"Rather
than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were
rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and
truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The
hospitality was as cold as the ices."
Walden by Henry David
Thoreau
INTRODUCTION
This is a
response to the book, "Growing Up Psychic: My Story of Not Just Surviving
but Thriving--and How Others Like Me Can, Too" by Chip Coffey.
Chip Coffey is self-proclaimed psychic medium. (I have
not been able to verify what predictions he has made that have come to
fruition, nor have I uncovered his accuracy rate). Coffey has appeared on three
rather controversial reality shows "Paranormal State" (30 episodes),
"Paranormal State: The New Class" (one episode), and "Psychic
Kids: Children of the Paranormal" (16 episodes). Additional credits
include "Celebrity Ghost Hunt" and a non-paranormal show entitled "Airline".
He works as a phone psychic as well as a paranormal investigator
and is one of a handful of people (reportedly only 25 in the world) who are
trained to operate a device known as the Telephone to the Dead. The creator, Christopher
Moon, claims that people can talk to the dead and they will answer you.
Coffey has also traveled from sea to shining sea and
Canada performing a one-man show called Coffey
Talk. Here he spends the first part telling you his life story and his
views on the paranormal and he gives the audience five-minute solutions to
issues raised in pop psychology. The other part is a "gallery
reading" followed by a question and answer session. For additional money,
you can have your photo taken with him. If you purchase a "Super VIP"
ticket then you will get the privilege of running around a room chasing ghosts.
Moreover, not to let any fans of the psychic-medium down, you can buy Coffey
mugs, tee shirts and learn how to book a personal reading for a few hundred
dollars.
To say that I am a skeptic would be true, but I am an
open-minded skeptic; one that investigates claims. If I discover they are legitimate,
then I am open to endorsing said claims.
When reading Coffey's book, it occurred to me that the
title should have been "GROWING UP
ME: MY STORY OF NOT JUST SURVIVING BUT THRIVING--AND HOW OTHERS LIKE ME CAN,
TOO". This book has less to do with being a psychic and more to do with Coffey's
spin on his life and views. It seems that Coffey's book is about tooting his
own horn and convincing the public to line up for readings, watch any TV shows
he might be on, and attend events that he might host.
It is acceptable for Coffey to state his opinions as
long as he makes it clear that they are his opinions and not fact. And it would
be of help to the reader to know what the factual basis is for those opinions
might be.
As to the section that deals with his years growing up,
I cannot challenge any of this due to the fact that I was not there. So we have
to accept at face value such claims he makes. The one and only issue that can
be raised concerns his relative by the name of Minnie Sue Morrow Foster. In
blogs and interviews I have looked at he claims that she was his great-grandmother,
a full blood native who was a shaman/medicine woman. (It is odd this claim is
made, as more often than not a person is either a shaman or a medicine person
and not both.) Coffey has claimed in the past that she was well known and
greatly respected. Yet if one does an Internet search on her, you will find
nothing but one blog that was posted after various websites had raised their
own issues concerning his allegations. A blog was posted by a fan of Chip
Coffey's, claiming that he was telling the truth, yet no solid proof was offered.
Since no record of her actually exists as we get no
place of birth nor do we know where she resided, other than in the Southeastern
United States, we are left to contemplate her name. Is she named after
Minniehaha, the wife of Hiawatha from the episodic poem, "The Song of
Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?
Claims of Native American blood relatives are often
made by people who contend they possess psychic abilities. It is done to
maintain the myth that just by being a Native American you are more spiritual
than others.
Going from Minnie Sue Morrow Foster to a
great-grandmother with no name in his book is puzzling. Why is this? Is it
possible that more people will read this claim and began to uncover something
he would prefer to keep out of the limelight?
Two books by authors Kirby Robinson and Lisa Maliga,
"Investigating Paranormal State" and "Paranormal State
Exposed", delve into debunking a paranormal reality television show that
co-starred Coffey. The authors point out that the story concerning how Chip Coffey
got his spot on "Paranormal State" has five different versions. I will not rehash them as you can read their
books to learn the whole story. However, if we believe Coffey's version of the
events, then the powers-that-be behind the show have been less than honest. Watch
"The Name" episode of the program, as this is Coffey's first appearance
on the show. Ryan Buell, the lead paranormal investigator and founder of PRS,
is not mentioned by name in Coffey's book. (With the exception of being listed
in the Acknowledgements section). If it was not for that show and its host, I
doubt whether Coffey would have been given the opportunity to star in "Psychic
Kids: Children of the Paranormal", nor would he have published his book.
In the first episode, Ryan does a voiceover stating that he is bringing in
psychic medium Chip Coffey, a longtime contributor/adviser, into the case.
Coffey states it was just a job, so we have to ask the question: which story is
true?
It also seems that Coffey's substantial ego might be
driving the narrative in select sections of his book, particularly when he
begins to address his role in the show "Psychic Kids: Children of the
Paranormal". Let me note here that from a psychological, medical, and professional
viewpoint, I will address the ego aspects later in the book. Coffey says that
others were brought in to work beside him. This would mean, that in his mind, as he wrote this (personally,
I get the feeling from reading this book, that it was initially spoken into a
tape recorder, and subsequently transcribed onto a word processing program),
that HE was the core of the show. Everyone else, even the mental health experts,
was there to back him up. At this point I have to ask what type of training did
Coffey have to enable him to work with psychic kids? Is the fact that he claims
to be a psychic give him the ability to work with these kids?
But it does not end with Coffey's ego. Dr. Raymond
Moody writes the book's foreword. For those who want to cut through his love
for the new age spin, he along with others in their work in N.D.E. (Near Death Experiences),
withheld any N.D.E. that dealt with going to hell or any other non-bright light
experiences, in order to slant the research.
He claims that an adopted child had an experience in
which he shared links to his past life. This does not make you a gifted psychic
what the child was recalling was just past life memories carried over from a
past life. No new research has been going on regarding this matter for some
time.
We also have to take issue with the account of Elvis Presley's
death (the person doing the fact checking on Coffey's book must have missed
work that day), as Coffey states that Presley died from a drug
overdose.
The coroner's report states that it was the following:
"Elvis's family agreed to an autopsy, and it was
performed at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Dr. Jerry Francisco, the medical
examiner that signed the death certificate, announced that the preliminary
autopsy findings discovered cardiac arrhythmia, or an irregular and ineffective
heart beat. Elvis died of natural causes, heart. He also said that, 'there was no
indication of any drug abuse of any kind.'"
Furthermore, the autopsy was reopened in 1994 and the
coroner, Dr. Joseph Davis, reports that Elvis's death was "a sudden,
violent heart attack."
We can logically analyze his mother Carolyn's dream
concerning the interaction with Elvis's mother, Gladys. But that does not prove
his mother is psychic.
By 1974 it was apparent that Elvis's life was
spiraling out of control, so it was common knowledge. Carolyn was a fan of Elvis
and also had a son. She dreamed about the concern Elvis's mom had and her love
for Elvis led her to want to save him. Not psychic at all, basic dream
interpretation.
Coffey mentions an episode called "Vegas" in
the first season of "Paranormal State". His presentation of events
does not match what has been uncovered in the work by Robinson/Maliga. I would
like to share with you their report on the events surrounding that episode as
shared the book, "Paranormal State Exposed".
We
meet single mother Stephanie and her 14-year-old daughter, Savannah. The teen
claims she’s seeing a dead girl’s spirit and is troubled by it.
The
team of PRS investigators arrive at the home.
Savannah
claims she wants to know what happened to the girl, Emily, and how it happened.
The picture she draws is a very nondescript drawing that could easily match
many females. In addition, both mother and daughter describe “evil looking
spirits” yet none of this is ever shown. Emily, the spirit girl, has brown hair
which is one of the most dominant hair colors.
DVD
TIMELINE 3:55 mark – Ryan's voice-over added in post production.
To
our surprise, PRS finds Emily just as Emily was found by Savannah on the
Internet prior to the team’s arrival. All details that Savannah gives the team
were on the web, including the pregnancy issue.
When
they show Savannah the photo, they don’t do it line-up style, which would have
been a way to test her psychic abilities. Ryan sends Katrina down to San
Antonio, TX to investigate the case there while Ryan has a parapsychologist,
George Dalzell, come in and interview Savannah. When the parapsychologist asks
for a reading the only thing she can bring up is California and Los Angeles.
Nothing else comes from her about him. Is that a great sign of psychic ability?
She almost has the type of reaction that a person has when they make a guess
and it’s correct. It’s interesting that no one on the team, including the
parapsychologist, ever sets up any kind of testing to see if she has a
measurable gift.
Meanwhile,
Katrina starts her investigation down in San Antonio. She gets a phone call
from Ryan and there’s "creative" editing here: daylight, nighttime,
daylight again, as she drives to meet the family of the deceased girl.
An
interesting note here is when Katrina meets the family for the first time after
one phone call she says: “It’s nice to finally meet you.” That’s a phrase that
is used if you’ve been contacting someone for quite some time without a
face-to-face meeting. Not one that you use only after just one phone call with
a person, which was earlier that day.
Chip
Coffey shows up and of course he ends up in Savannah’s bedroom, which is
something that he does quite regularly throughout the episodes. He comes up
with the statement: “The person just can’t quite get it together.” Which
describes how many teenagers? Then suddenly he wants to shake the bed. How many
times have you ever walked by a bunk bed and shook it a little?
Please
note two things here. 1 Ryan and Chip are talking on Day 2 and Ryan says, “I
think we told you she was assaulted.” Does this give one the idea that the
psychics and mediums brought onto the show are informed of certain details
about the case? 2 During the team regroup at 9:22 AM concerning information
Savannah has about the cases, Ryan says, "But I don't know if she's given
us anything that wasn't reported in the papers." Did Ryan know about the
murder case prior to his arrival? Did he know who Emily was?
Then
we have a special effects trick editing creepy music scene concerning Savannah
– but nothing happens.
Remember
as the hours tick by in this episode that Katrina is still meeting with the
family down in San Antonio.
Chip
confronts Savannah and asks her if she’s telling the truth. Yes, she says, so
Chip and Ryan accept it to be 100 percent valid. In addition, if you notice the
scenes with Chip and Ryan in the kitchen, those scenes apparently were shot at
the same time due to having exactly the same lighting.
Don’t
forget that it’s been about 24 hours since Katrina started her meeting with the
family down in Texas.
They
have the deadest Dead Time of the series by far. And Emily produces very little
of any type of action only contacting, supposedly, Savannah. Emily says, “She
misses mom and dad.” Nothing about the loss of the baby or the murder. Chip
asks for a sign and then the phone rings. Guess what? It’s Katrina who has just
left the family in San Antonio, which means that her meeting with them not only
lasted for 36 hours, but the meeting broke up sometime after three in the
morning.
Ready
for some facts? Here's a website that featured information on the murder: http://theresayeary.tripod.com/
Both
mom and daughter visited this site prior to the start of the filming. What
proof? How about an email sent to the dead girl's family on January 22, 2007.
"My
daughter has had a problem for a few years now that we have privately tried to
handle as a family. she sees things, people that others don't see. if you knew
her you would understand that it is not in her nature to tell
"stories". I support her in this problem she has and try to help her
make it go away. She has been in constant fear of those people that she sees
but there is one girl that she sees that she is not terrified of. I told her
that maybe she should try talking to her and so she did.
"She
asked the girls name and age. Her name is Emily and she is 15 years old. Once
she told me that she got information from this girl I told her to keep probing.
I thought I could help my daughter more if I had the information to work with.
"Last night Emily answered more questions and told my
daughter a little about herself. You see, about a year and a half ago my
daughter was raped and she doesn't talk about it much because it is hard for
people to relate to her. She shared this with Emily who said she was also raped
and she knows how awful it feels. She also said she is from Texas and she
really loves her Mom and Dad. She said her last name is Garcia. She said she
doesn't like her Uncle. My daughter told her that she feels like a screw up
sometimes. Emily said she went to Juvee. She said that she has messed up too.
She has given no more information than this.
"I asked what she looks like and my daughter said she is
wearing a white shirt and pants. She has long brown hair with bangs. She said
the bangs are kind of separated in the middle. She also has terrible burising
on her throat.
"I decided to put Emily Garcia/ Texas in Google and your
site popped up. We were absolutely stunned. I know that this sounds crazy. I
think it is crazy. I also think that if it were my daughter I would want to
know who did such a terrible thing and that she was ok.
"I decided that I should let you know. I am sorry if my
doing this causes you any pain. I want to help if I can. I told my daughter to
get a notepad next time and flood her with questions. I don't know if this will
work. She says Emily is a yes or no question kind of girl who has no problem
letting her know she is getting on her nerves.
"If you would like to e mail me back that’s fine. I am
not a quack or crazy person looking to exploit you. I will do what I can. I also
have to protect my daughter as well.
"My heart goes out to you and your family.
"I will let you know if any more information about this
girl Emily comes out.
God Bless,
Stephanie"
So,
was there was ever any mystery over the identity of the dead girl?
The
library scene was not filmed in Vegas but at one of the libraries located at
Penn State. The scene when Katrina first meets the family was reportedly taken
from “A School House Haunting" which is episode 12.
But
the most important question doesn't get asked – Who killed Emily? Wouldn't that
be solid proof that the dead visit the living if we got that answer? Wouldn't
it bring peace to Emily's family? Yes.
Without
the imperative question being asked, we are left with the need to ask the
question. So what are we left with? Another mother and daughter seeking
publicity?
We see that Savannah was not getting the information
from "out there" but from the Internet. In a recurring theme that crops
up when it comes to murder crimes, the name of the killer is never sought. They
never ask why the crime was committed. Nor do they share information with the
police.
Delving further into the psychic child debate, I find
it interesting that one of the success stories Coffey shares is a brother and sister
team who claim to be doing well according to their mother. Yet no mention is
made of their psychic gifts. What we do see are two siblings who enjoy being
the center of attention. One is doing standup comedy and taking part in media
studies, and the other is involved in the art of dance. So it is not a hard
logical step to think their desire to be featured on the show was really a
desire to develop their gifts? Or was it an avenue in garnering media exposure?
Coffey appears to have missed his calling as a child psychologist/counselor/therapist
as he details his work with these kids. Incidentally, the number of children
who have appeared on the shower is fewer than one hundred. This is a poor
sampling to base anything on when it comes to psychological research. Even more
suspect is the time period that is covered. In only three days (minus the hours
allowed for sleep and breaks for the crew when not filming), that Coffey and
his team (we will take a look at in a few pages) have all their issues swept
away and the kids are ready to move on with their lives.
Here is Part 2 .
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