In many adult cases, the identity of the previous person appears to be blocked. Edward Ryall had memories of a past life from childhood but was in his seventies when he wrote them down (Ryall, 1974). His story includes semantic memories of time and place that give it a superficial plausibility, yet none of the named persons appear in historical records (Stevenson, 2003). Mrs. Smith (Guirdham, 1970) experienced richly veridical dreams of the Cathars, but the central figures of her story could not be identified.
