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Dear Ms. Cathey, Ms. Harrington,
Lisa and Heidi Wyrick,
I am a book reviewer for MyShelf.com, among
other Web sites. I posted a note on your Guestbook after I read THE VEIL, which I was inspired to read after seeing "A
Haunting in Georgia". I still remember the "Unsolved Mysteries" segment on "Mr. Gordy". I am a believer
in spirits, ghosts and life after death. Each reviewer
selects their Top Ten Reads for the year every year, and last year I chose THE VEIL as one of my Top Ten: http://myshelf.com/toptenreads.html. You made the list with Harry Potter! The Top Ten Reads are each reviewer's selections
of the books that most moved, amused, educated and inspired those reviewers in that year. I named THE VEIL one of my Top Ten because your book had so much to say about family, faith, friends,
love, good and evil, triumphing over adversity, the nature of life and death and eternity...what more can you ask for in a
book? I cried over Mr. Gordy, the little girl "dressed for death," and "Con"; kept checking over my shoulder
whenever I was alone, imagining I saw the "dark figure" (one of the creepiest characters I've ever encountered
in a TV show and book); and cheered for Heidi overcoming the narrowmindedness of her classmates. Your book is wonderful and I wanted to honor it. Thank you for sharing your story with the world. God Bless, Kristin Johnson
I read this book without stopping and through it all I had a creepy feeling. It was so gripping
and the details kept you on the edge of your seat. I can't imagine having to go through what they went through. It really
is enthralling and I would recommend it to anyone. Allison Hope
"Whether you believe in ghosts or not,
the story in intriguing, and regardless of your inclinations to give credence to other dimensions, the words will give you
chill bumps...It provides an entertaining quick read that is also eye-opening and informative." Pam Avery - Harris County
Journal
I read the book from cover to cover. You absolutely can not put this book down! Judy Goodin
This book is extremely well written. Dr. William Roll
"A very unusual story about my Granddaughter that I know to be true." Edna Simpson
"This book is a true
and authenticated story of an epic victorious struggle of a Christian family of love and faith against Satan’s evil
demons. This book should be read and studied by all Christian persons and families in struggles of unknown origin. Dr. Frank
R. Babish, D. Ed., D. Min., Th. D., DD
"The book was wonderful!!! I couldn't put it down." Emilie
Hughes
"I loved the book. I cried through the entire last chapter." Robert Caudle
"It's
a well-written account of an unusual topic and I congratulate you." Dorothy Harrington
"This is
the best book I've ever read. I didn't sleep a wink the whole night after I read it." Julie
"I couldn't put the book down. I want to know more about your Mother's history and about the place called
Hainted Holler."
"I started reading the book in the parking lot of the mall where I picked it up.
I found myself sitting in front of J.C. Penny's for hours." Cathey
The following is
the foreword for the book written by Dr. William Roll, noted Parapsychologist.
When Lisa Wyrick phoned me in 1994 and told about the extraordinary visions of her young daughter, Heidi, and asked if I
would help them discover what the reason might be, I called Unsolved Mysteries. The TV documentary had provided funding for
other investigations of mine and I hoped they would now do the same so that I could make a personal investigation. Unsolved
Mysteries agreed, assuming of course that they could film the study. This was acceptable to Lisa and her husband, Andy.
Unknown to all of us at the time, the show would generate other TV documentaries as well
as public appearances by Heidi, Lisa, and Andy. This meant that a large proportion of TV viewers now know about Heidi and
her visions. I do not think anyone in the family was happy about the publicity, but it created the need for a book, which
the present work fulfills.To me the book is more important than the TV documentaries. The authors provide a lively and accurate
picture of the three main players, Heidi, Lisa, and Andy, all of whom I know quite well. I also know Joyce Cathey, Lisa’s
sister, and at that time her neighbor, who also played an important part in the story. The four impressed me as straightforward
and honest people. I have not met Becky Harrington, the second author, because she lives in Texas. She, Lisa, and Joyce are
sisters. Joyce has told me that for the sake of continuity, she and Becky made minor changes of a few facts. The changes are
insignificant as far as I'm concerned.
I first thought that extreme magnetic fields
in the area might have caused Heidi to experience her apparitions. I have often detected such fields in homes with a reputation
of being haunted. The theory seemed plausible, first and foremost because there is a geological fault close to the Wyrick
home. Aside from causing earthquakes, which people in the area told me about, subterranean rocks that grind against one another
thereby generate electric currents. The currents in turn produce magnetic fields that may extend beyond the surface and affect
the brains of people so that they see ghosts and have other odd experiences.
There was
a problem with my theory. I tested the Wyrick home and surroundings for unusual magnetic fields but found none. I tried other
physical theories but none fit the facts, namely that Heidi correctly described and gave the names of two men who had lived
in the area and were now deceased although neither she nor anyone else in her family knew about them. In other words, the
girl was psychic. As far as understanding these facts, I came away empty-handed in spite of repeated investigations.
When Lisa Wyrick phoned me in 1994 and told about the extraordinary visions of her young daughter, Heidi, and asked if I
would help them discover what the reason might be, I called Unsolved Mysteries. The TV documentary had provided funding for
other investigations of mine and I hoped they would now do the same so that I could make a personal investigation. Unsolved
Mysteries agreed, assuming of course that they could film the study. This was acceptable to Lisa and her husband, Andy.
Unknown to all of us at the time, the show would generate other TV documentaries as well
as public appearances by Heidi, Lisa, and Andy. This meant that a large proportion of TV viewers now know about Heidi and
her visions. I do not think anyone in the family was happy about the publicity, but it created the need for a book, which
the present work fulfills.To me the book is more important than the TV documentaries. The authors provide a lively and accurate
picture of the three main players, Heidi, Lisa, and Andy, all of whom I know quite well. I also know Joyce Cathey, Lisa’s
sister, and at that time her neighbor, who also played an important part in the story. The four impressed me as straightforward
and honest people. I have not met Becky Harrington, the second author, because she lives in Texas. She, Lisa, and Joyce are
sisters. Joyce has told me that for the sake of continuity, she and Becky made minor changes of a few facts. The changes are
insignificant as far as I'm concerned.
I first thought that extreme magnetic fields
in the area might have caused Heidi to experience her apparitions. I have often detected such fields in homes with a reputation
of being haunted. The theory seemed plausible, first and foremost because there is a geological fault close to the Wyrick
home. Aside from causing earthquakes, which people in the area told me about, subterranean rocks that grind against one another
thereby generate electric currents. The currents in turn produce magnetic fields that may extend beyond the surface and affect
the brains of people so that they see ghosts and have other odd experiences.
There was
a problem with my theory. I tested the Wyrick home and surroundings for unusual magnetic fields but found none. I tried other
physical theories but none fit the facts, namely that Heidi correctly described and gave the names of two men who had lived
in the area and were now deceased although neither she nor anyone else in her family knew about them. In other words, the
girl was psychic. As far as understanding these facts, I came away empty-handed in spite of repeated investigations.
Then I read The Veil and a light went on in my head. I had not been told that Heidi was born with a caul, or veil, over her
head, actually the placenta, nor had I been told that she was nearly choked to death by her umbilical cord, which twice encircled
her neck. Children who are born with a veil are said to be psychic, but educated people dismiss the idea as naïve superstition.
If Lisa had told me that Heidi was born with a veil and that this made her psychic, I would have thought Lisa had lost it.
I have now changed my mind. I am giving a course, “Parapsychology
and the Brain,” at the University of West Georgia. My main text is a 100-page article on this topic by Dr. Michael Persinger,
myself, and two others. Persinger is a well-known Canadian neuroscientist, who has the rare distinction for a mainline scientist
of being convinced about the reality of ESP not from books but from his own surveys and experiments. Knowing about Persinger’s
positive attitude, I brought Sean Harribance, a well known psychic, who has always been ready to offer himself for scientific
study, to Persinger’s laboratory so that we could explore his brain for factors that might explain his psychic ability
(see W. G. Roll, M. A. Persinger, D. L. Webster, S. G. Tiller & C. M. Cook, Neurobehavioral and neurometabolic (SPECT)
correlates of paranormal information: Involvement of the right hemisphere and its sensitivity to weak complex magnetic fields.
International Journal of Neuroscience, 158, 2002, 197-224.)
The studies that make me feel
I understand Heidi’s ability are in the section about near-death experiences (NDEs). If a child is born with the placenta
covering the nose and mouth this can cause oxygen deprivation, which, as it turns out, may lead to psychic awareness. We do
not known if Heidi’s placenta covered her nose and mouth, but the fact that she was nearly asphyxiated by her umbilical
was clear evidence of oxygen deprivation. In fact she would have died if the cord were not removed as soon as it was.
The neurologist, Dr. E. A. Rodin (The reality of death experiences: A personal perspective, Journal
of Mental and Nervous Disease, 168, 1980, 259-263), who has had experienced an NDE himself, explains what happens from a neurological
perspective. A serious accident or medical condition causes hypoxia, that is, oxygen deprivation of organic tissue of such
severity as to result in permanent change. He writes, “It is known that the earliest effect of hypoxia consists of an
increased feeling of well being and a sense of power. This is accompanied by a decrease and subsequent loss of critical judgment”
(p. 272). He adds, “Just as in dream consciousness, the patently false is experienced as objectively true.” When
the condition persists, “delusions and hallucinations occur until, finally, complete unconsciousness supervenes. The
loss of oxygen supply coupled with an increase in CO2 and nitrogen induce a toxic psychosis during the process of dying.”
From this perspective, the visions of Heidi would have been mere hallucinations.
This
was far from the case.Rodin only explains the physiological part of NDEs. In order to include the parapsychological part,
we must go to researchers such as Drs. Raymond Moody (Life After Life, Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole, 1976) and Kenneth Ring (Life
at Death, New York: Coward, McCann & Georgehan, 1980). These authors tell us that during the NDE, but also afterwards,
the person has more ESP than before the NDE and has also more ESP than the average individual.It seems to me that the most
likely source of Heidi’s psychic ability is the fact that she was close to death immediately after birth because of
being nearly suffocated. We can only speculate about why her ability should only surface several years later. Perhaps anxiety
about moving to a new home and neighborhood was the trigger. In any case her two otherworldly encounters occurred shortly
afterwards. There is much more to the story of Heidi Wyrick, but for this you must read the book. Dr. William (Bill) Roll, Ph.D., Author
of several books which includes “The Poltergeist” (1972)
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