All language subtitles for Unidentified.Inside.Americas.UFO.Investigation.S02E08.Close.Enconters.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

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rated PG, and contains

ANNOUNCER: This program is
rated PG, and contains

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)

- [Goodrich] The objects
were bright white,

and there was absolutely
no sound whatsoever.

- [Narrator] Tonight
on Unidentified,

- It was around sphere, the
exterior of it was gaseous.

- [Narrator] Lue
Elizondo tackles

the most controversial
question of all,

are we being visited?

- [Woods] The
atmosphere in the truck

got really, really thick.

Like, couldn't breathe.

- The following morning I
found blood on my pillow.

- We were both startled
awake by a bright light,

and I could hear what sounded

like someone moving
around upstairs.

(dramatic eerie whine)

- [Narrator] US
military veterans report

terrifying close encounters.

- [Woods] I was burned on
my face and on my hand.

- [Narrator] Even injuries,

- [Chris Mellon] We ought
to be able to follow

the data wherever it goes.

- [Narrator] Does
the evidence hold up?

- Sounds exactly like a textbook
case of sleep paralysis.

- [Narrator] Is proof
we're not alone?

- If it turns out that
you have something

that is coming down
and taking people

against their own free will,

that's potentially
an act of war.

(dramatic deep drone)

- [Narrator] Everything we
know about UFOs is changing.

Thanks to a team led by

former Pentagon UFO
investigator, Lue Elizondo.

- That is real whatever that is.

- [Narrator] And former top

intelligence official
Chris Mellon.

- This is a current
continuing phenomenon,

it's happening, it
continues to happen.

- [Narrator] They discovered
five unique characteristics,

that UFOs have in common,
called the five observables.

They also released
groundbreaking videos

that force the Navy
to admit its pilots,

were coming face to face
with unidentified objects.

- [Reporter] The US Navy made
a shocking admission today.

- [Reporter] Strange
flying objects

caught on tape by their own
fighter pilots are in fact UFOs.

- [Narrator] Now a new
wave of military witnesses

is coming out of the shadows.

- I'd never seen
anything moves like that.

Shape, size, speed's
clearly identified.

- [Narrator] The team is
united on a new mission.

Connect the dots to reveal
the truth about UFOs.

- [Pilot] This thing had

no capability like
anything on earth.

- [Narrator] And warn the world

about the dangers
they might represent.

- [Chris Mellon] Carl Sagan
once famously said

"extraordinary claims
require extraordinary proof".

He was absolutely right,
but now we have the proof.

(static crackling)
(dramatic orchestral music)

- [Narrator] One of the
most disturbing things

Lue Elizondo studied
at the Pentagon,

were reports of close
encounters with UFOs.

The cases are controversial.

But Armed Forces personnel
swear they not only happened,

but cause lasting physical
and psychological effects.

If real Elizondo
considers these effects,

a kind of sixth observable.

This first account
happened over 40 years ago.

- My name's Mario woods.

I served in the Air
Force from 1975 to 1983.

And I was in Security Police.

In 1977, I was a team member
on a security response team

at Ellsworth Air Force
Base at South Dakota.

- [Narrator] During the Cold
War, Ellsworth Air Force Base

formed a key part
of the so called

northern tier defense system.

Operating hundreds
of nuclear tipped

Minuteman intercontinental
ballistic missiles.

- I guess it was about
10:30 quarter to 11,

on this particular night, and
then that's when we got a call

from the Launch
Control officers,

that November five had alarmed

and it was a SIT four
which was a serious alarm,

it means that exterior
alarm's penetrated.

I told my team leader
Michael Johnson.

- [Narrator] Mario Woods
and his team leader,

were ordered to
investigate the disturbance

at a missile silo,
codenamed November Five.

- So, immediately
we are dispatched.

As we go to highway 79
the entire atmosphere

was just lit up, it
was just super bright

like the sun was rising.

And as we rounded the bend,

this object was sitting
over November Five,

about 5, 10 feet
off the ground max.

And it was just huge.

It's as big as any Walmart
building I've ever seen.

The atmosphere in the truck
got really, really thick.

Like, couldn't breathe.

It was a round sphere
and on that sphere,

it looked like the
exterior of it was gaseous.

And the colors were
floating around it.

wasn't a craft like with hard
edges or anything like that,

it was completely round.

- [Narrator] The object hovering

over the nuclear missile silo,

appear to be exhibiting one
of the five observables.

Anti-gravity, the ability to fly

without visible
means of propulsion.

- You know, when I was at AATIP,

we were under the presumption

that there was definitely
nuclear connection.

Are we once again seeing
some sort of connection

between UAP activity and
our nuclear capabilities

along the northern tier?

- My partner Michael Johnson,

he was just frozen to the wheel,

looking straight ahead
out that windshield.

And I kept hollering at
him Michael, Michael,

and he didn't answer me.

I took my Maglite and
I pulled myself out

on the window sill of that truck

and a flashbomb
Maglited this thing.

But as soon as I did that,
the pressure stopped.

It was like, okay,
you can breathe now.

And we're slumping back
down into the seat.

Then I remember
just blacking out.

And that's the last
thing that I remember,

until that radio
came back to life.

And all I heard was a
wing security controlled,

November one that was
us, our call sign.

And I heard it
three, four times.

And I turned to Michael Johnson,

I said, you're gonna get that?

And he still just
frozen in his position.

And I couldn't figure it out

'cause there was
a wall right here

and it went up as
far as I could see,

and it was the back side
of a Lake Newell reservoir.

We went from November
five to Newell Lake.

And that's between five
and seven and a 1/2 miles.

There were no tire
prints or anything.

It was just our vehicle
in the middle of the mud

and it started to get light.

- [Narrator] Wood says they
have lost several hours.

An unexplained gap in time
where they had no memory

of where they were or what
was happening to them.

- So when I got
back on the radio,

I told WSC that there's,
spot of white wall.

So they said, continue to talk,

we're triangulating
your location.

Maybe 20 minutes past.

So this backup alert team came

and I said, I don't
know where I am,

I don't know where we are, and
don't know how we got here.

I said, what's happened?

He goes, I can't
talk to you about it,

just stay right there.

So I kept trying to communicate
with Michael Johnson,

he wouldn't answer
me in any way.

He was just frozen in
this position,

looking straight ahead.

I had to have
another guy help me

slide him over to the passenger
seat and seat-belted him in.

- [Narrator] Woods
and his partner

were relieved of their weapons

and told to follow the backup
alert team to the main base.

- We were taken directly to
the wing commander's office.

And then the wing
commander said,

Sergeant Woods he said,

I need to ask you what
happened out there?

I told him what had happened

and he asked me to
describe the size of it.

He goes, do you have any idea
how you got to where you were?

I said no sir.

He said, we're gonna send you
over to the base hospital.

We have a doctor wants
to take a look at you

and we just make sure
that you all right.

Doctor examine my eyes, my
ears, nose, all that stuff.

He says I need to
take a skin sample.

And I said why skin sample?

He says because you
have some burns on you.

(soft arpeggio music)

- I think most everybody is
aware of the five observables.

But we looked at other things

and that six observable
was biological effects.

And they can be anything
from subtle to severe.

(dramatic sound effects)

I was burned on my
face and on my hand.

And the items that they used
to take the skin samples,

they went right into
a vile about that big,

and they put a
cork on top of it.

And then they were
laying on a silver tray.

- [Narrator] Two weeks later,

Michael Johnson showed
up at Wood's door.

- He said, man,
what did you see?

What do you remember?

I tried, I went through
everything that I knew.

And then he described it too

and he said he was
scared to death.

We thought we'd talk
about it further,

but that was the last
time I ever saw him.

I've been trying to
find him ever since.

(dramatic sound effects)

- [Narrator] Elizondo
says he's cataloged

reports of burns in
other close encounters.

- There are key data points

that we can measure to determine

if there are indeed
biological effects.

It's no different than
if I were to stand behind

the jet engine of
a 747 at takeoff,

chances are I'm
gonna get burned.

- These are level-headed
patriotic people

who serve their country.

I've seen some
data that suggests,

in some cases there are
real physical effects

that warrant some attention.

- [Narrator] The
results of the tests

on Wood's skin samples,

were never shared with him.

And what Woods reveals next,

deepens the mystery of
these close encounters.

Coming up on Unidentified,

I was submersed in something,
that felt like a gel.

And it was cold, and then I felt

a feeling of dread,
of total fear.

- [Hastings] What van
starts filling with this

bright white strobe
light, going on and off.

- [Goodrich] I I couldn't
speak, I couldn't move.

(static crackle)

h sound)

- [Narrator] Lue
Elizondo has just learned

that Staff Sergeant Mario Woods,

claims he blacked out
after encountering

a giant luminous sphere
at a nuclear missile base.

- That's scary a scene man.

All those years ago, it's
as if it's never left.

I can smell the air,
I can see the wall,

I can see that object.

- [Narrator] Years later...

- [Doctor] You'll hear me
talking to you,

you'll be able to
talk back to me.

- [Narrator] Woods decided
to undergo hypnosis

to see if he could
recover any memories

from the four hours he
lost during the experience.

I was submersed in something

that I was either breathing
or I was laying in,

that felt like a
gel and it was cold.

And then I felt a feeling
of dread, of total fear.

That was one of
the worst feelings

I think I've ever
had in my life.

I remember bright lights
and then dim lights

and then in flickering lights.

It just all seemed
to be like a dream,

until the next thing
I know, I came to.

And of course four
hours had gone by.

(soft arpeggio music)

- [Narrator] The incident has
left woods with mental scars

that have yet to heal.

- That changed everything and
it still does to this day.

My children kind of look
at me and, you know,

"okay dad, okay",
that kind of thing.

Of course my wife she feels like

she didn't really know
what to make of it.

- I think it's tormented
you for a lot of your life.

One of the things that I think
you're left with is anger.

- It's something that
just has never going away.

I don't walk out of my house
in the morning on a day shift

without looking in the sky
to see if I feel something,

- I love you and I want you

to be okay with it,
do you understand?

I want you to have
peace with it all

'cause I don't think you do.

And I'm not sure
it's even attainable.

(dramatic string music)

- [Lue] In the case of
individuals

who've claimed to
have encounters

up close and personal with UAPs,

that is an experience that

very few people on
the planet have had.

And when the spouse
in that relationship

or the partner doesn't
have that same experience,

it can leave one feeling
isolated and alone.

- [Narrator] Woods is not
the only US military veteran

to contact Elizondo and his team

about a harrowing
close encounter.

(melancholic piano music)

Elizondo has sent a camera crew

to record the testimony
of a veteran in Montana,

who says his nightmare also
started at a nuclear base.

- [Lue] I have personal
friends of mine

that has some pretty
amazing stories to tell.

And do I believe them?

I believe that they believe
what they're telling me.

But you can be absolutely
sure of something

and still be absolutely wrong.

- I'm Jeff Goodrich, I live
in Great Falls Montana,

retired missile
maintenance technician.

I was transferred to
Malmstrom Air Force Base

in Great Falls in 1994.

- [Narrator] Malmstrom
Air Force Base,

forms another key part of the

Northern Tier missile
defense system

and has a long history of
documented UFO sightings.

Sergeant Jeff Goodrich
was the team chief

in the missile handling section.

- On the second In
February of 1996,

I had walked out of the
missile roll transfer building.

And I noticed the lieutenant
just outside the door,

looking up into the sky.

I asked him what
he was looking at.

And he pointed out five
very large white triangles,

the objects were bright white,

and there were no other
details, no wings, no tail,

no visible means of propulsion.

There was absolutely
no sound whatsoever.

They move very slowly and then

they all proceeded
at the same speed

until they disappeared
over the horizon.

- [Narrator] But Goodrich
says this was just the first

and less frightening
of his encounters.

The next one would
change his life.

Coming up on Unidentified.

- We were both startled
awake by a bright light

and I could hear
what sounded like

someone moving around upstairs
and tried to say something.

But I couldn't speak.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic orchestral music)

Lue Elizondo's investigation
into UFO close encounters

has led the team to
sergeant Jeff Goodrich,

who was at Malmstrom
Air Force Base in 1996.

When he says he saw five
strange triangular craft

- [Jeff] The Lieutenant was as
mystified as I was,

how he came to notice
they were there

I don't know it was
just pure chance,

he just happened to look
up in the right direction.

- [Narrator] The
objects seen by Goodrich

were never identified.

But he believes they could
have been a precursor

to another encounter
he had soon after,

that left physical effects.

- About two months
after the sighting

of the white triangles,

a friend needed a place
to stay for the night.

So I told him to stay with me

and we visited for a little bit

and I think we both went
to bed about 11 o'clock.

He slept on the sofa downstairs,

which is right outside my
bedroom in the basement.

And I don't recall
what time it was,

but we were both startled
awake by a bright light.

It was extremely bright.

It was just totally blinding.

I could hear what sounded like,

someone moving around upstairs,

and then footsteps
coming down the stairs.

And at that point, I can
make out the silhouettes

of four or five small beings,
backlit in a foggy light.

And I raised up out of bed
and I tried to say something,

but I couldn't,
I couldn't speak.

You're totally helpless.

- [Narrator] Goodrich says he
isn't sure what happened next,

because he immediately
passed out.

In the morning, I felt
like I hadn't slept at all.

Like I'd been up all night.

And he got up but
shortly after I did,

and we had the
same story to tell,

a foggy light and tried to say
something to me and couldn't

and immediately
lost consciousness

and he couldn't
remember anything else.

- [Narrator] Goodrich, his
friend and Mario woods,

all claim to have
lost consciousness,

during their encounters.

Could these blackouts
be evidence

of the sixth observable?

- [Lue] If you have technology
that has the ability

to do certain things
with space time

and maneuver the way it is
and if you get too close

to that thing, could
you be injured by that?

Well, potentially
yes, you can be.

In AATIP we said
biological effects

which we were able to see
that there were certain,

potentially physiological
effects on biological systems,

if they got too close
to these things.

- [Narrator]
Goodrich's encounters

have had long
lasting consequences.

- I do feel isolated at times,

because there are so few people

that I can even discuss
the subject with.

I think most people that have
had an experience like this,

it changes your perspective
and sort of becomes

like a lifelong obsession.

Or a quest to find answers
to what's happened to you.

(soft orchestral music)

(upbeat orchestral music)

- [Narrator] Before
for Elizondo,

the most important question
is whether these effects

can be scientifically verified.

- These individuals are
absolute trained observers.

I mean, you have two
credible witnesses.

Now, that's not saying
it's real or it's not real,

I am sure some of these
people are very traumatized

and they absolutely
believe what they believe.

But there's no empirical way
I can prove or disprove it.

- [Narrator] So he is on
his way to the remote home

of a renowned UFO expert,

a man with a reputation for
rigorous data oriented research.

- So here we are in the
middle of nowhere Colorado,

beautiful state, we're about
7000 feet up in altitude.

And we're going to a
real remote location.

(wind gushing)

He's trained observer
and he is probably

the only person on
this planet right now,

that has the amount
of historical data

as it relates to the phenomenon.

I'm here because Robert Hasting

said he wanted to have
a conversation with me.

It was urgent and this has to do

with a little bit more
up-close and personal contact.

Hello there Robert,
- [Robert] Greetings.

- [Lue] This is one hell of a
place you got here, wow.

So Robert, thank you very
much for having me here

at your incredibly lovely house.

I gotta admit, you really
live off the grid man.

- [Narrator] Robert Hastings

has been studying the connection

between what he believes maybe
beings from another world

and US nuclear facilities,
going back decades.

He's interviewed 167 veterans

about their UFO experiences
near nuclear bases.

But recently, he's
turned his attention

to the physical and
psychological effects

caused by these
close encounters.

- In the course of
my many interviews

with military veterans
from time to time,

I would encounter an individual

who seemed to be interested
in telling me something,

but was hesitant to really
openly address this object.

- [Narrator] Hasting says
of the scores of veterans

he spoke to, a handful reported

some kind of biological effect

following their
alleged incident.

- They described finding blood

on their bedding or bed clothes.

They also have described
finding strange scars

that cannot be accounted
for, that seemed to appear

immediately after
these experiences.

- [Narrator] But Hastings
hasn't just conducted research

about the physical
effects of UFO encounters,

he claims to have
experienced them himself.

(dramatic string score)

- I wanted to come
here and talk to you

because you have spent your life

and your career
listening to other people

tell their stories
about their experiences.

And all of a sudden, late
last year that changed.

You begin to tell your story.

Would you mind sharing with me

a little bit of
that perspective?

- I was 38 years old.

I had already been on the
college lecture circuit

for seven years talking about

the US government
cover up on UFOs.

- [Narrator] In 1988,
Hastings is on a camping trip

with friends in the mountains
near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It was the first
night of the trip.

I awoke at 3 am sharp,
because I checked my watch.

And one of this
woman's daughter's

a woke us all screaming
at the top of her lungs

what are those lights,
what are those lights

- [Narrator] Coming
up on Unidentified.

The van starts filling with

this bright white strobe
light going on and off.

You my friend and your
eight year old daughter

are walking single file
towards this lanted object.

(static sound effects)

(air)

(slowbeat music)

- [Narrator] Legendary UFO
researcher, Robert Hastings

is telling Lue Elizondo
about a camping trip,

he took with friends
in New Mexico.

He was asleep in a tent

when his friend's
daughter started screaming

about something in the sky.

(child yells)

- We kind of, groggily got up.

Some of us stumbled outside.

I saw an object
moving away in the sky

with two strobe lights.

The woman, my friend
was standing next to me.

It was below the mountain
range and gaining altitude.

When it finally
disappeared from view,

it was above the silhouette
of the mountain range.

The next morning,

the woman said something
weird happened last night.

My radio turned
on all by itself.

I assumed that I just
kicked it in my sleep

and so I turned it off.

The same thing happened
again apparently.

"It went turned on
by itself", she said,

it got louder and
louder and louder.

(radio noises)

And by the time she got to
it, it was at maximum volume.

So we had that data point.

- [Narrator] The morning
after he got home

from the camping trip,

Hastings noticed what he thinks
may have been a biological

effect from the encounter.

- The following morning, I
found blood on my pillow.

Okay--
- Running nose?

Maybe you had a bloody
nose at night, maybe a...

- It's conceivable, but there
was no blood on my face.

There was no blood
anywhere else.

- So unusual?

- Right.

Somewhere around Thursday
or Friday, my friend,

the woman called me and said,

the woman who is
sleeping in her van

had called her very upset

saying I'm having a
repetitive nightmare

every night this week

and in the nightmare,
Robert, you,

my friend and your eight
year old daughter are walking

single file toward
this landed object.

The van starts filling with
this bright white strobe light

going on and off.

I procrastinated for four years

but in 1992,

I had a very skeptical
clinical psychologist

regress me, hypnotic regression.

- [Narrator] During the
sixth hypnosis session,

Hastings says he retrieved
a frightening new memory

from the night of
the camping trip.

- I suddenly found
myself walking into

a incredibly bright room,

the walls were curved
into the ceiling.

They were seamless.

It scared me to death.

I was just terrified
by whatever this was

and I actually pulled myself
out of the hypnosis session.

- If it turns out that
you have something

that is coming down
and taking people

against their own free will

that's potentially
an act of war.

It's hard to make that
leap, that's why I'm here.

I need to collect
more information

to make a determination.

I absolutely believe you
believe what you've experienced.

- Right.

- [Lue] I don't think there's
any question of that.

I guess my playing
devil's advocate here

from a scientific perspective,

is it possible that

some false memory was
introduced subconsciously

and now all of a sudden
that false memory

becomes now interpreted
as a real memory?

- If I had my choice

being a solid nuts and bolts
researcher on this subject,

who has credibility
in the eyes of veterans

and academia and many, many

law enforcement
people I've talked to,

I certainly wouldn't
introduce into my life

the fact that I've
had these experiences.

- [Chris] I struggle with the
whole phenomenon a bit.

I'm a very data oriented
empirical science guy,

yet I have to confess there
are people that I know,

credible people, military
and government people

who had these experiences.

My stance on all
of these issues is

we should always
keep an open mind

and continue to just
follow the data.

- I am absolutely convinced that

Mr. Robert Hastings
truly believes

he experienced
something extraordinary.

He took a big risk to come out
and have this conversation.

Now, do I believe
the event happened?

Well, that's a different story.

I think it's important
that I ascertain some

professional perspectives,
especially in the world

of human psychology.

- [Narrator] Elizondo
wants to know

if there's a way to
scientifically evaluate

stories like Hastings' and
the other eye witnesses

so he sets up a video meeting
with Dr. Susan Clancy,

a psychologist who earned
her PhD from Harvard in 2001,

in 2005, she wrote
the book "Abducted,

How People Come to Believe
They Were Kidnapped by Aliens."

- When I started this
research, I thought,

oh my God, these people
really could be psychotic.

That ended very quickly.

We would have them
remember their experiences

and then we would study

how their bodies
reacted physiologically

and their bodies
reacted the same way

as posttraumatic
stress victims react

to getting shot at,
to personal trauma

so this is not making stuff up.

This is a memory
that is inside them

that feels as real
as any other memory.

- [Narrator] Coming
up on Unidentified.

- During those experiences,

people report terror and
seeing frightening imagery

and hearing frightening sounds.

(dramatic music)

(eerie music)

- [Narrator] Lue Elizondo
has examined three incidents

where credible individuals

say they saw and
interacted with UFOs,

but could there be
another explanation

for their disturbing memories?

(air whooshing)

- The information we received
from the three individuals,

all of them are
absolutely certain

they've experienced what
they've experienced,

but there is a common thread
with some of the individuals

and they involve hypnosis.

Can you explain to me in
lay terms, what is it?

- What hypnosis is,

is it is simply lulling you
into a very relaxed state, okay.

And you've got this
therapist that you trust,

and he's saying things to you,

like do you remember if there
was a figure in the bedroom?

Do you remember if you
felt afraid or vulnerable?

And when this stuff is happening

and people are calm
and suggestible,

the answer tends to be yes

and you are now constructing

a memory of something
that didn't happen.

Does that make sense?

- Yeah, it does.

I think that's fascinating.

So doctor, there was
an individual who

explained to the experience
of being completely paralyzed

while encountering this
interesting experience.

Is there a medical explanation

or a psychological explanation

that might help explain
the phenomena of this?

- Yes.

It sounds exactly
like a textbook case

of sleep paralysis.

It's like an incongruity
in our sleep cycles

where we're awake for a second,

but we're still experiencing

the hallucination
aspect of sleep,

and when sleep paralysis
happens, we can't move.

During those experiences,
people report terror

and seeing frightening imagery

and hearing frightening sounds.

And then they're going out there

and they're looking
for an explanation

that fits their
pattern of symptoms

and a very available cultural
script for sleep paralysis,

psychological problems
is alien abductions.

You had movies, you had TV show.

- [Narrator] If Dr.
Clancy's theory is correct,

the eyewitnesses may have
created false memories

influenced by pop culture.

Beginning in the 1950s,

close encounters
with alien visitors

have become a familiar story

in popular movies
and television shows.

And in 1987,

the bestselling book "Communion"
helped introduce the idea

that everyday people
were experiencing

extra terrestrial contact.

- What for decades had
been a very obscure

and bizarre facet of
the UFO phenomenon

had by the mid 1990s become the

subject of daytime television
shows, documentaries.

- [Narrator] Researcher,
Mark Pilkington

thinks a culturally
available narrative

explains why stories of close
encounters are so consistent.

- It was quite hard to find
anybody who had felt

that they'd had anomalous
UFO related experiences

who wasn't aware
of what happened

during an alien
abduction encounter.

I think it's no surprise
that we see a sudden surge

of stories from
witnesses of themselves

being taken on board UFOs,

but some experts

took the growing number of
abduction accounts seriously.

A turning point came in
1994 when Dr. John Mack,

a Harvard professor
and founding chairman

of the psychiatry department
at Cambridge hospital

published "Abduction, Human
Encounters With Aliens".

The international bestseller

helped legitimize
these encounters.

- What does it mean if this

and presumably many other
potential life forms do exist

in ways that gets
through to our reality?

What does this mean
for our consciousness?

Our sense of ourselves.

- [Narrator] Mack's
research caused an uproar.

Harvard investigated his work

and a committee faulted
his use of hypnosis,

but its final report,

re-affirmed Mack's
academic freedom.

And he remained on the
Harvard faculty of medicine.

- For him, there was a very
spiritual component to this

and I don't think he gave a
crap what anybody else thought.

In the end, that's what
helped me understand

a lot of what was going on.

Is that for most
of these people,

these experiences were terrible,

but these people felt
changed afterwards.

They felt that there
was a sense of purpose

that was powerful enough

for them to not want to
have these memories go away,

but all they could do in the end

was say, based on the data,

it is more likely that
this is a false memory.

- Doctor, this has
been an absolute honor

and pleasure of mine.

Thank you so very much.

- Thank you so much.

- It's tremendously courageous
for people to come forward

and share their
experiences with me.

I think that having an
explanation of sleep paralysis,

I think it's fair
that it may explain

some of the experiences,

but I think it's unfair to put

all of those experiences
into the same bucket

that they're all
having sleep paralysis.

I think that's too broad
of a generalization.

- Maybe some of these people

are having hypnagogic
experiences,

but there are some cases

that are very, very
difficult to explain

where in the aftermath

there is measurable
medical changes

to individuals anatomy.

- [Narrator] For Lue
Elizondo and Chris Mellon,

the physical effects caused
by certain UFO encounters

are beyond dispute.

In 2019, Elizondo
interviewed John Burroughs,

a military policeman and witness

to the famous Rendlesham
Forest UFO event in 1980.

- [John] Whatever it was came
right over on top of us.

I got knocked to the ground.

- [Narrator] Burroughs
says after his encounter,

he began experiencing
serious health problems

and went to a hospital.

- When the doctor put the
stethoscope on my chest,

he looked at me
strange and says,

"what's the Air Force have to
say about your heart murmur"?

And I'm like, "heart murner, I
don't have a heart murmmer".

Oh yes you do.

- [Narrator] Doctors
had discovered

life-threatening
scarring on his heart.

Burroughs was
eventually able to get

full veterans administration
disability benefits

for his injury,

but only with the help of an
aid to Senator John McCain.

- Getting information
for John Burroughs

was like pulling teeth.

- Was this a purposeful effort

to squelch John's record
from being made public?

- Oh, I would adamantly
say yes, 100%.

It was deliberate.

- What do you think
they're afraid of.

- The incident that took place.

They literally had
proof and evidence

and they didn't want
the world to know.

- [Narrator] For Elizondo
the complete truth

about the phenomenon
won't be clear

until the government
finally reveals

what it knows about
close encounters

and all unexplained
UFO incidents.

In the UFO community,
it's called disclosure.

- I don't think
disclosure is an event.

I think it's a process.

- [Narrator] Coming
up on Unidentified.

- What does it mean for us

if we are presented one
day with the fact that

there are others out there?

(dramatic music)

(soothing piano music)

- I think the one
thing that I find

almost universally applicable

when regarding this phenomenon

is that most individuals
report to have

some sort of profound change

that they've experienced
during and after an event.

- [Narrator] Elizondo
has investigated

the harrowing accounts of
military service members,

who claim to have had
close encounters with UFOs.

While he's unsure what to make
of their incredible stories,

they are part of a
growing movement.

(slate clicks)

- What inspired you to come
here today and why now?

- For the past 70 years,

the government was unwilling
to treat this subject matter

with anything except ridicule.

- The sighting was 20 years ago

but we've never talked
to anybody else about it.

- I think the biggest
piece of this movement

is Mr. Elizondo's willingness

to step out of the darkness

and the courage of his
fellow team members

has inspired me to come forward.

- These are individuals
we trust with our lives.

They should be able to
report this information

without fear of
retribution or stigma.

- When you see
something for yourself

that does not obey physical
norms, physical laws,

it changes your
perspective on reality.

- Whatever's behind
that technology,

if you're warping gravity,

that is the capability
that exceeds anything

that is out there right now

and that's both exciting
and frightening.

- [Narrator] During this
year's investigation,

commercial airline pilots,
NORAD and FAA personnel,

all risk their careers
to come forward.

- If our brave men
and women in uniform

can report this information
so should our civilian pilots.

- [Peter] It was very scary.

When you have an
object within 50 feet

of an aircraft moving at
35,000 feet at 550 knots,

that's not good.

- If one of these did
hit one of our airplanes,

it most likely would
kill everybody on board.

(engine sounds)

- [Narrator] Once
considered fringe,

these accounts have earned
the topic a new legitimacy

and for Elizondo and Chris
Mellon, a new urgency.

- [Chris] It's more than a
national defense issue,

even though it
certainly is that,

it's a scientific issue.

It's an issue that
offers us the opportunity

potentially to find the
answers to questions

that are of the deepest
and most profound nature.

- You have to reject
every preconceived notion

that you're born with

and you learn in school
and you're taught in church

and you're taught
through universities

and academic institutions.

- [Narrator] The
team's work led to

powerful members of Congress

and even the president
himself being briefed

on ongoing military
encounters with UFOs.

- And I did have one
very brief meeting on it,

but people are saying,
they are seeing UFOs,

do I believe it?

Not particularly.

- [Narrator] And in June 2020,

Senator Marco Rubio
called for the formation

of a new multi-agency task
force to study the phenomenon.

- [Radio Presenter] Senator
Rubio said the UFO Task Force

will release its
findings to the public.

- [Narrator] Also in June, 2020,

astrophysicists
revealed there may be

as many as 6 billion
earth-like planets

in our galaxy.

Many with the conditions
to support life.

For Elizondo and his team,

it's further confirmation of
what they've been hesitant

to claim in the past

but now are emboldened
to come out and say.

- [Chris] The phenomenon
is real.

These are not US, Russian
or Chinese vehicles.

If there is another intelligence

from another system that's
vastly more advanced

and sophisticated than we are

and we were able to establish
contact and communication,

it would be the
equivalent possibly

of gaining hundreds of thousands

or millions of years
worth of knowledge,

in days, months or weeks.

- What does it mean for us

if we are presented one day

with the fact that there
are others out there.

Does it mean that we're
not as special anymore?

Or does it mean that we
have brothers and sisters

that now we should start
a new journey with?

I think there's magic in that.

I think it's wondrous
to think that

in the greater cosmos

billions and billions
of light years

with billions and trillions
of stars and planets,

that we're all part of this
interesting cosmic neighborhood.

Wouldn't it be amazing
maybe we'll be more human.

Maybe we will learn
to be more than human

if we have a chance to
learn from something else

and therefore our
definition of being

a human being is expanded.

(suspenseful music)