Near-death experiences and "the Silver Cord"

Here at Monsters and Rockets, we believe in drawing a very clear line between science fact and science fiction. We're not going to waste your time with ghost chasers, Bigfoot sightings, new age hooey and paranormal flim-flam. For all we know, the silver cord glimpsed by some people on the brink of death is really nothing more than a peculiar hallucination as the brain prepares to shut down for good. But whatever the silver cord is, it's interesting enough to merit further investigation.

Here's what Near-Death.com says about the silver cord: "The silver cord has been described as being smooth, very long, very bright, like an elastic cable made of light, about an inch wide, sparkling like a tinsel on a Christmas tree, and attached to one of several possible locations on the physical body. During the dying process, as the spirit body leaves the physical body and moves farther away it, the silver cord becomes thinner as it is stretched to its limit and becomes severed. When this occurs, the spirit body is released from being attached to the physical body. At this point, it becomes impossible for the spirit body to ever return to the physical body. For this reason, we can define 'irreversible death' as that point when the silver cord becomes stretched to its limit and severed."

We'd never given much thought to exactly where people re-entered their bodies following near-death experiences, but according to Near-Death.com a variety of entry-points are possible. The site offers accounts of people returning to the land of the living through the top of their heads, their chests, their abdomens and even their feet. (We will refrain from the obvious puns on "soles" and "souls." You're welcome.)