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It was a small village or the countryside. I was not as high up as a small plane but the houses were small below me. I would have seen a person had one been walking outside, but there were no people outside. I did not question my position at this point. I was just looking down. I felt the wide open space around me and there were starts in the sky. I seemed to have a destination in mind and ended up at a medieval castle up on a hill. I swooped down and entered a building and ended up in a chapel. I looked to my left and saw an amber colored opaque glass window. It was small and curved up to a point on top. It was a shape that you often see in doorways in places like India. It's a shape I have always liked. I looked down and below me was a rack with levels of candles. The kind people pay to light in churches. Some of them were lit. Then I got a sudden sick feeling of horror as I realized that I should not be seeing the candle rack from above.

I realized that I was floating and became very frightened. In that instant of revelation I felt a sense of great speed and an impact as though I had smashed into a brick wall. I "woke up" crumpled up at the bottom of my bed in the hotel. I was gasping for air and really scared. I sat up could not go back to sleep for what seemed like a long time. The next morning I told my friends what had happened and that I wanted to leave, but they wanted to stay. They didn't seem too interested in my experience and found it quite funny, but it changed my carefree traveler's mind set and I was very uncomfortable. They persuaded me to hang around for the day and I stayed because I don't like to travel alone.

We ended up finding out that there was a castle up on a hill that had been famous for being surrounded and though the people inside did not have much food they threw out pigs as a bluff that they had supplies enough to waste. We went up there that day with all the tourists milling around and I saw the chapel and everything was there that I had seen the night before. I left my friends right after that and went to Paris by myself. Though I like to travel, I do not like to travel in other countries alone.

But I had to leave Carcassone and I did not care that my friends would not leave. I can not say exactly what I experienced, except to say that it could not have been a dream. I had never been there before and had never known about the place. I would also like to mention that I did not want to stop in Carcassone at all and did not like the place from the moment I got there. I felt uncomfortable. I have traveled all over the world and have never wanted to leave a place before checking it out. I did not speak of my experience again until a few years ago.

I did not investigate it either. What I experienced was something very strange and at 40 I feel the confidence to explore it - though I am not sure I would like to experience it again. It was the scariest feeling I have ever experienced and I felt an urgency to get back to familiar ground, quite literally. Now, I am grateful for the experience because it opened my mind to the possibilities of existence. The proof for me is in my own first hand experience. I can not close that door of possibilities and I am at that stage in my life where I begin to question my culture and the things that have held meaning for me until recently. While I do not want to experience an other obe at this time, having had the experience has evolved from a feeling of fear to a sense of proof that there is more than what is commonly accepted in my culture, and that is comforting and liberating to me now.

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

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

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience? I was visually aware, but until later during the experience, I did not question in my mind, my visual perspective - why I was looking down from above. For most of the experience I did not question it, I simply experienced it. (Which I find odd.)

Describe your appearance or form apart from your body: I was looking out at the world from within me. I never questioned that until I became aware that I was looking down at what should be in front of me

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt comfortable and free and completely normal or better. I can describe it as when you are in water that is the same temperature as your body. You don't feel the contrast and you flow. I felt that way until I became aware that I was looking down at what should be in front of me. Then I felt like I had smashed into a brick wall at a high speed.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises? Silence, but not the kind of silence that rings in your ears.

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

Describe: Yes, I went to a place in my OBE that I went to the next day. I saw the chapel and the amber window and the candle rack. It was the same place I visited in my obe

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions? Yes

What was the best and worst part of your experience? The worst part was realizing that I was not in my body and I just wanted to get back to the normal."

Describe: Yes, I guess it has. It was not instant. It is a contributing factor to a long and gradual change in my outlook on life. A positive one, though I did not feel that way at the time of the experience.

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

Please offer any suggestions you have to improve the www.oberf.org questionnaire? No, it is good as is. I have enjoyed clarifying my experience in my own mind, through the questionnaire.