Original subtitles

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: worldwide,

27 billion cameras Are watching us --

On our streets, At work, and in our homes.

They capture things That seem impossible.

It defies the laws of physics.

Man: This is unbelievable, man.

Narrator: experts carry out Forensic analysis

Of these unusual events.

Now, That's an explosion.

[ people screaming ]

There's got to be something We're missing in this video.

Something we're not seeing, Right?

What else is going on here?

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: coming up...

In the mojave desert, A man is rattled by a snake.

Kennedy: oh, man, I don't know what this is.

We don't know what it is, It's in our airspace,

And we need to find out.

Narrator: in china, a delivery Driver erupts into flames.

Did we just witness Spontaneous human combustion?

Narrator: and found in russia, The body that defies biology.

Szulgit: It's really disturbing.

It's dried up And desiccated and bizarre.

Oh, what the hell?

Narrator: Near a mysterious temple,

A catastrophic blast.

Boom! Massive explosion.

Is there a connection between This mysterious temple complex

And this explosion?

Narrator: a three-foot-tall Humanoid attacks.

It's like a little red demon From hell.

This is potentially as big of A find as landing on the moon.

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: and locals suspect Ghostly manifestations

In england's spookiest store.

Alright, that's not possible.

What's doing that?

[ woman screams ]

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: bizarre phenomenon.

Whoa.

Narrator: Mysteries caught on camera.

What's the truth behind this Strange evidence?

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by Discovery communications

Now in the mojave desert...

Kennedy: Pull over or something.

...A mysterious light Pulsates in the sky.

Oh, man. I don't know what this is.

It twists and turns Against the wind,

As if powered By an inhuman intelligence.

We're fully underneath The thing.

There's no noise.

I mean, it moves Almost like it's alive.

Narrator: this is ground zero For unexplained ufos.

We don't know what it is, It's in our airspace,

And we need to find out.

♪♪

Narrator: the mojave desert, Southern california,

Over 47,000 square miles.

This is the driest desert In north america,

But it isn't empty.

This sparsely populated place Is home to two thirds

Of the marine corps Training facilities

And many secret Testing installations.

July 2019, just west of The city of twentynine palms,

Cody kennedy And his girlfriend, monica,

Are on a mission of mercy.

Kennedy: we spend a lot of our Nights, when it's warm out,

Going through the desert And finding rattlesnakes

And other species Of snakes on the road

And moving them out of the way.

So we're gonna let This guy go here.

Just wanted to make sure I didn't step on him.

It started to get too cold,

So we decided to wrap up For the day and head home.

It was very dark out.

And then suddenly Everything changed.

We saw this bright light.

I immediately took my phone out And started to film it.

Narrator: Puzzled by what they see,

They drive towards the light.

Slow down. Stop, stop, Stop, stop, stop.

Kennedy: I'm tired of seeing ufo footage,

And it's just blurry and grainy And makes no sense.

And so I figured I would try and be

The one that changed that

And see a ufo in the sky And get perfect video of it.

Yeah, we're fully Underneath the thing.

There's no noise.

Figured if it was a drone, You'd hear it.

even a drone in a windy Situation will start wobbling.

and it didn't seem like It would wobble at all.

Like, how -- How is that a thing?

How is there a ribbon Just in the air?

There's lights on it. It's not moving.

Narrator: this can't be a plane, A rocket or even a drone.

It looks like A loose electrical cable,

But it's far too high up And cables don't glow.

it seemed unnatural But yet controlled somehow.

Oh, man, I don't know What this is.

When the light vanished,

We were really weirded out, For one thing,

Because it had stayed lit The entire time from the road

All the way through The half-hour

That we were watching it

And why would it just suddenly Turn off when it hit the ground?

Narrator: experts are baffled By what this weird,

Undulating light could be.

It doesn't look like any kind Of aircraft

or other drone or anything. This one really doesn't look

like anything we see On a regular basis.

I mean, it moves almost Like it's alive.

Narrator: this snakelike craft Isn't unique.

More have been reported Across the country.

Wolshon: there have been Examples of other incidents

Just like this snake-like lights In the sky.

there have been ones in wyoming And in new york.

Narrator: These things, whatever they are,

Haven't just been Spotted on earth.

December 2, 1993, Nasa's sts-61 mission

Films a similar weird object 369 miles above the atmosphere.

Astronaut story musgrave Reports a snakelike object

Strikingly similar to whatever Cody filmed in the desert.

this doesn't look like Any technology

that I recognize.

I can't quite wrap my head Around

what it could be Other than the obvious,

"Hey, it's some sort of ufo."

Kennedy: what is this thing In the sky?

Narrator: it sounds crazy,

But there are those Who will think this is a craft

Or some other manifestation Of nonhuman, intelligent life.

For those that are willing To consider such a possibility,

This area is rich in sightings.

Just 21 miles from here Is giant rock,

A 7-story freestanding boulder.

In 1953, george van tassel, A former test pilot,

Claims that he was visited By an alien

Who showed him his ship.

For decades, giant rock became The ufo capital of the world.

♪♪

Author erica lukes believes That the location

The footage was filmed Could offer a vital clue.

Interestingly enough, this took Place in twentynine palms,

Which is an aerial Testing facility,

One of the largest In the united states.

Narrator: twentynine palms Marine base

Covers over 998 Square miles of desert.

More than 12,500 personnel Are stationed here,

Making this one of the most Secure locations in the country.

And so it gives them the ideal Cover for their testing.

Moran: it makes perfect sense To me that the military

could be testing some Kind of advanced technology.

Narrator: could this be a novel Military weapon?

Space historian amy teitel knows The desert is an ideal location

To test anything secret.

The harsh climate And sparse population

Means there's little reason For prying eyes to be out here.

In the mojave desert

Saw a lot of american nuclear Testing during the cold war.

Now, though, it's where A lot of companies

Are working on spacecraft And rocket development.

Narrator: Mojave's spaceport is home

To more than 60 companies Engaged in flight development,

Highly advanced aerospace Design and flight research.

Orzel: So maybe this is something

That's being developed, Something experimental.

Narrator: there's some very Strange experiments

Being done here,

But nothing That looks like this.

Coming up, is this sky snake The work of man

Or an intelligence From beyond our world?

While the idea of Reverse-engineering a ufo

May seem pretty out there,

Some people take The idea very seriously.

Narrator: and why does this man Just...Combust?

Explosions don't just happen Like that.

Narrator: a couple film A weird serpentine light

Writhing over the mojave desert.

It's like no known craft.

With no rational explanation, Even scientists start

To consider the improbable.

From here, the mojave stretches Up into nevada,

Where there are even More secret facilities.

Best known amongst them Is area 51.

Area 51, of course, is where Many people believe that the ufo

That may have crashed outside Of roswell, new mexico,

Was then moved, Where american scientists

Could reverse-engineer The technology.

While the idea Of reverse-engineering a ufo

May seem pretty out there,

Some people take the idea Very seriously.

Narrator: deet presar,

The c.E.O. Of a quantum computing firm,

Has publicly stated His ultimate goal is to find

And then reverse-engineer a ufo.

Tomlinson: and he isn't alone In this ambition.

I've learned about a group Of investors and technologists

Out of silicon valley That are looking to do

Exactly that -- Reverse-engineer ufo technology

So that they can use it to push Mankind ever further into space.

Narrator: It seems impossible

That alien technology Could have fallen

Into the hands Of the u.S. Authorities.

But strange claims Have been made

Since the middle Of the 20th century.

Back in the '80s, Bob lazar claims

He was hired To work on an antimatter craft

That was reverse-engineered From this alien technology

That supposedly The united states government

Had at area 51.

Narrator: Lazar claims he was hired

By defense contractor eg&g

To reverse-engineer alien Technology held inside area 51.

He claims that this technique Had already been used

To develop lots of The technology we rely on today,

Like certain radios And superconductors.

There is a great deal Of controversy

About whether what bob lazar Is saying is actually factual

Or if perhaps he's Spreading disinformation

On behalf Of the american government.

Narrator: lazar and others Who make similar claims

Could have been Spreading disinformation

To throw researchers Off the trail

Of real secret government Defense projects.

But none have ever mentioned A glowing, snakelike craft.

There really is no Viable explanation

To this light in the sky.

But the fact that it's close To two military locations,

I mean, we can't rule out

That it's some kind of Military experiment.

♪♪

Narrator: now, in an industrial City in china,

A man erupts into flames.

Did he step on a bomb?

Narrator: Is this the first confirmed case

Of spontaneous combustion?

Foom. Instant flame.

The whole trucks' engulfed. The guy's engulfed.

Everything's burned.

Narrator: is every human A ticking time bomb?

If just one spot Could cause a massive explosion,

Scary thought.

Narrator: Dongguan city, china.

This industrial hub is known As the world's factory

And is home To the "Made in china" label.

75% of its 8.3 million Inhabitants

Are migrant workers Living in dormitories.

January 22, 2019,

A week before chinese new year

And the start of the largest Human migration on the planet.

Almost 3 billion people Head home to see their families.

A warehouse security camera Captures two workers

Finishing loading the truck With rolls of packing material

When the unthinkable happens.

When the man's foot Hits the floor,

He is immediately Engulfed in flames.

it's just not natural.

explosions don't just Happen like that.

Narrator: experts are baffled By what they have witnessed.

I've never seen Anything like this.

Narrator: viewing the footage, Author patrick tomlinson

Is reminded of A controversial phenomenon

Widely reported in both fiction And in the press.

Did we just witness Spontaneous human combustion?

The theory dates back decades.

and as the name suggests,

it says that humans Could simply catch fire

for no apparent outside cause.

Narrator: Spontaneous combustion

Is a subject of controversy Among scientists.

While everything explodes For a reason,

That reason may not be obvious.

And there are more than 200 Reported cases

Of spontaneous combustion.

Victims' bodies are burnt So severely

That they are reduced to ashes.

But bizarrely, their extremities Remain intact.

Biologist leslie samuel Believes that

If spontaneous combustion Was possible,

Then it would need to be under a Very specific set of conditions.

Number one, the object has to be Heated to ignition temperature.

Number two, the heat building up Inside of it can't escape.

And number three, If it's exposed

To a steady stream of oxygen, But it's not enough

To cool it down, You get spontaneous combustion.

Narrator: On december 22, 2010,

The body of 76-year-old Michael faraday

Was found in his home In galway, ireland.

His charred remains Were in the sitting room.

The only other damage was burns To the ceiling above him

And the floor below.

After a thorough investigation,

The coroner ruled the cause of Death as spontaneous combustion.

spontaneous human combustion Could be possible

thanks to the gases

that we create Within our own intestinal tract.

Methane is a highly Flammable gas

And could easily create An explosion.

Narrator: coming up,

A common household item That's primed to explode.

How many other containers That are running around

On the freeways

Have got this sort of Stuff in them?

Narrator: and scientists fear Creepy new creatures

Are being created.

Could this have come into Contact with radioactive waste?

Narrator: a man loading a truck In a chinese industrial hub

Unexpectedly erupts into flames.

But when civil engineer Brian wolshon

Studies the footage closely,

He believes the source of The fire isn't the man himself.

we can see that the explosion And the flames themselves

are contained within the truck.

We can also see clearly

When the man jumps out Of the back of that trailer

That the flames Are clearly behind him.

Narrator: But what could have fueled

Such a volatile explosion?

Wolshon: in investigating A little further,

We find that In the back of the truck,

This material is pearl cotton,

And pearl cotton Is used as a packing material.

Narrator: pearl cotton is one

Of the most common types Of packaging.

It's not real cotton. It's a plastic.

Butane gas is used as a blowing Agent in its manufacturing.

It is forced into the plastic

When it's a liquid, Puffing it up.

The puffier it is, The more it will absorb impacts

And keep the items safe.

But as pyrotechnics expert Matt kutcher knows,

Butane can be highly volatile.

Kutcher: so one of the products We use in hollywood,

especially to do Combustible-type explosions

is the small butane bottles.

We fracture them At a high rate of speed.

We then ignite the gases Coming out

And make beautiful fireballs

That chase people into buildings Or chase them down corridors.

Narrator: although butane gas

Is used in the production Of pearl cotton,

Any trace of it should be Long gone

Before it is packed Into a truck.

Chemist mike sansom wonders If the timing

Right before new year Could be significant.

They cut a few corners or it's Come straight out the factory

And that butane, that flammable Gas is still there.

Narrator: but even if traces Of butane

Had been left On the pearl cotton

After it left the factory,

One vital piece of information Is missing.

There's no obvious source Of ignition.

there's no cigarettes.

there's no no naked flames You can see.

so what caused the spark?

Narrator: When sansom zooms in on the man,

He notices that his foot

Gets stuck inside The plastic covering

And suspects This could hold the answer.

Sansom: this guy is suspended In the air,

So he's got no grounding Whatsoever

And he's moving around.

He might be wearing Synthetic clothes

Or he might be rubbing Against the packaging

And that could create Some sort of static spark.

Narrator: but could this spark From static be enough

To cause this explosion?

Electrical engineer David wallace

Designs an experiment To find out.

so here we have A van de graaff generator.

now, this is also known

as an electrostatic Discharge generator.

and what I'm going to do

Is use this to mimic What we see in the video.

Now, as I bring This one closer to it...

We get a static spark.

Narrator: After generating a spark,

He replicates the conditions In the truck

By setting up a bottle With limited ventilation

And places two electrodes Inside.

Wallace: this electrode Is going to represent the man

Or the positive charge.

This electrode is going to Represent the bed of the truck

Or the negative electrode.

Have a can of butane here.

Narrator: wallace fills The container with butane gas

To represent the buildup In the back of the truck.

At this point,

We're going to energize The machine

And see what will happen.

Narrator: as soon as the static Spark is triggered,

It instantly lights The butane gas

And erupts in a fiery torrent.

Wallace: So it looks pretty good.

We had a spark. We ignited the gas.

Exactly what we thought.

This mimics exactly What we see in the video.

Narrator: we all build up static Electricity on a daily basis.

Usually this results in nothing More than a small shock,

But occasionally It can prove fatal.

You're sitting inside your car,

Getting ready To fill up with gas.

As you just come out of the car, You rub across the seat,

You build up a static charge.

As you touch That body of your car,

You create a spark.

Narrator: The man in the video was lucky

And escaped with minor burns.

But china accounts

For almost half of the container Imports to the u.S.

Sansom: How many other containers

That are running around On the freeways

Have got this sort of stuff In them,

Have got this explosive gas?

Just one spark Could cause a massive explosion.

If there was no way for this gas To escape and it was lit,

It would have been a bomb.

That truck could have been Going down the street

And completely exploded,

Wiped out Who knows how many humans.

Narrator: now on the bank Of a russian river,

An earthly creature.

Oh, what the hell?

Narrator: its twisted form

Doesn't resemble Any known animal.

Are we looking at some sort Of genetic experimentation?

Narrator: experts ask,

Is a malevolent force At work here?

It looks kind of demonic.

Narrator: sosnovy bor,

43 miles west Of st. Petersburg.

This town was built in 1958 To house workers

For the new nuclear Power station.

It is so close To the classified facility,

You need a special permit Just to enter.

August 30, 2015.

A local man discovers a small Creature of some kind.

It looks like A newly hatched baby

Of some species, but of what?

Ew. What is that thing?

It doesn't look like any animal I've seen before.

It's really weird.

Narrator: This doesn't correspond

To any known creature on earth, Alive or extinct.

Scientists do occasionally Find new kinds

Of fossilized dinosaurs,

But they're always variations Of those we already know.

This thing is different.

Everyone's seen the movie "Alien," where this kind of

Looks a lot like The creature that pops out.

Narrator: experts are baffled as To what this animal could be.

I've never seen an actual animal Kind of look like that.

It's really disturbing.

It's dried up And desiccated and bizarre.

Narrator: Biologist greg szulgit

Considers that the location Where it was shot

Could offer a clue To the creature's origin.

this was found near the Leningrad nuclear power plant.

And when you think nuclear Power plants,

You start to think,

"Well, are there Some kind of crazy mutations?"

Narrator: everyone who's ever Seen a superhero movie will know

That radiation Causes cell mutation.

But in real life, Those effects can be horrific.

radiation can cause, well, Cancer on a basic level.

and that's a mutation.

that's where your cells don't Grow how they should be.

they grow wildly out of control.

could this have come into Contact with radioactive waste?

is this some kind of eunuch?

Narrator: but for this creature To be a nuclear mutant,

There would need to have been Some sort of accident.

Szulgit: There are a few different ways

In which you can have accidents With a nuclear power plant.

The worst would, of course, Be a meltdown.

But you can also have Chemical spills coming out,

Which could leave nuclear waste In the environment.

the safety record at the Leningrad nuclear power plant

has been spotty, To say the least.

It has had a long history of Mishaps and outright accidents

Since it came online in 1975.

Szulgit: in 1976 and in '79,

There were fires and the water Used to extinguish the fire

Did leak out Into the environment.

Much later in 2015, there was A steam pipe that broke.

So there had been contamination Issues in this area.

Could some sort of creature Been unfortunate enough

To have encountered some sort of High-level radioactive source

And been mutated Or changed by it?

Narrator: coming up,

Could the twisted form Be a man-made monster?

Are we looking at some sort Of genetic experimentation?

Boy: it just, like, Keeps getting bigger.

Narrator: And beauty and the beast

Above the skies of costa rica.

Should these people Be running for their lives?

Narrator: an unknown creature Is found in western russia.

It doesn't match any known Animal alive or extinct.

When entomologist kevin kasky Studies the footage,

He thinks this Demonic-looking creature

Could have been made on purpose.

Kasky: looks like the head Of a dinosaur

on the body of a chicken With the body of a snake.

Narrator: kasky wonders

If this disturbing Creature is a chimera --

The result of humans tampering With nature.

Bioengineering Is something that mankind

Has been messing with For decades,

Probably even longer than that.

But documented proof.

We think That we can create things

Out of things That already exist.

Narrator: there are many hybrid Creatures in nature.

The most famous is the mule --

The progeny of a horse And a donkey.

But there are many others Like the liger,

The offspring of a lion And a tiger.

Towering over its parents,

This is the largest Big cat in existence.

But some scientists have tried To push the boundaries

By merging two very different Organisms into one.

This specimen is in russia And russia has had a history

Of trying to mess With bioengineering things.

[ church bells tolling ]

Narrator: western states

Generally limit Scientists' ability

To mess around with human genes, Not so in totalitarian regimes.

The nazis wanted to breed A genetic master race.

And the early soviets Believed

They could scientifically Control the whole world,

Including the genetic makeup Of living creatures.

in the early 20th century, The post revolution government,

the bolsheviks, had An ideological reason

For wanting to support These kinds of experiments.

They wanted to prove That there was no god or soul

Or anything mystical About creating life,

That it was a scientific, Mechanical kind of a process.

Narrator: one pioneering Scientist and follower of darwin

Is at the forefront Of bioengineering in russia,

Making major advancements In this area.

ilya ivanof Actually experimented

with cross-breeding animals Using artificial insemination.

Ultimately, his goal was to try And take characteristics

From one animal And merge them with another.

Narrator: ivanof's radical Cross-breeding program

Gave rise To the guinea pig mouse,

Cow antelope And zebra horse.

But his ultimate plan is to try And cross-breed a human

With an ape to create a race Of ape-man super warriors

That would be invincible Against enemy armies.

Guinea, february 1926.

The authorities Discover ivanof

Is planning to inseminate three African women with chimp sperm.

He is expelled from the country.

Kasky: ilya ivanof experimented

With trying To create a new species.

I don't care what your motives Are for that.

Nothing good can come from it.

That's all I got to say.

Narrator: ivanof returns

To the soviet union And opens a secret institute,

Where it is believed He continues his twisted work.

Stories of disturbing Genetic experiments

Continue to this day.

The russians have been working On a super chicken.

I know it sounds like something Out of a comic book,

But they've been working on this To expand the food productivity

Of the chicken To help feed the russians.

Narrator: russia imports A massive amount of chicken

From the u.S.,

But after american restrictions

Following russia's invasion Of the ukraine in 2014,

Things have been tense.

Relations between the united States and russia

Have soured in recent years, Leading to big cutbacks

In food imports.

Re-enter the super chicken.

The russian breed Known as the smena-8

Is actually now available For market trials.

Narrator: could this creature Be a failed attempt

To create a super chicken?

We may never know.

The creature's body Is taken away

For examination by experts

At the institute of biophysics In krasnoyarsk.

All they are saying is that Whatever was found

Was some kind Of unviable mutant.

But this still begs The question,

Did nuclear mutation Or human science

Have the final hand In its creation?

Are we looking at some sort of Genetic experimentation

That nobody wants to claim,

Nobody is doing, But once again, it's there?

It's right there for all to see.

What's the main purpose of it?

Narrator: Now a strange celestial disk

Appears in the sky Over costa rica.

Woman: look at the sky!

Oluseyi: heavenly indeed.

That is cool.

Narrator: Onlookers are mesmerized.

Boy #2: it's the most beautiful Thing I've ever seen.

I'd be a little bit More careful right now.

We don't know what that is.

Narrator: But could this strange vision

Be evidence Of a deadly phenomenon?

There's something just A little bit weird about it.

Narrator: San josé, costa rica.

Nestled in the shadow

Of the seros de escazu Mountain range,

The trendy suburb of escazu.

This is where the most affluent And influential costa ricans

Reside in luxury.

September 2015, The people of escazu

Were going about Their business as usual.

Suddenly they are confronted by A spectacular sight above them.

Woman: Look at the sky!

This looks like a cloud And a rainbow had a baby.

Narrator: it has amazing colors, But this isn't a rainbow.

It looks more like A massive object than a cloud.

Boy #3: this is awesome.

Foster: nature can do some Wonderful things,

But having a kind of disc-shaped Rainbow like this

Is really phenomenal.

I don't think anyone's Ever really seen

Anything like this before.

Boy #1: yeah, it just, like, Keeps getting bigger.

Girl: like, wow.

Narrator: experts are concerned

That this may be More sinister than it looks.

It almost has the shape Of a mushroom cloud,

Which doesn't exactly bring The happiest thoughts to mind.

Should these people be running For their lives?

Narrator: coming up...

Is death about to rain From the sky?

If there is fuel that was dumped From an aircraft,

That's coming Down to the ground,

And that could be Very terrifying.

Narrator: And why is this paradise island

Crippled by crimson chaos?

Everything is blood red. Everywhere you look is red.

Narrator: a mysterious celestial Disc lights up the sky

Above costa rica.

When physicist chad orzel Analyzes the footage,

He thinks the effect Looks like something

That is usually seen on earth Not in the sky.

the pattern up there looks Kind of like oil on water.

you see this sort of The swirling colors.

We have some pollution

Spilled on the surface Of a puddle or a lake.

And that's generally Not a good thing.

Narrator: Large commercial aircraft

Can carry over 150 tons of fuel When taking off.

Exact calculations should ensure

That they're at minimum Weight on landing.

Brensberger: well, airplanes Are actually heavier

During takeoff than landing

Because they burn through All their fuel.

but sometimes if an emergency Landing needs to happen,

airplanes can actually dump Their fuel mid-flight.

Then when an airplane Dumps their fuel,

There are water molecules Present in earth's atmosphere.

There could be some type Of combination

Between the airplane fuel

And the water molecules In the clouds.

Boy #2: it's the most beautiful Thing I've ever seen.

If there is fuel that was dumped From an aircraft,

And it was over A populated area,

That's coming down To the ground.

And that could be very flammable And very terrifying.

Narrator: could this bizarre Phenomenon be the result

Of highly toxic fuel Raining down to earth?

Shapiro: If this were a fuel dump,

you'd expect to see it In a line across the sky

or some sort of linear pattern.

but in this case, it's circular.

It's following the shape Of the cloud.

when you see a plane Flying overhead,

you see the straight line Contrails.

so if this was caused By a plane dumping fuel,

It would be a straight-line Rainbow, not a disc.

Narrator: chemist simon foster Has seen this kind of thing

Before in outer space.

Could this be a genuine Extraterrestrial phenomenon?

Rainbows are not just An earth-based phenomenon.

they do happen elsewhere.

they actually happen out In the cosmos.

people have been looking Through telescopes

and found rainbows In space.

Narrator: 2013,

Nasa's chandra x-ray Observatory space telescope

Picks up strange, Unexplained images.

there is this one image from The chandra x-ray telescope

that's called An extraterrestrial rainbow.

It is a system With a binary star.

And one of the stars Is a neutron star

To siphon enough material From the other star.

It's really dense and heavy.

And it's sucking -- It's drawing material

Off its other partner's star.

And as it's doing so, It's emitting x-rays.

Now, these x-rays Are passing through dust

And debris Surrounding these stars.

And as it does so, It acts almost like a lens,

Like water droplets In the atmosphere

Due to visible light.

This is doing it to x-ray,

And it produces this incredible Interstellar rainbow.

So it's incredibly beautiful,

But the light is being produced By x-rays.

So at the same time, It's deadly.

We know how damaging x-rays Can actually be

If you're not well-protected.

Narrator: x-rays are a form Of ionizing radiation.

Over-exposure can lead

To unnatural chemical reactions Inside cells,

Causing mutations

That lead to a number Of diseases, such as cancer.

For this to have been Some kind of space rainbow

This close to earth Just doesn't work.

The amount of radiation Would be so intense,

It would seriously injure

Or even kill Everyone in the area.

Narrator: Science writer alan shapiro

Reviews the footage

And thinks He may have the answer.

Maybe the solution Has something to do

With the weather on the day.

You've got a cloud with water Droplets high in the atmosphere.

You've got the sun lighting It up from behind.

Again, the water Breaking those colors out.

It's really similar to when You see water and oil interact

And you get That kind of rainbow effect.

Narrator: the best guess

Is some rare set Of atmospheric conditions.

Water vapor high In the atmosphere

Refracting light into A spectrum of colors.

To be able to see that firsthand Would be incredible.

It's going to be 10 times better in real life.

Boy #3: this is awesome.

Narrator: Now in the land of volcanoes...

[ motorcycle engine revving ]

...The sky turns blood red.

A burning hellscape Turning the sky red.

Narrator: This ominous crimson cloud

Engulfs everything in its path.

It must have been Absolutely terrifying.

It's like a scene From a disaster movie.

But for the people living there, This is everyday life.

♪♪

Narrator: Sumatra, indonesia.

A volcanic island mostly covered In thick rainforest

With its own species Of tiger and rhinoceros.

September 2019.

In a quiet rural community,

A motorcyclist experiences An out-of-this-world sight.

Shapiro: The sky is blood red.

This looks like something

You'd find on mars, Not on earth.

It looks like something Out of "Total recall."

Walcek: It's hard to explain

This very bizarre And cataclysmic-looking video.

Woman #2: it's everywhere.

It looks like Whoever filmed this

Is trying to get away from it.

But there -- there's No getting away from this.

Narrator: It looks like a sandstorm,

But this is A wet tropical island.

There is no desert For hundreds of miles.

Foster: Everything is blood red.

Everywhere you look.

It's not like he's coming From one particular area.

The entire countryside,

Everything Around this person is red.

Driving through this red cloud,

It probably felt like The end of the world.

Narrator: coming up...

The apocalyptic sky With deadly consequences.

Shapiro: bromine isn't something You want to be inhaling.

At higher concentrations, It can lead to death.

Narrator: the air above A volcanic indonesian island

Turns blood red.

Chemist mike sansom wonders If what we are seeing

Is evidence The air itself is toxic.

we know it's indonesia And indonesia

has the greatest Concentration of volcanoes.

so is it something To do with volcanoes?

Narrator: indonesia has 127 Active volcanoes.

This island alone has 67.

It is situated In the volatile ring of fire.

A 25,000-mile chain Of volcanoes

And seismically active sites That outline the pacific ocean.

The region has 75% Of the world's volcanoes

And 90% of its earthquakes.

Could these skies be a portent Of another eruption?

indonesia has the most volcanoes Of any country in the world.

76 of them have erupted

More than 1,000 times In our current record.

Narrator: Mount tambora, indonesia, 1815.

After a few centuries Of dormancy,

Mount tambora unleashes the most Powerful eruption known to man.

Shapiro: it sent ash and dust High into the atmosphere.

That accounted for the deaths Of more than 80,000 people.

Narrator: the explosion can be Heard 1,600 miles away.

People are immediately Burnt alive

As they drown In the boiling lava.

For others, death is more Painful as they are poisoned

By toxic gases and ash.

one thing we might expect If this were from a volcano

was that you would have usually A lot of very black, dark ash,

A big cloud that would be Blasting out in the sky.

We don't see that, But there have been volcanoes

That have thrown out Other strange-colored gases.

Hawaii's kilauea volcano Erupted in 2018

And had a pink plume.

This came from the rock Around it, the basalt,

That had this red color And accounted for the pink ash.

Narrator: sansom has a theory As to what gases

Need to be present in indonesia

To create such An apocalyptic crimson haze.

One thing that could turn This volcanic eruption red

Is bromine.

It's an element, A liquid element.

And if you boil it, it turns Into this brownish-reddish gas,

Which looks exactly Like the video.

Narrator: bromine is a naturally Occurring chemical

Found in the earth's crust.

But when combined with heat,

The molecular structure Alters dramatically.

Volcanic eruptions can Cause temperatures

Of thousands degrees,

And that's plenty of heat To cause the bromine

To turn from a liquid Into a gas.

Bromine isn't something You want to be inhaling.

At lower concentrations,

It can lead to coughing And shortness of breath.

And in higher concentrations, It can lead to death.

Narrator: But sansom isn't convinced

That the flaming-red heavens

Are caused By oxidizing bromine.

Sansom: you'd need massive Deposits of bromine.

I mean, a huge salt plain Of bromine

To actually create This vast amount.

Narrator: It would take something

The size of the dead sea

To cause A crimson sky like this.

And there aren't deposits Of that size in this area.

But when chemist simon foster Studies the footage,

He wonders If the color of the sky

Could be the sign of a different Kind of impending danger.

different gases in different Concentrations,

they can actually bend light

and split light In different ways.

and that could be What's going on here.

Walcek: this could be the same Principle of sunsets.

But you need to have exactly The right size of smoke

Or haze particle For this to happen.

Narrator: meteorologist Chris walcek believes that

This apocalyptic sky

Could be caused By a huge quantity of smoke.

one of the ways You can produce this effect

is with widespread forest fires

that produce huge amounts Of dust and smoke.

[ thunder crashes ]

Narrator: wildfires are one Of nature's deadliest killers.

A raging fire On a forested island

Like this could be disastrous.

Kutcher: So if your island's on fire,

Where do you run that's safe?

fires out of control In california,

they evacuate us To someplace that's safer,

Someplace away From the actual fuel.

If you're on an island And the whole island's fuel,

Where do they evacuate you to?

Narrator: Further investigation reveals

This is a catastrophic wildfire,

One of almost 4,000 that ripped Through southeast asia

Between february To september 2019.

This air was so polluted, It left almost 10 million people

Gasping for breath With countless deaths.

This really was an apocalypse For these islands.

Kutcher: Smoke is horrible to inhale.

There's the fire That's far too hot.

There's fire tornadoes.

There's nothing good that comes From being in that position.

It would have felt like the end Of the world.

[ camera whirs ]

American travelers are leaving A revered jungle temple complex

When nearby...

Fireball. It looks like a Building has been torn apart.

Narrator: locals and tourists Are hit by the explosion.

We need to figure out What exactly this blast is,

Because whatever it is, It could be deadly.

Narrator: The town lies in the shadow

Of one of the greatest wonders Of the ancient world.

I think it's impossible to see Something like that

And not think about terrorism.

Narrator: It was the real-life location

Of the first "Tomb raider" movie.

Angkor wat in cambodia Is amongst the largest

And strangest religious Monuments in the world.

♪♪

Dedicated to the protector God vishnu

Whose avatars are believed

By his followers To still be active in the world.

The temple design is mysterious And complex.

it was a huge center For the technology of that time.

Narrator: angkor wat sits just Outside the city of siem reap.

August 2019, american tourists Are here to see the temple,

And some are filming When just a few miles away...

Boom! Massive explosion.

Narrator: the shock wave knocks Motorcyclists of their bikes

And sends people fleeing.

holmes: oh, it's still on fire.

oh, my gosh.

that is terrible.

Mcmahon: imagine you're going About your daily routine

And something Like this happens.

something so disruptive, So explosive, so dangerous --

a terrible event.

narrator: an american teacher Is among those badly injured.

There have been local rumblings In siem reap

About westerners Visiting the temple complex.

Wise: this took place in a town Which is actually,

It's only a few kilometers Away from angkor wat.

Narrator: The proximity to the temple

Leads to some wild And bizarre speculation.

This belief that angkor wat Once included two temples

That were gold plated.

And they were gold plated In order

To capture the rays of the sun

At key times of the year, The equinoxes.

Narrator: the temples were built By king suryavarman,

Who according to legend

Was a demigod Who used advanced geometry

To lay out the buildings To mirror objects in space.

They could harness the power Of the sun,

Effectively creating a ray,

A powerful beam of light With destructive capability.

And so, is there a connection

Between this ancient Mysterious temple complex

And this modern Mysterious explosion?

Could there be some kind of Lost technology

That somehow is still active, Somehow still dangerous,

Could still somehow Cause things to explode?

Narrator: but material scientist Doug holmes believes

The location of the blast Could point to an act of terror.

I think it's impossible nowadays In this climate

To see something like that And not think about terrorism.

In a region like this that has Been historically war torn,

You can't rule it out.

Narrator: Cambodia borders vietnam.

In the early 1970s, the country Is invaded by the viet cong.

Despite american efforts, A communist dictatorship

Is installed Known as the khmer rouge.

The party's leader is pol pot,

Whose methods are brutal And terrifying.

The khmer rouge execute people Just because of their appearance

And use their bodies As fertilizer in the fields.

The communists Take and slaughter the children

And babies of those Who dare criticize them.

Women are subjected to hideous Medical experiments.

Wise: About two million people, about A quarter of the population,

Was wiped out by the khmer rouge Under pol pot,

Who is remembered As one of the most vicious

And deranged Homicidal leaders of history.

Narrator: several of The khmer rouge's evil leaders

Have recently been sentenced To life imprisonment

For their disgusting crimes.

Holmes: knowing it's happening In a place

Where there is a long history Of conflict, you --

I mean, you can't help But think, you know,

Maybe these are kind of rebels, Local terrorist groups,

Something that could cause An explosion like that.

Kutcher: So this is an area of the globe

That we know Has been under siege.

This is a terrorist area.

And this type of explosion Resembles that type of attack.

Narrator: matt kutcher has spent Over 20 years

As a hollywood explosives And pyrotechnics expert.

Kutcher: blow it.

There's a little hollywood Magic today, right?

Narrator: He wants to see whether The blast in the footage

Matches the blast Produced by a bomb.

Kutcher: I think the first thing we do Is we're going to have to get

Some kind of shed, something To represent a building.

We're going to need some High explosives.

And we're going to see if We can't blow it up.

Right there.

Nice.

We'll have the high explosive Around this barrel,

And we'll have some High explosive in the barrel.

And to replicate everything We see that's blowing

Through the roof, Blowing out the doors,

We're going to add the water Inside of it

And use the water as actually What devastates this building.

Alright, ty, Go ahead and fill her up.

this type of high explosive Is no joke.

we're going to have to stand Pretty clear of this.

And it's going to blow This thing apart --

Just one big bang.

Narrator: coming up, Matt kutcher discovers

If the blast near the temples Was an act of terror.

Three, two, one.

And in indonesia,

Cameras capture What appears to be a humanoid

Scientists thought extinct.

It's like this Little evil hobbit

Running around in the jungle.

♪♪

Narrator: An explosion near one of the Greatest wonders of the world

Followed by a lethal blaze.

Pyrotechnics expert matt kutcher

To see if it matches The blast in the video.

Alright, gentlemen, lets get To our firing positions.

Alright, guys, we are ready. We're going to go hot.

Fire the horn.

[ air horn blows ]

Alright, and here we go.

In three, two, one.

♪♪

♪♪

there's no question.

it completely decimated That building.

It did quick business Of that, didn't it?

And what it really looked like Was there was no flash at all.

It's gone.

Absolutely gone.

And not an ounce of flame.

♪♪

Narrator: The flames are only visible

When matt watches his explosion Slowed down by 90%.

Kutcher: although it looks very Similar at the beginning,

The mass transfer of energy,

It's certainly missing something At the end, isn't it?

In the video, you clearly see A sustained fire,

As if there was something else In the building.

So it couldn't be High explosives.

We've got to gain Some more information

As to what was actually In this building,

What held The sustained the fire,

And is the sustained Fire relative

To what caused the explosion?

Narrator: Engineer adam hadhazy wonders If the fuel behind the explosion

Could be gasoline.

But government records show

There were no licensed Gas stations in the area.

gasoline is a highly desired Commodity

pretty much Anywhere you go in the world.

And if you can make a buck Selling it,

Someone's probably going to sell It then on the black market.

So that could open up some Possibilities here of

Bootlegged gasoline that could Be behind what we're seeing.

Narrator: since 1979, The country has been ruled

By the cambodian people's party, Who took over the khmer rouge.

These marxists have introduced Some free-market reforms,

But they still Levy punishing taxes,

Especially on the sale Of gasoline.

As a result, in some cambodian Cities, pirate gas stations

Outnumber legal gas stations By two to one.

now listen, cambodia Is a developing country.

A lot of these things Get kind of loosey goosey

In a developing country, And you can have situations

Where dangerous chemicals Or substances

Are not handled In the safest possible way.

Narrator: unlicensed gas Stations and street-side vendors

Selling gasoline out of bottles Are a common site

Throughout the country, Leading experts

To believe that the explosion Occurred at a site

Where gas was being Sold illegally.

Wise: given that it's on a busy Street, you can imagine

This is the sort of place where You might have a gas station,

Perhaps an illegal gas station.

Perhaps somebody has paid some Bribes to the local inspector

Or someone Is just cutting corners

And doing things on the cheap.

Szulgit: this video serves as A warning of how dangerous

something like An illegal gas station can be.

when standards are skipped, then Things like this can happen.

[ people screaming ]

Narrator: now, on the exotic Island of sumatra,

Men entering the jungle On motorbikes

Come across a human-like Creature.

It's like this little,

Evil hobbit Running around in the jungle.

Narrator: Locals believe this may be The first filmed encounter

With a legendary Jungle-dwelling race

Of humanoid cannibals Known as the ebu gogo.

The ebu gogo Are three feet tall,

Are known to steal food,

Kidnap children, And even eat humans.

Growick: if this actually is A long-lost human cousin,

This is potentially as big of A find as landing on the moon.

Narrator: Sumatra, the sixth-largest Island in the world,

Sitting in the java sea In southeast asia.

It is an island of deadly Volcanoes and exotic animals,

From dozens of species Of amphibious creatures,

To rhinos, elephants, And tigers.

The island stretches over Almost 200,000 square miles

And is largely covered In dense tropical rainforest.

Or at least it was.

Sumatra is fast losing Its rainforest as humans

Gradually transform the once Impenetrable jungle into farms

To grow much Sought-after sumatran coffee.

March 2017.

Four young men are riding along A dirt path on their motorbikes.

Suddenly, something leaps From the jungle.

It's shape is similar To an adult

But it's much too small To be a man.

this naked man with a spear Comes and attacks you.

It's like a little Red demon from hell.

It's small, but it doesn't mean That it's not deadly.

Narrator: A biker is knocked from his Vehicle, and the creature flees.

Gottlieb: it looks like the Bikers surprised this thing.

It attacked to protect itself

And then thought better And ran away.

[ man panting ]

Narrator: Historian craig gottlieb Analyzes the video.

Gottlieb: if you freeze The video, what you see

Is about a three-foot-tall Humanoid,

An adult with musculature Standing butt naked

In the forest And carrying a spear.

Narrator: the average male human Is 5'9" tall.

This creature is half the size,

But it shows none of the Characteristics of dwarfism.

Kasky: in the jungles, There are legends

Of other types of beings.

so could this be one of those Subspecies or species

That's inside the jungle?

Potvin: Myths throughout the islands of Southeast asia speak of evil,

Human-like people That actually feast on humans

And live in the forests.

Could there be some truth To these myths?

Narrator: scientists have Long known that on these islands

Once lived a distant Cousin of humans

Which archaeologists Call homofloriensis

And nicknamed the hobbits.

Small bodies, small heads, And small brains.

Remains of these small Human-like creatures

Have been found And dna tested.

Although it was thought these Hobbits had died out around

100,000 years ago, Locals have long claimed

that they still inhabit The jungles of sumatra.

local legends speak of these Little, evil beings

lurking in the forests.

Could this be one of them?

Montieth: These legends and stories

Have been around For thousands of years.

when people go missing In the forest,

these creatures Are still blamed.

Could this be What we're seeing?

Narrator: these legends may be More than mere fantasy.

In 2017, Archaeologists in indonesia

Discovered cave paintings

Depicting weird humanoid Creatures attacking animals.

Further evidence emerges when Scientists recently unearthed

The remains of small creatures Who do indeed belong

To a strange race of humanoids.

Gottlieb: The archaeologist uncovered The remains of a previously

Unknown species of primates About three to four feet tall.

Narrator: Locals call the jungle-dwelling Creatures the ebu gogo.

Their appearance is said to be Somewhere between human and ape.

These tiny ape men are said To talk to each other

In a strange murmur And can parrot back human words

But have no way of understanding What is being said.

Their name "Gogo" means "Eats everything,"

And according to legend, They are cannibals.

It's claimed that they have Stolen human children,

Some say to learn The secret of fire,

Others say to eat them.

Growick: if this actually is A long-last human cousin,

this potentially as big of A find as landing on the moon.

Narrator: coming up,

The hunt is on for indonesia's Secret cannibals.

How many more of these people Or creatures are there?

Narrator: and what's going bump In the night

At england's eeriest emporium?

When you see stuff falling off The walls,

It's a sign to get out.

♪♪

Narrator: on the volcanic island Of sumatra,

A helmet cam captures What appears to be

A small human-like creature

Emerging from the jungle And wielding a spear.

Science journalist Jon farrow asks

If this is a non-human species

Or a long-lost tribe Of super-small humans?

the jungle is so dense That there's lots of places

that we've never been,

And that raises the possibility That there are tribes of people

That live unconnected with The rest of civilization.

Narrator: Historian tony mcmahon studies A legendary prehistoric tribe

Long thought to have died out.

about 400 years ago, a tribe Called the mante was sighted,

a tribe in the jungle who had Never made contact

With the rest of humanity.

For the mante people, Offroad bikes

Are going to be A complete mystery,

And if anything, something Extremely frightening.

Narrator: the very small size of The person is hard to explain,

But science journalist Steve potvin recalls

And indigenous tribe Known for their small stature.

it makes me think, could this be A long-lost pygmy tribe?

Narrator: spanish colonists to This area hundreds of years ago

Spoke of a people They called the small ones.

Pygmy tribes are found mostly In dense jungles.

Scientists speculate the lack Of sunlight leads to a sustained

Lack of vitamins, Inhibiting bone development.

But something Doesn't make sense.

Even so called pygmies Are taller than this.

The average pygmy male Is around five feet.

This fuels speculation that this May indeed be evidence of

A human-like creature from The age of the neanderthals.

How many more of these people Or creatures are there?

Farrow:

Untouched By modern civilization,

Without electricity Or the internet.

They'd be following the same way Of life

That they have For thousands of years.

Narrator: Isolated prehistoric tribes Have been known to be aggressive

When confronted With the terrifying

And strange signs Of modern civilization.

There's plenty of evidence of Tribespeople all over the world

Defending themselves With primitive weapons

Against what they view as Incursions by the outside world.

In 2008, a light aircraft

Flew over a tribal Village in the amazon.

The tribespeople who had had no Or minimal contact

With the outside world were Actually firing bows and arrows

And trying to shoot At the aircraft.

Narrator: In 2018, on the andaman islands Off the coast of india,

A young christian missionary Was killed by bow and arrow

When he approached A stone age tribe.

And that gives you an indication Of the fear and hostility

That some of these tribespeople Have towards the outside world.

Narrator: indonesian government Officials viewed the film

And sent search parties Into the area,

But no tribe of miniature humans Have been discovered.

We are none the wiser As to who he is,

Which tribe he represents, And how long

They've been isolated From the rest of humanity.

Narrator: The nature of the small humanoid Caught on the helmet cam

Remains a mystery.

Jon farrow believes that may be For the best.

Modern civilization doesn't have A great track record

Of respecting indigenous people.

And so perhaps we should leave This unexplained.

♪♪

Narrator: Now, england's spookiest store.

Objects are moved...

Whoa.

Narrator: ...And fall over as Though pushed by unseen hands.

People are running. I don't blame them.

Narrator: locals suspect A cursed mineshaft

1,000 feet below the store

Could be sending something Sinister up to the surface.

I've never seen anything Like this before.

Narrator: in the english county Of yorkshire is barnsley,

An ordinary north country Mining town.

September 2014.

In the middle of town is The barnsley antiques centre.

Cctv captures bizarre activity.

A fog-like presence appears To seep up through the floor.

wait, wait, there seems to be Something almost like a mist.

that would really creep me out If I was in this store.

Narrator: A reign of terror follows.

While the shop is empty, Pictures fall of walls,

Old glass cabinets shatter,

And an antique rocking horse Crashes to the ground.

when you see stuff falling off The walls,

it's a sign to get out.

Narrator: Store owner daniel parker

And his 9-year-old daughter Kasey

Have experienced even Stranger things on the shop

When the cameras Have been turned off.

All of a sudden, My daughter's friend

Came running out shouting, "Dan, dan,

Kasey's crying in the basement," Screaming and crying.

[ screaming ]

I said, "What's the matter?"

And she says, "An arm's Just reached out to grab me."

[ woman screams ]

I understand completely Why somebody would think

that there was a poltergeist In this shop.

We do tend to see these kinds Of things as being supernatural.

Personally, I could think Of other explanations.

Narrator: Geophysicist sian proctor Looks into the mining history

Of the town And sees a potential explanation

That lies buried 1,000 feet Below the store itself.

To move objects like that, There has to be a force.

But we clearly don't see one In the video.

So maybe there is an invisible Physical force at play here.

Narrator: Coming up, does a mining tragedy

That killed hundreds explain The barnsley poltergeist?

this is potentially a ticking Time bomb waiting to go off.

Narrator: And is an eerie beam of light Over canada secret communication

With other worlds?

One reason scientists shoot Lasers out into space

Is actually to signal To potential alien lifeforms

On other planets.

Narrator: an antique store in Yorkshire, england, is plagued

By what seems to be An angry poltergeist.

It appears as a mist and smashes

And throws things From the shelves of the shop.

Something weird and unnatural Is going on here.

Narrator: The owner, daniel parker,

Investigates the history Of his street

And discovers bizarre activity Hasn't just struck in his store.

There used to be a cafe Just across the road

And they got someone in because They had weird things happening.

I think they got some sort Of spiritualist group in

To sort of rid Their shop of spirits

Because things were moving In their shop.

Narrator: Material scientist doug holmes Believes this discovery

Suggests the footage From parker's store

Doesn't show a ghost, But a vibration from below

That affects The whole neighborhood.

Holmes: you see this all the Time in footage of an earthquake

In which you have These grumbling vibrations

which causes all sorts of things To fall down,

topple over, and break.

and so a natural question

Is, well, what's the source Of these vibrations?

[ cameras whirring ]

Narrator: barnsley is a long way From an earthquake zone.

But in the 19th century, This sleepy town

Was the center of a revolution.

Newly invented trains And mechanical factories

Needed coal to power them,

And barnsley Had huge amounts beneath it.

Historian craig gottlieb Discovers this boom time

For barnsley Came at a heavy cost.

The history of coal mining goes Back centuries in this area

and there have been many Accidents and tragedies

involved in the industry.

Narrator: the antique store Is close to the oaks colliery,

A mine 1,000 feet deep.

Mining of this sort can be Very dangerous

Because it releases A number of flammable gases.

Narrator: in 1866, a massive Explosion tore through the mine,

Killing 361 miners, Some as young as 10 years old,

And the rescuers Who went into save them.

The devastating series of blasts

Caused by a mixture of gases, Including methane,

Known as fire damp, Destroyed the mine.

It was england's greatest Mining disaster.

The oaks colliery shaft is now Abandoned and sealed.

Some locals even say It carries a curse.

Geophysicist sian proctor

Suspects the explosive power Of the fire damp

in the mine below Has not been totally spent.

we need to consider whether These small little explosions

that are being caused By fire damp

Are actually the cause of what We see in this antique shop.

Narrator: the weird mist filmed In the store

Could be a gas escape From the mine,

And the falling objects could be Being moved

By the blasts From deep down below.

The vibrations felt across town

May well be a warning Of a much bigger blast

That could threaten The whole community.

These trapped gases don't need Much to explode.

This is potentially a ticking Time bomb waiting to go off.

All you need is some Kind of spark, and boom.

Narrator: it seems whatever the Cause of these weird phenomena,

The future doesn't look good For the store.

People have said that they don't Come in our shop

Because they've heard Of the, like, hauntings

And spooky goings on.

[ woman screams ]

Narrator: Now, in the dead of night, A vertical shaft of light

Appears suspended in the sky.

This doesn't look like anything We've seen before.

Narrator: it pulsates And terrifies local residents.

I kept thinking something is Coming, something is happening.

This is just the start.

Narrator: It seems to be ascending to Or descending from space.

This looks really scary.

♪♪

Narrator: edmonton, alberta.

A city of 970,000 people With a shopping mall

That's over Five million square feet,

Making it the largest mall In north america.

December 28, 2018, Early evening.

Writer marina reid hale Is relaxing at home.

It was just a normal night Like any other.

I was watching tv.

Narrator: but then, as hail Heads into her kitchen,

She notices something Out of her window.

It was this big glowing, line In the sky.

Narrator: Hail decides to film it.

Hale: it was just right there.

Completely vertical, Really orangey,

Kind of pulsating Slightly almost.

It looked like Something opening.

You know, just that crack Through a door

As a door was about to open.

Narrator: The light is like nothing hail Or other residents in the town

Have ever seen.

I was thinking, "Oh, this is bad news.

Something is happening And it's not good."

It really felt like you were About to see alien ships

Just rushing in coming to attack

Or something Really bizarre like that.

Narrator: as the strange Bright light in the sky

Hangs ominously over The city of edmonton,

Scientists are as baffled As locals by the phenomenon.

this is really weird.

where is this light coming from, Or where is it going to?

it kind of looks like a kind of Demonic finger of light,

you know, Appearing in the gloom.

this pulsating vertical light In the middle of the sky

kind of reminds me of "Independence day"

When the giant spaceship Goes over the white house

And then destroys everything.

Narrator: coming up, Is the edmonton light

Connected to a bizarre incident In space?

There was a kind of bright laser

That had struck The international space station.

Narrator: and does a strange Frothing whirlpool

Point to a japanese horror Weapon unleashed after 80 years?

[ siren wailing ]

Morgan: a strong possibility At work here

Is that this is some sort of Explosion underneath the water.

♪♪

Narrator: in the city of Edmonton, canada,

A sinister pulsating light Hangs in the sky.

Science journalist jon farrow Discovers this is not

The first time such a beam Has been captured on camera,

And the last time Was from space.

in december 2017, the year Before this video was shot,

there was a video Making the rounds online

That there was a kind Of bright laser

That had struck The international space station.

Narrator: cameras on board The international space station

Captured the strange Beam of light.

The footage was then broadcast To millions of americans

Via the station's Live video feed.

To this day, nasa have given No official explanation

For the occurrence.

The idea of a space laser Really caught many

People's imagination.

And so when a mysterious light Appears above edmonton,

People recall the year before, The mysterious light above them

On the International space station,

And they start to connect The two.

Science writer Amy shira teitel

Wonders if the beam Is an attempt to communicate

With extraterrestrial beings.

one reason scientists shoot Lasers out into space

is actually to signal

To potential alien Lifeforms on other planets.

Narrator: nasa is open about Its search for life in

And beyond our solar system.

In october 2019, It announced its instruments

Had picked up noises on mars,

Which it described as dinks And donks.

[ clang ]

The possibility of finally Establishing contact

With intelligent alien life Is intriguing.

Though in 2016, Astrophysicist stephen hawking

Warned against The possible dangers

Of reaching out in this way.

He claimed that if we make Contact with intelligent aliens,

They may not come in peace,

But would invade and conquer us For our rich natural resources.

Astrophysicist hakeem oluseyi Looks for possible

Causes for lights in the sky.

He checks the records For that date

And discovers a clue Near the location

Where the phenomenon occurred.

Oluseyi: There was a huge oil refinery Fire, and it was very bright.

And there was a huge flare-off That occurred,

and given the fact That there are clouds in the sky

that could scatter the light,

under the right conditions, You could see

Exactly what we see In this video.

Narrator: the refinery fire May have produced

What meteorologists refer To as light pillars.

These are caused by reflective Ice crystals in the air,

Which are illuminated by A light source from the ground.

But there's a problem With this theory.

The beam in the footage Looks wrong.

Usually when we see Light pillars,

There's multiple pillars,

And this is only one.

Farrow: there is still An element of mystery

As to what Is causing this light.

Narrator: marina reid hale, who Filmed the light, is convinced

This was no natural phenomenon.

The idea that it was caused By the refinery flares

Seemed a little too convenient.

There's at least A part of me thinking

That there was something More interesting

Than just some strange fluke.

♪♪

[ cameras whirring ]

Narrator: Now, a weird foam erupts out of A river in a chinese megacity.

Holy cow, that's a huge --

What?

This thing is Absolutely massive.

Narrator: experts fear A destructive japanese weapon

From world war ii Has accidentally exploded.

The fact that this looks like A chemical reaction,

It immediately attracts my Suspicions to special unit 731.

Narrator: hangzhou is china's Answer to silicon valley --

A bustling, technologically Advanced city of

7.5 million people.

October 17, 2018.

Office workers look out Their windows

To see a strange disturbance

On the normally tranquil Qiantang river.

The source is a circle Of ominous bubbles,

And the vortex spreads over An area of hundreds of feet.

this is really unusual.

I'm not quite sure What I'm looking at.

Hovland: as we zoom in, I realize it's not something

Floating on the water, But more like

A froth that's generating Around a whirlpool.

This is something you would Not see on a daily basis.

Alright, I need to see that again.

That was crazy.

Narrator: coming up,

Locals fear a deadly legacy Of world war ii.

Hovland: if what we're looking At here is a toxic spill,

This is seriously bad news.

♪♪

Narrator: In the city of hangzhou, China, a mysterious vortex

Is emerging in the middle Of the qiantang river.

Military analyst carlo muñoz Looks to the location

To find a possible explanation.

He discovers this is an area With a dark history.

Muñoz: now, this particular town In china

Where this river is located,

hangzhou, was actually under Japanese control from 1937

All the way to the end Of world war ii in 1945.

Narrator: towards the end of The second world war,

Many weapons were dumped In seas and rivers,

Especially weapons Of mass destruction,

Which contravened International conventions.

a strong possibility At work here

is that this is some sort of Explosion underneath the water.

Narrator: if so, the froth Points to one notorious branch

Of the japanese military.

The fact that this anomaly On the river surface

Looks like a chemical reaction, It immediately attracts

My suspicions To special unit 731

Because they introduced chemical Weapons to the war in china.

And maybe whatever it is below The surface of that river

Is left over From that time period.

Yah!

Narrator: After japan invaded china, The japanese military subjected

The country's citizens To an onslaught of terror.

The japanese did not look at Chinese people as being equal.

And they looked at them As being disposable people.

Narrator: Under general shiro ishii, The japanese ran a covert

Chemical warfare unit In china named unit 731.

Japanese military scientists Tested the effects of diseases

Like bubonic plague, Cholera, and smallpox

On the local chinese population,

Killing hundreds Of thousands of people.

♪♪

The unit's methods were twisted And bizarre.

Special unit 731 engaged In experimentation

On chinese subjects That sought to determine

How quickly someone would lose An arm in exposure to frostbite.

They engaged in vivisection Operations

Against chinese men, Women, and children.

All of this was being done In the interests

Of pseudoscientific research.

Narrator: unit 731 experimented With horrific biological bombs

Deployed from aircraft,

Including a bubonic plague bomb,

Which they dropped on At least 11 chinese cities,

Leading to outbreaks Of the gruesome disease.

The unit also experimented With chemical weapons.

But when marine biologist Eric hovland

Examines the footage, He notices

That the foam had expanded To over 8,000 square feet,

Which leads him to believe That the strange occurrence

Could be part of A terrifying modern problem.

Hovland: within 20 minutes, That foam had expanded.

this could be some kind of Toxic foam buildup spill.

Narrator: but if this is toxic, The blame may lie

Not with japanese fascism But chinese manufacturing.

Communist china has A frightening track record

Of environmental disasters.

In the past 20 years, Well over 1,000 people in china

Are known to have died Or suffered injuries

As a result of chemical Explosions at factories here.

And the government has had to Evacuate many local residents

Following factories Illegally dumping poisonous

And hazardous waste Into china's rivers.

There have been a lot of toxic Chemical spills in china.

Narrator: In 2005, a series of explosions

Took place At a petrochemical plant

In the city of jilin In north east china.

Over 100 tons of the lethal Chemical benzene

Seeped into The surrounding river.

Washington: benzene is a highly Toxic chemical,

Not only to humans, But to everything around it.

So you want to avoid it At all costs.

Even an amount as small As a teaspoon of benzene

Is lethal to humans.

Narrator: Following the catastrophe, the Local government had to evacuate

Over 10,000 people,

As well as cut the water supply To 3.8 million residents,

Depriving a city larger Than chicago of any way to wash,

Cook, or clean.

Hovland: if what we're looking At here is a toxic spill,

This is seriously bad news.

♪♪

Narrator: But geophysicist sian proctor Discovers a possible

Engineering disaster

Just below the point In the river

Where the frothing occurred.

Proctor: The plans do show something else That's really intriguing.

I can see that a new subway Tunnel is being constructed

that goes under the river Right at that location.

Narrator: the bubbles rising up Through the river

Raise the suspicion That explosive gas

Is leaking into the water

As a result Of the subway construction.

When organic material Gets into a river,

It settles on the riverbed and Decomposes, forming methane gas.

during the construction Of the tunnel,

you need to add chemicals And lubricants to the machinery.

when the lubricants combine With the methane gas,

reactions occur and it all comes Bubbling to the surface.

narrator: but this froth is Huge, leading proctor to wonder

if the chinese government Has been entirely honest

about the severity Of the incident.

this could have ended In a really deadly situation.