After about a month, one night I laid down at 10:00 p.m. and began my meditation.  Suddenly I experienced what seemed like the bed began to shaking violently and there was a very loud noise that sounded like the rapid approach of a train or something similar, with the pitch of the shaking and the sound both rising dramatically until both disappeared the way noise does when it goes beyond the range of hearing.  It only lasted a moment and as I laid there I wondered what might have caused it, but everything seemed normal, so I assumed it must have been a large truck driving outside that had startled me.  I rolled over as per my usual routine, but this time I felt something different and I fell out of the bed.  The difference was that I felt a gentle tugging sensation as I rolled. 

I was quite amused and figuratively shaking my head at myself as I got up off the floor. But as I stood up, I noticed someone laying in my bed on her back. In three instances, this is what went through my mind. "Someone is in my bed!" "Diane is in my bed!?!" (Diane is my identical twin, who lived in New Orleans at the time.) And, "No, that's not Diane -- that's ME!!" 

I looked down at my body lying on the bed, and I looked normal; I looked down at myself and I looked normal that way as well.   I held my hands out in front of me and turned them up and down to check.  In fact, other than the strange thing about there being two of me, everything seemed amazingly normal, except that there was an electric blue glow that really didn't illuminate anything.  So my immediate next thought was, "Am I dead?" followed by "Well, there's one way to find out."  So I laid down on the bed on my side beside my body and rolled back into it, opened my eyes -- and looked at the clock.  It was 10:10.  The entire experience lasted, from the moment I laid down, to the end of experience, exactly 10 minutes.  During that period of time, there was never a single moment in which I lost consciousness.
 
At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?    Completely throughout it from before, during and after.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?    Normal consciousness and alertness
 
Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Shocked, surprised, intrigued, curious.

 Did you see a light?          Yes     Unusual, though dim, blue glow.
 
Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Uncertain      Well, the only thing that could be verified inside my bedroom, where the experience took place, was the fact that my body was still on its back when I got back inside it.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?     Yes     I don't know if this qualifies, but there was a singular occurance that happened the next day that I took to be of special significance.  When the out of body experience happened to me, I had not ever heard of anything similar happening to anyone else.  The next day was a Saturday and I visited a local sandwich shop for lunch.  They were particularly busy that day, so while I waited for my order to be prepared, I walked into the bookstore next door.  Having just a few minutes to kill, I walked to the back of the store and the very first book that my eye rested on was entitled "Out of Body Experiences."

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     A day or two after it happened I told my Mom about it.  I think she was surprised by it, but she was even more surprised by my "finding" the Out of Body Experiences book the next day.  I think it peaked her interest to a great degree, as she has developed a profound interest in the subject in the intervening 24 years -- much more so than me.
 
How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:            Experience was definitely real    The experience itself felt completely real with no unreal components, so I viewed it that way in the days and weeks following it.  I also felt somewhat awed by it in the sense that it opened up a whole universe of possibilities I'd never before contemplated.

Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you?            Both the getting out of the body and the getting back in it were significant and meaningful to me.  It showed me that it's entirely possible that life after death does indeed exist.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:            Experience was definitely real    As I said, the experience itself felt so completely real with no unreal, dreamlike or hallucinogenic components, so I continue to view it that way.  It was a real as the last time I drove my car, or washed the dishes.