Biophysicist John DeSalvo is the Exec. VP of the Assoc. of Scientists & Scholars Intl. for the Shroud of Turin (ASSIST). He discussed the latest scientific discoveries and testing on the Shroud, and theories on what produced the image. The Shroud, which many believe was the burial cloth of Jesus, measures about 14½ ft. in length, and 3½ ft. in width. The effects on the cloth, which include blood stains around the head indicating a crown of thorns, and marks on the back, can't be completely reproduced using modern methods, he noted.

It wasn't till a photograph was taken of the Shroud in 1898 that many of its mysteries were revealed. The negative plate showed details that would normally be seen in the positive image, DeSalvo explained, adding that "that the Shroud itself was similar to a photographic negative...hundreds of years before the invention of photography." One theory about the cloth suggests it was a painting made with iron oxides, but he noted that the images on the cloth are only on about 1/500th of the fibers.

DeSalvo has formulated his own hypothesis about the Shroud's creation which he refers to as the "Revised Vaporgraphic-Direct Contact process." The image, he speculated, was produced by energy being pulled from the cloth to the body, which might have happened when the body was pulled into another dimension (further details here). He also reported on impressions by two psychics he's worked with, Becky Andreasson and Helene Olsen, who both feel that the Shroud is authentic, and that his recent theory may be accurate.

Transplants & Cellular Memory

Reacting to a news story about a convicted killer's request to donate his organs after his execution, first hour guest, Prof. Gary Schwartz talked about the implications of cellular memory on organ and tissue donations. There have been various cases in which transplant patients had personality changes that reflected the organ donor. In one such incident, a boy received a heart transplant from a murdered child and then subsequently began to have nightmares of reliving a murder, he recounted.

News segment guests: Lindsey Williams, Joseph Meyer