I'm an atheist when it comes to religious gods; holy scripture is generally a load of bull?

I'm an atheist and some of those near death experience stories can really make one think. There was a doctor on a show that I viewed and he explained that the human brain goes through a process in its final stages. He explained the near-death experience simply as a type of dreaming mode that the brain goes through just before shutting down. This is a very understandable process in the way he explains it, but the particular stories in which people say they have left their body and seen things that only the doctor or the staff could possibly be aware of is the only thing that catches my eye. Even though I find the stories interesting I do not accept them as fact no more than I except a religious healer or a palm reader without a scientific explanation.