filled with cotton, or perhaps as you hear when you're under water but not exactly.  I 'heard' the silence.  I can't really explain it.  So that wasn't normal.  Yet, I then heard the footsteps, as I normally would with my ears, only it was definitely louder and more distinct as though I had super hearing.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?    Uncertain    I wasn't concerned with time though I knew something, about the space, was different.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No   

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?    No   

Did you become aware of future events?    Yes    I witnessed myself in a future moment in time.  Based on my life experience, the event was one hundred percent accurate as I experienced the same moment one year later.

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?    No    I had no choice.  As soon as the fear washed over me I was back in my body.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?    No   

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes    I now knew for certain that I knew NOTHING. I knew that I couldn't trust what any human being said because I KNEW that none of us knows anything.  I knew that I would have to trust only my inner self and look there for my answers.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?    It didn't.

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

Have you shared this experience with others?    Yes    Initially, I only shared it with my very close cousin, then sometime later, with my sister.  They both 'got' it.  Other than them, I have shared it with one or two people over the years.  Mostly I forget about it. No, I never forget, I just don't think about it.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?   The worst part was that wash of fear.  The best part was knowing that it happened after it happened.   

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?    No