She believed herself to have been raised as part of a cult, and to have been lucky to survive. However, over time she realized that there was absolutely no corroborating evidence to support these memories. She left therapy, made up with her family, and retracted her claims. (Schacter,1996 p.249) After investigating hundreds of similar claims, the FBI has reported that they found no credible evidence that such Satanic cults have ever existed --let alone had a widespread following-- in the modern United States. Halbrooks memory was obviously fabricated, and though a critic might suggest that her "ritual abuse" memories may have been a metaphorical way of remembering some other trauma, it is at least certain that they were not accurately recalled.

             However, Halbrooks case contrasts significantly with the case of Ross Cheit. Mr. Cheit, who was a respectable college professor, had entered therapy because of a sense of universal uneasiness. During this period, he has a startling dream, which provoked strong feelings regarding a camp counselor by the name of Bill Farmer, whom he had known as a child. Within a year he managed to contact Farmer by phone. His former counselor admitted to having molested young boys in the past, and of having lost several jobs because of this. (Schacter,1996 p.249) Cheit"s memories were obviously legitimate, and corroborated, despite the fact that they had been long inaccessible to his conscience mind, and only resurfaced in a dream.

             The source of much of the controversy over the phenomena of regained memories is the fact that they are frequently used in prosecution of criminal cases or civil suits against an individual, and that they have significant backlash for families and communities. (Murphy, 1997) "False memories" garner a great deal of attention, and are therefore an easy target for litigators who wish to have cases against their clients dismissed.