"Why I am no longer a skeptic"

Thank you... 

I want to take a closer look and think and then ask a question or two...

One question does come to mind immediately though. 

Since much of this data in literature comes from non-controlled, non-lab situations, I was really curious if there is a "non-managed" (not prearranged) situation that you would find convincing? Or is the very nature of this sort of evidence not reliable to you on a prima facie basis?

That's a really good question. I would have to be able to completely trust that someone wasn't fooled, and I don't think I would be able. I don't completely trust that I can't be fooled, but there are a few spontaneous experiences I think I could trust. I'll describe what I'm currently working on (which is more about anomalous knowledge than non-physical consciousness) as something which could be reliable to me on a prima facie basis. 

I lucid dream. And one uncommon skill I have is that I can read and recall bits of books in my dreams, with difficulty and concentration. When this happens, I try to immediately wake up and write downl what I read and then see if I can match this to a real book. My hope is that I can match this to a book I haven't read. So far, the phrases I've written down mostly haven't been specific enough. I was able to get something specific enough to match to a single book, but it was a book I possibly read. This is an ongoing project and one day I may be successful - I get something about one or two times a month and last time was two nights ago. 

Linda