Original subtitles

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: Worldwide, over 27 billion Cameras are watching us --

On our street, 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 analysis Of these unusual events.

Now, That's an explosion.

[ 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, "Apocalypse now" On a busy highway...

What is going on? That's a wall of fire.

[ siren wails ]

Narrator: ...A weird blob In the heart of the amazon...

We don't know of anything that Big that lives in the jungle.

Narrator: ...And is this a video call From beyond the grave?

You just want to scream at her, "Turn around!"

Narrator: bizarre phenomenon.

Whoa.

Narrator: Mysteries caught on camera.

What is the truth behind This strange evidence?

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

captions paid for by Discovery communications

Now, a family road trip On the highway to hell.

[ indistinct talking ]

[ woman crying ]

[ baby crying ]

Sheets of flames Chase the family

As they desperately Back up to escape.

Holy moly. That's brutal.

That is a nightmare.

Holmes: you see a wall of fire, Like a line of fire,

And, I don't know, You kind of --

You naturally think of something From "Apocalypse now."

This almost looks like A war zone.

Narrator: what turns a highway Into a blast zone?

It's kind of like A napalm attack.

♪♪

Narrator: The beijing-harbin highway,

A 795-mile road linking

The ancient chinese capital Formerly known as peking

To harbin,

The largest city In northeast china,

Known as the ice city for its Winter ice and snow festival.

February 2018.

A family are driving down The beijing-harbin highway

When traffic slows up ahead.

[ conversing In foreign language ]

One of the cars in front Is trying to turn around.

Then...

[ conversing continues ]

[ woman crying ]

[ baby crying ]

♪♪

♪♪

holy moly. That's brutal.

that is a nightmare.

at first glance, I mean, if You've seen "Game of thrones,"

this looks like a dragon attack.

There's just a line of fire That develops around these cars

And goes down the highway.

A modern equivalent, maybe, To think of

Is something like A napalm attack.

Narrator: material scientist Doug holmes studies the footage

And is reminded Of scenes from vietnam.

you see a wall of fire, Like a line of fire,

and, I don't know, You kind of --

you naturally think of something From "Apocalypse now."

Narrator: napalm burns Are so excruciating

That people have died From the pain alone.

It's a highly flammable Sticky gel

That combined with gasoline To create an incendiary device.

♪♪

[ conversing In foreign language ]

Whatever we're seeing ignite In the video

Causing this ferocious fire

And the speed with which It spreads

Is clearly A highly-flammable concoction.

♪♪

Neuropsychologist kiki sanford

Considers if the swerving blue Car is the source of the blast.

the car in the right-hand lane Is driving very strangely.

it's turning but not Completely backing up,

Making strange decisions.

I wonder what could be going on With the driver of that car.

Narrator: Carbon monoxide is odorless.

If this car is filling up With this lethal gas,

The driver wouldn't even know.

Carbon monoxide reduces the Amount of oxygen in the brain,

Which may have disoriented The driver, making him dizzy.

Most people are aware that Carbon monoxide is dangerous.

It can make you pass out, Maybe even kill you.

Narrator: Within minutes of exposure

To this highly-dangerous gas,

It starts to poison the body.

Maybe the driver Was starting to experience

Neurological effects Of a buildup of carbon monoxide

And was going to get out of The vehicle when it was too late

And it burst up into flames.

Narrator: But could the carbon monoxide Have caused the explosion?

Holmes: If this is simply an explosion Coming from the car --

I mean, cars are producing a gas That is explosive,

Something like carbon monoxide.

Narrator: in 2018, On manhattan's upper west side,

An entire gym was destroyed By a carbon monoxide explosion

After a spark Ignited a gas leak.

The intensity of the blast Shook buildings

And shattered windows Up and down broadway.

But though carbon monoxide Can be explosive,

The flames on the freeway Extend over 1,000 feet,

Far too much to have been fueled

from the cabin and fuel tank Of one single car.

kiki sanford zooms in On the video

and spots something barely Visible in the background.

it looks like a tanker, Its cab turned on its side.

If this is a tanker up ahead In the video,

It suggests to me

That it could be the source Of some flammable liquid

That would only need a spark To explode.

Narrator: Could a spill from this truck Have been ignited

By a spark from the blue car Driving over it?

Ballistics and explosives expert Matt kutcher

Has spent over 25 years

Spearheading Hollywood special effects.

He wants to find out If an unseen spill

From the stranded oil tanker Could be ignited

Simply by a spark From the car driving over it.

the spark could be anything From a faulty electric circuit

to, actually, the ignition That makes the car work.

Well, gentlemen, We have another experiment.

So there's this video I saw. It's this massive inferno,

This wall of fire.

So we're going to Need a few things

To kind of get this experiment

Off the ground.

We're gonna need fuel To simulate the spill.

We're gonna need a spark And something on wheels.

Narrator: matt uses A gasoline-powered lawnmower

To stand in for the blue car In the footage.

And see if we can't get the fuel That was on the ground

To ignite.

Finally, the fuel spill Is reconstructed on the ground,

And the team runs for cover.

All right, guys, Let's get back. Come on.

♪♪

-coming up... -all right, here we go.

Narrator: ...Is an invisible spill

The source Of the great fire wall of china?

And could a weird blob In the amazon jungle

Prove the existence Of a legendary monster?

Montieth: it is said to be Over seven feet tall,

And sometimes it eats The people that it comes across.

♪♪

[ conversing In foreign language ]

Narrator: in china, A family flee in terror

As a horrific fire wall engulfs The beijing-harbin highway.

[ woman crying ]

Ballistics expert matt kutcher

suspects there may be a hidden Fuel spill in the footage

and wants to discover If a spark from the blue car

Seen swerving Moments before the blast

Could have caused it to ignite.

All right, guys, Let's get back. Come on.

All right, here we go.

The lawnmower is rigged With a flashback

Which will mimic the spark Given off

By a hot engine while driving.

Hit the flashback.

[ explosion ]

♪♪

♪♪

Kutcher: I think most certainly It's the spark

That actually set the fuel off.

Whatever was in that tanker Was very volatile.

It laced the street completely, And off it went, right?

Narrator: The tanker had left an almost Mile-long trail of fuel

As it leaked along the road.

All it took was A single spark,

And a horrifying wall of flames Shot up the street.

China's roads are some of The most dangerous in the world.

Over 700 people are killed Every single day.

In 2017, China's 262,000 road fatalities

Make up more than 20% Of the global total.

it's pretty scary to think That you could just be Going down the road,

regular old highway Like you're used to,

And that there could be Chemical vapors of some sort,

Gasoline vapors, Something on the roadway

That, if the wrong thing happens At the wrong time,

You could be in the equivalent Of a war zone.

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: now, in the heart Of the amazon rainforest,

Locals discover A weird giant blob.

We don't know of anything that Big that lives in the jungle.

It looks like It doesn't belong there.

Gray, decomposing.

That looks scary.

Narrator: locals believe This could be proof

Of a monster they think Stalks the rainforest.

In legend, it has this gaping, Stinking hole in its belly

That's used to consume humans.

♪♪

Narrator: the amazon jungle.

This vast rainforest covers 2.3 million square miles,

A dense, damp forest over Eight times the size of texas.

It's home to the world's richest And most varied biological pool,

Containing over One million species.

Scientists are convinced

That there are many other Forms of life

Yet to be discovered here.

But they weren't expecting To stumble upon this.

February 2019.

In the rainforest, A huge horde of vultures

Are seen circling over a spot On the jungle floor below.

imagine you're in The brazilian rainforest

and you see circling above you Vultures -- lots of vultures.

that is an immediate indicator That something nearby has died.

narrator: there is, indeed, A carcass below,

but it's no ordinary dead body.

♪♪

this is one of the weirdest Things I've ever seen.

It's unclear what it is.

This had to have been alive At some point,

Because vultures exclusively Feed on dead carcasses.

Narrator: what's incredible Is both the shape and the size.

At 36 feet in length, It is longer than a school bus.

we don't know of anything that Big that lives in the jungle.

Narrator: Biologist danni washington

Analyzes the bizarre blob In the footage.

If you zoom in, you can see that There are these grooves In the flesh,

And that, to me, marks A humpback whale.

This whale should be 4,000 miles away in antarctica.

Narrator: They migrate to breeding grounds Off the coast of brazil

Between june and november, Not february.

The real question is,

What is a humpback whale Doing in the amazon?

This fleshy creature, Whatever it is,

Got here somehow.

But -- but how?

Narrator: Further analysis confirms

That this is the carcass Of an adolescent whale

Marooned in the middle Of the jungle.

The amazonian tribespeople here Have never seen a whale

Or even a picture of a whale.

There's only one creature Locals can think of

That's powerful enough To pull a whale into the jungle.

there's a legend of A huge monster in the amazon

called the mapinguari.

[ creature growls ]

Narrator: The mapinguari is said to Be the size of an elephant...

But covered in fur.

It's believed to be fast-moving

And has huge talons On its front paws.

Amazonian tribespeople Are terrified of this creature

And tell fantastical stories Of its ravenous appetite.

In legend, it has this gaping, Stinking hole in its belly

That's used to consume humans.

[ creature growls ]

Narrator: locals believe

That one or more Of these legendary beasts

Might just be powerful enough

To drag a young whale Into the jungle from the coast

Or from the mighty amazon river, Which stretches 4,000 miles,

Penetrating deep Into the jungle.

Descriptions of This legendary monster vary,

But some correspond to A prehistoric giant mammal

Called megatherium,

Whose huge bones have been found All over south america.

It reaches up to 20 feet long

And has huge claws At the end of each arm.

Paleontologists once thought This monster had died out

At the same time As the woolly rhino,

10,000 years ago.

But an incredible discovery

Finds the latest remains Of this giant beast

Dating back to the time Of the pyramids.

The megatherium Has walked the earth

Far more recently Than previously thought.

Some people believe That stories of mapinguari

Prove it still lives today.

Montieth: could it be That this giant sloth

Came out of its secret cave?

♪♪

Narrator: coming up, Could some extreme natural event

Have flung this whale Into the rainforest?

You get these Biblical-type stories

Of fish raining down From the heavens,

And these are actually possible.

Narrator: and has a killer clown Staged a home invasion?

you just want to scream at her, "Turn around!"

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: the rotting carcass Of a humpback whale

Inexplicably winds up

In the middle Of the brazilian rainforest.

Storm chaser george kourounis

Considers if the whale Literally fell from the sky.

Kourounis: one of the weirdest Things that can happen

when rotating winds And water combine

are waterspouts.

♪♪

Narrator: these immensely Powerful aquatic tornadoes

Form over the ocean,

Causing devastation When they make landfall.

To see a waterspout,

This sinewy, wispy, Ghostlike apparition

But yet has so much power,

They're just fascinating To behold.

Narrator: a terrifying Tornadic waterspout is created

From what meteorologists call A mesocyclone,

Or a supercell thunderstorm.

It is rare but deadly.

The rotating column of water Creates a powerful vortex,

Sucking up Everything it touches.

People talk of waterspouts

Lifting frogs, fish Up into the air,

And then you get these Biblical-type stories

Of fish raining down From the heavens,

And these are actually possible.

Narrator: According to historic reports,

These ocean super tornadoes

Can suck up objects Of gigantic size.

Valletta, malta, 1551.

A tornadic waterspout Moves over a harbor

In which an armada of 1,000-ton warships are moored.

Great chunks of the ships And their crews are sucked up.

More than 600 men Are carried off,

Only to be smashed To the ground elsewhere.

Creatures and other objects Sucked into the tornadic funnel

Fly around like clothes In a dryer,

Trapped in the walls Of the watery vortex.

And when the force Of the tornado wanes,

The contents are deposited Often hundreds of miles away.

[ thunder crashes ]

Storm chaser george kourounis Has seen such monsters himself.

I've witnessed The largest tornado

That was ever documented.

It was 2.6 miles wide.

This thing was a monster.

It's too big to outrun And too strong to ride out.

So it is totally conceivable That something big

Could have been picked up By a tornado here in brazil.

And they do get tornadoes In brazil.

Narrator: Volatile winds can carry away Homes and trucks,

Can suck bridges and buildings From their foundations,

Objects much heavier Than a juvenile whale.

[ wind howling ]

And when the tornado weakens,

These objects fall from The skies from a great height.

I have seen what has happened To cows that have been flying.

Meteorologist chris walcek Analyzes the weather reports

For the time This footage was filmed

And finds evidence To support the theory.

there were storms in the area Before they shot this video.

To pick up a whale And lift it this distance

Would require Hundreds-of-miles-an-hour wind.

Narrator: There's no conclusive proof

That this whale is brought here By a mega-storm.

But even veteran storm chaser George kourounis

Wouldn't have wanted To have been around to find out.

As someone that's been chasing Tornadoes for over two decades,

I'm trying to envision In my mind

The reaction that I would have

If I were to look up At the storm

And see a whale coming at me.

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: Now, in an american suburb,

A woman video calls To her friend...

[ sighs heavily ]

...When something appears Behind her.

You know?

Wait. Did -- Did you see that?!

But...

Narrator: unknown to her, She is not alone.

And one that's --

The thing that's creepy About this thing

Is it's recognizably human.

Narrator: or is it?

It seems humanlike in form,

And yet it does not Look quite human.

You just want to scream at her, "Turn around!"

♪♪

Narrator: Yakima city, washington.

With a population Of less than 100,000,

This close-knit community Sits alone

In the middle Of the yakima valley.

Christmas 2018.

47-year-old mother of four Lori simmons

Is complaining to her friend Shana about her bad back.

I'm gonna go and look For another bed today.

Like, maybe a daybed Or something.

I mean, I have that credit card. I'm not going to buy Anything expensive.

I'll try, like, Salvation army.

Suddenly, a figure Appears behind her.

You know?

I definitely...

It seems to move quickly Around her living room

As lori continues to speak.

Because it's killing me.

The figure moves Into the doorway

And disappears Before the call finishes.

Because, um...

Lori continues chatting,

Totally oblivious To her bizarre home intruder.

Experts are baffled by the Recorded footage of the call.

the peculiar thing About this figure

is that it isn't Moving intentionally

from one place to another.

it seems more to be lurking.

narrator: could the apparition Simply be lori's shadow?

former nypd image analyst Conor mccourt thinks not.

mccourt: something doesn't Really add up here.

the shadow isn't projected Onto a solid surface.

it seems to be floating In midair.

this is not possible Because the light source

is behind the shadow,

so we have to discount this.

♪♪

narrator: biologist greg szulgit Studies local police records

and wonders whether this could Be a case of home invasion.

yakima county actually has

around twice the typical rate Of home burglaries.

so, she's living in A home-intrusion hot spot.

narrator: There have been bizarre examples

of intruders who do not Merely rob and then flee.

a man in new york actually found That there was a woman

living in his cupboard In his apartment for weeks.

And he noticed that food Had been going missing.

So he set up a camera, And he caught this person

Creeping around in his flat In the night.

So, these things do happen.

Narrator: intruders will Sometimes enter a property,

Even if the homeowner Is present.

Known as hot prowling,

The assailant normally has A violent or sinister motive.

In 2016, there was a couple In chicago

Who had a home surveillance System already.

What they saw horrified them.

At 3:30 in the morning, when They were asleep on the couch,

A figure appears At the top of the stairs.

[ floorboard creaks ]

It's unsettling Because you don't know

What could have happened Had you awoke.

You don't know if this person Would have simply fled

Or become violent.

Narrator: coming up, Does the intruder's outfit

Point to A blood-thirsty prankster?

But why lori? Why her house?

Narrator: and has a traveler Found a mutant

On a pacific island?

I have never seen anything Like this before.

That is disgusting.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: in a suburban home In yakima, washington,

Lori simmons is being watched By a sinister, uninvited guest

As she makes a video call.

I went and bought Decaf coffee.

but this figure doesn't look Quite like a burglar.

in fact, It doesn't look fully human.

its head seems too big, Its shoulders too narrow.

science writer Athena brensberger

considers if this is some kind Of costume or disguise.

there was this global craze Called killer clowns.

people were dressing up In demonic clown costumes

and then scaring people Or even killing them.

[ evil laughter ]

narrator: In 2016, the craze comes to Lori's hometown of yakima.

one of the things Some of these clowns would do

is go right up To people's doorbell cameras

And peer in To add an extra level of spook.

Is this an example of someone Trying to be caught on camera

To add an extra layer Of scariness to it?

Narrator: Parents in yakima are terrified,

As children appear To be the main target.

This craze was so big in yakima

That schools Were actually closed down.

Narrator: one notorious Early killing clown

Is the terrifying pogo.

Cook county, illinois, 1978.

Police have a search warrant For 8213 west summerdale avenue,

An ordinary suburban house.

They're investigating The disappearance

Of 15-year-old robert piest.

The last person believed To have seen him alive

Is children's party entertainer Pogo the clown,

Real name john wayne gacy.

When they search gacy's house,

They're horrified By what they discover.

The decomposing bodies Of 29 boys and young men

Were found under the house.

The smile is finally wiped From pogo's face 16 years later,

When he's executed By lethal injection.

♪♪

But the killer, Or creepy clown, craze

Has continued to spread.

So, is this the work Of one of these killer clowns

Trying to pull off The ultimate prank?

But why lori? Why her house?

Narrator: the figure Caught in this footage

May be a so-called killer clown,

But they've never returned To lori simmons' house

and hasn't been seen In the area since.

Your home is a place You think of as your sanctuary,

Your safety zone.

And so, the possibilities Run through your head afterward

Of what might this Have turned into.

[ camera whirs ]

Narrator: now, in taiwan, A truly weird creature

Is found and filmed In the undergrowth.

I have never seen anything Like this before.

That is disgusting.

Doesn't look like any sort Of land-dwelling creature

I've ever seen before.

Narrator: that's because This is a real-life zombie.

When we think of a zombie, We think of the undead,

Something that's Come back to life

And is completely powered By something else.

You know what?

Zombies are all over The animal kingdom.

♪♪

Narrator: changhua, On the pacific island of taiwan.

August 2019.

Tourist lin ruian Is hiking in the hills

When he's horrified By something on the ground.

♪♪

In disbelief, he pokes it To check if it's real,

Then takes a video of this Alien-like creature as proof.

oh, looks like something Out of a tim burton movie.

narrator: Its eyestalks are green, red, And white, like candy cane,

and they are strobing Horrifically.

it's pulsing, and there are These strange colors.

I have never seen anything Like this before.

that is disgusting.

♪♪

narrator: Biologist leslie samuel Analyzes the footage

and confirms it is a snail.

but it's like no other snail He's seen before.

the only explanation here Is that

nature has got something Very, very wrong.

narrator: could this be Some type of mutant?

horrifically malformed creatures Are found throughout nature.

there was a disturbing story Where people found

a three-headed, six-legged frog.

The frog was still alive,

And all of its heads Functioned independently.

Narrator: man's impact on The world's delicate ecosystem

Could be to blame.

Kays: if it was pollution, Chemicals in the river

Could have Altered the frog's dna

When it was A developing tadpole,

Resulting in this Three-headed monster.

Narrator: When biologist greg szulgit Studies the footage,

He thinks the horrific Strobing psychedelic effect

Could be evidence Not of a mutation,

But of a parasite,

One which has captured This entire snail

And turned it into a zombie.

we know that parasites Have evolved to do this

with their hosts In many different ways.

Can you imagine What it would be like

To have some kind of Parasitic creature

Slowly take over Your entire body

So that you become a shell,

A zombie under Somebody else's control?

This is the stuff of nightmares.

Narrator: Zombies are often considered To be mythical monsters,

But biologists know That they are very real.

Bondar: When we think of a zombie, We think of the undead,

Something that's Come back to life

And is completely powered By something else.

You know what?

Zombies are all over The animal kingdom.

♪♪

Narrator: coming up,

This zombie is subject To a hostile takeover.

Being parasitized, Getting your mind taken over,

Can you imagine This kind of existence?

Narrator: And the frozen glaciers Of antarctica

Give up a bloody secret.

Who knows what's locked away Underneath?

♪♪

Narrator: On the island of taiwan,

A traveler films A horrific sight,

A possessed snail That has become a zombie.

Studying the footage,

Marine biologist Danni washington thinks

She knows The zombie-making parasite

That's taken over This unfortunate creature.

there are some clues In this video

that leads me to believe That this snail has been

impacted by The leucochloridium parasite.

Narrator: The snail eats the parasite eggs

And they hatch near its liver Before growing into a strange,

Mouthless blob that Sucks nutrients from its host.

But this parasite's disgusting Life cycle has only just begun.

When the time comes, It needs to reproduce.

It can only do so inside The stomach of a bird.

The leucochloridium parasite Eventually needs

To leave its host.

So it grows tentacles into The eye stalks of the snail.

And then eventually larvae Will begin to grow,

Which is what we're seeing here In this video

As they dance Along the eye stalk.

narrator: the psychedelic larvae Control the snail's brain,

forcing it to climb up plants Where birds are attracted

to the pulsating eye stalks Like living candy cane.

At some point, birds may come Over and eat the eye stalks,

Taking away the parasite From the snail.

Narrator: then, horrifically, The eyes grow back.

But it's not free Of the parasite yet.

The snail is trapped In an endless cycle

Of having its eyes possessed And eaten and possessed again.

We can only hope and pray

This parasite Does not mutate itself

And shift Its attention to humans.

Kays: can you imagine this kind Of existence,

being parasitized, Getting your mind taken over,

getting attacked by giant birds That peck out your eyeballs

Only to go back down To the ground

And have it all happen again?

♪♪

Narrator: in antarctica, a scene That makes the blood run cold.

It's like something Terrible's happened here.

It's -- it looks like it's -- It's almost oozing blood.

Narrator: what has made The white continent run red?

It's kind of seeping out Of the ice.

Looks really gory.

Narrator: is a world Thought to be dead

About to unleash An ancient terror?

They could be a ticking time Bomb in many ways.

♪♪

Narrator: antarctica --

A continent over 5 million Square miles

Almost completely Covered by ice,

Except here in The mcmurdo dry valleys.

Here, there is no snow Because the humidity is low

And the surrounding mountains Block seaward-flowing ice

From the east antarctic Ice sheet.

With the temperature Dropping as low

As negative 58 degrees Fahrenheit,

It's one of the coldest Places in antarctica.

January 2019.

Research scientist john priscu Is a principal investigator

In the mcmurdo valleys.

On a routine research trip Gathering samples,

He comes across a weird sight.

Here, nature has only Two colors -- brown and white.

But this is red...

And it's moving.

it looks like A waterfall of blood.

This bright red against The very white background

Of the snow, it's very creepy.

Narrator: scientists call This place blood falls.

that is so weird.

why does the ice look Like it's bleeding?

potvin: looks really gory.

it's kind of seeping Out of the ice.

Narrator: author mallie fox Looks at the footage.

She considers A gruesome possibility.

the most horrifying explanation Is the most obvious one.

could it be blood actually Coming out of this glacier?

Narrator: steve potvin has Studied cases of ancient bodies

Preserved in frigid wastelands.

Scientists have actually Found bodies from animals

In these places that are tens Of thousands of years old.

And when they defrost them, The blood actually melts.

And then you get this Liquid blood that's just been

Sitting there for thousands And thousands of years.

Narrator: april 2019.

The frozen body Of an extinct lena horse

Is found in eastern siberia.

Scientists are able To defrost it.

This thing was so well preserved That its blood was still liquid.

Narrator: after 42,000 years Entombed in ice,

Its blood is so fresh That scientists try cloning it.

I don't know about you, But when I have something

In my freezer for a few months, It often goes off.

So 42,000 years In what's essentially

The world's biggest freezer Is pretty impressive.

♪♪

Narrator: Could living creatures

In the melting red ice Threaten all human life?

We don't have the medicines To combat those things.

Narrator: Research scientist john priscu

Has filmed a blood-red waterfall

In the middle Of the mcmurdo valleys.

When biologist karen bondar Sees the footage,

She thinks the red color might Be evidence of something alive.

Bondar: so I did some uncovering And I found reports

of red-colored snow

in several places In the arctic and antarctica.

It may be due to the coloration Or pigments

That come From a specific kind of algae.

what this algae needs Is a small amount of fresh water

and loads of sunlight.

So usually it's dormant In the winter

And then it blooms In the summer.

We mostly think of algae As being green,

But there are actually Red and brown algae as well,

Giving them the entire spectrum Of pigmentation.

Narrator: but there is a problem With this theory.

Algae needs plenty of light To bloom

And this liquid was emerging From deep under the ice --

A dark and frigid place.

It's coming From within the glacier.

It's not coming where The light is beaming down on it.

It's coming from underneath.

So it can't possibly Be the algae.

Narrator: the water trapped Under this glacier

Comes from the miocene period.

It's been trapped For nearly 2 million years

Without air or sunlight.

Any life that it once had in it Should have died out long ago.

But when scientists Take samples,

They are shocked to find it Is teeming with life --

At least 17 kinds of creatures That shouldn't exist.

These dangerous microbes Are called extremophiles.

They are weird organisms Able to survive

By using chemosynthesis.

They turn the iron In the water into energy.

And that's what is giving The glacier

Its blood-red color As it leaks out.

The worry is what else Is escaping?

Sanford: bacteria that have been Frozen for millennia

Are suddenly Coming back to life.

maybe they're also coming Back with ancient diseases

that could be unleashed On humanity.

we don't have the medicines To combat those things.

Narrator: humans and bacteria

Are locked In a biological arms race.

The bugs and viruses We live alongside

Have been attacking us.

As they evolve,

We build up new immunities And resist

All but the most Devastating infections.

Most are fended off.

The great danger lies In bacteria

That human bodies Have never encountered before.

There are dangers lurking Under the ice,

Pathogens that were born tens Of thousands of years ago

And have been laying preserved Until that ice melts.

Some of those diseases

Could really come back To haunt us.

In areas where you have ice

Or permafrost or Preserved bacteria,

Some of which we may never Have even encountered before,

Those have potential threats To our own immune systems today.

Narrator: in 541 a.D.,

The bubonic plague Spread across europe.

It killed up to a quarter Of the population

Of the eastern mediterranean.

their bodies have never Encountered a virus

like this before.

10,000 people a day died.

could the organisms

in the rapidly melting Blood-red glacier

present A similar terrible threat,

but this time on a global scale?

as they're thawed out,

they could be carried out To sea,

where they could interact With all sorts of things.

who knows what'll happen?