Everybody dies. And then? For most of us, what happens next is a mystery. But millions of people ... have returned from the precipice of death with remarkable tales of briefly entering an altered state of consciousness, one in which they existed outside their bodies and watched life around them unfold. Researchers estimate that as many as one in 20 people have had a near-death experience. A 2026 study suggested the number could be even higher. Nearly a quarter of American adults – more than 60 million people – reported having a near-death experience in a survey by the International Association for Near-Death Studies, a nonprofit based in Durham, North Carolina. People can be reticent to talk about near-death experiences, but even some celebrities have discussed these brushes with death. Elizabeth Taylor famously discussed having an out-of-body experience during a coma, while filming "Cleopatra." Jamie Foxx "saw the tunnel" during a medical emergency in 2023. And Jeremy Renner "could see everything all at once" while unconscious after being crushed by a snow plow in 2023, he wrote in his memoir. Many who’ve had them reported seeing an unearthly light or sensing they were floating through a tunnel. Some said they encountered dead relatives and friends or spiritual figures. The phenomenon happens so often that some researchers say ... that consciousness continues at some level, for at least some period, after the body has died.