Original subtitles

Tonight on "The Proof Is Out There,"

is this classic photo a genuine flying saucer?

We now have tools to analyze this

that didn't exist 60 years ago.

Was a camouflaged Bigfoot recorded near a train?

Sasquatch has been reported with a range of colors

from almost albino to very dark.

Is this a ghost

at the world's most haunted battlefield?

The Battle of Gettysburg was short but deadly,

and some of those soldiers never left the battlefield.

Is this a levitating shaman?

And did this reward-winning footage

capture an Icelandic Nessie?

Many of the locals firmly believe

that there is some type of strange, serpentine creature

that lives in the lake.

Around the globe are videos.

What are those things?

It's moving.

Photos,

and sounds that defy explanation.

We don't know where they come from,

who made them, or how they operate.

What are they?

Some sort of bizarre mutation.

What's exciting is nobody really knows.

Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof.

I'm Tony Harris, and as a journalist

for more than 30 years, I've followed the facts

where they take me.

Now I'm bringing that spirit of investigation

to the world's strangest sounds and images.

We'll analyze each one with top experts.

It's a credible case, it's a credible video.

And pass a verdict on what it is.

This video was clearly faked.

"The Proof" starts now.

Good evening, and welcome to "The Proof Is Out There."

Trindade, a small volcanic island

located about 700 miles off the coast of Brazil

is well known today as an important nesting spot

for the endangered green turtle.

But as you'll see in our next story,

turtles might not be the only exotic visitors

to this desolate island.

It's high noon on January 16th, 1958.

The Brazilian naval training ship, Almirante Saldanha,

is preparing to depart Trindade Island, Brazil.

According to author and historian, Amy Teitel,

you'd be hard-pressed to find a more esteemed group of men

in passage to spot a UFO.

Onboard the ship are a number of sailors

and also scientists who are going out

on an international scientific mission.

As the crew members gather on deck before leaving,

their attention is all diverted

to this thing flying nearby in the sky.

The crew immediately summons

their esteemed photographer, Almiro Barauna,

and he captures a series of images

that would become UFO legend.

A dark gray aerial object looks to be flying

over the distant mountain.

Zooming in reveals what appears to be a saucer-shaped object

with a ring around its center,

almost resembling the planet Saturn.

Barauna claimed the UFO approached the island,

flew behind a mountain peak,

and then turned back around the way it came.

One of the witnesses,

Vice Admiral Paulo de Castro Moreira da Silva,

said the object was encircled by a greenish glow.

The crew all saw the object glowing

before it turned towards Wished Peak,

then it turned sharply northwest and disappeared from view.

The entire encounter lasted just 20 seconds.

Immediately, Barauna's photos

became an international sensation.

While some were skeptical of the photographs,

their authenticity was seemingly bolstered

by multiple investigations.

The photographs were studied

by the Brazilian navy's aerial reconnaissance laboratory,

as well as the aero- photogrammetric lab

of Cruzeiro do Sul.

They were deemed to be authentic,

taken of a real event, backed up by the eyewitness testimony

of military experts and personnel.

They were even confirmed

by the Brazilian president at the time.

In the years since, however, new details revealed

about the incident have drawn skepticism

to the once bonafide evidence.

Barauna held the negatives away from the Brazilian navy

for two days before surrendering them.

He had even cut some of the photographs off

of the end of the film roll.

It's unclear whether he tampered with the negatives

before handing them over,

or whether there was something else on the film

he didn't want seen.

And in August of 2010,

a Brazilian TV show claimed he was known

to have created hoaxed photographs before.

Both in spite of and because of the controversy,

the incident continues

to be one of Brazil's most famous UFO encounters,

and that's saying something.

The Brazilian UFO archive spans 60 years

and has more than 700 documented and researched UFO cases,

and of all of them, this is one of the most legendary cases

in all of Brazil's history.

Brazilian newspapers ended up

printing Barauna's photographs.

He took six pictures in total,

but the alleged saucer only appeared in four of them,

supposedly because he was bumped by sailors

during the excitement of the event.

Something tells me our experts are just as hyped up

to analyze this case.

Visual effects and astronomy expert Marc D'Antonio

has seen these photos before.

In fact, he credits them for his getting into ufology

in the first place.

I grew up with this image.

When I was a little kid, this was my gateway UFO.

First, D'Antonio addresses the theory

that this is simply a terrestrial aircraft.

Aircraft at the time had very specific shapes,

and it doesn't match any of those configurations for 1958.

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy

reviews another common theory

that this object is simply a bird.

It's shaped somewhat similarly to a bird in flight,

but birds actually tend to absorb more light,

so they would show up as a shadowy object

against the relatively bright blue sky.

So, in this case,

I think we can safely rule out it being a bird.

But examining the shadows further alerts McCarthy

to a detail he considers suspicious.

When you look at this object closely,

you see that the top and bottom of it

are roughly the same brightness.

If this was a flying object,

the top of it would be

illuminated by the Sun,

and the bottom would be in shadow.

And since this object doesn't seem to obey the laws

of physics, I have to start looking at other explanations

of how this managed to get on film.

So are these legendary photos a hoax after all?

One theory is that airbrushing techniques were used

to create a hoax, but McCarthy disagrees.

Airbrushing film is basically like painting

whatever you want directly into the film negative,

which, of course, would be easily detectable

by the Brazilian navy.

So it may still be a hoax, just not airbrushed.

If there's no smoking gun, how do we decide

if it's real or a hoax?

D'Antonio says the answer

is a little more nuanced than that.

There's no way to look at this

and definitively say it's a hoax,

or definitively say it's real, 'cause there's problems

with each of those determinations.

But if these are a hoax, you know what I say?

So what, why?

Because these are images that many people grew up with,

and they learn to be critical thinkers as a result of them.

My entry into the field is in part because of this photo.

If it's hoaxed, it brought in a lot of people into ufology,

and we were better for it.

Our verdict, for now, this remains a genuine UFO.

All we really know is that a group of scientists

claim to have seen a glowing object in the sky

at the same time.

We don't think the negatives were airbrushed,

but we still can't explain the anomalous light and shadow.

This flying object could be real, it could be fake,

but until we learn more, it remains unidentified.

Now let's transfer from a boat to a train.

Our next video recently set the internet on fire,

when some tourists on this trip

became part of a monstrous mystery.

October 8th, 2023, southwest Colorado,

a group of railway enthusiasts is enjoying a tranquil voyage

on the scenic Durango and Silverton line

when several of the passengers spot something

they can't quite figure out.

One of them takes out a camera and records this.

A hulking, sandy-colored figure is walking on two legs

amongst the brush on a rocky hillside,

and then it squats down.

Did you miss him?

Look again.

You can see the subject's brownish coloring

almost blend in perfectly with his surroundings.

This bipedal creature appears to be massive in height

and is taking a stroll in an area that's,

according to field researcher Cliff Barackman,

is well-known Sasquatch territory.

This particular area north of Durango

and south of Silverton has a number of Sasquatch reports.

People have reportedly seen Sasquatches off of the train

long before this video was taken.

Barackman suggests that this creature's motion,

stopping and sitting in place,

may be indicative of typical Bigfoot behavior.

How many times have you been scared of something,

and just like, you totally froze?

That's called attentive immobility.

You've heard of fight or flight?

Well, attentive immobility is a third response

used by animals and humans alike

when encountering a dangerous situation.

It's an unconscious decision made by the brain,

triggered by fear.

Sasquatches have repeatedly shown this same behavior.

This potential Sasquatch isn't the only giant humanoid

that's been spotted from America's railways.

A mysterious creature, dubbed the Metro Monster,

is said to haunt the dark corners

of the Washington, DC Metro system, scouring the tunnels

of Dupont Circle and terrorizing commuters across its path.

So should we be fearful of this alleged beast in Colorado?

Let's see what our experts think.

We brought this uncanny footage

to forensic video analyst Michael Primeau

to make sure it wasn't a fake.

We noted that there is a processing that was done

in some way, shape, or form,

with something called image enlargement

or pixel interpolation.

So the images have been enlarged

to try to gain a more clear depiction

of this thing within the scene.

Although this footage was enhanced,

Primeau doesn't believe anything was done to alter

or fabricate the appearance of the creature itself.

We did not note any evidence of tampering

that would be consistent

with third-party editing applications or CGI in any way.

It appears that the subject is within this space,

and it was captured in real time.

So the video is legit,

but could that mean we're looking at an actual Sasquatch?

Bigfoot expert and anthropologist, Jeff Meldrum,

admits the camouflage coloring of this specimen

is congruous with the many shades of Bigfoot.

The Sasquatch has been reported with a range of colors

that span quite a spectrum,

from almost albino to very, very dark,

even a light tawny color, very similar to what we see here.

However, according to Meldrum, the indicators

that this could be a real Sasquatch end there.

It clearly is moving in a very contrived way.

It seems odd that it would venture out into the open space

in the light of day.

It seems unlikely that a predator would reveal itself

in such a overt way.

And perhaps the biggest red flag,

telltale signs of a costume being used.

The appearance of the fur is more indicative

of artificial fiber.

The legs are like straight lines, there's no contour

to muscle mass or limb segments,

and it's clearly one of the more popular costumes

available commercially.

So do we have any idea

who would try to pull off such a hoax?

As it happens, there's a business in the region,

Sasquatch Expedition Campers,

and looking at their advertising,

they employ a Sasquatch costume.

As you can see,

the similarities between that costume

and the creature in the video are strong.

So, exercising due diligence, we reached out

to this local business, where we spoke with employee,

Kass Kramer.

Well, we got a lot of people thinking it was us,

and so we had fun with it.

We made a couple little posts maybe implying it was,

maybe it wasn't, but it wasn't us.

It'd be cool to find him,

but, what I like about Sasquatch

is, you know, he's out there roaming the countryside

by himself, unbounded.

Our verdict,

I think we can confidently call this one a hoax.

While Kass and his fellow employees

have denied any involvement,

I think they may be having a little bit of fun

pulling our leg, but as always,

we'll still be keeping an eye out for the real thing.

It's been more than 160 years

since the Battle of Gettysburg.

Many believe this three-day Civil War bloodbath

left behind some of the most haunted ground in America,

and this video may capture the proof.

It's the evening of September 2nd, 2020

in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

A tourist who has asked not to be named

is driving through the historic battlefield with his family.

He suddenly starts hearing strange noises,

and then history comes to life.

A camera shooting through the windshield shows two cannons

coming up on the right side of the road,

when out of nowhere, a couple of human-like silhouettes

flash into the frame.

One appears and vanishes quickly,

but the other stays in view for a whole three seconds

before disappearing.

For these tourists, who came to this area

just to get a glimpse of the history, to catch a glimpse

of the afterlife I find to be extraordinary.

There may be a very simple explanation

for these ghostly apparitions.

Gettysburg was the single bloodiest battle

of the Civil War,

and these cannons from an unspecified part

of the battlefield likely did their share of killing.

This plot of land is the bullseye.

This is where it's happening,

and I think this is what we were seeing in this footage

right by those cannons, ghostly apparitions.

Nearly a third of the soldiers who fought

in Gettysburg were either wounded, killed,

or reported missing after the battle.

Brooks says eerie energy permeates the entire town

to this day, and there have been regular alleged sightings

of Civil War ghosts.

The Baladerry Inn

served as a Union field hospital.

It has captured many, many images of ghostly remnants

and apparitions around the area.

Then, there's the Daniel Lady Farm.

Now this served as the Confederate field hospital.

There are many accounts of ghostly apparitions

that have shown up there.

So could these photos and our video show the souls

of Civil War soldiers waiting in purgatory?

Catholic miracle researcher, Michael O'Neill,

says this Christian concept is like God's waiting room.

According to Catholic belief,

those people whose souls aren't ready to meet God

go through some time of purgation,

in which they're perfected and made ready

to be in the beatific vision with God.

There is no set time for purgatory.

Some might make the argument that returning to the place

of one's death is similar to the idea

of working through purgatory on their way to heaven.

There are reports of haunted battlefields worldwide.

In Japan, people still pray in a cave said to be haunted

by villagers who were instructed by the army to die

by mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa

in World War II.

Yet, what's the story with the moving blurs

back in Gettysburg?

Let's let our experts shine a light on this one.

First, physicist Dr. Matthew Szydagis examines

if these wisps could be mini dust devils,

swirling columns of dirt that, unlike tornadoes,

form on clear weather days.

This appears to be a fairly grassy area.

So I don't see any evidence that there's loose dirt or dust,

and I don't see any evidence of wind elsewhere in the video.

Then what about the ghost theory?

Forensic video analyst Michael Primeau

understands why some people see

what looks like human apparitions.

As the video plays, you can sort of see this faint line

that's running vertically here, and even at a certain point,

it almost looks like you could identify a head

and some sort of torso.

So Primeau goes back in to take a closer look.

Adding a filter called Sobel in our enhancement tool,

we can better see the lines within an image,

and thus, shows the dark-toned circular object more clearly.

It appears that this was something that was recorded

in front of the camera, and we can explain it

as something on the windshield.

Primeau concludes it's the perfect timing

and positioning of what's likely a dead bug,

a water droplet, or a bit of sap

that brings this spooky scene to life.

The three components that contribute

to the false interpretation of these images

are the size of the objects, the timing,

as it travels past these

cannons, as well as the direction, moving from

the right to the left.

They all kind of paint this picture

that this ghost is running from this area,

where they had once lived, into the roadway,

and that's simply not the case.

Our verdict, conveniently placed window smudges.

With that said,

we still have no explanation

for those mysterious noises the family heard

at the start of this incident.

So maybe there is more to this than meets the eye

and the ear.

Iceland is home to many natural wonders,

including, apparently, a humongous worm monster

with a 16-letter name.

Does this next video prove the existence

of Lagarfljotsormur?

Is that close?

No?

February 2nd, 2012, Egilsstadir, Iceland.

Hjortur Kjerulf, a sheep farmer,

is having his morning coffee,

when, from the window of his kitchen,

he sees something strange.

He grabs his camera and records this.

It appears to be a large, worm-like creature

swimming in the fresh waters of Lagarfljot Lake.

It's black in color, dusted with ice, and is long enough

to have several humps in its body.

As we push in on the video, you can see it undulating

through the cold winter waters.

What's really significant about this case

is that we actually have evidence

that this thing has been there for centuries.

In 1585, a cartographer by the name of Abraham Ortelius

actually notated on his map that the locals believed

that there was a giant, menacing, snake-like animal

that lived in this particular lake.

But there are a number of modern eyewitness sightings

that are pretty notable.

In 1983, some telephone workers

that were maintaining some underwater telephone cables

encountered some kind of strange creature

and also learned that the underwater cables

had actually been damaged by something.

And then as recently as 1998, a teacher and student claimed

that they saw this creature from a schoolhouse

that was situated on the shore.

The rivers and lake around Egilsstadir

are made from melting glaciers,

making the waters very deep, very dark, and very cold.

The Lagarfljotsormurinn is described as being anywhere

from 20 to 30 feet long, dark gray in color,

with a horse-like head, and a tail very similar

to a whale's, and it's described

as undulating through the water in either a vertical

or a horizontal fashion, which is exactly what we're seeing

in this particular film.

A scientific commission in Iceland

actually declared this footage as being genuine

or authentic in 2014.

The municipality of Egilsstadir offered a reward

of a half a million Icelandic kronas,

or about 3,600 US dollars, to anyone who can find evidence

that proves that the worm-like monster is real.

Will Hjortur be able to collect his reward?

We turn to our experts to find out.

While many speculators have suggested

that this could be a giant snake of some kind,

biologist Stephanie Manka is doubtful.

The biggest reason why this is not a snake

is because this is an icy lake.

Snakes don't live in water as cold as this.

They can't live in icy conditions.

In areas where there is snow and ice, they hibernate

in the winter, and they slow down their metabolism

so that they can survive.

To find out

if this could be the famed Lagarfljotsormur,

we turn to marine biologist, Dr. Shea Steingass.

An animal of this size would need an immense amount

of calories to survive and thrive in these waters.

Living in water is a lot more energetically demanding

because water sucks heat away from you a lot quicker

than in air, and the fact

that there would be some kind of a large-bodied worm

living in these icy waters

is not a real biological possibility.

If it isn't a snake or the famous Icelandic worm,

what type of animal is it?

When you look at the frame of reference

of what appears to be the head of this creature,

you can tell it's actually not moving forward at all.

It looks like it's fixed in place, and for that reason,

I don't think this is a living animal.

Given Iceland's frigid February temperatures,

some theorize it could be ice we're seeing.

I don't think it's likely that this is just ice on its own

because if this were just ice, it would probably break up

and just float away.

What we are seeing here are likely water particles

bouncing off of this flexible and dynamic object,

and it is creating a wave-like pattern in it

because of the wave energy itself.

I think this is probably some kind of a long rope

that has been in the water for a long time

and has accumulated ice and is being buffeted by the action

of the water around it.

And because that ice is broken up a little bit,

it's able to have a lot of movement.

Our verdict, we're calling this an unknown object,

and let me explain why.

Our experts are pretty sure it's a frozen rope

that's stuck on something and collecting ice.

Fine, but in August 2014, an Icelandic truth commission

voted to authenticate the video as genuine,

and Hjortur collected the reward.

So that leaves us unsure about either conclusion.

One thing is certain, though.

I deserve a round of applause

for pronouncing all of those Icelandic names.

We have respect for the world's great religions

on this show, so we want to tread carefully

with this next piece.

It's about Christianity

and some ideas that are truly out of this world.

May 2023, about 12 miles northwest of the capital

of Tbilisi, Georgia,

the majestic Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

sits on a hill.

Inside is a painting that's hundreds of years old,

but just now taking the internet by storm.

It's a depiction of Jesus' crucifixion

with what looks like two flying saucers in the background.

One blue, one red, their classic dome shapes

have three sharp triangles sprouting from their undersides.

It's an image that appears so unusual,

it caught the attention of Bret Nicholson,

lead pastor of One Life Church in Kentucky.

My first reaction was,

"Wow, those look like flying saucers."

Typically, with scenes of the crucifixion,

you'll see Jesus between two thieves.

You'll see the people at the base of the cross.

What you don't see in most portrayals

of the crucifixion is UFOs.

That may be true,

but according to author Jason Martell,

people have been exploring the connection

between Christianity and UFOs for centuries.

In 1584, a Christian monk

named Giordano Bruno from Naples

theorized that there were an infinite number of planets

all with intelligent life,

each one having its own Jesus Christ visiting that planet.

In more recent times, my colleague and good friend,

Erich von Daniken, has theorized

that many of these depictions

of some type of a religious event

are actually depicting some type

of an extraterrestrial interaction,

possibly aliens visiting ancient man.

We know that ancient pagan religions

often explain things by saying the gods were responsible.

For instance, ancient Greeks believed the goddess Demeter

was responsible for the changing seasons.

Could the authors of the Bible have done the same thing?

If ancient astronauts visited Earth,

did previous civilizations chalk this up

to visitations by angels or communication from God?

Was Jesus himself an extraterrestrial visitor?

Some people have pointed out the fact

Jesus Christ today could be classified

as some type of higher intelligence,

possibly even extraterrestrial.

This would explain some of the miraculous abilities

that he was able to perform.

Pope Francis commented that if Martians were to land

on Earth and wanted to be baptized,

he would welcome them with open arms.

It seems the lines between religion

and ufology have never been blurrier.

Perhaps this painting

can finally prove a distinct connection.

First, Catholic scholar and miracle hunter, Michael O'Neill,

says the scripture makes clear

that Jesus was no extraterrestrial.

When we see Jesus walking the Earth in the Bible,

he does so as a human.

We also know, Jesus, of course, is born on Earth.

Mary of Nazareth is his biological mother,

so therefore, Jesus is not an alien.

So if you read the Bible literally,

Jesus himself was human.

But could other biblical figures have had close encounters

with aliens that

they interpreted as messages from God?

Based on modern-day alien abduction reports,

O'Neill doesn't see the connection.

Some people who claim alien abduction

say they've gone through surgical experimentation

or procedures, they've had loss of memory or loss of time

during that period.

This is not similar in any way to what we see in the Bible.

Because these are such drastically

different experiences,

there's no reason at all

to think they share a common source.

So if ufology and Christianity

truly don't intersect in any way, how do we explain

what looks like flying saucers in the painting in Georgia?

According to archeologist Ed Barnhart,

looks can be deceiving.

The principles of art history say we look

to similar examples to try to understand

what these symbols are.

There are hundreds of these paintings

of Jesus at crucifixion,

and each one of them have things floating above his face

on the left and right,

but instead of these two alien spaceships, they show angels.

But Barnhart believes that, as this painting

is in an Eastern Orthodox church, instead of angels,

the artist chose another symbol.

We know that the Eastern Orthodox Church

focuses on the statement that just as he was crucified,

the sky went dark.

So, in standard depictions in Eastern Orthodox crucifixion,

we oftentimes see the sun and the moon half covered.

It's denoting that eclipse moment.

So these are really very similar

to other standard depictions of the same time,

in which we see a half moon and a half sun.

Let there be light.

Our verdict, these are just depictions

of the sun and the moon, but scholars estimate

there are about 4,000 different religions practiced

throughout the world, so who's to say?

Maybe one of them has been inspired

by extraterrestrial interaction.

We've read about it in books, and we've seen it

on stage and screen, but how does it happen?

We're talking about levitation.

You'll get a rise out of this next video.

It's August 2018, somewhere in Africa.

A crowd has gathered for what looks to be a ritual

or celebration of sorts.

Someone pulls out a camera phone to record the scene.

Drums are pounding, and there's high-pitched singing

as onlookers watch someone apparently hovering several feet

above them, floating and flipping in the air.

Could this be part of some kind of ritual?

One of the constants I think that you will find

in shamanic ritual is their sort of mediating role

between the here and the hereafter,

the physical and the spiritual,

and levitation is considered to be sort of this bridge

of the spirit world.

Yale history and religious studies professor,

Carlos Eire, says that in Catholicism,

levitation can be seen as a form of mystical ecstasy.

One saint in particular, St. Joseph of Cupertino,

rose to the ceiling of the Basilica of Saint Francis

in Assisi, which is about the same size

as your usual European cathedral.

He flew, literally, forwards and backwards.

Brooks says an Indian man named Shirdi Sai Baba

was also famous for levitating during religious rituals,

though it was never caught on film since he died in 1918.

Sai Baba's acts were so astounding and consistent

that actually a revered Indian scientist,

who also witnessed some of these acts,

found it very difficult to deny

that these things were happening.

Something to bear in mind here,

all of these historic reports of levitation note a stillness

of the person being levitated.

The man in this video is far from that.

So how does he do it?

Let's ask our experts to bring this levitation story

down to Earth.

Theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku says

that there are ways for humans to become airborne

using external forces, such as the concentrated wind tunnels

you'd find at an indoor skydiving park.

Air is blown from the floor upwards,

and you float on a cushion of air.

So, airflow levitation

is possible, but it's not practical.

It would have irregularities, you would have eddy currents.

If you are floating that high off the ground,

there would be air everywhere in all directions.

Leaves would fly around,

people's clothing would be fluttering,

people's hair would be up.

Yet Kaku says true levitation does exist

via magnetic levitation.

A north pole and a south pole attract each other,

but two north poles repel each other.

So in a maglev train, the railroad has a north pole

and the train has a north pole,

and they sit on top of each other,

and therefore you levitate.

But you're only a fraction of an inch off the rail,

and it takes an enormous amount of magnetism

just to lift you a little bit off the surface of the rail.

So, though it's not likely this man

is being raised up by magnets,

science writer Mick West says there are less authentic forms

of levitation.

There are simple versions of levitation,

where you basically have a pretend foot,

and you stick two shoes together in front of you.

A magician demonstrates how,

after covering himself with a blanket to set up this trick,

he takes his right foot out of the attached shoes.

He then steps back on that right foot

while lifting the left foot with the two shoes,

making it appear as if he's floating.

There are other levitation devices,

like the contort levitation device,

which is used by street magicians.

This is basically a very strong steel frame

that they use to have the illusion of balancing

on something like a cane.

This isn't something that we see here.

So how do we explain this elevated feat?

Our experts believe this levitator has some help

from a different type of device.

Look carefully, and you can see that when he rotates,

he rotates around a certain axis, and that allows you

to determine whether or not he's suspended straight up,

or whether he's suspended from the side.

We see him kind of like put his leg over it,

like he's clambering over a rope,

and then he's kind of hanging from it by his hands,

and you see here, he's bouncing up and down.

This is exactly what you would expect

if there's a rope that's suspended from

somewhere over here to perhaps this tree over here.

And West is able to put this levitation aid

to the test.

Here's a rope and here's something on the rope,

and it's bouncing up and down.

Now, if you take this video

and you kind of run it through the type of compression

that is typical for someone sending a cell phone video,

you get a much lower quality version.

You can still see what's there, what's in the scene,

but the rope itself has vanished.

So I think that's what's happening here in the video.

We just can't see it because of the quality of the video.

Our verdict, well, let's just take the suspense

out of this one.

As Mick West suggested, this is a traditional rope dance

from Zambia's eastern province.

It might raise people's spirits but not their bodies.

On an earlier episode, we featured a video

from a viewer who says he successfully used the techniques

of a movement known as CE-5,

close encounters of the fifth kind,

the kind initiated by the experiencer.

In other words, he believes he summoned a UFO

he caught on camera.

We couldn't determine what it was the first time,

but he was adamant we try again.

So here goes.

It all started on a crisp night in October 2021,

Bruce Waterbury was out in his backyard

in Meriden, Connecticut following CE-5 protocols

to summon a UFO.

After meditating on the aliens,

he grabs his night vision binoculars, laser pointer,

and two-way radio, waiting for contact.

After several minutes, something odd appeared in his viewer,

a large bright orb, a classic UFO shape.

Excited that he may have summoned an actual UFO

using CE-5 techniques,

Bruce immediately began tracing the object

with his laser pointer.

It moves from left to right on his screen.

Once I circled it, it kept moving,

but then it got super small,

and then kind of moved out and up back into space.

On our previous episode of "Proof,"

astronomer Marc D'Antonio and Rich Hoffman

of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies

explored four different possibilities

of what Bruce's object could and couldn't be.

They eliminated planes, drones, and UFOs

due to the object's lighting and movement.

Their best guess was something called earth lights,

luminous, bright spheres seen floating

over different landscapes around the world.

The earth light phenomena is the closest match

that I can come up with.

But even Hoffman admitted that was just a guess,

and he couldn't say for sure.

Bruce says that since that episode aired,

he has seen the same object over his house more than once,

and now more than ever, he wants a definitive answer.

The mystery of what this object is has deepened

because no one seems to tell me what exactly it is.

Tell me what it is and show me what it is,

then I'll be satisfied.

The CE-5 movement was begun by Dr. Steven Greer,

who founded the Center for the Study

of Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

According to Greer's protocols,

meditation is the key to summoning aliens,

which is exactly what Bruce said he did.

But can a more definitive conclusion

about his footage be reached?

According to our own physicist, Matthew Szydagis,

the answer is a resounding yes.

When Szydagis saw the episode,

he immediately knew he could help.

I started jumping up and down and yelling at the TV,

and I told my wife,

"I know exactly what this is."

It reminded Szydagis of something he saw

in July 2021 during a UFO hunting expedition

to Catalina Island, an island just off the California coast

that's considered a UFO hotspot.

The research group UAPX saw an object

that looked like the one Bruce saw in Connecticut.

Even the scientists on the UAPX team

weren't able to make the same identification initially

when something like this happened to them.

But Szydagis investigated

and realized what the team saw over Catalina

was the International Space Station,

and in Bruce's case, he has a similar hunch.

The ISS was over Connecticut in October

on at least three nights, at 8:30, 8:50 and 10:20 p.m.,

so I believe this is evidence

that the object in the video is the ISS.

The icing on the cake,

Szydagis points to other videos of the ISS

captured with night vision, such as this video from 2023

that looks exactly the same.

As for why so many people mistake the ISS for a UFO...

The ISS has all of these properties of being a shape

that doesn't match almost anything else,

and a size that's bigger than stars or satellites.

All of these properties create a perfect storm

of mistaken identity.

Thanks to Professor Szydagis, our new verdict

is that Bruce saw the International Space Station.

Bruce, we hope that conclusion satisfies you

even if it doesn't quite support the premise

of the CE-5 movement.

And that's our show for tonight.

If you have any intriguing videos for us to analyze,

do what Bruce did,

and send them along,

and please, keep

those cameras rolling.