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4600
qualitative
journal
Tymn, Michael E. "Do We Judge Ourselves After Death?" The Journal of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies, Sir Francis Beaufort, Case 2
Journal of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies, Pages 89-99, 2011
1795
2011
21
M
British Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, who would later become famous for devising the Beaufort Wind Scales, experienced a near-death experience around 1795 when he was a young sailor on one of His Majesty's ships in Portsmouth harbor. While attempting to fasten a small boat to a ship, Beaufort stepped upon the gunwale and lost his balance, falling into the water. Unable to swim, he initially splashed about desperately before beginning to sink below the surface and drown.
As Beaufort began drowning, he first experienced what he described as "perfect tranquility," a remarkable shift from the panic of his initial struggle. Then began an extraordinary life review that would leave a lasting impression on him. His entire life began to play back before him in what he called a panoramic view. The review began with recent events - their last cruise and a former voyage and shipwreck - then moved backwards through his schooling, the progress he had made there, and the time he had misspent. The review continued chronologically backwards through his boyish pursuits and adventures, with every incident of his past life seeming to glance across his recollection in retrograde procession. What made Beaufort's life review particularly remarkable was its comprehensive detail and moral dimension. He reported that the review was not merely an outline of events but that "the picture filled up with every minute and collateral feature." Every act appeared to be accompanied by a consciousness of right or wrong, or by some reflection on its cause or consequence. Many trifling events that had been long forgotten crowded into his imagination with the character of recent familiarity. He noted that the innumerable ideas were all retrospective - despite his religious upbringing and his normal concerns about the afterlife, at that moment when he had crossed the threshold of death, not a single thought wandered into the future. Beaufort was rescued after approximately two minutes of submersion. He later speculated whether this experience indicated "the almost infinite power of memory with which we awaken in another world." His account, recorded in an 1863 book by Sophia Elizabeth De Morgan, provides one of the earliest detailed descriptions of an NDE life review, predating modern NDE research by over a century.
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Other
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8
13
Weak Evidence
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Drowning incident, life-threatening but no medical monitoring
Detailed panoramic life review with moral consciousness
written_account
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7/25/2025
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