Why do people who have near death experiences recite different versions of the afterlife?

Because there's not just one place in the afterlife, why does everyone always ask this?

If you sent ten people all over the world (or all over the universe) do you think they all come back with the same experiences of people, places and things?

When you leave the physical body you will be present in a parallel universe, you could be located in any number of places and where you go from there could be virtually any numbers of other places.

Now having said that, NDE testimonies have many similar features. They all experience dying, leaving the body and from there they may see other spiritual beings, they may believe they hear God say something, they may see heaven (which is a planet BTW), they may trip through the Akashic Records to review what they have done in their life or visit certain memories that they need to see. They may see Jesus, or any other number of spiritual Masters depending upon where they are and where they may go. 

You know, when any person dies here in this physical world their spirit moves on, and those beings can be encountered. When you die, there's not just one or two places lol, there's many. These aren't different versions, they are literally different experiences because there are countless societies that exist outside the physical world. 

The Christian Heaven is a Kingdom, which is a literal planet in the next life, which exists in a parallel universe....and Jesus obviously being the King (Ruler) over that particular Kingdom is who you would encounter if you were lucky enough to visit. It is a literal society among many others which exist in different locations. A Christian, being a follower and citizen of that Kingdom sees Jesus, it's because Jesus wanted to appear to that person for whatever reason.

Rarely would a soul leave the body during an NDE and be present within that Kingdom because souls must be brought there and permitted to enter. This doesn't always happen but could, they may also encounter any number of spiritual beings just like you would encounter any number of humans if you were to walk down the street.

But if a soul has inherited the Christian paradise or is a follower of those teachings, their experiences will primarily entail those particular features because that is where their next stop will be. Although, that is not always a given, even so-called Christians may not inherit such a place and depending on their actions they may have very bad experiences alternatively.

Even then an NDE is when a person hasn't fully crossed over to the other side, otherwise they wouldn't be coming back to tell about it. An NDE is when a soul has experienced sudden trauma that forced them out of the physical body. If they left the body due to some sort of an accident in which they never finished their time here they may be urged or told that they must go back. That is, if the physical body has not been damaged beyond repair.

Most souls don't have any knowledge of the afterlife and they may think when they leave the body that whatever they are experiencing is heaven. But they are unaware of the reality that they have merely left the body and are simply present within another plane of existence. Heavens exist on actual planets, and societies extend to all places within the next world. Just like our physical universe has many, many planets so does the following experience.

Leaving the physical body would be much like being in space, where you could travel to any number of places. Of course it's much more controlled than just floating about in space, souls are not limited by the atmosphere in the astral plane like humans are when they leave earth. There's spiritual beings all over the place when you leave this world, and when that occurs there will be an order of decisions you will have to follow that dictates where you will arrive.

Did you know that Hindus have heavens and hells? Buddhists have heavens and hells? not just Christians? did you know that any number of societies (religions) have places of pleasure and places of correction for behavior of their citizens? did you know there's places for souls who have no religious affairs or backgrounds? creation is virtually endless, and the Creator is not that stupid to accommodate one group of peoples. Nor is God that limited in creative genius. 

All these features and places exist within a massive stretch of creation. Souls fight, argue and throw fits over their belief that their place of destination is the only place that could exist lol, but they are true patrons of their societies and to them that is all that exists. It doesn't mean only one of those places could exist though as it is irrelevant, rather there are many places that exist beyond this world. And when a soul leaves the physical body they could have many differing observations. 

Just to expand on this a bit....not everyone who blacks out or goes unconscious experiences an NDE. Since you are not in an unconscious state during an NDE it is something you wouldn't have forgotten or not recalled....You have to actually detach from the physical body due to extreme trauma where the physical body can no longer sustain its presence, otherwise your perception will still be primarily influenced by the confines of the brain. There's a fine line between being connected and disconnected from the body, but you can't experience an NDE unless you fully disengage the brain. Having said that, that doesn't mean things couldn't have occurred during that time, you were just unconscious of it. Had you had an OBE you would have been aware of it though.

You could have also been near death, just didn't experience an out of body travel because of the connection of the body still present.