All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Origins.S02E06.The.Cryptid.Mystery.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-1off_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Elusive ape-men
stalking remote forests.

Reptilian humanoids
lurking in the shadows.

And mysterious cryptids
vanishing without a trace.

For nearly two decades,
Ancient Alienshas traveled

the globe exploring
towering megalithic structures,

mysterious artifacts,

and stories
of otherworldly beings,

in a quest
for evidence that might

reveal the truth of our
extraterrestrial origins.

People have been reporting
strange encounters

with very bizarre creatures
for decades.

NARRATOR:
Now, we take a look back

through the
Ancient Aliensarchives

to the show's very origins,

to examine the evidence
that we are not alone.

We have never been alone.

♪

It's fascinating
that there are stories

from all over the world
of what we call cryptids.

And these strange creatures
are unlike anything else

in the animal kingdom,
and we have reports

that they even have
supernatural abilities.

Right, and often,
these cryptids, for example,

in ancient times, are
referred to as hybrid beings,

like the Minotaur in ancient
Greece, half-human, half-bull.

And according to legend,

this being was allegedly created
inside of a container.

- That to me speaks
of genetic experimentation. - WILLIAM HENRY: Yeah.

And these stories aren't just
isolated to the ancient world.

Cryptids have been recorded
right up through to

the present day. We featured
these strange creatures

in a 2011 episode called
"Aliens and Monsters."

NARRATOR:
Surfside Beach. Montauk, New York.

On July 13, 2008,
a 26-year-old woman

and three of her friends

discovered the carcass
of a strange-looking creature

that had washed onto the shore.

It actually, uh, looked like
a hybrid creature

that had the claws of a raccoon
and possibly the beak of a bird

and the body, perhaps, of a dog.

A very unusual creature.

A photograph was taken
and circulated.

It started popping up all over
the Internet. It went viral.

The people couldn't
identify the animal

because it didn't look
like anything.

It looked like a mixture
of different animals.

NICK REDFERN: And because
it looked so strange,

you know, it's provoked
a lot of theories.

Is it just an unknown animal?

Could it be some sort
of a hybrid-type creature?

Something, you know,
that had been

genetically tinkered with
in a lab.

NARRATOR:
Some believe the mysterious creature

is a hybrid beast,
perhaps created

at a nearby
government testing facility,

the Plum Island
Animal Disease Center.

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman

labels the creature
the Montauk Monster.

This is a replica
of the Montauk Monster.

One of the things that
we noticed about this creature

was these strange features
around its mouth.

It looked like a beak,
it actually looked like.

Uh, we didn't know what was
going on here. Was it a griffin?

Was it a creature?
Was it a giant turtle?

But indeed,
that was decaying flesh

that had come away
from the skull.

Other features were
the strange-looking feet

and the body indeed, because
the picture had no scale in it,

we thought looked enormous.

But on the body, these
white objects here really define

the size of flies
on the creature,

which then determined the scale
of this creature was very small.

RUEHL: Unfortunately,
someone grabbed the carcass

and supposedly took it
to his front yard,

and then it ultimately vanished.

So, the only evidence
we have of-of this creature

is the photo.

NARRATOR:
But while some researchers theorized that the so-called

Montauk Monster was the product
of modern science...

...ancient astronaut theorists
believe the animal could be part

of a long line of
genetically modified creatures

that have appeared
throughout human history.

If the Montauk Monster
is, in fact, a reality,

then that could mean that,
if we are able today

to create some
very bizarre creatures

behind closed doors
in labs all around the world,

it is possible
that our ancestors,

especially
the extraterrestrial ancestors,

had the same capability.

Because in ancient texts,

we have numerous references
to monsters--

bizarre beings that have been
described in great detail.

NARRATOR:
Ancient Greek artifacts

depict terrifying beasts
such as the gorgon...

[hissing]

...the Hydra...

[screeching]

...and the ferocious Cerberus.

[growling]

And in Homer's epic poem
the Iliad,

the Greek author describes
a battle in which the hero

Bellerophon slays a monster
called the chimera.

JASON MARTELL:
The chimera was a dreaded beast that wreaked havoc

and terrorized
the people of Asia Minor.

Homer described the chimera
as an immortal beast

with a lion-like head,
a snake tail,

and a third goat head in the
middle that snorted bright fire.

LINDA MacDONALD GLENN:
The notion of chimeras and hybrids is one that has been

part of the human psyche
for millennium.

I mean, when you think about
things such as the Minotaur,

Pegasus, Anubis,

this is something that
either we have imagined

or had been created at one time.

NARRATOR:
But did mythic monsters merely spring

from the imagination
of our ancestors?

Or might they
have actually existed?

Ancient alien theorists believe
in their existence,

and that evidence can be found
in the relics of the past.

To suggest that all of these
creatures were nothing else

but fantasy, in my opinion,
doesn't really hold water

because our ancestors
weren't stupid.

They depicted what they saw.

We find these mixed hybrid
beings all throughout Egypt,

as sphinxes, as griffins,
as bizarre creatures that,

according to the ancient
Egyptian texts, they did exist.

They were not a fantasy
of our ancestors' imagination.

ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
Just imagine there is a mother spaceship traveling

in the universe
for centuries and centuries.

Then they find a solar system
with a planet

with the possibility of life,
like the Earth.

And they observe on the Nile,
a crocodile, a living creature,

which obviously,
is resistant to the heat.

They observe a lion,
with his power, his muscles.

And now, they start to think,

we could use a mixture of
this creature on another planet.

And now, by genetical design,

they start to create
mixed creatures.

Some of these mixed creatures
did exist in the past.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
The griffin was a mythological creature that had

the body of a lion with
the head and wings of an eagle.

Now, the lion
is the king of beasts.

The eagle is the king of birds.

So, the griffin was the king
of all creatures.

PHILIP COPPENS:
The creature is somehow two creatures put together in a way

that defies normal sense,
defies normal explanation.

So the question then is
how does that happen?

NARRATOR:
By the mid-19th century,

scientists began to look at
fossil records around the planet

to study how organisms
changed over time.

Naturalist Charles Darwin
theorized

that all life forms
share a common origin

and have evolved
over the centuries

through a process
called natural selection.

Might the hybrid monsters
of ancient religion and myth

really have been
the result of evolution?

Darwin's theory of evolution by
natural selection is a mechanism

by which life forms can change
from one into another.

It relies on the principle
that organisms

that have certain traits,
which are mutations,

may be advantageous
in the struggle for existence,

in the struggle
for reproduction.

And those traits are the ones
that will be perpetuated

over time,
over many, many generations.

Certain different species
can breed

if they are genetically close,

like the, like the
donkey and the horse.

Like the wolf and the dog.

However, cats and dogs
will not mate

because, first of all,
they're not...

they-they don't have
the biochemical signatures

to mate with each other,
and plus, their genes

are so different
that the chromosomes

just won't line up properly
to reproduce.

It's impossible.

NARRATOR:
But if Darwin's theories on evolution and natural selection

cannot explain the origins
of ancient beasts and monsters,

then where might
they have come from?

Perhaps the answer
cannot be found on Earth,

but in a place
much farther away.

NARRATOR:
Southern Pakistan.

In the middle of
the Indus River Valley

lie the ruins of Mohenjo Daro.

This ancient city, whose name
means "mound of the dead,"

was one of the largest
urban settlements

in the world in 2600 BC.

The ancient city of Mohenjo Daro

had what appeared to be streets
that were laid out

parallel and perpendicular to
each other like a modern city.

Uh, the homes actually had
their own toilets,

and they had a very
sophisticated sewer system.

So, it looks like
a very advanced city.

NARRATOR:
Ancient astronaut theorists have long thought

this site was also the epicenter
of a nuclear explosion

that occurred
more than 4,000 years ago.

RUEHL:
Skeletons were found in dead positions

as though there's
an instantaneous death.

And some of those skeletons, as
measured by Soviet scientists,

had 50 times
the normal radioactivity.

They found pottery
that had been fused.

Then walls were heated
to such an extent

they became vitrified,
or glass-like,

suggesting some sort of ancient
nuclear weapon involved.

NARRATOR:
According to the Mahabharata--

the ancient holy text
of the Hindus--

white-hot smoke rose
in infinite brilliance

and reduced the city to ashes.

Horses were burned
by the thousands,

and corpses were vaporized
by intense heat.

And afterwards, a big silence
came over the entire land,

and people started to have
boils on their skin.

Their hair started to fall out,
and their nails.

There's only one thing
that causes this.

And that is radiation poisoning.
It's radiation fallout.

So, the question then becomes,
when events happen

in a place where
there is extreme radiation,

what impact does
that have on human life

or on other life present there?

Could it explain, for example,
why creatures were born

with more than one arm
or more than one leg,

which then somehow
became deified because,

even to this day, we know that,
in civilizations where

anomalous human beings are born,

somehow the touch of God is seen
to be part of this creation.

NARRATOR:
According to the ancient Hindu texts,

after the carnage
at Mohenjo Daro,

a fearsome flying monster
appeared in the sky.

It was called Garuda.

In the Mahabharata,
the Garuda is a massive

bird-like creature. It has
a red face, red wings, talon.

It's so huge,
it would block out the sun.

Uh, there are stories that
it would let a certain god,

Vishnu, ride on him on occasion.

Each and every time he would
show up descending from the sky,

he would create hurricane winds.

And upon his descent,
the Earth would shake,

dust would fly up in the air,

and everyone in the vicinity
would be absolutely terrified.

Now, here we have
a carving of Garuda,

and if we look at the top,

yes, they look like feathers,
but at the same time,

they could be interpreted
as big gigantic flames.

CHILDRESS:
According to Hindu mythology, Garuda is born

out of this cosmic event,

this war and destruction

that happens
at the end of every age.

COPPENS:
Could this have been somehow connected to exposures

or to radiation, being born
within a zone of high radiation?

We cannot know the answer,
but we do know

that, within India,
within Pakistan, there are

known zones of higher radiation
than there are normal.

The logic dictates
that, somehow,

genetic abominations will have
been born within those places.

NARRATOR:
If Mohenjo Daro was, in fact,

the site of an ancient
nuclear attack,

could it be possible
that Garuda was a mutant beast

created as a byproduct
of intense radioactivity?

We tend to have
a science fiction view

of what mutation is.

We think of mutations
being caused by radiation,

and they cause
outlandish features,

and-and gigantic-sized insects
and so forth,

but in fact,
mutations happen all the time.

There's no recorded evidence

of-of any radiation
causing a mutation,

uh, which changes some species
into a different species.

Most of the radiation
mutations are lethal.

NARRATOR:
But if, as modern scientists believe,

Garuda was not likely
the result of genetic mutation,

then what could explain
its existence?

To the east of India,
near the village of Wucheng,

in the Sichuan province
of China,

similar tales of flying beasts
have also been found

in ancient texts.

In the 4th century, historian
Chang Qu reported the discovery

of what were then called
"dragon bones."

A question occurs
as to whether dragons

might actually have been
actual dinosaurs that had wings.

I should point out that

the wings would've been lost
to the fossil record.

We're just recently talking
about dinosaurs

having feathers
and having evolved into birds.

Well, it's possible that
some dinosaurs actually

did have wings and could be
described as dragons.

NARRATOR:
But while most mainstream scientists believe

the remains found were
most likely dinosaur fossils,

like those
of the flying pterosaur,

ancient astronaut theorists
have another,

more provocative explanation.

Now, a creature which somehow
is able to spit fire

obviously is not any place
in the animal kingdom of today.

So, what we have here
is either an invention,

which did indeed spit fire,

in which case we're not
confronting a creature here,

but somehow a creation.

Something which was either
engineered by mankind

or which was engineered
by extraterrestrials.

NARRATOR:
While accounts of strange creatures

commonly referred to as cryptids

are not
scientifically validated,

is it possible
that some of them truly exist?

And if so, might these beings
have an otherworldly connection?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found

by exploring accounts
of an aquatic beast

said to reside
in the deep waters of Loch Ness.

We have so many stories

that describe cryptids
inhabiting bodies of water,

whether oceans, lakes,

- even rivers.
- CHILDRESS: Right.

We have stories of the kraken

and the Hydra and the Leviathan.

And in modern times,

we have stories
of the Loch Ness Monster,

this long-necked creature that

hundreds of people
have claimed to have seen

and even photographed.

Yeah, and there
really is no better

hiding place
than deep underwater.

And we keep making
these new discoveries

of species in our oceans, so

who knows what else
might be lurking down there.

NARRATOR:
In March 2010,

a panel of 41
international experts

concluded that the impact
of an asteroid

that smashed into Earth

at Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula
65 million years ago,

probably triggered the global
climate change that resulted

in the mass extinction
of the Earth's dinosaurs.

But is there also evidence

that some
dinosaur species survived?

And if so,
might they also have evolved?

Paleontologists tell us that,
"Oh, these things have been

extinct for-for 65 million
years," yet, they still crop up.

And they appear to be
prehistoric animals,

dinosaurs, literally, that have
survived right down to today,

much like the coelacanth

and, uh, alligators and sharks

and turtles also have survived

from those same
prehistoric times.

I believe that ancient,
prehistoric monsters

are still living
in remote areas of the world,

either in oceans and lakes
or jungle areas today.

NARRATOR:
In the Highlands of Scotland,

the legend
of the Loch Ness Monster

has long been part of
Celtic and Norse folklore.

Recorded accounts of sightings
can be traced to the year 565,

to the Irish monk Saint Columba,

a powerful leader
who founded monasteries

in both Ireland and Scotland.

During his travels, Columba is
said to have encountered locals

burying a man near the shores
of the now fabled Loch Ness.

MARTELL:
They explained to Father Columba that the man who had died had

been swimming in the lake and
was attacked by the water beast.

Upon hearing this,
Father Columba sent his own

follower into the lake.

When the beast
came after this man,

Father Columba
made the sign of a cross

and commanded the beast
not to harm the man.

The beast fled and was never
seen harming another man again.

REDFERN:
A lot of people don't realize how big Loch Ness is.

It's 23 miles long, a mile wide,

and at its deepest point,
about 800 feet,

and the water is
very, very dark and dense,

and so, it is the prime location
where, conceivably,

if they didn't need
to surface that often,

they would sort of
bypass detection.

When we're confronted
with the Loch Ness Monster

or any kind
of anomalous creature,

the question really is
where does it come from?

Is it a remnant
of the dinosaur age?

Or is it something
which is out of this world?

We know that, for example,
Saint Columba definitely felt

that lake was sacred and that
there was something present

there which had
a religious connotation,

which is why he went
to that place to begin with.

The intriguing thing is that
there actually have been

a significant number
of UFO sightings

over the loch itself of strange,
brightly lit objects

hovering over the water
late at night,

which clearly aren't
helicopters or aircraft

or meteorites
or anything like that at all.

So, in other words, Loch Ness
is a weird and spooky place.

NARRATOR:
Could the so-called sea monsters of Loch Ness

possibly be descendants
of ancient dinosaurs?

Or might it be of another
perhaps extraterrestrial origin?

And if so, what might this say
about other mythical sea beasts

like the seven-headed Sumerian
sea monster the Leviathan?

The Leviathan is sometimes
described as a serpent

or a crocodile or a dragon,
but it lurks.

It is the gatekeeper
to a portal to Hell,

and this gateway to Hell
is apparently deep in the ocean,

and the Leviathan is there,
forever lurking.

NARRATOR:
In Greek myths, the Hydra was described

as an ancient sea serpent
with many heads.

It was said to be a descendant
of the Earth goddess Gaia.

Hercules was sent
to kill the Hydra.

But it was terribly difficult.

He would slice off the head
and two heads would form.

He had to ask help
from his nephew,

and his nephew
had a brilliant idea.

Bring a torch. Fire might keep
the heads from forming.

So, Hercules would bash off
one of the heads,

and his-his nephew
would essentially cauterize

the neck so that
another one wouldn't form.

And in this way,
the Hydra was finally defeated.

COPPENS:
In the case of a Hydra, we have something

which has several heads,
which is once again a category

of a creature which you would
expect not to see.

So, we're either confronted here
with something

which was genetically engineered
or which genetically went wrong.

But clearly,
it was of such importance

that it was adhered to
in mythology where it attained

a status over the years,
over the centuries

up until this moment in time.

NARRATOR: According
to Scandinavian legend,

the kraken are legendary
sea monsters of gargantuan size

and are said
to have roamed the seas

off the coasts
of Norway and Iceland.

This fearsome beast was infamous

for its attacks
on sailing ships.

YOUNG:
The danger was not only being attacked by the kraken.

They would come up
to the surface

and were enormous,
the size of small islands,

so you could, you could have
a collision with a-a kraken

that wasn't even, uh,
out to attack you.

Another great danger was that,
if it submerged suddenly,

it formed such a great whirlpool
that it could pull a ship under.

NARRATOR:
Could such legendary sea monsters have actually existed?

Might they have escaped
extinction

in the safety
of cold, deep waters?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and they suggest that,
in addition to oceans and lakes,

there is evidence
that many cryptids

find refuge
in the world's densest forests

and highest mountains.

You can't really talk
about cryptids

without mentioning Bigfoot.

And I spent a lot of time
with Bigfoot hunters

back in 2014 for my show
In Search of Aliens,

and I'll tell you,
those people were convinced

that they did encounter
this creature.

You know, what's intriguing
is that people that report

witnessing Bigfoot often see him

right after a UFO sighting,
or even at the exact same time.

Right, and there
are reports of Bigfoot

disappearing
in a sudden flash of light.

So, you know,
you have to wonder,

is there
an extraterrestrial connection?

NARRATOR:
Mount Everest. November 9, 1951.

On the Menlung Glacier
at an altitude of 18,000 feet,

British explorers
Eric Shipton and Michael Ward

came across a mile-long trail
of unusual footprints.

Not expecting to find humans

in this remote corner
of the mountain,

the climbers examined the prints
to determine what made them.

To their surprise,
the footprints

were in the shape
of a large, human-like foot,

one roughly
twice the normal size.

MELDRUM:
The footprints suggest that,

in fact, we're dealing
with a large primate.

One that shares with us the--
not only the habit

of walking on two legs, but
has some superficial resemblance

in its foot to our footprints.

Uh, only much larger scale,

but differ from
the other great apes

in the lack
of a divergent big toe,

suggesting they're adapted

to a wholly terrestrial
environment,

living on the ground.

NARRATOR:
Photographs brought back from the expedition

launched a media sensation,

and marked the beginning
of the Bigfoot phenomena.

But where do these
giant footprints come from?

Could they be a hoax?

Or is there some
mysterious unknown creature

living in the remote wilderness?

According to the histories and
myths of the Himalayan region,

one such ape-like creature
is the Yeti,

more commonly known
as the Abominable Snowman.

MELDRUM:
The, uh, notorious Himalayan Yeti,

it's often described as being
less than six feet in height,

much more aggressive
when encountered.

[growling]

All of these sightings
really make for

a creature which seems
to be hiding from us.

There's a creature
which is hiding in plain sight.

And obviously, the direct
evidence comes in the form

of its footprints,
hence why it's quite often

referred to as Bigfoot.

REDFERN:
People often ask why don't we catch Bigfoot?

Bigfoot could be some sort of
supernatural creature,

like a-a phantom, you know.

If Bigfoot is, however,
a flesh and blood animal,

then I would have to say
their numbers

would have to be few
and far between.

NARRATOR:
Since the Mount Everest discovery,

there have been
numerous sightings

of large ape-like creatures
on every continent,

many clustered
in the Pacific Northwest area

of the United States,

including Mount Shasta
in Northern California.

In 1979, I was up on the side of
Mount Shasta on the foothills,

uh, trying to get to the base
of the mountain.

It was so dense and so tough.

As we're standing there,
we heard this crashing sound.

[foliage crunching]

Simultaneously,
we smelled this awful smell.

I mean, it was foul.

But what was horrifying was,
whatever it was,

was coming at us
through this impenetrable hedge.

And then, we heard the most
blood-curdling combination

of an elephant, uh, trumpeting,
a lion roaring.

[roaring]

And it was so loud,

it bounced off the foothills
two miles away.

That was probably
the most terrified

I've ever been in my life,
and-and the next thing I knew,

we were headed down the mountain
almost skidding off corners.

LINDA MOULTON HOWE:
I had heard from sheriffs

about a rancher in Montana
who had gone out to go hunting.

Comes around a ridge,
has an eight-foot-tall,

reddish-brown, primate-looking,

long-haired creature
standing right in front of him.

Picks up a thirty-aught-six
and just fires.

And the creature disappeared
in a flash of light.

If the Sasquatch,
when a bullet is shot at it,

disappears in a flash of light,

then what in the world
are we dealing with?

And what do they want?

NARRATOR: Why is the creature
known as Bigfoot

so difficult to capture or kill?

Could it be, as ancient
astronaut theorists contend,

that the creature's
ghost-like abilities

are the result of its
otherworldly origin?

CHILDRESS:
Many Sasquatch researchers

have noted that there's
a connection between

UFO activity
and Bigfoot activity.

In fact, Bigfoot
has been seen coming out

of some UFO flying saucer craft.

You have to wonder
if somehow Bigfoot himself

isn't some kind of
extraterrestrial.

MARTELL:
Many of the North American Indian tribes

have legends and mythological
tales about these Sasquatch.

The Anasazi and various
other Indian cultures

look at these
as a ghost creature.

Something that--
it's impossible to capture.

Close to impossible to see.

But they do know
that they exist.

NARRATOR:
Although mainstream scientists consider the mysterious beast

as no more
than a modern-day myth,

the number of Bigfoot sightings
reported and photographed

continues to steadily increase.

COPPENS:
Specifically what you get is obviously big feet,

you get a hairy creature.

You get a very specific smell,
very harsh smell,

and it is also said
that the sound

which Bigfoot makes
is kind of whistling.

[high-pitched whistle]

So, all of these components
really make for a typical

Bigfoot sighting, and they are
concise across the board.

MELDRUM:
They seem to be very elusive, very retiring and retreating.

Aggressive behaviors
are very rarely reported.

The witness sees the creature,

and, uh, both go
in opposite directions

with no interaction whatsoever.

They range in size from perhaps
six feet to ten feet tall.

Coloration,
the most common description

is of a dark brown fur.

Their names vary from location,

uh, but you have, of course,
in America, Bigfoot,

otherwise known as Sasquatch
in the Pacific Northwest.

Down in Florida,
he's known as the skunk ape.

Down in Australia,
we have the Yowie.

NARRATOR:
But if a Bigfoot creature really does exist,

how has it remained so elusive?

Researchers point out
that accounts of giant,

human-like beasts
date back thousands of years.

Throughout ancient history,
we have a number

of legends about giants,
about wild men,

about hairy beasts that live
at the edge of civilization.

These were humans,
you know, people

who were, however, wild.
They were hairy.

They didn't wear clothes.
They lived in the woods.

And yet, in other ways,
they had special powers.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the supernatural creatures

of Native American myths
are in fact descriptions

of encounters with Bigfoot
in the remote past?

And are such creatures
extraterrestrial in nature?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answers can be found

in numerous ancient texts.

COPPENS:
In the Book of Enoch, we have a category called

the Nephilim, or the watchers,

people who are said to come down
from Heaven to Earth

and basically lived
ever after amongst us.

Now, the Bible gives some very
little discussion as to really

what they looked like,
except the fact

that they were giants,
that they were big,

and clearly, they are deemed
to be less worthy.

And I think this is of interest
because, when you start

looking on the Bigfoot,
you really are confronted

with a creature which even
we today would classify more

as a animal
rather than as a human being.

TSOUKALOS:
What they witnessed had absolutely nothing to do

with the divine or with
the spiritual because

those gods were not gods at all.

They were misinterpreted flesh
and blood extraterrestrials.

[growling]

NARRATOR: Might Bigfoot
and the Himalayan Yeti

really be creatures
of alien origin,

as some ancient astronaut
theorists contend?

Perhaps further evidence
can be found in ancient tales

of giant beings
with supernatural powers.

You know, we often think of
Bigfoot as a modern phenomenon,

but there's actually reports
of a Bigfoot-like creature

in the Sumerian text called
the Epic of Gilgamesh,

which is the oldest story
ever written.

Yeah, and that text goes back
about 5,000 years ago.

And in it, there is
a character named Enkidu

who is this wild, hairy beast
of giant proportions.

Yeah, it's really amazing
to think that the creature

we call Bigfoot has been
hiding out in the wilderness

since the time of the Sumerians.

And you have to wonder,

maybe the reason why
it's so elusive

is because it really is
of otherworldly origin.

NARRATOR:
Iraq.

Site of ancient Mesopotamia
and the cradle of civilization.

In the remains
of the ancient city of Nineveh,

Sumerian tablets
dating back to as early as

1800 BC tell the story
of King Gilgamesh.

In this epic poem, Gilgamesh
has a companion named Enkidu...

...who is described
as a hairy wild man

living outside human society.

What is fascinating
about the Epic of Gilgamesh

is the fact that it relates
to us a story of Enkidu

who allegedly was a giant.

It is possible that Enkidu,

this wild hairy beast,
this giant,

could have been
of extraterrestrial origin.

Because that is what the ancient
Sumerian texts are saying.

Enkidu is described in the-the
Epic of Gilgameshas being

a hairy man-like monster
with great strength,

and when you read that story,

you have to think that Enkidu

is some kind of a Bigfoot,
Sasquatch.

This is the actual first
fashioned being by the gods,

where they put
their genetic marker on it

to make a new being
that would be their slave.

And they called this being
the Enkidu.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible, as ancient astronaut theorists suggest,

that the Epic of Gilgamesh

actually describes
a hominid creature

created by
extraterrestrial beings?

Sumerian texts also describe
ancient sky gods

who came to Earth,
called the Anunnaki.

MARTELL:
The ancient astronaut theory explains how these gods

were probably
extraterrestrials...

...and put their genetic marker
on this beast.

But that beast would still exist

and probably went on
its own evolutionary path

to be the Bigfoot and the
Sasquatch that we have today.

NARRATOR:
Do ancient accounts of such human-like beasts

provide further evidence
that this otherworldly being

may have really existed
throughout our history?

All cultures across the world,
whether it's South America,

Native American Indians, Europe,
Russia, China, Tibet, Australia,

all these nations
have legends and tales

of giant, hairy, wild men.

Now, you know, people say,

"Well, legends
are just legends."

But when you have cultures and
countries separated by oceans

all talking
about very similar things,

to me, this does suggest that,
in times past, these things

were very, very prevalent
and widespread across the world.

NARRATOR:
Legends of giants were common in the ancient world.

But similar stories
emerged much later

with Viking
explorer Leif Ericson,

who in the 10th century AD

wrote of "horrible, ugly,
hairy creatures with dark eyes."

Leif Ericson was familiar
with the different types

of tribes of Indigenous people.

Now, he spoke
very specifically about these

large, hairy creatures
with dark eyes,

and a very specific scent
that they had.

It stood out from
all the other cultures that

they interacted with on their
travels into the New World.

Could these have been
the Sasquatch

or Yeti that we speak of today?
Very possibly.

NARRATOR:
But could all these similar accounts

found throughout history
and around the world

be proof that Bigfoot
is more than just myth?

And is there any evidence
that its origins

lie not on Earth,
but in the stars?

REDFERN:
There are a number of cases on record

where Bigfoot has been seen
in the same precise timeframe

as UFO activities
being reported.

For example,
there was a-a big wave

of UFO activity in Pennsylvania
in the early 1970s,

and people were actually
reporting these large, shadowy,

lumbering ape-like creatures
walking out of the woods.

In Texas, there's a road known
locally as Ghost Light Road.

And it's called
Ghost Light Road because people

see these weird balls of light
flying through the woods.

Coincidentally,
people also have reported

huge numbers
of Bigfoot sight reports

in these very same woods.

[growling]

Bigfoot are intelligent.

They're very, very secretive
and very, very hidden.

They're able to skirt
around civilization.

Perhaps they do have some sort
of extra abilities

that allow them
to do this and if so,

where did those abilities
come from?

We can't factor out
that, possibly,

Bigfoot are somehow
an extraterrestrial species.

HOWE:
Back in 1980,

I had been investigating
a lot of animal mutilations,

and I get a letter from a man
up in Snohomish, Washington,

famous for the Sasquatch
or Bigfoot sightings...

...who said, "I was out
at my father's place...

"...and I hear a sound in the
trees as if wind has come in.

With the trees starting to move,
comes this silver disc."

And then he sees a beam
that comes down to the ground.

In the beam, is a tall, shaggy,

primate-looking-- he said
it looked like a gorilla--

comes down to the bottom,

and the tall creature walks by
as if he doesn't exist.

The next thing,
animal mutilations

are reported within a few days.

[flies buzzing]

NARRATOR:
If Bigfoot creatures are aligned

with extraterrestrial beings

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe,

what might be the purpose of
their presence on this planet?

And might
the worldwide sightings

be part of a clandestine program
that has been going on

for thousands of years?

Bigfoot could've
been brought here,

you know, to sort of,
"Let's put it in

alongside the Natives
and see what happens."

There are stories of the star
people coming down and releasing

these Bigfoot-type creatures
into the wilderness.

Of course, you have to wonder
what prompted those stories.

And that's why there are
researchers out there who do

believe that Bigfoot is,
if you like,

an animal born on another world.

One idea is that these
are entities that have been

dropped down here as part
of a research project.

Another idea is that
the Bigfoot creatures perhaps

were criminals or some other
type of undesirable from

an alien planet that have been
left on our world.

NARRATOR:
If extraterrestrials did create a race of Bigfoot creatures

thousands of years in the past,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe...

...might they have had a reason
for keeping them hidden from us?

Perhaps further clues
can be uncovered

by examining another elusive
and even more sinister

cryptid race
known as the Reptilians.

One group of cryptids
that are reported a lot

in modern times
are the Reptilians.

But they're usually
not thought of as monsters,

they're thought of as
an intelligent alien species,

like the Nordics or the Greys.

Dozens of alleged
alien abductees

have reported
encountering Reptilians.

Yeah, and in fact,
in ancient India,

in the Vedic texts,
they describe beings like that

called the Nagas.

But that is not the only culture

that talks
about these creatures.

Right, and there
are some reports

that the Reptilians are able to
disguise themselves as humans.

We talked about all this
in a 2014 episode

called the "Reptilians."

NARRATOR:
Bishopville, South Carolina.

June 1988. 2:00 a.m.

17-year-old Christopher Davis

had pulled over
on a deserted road

near Scape Ore Swamp
to fix a flat tire.

Just as he finished,
he heard a noise behind him.

He saw a strange,
seven-foot-tall creature

with red glowing eyes
running towards him.

Davis started to drive away, but
the creature caught up with him

and jumped
on the roof of the car.

Swerving hard
to throw the creature off,

he saw it had three fingers
and green skin.

Finally, it fell from the car,
and Davis sped away.

JOHN RHODES: And he ended up
getting out of where he was,

and he went immediately home.

He was so upset that his parents
called the police department.

Sheriff Liston Truesdale
actually went out there

and interviewed him.

He asked him to take
a lie detector test,

and this young boy
passed the lie detector test

with flying colors.

NARRATOR: What Christopher Davis
told the detective he saw

was a Lizard Man.

REDFERN:
And what's interesting is that the police

took the story
very, very seriously.

Although Christopher Davis's
sighting of the Lizard Man

was certainly the most famous
and infamous one,

it's not the only one.

They tracked down
a number of other witnesses

who both previously and after
had seen the Lizard Man.

NARRATOR:
In the spring of 1988,

a crop duster
named Frank Mitchell

reported seeing what he said
was a Lizard Man

cross his grassy runway
one morning

as he was about to take off.

And two years later, in 1990,

Bertha Blythers
and her five children claimed

they nearly hit
a lizard-like man

while driving
near the same swamp.

[snorting]

Could these incidents
all be related?

Is it merely coincidence

that three separate people
on three separate occasions

reported seeing a Lizard Man
near the Scape Ore Swamp?

Could there possibly be
another species of life

down here, something
we're not aware of,

and-and they're interacting
with people?

NARRATOR:
Further sightings of a so-called Lizard Man

have been reported
not only in this area,

but also in Tennessee,
Illinois, and Austria.

In fact, alleged encounters
with these creatures

have become so widespread,

they are now
collectively known by one name:

the Reptilians.

But could accounts
of the Reptilians

be more than just the product
of overactive imaginations?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and as evidence, they point
to the legends of serpent gods

that can be found
throughout the world.

MARTELL:
In South America, Quetzalcoatl,

Kukulcan, they're always
referenced as serpent gods.

Even in Japan or ancient China,
we have these

dragon emperors and dragon gods.

It's very possible
that there was a time

in the past that ancient man
was interacting with what appear

to be living serpent beings,
a lost reptilian race.

TSOUKALOS:
We can find these stories of serpent gods

all around the world.

I don't mean just, you know,
particular geographic regions,

but on every continent, on
virtually every ancient culture.

You have them in India.

You have them in China.

In Greece, in England,

in South and North America,
in Africa.

I mean, it doesn't matter
where you go in the world,

there are these
direct references

to these serpent-like beings
that descended from the sky.

So, to me, this is not
a figment of the imagination.

And certainly, not coincidence.

NARRATOR:
In addition to myths and legends passed down

through oral history,

early written texts
also speak of serpent beings

that were once present on Earth.

TZADOK:
The Bible speaks of a reptilian race, the seraphim,

we read about them
in the Book of Isaiah.

Some will interpret them
as being the fiery ones,

but the correct understanding
is reptilian.

There has always been knowledge
of the Reptilians.

Some are good, others bad.

MAGLIOCCO:
Religious texts tell of reptilian beings

whose existence
is inexorably linked

to that of the Earth
and humankind.

So, for example, in the Bible,

the Book of Genesis
has a story about a serpent

who tempts Eve,
the first woman, by offering her

the forbidden fruit
from the Tree of Knowledge.

Eve falls for
the snake's blandishments,

and she eats of that apple and
forever changes human history,

causing Adam and Eve
to be expelled

from the Garden of Eden,

and causing the serpent, too,
to be punished,

in that he is doomed
to slither upon the ground

as a punishment
for his disobeying God's will.

TZADOK:
It is understood, in ancient legend,

that, prior to God
punishing the serpent,

the serpent was completely
humanoid in character.

And that this serpent,
this nachash, was only one

of a race of reptilian beings
who served God.

HENRY:
When you hear that story from a modern perspective,

it sounds an awful lot
like what people describe

as the Reptilians,

lizard-like beings,

or beings with the faces
or visage of a viper.

NARRATOR:
But if the serpent in the Garden of Eden

really was a reptilian alien,

as ancient astronaut
theorists suggest,

could there be
similar stories recorded

in the ancient texts
of other cultures as well?

In the Quran, there's
a fascinating category

of creatures known as
the-the jinn.

The jinn are ancient.

They were here before humans.

They're a category unto
themselves, not unlike angels.

And at one point, Iblis,
the leader of the jinn

offended God, crossed him,
was rebellious and was cursed

like the serpents
in the Garden of Eden

and became Earthbound,

trapped on Earth for eternity,
and they are here with us.

MAGLIOCCO:
Throughout the Mediterranean and the Near East,

there is a very strong belief
linking snakes,

skinks, lizards,
and other reptiles

to supernatural
or magical creatures,

and in some cases,
to the souls of ancestors.

So, it can be
considered bad luck

to kill one of these beings
if you find it in the home

because it might be a jinn

or another kind of supernatural
creature that is visiting you.

NARRATOR:
The jinn. Kukulkan.

The serpent
in the Garden of Eden.

Could all of these stories
about otherworldly

serpent-beings able to influence
humanity be based on fact?

And if they have been part
of human history

for thousands of years,
where do they come from?

Some ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer can be found

by looking back not thousands
of years, but millions.

NARRATOR:
Ottawa, Ontario. 1982.

At the national museum
of Canada,

paleontologist and curator of
vertebrate fossils Dale Russell

publishes a thought experiment

based on the trend
toward larger brain sizes

and the upright posture
of dinosaurs.

He proposes a theory
about what one species

of dinosaur
would've evolved into

if it had survived the mass
extinction 65 million years ago.

RHODES:
What he did is take the dinosaur known as Troodon,

and they noticed
the morphological changes

in the skeletal structure
of the dinosaur.

And based on over time
where it was going,

they extrapolated it
out further.

And strangely enough,
or wonderfully enough,

they actually came up
with a model that resembled

a humanoid reptilian being,

which actually matched that
of the reports that we were

hearing now as well as reports
from ancient history.

So, for me, this was one
of the most compelling pieces

of information where science
actually says, "It is possible."

RUEHL:
If the dinos hadn't died out,

this would've become
what he called the Dinosauroid,

an upright, standing,
semi-humanoid,

semi-reptilian entity,
what we might call a reptoid.

He thought it might stand
four to five feet high,

weigh about 90 pounds, and have
a fairly advanced brain.

Now, did this entity
ever come into existence?

REDFERN:
What if some of the dinosaurs didn't become extinct?

What if they managed to survive
the global extinction,

or presumed extinction,
65 million years ago,

and over time,
some of them developed

through natural selection
and they grew smaller,

they became more intelligent,

they became more adept
and adaptive

and-and took on
a-a humanoid form.

We necessarily shouldn't think

that the Reptilians
are extraterrestrials.

Perhaps, in some strange way,
they're our forefathers,

albeit from millions and
millions of years in the past.

NARRATOR:
If the Reptilians do exist,

could they be the descendants
of dinosaurs

that walked the Earth
millions of years ago?

Our concept
of dinosaurs is changing

all the time, of course.

And nowadays, we're making

so many new discoveries
every year,

that we're reinterpreting them
in many ways.

Certainly, if you looked
20, 30 years, uh, back,

there were so many things
that have been found,

and so many other things
we know now.

Uh, particularly, I think
it's been very important

that nowadays, it's completely,

uh, very well-accepted the idea

that dinosaurs are not extinct.

That dinosaurs essentially
evolved into birds,

and that, um,
they're alive today.

And now that we know that not
all the dinosaurs died out,

and as a matter of fact,
some survived to become birds--

warm-blooded birds, mind you--
from a dinosaur,

which is considered
reptile and cold-blooded...

...we're recognizing that,
even if these are birds now,

we didn't recognize
them now as being

part of the dinosaur family.

What could these other pockets

that have survived
the devastation

65 million years ago--

could they have evolved
parallel to mankind

in-in hidden cavern systems,
and could they be actually

the beings that we think
are extraterrestrial,

but are actually
our terrestrial neighbors?

Paleontologists generally
argue that the dinosaurs

died out totally
65 million years ago.

I think it's certainly
within the realm of feasibility

that some found an ecological
niche to survive in

and may even exist today.

And I point out that while
we hear UFO abductees

talking about little Greys
and tall humanoids,

a minority of them
do report encounters

with what we would
call reptoids.

So, it's possible

that on some planet,
if not Earth,

somewhere else,
they evolved from dinosaurs.

To find another place
in the universe

that was so rich with resources

and so capable
of supporting life

was probably
a very exciting discovery

for extraterrestrial visitors
to Earth in our prehistory.

In their eyes,
this could have been the place

they could colonize, or perhaps

act as a working environment

for experiments they were doing
with new species

they were trying to engineer.

Maybe they manipulated
dinosaur DNA

to favor certain mutations.

By playing with
certain mutations

in the genes of dinosaurs,

highly advanced
extraterrestrials,

through genetic modification,

may have been able to alter
the course of dinosaur evolution

to favor the rise of mammals.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible celestial travelers

manipulated the DNA of reptiles
and mammals on Earth,

as ancient astronaut theorists
believe?

And could one of their
experiments have resulted

in a reptilian-human
hybrid species?

It's very possible
that the reptilian agenda

extends well into our history.

We really don't know
the full record of dinosaurs

on our planet,

since dinosaurs were here
for millions of years.

Many of these references
to a current reptilian race

or an ancient serpent race

that was worshiped
by various cultures

could be an offshoot,
a genetic variation of dinosaurs

that naturally evolved
here on Earth.

NARRATOR:
Could Earth really be home to human-like reptiles

that are an evolutionary
offshoot of dinosaurs?

Some researchers suggest

there might be an even
more profound explanation

behind the so-called
Reptilians...

...one that may be revealed

by exploring encounters
with strange entities

at a mysterious site
in the American Southwest

known as Skinwalker Ranch.

If you're looking
for evidence of cryptids,

look no further than
Skinwalker Ranch in Utah.

I mean, that place is famous
for modern UFO activity.

However, people have been
reporting strange encounters

with very bizarre creatures
for decades.

Right. And our own
Dr. Travis Taylor

has been investigating
the bizarre phenomena there

since 2019.

And William, you had a chance
to visit the ranch

- recently yourself.
- I did.

It is a powerfully
strange place.

And one of the theories
about why

there is so much anomalous
activity there is because

it's thought to be the location
of an interdimensional portal.

NARRATOR:
Uintah County, Utah.

Nestled in a deep valley,

surrounded by some
of the highest mountain peaks

in North America,

is an infamous
512-acre patch of land

known as Skinwalker Ranch.

The native Utes
warn of a dark presence

that exists in this area...

...where strange sightings
in the sky,

encounters with
terrifying creatures,

animal mutilations

and numerous other
paranormal activities

have been reported
for centuries.

Skinwalker Ranch has
become this nexus of activity

where people are reporting
strange things.

It's in an area in Utah that's
very much like a desert terrain.

And what's there now is high
desert prairie kind of area.

Now, what it actually is
and what's going on there

is a whole other question.

JEREMY CORBELL:
It's a very unique place in the world

where the phenomenon
expresses itself

in dramatic form.

It's also the most
scientifically studied

UFO or paranormal hot spot
in history.

NARRATOR:
Native American legends say that there has been

an otherworldly presence
at Skinwalker Ranch

for as long as humans
have existed in the area,

which, according
to archaeological evidence,

is at least 10,000 years.

And the very first
European settlers

to pass through this land
in the late 1700s

had their own
bizarre experiences,

which they recorded
in their journals.

The first Europeans
to cross the Uinta Basin,

the, uh, Franciscan monks,

reported seeing things
over their campfires at night,

really weird objects
that we would call UFOs.

The Native Americans,
the Indigenous tribes

who have been there,
have had these experiences

for generations.

It has, for as long
as humans have lived there,

it has been the site
of paranormal activity,

strange things in the sky, UFOs.

There are so many stories
about Skinwalker Ranch

that range from
cattle mutilations going on,

there are stories that
if you dig on the property,

you'll get sick.

Even strange stories

of cloaked beasts
running out of the woods.

You've seen UFOs,

they have seen
different creatures,

they have seen weird things
happening up in the sky.

So, you have
all these different phenomena

that happen on that ranch,
so some have referred to it

as a veritable
Disneyland of the Paranormal.

NARRATOR:
The most notorious of the paranormal phenomena

associated with Skinwalker Ranch

is the creature for which
the property is named.

The association
of the skinwalker

with this mysterious plot
of land

can be traced back
to the mid-19th century.

In January of 1864,

land disputes between Navajos,

Utes and the United States
military in Utah and Arizona

reached a fateful tipping point.

After decades of conflict,

the military removed
the Navajo people from the area,

forcing them to make
what became known

as the Long Walk to New Mexico.

The Navajos blamed the Utes
for helping the military.

And so, they cursed the land
that the Utes lived on up there.

And it must have been
a pretty strong curse

because, even today,

there are really interesting
things that happen up there.

NARRATOR:
Cursing the land, the Navajo witch doctors

attempted to conjure
an entity called

a "yee naaldlooshii,"
or "skinwalker."

The skinwalkers,
they're sort of typically

six to seven feet tall,

very dangerous.

It's described as being wolflike
but walking on two limbs.

So, inevitably, it sort of
provokes imagery of a werewolf.

[growling]

DOVER:
The subject of skinwalkers is as serious as a heart attack.

This is not something
to trifle with.

Even talking about them
puts me in some danger.

The skinwalker
is somebody who is evil.

They want to control people,
communities, regions,

and have that power over people,
and they do this by fear.

JIM MORSE:
The Utes, to this day, are very respectful,

they're very mindful.

Matter of fact,
they stay at an arm's length,

um, from the Skinwalker Ranch.

Uh, they firmly believe

that this ground is cursed,

and that not only
the Uinta Basin

but this concentration
of this phenomenon,

this host,
is on the Skinwalker Ranch.

NARRATOR:
Could a monster known as the skinwalker

really stalk the grounds
of Skinwalker Ranch?

And if so, was it conjured up
by Navajo witch doctors?

Or is it connected
to the paranormal

and perhaps
otherworldly activity

that has been reported
on the property for centuries?

Investigative journalist
George Knapp

was one of the first reporters
to expose the strange stories

at Skinwalker Ranch
back in the mid-1990s,

when he conducted extensive
interviews with the Shermans,

the family of ranchers
that owned the property.

This guy shows up one day

while the ranching family
is still there.

He's built like Grizzly Adams,
big burly guy with a beard.

He said he'd been
drawn to the property.

And he talks to the rancher
and says,

"I just need to meditate
for a couple of minutes.

"I'm drawn here,
I need to do this.

Can you let me on the property?"

The rancher kind of bemusedly
says, "Okay, come on in."

He lets the guy in,
the rancher and his son

escort him
to the middle homestead

and the rancher and his son
are watching the guy

and just kind of chuckling
to themselves.

They hear this thing
in the brush,

and then they look over
and there's something moving.

And then it comes out
of the brush,

right up to where
this guy is...

[screaming]

...and it looked like
the creature in Predator

with the camouflage,
the opaque camouflage,

the invisibility technology.

This thing comes right up
to this guy and roars.

[roaring]

Scares the hell out of this guy,
who opens his eyes,

flies back, lands on his back.

The rancher and his son
go rushing over to him.

He's petrified,
grabbing them, won't let go.

They escort him off the property
and he swears, "It's the devil,

it's Satan, you're gonna burn
for this kind of stuff."

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the terrifying creature

witnessed by both the ranchers
and their mysterious visitor

was what the Navajo
call a skinwalker?

Was it a being
from another world?

Even another dimension?

Such stories have inspired
countless curiosity seekers

to make pilgrimages
to the ranch.

But for those
who have lived and worked there,

like current ranch
superintendent Tom Winterton,

Skinwalker Ranch is not
a place to be taken lightly.

I had been warned
not to dig on this ranch,

which I thought was
absolutely ridiculous.

It's just, it's a ranch,
for crying out loud.

That's what you do, you dig
fence holes, you dig ditches.

And so, I paid
zero attention to it.

And whether it's related or not,

I ended up getting
this severe head injury

that causes my head to swell up.

I had fluid that separated
the fatty tissue from my skull.

And to this day,
my doctors still haven't

come up with an explanation
of what happened.

What they did say
was that what happened to me

just was not medically possible.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say
that there are things

that have happened here
that have shaken me to my core.

When we patrol
the-the perimeter of the place,

both on foot
and with our vehicles,

um, we are heavily armed.

And that's not necessarily

because we're looking
to hurt anybody,

it's more of we don't know
what we're dealing with,

and it's a dangerous place...

- Morning.
- Hey, Kaleb. How you doing, man?

ARNOLD:
...between the natural things that are here

and then, also, the unknown.

NARRATOR:
What could possibly explain so many incredible encounters

being reported on a single
512-acre stretch of land...

...and by multiple groups
of people

over a span
of hundreds of years?

Do the many accounts of UFOs

point to
an extraterrestrial connection?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by more closely examining
the stories of the skinwalker

and its connection
to a supernatural creature

thought to have vanished
from the Earth long ago.

NARRATOR:
Fort Duchesne, Utah.

1968.

17-year-old Larry Cesspooch
is with his friends,

driving along
an infamous stretch of road

near Skinwalker Ranch.

As they approach a spot
known as Dead Man's Curve,

named for the high number
of car crashes

that have occurred there,

they spot a bright object
in the sky.

We were driving around,
with a bunch of us,

and we come around
Dead Man's Curve

and, uh, the driver
looked in his rearview mirror

and said,
"Oh, what the heck is that?"

It was a fireball,

and that fireball
was coming up behind us.

And so,
we told him to go faster.

And this thing
just flew over our head.

When I had told my mother,
she had talked about

a similar incident
when she was younger.

And other tribal members
have seen that fireball.

NARRATOR:
Other reports indicate that the local residents

have been regularly witnessing
similar strange events

both in and around
Skinwalker Ranch for decades.

The various accounts
describe flashing lights,

floating orbs and UFOs.

ARNOLD:
In this entire area,

there have been hundreds
of reports of UFOs,

you know, multiple people
seeing the same ones.

This particular part of the area
has kind of gotten the nickname

of "UFO Alley"
because of the number

of those sightings
that have been reported.

JOHN ALEXANDER:
We did see tears, we had openings in the sky, voices,

craft coming through, orbs.

Is that E.T.? Um, hard to say.

Reality of the events
is absolute.

ERIK BARD:
I have personally watched

as portions of the mesa,

as large as 500 to 600 feet,
appeared to glow.

We may be looking at
a terrestrial light source,

or we may be looking at
something far more interesting.

NARRATOR:
In the 1990s,

the owners of Skinwalker Ranch

also witnessed
strange orbs in the sky.

When they relayed
their experiences

to George Knapp,
he found that the UFOs

were tied to the other
paranormal activity

taking place on the property.

They start hearing
heavy footsteps

outside their
bedroom window at night.

Then they start seeing
these dark humanoid shapes

in the windows at night.

[floorboards creaking]

Then they start hearing
the footsteps inside the house.

Then they wake up at night,

and there's the thing
at the bottom of their bed.

They would go out at night,
they walk around,

they start hearing
disembodied voices

in the sky above their heads...

[whispering voices]

...speaking
some strange language,

almost like mocking them.

They start seeing little orbs
floating around,

seemingly
intelligently controlled,

floating around in the trees.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that reports of floating orbs,

poltergeist activity

and the creature known
as the skinwalker

are not separate phenomena?

Might they be better understood

by considering them
all together?

Another story told
to George Knapp by the Shermans

may reveal yet another aspect
to the Skinwalker Ranch mystery.

KNAPP:
The first day there on the property,

they see an animal of some sort
over on the brush line,

and it starts
coming toward them.

They then realized,
"That's a wolf."

It's huge.

The back of the wolf came up
to the middle of his chest.

[growls]

They petted this thing,
it was a real physical creature.

Uh, now, the calves
are in the corral,

they're all backed up
against one side,

scared of this wolf,
except one calf

makes the mistake
of sticking its snout out

between the bars of the corral.

The wolf sees it...

...leaps in the air
like 20 feet,

chomps down
on the head of this calf,

and it's trying to drag it
out of the corral.

The son grabs a .357
out of the truck

and brings it over,
Dad pops a shot into this wolf.

No yelp, no blood, no anything.

Shoots it a second
and third time.

Now this is the fourth shot
they've put into this wolf,

and then a fifth shot
goes right into the chest.

A chunk of flesh and fur
comes popping off the side

and falls on the ground.

And this wolf
just casually turns around

and starts walking away,
he's had enough.

Five shots in this thing
and didn't kill it.

NARRATOR:
The Shermans say they pursued the wolf into the brush,

following its tracks
on the wet ground.

KNAPP:
They get to a clearing beyond the brush, a muddy area.

The tracks go all the way out

into the middle
of the muddy field and stop.

It's gone.

It's as if it had been
sucked up into the sky.

NARRATOR:
Later, when the Shermans told this story

to a group of scientists

that had come
to investigate the ranch,

they were shown a series
of photographs and asked

if any of them resembled
the animal they encountered.

KNAPP:
They have a lineup of different types of wolves

to ask each
of the family members,

"Show us what this looked like,"

and the one that
they all identified

is what's known as a dire wolf.

Dire wolf, of course, has been
extinct for 10,000 years.

NARRATOR:
If a dire wolf is, in fact, what the Shermans witnessed,

could it present another clue

as to what is happening
at Skinwalker Ranch?

Many ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer is simple.

According to them,
the ranch most likely contains

some kind
of interdimensional portal,

one that would allow
not only travel

from one dimension to another

but to various points
in time and space.

And they also suggest that
this otherworldly connection

could account for the various
cryptid life-forms

such as the Loch Ness Monster,

Bigfoot, reptilian beings

and other elusive entities

that regularly appear
and disappear from our reality.

A lot of times, when we imagine
alien life-forms,

we think of them
as looking a lot like us.

I mean, not exactly like us,
but as an upright humanoid form.

Then again, they may look
nothing like us.

Their planet's atmosphere
could be different than ours,

the geology,
the gravitational forces.

Yeah, and if you take into
consideration all the cryptids

that have been reported
since ancient times,

it's quite possible
that some of them

were of extraterrestrial origin.

In fact, we covered this
in a 2015 episode

called "Alien Evolution."

NARRATOR:
West Virginia. September 1952.

Multiple witnesses report
seeing a strange ball of light

shooting across the night sky

and landing
in a nearby wooded area.

Those who investigate
the crash site

describe seeing a ten-foot-tall
birdlike creature

with glowing red eyes.

REDFERN:
It was this huge, humanoid-type figure

anywhere from about ten feet
to 12 feet high.

Had these fiery, blazing eyes
and was emitting

these sparks
and flashes of light.

It was described
as having a cowl-like head,

not unlike an ace of spades
card in a deck of cards.

The entire group
was unanimous in their belief

that the object or the creature
was utterly real...

...that it was connected
with the overflight

of the strange light,

and it was also connected

with this red pulsating light
that they saw.

NARRATOR: Curiously,
Native American mythology

also describes a similar
half-bird, half-human creature

that shared the planet with
mankind thousands of years ago.

YOUNG:
The Apache had a demonic figure in their mythology,

the giant Owl-Man,

who could petrify you
through its gaze.

It was truly
a terrifying presence

that could come at any time,

and particularly
in the night sky when owls fly.

TOK THOMPSON:
This is a pretty common theme

in a lot of
Native American mythology,

that there was
a time in the past

when the Earth was overrun

by pretty scary monsters
of various forms.

And the Big Owl, or the Owl-Man,

is one of these sort of,
uh, representatives.

NARRATOR:
Might the stories of Owl-Men

and other strange creatures
describe beings

that the Native Americans
actually encountered?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and point to similar
creation myths

from across the world

of gods that resemble not just
anthropomorphic birds...

...but also reptiles...

...insects and sea creatures.

TSOUKALOS:
All around the world,

we have figurines and carvings

and paintings, rock paintings,

of these very bizarre creatures

that can be found
not only on every continent

but, once you compare them,
they're also incredibly similar.

So, one has to wonder
if these figurines

and these statues
of these different depictions

of what they referred to
as the gods,

if they're actually rooted
in some type of reality.

NARRATOR:
Did our ancestors really encounter

these intelligent life-forms
thousands of years ago?

And if so, just what were they?

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

February 2013.

Analyzing data gathered by
NASA's Kepler space telescope,

astronomers at
the Harvard-Smithsonian Center

for Astrophysics
announce that six percent

of all red dwarf stars have
habitable, Earthlike planets.

Because red dwarf stars
burn much longer than our Sun,

the discovery
raises the possibility

that life on these planets
could be much older,

and much different
than life on Earth.

The environment plays
a-a really pivotal role

in sort of the direction,
um, that organisms evolve.

And so, you can imagine
that evolution played out

on a different planet

might follow
the same types of rules

but have completely
different end products,

so it'd look
completely different.

PETER WARD:
Just go to any other star with planets around it.

Intelligence is going
to happen because of crises,

it's going to happen because

you can only survive
with that intelligence.

But it could be from a reptile.

That we were reptile-equivalent.

It could be from a quadruped.

It might be from
a mollusk-like creature.

The cause is probably
going to be the same.

The end result, anatomically,
totally different.

HENRY:
There could be a myriad of different forms

that intelligent life takes
throughout the cosmos.

When we look
to the earthly record

of otherworldly beings
that have visited Earth...

...they exhibit
different characteristics.

They have bird heads, dog heads,

reptilian-type forms.

It's possible
that these are the forms

that these beings take
on their home planet,

and they might even coexist

with beings that are
even different from them.

I think it's unscientific
to flat-out say

that any and all cryptids
are nonexistent,

because they said the same thing
about the coelacanth.

"Extinct. Does not exist."

And then they found
the coelacanth again.

Just because you take a spoon
out of the ocean with water

and there is no shark
in the spoon,

doesn't mean there
is no sharks in the water.

Well, right, and the-the oceans
are so vast and deep.

I mean, that is really
the unexplored territory

- on our planet.
- Absolutely.

And, you know, we're only
just beginning to discover,

you know, all the creatures
and cryptids all over the world.

Well, and then, you multiply
that by the possibility

that there's beings perhaps
that are beyond the physical.

Light beings, for example,
or beings

living in a different density
or a different frequency

that are still intelligent life.

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