Scientists have induced OBEs in the lab:

Two procedures – which are the first to imitate an out-of-body experience artificially – use cameras to fool people into thinking they are standing or sitting somewhere else in a room. They provide the strongest proof yet that people only imagine floating out of their bodies during surgery or near-death experiences.

We don’t need the religious or supernatural to explain the universe. Aspects of religion may help some people find meaning or purpose. It may provide consolation through soothing and sometimes compassionate lies. Ultimately science, for all its imperfections, has the greater explanatory power.

And the workings of our brains and bodies–our tendency towards pattern-seeking, our instinctive fear of death, our self awareness and our ability to grasp abstract concepts–these are enough to explain OBEs and NDEs. We don’t need to cling to pretty stories about immortal spirits.

Update: The blockquote for the first paragraph didn’t change the visual formatting, so it looked I ripped a quote from the article and presented it on my own. This is now fixed.