Gary Busey Says He Died and Came Back to Life After 1988 Motorcycle Crash

Gary Busey is reflecting on the near-death experience he had in his 1988 motorcycle crash. The Point Break actor, 80, revealed what he says he saw on the other side when asked if he believed he had gotten a glimpse at the afterlife by Howie Mandel on Howie Mandel Does Stuff.

“Yeah. I’ve been there,” Busey said during the Tuesday, Oct. 22 episode of the podcast. “And I’ve been after the accident.” The actor went on to describe a place where “everything, but nothing” is happening. “I was shaken by an invisible guide, and only my essence went. That’s your soul,” Busey explained. “Your soul is housed in the caliber of your spine.”

The Lethal Weapon star continued that he went to “the spiritual realm of the supernatural, where I was surrounded by angels, which appeared to me as balls of light that were moving, changing color, and breathing. And I felt trust, love, and protection like I’ve never felt on earth before. “

Amid this experience, the Oscar-nominated actor said he decided to return to the world, as he was told he was going in the right direction. He remembered being given the choice, “You may come with us now or return to your body and continue your destiny.”

The “most important word I felt over there is the most important word to me on Earth,” he added, “and that word is truth, t-r-u-t-h. And t-r-u-t-h stands for ‘taking real understanding to heart.’”

Busey said that he is no longer afraid of death. “D-e-a-t-h stands for ‘don’t expect a tragedy here,’” he explained. “It’s simply something you do for a birth to go to the other side, the spiritual zone, the spiritual side, where you float in harmony with everything you’ve been, everything you are, and everything that’s coming to you.”

The octogenarian has long maintained he got a glimpse at the afterlife following his motorcycle accident, telling PEOPLE in May 1989 a more ominous version of the same story.

“I was sitting in bed when I looked up and saw the Grim Reaper standing in the corner. He was seven feet tall, with a brown robe,” Busey told the outlet at the time. “He pointed at me and said, ‘Relax, it’s not your time to go. You have been given gifts. These gifts are ready to be received by mankind. So get on your feet and improve.’ Then he laughed, spun his scythe and left.” The Buddy Holly Story actor shared at the time that he didn’t know if it “was a premonition or an angel in disguise,” but said the experience had been “a positive reinforcement to stay on the road to recovery, which I’ve done.”