People who’ve come close to dying describe some eerily similar things, even when they struggle to explain what happened to them.
Near-death experiences aren’t as uncommon as you might think. University of Virginia psychiatrist Bruce Greyson, who has studied them for decades, told UVA Today that between 10% and 20% of people who survive cardiac arrest report having one. He suspects others keep their experiences to themselves because they’re afraid no one will believe them.
The tunnel with a bright light at the end is probably the most familiar description, but people have reported all sorts of strange places. Some remember enormous, glowing spaces, curved ceilings, or the feeling of being surrounded by light. Researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel wanted to know whether those memories had anything in common.
The Strange Shapes and Colors People Report Seeing During Near-Death Experiences, According to Science
Researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel wanted something more concrete than descriptions of bright lights and tunnels. In a 2026 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, they asked 50 people to reconstruct their near-death experiences using geometric drawings. The online sessions covered everything from the colors people remembered to where they were positioned inside those spaces.
The researchers identified four main types of spaces, including tunnels, broad arches, gentler curves, and enclosed spaces resembling the inside of an egg. The colors were especially interesting. Of the 28 tunnel-like spaces participants reconstructed, 22 were remembered in black, white, gray, or light without discernible color. Among 31 broad, curved spaces, 27 were remembered in color. Those figures refer to reconstructed spaces, since some participants described several stages of an experience.
There are possible explanations involving how our eyes and brains process visual information. Reduced oxygen can cause tunnel vision, while low light makes it harder to distinguish colors. Researchers also compared some of the enormous, enveloping spaces to the Ganzfeld effect, where an unchanging visual field can produce unusual perceptual experiences.
Scientists have even recorded unusual activity in dying brains. In a 2023 University of Michigan study, two of four comatose patients showed bursts of gamma activity after life support was withdrawn. All four died, so researchers couldn’t determine whether any of them experienced conscious awareness.
The Haifa research has similar uncertainties. Participants volunteered, some recalled events from years earlier, and the drawings they provided could have influenced their descriptions. With no comparison group, researchers also couldn’t establish whether these shapes and colors are unique to near-death experiences.
For now, nobody knows exactly why people remember these spaces. But asking them to draw what they saw has given researchers something new to examine, even when the people who experienced it can’t quite find the words.
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