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Six decades ago, a 21-year-old Navy fighter pilot on a mission over the Pacific was shot down by Japanese artillery. His name might have been forgotten, were it not for a toddler named James Leininger.

At first, the parents of the boy were puzzled, then disturbed, when their two-year-old son began screaming out chilling phrases such as, "Plane on fire! Little man can't get out!" during recurring nightmares, since the boy was a regular toddler who had only just begun stringing together sentences.

Over time, James' parents say he revealed extraordinary details about the life of former fighter pilot James Huston. They say the kid told them his plane had been hit by the Japanese and crashed. James also told his father the name of the boat he took off from — Natoma — and the name of someone he flew with — Jack Larson. After some research, Bruce discovered that both the Natoma and Jack Larson were real. The Natoma Bay was a small aircraft carrier in the Pacific, and Larson is living in Arkansas.

James also described how his plane had sustained a direct hit on the engine. Ralph Clarbour, a rear gunner on a U.S. airplane that flew off the Natoma Bay, says his plane was right next to the one flown by James M. Huston Jr. during a raid near Iwo Jima on March 3, 1945. Clarbour said he saw Huston's plane struck by anti-aircraft fire. "I would say he was hit head on, right in the middle of the engine," he said.

Now, quite a few people, including those who knew the fighter pilot, think James is the reincarnated pilot. In 2010, he published a best-seller called "Soul Survivor.