Some children remember a previous life in enough detail for researchers to find the person they describe, and to check what they said against records and witnesses. These are among the best-documented cases. Choose one to read it in full.
James Leininger
A boy from Louisiana whose nightmares and knowledge of Second World War aircraft led his parents to a Navy pilot killed in 1945.
Shanti Devi
A girl from Delhi who remembered a life in Mathura in such detail that Mahatma Gandhi set up a committee to investigate.
Ryan Hammons
An Oklahoma boy who described a life in 1930s Hollywood, then picked out the man he said he had been in a still from a 1932 film.
Ampan Petcherat
A Thai girl who, from barely a year old, said she had been a boy who drowned, and whose memories matched a boy from a village 15 km away.