NASA scientist who ‘died thrice’ visited ‘afterlife’ and mentioned ‘one thing modified’
Ingrid Honkala, a former NASA scientist, has shared her three incredible near-death experiences and what they taught her about what happens to a human when they die
Ingrid Honkala claims to have died three times(Image: Jam Press/Ingrid Honkala)
A former NASA scientist has shared her account of what death is “really like”, claiming she has died three times and left her body before being resuscitated.
Ingrid Honkala recounts her first near-death experience occurring when she was a mere two years old, after falling into a tank of freezing water at home. The now 55-year-old describes how she slipped away from the “physical world” before being saved and revived by her mother.
“I remember the shock of the icy water hitting my body and the panic of struggling to breathe,” Ingrid, hailing from Bogotá, Colombia, revealed. “Then something extraordinary happened. Instead of fear, a deep calm came over me.
“The panic disappeared and was replaced by an overwhelming sense of peace and stillness. It felt as if my awareness separated from my body.
“My next memories are not of the physical world, but of an expanded state of awareness. I remember seeing my small body floating lifeless in the water.
“At that moment, I no longer felt like a child in a body but like pure consciousness, a field of awareness and light. There was no sense of time, no fear, and no thoughts.”
She added: “Instead, there was a deep knowing that everything was interconnected. I felt completely unified with life itself, as if the boundaries that normally define who we are had dissolved.
“It felt like being immersed in a vast intelligence filled with love, clarity, and peace. Even though I was only two years old, that experience left a profound imprint on my consciousness.
“During the experience, my consciousness seemed to extend beyond my body. I remember seeing my mother several blocks away from our home as she was walking to her first day at a new job. I remember recognising her and thinking ‘that’s my mum’.
“At that moment there seemed to be a form of communication between us, not through spoken words, but through awareness.”
Ingrid alleges her mum suddenly turned around and hurried home, where she discovered Ingrid unconscious in the water. Years later, when Ingrid recounted what she had seen, her mum confirmed the details were spot on.
She said: “When she arrived, she found my body in the water tank where I had drowned. The maid who was supposed to be watching us was in another room listening to the radio and had no idea what had happened.”
Ingrid says the experience transformed her life forever, leaving her with no fear of death. She said: “From that moment forward, I no longer feared death. The experience showed me that what we call the afterlife did not feel like a distant place at all.
“Instead, it felt like entering a deeper layer of reality that exists beyond our physical senses. In that state, consciousness felt vast, intelligent, and interconnected.
“To me, the experience suggested that consciousness may not be produced solely by the brain it may be something more fundamental. From the outside, life simply continued.
“But internally, something had changed. Even as a young child, I carried a quiet knowing that who we truly are is far more than our physical bodies.”
Ingrid claims she has had two more near-death experiences. One at 25 in a motorcycle crash and another at 52 during surgery when her blood pressure suddenly dropped.
Each time, she says, she returned to the same peaceful state. While sceptics argue such experiences are hallucinations caused by the brain under extreme stress, Ingrid believes something far deeper is at play.
She said: “These experiences transformed my understanding of life itself. Instead of seeing ourselves as isolated individuals struggling to survive, I began to understand that we may be expressions of consciousness experiencing life through a physical form.”
