Near-Death Experiences examined scientifically

Anoxia, heaven, or tall tales? Scientists are trying to pin down what happens to our consciousness on the edge of death.

To the skeptics, [Eben Alexander's] story and the recent recanting of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven are just further evidence that NDEs rank right up there with alien abductions, psychic powers, and poltergeists as fodder for charlatans looking to gull the ignorant and suggestible. Yet even these skeptics rarely accuse experiencers of inventing their stories from whole cloth.