Scientists are now able to trigger an out-of-body experience (without subjecting volunteers to near-death):
Two teams used virtual reality goggles to con the brain into thinking the body was located elsewhere.
The visual illusion plus the feel of their real bodies being touched made volunteers sense that they had moved outside of their physical bodies. [...]
One theory is that it is down to how people perceive their own body - those unhappy or less in touch with their body are more likely to have an OBE.
But the two teams, from University College London, UK, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, believe there is a neurological explanation.
Their work suggests a disconnection between the brain circuits that process visual and touch sensory information may thus be responsible for some OBEs.
Leave it to the scientists to take the sweet mystery out of everything! Link - Thanks as always, David R!
Previously on Neatorama: Near Death Experience of an Atheist
The experiment looked more like it was exploring proprioception or kinesthesia than true out-of-body experiences.