The following case is presented because it is the best documented case originating from America in modern times. So many people have scrutinized the story of James Leininger that any deception would have been revealed long ago.
James Leininger’s Story
James Leininger was not yet 2 years old when he began to have terrible nightmares. His parents knew he would outgrow them, but his screams frightened them.
James Leininger was not yet 2 years old when he began to have terrible nightmares. His parents knew he would outgrow them, but his screams frightened them.
When they would come to his bedside, they often found him on his back, kicking his legs in the air and thrashing his arms – as if he were trying to escape from an imaginary box. He would also yell some garbled words that his parents could not understand.
When he was three, his Mom heard the words more clearly. “Airplane crash. On fire! Little man can’t get out!”
James had played with toy airplanes but he had never fantasized about them crashing or burning. He wasn’t exposed to war movies on television or in the cinema. His parents were puzzled. The boy’s nightmares seem to have started shortly after his father took him to visit a Dallas flight museum, containing some vintage aircraft, when the boy was just 18 months old. But why?
As his fascination with airplanes continued, so did his nightmares. His parents bought him more toy model airplanes to play with, thinking he would soon find other interests. They noticed that when he approached his toy sit-down airplane, he would perform a walk-around inspection before he got in – just like a real pilot.
Once his mother gave him a model with what appeared to be a bomb on the underside. When she pointed this out to her son he immediately corrected her, telling her it was a “drop tank.”
Once his mother gave him a model with what appeared to be a bomb on the underside. When she pointed this out to her son he immediately corrected her, telling her it was a “drop tank.”
“I’ve never heard of a drop tank … I didn’t know what a drop tank was.” – Andrea Leininger
When James was a little more than three years old, his parents decided to take him to a therapist who specialized in treating troubled children. Almost immediately his nightmares started to diminish. James was encouraged to talk about the things he remembered just before bedtime, when he was relaxed and sleepy. It was then that his surprising story started to be revealed.
Among the amazing things little James told his parents was that he was a pilot and flew a Corsair airplane. According to James, “They used to get flat tires all the time.” He also recalled being assigned to a ship called “Natoma” and that he had been “shot down” by the Japanese in the battle of Iwo Jima! He further recalled that he had served with a buddy named “Jack Larson.”
All of this was too much for his parents to comprehend so they decided to see if this story had any factual basis. Almost immediately James’ father, Bruce, found that a Corsair was indeed a type of airplane used in the Pacific during WWII and that it didhave a reputation for blowing tires when it landed hard!
He later found the record of a small aircraft carrier, Natoma Bay, that was in the battle of Iwo Jima! But the most remarkable fact was that there was a pilot named Jack Larson who served on the Natoma Bay. In fact, Larson was still alive and living in nearby Arkansas.
About this time James began to draw pictures of his airplane and of being shot down. The fact that he was both drawing and talking about these memories seemed to eliminate his nightmares.
Bruce quickly contacted Jack Larson and was informed that the only pilot shot down from the crew of the Natoma Bay was named James M. Huston Jr., who had received a direct hit and crashed in a ball of fire. Bruce says it was then that he believed his son had a past life in which he was this same James M. Huston Jr.
“He came back because he wasn’t finished with something.”
The Leiningers wrote a letter to Huston’s sister, Anne Barron, about their little boy. Now she believes it as well. In all there are over 50 distinct memories that have been validated i n this exceptional case of reincrnation.
“The child was so convincing in coming up with all the things that there is no way on the world he could know.”
By Gary Vey, ViewZone;
Part One/Two:
By Gary Vey, ViewZone;
Part One/Two:
Part Two/Two:
Later in life:
