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An abandoned seaside villa
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with a deadly reputation.
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A nuclear wasteland unfit for human life.
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And a tropical retreat
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that was once home to a witches' coven.
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Our planet is covered with
islands of all shapes and sizes.
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But all across the globe,
there are ominous islands
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that are tainted with dark histories,
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mysterious curses,
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and unspeakable tragedies.
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While their stories may vary,
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these places all conjure
a similar sense of dread.
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Could it be that evil forces
or even unholy entities
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are what create these...
Islands of the damned?
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Well, that is what we'll try and find out.
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This residential quarter in south Naples
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dates back to ancient Greece and Rome.
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2,000 years ago, this hillside district
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was once a vacation destination
for wealthy Roman nobles.
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And today, it's just as prestigious.
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It's home to some of the
city's wealthiest residents
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and its most opulent villas.
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But among them is a
desolate, abandoned mansion
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that sits just off the coastline,
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on a jagged outcropping
called gaiola island.
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Gaiola island is unlike most areas.
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It sticks out as a strange island,
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right off the coast of Naples.
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It's basically the size of a small estate.
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Just a house and yard, really.
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And it's just contained on
these two outcroppings of rock.
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You can see it right from the beach.
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So you can get close to this,
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but it's been abandoned for decades.
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Located just a short
100-foot swim from shore,
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gaiola island's a tempting location
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for curious beachgoers to explore.
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But don't be fooled.
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According to local legend,
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it's best to stay well away,
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because many believe
this long-abandoned island
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has been damned by a deadly curse.
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Locals are terrified of this island.
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Everyone who's owned this property,
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whether they were on the island or not,
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some type of tragedy
occurred in their lives.
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Whether it was losing a
fortune or losing a family member
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or going insane.
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Whoever owned this island,
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nothing but tragedy followed.
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Gaiola island's forbidding
reputation began
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in the late 19th century,
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when a successful local businessman
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decided to build there.
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The first owner of the
island was Luigi negri.
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He's the one that built
the villa on the island
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that is still there today but is abandoned.
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He built it and then
immediately went bankrupt.
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It's not strange for a
businessman to go bankrupt.
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But in this case, it was a precursor
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to a series of misfortunes
that got worse and worse
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over the course of the 20th century.
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While gaiola island may
or may not be responsible
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for Luigi negri's financial collapse,
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others who dared to make
the isolated property their home
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would suffer far worse consequences.
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Another owner of the island
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is hans braun, a businessman.
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As soon as he takes up
residence on the island,
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his luck turns.
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His body's found wrapped in a rug.
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He's died under
mysterious circumstances.
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Soon after that, his wife
falls off the island and drowns.
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It was at this point where
people started thinking
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there's something more going on here.
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Something supernatural.
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A string of tragedies
would continue to unravel
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on gaiola island.
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German perfume dealer Otto grunback
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suffered a fatal heart attack
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shortly after purchasing the property.
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And madness and suicide put an end
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to owner Maurice-yves sandoz,
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a Swiss pharmaceutical industrialist.
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Even gaiola's most famous proprietor,
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American oil tycoon Jean Paul getty,
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could not escape speculation
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that the cursed island played a hand
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in troubling events that
surrounded his family.
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Jean Paul getty owned this island.
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00:05:00,540 --> 00:05:02,950
And of course, his
fortunes are legendary,
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but so are his misfortunes.
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Jean Paul getty's son commits suicide.
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He has a younger son, at 12,
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that contracts a fatal brain tumor.
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And then, of course, there's the
infamous case of his grandson,
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John Paul getty III.
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John Paul getty III was
kidnapped by the Italian mafia
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and then, over the course of
the negotiations for his freedom,
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had his ear cut off.
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Eventually, he was freed
for a little over $2 million.
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But he would go on to suffer
the effects of that kidnapping
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for the rest of his life
until a string of addictions
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caused him to become a quadriplegic.
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Could gaiola island really have the power
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to doom the lives of
those who call it home?
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And if there is an evil energy
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imbued in the exclusive property,
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just where did it come from?
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While it's impossible to say for sure,
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some attribute it to an old
hermit called "the wizard"
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who was rumored to once reside there.
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But others believe
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the curse began more
than 2,000 years ago,
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in the first century bc,
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when gaiola island was
attached to the mainland
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and part of a magnificent estate
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that belonged to a cruel Roman politician
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named publius vedius pollio.
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Publius vedius pollio was
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a member of the cavalry
and the Roman army.
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And he adopted this area,
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this gorgeous posillipo area, for his own.
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He had a 2,000-seat theater
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and constructed an incredible villa
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with gardens, fountains, sculptures,
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and a spa complex.
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Now, interestingly, pollio
came from modest roots.
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He was of slave stock himself.
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And one would think
this might make him
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rather generously
disposed to his own slaves.
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But by all accounts,
that was not the case.
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He owned many slaves, and
he treated them very poorly.
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And in fact, whenever
a slave displeased him,
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the story goes that he fed them
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to a pool of moray eels
that he kept on the property.
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Pollio was a friend of emperor Augustus,
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which certainly helped
his rise through the ranks.
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Well, one day,
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Augustus is visiting
pollio at one of his villas,
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and a slave is pouring
wine in these crystal goblets.
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The slave spills the wine.
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The goblet crashes to
the ground and breaks.
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Pollio grabs the slave
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and goes to drag him
to this pit of moray eels,
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where he's to be devoured alive.
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The slave scrambles away,
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throws himself at the feet of the emperor
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and is begging. And pollio says,
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00:08:05,501 --> 00:08:08,449
"you can't beg for your life
from the emperor. You're mine."
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Augustus does not like this.
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He breaks every crystal
goblet in the entire house.
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Soon after that,
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Augustus took the villa
and razed it to the ground.
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And local legend has it that he cursed it.
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And ever since then,
there is a negative energy
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that has certainly permeated the culture
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and the minds of the
people that lived there.
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A century after Augustus
destroyed pollio's estate,
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a massive earthquake leveled
a large section of the property,
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causing it to collapse into the sea,
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forever separating gaiola
island from the mainland.
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Are the traumatic events experienced
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by the former landowners of gaiola island
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merely coincidence?
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Or is the rocky
outcropping actually cursed?
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It's hard to say.
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And with its history of epic misfortune,
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it may be a very long time
before someone is brave enough
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to tempt fate and live there once again.
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Once a place is deemed cursed or...
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Has some aura of dread about it,
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it's really hard to get rid of that.
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Even if you move the people away
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or you chase away
the source of the rumors
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or you tear down the buildings
that were supposed to house
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the tragedies that
happened, evil still remains.
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About 500 miles south of gaiola island
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is another, very different
island of the damned,
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an ancient place where some believe
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giants once walked the
earth, ready to grab anyone
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who ventured into their
cursed underground lair.
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Just south of sicily in
the mediterranean sea
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is the island nation of Malta.
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It's famous for its dazzling coastline,
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stunning architecture,
and fascinating history.
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But perhaps most remarkable
are the massive prehistoric
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stone structures that can be
found all around the islands.
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These megalithic
temples of Malta are some
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of the oldest freestanding
structures on earth,
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and legend is... They
were built by giants.
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Maltese temple culture, as it's known
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you legitimately could call their creations
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the greatest engineering
feats of the neolithic world.
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They are put together painstakingly.
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And what remains of the
ruins above ground today
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still towers 20 feet up.
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And this was done 6,000 years ago
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without the benefit of
the wheel or metal tools.
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00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:09,556
It predates stonehenge
and the great pyramids
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by close to a thousand years.
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And according to Maltese legend,
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a giantess called sansuna
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constructed these monumental temples
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so that the local people could worship.
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So when it comes
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to understanding the Maltese temples,
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there are traditions of
giants constructing them.
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These were 40 to 50 to 60-ton blocks
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put together like Jigsaw
pieces in a profound manner.
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This is why many people believe
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00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:43,750
and say they were built by giants.
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00:11:43,870 --> 00:11:46,160
It's intriguing to think
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00:11:46,370 --> 00:11:50,080
that giants may have inhabited
Malta thousands of years ago,
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00:11:50,250 --> 00:11:52,660
leaving behind
enormous stone structures
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that still mystify
archaeologists and engineers.
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00:11:57,660 --> 00:12:00,000
But if the legends are correct,
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00:12:00,001 --> 00:12:02,829
these megalithic builders
were menacing creatures
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00:12:02,830 --> 00:12:06,660
of great strength, who lived underground,
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00:12:06,790 --> 00:12:09,200
in a dark and dangerous world.
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These were very strange,
kind of mythical beings.
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00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,620
They even lived all across the island
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where there were caves
and underground areas.
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It was said to be a place of darkness,
225
00:12:22,580 --> 00:12:24,910
a place of death.
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00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:27,980
Could the islands of Malta be the home
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00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,040
of an ancient race of
treacherous prehistoric giants?
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00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,910
Some experts believe
a chilling clue may lie
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00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,330
within one of Malta's stone structures...
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00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:39,450
Deep underground.
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In the small town of Paola,
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00:12:48,541 --> 00:12:50,369
workers digging the foundation
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00:12:50,370 --> 00:12:53,250
for a new home make
a remarkable discovery.
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00:12:53,410 --> 00:12:57,950
They uncover the entrance to
an ancient underground temple
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extending deep beneath the surface.
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00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:04,910
It's called... the hypogeum.
237
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:06,676
"Hypogeum" means
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00:13:06,700 --> 00:13:09,330
literally "underground" in Greek.
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00:13:10,370 --> 00:13:14,200
It's an astonishing
underground complex of halls,
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00:13:14,370 --> 00:13:16,040
corridors and passageways
241
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,040
hollowed out from limestone rock,
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00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,160
seemingly built beginning
with natural caves.
243
00:13:23,370 --> 00:13:26,660
And what archaeologists
discovered there
244
00:13:26,870 --> 00:13:28,870
astonished them.
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00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,580
It consisted of a number
of burial chambers.
246
00:13:31,750 --> 00:13:35,700
About 6,000 people are
thought to have been buried there.
247
00:13:35,870 --> 00:13:37,670
There's really nothing else like it
248
00:13:37,750 --> 00:13:39,370
in the world that we know about.
249
00:13:39,371 --> 00:13:42,499
People have suggested
it may have been a tomb,
250
00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:44,250
but no one really knows.
251
00:13:44,410 --> 00:13:47,870
The hypogeum's got
this weird energy about it.
252
00:13:47,871 --> 00:13:50,909
And this could be why we hear
all these very strange stories
253
00:13:50,910 --> 00:13:53,200
associated with this place.
254
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:56,700
While some believe
255
00:13:56,870 --> 00:13:59,450
the hypogeum is simply
an underground cemetery,
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00:13:59,580 --> 00:14:03,580
a number of disturbing
incidents have been reported here.
257
00:14:04,870 --> 00:14:08,330
And perhaps the most
shocking is a firsthand account
258
00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:12,120
published in the journal
of borderland research.
259
00:14:12,250 --> 00:14:17,000
In it, thrill-seeker Lois jessop
recounts a disturbing encounter
260
00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,000
she had while exploring the dark depths
261
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,200
of the hypogeum in the 1930s.
262
00:14:25,370 --> 00:14:27,830
Very strange story is that
263
00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:30,040
of a British woman called Lois jessop
264
00:14:30,041 --> 00:14:32,039
who actually worked
for the British consulate.
265
00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,580
And she went down
there with a private guide.
266
00:14:35,620 --> 00:14:39,290
She wanted to go further
than you were allowed to go.
267
00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:43,500
Lois wants to go down so far
268
00:14:43,660 --> 00:14:45,120
and so dark and so deep
269
00:14:45,290 --> 00:14:47,250
that her tour guide won't go with her.
270
00:14:47,410 --> 00:14:50,950
So what he does is he
ties a rope around her waist,
271
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,120
and she dangles down to a ledge.
272
00:14:55,410 --> 00:14:59,000
All she has to light her way is a candle.
273
00:14:59,001 --> 00:15:02,369
According to jessop's
eyewitness account,
274
00:15:02,370 --> 00:15:05,160
she found herself
overlooking a wide chasm.
275
00:15:05,330 --> 00:15:06,870
And suddenly,
276
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,950
a group of "20 persons of giant stature"
277
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,410
emerged from a cave across the abyss.
278
00:15:14,540 --> 00:15:17,200
She sees men that she describes
279
00:15:17,370 --> 00:15:19,410
as three times the size of normal men.
280
00:15:19,540 --> 00:15:22,200
The candle's blown out.
281
00:15:22,370 --> 00:15:24,410
She tugs the rope,
282
00:15:24,540 --> 00:15:27,500
and they pull her back to the surface.
283
00:15:27,660 --> 00:15:31,450
But what Lois saw could
be evidence of the people,
284
00:15:31,580 --> 00:15:34,950
the creatures that created
those structures on that island.
285
00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,910
Did Lois jessop encounter
286
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,620
the lost giants of Malta somewhere deep
287
00:15:41,790 --> 00:15:43,886
within the island's hypogeum,
288
00:15:43,910 --> 00:15:47,000
or was it something else?
289
00:15:47,001 --> 00:15:49,409
While it's hard to say,
perhaps a clue can be found
290
00:15:49,410 --> 00:15:52,750
by examining the story of
another chilling encounter
291
00:15:52,910 --> 00:15:55,080
in the hypogeum's depths.
292
00:15:55,250 --> 00:15:56,750
One that appears to indicate
293
00:15:56,910 --> 00:15:59,120
that whatever is lurking down there
294
00:15:59,290 --> 00:16:02,910
does not take kindly to strangers.
295
00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,700
Another incredible story
was published most notably
296
00:16:08,910 --> 00:16:11,500
in the national geographic in 1940.
297
00:16:11,620 --> 00:16:14,250
And it recounts a story
298
00:16:14,410 --> 00:16:18,870
of about 30 school children
going out on a school trip,
299
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,290
going into the hypogeum,
but then getting lost
300
00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:25,950
in some of the tunnels
there, never to be seen again.
301
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,750
And it gets weirder because none
of the children were ever found.
302
00:16:31,870 --> 00:16:34,500
But people claimed
they heard the screams
303
00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:37,620
and yells of children all across the island
304
00:16:37,750 --> 00:16:40,750
where there were known
caves and underground areas.
305
00:16:40,910 --> 00:16:43,040
So this suggests
306
00:16:43,041 --> 00:16:45,329
that the hypogeum may
have been an entrance
307
00:16:45,330 --> 00:16:47,370
to an underground network of tunnels,
308
00:16:47,540 --> 00:16:51,370
that stretches all the way
underneath Malta itself.
309
00:16:52,540 --> 00:16:54,000
And to this day,
310
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,160
we don't know what
happened to those kids.
311
00:16:57,330 --> 00:16:59,910
But these stories could suggest
312
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,870
that there is maybe
something more down there,
313
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,830
something that we don't understand.
314
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,040
Maybe something hiding in the darkness.
315
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,090
And whether something is
supernatural or not happening
316
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,830
in the hypogeum, you just get a feeling
317
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,370
there's something bad happening there.
318
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,250
Could the legends of giants
319
00:17:22,370 --> 00:17:25,580
that dwell below the island
of Malta really be true?
320
00:17:25,750 --> 00:17:27,580
Whatever the case may be,
321
00:17:27,750 --> 00:17:30,450
these massive creatures loom large
322
00:17:30,620 --> 00:17:32,750
in local folklore.
323
00:17:32,950 --> 00:17:35,370
But off the coast of venice, Italy,
324
00:17:35,540 --> 00:17:37,250
there are two islands
325
00:17:37,410 --> 00:17:39,700
with very different stories to tell,
326
00:17:39,870 --> 00:17:46,160
tales of plagues, madness
and even... vampires.
327
00:17:51,830 --> 00:17:54,950
Founded in 421 ad,
328
00:17:55,080 --> 00:18:00,200
this ancient port on the
adriatic sea is renowned
329
00:18:00,370 --> 00:18:02,580
for its renaissance architecture,
330
00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:05,040
cobblestone alleyways,
331
00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:08,080
and of course, its world-famous canals.
332
00:18:08,250 --> 00:18:11,160
But among the 118 small islands
333
00:18:11,290 --> 00:18:14,080
that make up this iconic city,
334
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,790
there are a few that have
a much darker mystique.
335
00:18:18,950 --> 00:18:20,870
Because many centuries ago,
336
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,500
several of these venetian islands
337
00:18:23,700 --> 00:18:27,370
would be the grim home to
thousands of people suffering
338
00:18:27,580 --> 00:18:29,830
from the terrifying disease known
339
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,620
as the black death.
340
00:18:32,750 --> 00:18:35,950
Venice is one of the major trading ports
341
00:18:35,951 --> 00:18:37,829
in the middle ages and the renaissance.
342
00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:42,000
And it was disproportionately affected
343
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,000
when black plague
rolled through Europe,
344
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,080
initially in 1348,
345
00:18:47,250 --> 00:18:50,410
killing 50% of the population of venice.
346
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:55,370
They had to quickly get
control of this situation
347
00:18:55,540 --> 00:19:00,330
because diseases were
spreading like wildfire.
348
00:19:00,540 --> 00:19:03,430
Venice was particularly
susceptible to the black death.
349
00:19:03,450 --> 00:19:05,620
They always had ships coming in
350
00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:09,160
laden with strangers and
people coming to their islands.
351
00:19:09,161 --> 00:19:11,949
They were on islands, so
once infection happened,
352
00:19:11,950 --> 00:19:14,056
it was hard to get away from it.
353
00:19:14,057 --> 00:19:16,199
And of course, they
were built on the water
354
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,370
so it was hard to Bury the bodies.
355
00:19:22,281 --> 00:19:25,789
In an attempt to contain the plague,
356
00:19:25,790 --> 00:19:28,329
the government of venice
directed all incoming ships
357
00:19:28,330 --> 00:19:31,000
to dock on a number of
its more remote islands,
358
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,330
where infected passengers
could be isolated.
359
00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:39,660
One of these was known as poveglia.
360
00:19:39,830 --> 00:19:41,250
Poveglia was used
361
00:19:41,370 --> 00:19:44,290
as quarantine island
during the black plagues
362
00:19:44,450 --> 00:19:47,460
that affected venice at
various times throughout history.
363
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,500
So, what happened was, if
you showed signs of sickness,
364
00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:54,750
you would be taken to
poveglia and given 40 days.
365
00:19:54,870 --> 00:19:58,000
And you had two choices...
get better or get dead.
366
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,160
And most people died on poveglia.
367
00:20:00,370 --> 00:20:03,040
Poveglia was one
368
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,700
of the most notorious islands in venice.
369
00:20:07,870 --> 00:20:10,120
And unlike other islands,
370
00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:12,790
where they buried the
dead in mass graves,
371
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,370
on poveglia, they appeared to
have cremated human remains,
372
00:20:17,540 --> 00:20:21,330
and just let the ashes lie where they fell.
373
00:20:21,500 --> 00:20:24,200
To the extent that even today,
374
00:20:24,330 --> 00:20:29,160
it is thought that half
the topsoil is comprised
375
00:20:29,290 --> 00:20:31,660
of human ashes from plague victims.
376
00:20:33,370 --> 00:20:35,620
Historians estimate
377
00:20:35,790 --> 00:20:38,950
that approximately 160,000 people died
378
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,000
on poveglia from the plague.
379
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,120
But the history
380
00:20:43,290 --> 00:20:46,040
of this small island would only get darker
381
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,290
in the centuries to follow.
382
00:20:48,450 --> 00:20:50,500
The cursed history
383
00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:53,210
of poveglia island doesn't
just stop at the plague.
384
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,370
In the late 19th century,
385
00:20:56,500 --> 00:20:59,330
they built a mental asylum on the island.
386
00:20:59,331 --> 00:21:02,329
The purpose of the
mental asylum were various
387
00:21:02,330 --> 00:21:04,250
to care for the elderly, the indigent,
388
00:21:04,290 --> 00:21:05,830
those who needed help,
389
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,580
but according to the legends,
390
00:21:07,790 --> 00:21:12,000
the asylum was run by a
doctor who was sadistic.
391
00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:16,510
He would torture the patients,
he would experiment on them.
392
00:21:17,580 --> 00:21:20,250
He would do these crude
lobotomies with drills,
393
00:21:20,450 --> 00:21:22,700
just to see what would happen.
394
00:21:22,870 --> 00:21:25,830
Some say the inmates,
fed up with all the pain
395
00:21:25,831 --> 00:21:28,079
that they had gone
through as a result of him,
396
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:30,250
pushed him off the bell tower.
397
00:21:31,870 --> 00:21:36,120
So the island itself is a place
of not being wanted, of rumors
398
00:21:36,290 --> 00:21:38,760
and stories that scare
you away from visiting it.
399
00:21:40,370 --> 00:21:43,000
Today, poveglia is abandoned,
400
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,500
and locals claim it's still haunted
401
00:21:46,700 --> 00:21:51,226
by the lingering spirits of
those who suffered there.
402
00:21:51,250 --> 00:21:54,450
Yet, poveglia isn't the only island
403
00:21:54,660 --> 00:21:57,750
in the venice lagoon with a dark past.
404
00:21:58,910 --> 00:22:03,830
During the plague
outbreaks of 1573 and 1630,
405
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,580
two islands north of poveglia
406
00:22:06,750 --> 00:22:09,950
lazzaretto vecchio and lazzaretto nuovo
407
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:14,410
also served as quarantine
stations for the afflicted.
408
00:22:15,410 --> 00:22:19,330
Since 2004, archaeologists
have uncovered
409
00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:22,660
thousands of skeletons on these islands,
410
00:22:22,870 --> 00:22:26,120
including one especially
disturbing discovery
411
00:22:26,290 --> 00:22:28,410
on lazzaretto nuovo
412
00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:32,450
the skull of a 16th-century woman,
413
00:22:32,660 --> 00:22:35,000
whose jaws had been forced open
414
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,330
by a brick jammed in her mouth.
415
00:22:39,410 --> 00:22:41,750
This particular skull was really interesting
416
00:22:41,870 --> 00:22:44,910
because the brick
inside its mouth is actually
417
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,000
from a germanic tradition
418
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,676
that is called "shroud-eaters."
419
00:22:51,700 --> 00:22:55,500
And these are like vampires in a way,
420
00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:58,370
and they spread pestilence and disease.
421
00:22:58,540 --> 00:23:02,660
And the way, the prescribed manner
422
00:23:02,870 --> 00:23:06,450
that you keep this particular
type of vampire down,
423
00:23:06,620 --> 00:23:11,160
is to shove a brick in their mouth,
424
00:23:11,330 --> 00:23:13,870
and that will stop it.
425
00:23:14,870 --> 00:23:17,830
Is it possible that 16th-century venice
426
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,750
was not only being terrorized
by fears of the black death,
427
00:23:21,910 --> 00:23:25,910
but the spread of vampirism, as well?
428
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,450
It's a disturbing notion.
429
00:23:29,790 --> 00:23:32,580
And even today, the legacy of darkness
430
00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:35,160
associated with these
islands of the damned
431
00:23:35,330 --> 00:23:37,830
is so deeply rooted
432
00:23:37,950 --> 00:23:40,330
that people continue to avoid them...
433
00:23:40,540 --> 00:23:42,830
Like the plague.
434
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,540
The fate of the islands today
435
00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:47,660
is kind of astonishing,
436
00:23:47,870 --> 00:23:51,330
given the congestion in venice overall.
437
00:23:51,500 --> 00:23:53,660
They are just completely abandoned,
438
00:23:53,870 --> 00:23:56,790
and people are forbidden
from even setting foot on them.
439
00:23:56,950 --> 00:24:00,160
And looking at it throughout history,
440
00:24:00,330 --> 00:24:03,160
anyone who comes to these islands
441
00:24:03,290 --> 00:24:06,660
is looking at a pretty grim outcome.
442
00:24:06,830 --> 00:24:09,480
While the plague islands
of venice have been vacant
443
00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:11,830
for decades, many believe
444
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,700
that their disturbing
history makes them some
445
00:24:14,870 --> 00:24:18,500
of the most haunted places in the world.
446
00:24:18,660 --> 00:24:23,000
And paranormal powers are
also present in South America,
447
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,660
on another island where
evil sorcerers are said
448
00:24:26,830 --> 00:24:31,330
to inflict harm and misfortune on anyone
449
00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:35,000
who dares to cross their path.
450
00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:41,000
Off the coast of Chile
in the pacific ocean
451
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:45,620
is an archipelago made
up of about 40 islands.
452
00:24:45,790 --> 00:24:48,620
And among them,
there is one large island
453
00:24:48,621 --> 00:24:50,829
that is brimming with frightening tales
454
00:24:50,830 --> 00:24:53,830
of monsters and dark sorcery.
455
00:24:54,790 --> 00:24:57,500
The locals call it "la Isla magic a,"
456
00:24:57,660 --> 00:24:59,726
the magic island.
457
00:24:59,750 --> 00:25:03,160
The world knows it as chilo�.
458
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,240
Chilo� island is this beautiful island,
459
00:25:06,250 --> 00:25:07,790
as far away as you can get
460
00:25:07,791 --> 00:25:09,579
and still be habitable as an island.
461
00:25:09,580 --> 00:25:11,540
So it's no surprise
462
00:25:11,541 --> 00:25:14,409
that a place like chilo� island
would gather all these stories
463
00:25:14,410 --> 00:25:16,620
of magic and the supernatural.
464
00:25:17,660 --> 00:25:19,950
Despite its breathtaking scenery,
465
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:24,200
legends have persisted
that chilo� is overflowing
466
00:25:24,370 --> 00:25:27,016
with dark and dangerous magic.
467
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,000
So much so, that even the ancient inca
468
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,290
the mighty civilization that
once had the largest empire
469
00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:35,516
to ever exist in the Americas,
470
00:25:35,540 --> 00:25:39,676
stretching from Colombia
to southern Chile...
471
00:25:39,700 --> 00:25:43,700
Avoided this island at all costs.
472
00:25:43,701 --> 00:25:45,749
The inca were great conquerors
and great empire builders,
473
00:25:45,750 --> 00:25:46,539
the inca were great conquerors
and great empire builders,
474
00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:48,000
but they viewed this island
475
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,160
as a place where their
own empire ended,
476
00:25:51,330 --> 00:25:53,660
and a strange new world began.
477
00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:59,290
Chilo� island was
occupied from about 600 bce
478
00:25:59,410 --> 00:26:02,040
by a people called the mapuche.
479
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:07,750
Mapuche beliefs were very
much tied into the natural world.
480
00:26:07,870 --> 00:26:11,250
That inanimate objects
possessed spiritual powers
481
00:26:11,410 --> 00:26:13,500
for good or for bad.
482
00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:17,410
They believed in
shape-shifting, magical creatures
483
00:26:17,580 --> 00:26:19,910
who could be helpful to them,
484
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,250
but could just as easily turn on them
485
00:26:22,450 --> 00:26:25,870
and cast spells, even curses.
486
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,660
These supernatural
practices became a subject
487
00:26:29,830 --> 00:26:32,830
of national concern when, in 1880,
488
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,370
a group of chilo� island
mapuche were brought to trial
489
00:26:36,540 --> 00:26:38,830
by Chilean officials.
490
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,580
Their crime? Murder and kidnapping
491
00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:45,290
by use of poison and magic.
492
00:26:45,331 --> 00:26:49,369
The accused were a
group of men who claimed
493
00:26:49,370 --> 00:26:54,000
to be part of a mysterious
secret society of brujos,
494
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,580
or male witches,
495
00:26:56,750 --> 00:27:00,700
known as "the righteous province."
496
00:27:00,870 --> 00:27:03,250
So 1880, in Chile,
497
00:27:03,450 --> 00:27:05,950
a group of male witches or warlocks
498
00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,500
that they called "the righteous province"
499
00:27:08,660 --> 00:27:10,580
constitute what is probably
500
00:27:10,750 --> 00:27:13,500
the last big witch trial in the world.
501
00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:15,250
And it was a weird one.
502
00:27:15,370 --> 00:27:19,660
These people were
on trial for black magic,
503
00:27:19,830 --> 00:27:22,620
and for just generally terrorizing
504
00:27:22,790 --> 00:27:25,910
this small island
community for generations.
505
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:27,750
The righteous province
506
00:27:27,751 --> 00:27:29,909
would do lots of different horrible things,
507
00:27:29,910 --> 00:27:34,450
like extortion, murders,
kidnappings and everything else,
508
00:27:34,660 --> 00:27:36,500
but also, they would kill people
509
00:27:36,700 --> 00:27:39,790
by inflicting magical wounds upon them.
510
00:27:39,950 --> 00:27:42,830
These brujos were
responsible for deaths,
511
00:27:42,950 --> 00:27:45,250
for livestock mutilations.
512
00:27:45,370 --> 00:27:48,580
It was rumored that they
would take young girls,
513
00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:50,830
feed them certain potions
514
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,580
that would make them
turn into large, dark crows.
515
00:27:53,621 --> 00:27:57,749
Those crows would do
the deeds of the brujos,
516
00:27:57,750 --> 00:27:59,539
and then come back
and turn back into girls.
517
00:27:59,540 --> 00:28:02,290
They were people to be feared.
518
00:28:03,910 --> 00:28:06,500
According to the
handwritten trial testimony,
519
00:28:06,700 --> 00:28:09,200
the headquarters of
the righteous province
520
00:28:09,370 --> 00:28:13,160
was located somewhere near
the coastal village of quicavi,
521
00:28:13,370 --> 00:28:18,000
carefully concealed
within a deep, dark cave.
522
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,886
And this cave was guarded
by hideous monsters
523
00:28:21,910 --> 00:28:24,000
that protected the brujos
524
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,000
as they engaged in diabolical rituals
525
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,870
and malevolent magic
against the people of chilo�.
526
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:35,660
One of the beasts that was said
527
00:28:35,830 --> 00:28:37,700
to have protected the cave entrance
528
00:28:37,870 --> 00:28:39,790
was a goat-like being
529
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,160
that had bristles all over its body.
530
00:28:43,370 --> 00:28:46,160
This was said to have
been a human baby at birth
531
00:28:46,290 --> 00:28:48,950
that then got transformed
and manipulated
532
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,660
by magic, torture and sorcery.
533
00:28:52,870 --> 00:28:55,830
It was also said that the other beast
534
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,830
that protected the cave was
this grotesque being, so much so
535
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,200
that the only thing they
fed it was human flesh.
536
00:29:04,410 --> 00:29:07,060
Whether these were real
or not, we really don't know.
537
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,790
But from the accounts that came forth,
538
00:29:09,910 --> 00:29:13,160
it seems like something very
strange was going on here.
539
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,180
Is it really possible that an evil coven
540
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,200
of warlocks terrorized the island of chilo�
541
00:29:19,370 --> 00:29:23,040
from deep inside a cave of dark magic?
542
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,830
The whole truth remains elusive.
543
00:29:27,250 --> 00:29:30,290
Even though we have the
trial transcripts from 1880,
544
00:29:30,291 --> 00:29:32,909
it's very difficult to tease
apart fact and fiction
545
00:29:32,910 --> 00:29:34,620
in this case.
546
00:29:34,830 --> 00:29:37,500
But something clearly was going on.
547
00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:41,580
This brujo society of men
548
00:29:41,750 --> 00:29:45,080
doing bad things was real.
549
00:29:45,250 --> 00:29:47,330
Were the brujos actually warlocks
550
00:29:47,540 --> 00:29:51,830
who had the powers to
change into other animals?
551
00:29:51,950 --> 00:29:54,290
It doesn't really matter, does it?
552
00:29:54,450 --> 00:29:56,080
People believed they did.
553
00:29:56,290 --> 00:30:00,120
And faith is all it takes
for people to fall in line.
554
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,330
The trial against the righteous province
555
00:30:03,450 --> 00:30:05,500
saw many of their leaders imprisoned.
556
00:30:05,660 --> 00:30:09,500
Some were put to
death, shackled to a rock,
557
00:30:09,700 --> 00:30:12,830
and drowned during high tide.
558
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,176
But even today,
superstitious locals believe
559
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,790
that the dark magic
of these evil sorcerers
560
00:30:18,950 --> 00:30:22,080
is still present on chilo� island.
561
00:30:22,250 --> 00:30:24,330
The idea was to control the brujos,
562
00:30:24,331 --> 00:30:26,659
to incarcerate them, to
get them out of the picture,
563
00:30:26,660 --> 00:30:28,000
which they do.
564
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,580
But one of the by-products
565
00:30:30,700 --> 00:30:33,620
of that trial was, all
these details become part
566
00:30:33,790 --> 00:30:35,660
of the lore of the island.
567
00:30:35,830 --> 00:30:37,726
The legend of the brujos continues.
568
00:30:37,727 --> 00:30:39,199
Whether those brujos are still there,
569
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:40,726
nobody really knows,
570
00:30:40,750 --> 00:30:42,830
but belief is what makes curses strong
571
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,160
and what keeps them going.
572
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:47,750
Does a secret sect
573
00:30:47,870 --> 00:30:51,160
of dark wizards still inhabit chilo�?
574
00:30:51,330 --> 00:30:54,450
Well, the local people
certainly believe they do.
575
00:30:54,580 --> 00:30:57,790
But there's another island,
576
00:30:57,950 --> 00:30:59,990
just across the river from New York City,
577
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,910
whose eerie reputation
is not due to evil acts,
578
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:10,160
but rather... The haunting of lost souls.
579
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,080
More than eight million people live,
580
00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:20,370
work and play in this iconic Metropolis,
581
00:31:20,540 --> 00:31:24,200
making it the most populous
city in the United States.
582
00:31:25,540 --> 00:31:28,000
But just off the coast
in long island sound,
583
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:33,160
there's a tiny, 131-acre
outpost known as hart island.
584
00:31:33,330 --> 00:31:36,330
With its pockets of
trees and grassy fields,
585
00:31:36,540 --> 00:31:39,000
hart island would seem to be free
586
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,450
of the hustle and
bustle of the nearby city.
587
00:31:42,620 --> 00:31:45,450
However, appearances can be deceiving.
588
00:31:46,450 --> 00:31:48,580
Because this unassuming strip of land
589
00:31:48,750 --> 00:31:53,330
actually has a larger
population than most small cities.
590
00:31:53,540 --> 00:31:54,950
The only difference is,
591
00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,870
the residents of hart island are all dead.
592
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,330
New York City is
divided into five boroughs.
593
00:32:02,331 --> 00:32:04,079
Only one of those is on the mainland
594
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:05,540
that's the Bronx.
595
00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:09,450
Now, from the Bronx,
you can see a small island.
596
00:32:09,620 --> 00:32:11,330
That is hart island.
597
00:32:11,540 --> 00:32:14,540
If you're a Jane Doe or John
Doe dying in New York City,
598
00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:16,140
you get buried on hart island.
599
00:32:17,540 --> 00:32:20,450
Hart island is the country's
largest Potter's field.
600
00:32:20,580 --> 00:32:24,620
Potter's fields are mass graves
that are anonymous people,
601
00:32:24,621 --> 00:32:26,409
people who were forgotten about,
602
00:32:26,410 --> 00:32:29,000
people who didn't have
family members to Bury them.
603
00:32:29,870 --> 00:32:33,950
There are over a million
dead bodies on hart island.
604
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,700
These burials are often unmarked
605
00:32:36,870 --> 00:32:40,160
or they're in just mass burials.
606
00:32:40,330 --> 00:32:44,580
But that's how this "island
of the dead" was created.
607
00:32:45,950 --> 00:32:49,870
Before hart island became
new York city's island of the dead,
608
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,620
it was originally used in the mid-1800s
609
00:32:52,790 --> 00:32:57,410
as a quarantine station, a military base,
610
00:32:57,540 --> 00:32:59,500
and even a jail.
611
00:32:59,660 --> 00:33:04,040
So how did it become
a massive graveyard
612
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,290
for over a million people?
613
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,660
In the late 1860s,
614
00:33:09,870 --> 00:33:13,290
there are lots of immigrants in
New York City and around there.
615
00:33:14,290 --> 00:33:17,080
And many of these
people of course died.
616
00:33:17,250 --> 00:33:19,450
Many of 'em were penniless.
617
00:33:19,620 --> 00:33:22,160
And you have to Bury
people somewhere.
618
00:33:22,370 --> 00:33:25,870
Hart island became the city's Potter field
619
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:27,830
because the city was just growing.
620
00:33:27,831 --> 00:33:29,369
And they just didn't have places to put
621
00:33:29,370 --> 00:33:30,950
all the bodies in the city.
622
00:33:31,950 --> 00:33:34,700
Most of the parks in New
York are all ex-cemeteries
623
00:33:34,701 --> 00:33:36,449
Bryant park, Washington square park.
624
00:33:36,450 --> 00:33:39,620
So they started using hart island.
625
00:33:40,611 --> 00:33:45,869
New York City's department
of charities and correction
626
00:33:45,870 --> 00:33:49,330
purchased hart island
from a private owner in 1868
627
00:33:49,500 --> 00:33:53,200
as a location for an industrial
school for destitute boys.
628
00:33:55,290 --> 00:33:59,290
Within a year, the first unclaimed body
629
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:02,250
was brought to the
island and buried there.
630
00:34:02,410 --> 00:34:05,726
Since then, hart island has
become the city's cemetery
631
00:34:05,750 --> 00:34:08,250
for everyone from
unidentified union soldiers
632
00:34:08,410 --> 00:34:10,410
killed during the civil war
633
00:34:10,580 --> 00:34:14,160
to the victims of the Spanish flu in 1918,
634
00:34:14,330 --> 00:34:18,870
the aids crisis of the
1980s, and, most recently,
635
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,500
the COVID-19 pandemic.
636
00:34:23,540 --> 00:34:26,660
More than one-third of
the people buried there
637
00:34:26,830 --> 00:34:29,750
have never been identified.
638
00:34:29,751 --> 00:34:33,079
Hart island in the past has
sometimes been thought of
639
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,290
as a bit of a cursed place or
a place with some foreboding.
640
00:34:36,450 --> 00:34:39,340
Mostly just because it was
kind of kept secret by the city.
641
00:34:39,370 --> 00:34:43,080
They stopped all ferry
service in the 1970s.
642
00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:45,720
Rikers Island inmates
were burying the bodies,
643
00:34:45,830 --> 00:34:48,830
and nobody could
actually go to hart's island.
644
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,660
So it started gathering
this forbidden aura around it.
645
00:34:52,661 --> 00:34:56,039
For decades, the cemetery
was strictly off-limits
646
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:56,999
to the public.
647
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,580
But in 2023,
648
00:34:58,700 --> 00:35:01,200
the city's department
of parks and recreation
649
00:35:01,370 --> 00:35:04,386
was given permission to lift restrictions
650
00:35:04,410 --> 00:35:06,250
and open hart island
651
00:35:06,410 --> 00:35:09,870
to tours and grave site visits.
652
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,500
Today,
653
00:35:11,700 --> 00:35:14,200
hart island is at the
beginning of a new chapter.
654
00:35:14,201 --> 00:35:16,999
People are allowed to go there now.
655
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,000
People who just want to
see this place of history.
656
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,500
It's becoming less secretive, more open.
657
00:35:22,501 --> 00:35:24,289
The parks department now runs it,
658
00:35:24,290 --> 00:35:26,870
just like any park in the city.
659
00:35:26,871 --> 00:35:28,619
These days, hart island is becoming
660
00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:31,370
a place for the living as
much as it is for the dead.
661
00:35:31,371 --> 00:35:35,499
The transformation of hart
island from city cemetery
662
00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:39,160
to public park is indeed remarkable.
663
00:35:39,370 --> 00:35:42,330
Nevertheless, the fact
that there are still hundreds
664
00:35:42,450 --> 00:35:44,660
of thousands of unidentified bodies
665
00:35:44,870 --> 00:35:48,410
resting beneath the surface is unsettling.
666
00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:52,330
And it raises a fascinating question.
667
00:35:53,370 --> 00:35:58,410
Can an island of the dead
be brought back to life?
668
00:35:59,450 --> 00:36:02,830
Perhaps the answer can be
found by examining another island
669
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,846
7,000 miles from New York City
670
00:36:05,870 --> 00:36:10,160
that has become one of the
most toxic places on earth.
671
00:36:16,461 --> 00:36:19,659
In the middle of the pacific ocean,
672
00:36:19,660 --> 00:36:22,540
thousands of miles away from solid land,
673
00:36:22,700 --> 00:36:27,660
is a ring of 23 small
islands known as bikini atoll.
674
00:36:28,370 --> 00:36:31,370
It's a geological formation of coral reefs
675
00:36:31,540 --> 00:36:35,500
that grew along the rim
of an ancient volcano.
676
00:36:36,540 --> 00:36:39,620
Once part of the U.S. territory
known as the Marshall Islands,
677
00:36:39,830 --> 00:36:43,950
this atoll surrounds a vast,
230-square-mile lagoon
678
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:47,660
famous for its deep blue waters.
679
00:36:47,830 --> 00:36:52,410
From afar, it would appear
to be a tropical oasis.
680
00:36:53,370 --> 00:36:55,410
But almost 70 years ago,
681
00:36:55,540 --> 00:36:58,660
a devastating event took place here.
682
00:36:58,830 --> 00:37:02,830
Five, four, three, two, one.
683
00:37:04,370 --> 00:37:07,556
On march 1, 1954,
684
00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:11,000
the U.S. military
detonated an explosion here
685
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:13,160
1,000 times more powerful
686
00:37:13,330 --> 00:37:16,040
than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
687
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:22,000
It was a nuclear weapons
test code-named castle bravo.
688
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,540
The castle bravo test was
the largest thermonuclear test
689
00:37:26,700 --> 00:37:28,870
that the United States ever did.
690
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,530
The scientists at the time
thought it was gonna be
691
00:37:31,660 --> 00:37:35,160
about a five to six-megaton explosion.
692
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,500
But when it went off, it was
actually a 15-megaton explosion.
693
00:37:40,660 --> 00:37:43,500
So it was much bigger than
they thought it was gonna be.
694
00:37:44,700 --> 00:37:46,580
Over the next decade,
695
00:37:46,700 --> 00:37:50,160
bikini atoll would serve as the
U.S. military's testing ground
696
00:37:50,330 --> 00:37:51,750
for nuclear warheads.
697
00:37:53,540 --> 00:37:57,040
In fact, from 1946 to 1958,
698
00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:02,040
23 nuclear devices were
detonated in the area
699
00:38:02,041 --> 00:38:05,039
generating enough fallout to cover
700
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:09,870
more than 7,000 square
miles in deadly radiation,
701
00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:14,000
transforming this tropical paradise
702
00:38:14,950 --> 00:38:18,870
into one of the most
toxic places on earth.
703
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:24,660
The entire area basically
became uninhabitable.
704
00:38:24,830 --> 00:38:29,000
Bikini island itself was
obviously just wasted.
705
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:31,720
But some of these other islands
706
00:38:31,830 --> 00:38:35,040
had really, really bad nuclear fallout.
707
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:36,370
It started to "snow."
708
00:38:36,540 --> 00:38:38,290
Of course, this wasn't snowflakes
709
00:38:38,410 --> 00:38:39,870
this was nuclear fallout.
710
00:38:40,910 --> 00:38:44,830
The water was full of radiation
that people were drinking.
711
00:38:44,950 --> 00:38:47,160
And they couldn't raise crops in the soils,
712
00:38:47,370 --> 00:38:49,330
'cause those were still contaminated.
713
00:38:49,540 --> 00:38:54,080
They were far too irradiated
for human consumption.
714
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,080
It was all just the stuff of nightmares.
715
00:38:59,540 --> 00:39:03,540
70 years after the United
States completed its nuclear tests,
716
00:39:03,700 --> 00:39:09,500
bikini atoll remains one of the
most irradiated places on earth.
717
00:39:09,660 --> 00:39:13,830
Many experts believed it
would never be habitable again.
718
00:39:14,750 --> 00:39:17,540
But recently, a team of scientists
719
00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:19,450
from Stanford university
720
00:39:19,620 --> 00:39:23,000
discovered something astonishing.
721
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,000
Life has apparently returned.
722
00:39:28,290 --> 00:39:31,250
In 2017, scientists
returned to the bikini atoll
723
00:39:31,410 --> 00:39:33,700
and found that it's thriving.
724
00:39:33,870 --> 00:39:35,910
It's teeming with life, with marine life.
725
00:39:36,790 --> 00:39:39,660
There are coral reefs the size of cars.
726
00:39:39,870 --> 00:39:43,200
Somehow life has found a
way to keep building itself
727
00:39:43,410 --> 00:39:45,676
in a radiation-rich environment.
728
00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:47,370
You've got to think
729
00:39:47,540 --> 00:39:49,950
that all of this nuclear
testing in the pacific
730
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:53,750
is about the worst things
humans have thrown
731
00:39:53,910 --> 00:39:57,500
at an isolated island community.
732
00:39:57,700 --> 00:39:59,700
And yet bikini atoll
733
00:39:59,870 --> 00:40:04,870
showed just a crazy
variety of marine life thriving.
734
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:08,200
We're talking schools
of thousands of fish,
735
00:40:08,370 --> 00:40:11,700
sharks and snappers, tuna.
736
00:40:11,870 --> 00:40:14,540
The earth found a way to adapt,
737
00:40:14,700 --> 00:40:16,950
to regenerate, to come back.
738
00:40:18,290 --> 00:40:21,790
Is it possible that the
return of life to bikini atoll
739
00:40:21,910 --> 00:40:25,620
is an indication that the earth
is reclaiming these islands
740
00:40:25,750 --> 00:40:27,660
from human abuse?
741
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,080
And if so, could there also be hope
742
00:40:31,250 --> 00:40:33,620
that the many other
islands of the damned
743
00:40:33,750 --> 00:40:38,000
will one day become healed as well?
744
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,410
Every island has its own spirit.
745
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,620
And with human interaction
across the centuries,
746
00:40:47,750 --> 00:40:52,040
negative energy can be
embedded within an environment,
747
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,370
within a landscape.
748
00:40:54,540 --> 00:40:57,500
It's almost like an invisible bloodstain.
749
00:40:57,700 --> 00:41:00,910
So go there at your own peril.
750
00:41:01,870 --> 00:41:04,200
Once one bad thing happens in a place,
751
00:41:04,370 --> 00:41:06,080
bad things start to just happen
752
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,250
and kind of stack up there.
753
00:41:08,251 --> 00:41:09,749
And then the superstition, I think,
754
00:41:09,750 --> 00:41:12,160
embeds itself into the local culture.
755
00:41:12,370 --> 00:41:15,000
But as we see in bikini atoll,
756
00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,950
nature always finds a way to survive.
757
00:41:20,450 --> 00:41:25,000
It's encouraging to think
that life can return and flourish
758
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:28,120
in a place as damned as the bikini atoll.
759
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:32,330
And might that be the case
for other islands that suffer
760
00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:36,830
from dark forces, terrifying monsters,
761
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,250
or unimaginable misfortune?
762
00:41:40,410 --> 00:41:42,580
It's certainly worth hoping for.
763
00:41:43,500 --> 00:41:45,080
But for now,
764
00:41:45,250 --> 00:41:49,750
if you ever decide to visit
one of these sinister sites,
765
00:41:49,870 --> 00:41:52,750
pay close attention to
what the locals are saying.
766
00:41:52,910 --> 00:41:57,080
Because the true dangers of
these islands of the damned
767
00:41:57,250 --> 00:42:01,330
remain... Unexplained.
768
00:42:01,450 --> 00:42:03,620
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00:42:03,670 --> 00:42:08,220
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