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4852
Sunday Express London, May 26 1935, cited in Bown 2025, Chapter 23
37
Moderate Evidence
5
Low Compatibility
Reincarnation suggestion
This experience from 1911 demonstrates classic out-of-body phenomena with remarkable veridical perceptions, including accurate observations of events occurring twelve miles away at his parents' home. The ability to witness distant events and accurately report conversations provides strong evidence for consciousness existing independently of the physical brain. The timing correlation between his injury and his mother's intuitive knowledge suggests a spiritual connection that transcends physical distance, which aligns with biblical concepts of spiritual bonds.
However, the experience contains a highly problematic element that directly contradicts biblical teaching. Martin's belief that he could have entered the stillborn baby's body and been reborn as Miss Wilson represents a reincarnation concept that is fundamentally incompatible with Scripture. The Bible teaches that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27), clearly rejecting any notion of reincarnation or soul transmigration. While the veridical elements of the experience appear genuine, this reincarnation aspect suggests either misinterpretation of the experience or influence from non-biblical spiritual sources. The absence of any divine beings, judgment scenes, or heavenly realms also makes this experience less aligned with biblical accounts of the afterlife.
W. Martin, age 16, was struck by a falling wall in 1911 when a coping stone hit his head, causing severe skull fractures. Witnesses believed he had a broken neck and crushed skull. He was pronounced near death and carried to his lodgings. During this time, Martin experienced floating above his body, observing the scene from mid-air.
From his out-of-body perspective, Martin watched people rush to help, saw them move the stone, observed someone place a coat under his head, and heard all their comments including "Fetch a doctor," "His neck is broken," and "Skull smashed like an eggshell." He witnessed them carry his body to nearby lodgings. While disembodied, he felt a desire to be with his mother and instantly found himself at his parents' home twelve miles away. He observed his mother suddenly sit upright during their midday meal saying "Bert, something has happened to our boy," despite his father's dismissal. He watched the subsequent argument and his mother's decision to catch the 2pm train. Shortly after, a railway porter arrived with a telegram confirming his injury. Martin was then transported to a bedroom where he witnessed a difficult birth. A doctor was delivering a baby that appeared stillborn, saying "It looks as though we have lost them both." He felt an irresistible impulse to merge with the baby's body but resisted, thinking of his mother. He then found himself in the railway carriage with his parents as they traveled to him. When they arrived at his bedside, he succeeded in re-entering his body and immediately sat up fully conscious. Martin astonished his parents by accurately repeating their conversations at home and on the train, nearly word for word. When he told them Mrs. Wilson had a stillborn baby that day, they later confirmed she had died at 2:05pm delivering a stillborn girl. Martin believed if he had entered the baby's body, he would have been reborn as Miss Wilson. |