Howard Storm was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a master's degree, and he later became an art professor at Northern Kentucky University, a position he held for 20 years. During an interview with Unsolved Mysteries in 1997, he reported of his life prior to his near-death experience that he was an atheist and an aggressive person, feared by his wife and children.
Near-death experience
In June 1985, Storm took a group of his students on a field trip to Europe. After returning to his Paris hotel room with his wife around 11:00 a.m. from a morning excursion, he had a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain. He was evaluated at a Paris hospital and diagnosed with a duodenal perforation, which required surgery. The earliest a surgeon could perform this procedure was around 9:00 p.m. that day. As he lay waiting for surgery, he truly believed that he was going to die due to the severity of his pain and so mentally prepared himself for death. After saying goodbye to his wife, he eventually passed out. Storm reports the following subconscious experience: He opened his eyes and found himself standing outside of his body, looking down at the hospital bed with his wife crying beside him. He was without pain and hypersensitive. His wife could not see or hear him. He was then drawn by voices calling his name outside the hospital room, and he followed them, believing they were taking him to a doctor. He describes pale humanoid creatures that urged him down the hallway, saying that they had been waiting for him. The creatures became increasingly hostile, and upon refusing to continue following, they began to attack him. He then heard a voice saying, "pray to God," and so he recited fragment Bible verses and the Pledge of Allegiance. With mention of the word "God," the creatures would retract, and eventually he was alone again. After a period of time, he called out for Jesus to save him, and suddenly was rescued by "spiritual beings of light." Thereafter, he had a recollection of his entire life, a life review, which highlighted some negative aspects of his life, before the "beings of light" answered his questions. They told him that the United States was a "blessed nation" but one which required a change lest lose its prosperity. He describes visions of a future plagued by war, natural disasters and despair, but which could be avoided should there be a major spiritual "shift" in the consciousness of the world. These beings told him that the "correct religion" is that religion which "brings you closest to God." When he awoke, he was being prepped for surgery, which repaired the duodenal perforation. In the following days, he reports that he was visited by a doctor upon whose arrival the room lightened, and upon his exit, it darkened again. The nurse had seen nothing. Storm also recounts "a Voice" that told him to ignore the advice of doctors and buy return tickets to the U.S. a week after his procedure, which he did. Upon his arrival in Cincinnati, he was admitted in the hospital in critical condition with double pneumonia, collapsed lung, extreme peritonitis, and non-A non-B hepatitis. His recovery took five weeks, and he reported a period of 7 months of extreme weakness before he was able to return to work.
Aftermath
Storm stated that over time he "became more tempered" about his experience. He became involved with a church, entered the seminary, and was ordained. He served as pastor of Zion United Church of Christ in Norwood, Ohio from 1992 to 2005, and he was also a former pastor of the Covington United Church of Christ in Covington, Ohio.
