All language subtitles for Expedition.Files.S04E11.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

On this episode of
"Expedition Files."

[intriguing music plays]

[Josh] In 1934, legendary
inventor Nikola Tesla claims

he's built a ray gun capable
of obliterating

anything in its path.

[power voltage buzz]

[Josh] But the super weapon is
never discovered.

Nearly a century later,
newly declassified documents

finally reveal the truth

behind Tesla's most
mysterious invention --

the death ray.

Then, in 1676, a Sicilian nun
says she's overtaken

by a mysterious force,

writing 14 lines
of cryptic symbols

that no one can understand.

The church believes
it's the work

of the Devil himself.

Today, cutting-edge technology
decodes the sinister message.

And in ancient Greece,

people would visit
the Oracle of Delphi --

a priestess who claimed
to communicate with the gods

and reveal the future.

Now, scientists believe
they've uncovered

a startlingly real explanation
for her otherworldly powers.

[mysterious music plays]

In the corridors of time

are mysteries
that defy explanation.

Now, I'm traveling
through history itself

on a search for the truth.

New evidence.

Shocking answers.

I'm Josh Gates.

And these...

are my "Expedition files."

People often ask me if I believe
in the supernatural.

I always say I'm a born
skeptic with a very open mind.

And after the many, many things
I've seen on my adventures,

I've learned that
the so-called impossible

can be all too possible.

So tonight, check
your skepticism out the door

as we explore three shocking
stories of the supernatural.

Searching beneath
the sensationalism

to discover what actually
lives up to the billing

of strange but true.

So, let's begin

on January 9th, 1943,
in Manhattan.

The city is covered
by winter clouds,

but inside the Hotel New Yorker,

it's more a blanket of secrecy.

Two days earlier,
the famed inventor

Nikola Tesla

died in this very suite,

and these guys aren't here
to make up the room.

They're government agents
on a mission to secure

Tesla's belongings,

because the safety of America
may depend on it.

Somewhere in this room,
there's supposed to be

a hidden super weapon,

or at least the plans for it.

A death ray so strong it can
obliterate anything in its path.

But does it actually exist?

The question of whether Tesla
succeeded in creating

this deadly device will be
fiercely debated for 80 years.

That is, until
declassified documents

emit a burning beam of truth.

♪♪

[Josh] These days, when you hear
the name "Tesla,"

you probably think of
an electric car

with annoying door handles.

[sliding effect]

But our story begins
152 years earlier

with the man the car is
named after.

[voltage buzzing]

[thunder roars]

[Josh] Born during
a lightning storm in 1856

in what is now Croatia,

Nikola Tesla is a prodigy
in mathematics and physics,

obsessed with creating
electric motors.

-[ticking]
-[soft music plays]

[Josh] After pioneering
success in Europe,

in 1884, Tesla moves to the U.S.

to work for America's
greatest inventor --

Thomas Edison.

♪♪

Edison is already famed
for creating the light bulb

and the first sound recorder.

To power his inventions,

he uses direct current, or DC.

A one way flow of electricity

that works well
over short distances.

But DC has a major limitation --

it can't travel far
without losing power.

Tesla sees that flaw and turns
to alternating current, or AC,

which can be transmitted
at high voltage

over long distances,

and then reduced to safe levels
for everyday use,

making it far more efficient.

With his characteristic
monomaniacal focus,

Tesla quits working for Edison
after just a year

and goes out on his own
to make AC work.

And in 1888, he succeeds.

[inspiring music plays]

Tesla invents an induction
motor that runs on AC

to operate machines, tools,

even entire factories.

In 1893, Tesla becomes
a household name

as his AC generator system

lights up the Chicago
World's Fair,

dazzling millions.

The so-called war of
the currents

between DC and AC
is officially over.

Edison may have invented
the light bulb,

but Tesla invented something
much, much bigger --

the entire electrical grid
used to power it.

In other words,

you couldn't be watching me
on that screen right now

without Nikola Tesla.

[Tesla]
Behold.

[Josh]
And Tesla's inventions don't
stop with the AC generators.

[buzzing]

In 1891, he invents
the Tesla coil,

proving electricity can transmit
wirelessly through the air,

laying the groundwork
for things like radio,

radar, and wireless charging.

He also helps birth
X-ray technology

and fluorescent lighting.

But for all his brilliance
in the lab,

Tesla proves to be
a poor businessman.

Just like his beloved
AC current,

his fortunes swing wildly.

At times, he has millions.

At others,
he's nearly penniless.

He gives away valuable patents,

picks public fights with rivals,

and chases ideas so ambitious
they scare off investors.

And no idea is more
bold or scary

than an invention
he calls Teleforce.

In 1934, at 78 years old,

Tesla announces he's devised
a particle beam weapon

that could destroy tanks, ships,

even aircraft from hundreds
of miles away.

It soon earns a more sensational
nickname in the press --

the Death Ray.

This new weapon, Tesla claims,

could slice through metal like
a hot knife through butter.

He also believes it could act
as an invisible shield,

protecting a country with
a wall of energy so powerful

that war itself would
become pointless.

Tesla insists he's even tested
the revolutionary weapon,

but never shares any details
of those experiments.

[voltage buzzing]

Still, he pitches the idea
to multiple governments,

U.S., the U.K., and the USSR,

despite never publicly
demonstrating it.

Most potential buyers
turn him down,

and by 1935, Tesla is in debt

and unable to pay his bills.

[military chanting]

[Josh]
Then, a company connected
to the Soviet government

pays him $25,000
for plans and blueprints.

But a working prototype is not
part of the deal.

[bomb explosions]

[Josh] Before the deal can be
completely sealed,

World War II ignites.

But Tesla's supposed
super weapon does not

enter the battlefield.

Flash forward
to January 7th, 1943.

Tesla is living in a room
at the Hotel New Yorker

and heads off to bed.

But he'll never wake up.

He passes away in his sleep
from a blood clot.

By now, Tesla was broke and has
no fortune to leave behind.

But almost immediately,

rumors begin to circulate
about a locked wooden trunk

amidst his personal effects.

Hotel staff claim Tesla
told them

that the box contains
the fabled Teleforce prototype.

Suddenly, there's a rush
to lock down everything

belonging to Tesla.

The U.S. government is at war
and realizes the risk of

a potential super weapon falling
into enemy hands.

They dispatch the FBI
to Tesla's hotel room

to secure the scene.

The feds lock down
his papers and possessions,

but they will have to fight
to keep them.

Tesla's nephew,
a Yugoslavian diplomat

named Sava Kosanovic,
enters the picture.

He argues that
Tesla's possessions

are the rightful property

of his family
and his homeland, Yugoslavia.

After eight years of
back and forth,

in 1952, Tesla's nephew
finally gets permission

to ship his uncle's estate
to Europe.

The 60 cases and their contents,

as well as Tesla's
personal papers,

are now under lock and key

in the Nikola Tesla Archives
in Belgrade, Serbia.

But do those papers contain
any proof of Tesla's death ray?

Was he really able
to construct a prototype?

And if so, what happened to it?

For over 60 years
they're silenced,

until, in 2016,

a remarkable breakthrough
changes everything.

What follows unfolds

like a real-life Cold War
spy thriller.

Famed inventor, Nikola Tesla,
died in 1943,

but before he did,
he claimed to have created

a death ray called,
the Teleforce.

For decades, any proof of
Tesla's super weapon

remained elusive.

Then, in 2016, a Freedom
of Information Act request

forces the release of classified
U.S. government documents

about Tesla.

Historian, Stephen Kotowych,
studied the files

and their shocking revelations.

[mysterious music plays]

The 2016 release of
the classified files was

a game changer for
Tesla research.

We finally, for the first time,
understood all of

the behind the scenes scramble

to get to hold of Tesla's
materials after his death.

One of the things we learned is
that in January of 1943,

the National Defense Research
Committee tasks Dr. John Trump

with sorting through
Tesla's belongings

in search for any
weapons technology

that might be useful
for the Allied war effort.

You heard right, Trump.

Dr. John G. Trump was the future
U.S. president's uncle.

At the time, Dr. Trump was
a professor at MIT,

an expert in
electrical engineering.

Trump reviewed Tesla's notes

and concluded there was, quote.

"Nothing of significant value."

No new sound, workable
principles or methods.

But Stephen Kotowych suspects

this statement
was a smokescreen.

[Stephen] If there was nothing
in these files,

then why would the United States
fight so hard

to keep hold of them?

The United States government
goes on for nearly a decade

to fight the release of Tesla's
belongings to his next of kin

and to the museum in Belgrade.

One of the big revelations was
the issue of many crates were

in Tesla's possession

and how many of those crates
made their way to Belgrade.

[Josh] According to the FBI,

Tesla reported that
he had 80 cases

containing transcripts and plans
concerning his experiments.

But only 60 cases arrived
in Europe in 1952,

and it gets stranger.

The question becomes,

what happened
to that missing 20 cases?

The most logical explanation is
that 80 cases that were

half-full were condensed down
into 60 cases

that were completely full,
just to make it easier to ship.

But people have fixated
on these missing 20 cases.

Does the U.S. government
still have hold of them,

and for what reason?

There could be anything
in them, which is why

I think speculation about them
has been so tantalizing

for researchers.

[Josh] And what about
that particular trunk,

rumored by Tesla himself
to contain his death ray?

Thanks to these newly released
documents, we have an answer.

-[Dr. Trump] Is that the case?
-[employee] Yeah.

The staff of
the Hotel New Yorker

take Dr. Trump down
to the basement.

They point out the crate
that Tesla has left there.

When he left the crate,
Tesla said,

"No one is to disturb this."

[employee]
That one right there.

[Stephen] "The contents are
very dangerous.

"If anyone unauthorized tries
to open it, it will explode.

It could destroy the hotel."

Dr. Trump says, "All right,
I will open this crate.

Everybody can step back."

Dr. Trump opens the crate,

and it's a big letdown.

[employee]
What is it?

[Stephen]
The only thing in it is
an old piece of lab equipment,

a resistance box,

and there's certainly
no prototype

for the Teleforce device.

[Josh]
Historians now suspect Tesla
exaggerated the value

of the box, making it sound far
more important than it was,

so he could use it
as collateral with hotel staff,

as he was more than $400 behind
on rent at the time.

In other words,
a ruse concocted by Tesla

to help pay off his debts.

So although we can seemingly
rule out the existence of

a death ray prototype,

evidence from elsewhere
in the declassified FBI files

suggests there may still be much
more to this story

than the U.S. government
declared.

Because even if a working
prototype was never built,

the idea itself was real.

Tesla designed a system that
would fire a concentrated

stream of charged particles,

essentially a beam of energy,

that could potentially
disable aircraft

and act as a defensive shield.

Newly declassified
FBI files show

that back in 1945,

the U.S. government was
working to find out

what Tesla's Teleforce
could actually do.

The U.S. government
launched Project Nick

at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base.

This was a top secret project
that was designed to investigate

how Tesla's Teleforce could be
used as a defensive measure

to protect the United States
against nuclear attack

by the Soviet Union.

[Josh] Among those involved was
Bloyce Fitzgerald,

a young electrical engineer
who had known Tesla

and corresponded with him
during his life.

A strong believer
in Tesla's Teleforce,

Fitzgerald worked
with the government

to analyze Tesla's notes
and help determine

whether a practical version

of the particle beam weapon
could be built.

While there's no evidence a
working system was ever created,

the ideas themselves continued
to shape future research.

[Stephen]
Tesla's ideas have really laid
the foundation for a lot of

modern research into
directed energy weapons.

In 1983, President
Ronald Reagan announced

the Strategic Defense
Initiative,

which was nicknamed "Star Wars."

Proceeding boldly
with these new technologies,

we can significantly reduce
any incentive

that the Soviet Union may have

to threaten attack against
the United States or its allies.

It was the idea of using ground-
based and space-based lasers

and particle beam weapons
to help defend against

the potential for nuclear attack

by intercontinental
ballistic missiles

and enemy satellites in space.

It was similar to the idea that
Tesla had had

50 or 60 years earlier.

Where he envisioned Teleforce
using directed energy

as a defensive mechanism
to protect a country.

And that's very much
what Tesla had in mind

with his Teleforce weapon.

Despite the government's claims
there was nothing of value

in Tesla's files,

Stephen Kotowych thinks
the declassified documents

could suggest there were
powerful scientific insights,

insights used to shape
America's own top secret

energy weapons development.

As for that "Star Wars" program,

it didn't pan out because it
was limited by cost

and the technology available
in the 1980s.

Like much of Tesla's work,

it seems a particle super weapon
remained ahead of its time.

And as a fan of the movie
"Star Wars,"

and the planet Alderaan,

let's hope it stays that way.

[church bells]

[Josh] It's August 11th, 1676.

I'm in the Benedictine convent

of Palma di Montechiaro
in Sicily.

This young nun, Sister Maria,

is performing
her evening prayers.

But things are about to get
seriously unholy.

-[gagging]
-[neck cracking]

Maria senses powerful,
evil energy engulfing her,

and then begins to write
as if under its control,

scrawling out 14 cryptic lines
in a strange language

that she can't understand.

She believes this letter is
dictated by Satan himself.

For the next three centuries,

no one will be able
to crack the code

of this strange document.

That is, until groundbreaking
technology claims to solve

the diabolical riddle
of the Devil's Letter.

-[church bells]
-[ominous music plays]

-[church bells]
-[ominous music plays]

[women screaming]

[eerie whispers]

[Josh] After hearing
screams of distress,

the mother Abbess,
the leader of the convent,

finds 31-year-old Sister Maria
writhing on her chamber floor

in the midst of what looks
like a seizure.

[screams]

Her face is smeared with ink.

And her hand clutches the sheet
of paper scrawled

with strange writing.

-[liturgical music plays]
-[gasps]

[Mother Abbess]
Oh, my goodness!
Oh, Sister!

[Josh] When she comes
out of her trance,

Sister Maria claims she was
forced to write the message,

that it was dictated to her
by the fallen angel, Lucifer,

also known as Satan.

[ominous music plays]

[Josh] In the aftermath of

Sister Maria's
harrowing experience,

church officials closely
inspect the letter.

Yeah, the Sister was found...

[Josh] It's a 14-line jumble

of enigmatic symbols
and characters.

Some appear to be
archaic script.

[Mother Abbess]
...speaking in tongues.

[Josh]
Some, almost, otherworldly.

And despite all their efforts
to understand it,

the clergy are confounded.

Sister Maria swears she doesn't
know how to decipher it either.

Church authorities believe
the incident is a sinister

attempt by Satan to corrupt
Sister Maria, and pull her

and others away from God.

If so, why did the Devil choose
Sister Maria as his pawn?

Well, curiously,
this wasn't the first time

she experienced
disturbing visions.

Born Isabella Tomasi in 1645
to Sicilian nobility,

she enters the convent
at age 15,

taking the name Sister Maria
Crocifissa Della Concezione.

While immersing herself
in daily prayer,

she's also a keen student,

learning Latin, Greek, Arabic,

and even ancient
Germanic runic script.

Around 1672, Sister Maria
claims to experience

a potent vision of
the Madonna Adolorata,

the Mother of Sorrows.

[speaking Italian]

[Josh] A depiction of Mary,
mother of Jesus,

grieving at his death,

often shown with seven swords

piercing her heart to symbolize
her deep suffering.

The Mother of Sorrows informs
Maria that she too will suffer

and that hardships,
both physical and spiritual,

will define her existence.

Never a pleasant thing to hear,

especially for a pious
17th-century nun.

So Sister Maria begins
to prepare for the worst.

In the years before
the Devil's Letter,

she isolates herself
from the rest of the convent

more and more.

Engaging in self-punishment

to prove her devotion to God.

But her extreme piety doesn't
seem to bring peace.

Rather, she claims to be hounded

by evil spirits bent on
corrupting her soul.

[indistinct prayers]

[screams]

[Josh]
Then, on that fateful afternoon
of August 11th, 1676,

it all builds
to a terrifying crescendo.

No...
Go away!

Leave me!

[gasps]

[grunts]

[Josh] It's a scene straight out
of a horror film.

[tense music plays]

[Josh] The only thing she claims
to remember is Lucifer.

[church bell]

Threatening her
with eternal damnation

if she didn't sign
the letter by name.

Maria did sign the letter,
in a way.

It's the only decipherable word
on the page.

Ohimè,

an Italian word meaning "alas,"

expressing regret and sorrow.

Some read it as a sign
of submission

to the Devil's power.

Others, including the Mother
Abbess, say that by refusing

to sign with her own name,

it was an act of desperate
defiance against Satan.

Even after her
horrifying experience,

Sister Maria's
faith did not falter.

It is said that she spends
the rest of her life

at the convent,
devoutly worshiping God

and resisting Satan
to the very end.

On October 16th, 1699,

just before passing away
at the age of 54,

she reportedly whispers --

Santo! Santo! Santo...

Italian for "Holy, holy, holy."

In the centuries that follow,

Sister Maria's Devil's Letter
is studied by generations

of priests and historians in
the hopes someone might be able

to decipher it.

None succeed.

The contents of Sister Maria's
letter appeared destined

to remain a mystery forever.

But even Satan is no match
for technology.

In 2017, researchers
made a breakthrough,

finally unlocking
the Devil's Letter

using secret spy software.

In 1676, a cryptic letter
allegedly dictated

by Satan himself to Italian nun,

becomes an
incomprehensible mystery.

For 300 years,

scholars tried and failed
to decode the message.

But, finally, in 2017,

experts from Sicily's Ludum
Science Center decided to run

the writings through
state-of-the-art

decryption software.

And to their great shock,
a message began to emerge.

The Ludum Science Center is
headed up by Daniele Abete.

And they were able to access
the original document

that had been written
by Sister Maria

some 341 years earlier.

And they applied new software
that they were using,

originally developed
by intelligence agencies,

to help them break codes.

As the software worked to solve
the mystery of this letter,

the researchers were stunned.

There was a hidden message
embedded in the Devil's Letter.

[Josh] Once translated,
the letter revealed

a series of ominous statements,

including, "God thinks
he can free mortals,"

"the system works for no one,"

and, "The Holy Trinity are
dead weights."

This is especially blasphemous
coming from the pen

of Sister Maria, a devoted
servant of God.

It is a stunning discovery,

and it's one that may
have you asking,

is this the real deal?

Did someone or something
actually channel a message

through Sister Maria?

Well, the answer lies in how
the researchers

decoded the letter.

[Roy]
The team at Ludum recognized
that there were certain

repeating symbols,

which they supposed
might be vowels.

In addition, some of
the characters appeared to be

drawn from languages that
would've been known

to Sister Maria.

Italian, Arabic, Latin, Greek,

even Germanic runic characters.

Taking this information,

they then, primed the software
to try to decipher the text.

The researchers discovered
the software was able to reveal

a message that had been
embedded in this mishmash

of characters and symbols.

[Josh] The experts had revealed
something shocking.

Even though Sister Maria was
likely unable to translate

what she'd written,

all of the characters were
from languages

she already knew.

In other words, the creator
of the secret code

in The Devil's Letter is none
other than Sister Maria herself.

But how did she do it?

[Roy] Today, most people
would understand that

what Sister Maria was
experiencing was probably

some kind of undiagnosed
mental illness --

schizophrenia
or severe depression.

For Sister Maria,

this type of experience
would've been understood

within their own
religious worldview

as a demonic attack.

Remember, folks
like Sister Maria

in these convents are
in a crucible of wrestling

with deep existential questions
around the meaning of life,

the presence of evil,

the question of God.

Combine that with very intense
spiritual practices,

extended fasting,
deep periods of prayer,

meditation, isolation,

and you have
the perfect conditions,

which we know can affect
people's perception of

the world and generate visions.

These extreme destabilizing
conditions might be exactly

what we're seeing
in the Devil's message.

For 350 years,

the Devil's message was
mostly dismissed

as a jumble of chaos.

But now, instead,
we have a portrait

of a deeply devout,
complicated woman --

Sister Maria.

By blending the languages
she studied at the convent,

Sister Maria did something equal
parts impressive and terrifying.

She unconsciously created
a code so devilish

that it was credited
to Satan himself.

Now, three centuries later,

we can breathe a sigh of relief

as this unholy mystery has
finally been solved.

Amen to that.

[ominous music plays]

I'm inside the most sacred site
in all of ancient Greece,

the Temple of Apollo
in the city of Delphi.

And behind me is a woman
who shapes the fate of empires.

She's one of a long line
of priests known as Pythia,

who's said to communicate
directly with the gods,

and through them,
can see the future.

To learn their fates,

kings and commoners
alike bring gifts,

gold and treasure,

hoping the gods will be
kind to them.

Then, as Pythia enters
a powerful trance,

she shares her divine message.

These strange powers will
become the stuff of legend,

but nearly 2,000 years
from now,

modern science will finally
reveal the stunning truth

behind the so-called,
Oracle of Delphi.

Perched high in the mountains
of central Greece,

the ruins of Delphi hint

at its once
extraordinary importance.

According to myth,
Zeus released two eagles

from opposite ends of the Earth.

And where they met marked
the center of the world --

Delphi.

In the 7th century BC,

the people of Delphi establish
a formal sanctuary here,

building a temple
dedicated to Apollo,

the son of Zeus,

and transforming the site
into one of the most important

religious centers
in the ancient world.

[wind blowing]

Apollo is one of the most
revered Olympians.

[mellow playing]

He is the god of music,
poetry, archery,

and above all, prophecy.

To share that divine knowledge,

he speaks through
a mortal woman

chosen to serve
as his voice,

delivering prophecies to those
who journey to Delphi

in search of answers
about the future.

She is known as the Pythia,

the Oracle of Delphi.

Not a single individual,

but a sacred role that passes
on over generations,

with one woman
succeeding another.

[Pythia]
Apollo, come to me!

[Josh] Candidates are selected
by the temple priests,

usually from local women
of good reputation.

Many are older and removed
from family obligations.

Once selected, the Pythia leaves
her ordinary life behind

and enters the service
of the temple,

taking on a role
that is both an honor

and a lifelong obligation
with little choice to step away.

Her prophecies,
often spoken in riddles,

are used to determine
everything --

from where a farmer
plants his crop

to when an empire declares war.

On every day of prophecy,
it's recorded that

the Oracle of Delphi
ritualistically prepares herself

with water from sacred springs.

Then, inside the temple's
inner sanctum,

she sits on the sacred tripod
and chews laurel leaves

plucked from Apollo's
sacred tree.

Soon after,
she enters an ecstatic,

euphoric state.

Some ancient accounts
describe her trembling

or speaking wildly.

[indistinct mumbling]

[Josh] Others suggest
a calmer trance...

[Pythia]
Apollo come to me!

[Josh]
...with her voice changing

as Apollo speaks through her.

[speaking ancient Greek]

[Josh]
For each prophetic ceremony,

a priest is at her side,

translating and recording
the messages.

People travel for weeks
and spend their life savings

for the chance to reach Delphi

and receive their own message.

The ancient Greeks believed that
the Oracle of Delphi is

speaking directly
on behalf of a god.

But skeptics have
long questioned

whether those messages
were truly divine

and really foretold the future.

I have a prophecy of my own,

that the truth behind the Oracle
is about to be revealed.

For centuries, thousands
journeyed to visit

ancient Greece's
Oracle of Delphi,

seeking a glimpse of the future
bestowed by the gods.

How her messages are interpreted

can lead to great triumph
or terrible disaster.

[Pythia speaking in trance]

[Josh]
Just ask King Croesus of Lydia,

who consults with the Oracle
before going to war with Persia.

Her vision, transcribed and
declared by her priest, reads,

"If you cross the Halys River,

you will destroy
a great empire."

The king believes this is
a message of victory,

but, important disclaimer,

prophecies can be deceiving.

Confident in the oracle's words,

Croesus crosses the Halys River

and launches
his invasion of Persia.

And sure enough,

the oracle's prophecy
comes true.

A great empire is destroyed.

Just not Persia,

but rather, the army of Croesus.

[unsettling music plays]

Years later,
when the Persian Empire

threatens Greece again,

this time targeting Athens,

the Athenians once more turn
to the oracle for guidance.

Though all else will be taken,

Zeus grants that the wooden wall
alone shall not fall.

[Josh] She seems to suggest that
while everything else will fall,

something made of wood
will be what saves them.

Some believe the message refers
to a literal wooden barrier,

a wall that could
protect the city.

But Greek general Themistocles
believes it means wooden ships,

a reference to the Greek navy,

rather than the old wood
fortifications of the Acropolis.

He leads Athens to a fight at
sea and wins a decisive victory,

saving Greece from destruction.

Once again, the oracle's words
appear to shape the course

of history, but that raises
a deeper question.

What is the secret of
the oracle's power?

How does she enter her strange
trance-like state?

Well, there have long been
rumors that the answer

might lie beneath
Apollo's temple itself.

During the first century AD,
a priest of the Oracle of Delphi

is the renowned
Greek philosopher,

Plutarch.

In his writings,
he mentions a legend

that the Oracle's ability
to channel Apollo's prophecies

comes from sacred vapors
with mystical powers.

By Plutarch's time,
the Oracle's sway

over the ancient world is
already fading.

He writes of fewer prophecies

and long silences
between sessions.

Could it be, he wonders,
that her power is fading

because the source
of those vapors is drying up?

Then, in the fourth century AD,

as Christianity rises,

the Oracle of Delphi is said
to deliver a final prophecy.

Foretelling the end of Apollo's
temple and her own voice.

Soon after,
pagan practices are outlawed.

The oracle falls silent,
and Delphi fades into history.

Fast forward
to the 19th century,

when European scholars
seek to excavate Delphi

and reveal its secrets.

Unfortunately, at this point,

it's buried under
the Greek village of Kastri,

perched on the slopes
of Mount Parnassus.

Determined to uncover
the ancient sanctuary,

a team of French archaeologists
strikes a deal

with the Greek government,

and by 1893, the entire village
of Kastri is relocated,

clearing the way for
a historic breakthrough.

In addition to uncovering
ancient foundations,

archaeologists find inscribed
stones and bronze objects,

all confirming that this was
the Temple of Apollo,

buried for centuries and now
exposed to the world.

French archaeologists also
examine the bedrock

beneath the temple, looking for
a fissure or vent that might

explain Plutarch's strange
account of sacred vapors rising

from the floor, but no such
feature is found.

Like so many stories of
the oracle itself,

the ancient belief that
the Pythia's wisdom came

from divine fumes is dismissed,
as nothing more than a myth.

Then, nearly 100 years later,

scientists uncover a clue
that changes everything.

The source of the oracle's
power is finally

bubbling to the surface.

Scientists investigating

the ruins of ancient Greece's
Temple of Apollo

have uncovered new evidence

that explains how
its oracle was able to enter

strange trances and supposedly
predict the future.

Historian and author,
Phil Cousineau, explains.

In 1980, the United Nations
commissioned a delegation of

scientists to go to the area
around Delphi to explore

geological activity.

Jelle De Boer led this team
of geologists

and found two fault lines.

Where they met was directly

underneath
the Temple of Apollo,

and specifically,
underneath this small area

called the Adyton,

where the Delphic Oracle
prophesied to the world.

De Boer's discovery suggests
real seismic activity was

happening right beneath
the oracle's feet.

The earth itself was stirring
directly under Apollo's temple.

But it's not until
the mid 1990s,

when archaeologist John Hale
teams up with De Boer,

that things get
really interesting.

[Phil] Hale was looking for
the finer details.

He noticed small cracks
in the stone itself,

which is what had been created
by the water,

the series of springs
that had been bubbling up

for many, many centuries.

When Hale and De Boer
analyzed the rock,

they discovered traces of
methane, ethane, and ethylene,

which is an intoxicating gas

that can bring about
the trance state.

[Josh] Once used as a surgical
anesthetic, ethylene is more

potent than nitrous oxide.

It can induce intense
psychoactive states,

just like the power of euphoria
of the oracle's trance.

The recent scientific studies
suggest that the ethylene that

was released underneath
the Temple of Apollo could have

sent the oracle into a trance.

What it sets up is a picture
that the Delphic Oracle was

leaning over the fissure

[breathes in]

and breathing in
some of these gases,

and then going
into a trance.

So, the gases rising from below
the temple may have eased

the oracle into a trance.

But that might not be
the only ingredient

in this ancient recipe,

because some scholars
think the oracle

may have been boosting
the mind-altering effects

with something
even more potent.

When ancient writers visited
the oracular site,

they described the oracle as
chewing a sprig of laurel,

probably as a salute to Apollo.

It is possible, however,
that she was actually chewing

oleander, which is both
hallucinogenic and toxic.

It can cause hallucinations,
facial tremors,

and altered consciousness.

All three changes echo
the reports of what happened

to the Pythia, to the Oracle,

when she took your questions
and went into trance.

The Oracle of Delphi was one
of the most potent

spiritual figures
in the ancient world.

But now, the mystical vapors of
Apollo's temple have cleared,

revealing the true source
of her powers.

In the end, the trances
and prophecies weren't divine.

They were chemistry,

intoxicating ethylene gas

combined with
hallucinogenic leaves.

And though we now know that
the Oracle's true voice

rose not from the heavens,

but from the bowels
of the Earth,

her prophecies still
influenced empires

and shaped the course
of history.

A testament to the strongest
magic of all,

the power of belief.

I'm Josh Gates, and I'll see you
on the next expedition.