Most of what I read about the phenomenon was back in the 70s. I lost interest in the topic. Many in the occult/paranormal community consider it astral projection but not all. There is never a single consensus in this community of people. Monroe wrote about his own experiences and it wasn't until the last few decades I saw it written OBE. It was always OOBE. I guess they dropped the other O considering it redundant. Wikipedia has a lot on it and links to other places. There are many that consider it either an hallucination or dream state such as lucid dreaming.
"An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE), is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body (autoscopy). The term out-of-the-body experience was introduced in 1943 by G.N.M Tyrrell in his book Apparitions,[1] and adopted by, for example, Celia Green[2] and Robert Monroe[3] as a bias-free alternative to belief-centric labels such as "astral projection" or "spirit walking". Though the term usefully distances researchers from scientifically problematic concepts such as the soul, scientists still know little about the phenomenon.[4] One in ten people has an out-of-body experience at some time in their lives.[5] OBEs are often part of the near-death experience. Those who have experienced OBEs sometimes claim to have observed details which were unknown to them beforehand.[6]
OBEs tend to fall into two types, categorized by Robert Monroe as Locale 1 and Locale 2 experiences.
In Locale 1 experiences the environment is largely consistent with reality; other common labels for this form are etheric, ethereal or RTZ (Real Time Zone) projections. The onset of this type can be frightening as intense physiological sensations may be perceived, such as electrical tingling, full body vibrations and racing heartbeat. Confusion is common in spontaneous Locale 1 experiences; the person can believe he has awakened (or died) physically and panic can be caused by the realization that ones limbs appear to be penetrating other objects.
Locale 2 experiences are less overtly physical in nature and have much subjective overlap with lucid dreaming. The subject is immersed in unrealistic worlds, modified forms of reality exhibiting physically impossible or inconsistent features. Bright and vivid colours are a common feature of this form. Robert Bruce considers this type of OBE to be an Astral Projection.
The first extensive scientific study of OBEs was made by Celia Green (1968).[35] She collected written, first-hand accounts from a total of 400 subjects, recruited by means of appeals in the mainstream media, and followed up by questionnaire. Her purpose was to provide a taxonomy of the different types of OBE, viewed simply as an anomalous perceptual experience or hallucination, while leaving open the question of whether some of the cases might incorporate information derived by extrasensory perception.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-body_experience
1. G.N.M. Tyrrell, Apparitions, Gerald Duckworth and Co. Ltd, London, 1943, pp. 149.
2. C.E. Green, Out-of-the-body Experiences, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968.
3. Journeys Out of the Body, 1971, Robert Monroe, ISBN 0-385-00861-9
4. BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Out-of-body or all in the mind?
5. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070823141057.htm ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2007)First Out-of-body Experience Induced In Laboratory Setting
6. http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence01.html People Have NDEs While Brain Dead Retrieved Sept 21, 2007
35.Green, C.E. (1968). Out-of-the-Body Experiences. London: Hamish Hamilton.
