All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S06E12.Alien.Transports.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.HEVC-Saon_track5_[eng]

NARRATOR: Flying saucers.

STEVEN M. GREER: It's going
20,000 miles per hour.

It makes a right-hand
turn without decelerating.

That isn't possible.

NARRATOR: Magic carpets.

DAVID CHILDRESS: There
are traditions of King

Solomon having an airship.

NARRATOR: And fiery wheels
descending from the heavens.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
What Ezekiel

described in his
eyewitness report,

it was misunderstood technology.

NARRATOR: In ancient cultures
throughout the world,

there are stories of strange
sightings in the sky.

Are they simply
fiction, or might they

be accounts of alien vehicles?

GRAHAM HANCOCK: You begin
to have to ask yourself,

is something going on here?

Are we missing
part of the story?

And honestly, I think we are.

NARRATOR: Millions of
people around the world

believe we have been
visited in the past

by extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true.

Did ancient aliens really
help to shape our history?

And if so, might we find
evidence in ancient stories

of alien transports?

Saqqara, Egypt, located roughly
20 miles south of Cairo,

it is home to the world-famous
step pyramid of King Djoser.

Dating back more
than 4,000 years,

it is the oldest of
Egypt's 97 pyramids.

Saqqara is also
famous for being one

of Egypt's oldest
burial grounds,

earning it the nickname
City of the Dead.

It was here in 1891 that
French archaeologists unearthed

an ancient tomb
containing the burial

remains of Pa-di-Imen,
an official

from the third century BC.

Among the various
items discovered

was a small wooden model of
what appeared to be a bird,

lying beside a papyrus
bearing the inscription

"I want to fly."

The artifact was later
sent to the Cairo museum

where authorities placed it
alongside several other bird

figurines.

The model sat largely
unnoticed until 1969,

when Egyptologist Dr. Khalil
Messiha was examining the bird

collection and
noticed that there

was something very different
about the Saqqara Bird.

UWE APEL: It's interesting
because on one hand clearly

it should look like a bird
because it has eyes and has

a typical nose of a bird.

On the other hand, the wings
are clearly not bird wings.

ALGUND EENBOOM: To
the middle of the rim,

you see this wing a bit thicker.

In this region, the
lift-up is the highest.

The whole thing becomes thinner
to the end of the wings.

And those wings model down.

And this is a very modern
aerodynamic design.

UWE APEL: Then
the other point is

birds have no rudders
because a bird

does not need rudder because of
its aerodynamic architecture.

And so there is the idea that
they are not representing birds

but flying machines or aircraft.

NARRATOR: Could the
ancient Egyptians have

possessed the power of flight?

In 2006, aviation and
aerodynamics expert Simon

Sanderson built a scale
model of the Saqqara Bird,

five times larger
than the original,

to test that possibility.

SIMON SANDERSON: We're
running at a constant speed,

slowly increasing
the angle of attack,

and then measuring the
forces which it's producing.

That way, we can learn about
its flight characteristics.

At 10 degrees, we're producing
four times weight and lift.

So it actually
would be flying now.

-MAN: Yeah.
-SIMON SANDERSON: That's good.

ALGUND EENBOOM: Tests
shows the Saqqara Bird

is a highly developed glider.

And this is a
design we use today.

NARRATOR: During
the Sanderson tests,

it was discovered that the only
thing preventing the Saqqara

Bird from achieving
flight was the lack

of a rear stabilizing
rudder, or elevator,

needed to maintain balance.

Is it possible that the
Saqqara Bird ever possessed

this critical component?

What is missing is
something like an elevator.

But if you look at
this feature here,

then we may interpret that
something like an elevator

was connected here but was
lost during the history.

NARRATOR: Computer models seem
to confirm that the Saqqara

Bird is certainly airworthy.

But there is another
problem to consider--

launching a glider.

Modern methods require the
use of a tow plane that pulls

the glider into the air
then releases it when

a proper altitude is reached.

So how might the
ancient Egyptians

have launched the Saqqara Bird?

The scientifics of Egyptology
told us

that such a bird could

be powered by catapults to fly.

And we had a high acceptance
by Egyptian scientists.

NARRATOR: The idea of
using a catapult does

have a contemporary parallel.

Many of today's
glider enthusiasts

employ a bungee cord
system to launch

their sail craft into the air.

But if the Saqqara Bird
is capable of flight,

where would ancient Egyptians
have acquired such technology?

ALGUND EENBOOM: I think
that people in ancient times

were visited by beings
coming not from this earth.

And they gave us culture
and scientific technologies

to improve our life on Earth,
coming from the primitive

to a higher-developed culture.

PHILIP COPPENS: It's a fact
that our ancestors were more

intelligent and had
more technological

superior capabilities
than our history books

give them credit for.

GRAHAM HANCOCK: You begin
to have to ask yourself,

are we missing
part of the story?

And honestly, I think we are.

I think there has been a
forgotten episode in human history.

And we're a species
with amnesia.

We don't really remember
who or what we are.

ROBERT BAUVAL: I
haven't been convinced

that there is evidence that
supports an ancient visitation.

But there is no reason why not.

And I think to shut oneself to
that possibility is a mistake

mainly because there
are so many anomalies

that we can't explain.

NARRATOR: Could the Saqqara
bird really be a model

of an ancient flying machine?

And if so, might this be
evidence that our ancestors

witnessed alien technology?

Perhaps further
proof can be found

by examining a
century-old Mexican ritual

called the Dance of the Flyers.

Veracruz, Mexico.

Five men in ceremonial dress
ascend a 100-foot pole.

Once at the top, one
of the men performs

a sacred dance while playing a
flute and drum atop a platform.

The other four men
launch themselves off.

It is a ritual known as
La Danza de los Voladores,

or the Dance of the Flyers.

JONATHAN YOUNG: The ritual has
the leader stand on the top

of the pole, tiny
little platform,

and the four flyers wrap
a cable round that pole

and then branch out and fly
around in a pyramid shape

in perfect synchronous order.

It's a stunning and
daring thing to do.

They are representing the birds.

They're representing the
four cardinal directions.

They are representing
the elements.

Heavily symbolic and mythic
and is a powerful ritual.

NARRATOR: The Totanac people
who practice this ceremony today

claim it is a dance
that was invented

500 years ago as a plea to the
gods to end a severe drought.

But could this ancient ritual
have different, perhaps

otherworldly origins?

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: What we
have here with the Voladores is

100% living mythology,

something
that describes and illustrates

in front of our living eye
the descent of the gods

from a long time ago.

NARRATOR: According to
ancient astronaut theorists,

the Voladores ritual
is a re-enactment

of a close encounter with alien
visitors in the distant past.

They believe
extraterrestrials descended

upon the flat mountaintops
of the Palpa region

in Peru around 500 AD,
dropping from their aircraft,

and gliding down to Earth
in spiraling circles.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
The Voladores ritual

was very technological
as in, you

know, these beings
descending from the sky,

and the circle signifying
arrival of the gods.

Where does that flying
or descending gods motif

originate?

Our ancestors saw
something because why

would you hurl yourself from a
100 foot pole out of nothing?

To imitate a bird?

Birds are not that important.

Something very
significant happened.

NARRATOR: Could
an alien encounter

really be the inspiration
for the Voladores ritual?

And could the Totonac people
who created the ceremony really

have been trying to mimic the
ancient gods power of flight?

As further evidence that early
humans may have encountered

alien visitors equipped
with the power of flight,

ancient astronaut
theorists point

to various artifacts and
statues depicting ancient gods.

One such example is the
Mayan god Ah-Muzen-Cab, also

known as the Flying Bee God.

Another is the
most prominent god

of early Mesoamerican culture,
the winged deity Quetzalcoatl.

LOGAN HAWKES: The Mesoamericans
believed in the plumed serpent,

or Quetzalcoatl, which came
from the sky, bringing wisdom,

powered the wind,
and also influenced

everything that happened in
the daily life of the Mayans.

In fact, they looked to the
sky for all their answers,

from everything as
simple as when to plant

corn to when to go to war.

They believed all answers in
the universe came from the sky

and tried to relate that
to their daily lives.

WILLIAM HENRY:
The ancient record

are loaded with
fantastic examples

of the gods flying around.
These are the ancient aliens.

And humans are being shown
the ultimate capability

of these gods.

ERICH VON DANIKEN: In
my eyes, because we

are the sons of the gods, we
are the offsprings of the gods,

whatever humans can
dream, whatever humans

think was once
reality in the past

or will be reality
in the future.

NARRATOR: July 31, 2003,
the English Channel.

Felix Baumgartner
becomes the first person

to cross this 22-mile
wide body of water

in freefall using a
specially made fiber wing.

But the Austrian
daredevil is just one

of many who have used
wing suits to simulate

flying by means of a freefall.

ED PAWLOWSKI: A wingsuit
is basically a jumpsuit

that you put on under your rig.

And it's designed
to actually make you

fly when you exit the plane.

The material inflates
underneath your arms,

in between your
legs, and creates

basically an airfoil that
you glide on through the air.

It's an amazing feeling
because you're actually

the pilot and the plane.

It is total freedom.

You feel as though
you're flying.

Though you are
falling, you're using

the air to maneuver your body.

And the wingsuit helps
you cover a lot of ground

as you're descending.

Some people have been
exceeding 2 to 1 glide ratio.

For example, 3 to 1
would mean for every foot

you descend you're traveling
three feet forward.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: We
got these flying guys that

have these wings
attached to their backs,

and they hurl themselves
out of planes.

And some even have rocket
engines attached to them.

And so they essentially
themselves become airplanes.

Now imagine showing that to
someone from 100 years ago.

That person would be in complete
awe of what they're witnessing,

not understanding that there is
technology involved with this.

ERICH VON DANIKEN: Just using
our own body we cannot fly.

We have no wings.

But of course, we
have the fantasy

and we have the technology to
develop wings that we can fly.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
The pursuit of flight

has been one of the
most sought after quests

in all of mankind's history.
Why?

Because with flight, you
could reach, conceivably,

the realm of the gods.

NARRATOR: From the ancient
Greek myth of Icarus, fashioning

wings of feathers and wax, to
modern daredevils like Felix

Baumgartner, human
beings have been

fascinated with and
often frustrated

by their desire to fly.

But have birds really served
as mankind's inspiration?

Or were they inspired by
something else, perhaps

something extraterrestrial?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
yes and claim further proof can

be found by examining
ancient China's

mysterious stories of dragons.

Celestial beams
coming down to earth.

Gods descending from the sky.

Do similar accounts exist
in other cultures and other

religions across the world?

And if so, what is
the explanation?

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
We have to remind

ourselves that our ancestors
were highly intelligent.

However, their technological
frame of reference

was different than our
technological frame of reference.

So they didn't
have the vocabulary

with which to describe
or with which to name

certain things that they saw.

So what did they do?

They used words that they were
familiar with in their time.

And so they try to
describe whatever

they witnessed to the
best of their abilities

with their vocabulary.

NARRATOR: Ancient China also
shared some of the same beliefs

that can be found
in Egyptian, Native

American, and Dogon
legends, that deities

arrived from the stars.

According to Chinese mythology
dating back to 3000 BC,

when the God named
Huangdi was born,

there was a radiance
from the great star Qi.

Huangdi would later
emerge from the belly

of a fire-breathing dragon to
become China's first emperor.

JONATHAN YOUNG: The origins
of the Han Chinese people

start with a story of a great
god looking down with empathy.

Here were people in poverty
in a beautiful, rich country--

and the landscape profound.

But the people were suffering.

He took pity and
decided to come down.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
Huangdi arrived on planet Earth

in a flying dragon.

He had the power of flight.

Huangdi could be
anywhere within minutes.

And he usually accomplished
this by hopping on his dragon

and flying somewhere.

Now this divine
energy becomes human

and is a great leader,
the Yellow Emperor, who

rules and unites the people.

And there is a period
of great prosperity

until his work is done.

NARRATOR: Huangdi brought
order to the chaos,

creating China's first empire.

He is seen as a cultural
hero and is credited

with the invention
of the compass,

acupuncture, and
the standardization

of Chinese writing.

One of his greatest legacies
is the Great Wall of China.

JONATHAN YOUNG: When
the land is prosperous,

he decides it's time to go.

And the great yellow
dragon comes back.

And he gets back into
the belly of the dragon

and flies off for ever.

Now, were these dragons truly

dragons in a biological nature?

Or were they misinterpreted
types of machines--

because as we all
know dragons are

always correlated with spewing
fire and a lot of smoke?

Whenever we see a
modern rocket take off,

there's all this smoke.

And sometimes the smoke is
yellow, and sometimes it's red.

So it's very bizarre how
we have these correlations

between the ancient times
and modern times today.

Mythology is the
effort to grasp

what we can't grasp, to
understand what is beyond us.

In the Eastern teachings,
the dragons very often

carry people, sometimes
on their back,

sometimes inside their bellies.

So if we think of them
as a poet's effort

to explain a vehicle
that was strange to them,

well, those sound
like flying saucers.

So it might just be a
problem of translation,

because after all,
it's just a word.

It's trying to
describe something

that's very difficult to grasp.

NARRATOR: Could Chinese
tales of dragons

be based on ancient
interpretations of rocket ships

descending to Earth?

And if so, could the
legends of Huangdi,

like those of Quetzalcoatl and
the Egyptians Saqqara Bird,

be evidence of alien
visitations in the distant past?

Perhaps the answer can be
found high on a mountaintop

known as the Throne of Solomon.

In the 21st century,
modern transportation

and communication
methods have connected

the world like never before.

Products or ideas, no
matter where in the world

they may have originated,
can spread to even

the most remote countries.

A hip-hop hit in Brooklyn
might make it big in Tokyo

before it's even
heard in Manhattan.

This cultural interconnection
has transformed the globe.

But is it new?

Mainstream archaeologists
believe ancient civilizations

such as those found in the
remote Pacific Islands, Asia,

and South America developed
independently from each other.

But ancient astronaut theorists
contend that similarities

in building styles and beliefs
found in these cultures

suggest that a worldwide
trade route may have

connected them to each other.

DAVID CHILDRESS: But just
like we have airports today

around the world, in ancient
times with the Vimanas,

there would have been
hangars for the craft,

airports for them to land.

And those airports
would have been

situated in strategic
places around the world.

And that's exactly what
we see in remote places.

NARRATOR: Legends of
air travel are also

found in ancient Africa
and the Middle East.

According to the "Kebra Nagast,"
a holy book of the Ethiopians

written sometime before
the second century AD,

the Queen of Sheba was once
given a gift of a flying carpet

by King Solomon of Israel.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
The "Kebra Nagast"

is one of the most important
texts you've never heard of.

The "Kebra Nagast" means
the "Book of Kings,"

and it is the most sacred
book of the Ethiopians.

In it, King Solomon,
it's described,

he had access to some
type of flying machine.

And in that part of the
world, the term flying carpet

was always used very liberally.

My question is-- did they really
mean actual flying carpets,

or was it another term
with which to describe

some type of a flying machine?

DAVID CHILDRESS: This was the
original "Chariots of the Gods"

that Erich Von
Daniken talked about.

The flying magic carpets of
the "Arabian Nights" stories.

There are traditions in the
Middle East of King Solomon

having this airship and
flying to different places

in the Middle East, certain
mountains which are known

as the Mountains of Solomon.

These may have been
certain airports or landing

areas for these Vimanas.

Nicholas Roerich, famous
Russian-American explorer,

who traveled all through Central
Asia and Tibet in the 1920s,

he too claimed that
Tibetans had traditions

of King Solomon flying to
Tibet in this aircraft.

NARRATOR: The
"Kebra Nagast" also

describes how King Solomon
used his flying airship

to make maps of the world.

But could these have any
relation to other ancient maps

some believe may have been
made by extraterrestrials?

GRAHAM HANCOCK:
Some of these maps

show the world not
as it looks today

but as it looked during
the last Ice Age.

And this is really
hard to explain.

Everybody's heard of
the Piri Reis map,

but they've perhaps not heard
of the Orontiusu Finaeus

map or the Mercator maps
that show Antarctica

in great detail
hundreds of years

before Antarctica
was even discovered.

NARRATOR: One of
the most referenced

stories of ancient aircraft is
found in a surprising place--

the Bible.

In the Book of
Ezekiel, the prophet

describes a flying chariot
containing wheels within wheels

and powered by angels.

Although Bible historians
suggest Ezekiel was speaking

symbolically about the
terrifying enemies facing

Israel, could this
be another example

of an alien visitation and proof
that prehistoric aircraft existed?

JONATHAN YOUNG: In the story
of Ezekiel's throne-chariot,

this flying vehicle
that doesn't seem

to have any means of propulsion,
if we thought of the word angel

as representing something
like celestial energy,

it sounds much more
like a spacecraft

then because some of the angels
are going back and forth.

Well, that sounds like flames.

That sounds like propulsion.

So they're wheel like.

Well, those sound
like flying saucers.

Our ancestors weren't idiots.

Ezekiel saw something that
was so frightening to him

that he fell to his knees.

Then out of the glory
of God came this

being in these bright clothes
that looked like metal

and told Ezekiel, all right,
man, we brought you here.

We want you to measure this
monument, this building.

And Ezekiel asks, well,
why should I do this?

And the being says, that's
why we brought you here.

And then you have 40 pages in
the second part of the Book

of Ezekiel with measurement
after measurement

after measurement of
this gigantic building

in which, by the way, the
glory of the Lord landed.

NARRATOR: In the early 1970s,
NASA scientist Josef Blumrich

set out to disprove the
theory that what Ezekiel

witnessed was a spaceship.

Josef Blumrich is your
proverbial rocket scientist.

He worked on the moon
project for NASA.

And from the mind of
a rocket engineer,

started to look at what was
written in the first part

of the Book of Ezekiel.

And after many
months of research,

Josef Blumrich came
to the conclusion

that what Ezekiel described

in his eyewitness report,

it was indeed a
type of spacecraft.

NARRATOR: Josef Blumrich
would go on to write

"The Spaceships of Ezekiel."

Several years later, a
German structural engineer

named Hans Herbert Bayer
sketched out a blueprint

of the second section
of the Book of Ezekiel,

where Ezekiel is told to
construct an open-top building

to house the flying chariot.

Ezekiel's spaceship fit
exactly into the temple

that Hans Herbert
Bayer recreated.

So what we have here is
a proof by indication.

Here we have a NASA engineer
and a structural engineer.

They didn't know of
each other's work.

And both pieces fit
together like a puzzle.

In any court of law, that's
evidence that would hold up.

GRAHAM HANCOCK: I think
that scientists feel

uncomfortable with the notion
of the lost civilization

precisely because the evidence
for it is so ambiguous.

It's not so in your face that
it's immediately obvious.

And you know, the
result is that science

has not welcomed this idea.

It'll take much more evidence
before it's widely accepted.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: The god
that I believe in doesn't need

a vehicle in which to
move around from point A

to point B. Whatever was
described in the Old Testament

wasn't God.

It was a misunderstood flesh
and blood extraterrestrial

whom our ancestors
misinterpreted as being

divine and supernatural.

And why?

Because of misunderstood
technology.

And that is the
underlying thread

that applies to all of the
ancient astronaut theory.

NARRATOR: But
while ancient texts

provide tantalizing clues to
our past, physical evidence

paints an even clearer picture.

But will modern
science finally prove

the ancient astronaut theory?

ROBERT H. FRISBEE: Did the
ancient civilizations of Earth

have access to
advanced technology?

Well, it seems like they
had something going on.

NARRATOR: Could ancient stories
depicting flying carpets, fiery

chariots, and even
dragons really

be evidence of an
otherworldly presence

here on Earth in
the distant past?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes

and claim that further proof
of alien craft traversing

our skies can be found
with the countless reports

of flying saucers.

Guatemala, Central America.

According to most mainstream
scholars and archaeologists,

the earliest human
settlements in this region

date back over 14,000 years.

Here can be found numerous
ancient artifacts.

And among them is this one--

the figure of a man
lying inside what

appears to be the
shell of a turtle.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: And when I
asked the local archaeologist there,

"What is this?"

they said without the
flinching of an eye,

"Well, this is,
according to legend,

the giant flying turtles which
flew around in Guatemala."

The entire body is
aerodynamically fashioned.

The extremities are pressed
in an aerodynamic fashion

against the body of this turtle.

And if you look closely,

it's as if there's some modern-day
fighter pilot glasses or goggles.

This right here is
from the same culture,

from the same region where
they created a turtle in clay.

So they knew exactly what
a turtle looked like.

It looks like a snapping turtle.

And what we have here--

that is everything but a turtle.

It's something else.

In their frame of
reference, they

were able to use the
turtle as the best example

of what they might have
seen that the gods used

to fly around in.

NARRATOR: Halfway
around the world

in 329 BC, the Greek
ruler Alexander the Great

planned the invasion of India.

But according to
ancient texts, his army

was supposedly thwarted by a
strange attack from the skies.

DAVID CHILDRESS: As Alexander's
army was getting ready to cross

the Indus and invade
India, suddenly,

in the sky appeared
these flying disks.

And they began dive-bombing
at the war elephants that

were part of Alexander's army.

And what these flying disks
did was cause stampedes

within Alexander's own
war elephants, who then

ran amok throughout
his army, tearing

up the camps and everything.

And after that, Alexander's
generals met with him.

And they said, no, we're
not going into India.

This is it.
We're going to turn back.

And that was the end
of that war campaign.

NARRATOR: But whether in ancient
times or much more recently,

so-called flying
saucers are often

described as being
unaffected by gravity

or the basic laws of physics.

STEVEN M. GREER: You know, I
know that people who have seen

extraterrestrial
vehicles in modern times

have said, how in the world
could it be doing that?

For example, it's
moving through the sky,

and it's going 20,000
miles per hour,

and makes a right-hand
turn without decelerating.

That isn't possible using
normal aerodynamics.

DAVID CHILDRESS: When jets have
been scrambled after flying

saucers, the saucers are
described as suddenly turning

at right angles at
super speeds and just

zipping off in what seems like
impossible aerobatic maneuvers.

And this can be
explained as the kind

of technology they're using,
which is a gravity control.

It's artificial gravity.

So when you're inside
of a gravitational field

that you're creating
yourself around your craft,

the gravity of the Earth
doesn't have a force on you.

NARRATOR: But although aircraft
propulsion by means of gravity

manipulation is beyond the
limits of current technology,

many scientists claim it
is theoretically possible.

In Davis, California,
inventor Dr. Paul Moller

tests the boundaries
of real-life science

with a recreational flying
vehicle called the Neuera.

PAUL S. MOLLER: The Neuera
is very simple device to fly.

It has eight lifting ducted
fans as we call them,

each one driven
by its own engine.

One of the big advantages
of this kind of round shape

is that you end up
with the strength

in the skin of the
vehicle itself,

much like the shell of a beetle.

And that gets you a
very, very strong design.

This airframes you see over
here next to this vehicle, which

are similar to this,
weigh only 75 pounds

apiece, which is incredible.

You got a complete airframe
that's capable of lifting 1,500

pounds with a 75-pound shell.

NARRATOR: But could the
inherent design strength

of a disk-shaped object
be the key to overcoming

the forces of gravity?

And does the prevalence
of flying saucer sightings

suggest a connection between
antigravity technology and

extraterrestrial visitations?

PAUL S. MOLLER
Gravity

is one of the most unknown
forces in physics today.

And when we do
understand it, we'll

be able to find out a way
to shield ourselves from it

or to provide a device--

a method electromagnetically
but with some much greater

knowledge than we have today--

where we eliminate it within
the vehicle's operations.

NARRATOR: Are flying saucers
more than just the product

of overactive imaginations?

Might ancient cultures that
wrote of fire-breathing dragons

and angels descending
from the heavens

have been witnessing
earlier versions

of these alien spacecraft?

Or could there be
another explanation?

Perhaps the ultimate
answer can be

found in the American Southwest
with a mythological beast

called the Thunderbird.

Elizabeth Lake,
Southern California.

This high desert body of
water sits at the junction

of the tectonic plates that form
the powerful San Andreas Fault.

The Mexicans
who colonized

California in the
1700s called it Laguna

del Diablo, Lake of the Devil.

And it was said that the
devil's own pet would

come into this world
through a portal

at the bottom of the lake.

Local legend says
that at the bottom

is actually an entrance
to the underworld.

They call it the
Lake of the Devil.

And it's said that in the
middle of the 18th century,

from up until
about 1880 onwards,

something was happening there
which frightened locals.

JOHN WHALEN: Some of the rich
landowners built ranches there.

These ranchers claim to have
been harassed and tormented

by some sort of
monstrous beast that

would come out of the water
and steal cattle and menace

the locals.

NARRATOR: The
ranchers who claimed

to have witnessed this beast
called it the Thunderbird.

And their description
of it was nearly

identical to that of the giant
bird witnessed by cowboys

in Tombstone in 1890.

JOHN WHALEN: Eventually,
one of the landowners

got it in his head that he was
going to hunt this creature

down and sell it to the circus.

So according to the
story, this rancher

was able to actually
fire a few shots

at this creature, which seemed
to be bulletproof and metallic.

The bullets bounced off.

And after that encounter,
the bird flew east never

to be seen again in California.

NARRATOR: Could this
so-called Thunderbird

really have been the same
creature that cowboys

shot at in Tombstone?

And why was it referred to
by locals as the Devil's pet?

Standing Elk: They didn't have
the vocabulary we have today.

So when things happened
that they couldn't explain,

it was called the Devils Tower.

It was called the Devil's Lake.

It was called the Devil's
this or the Devil's that.

PHILIP COPPENS: Take
it away from legend

and you might find that this was
a portal to another dimension,

which locals knew about
and might have something

to do with the fact that this
mysterious entity was present

at that very specific location.

NARRATOR: If a portal to another
dimension or another part

of the universe does lie at
the bottom of Elizabeth Lake,

might it also be possible
that the Thunderbird

was not really a creature
at all but something

even more incredible?

JONATHAN YOUNG: A
Thunderbird was enormous.

It made enormous noises.

So the thunder part of it
could sound like a jet engine.

NICK REDFERN: Its eyes
was able to literally

pierce and emanate fire.

We have this large
flying winged creature

which gives off a
thunderous sound

and lights fly from its eyes.

That to me suggests
that we could be dealing

with some sort of craft.

ERICH VON DANIKEN: Native
Indians in North America,

they know of course the bird.

But now something
differently arrived--

an object which could fly,
which is bigger than the eagle

but at the same time
makes tremendous noise.

So you have the creation
of the Thunderbird.

Even when the airplanes
first started going out

up in the sky here
in the Southwest,

they referred them
to as metal birds.

As a matter of fact, when the
first fixed-wing craft landed

in Zuni, the Indians over
there actually went out there

and worshipped the airplane.

It makes me think of a concept
called cultural tracking, which

is the idea that UFOs
can mask themselves

to appear as almost anything.

You go back to ancient
China, and they

talk about the flying dragons.

You go back to the
ancient Egyptians,

they talk about flying boats.

You go to the Roman
times, and they're

talking about flying shields.

Perhaps that was just
their interpretation,

or perhaps that's what
they actually saw.

NARRATOR: Have alien
spacecraft really

been darting across our
skies for thousands of years?

And could stories of
thunderbirds, dragons,

and flying chariots be not
mere legends but the proof

we have been looking for?

Perhaps, when our own technology
allows us to venture further

into space, we will be
given the final answer

that aliens and mankind
share a common origin

and perhaps a common destiny.