24 DECEMBER 1988, Page 55

Out of his skull

Sir: In his interesting article on 'out-of- body' experiences (Spectator, 10 Decem- ber) Myles Harris did not tell us how easy it is to induce this sensation for yourself. In Antalya this autumn I needed to take an indocid gout pill, which I washed down with a small cup of very strong Turkish coffee. For the next two or three hours my mind hovered just below the ceiling, from where I could clearly see my body flat out on the bed, ten feet beneath me. The nastiest part of this strange experience was being able to see the whole of the crown of my head, and noticing that I have lost more hair than I'd previously realised.

Nicholas Coleridge

14 Wandon Road, London SW6