The VIBE machine

      Greeley resident Gene Koonce, who's been in the electronics business for 28 years, invented the Vibrational Integrated Bio-Photonic Energizer (VIBE). Driven to help boost the human body's vibrational level, Koonce started experimenting with using electrical frequencies to energize water, to sell to people to boost energy. At one point during his experiments, the water turned blue. "As any inventor would do, I drank it," says Koonce.

      While his energy did increase, the charge in the water only lasted 20 minutes. "So then I thought if we can build a device where the individual can sit in front of it, we can charge up the body and give the body energy," says Koonce. His VIBE invention combined the technologies of energy machines built in the early 1900s by Georges Lakhovsky, a Russian engineer and Royal Rife, a scientist from San Diego . He also studied the works of Nikola Tesla, a Croatian-born American physicist who pioneered the use of AC (alternating current) power. Koonce began offering VIBE sessions to patrons of his electronics store in November 2002. A month later, he began making and selling the nearly four-foot-tall VIBE machines to individuals and existing holistic practitioners.

      According to Koonce, VIBE is based on Lakhovsky's idea that as the voltage in the cells decreases, so does health. Like little batteries, if the voltage of the cells increases, then they will function better. VIBE uses photons to increase the voltage of the cells as well as bio-photonic light, which is the frequency our DNA uses to communicate. This means our body's communication system improves: messages sent from one part of the body can travel faster and communicate more efficiently with other parts.

      When you arrive for a session with the VIBE machine, you'll first meet with the practitioner, fill out a few forms and talk about your current health concerns. The practitioner then decides how long you'll sit in front of the machine-usually between one and 10 minutes. The more serious the condition, the lower the initial exposure; practitioners say if toxins move out of the body too quickly, it can spur a "healing crisis," marked by exhaustion, headaches and flu-like symptoms. You'll sit in a room, on a chair, in front of the machine, for the designated period of time. You may feel something, you may feel nothing.

      VIBE devotees say they felt almost immediate-and dramatic-results. In June 2003, Jack Triplett, a mechanic from Greeley , was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent surgery to remove his spleen and most of his pancreas. Still, his follow-up blood tests looked grim. He sat in front of the VIBE machine as recommended by Koonce, first for one minute daily. After about a week, he had the strength to get out of bed on his own, and has been a VIBE believer ever since. He purchased a VIBE machine and has worked himself up to 10-minute daily sessions since he was introduced to VIBE over two months ago. "I wouldn't miss a day," says Triplett, whose recent blood tests have all come back normal.

Testimonials attribute the VIBE machine with improving a variety of conditions, from halting snoring and curing speech impediments, to zapping back pain and cancer. One VIBE client said that after one session, she felt as though she had just come back from a week long meditation retreat.