being attacked at his or her weakest point physically. All had recurrent attacks of their symp-
toms during the Oranur experiment.
The most dramatic example of the Oranur effect exacerbating a specific, existing
symptom involved Eva Reich. She had long suffered from bradycardia, or a slow heartbeat.
In February after the experiment she was cleaning out a metal-lined cabinet in the laborato-
ry; she “smelled” something like Oranur and in order to make sure, put her head into the
cabinet. Thereupon it “hit her like a wall” She lost her balance and was brought up to the
Observatory. Reich saw her and found her pulse rate to be very slow, about 46 per minute.
He was also alarmed because her heartbeat continued to weaken and she had difficulty
breathing. He gave her some cognac and urged her to keep talking, all the while prodding
her to stay in contact with him^6.
After two hours she began to recover. However, for some months she continued to
suffer Oranur effects in milder form.
In May of that year Ilse, who had previously suffered from uterine symptoms, had
an operation because tests indicated uterine cancer. Afterward her surgeon informed her
that she was indeed fortunate to have had the operation since the pathological process was
quite advanced^7. Connections between this illness and her relationship with Reich will be
discussed in the next chapter, but here it is important to stress that she attributed her illness
then, as she attributes it now, to Oranur. Her judgment carries ail the more weight because
of her skepticism vis-à-vis certain aspects of the Oranur experiment.
I myself experienced fatigue, pressure around the eyes, and headaches—symptoms
I had also experienced previously under stress. Indeed, that Oranur brought out or exacer-
bated what was already present meant that there was no specific Oranur illness. As discussed
in Chapter 2, my relationship with Reich was worsening at this time and I was inclined to
attribute my symptoms to my emotional upset with him rather than to Oranur. In retrospect,
I believe both factors were operative.
Some further findings:
Periods of unusual well-being seemed to alternate with periods of Oranur or DOR-
sickness.
Persons who had been in the Oranur experiment from the beginning reacted less
severely to its effects than visitors to Orgonon.
These two factors led Reich to hypothesize an immunization effect from exposure
to Oranur. He thought the original goal of immunization might still be achievable. However,
on February n, thirty experimental mice died suddenly with symptoms of radiation sickness
(e.g., disturbances in the blood system). This finding, combined with Eva’s severe reaction a
few days later, persuaded Reich to give up the idea temporarily of seeing if Oranur had any
immunization effect. He was more concerned with stopping the reaction, which he now per-
ceived as dangerous. So he took the following steps:
(1) All accumulators at Orgonon were dismantled. This posed problems348 Myron SharafFury On Earth