Original subtitles

[William Shatner] A simple wooden cup

with miraculous healing abilities.

An ancient sword

that seems impervious to the ravages of time.

And royal regalia so powerful

they're kept hidden from human eyes.

Powerful objects have captivated our imagination

for centuries, in legendary tales

that include the likes of a thunderous hammer,

a flying carpet

and even a sword of invincibility.

But history also offers stories

of holy relics, golden jewels and weapons of war

that can be described as simply... magical.

Is it possible that ordinary objects

can possess special powers beyond our understanding?

Well, that is what we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

[Shatner] All around the world, visitors walk

into museum galleries to admire priceless art

and incredible historic artifacts.

Some of the most magnificent objects are often

kept behind thick panes of protective glass

and monitored by security around the clock.

Among these marvels to behold are opulent crowns,

scepters and jewels of kings and queens.

Royal regalia so valuable

that their worth is not only measured in price

but in power.

[J.W. Ocker] The regalia of royalty

and the objects of power around them are very important, right?

Because without them,

a king, a queen, the prince, a princess--

they're just like anybody else, wearing regular clothes,

doing regular things.

But these objects of power,

whether it's the clothes they wore,

the jewels they wore,

set them apart as something different.

These weren't just people.

These were chosen by God,

or these were chosen by the people even

to be set apart,

to lead, to represent the country,

to be a symbol of the country.

[Roy Fisher] The power that these objects seem to hold

is probably best thought of as an entanglement

of several different elements.

Sometimes it could be the rituals,

the efforts that are brought to bear to craft and create.

Sometimes it appears that there are certain rituals

that imbue objects with additional powers.

We also have to include the faith,

the belief, the commitments of the communities.

So, really, the question of where does the power come from

is a murky, complicated one

that asks us to look

at several different factors simultaneously.

[Graham Phillips] There are many objects of power

throughout history

that are said to be able to do

all sorts of different things.

They may be made out of objects

which were rare, like gold, or they had jewels in them.

It may be because they were blessed

by priests or by shamans.

Or it could simply have been

that the objects were so venerated

that they then began to have power.

It makes you wonder,

and it makes them all the more mysterious.

[Shatner] Is the perceived power of these objects

merely symbolic?

Or could they possess real

supernatural abilities?

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] Dignitaries gather to witness

the coronation of Emperor Naruhito,

the 126th monarch to rule over the island nation.

[Alice Tseng] Emperor Naruhito,

on the outside, seems like a regular person.

He's the eldest son of the last emperor, Akihito.

And he went to college in Japan and Oxford.

But he's not a regular person.

He comes from a long lineage of emperors

from the same bloodline since

the year 660 BCE.

And this line of emperors link back

to the sun goddess Amaterasu.

In Shinto belief, she is the most powerful deity.

She was the one who ruled over the heavens.

So that's what makes

Emperor Naruhito so special.

He is supposedly the direct descendant

from a divine goddess.

[Shatner] While it's a remarkable claim

that the emperor is a descendant of a sun goddess,

what's even more intriguing is that many believe

the proof of his divine heritage

can be found in three magical, sacred objects

that have been shrouded in secrecy

for an astonishing 2,700 years.

There are three sacred treasures that are presented

to the emperor at his coronation,

and they keep them under wraps.

Literally under wraps.

They are hidden away inside boxes,

but supposedly, they contain three sacred items

that invest him with the power of a divine emperor.

The sword and the mirror and the jewel.

And the sacred sword and the mirror and the jewel

never come out of their boxes.

[Tseng] The popular belief is

there's a set of the real three,

and then there are also replicas.

So why do the replicas exist?

That's something that also cannot quite be explained.

But the three sacred treasures of Japan

aren't ordinary objects.

These are the three objects that the sun goddess handed

to her divine grandson, Ninigi.

And she told him to take these three objects

and go down to the islands of Japan and become its ruler.

And so, these are the objects

that legitimize the person who is the ruler.

It's a perfect combination

of a person in the legitimate line

who's in possession of those three objects

for that power to be, um, ignited.

[Shatner] Japan's sacred treasures

are easily the most mysterious royal regalia in the world.

But why are mere mortals still forbidden to see them?

Are they really objects gifted by a goddess?

And if so, what powers could they possess?

[Clements] The sword has a big historical provenance.

Today we call it Kusanagi,

but its original name was Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi,

which means "the sword that gathers the clouds together."

The sword has magical properties.

The one time on the historical record

that someone opened the box with the sword in it, everybody died.

Maybe the sword is made of some kind of substance

that is dangerous, or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

The mirror of Yata,

the mirror of the eight directions, is a bronze mirror,

and supposedly, it has a power

of communicating to the sun goddess.

And then there's the magatama jewel,

presumably a comma-shaped precious stone.

Nobody really knows what that does.

There are stories in Japanese mythology

about jewels that can control the tides and the sea,

but these are all questions that remain unanswered.

[Shatner] Could the ceremonial boxes

that contain Japan's royal regalia

house supernatural objects?

While the mystery endures, it is rather curious

that so much effort is spent keeping these fabled treasures

completely hidden from us.

In fact, other than the rare coronation of a new emperor,

no one can say for sure exactly where they are kept.

[Tseng] Interestingly, the three treasures--

we don't quite know where they are.

The Imperial House Agency will not confirm or deny,

but there's a lot of conjecture.

The popular belief is

the treasures are in three separate places right now.

So, the mirror would be at the Ise Shrine

in Mie Prefecture.

The sword is in Atsuta Shrine, which is in Aichi Prefecture.

And the jewel is the only one

that's supposed to be already inside the Imperial Palace.

But at the same time, since no one will confirm it,

we don't know for sure.

So, when so much belief is concentrated

in this set of regalia,

they definitely become more than simply objects.

You know, a mirror, a sword and a jewel.

These are objects that are not just more than 2,000 years old.

They came straight from the hands of divinity,

and so that definitely makes them objects of power.

[Phillips] These items are considered so, so sacred

because they held the essence of the goddess.

because they held the essence of the goddess.

Now, the fact that they're all kept separate,

no one ever gets to see them,

only makes them more mysterious.

[Shatner] In Christianity, devoted followers

have painstakingly protected sacred artifacts associated

with the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Objects like the True Cross, on which Jesus was crucified.

The Spear of Longinus that pierced his side.

And the Shroud of Turin,

a burial cloth allegedly imprinted

with Christ's likeness.

These holy relics are revered

not only for their historical importance

but also for the energetic power

they are believed to possess.

[Fisher] When you link a physical object

to a particularly holy or powerful person,

that object can absorb energy and power.

That's how the thinking behind relics goes.

A relic is a physical object

that came in contact

with a holy person or a holy thing.

These are known magical objects.

And like so many holy relics, there are

purportedly pieces all over the world.

Being encased in glass.

Being held in a cup.

Being put in a special box

and held for people to be used as a holy relic.

[Shatner] One of the most sought-after religious relics

that has been lost or hidden

over the past 2,000 years is a simple chalice,

said to possess the ability to provide sustenance,

heal the sick and even grant eternal life.

It is called the Holy Grail.

[Fisher] The legend of the Holy Grail,

this luminous vessel

is understood to be the chalice

that Jesus used at the Last Supper.

But also, it's a cup that was used

to catch the blood of Jesus at the crucifixion.

So, by connecting this object

to the life and the blood of Jesus,

it has long thought

to bring healing to those who drink from it.

[Lewis] There have been many, many contenders

for the actual Holy Grail.

Even in Europe, we know about 200 objects

that are said to be the Holy Grail.

And in fact, the cup's ability

to heal people is really the test

that these many, many chalices

across Europe have really kind of put to.

And there are accounts

of these various Holy Grails being able to heal people.

Does that mean that these chalices are

actually the Holy Grail?

The reality of it is we don't really know.

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] Established in 1907,

this esteemed institution holds more than seven million books

and other Welsh treasures,

some of which date back almost 2,000 years.

And the most legendary artifact on display is the remains

of a humble wooden vessel known as the Nanteos Cup.

[Lewis] The Nanteos Cup

is a wooden bowl, really, more than a cup.

It's made out of kind of elmwood.

It's now quite fragmentary.

It's fallen apart.

It was originally whole, of course.

And we first really hear about it in the 19th century

associated with a place called the Nanteos Mansion,

where it was given over to a family for safekeeping.

[Wood] The records of the Nanteos Cup

are very, very interesting.

They're mostly 19th century.

The earliest ones are about 1820.

You actually have people saying, "I borrowed the cup,"

and it was returned,

and whoever borrowed the cup was cured.

So, it acquired a reputation as a healing vessel.

[Shatner] Beginning in the late 19th century,

the Nanteos Cup--

sometimes referred to as the Tregaron Cup--

became famous among the Welsh for its alleged healing powers.

So, where did this mysterious cup originally come from?

Well, according to folklore,

400 years ago, the cup's home

was Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, England,

a site long associated with the Holy Grail.

[Phillips] The monks of Glastonbury Abbey claim

to have this Grail cup,

and they claim to have had it all the way through

until the 1500s,

when King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church

and decided to close and sack the monasteries.

And so, what happened is that the monks of Glastonbury,

with this cup, wanted to keep it safe.

It was their most sacred possession.

Took it to another abbey in Wales.

Seven monks escaped with the cup

over the Welsh mountains,

ending up in Strata Florida,

a very important Cistercian monastery

in central Wales,

where they stayed.

And as each monk died,

he handed it on to the next monk.

When the last monk died,

the people who bought the land were gifted or sold this cup,

which is going to become the Nanteos Cup.

And there were people who felt it was a healing cup.

So, as it spreads out, there are people who think,

"No, this is the real Holy Grail."

[Shatner] Could the Nanteos Cup be the actual vessel used

at the Last Supper?

It's an intriguing question

that gained international attention

after a recent criminal caper.

[Lewis] In July of 2014,

burglars break into the house of a woman

who had been loaned the Nanteos Cup.

The cup is there at her house.

She's not present at the time.

The burglars get in, and they take this cup.

After about 11 months of publicity,

the police are involved.

Strangely, just over a year later,

someone returns it anonymously.

Was it too powerful for them to hold on to?

We'll never know.

But now it's safely in the museum there in Wales.

[Shatner] Since its return, the public's fascination

with the Nanteos Cup has only grown.

It has become so famous, in fact, that in 2017,

King Charles, then the prince of Wales,

paid a visit to the fabled bowl.

While the cup's true origin remains a mystery,

its ability to provide healing powers

is considered nothing short of miraculous.

Not everyone can accept it,

but people who've experienced this healing

really feel that it has happened,

and I think we wouldn't dismiss their experience,

even if we don't agree with it.

For a lot of people, it's a very sincere belief.

People believe it's real.

A wooden cup that can heal the sick sounds, well, miraculous.

But there's another object

that's also said to possess powers of biblical proportions.

It's a decorative item with extraordinary abilities

that's as small

as the ring on your finger.

[Shatner] People have been adorning their bodies

with jewelry of all types for thousands of years.

Yet, rings have held a special place of great meaning,

like the promise of eternal love,

the authority of a spiritual leader,

or even the victory of an athletic championship.

In many ways,

rings have become the most symbolic object we can wear.

[Ocker] We've been wearing rings as long as we've had fingers.

They don't have the violent symbolism

of a sword or a weapon.

They have kind of a quiet presence

for the bearer.

It's on a finger.

It's just unobtrusive.

And yet, they can be lost.

They can be given as gifts.

They are valuable.

So, all these things kind of work together to make rings

a very specific type of object of power.

[Shatner] How did rings become such powerful symbols?

For centuries, tales of magic rings

imbued with mystical powers have been the center

of spellbinding stories.

Even the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato,

wrote about a powerful adornment known as

the Ring of Gyges.

[Thompson] Plato gives a great

allegory about the Ring of Gyges.

This is a well-known story.

Uh, supposedly, a-a shepherd

found a tomb of an old warrior, an old king.

He had this massive gold ring on.

He finds out that the gold ring is magical.

It can make him turn invisible.

And then he uses this, uh, to abuse his power.

He seduces the queen,

kills the king

and establishes himself as the new ruler.

So, Plato was trying to point this out, like,

people get corrupted by power.

Like many rings in myths and legends through history,

it comes with a warning attached.

By becoming invisible, he attracted all sorts

of negative influences,

and ultimately,

everything he was able to do was destroyed.

[Shatner] While the Ring of Gyges remains a cautionary tale

about the price of power,

could such a mighty, magical ring have any basis in reality?

Remarkably, some believe that such a ring did exist

around 3,000 years ago, and it belonged to one

of ancient Israel's greatest rulers.

[Phillips] King Solomon was the king

of the ancient Israelites.

He lived around about 3,000 years ago

and is recorded in the Bible as being the wisest

and most powerful king in the world.

He was able to gain so much power

because of his being blessed by God,

and in order that he should be so successful,

it is said he was given a ring

that had once belonged to the Archangel Michael,

and that ring is known as the Seal of Solomon.

The ring had a seal on it.

And the seal is basically what we now call the Star of David.

The triangle pointing upwards represents the power of heaven

that will protect you,

and the triangle pointing downwards

represents your ability to summon

the powers of heaven to do your bidding.

But in addition to that, it is said to have been inscribed

with the secret, true name of God

to give the ring more power than any other amulet or talisman.

[Shatner] According to various legends,

when Solomon died in 931 BC,

his famous ring was lost.

And while we can only guess what it really looked like,

depictions exist of the ancient symbols

believed to have adorned it.

Sacred symbols that may have imbued the object

with strange, supernatural powers.

Solomon's historical significance

is that he is a builder.

He constructs the very first Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

And this is historical fact.

What's really interesting is

there grows up a kind of a set of myths or legends

about how he did this building.

He didn't do it on his own power.

He did it with the power of his magical ring.

[Phillips] According to ancient Judaic tradition,

the Ring of Solomon was supposed to have such great power

because of the symbol inscribed upon it.

And with this ring, he was said to be able to command demons,

summon angels

and have great wisdom.

This made Solomon's ring particularly powerful.

The Ring of Solomon was meant to give power

over creatures, both natural and unnatural.

So, the ring was said to give the ability to speak to animals.

And it was also said to give the ability to control the jinn,

the supernatural spirits

who were believed to exist and-and interact with humankind.

[Shatner] Did King Solomon truly wield a heavenly ring

that could build great temples,

control beasts

and even harness the power of angels and demons?

No one can say for sure, but like with many tales,

there was a terrible price to pay

when dealing with a ring of incredible power.

One story tells of a demon

by the name of Asmodeus.

And Asmodeus steals Solomon's ring

and uses it to assume the throne and to rule for 40 days.

And I think the story is fascinating

because it really shows that all Solomon's power

comes from this ring.

It comes from this object that he's wearing.

It's not anything inherent to himself.

[Thompson] As far as we know,

the Ring of Solomon seems to have existed.

We have several different attestations talking about it.

But like many things from the distant past,

we don't know what happened to it.

So, this is a lost, magical, missing ring.

If King Solomon's ring really did exist,

it's likely been lost to the sands of time.

But that's not the case for an ancient artifact

with legendary powers

that has mysteriously survived

for 2,500 years

without aging a day.

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] In local lore, it is said

that this small natural lake is associated

with a magical weapon from Arthurian legend.

Allegedly, it's where a powerful enchantress,

known as the Lady of the Lake,

gifted King Arthur the mighty sword Excalibur.

[Thompson] Excalibur

is probably the most famous magical sword

in folklore throughout history.

This comes from the Arthurian tradition, of course.

King Arthur was given Excalibur

by the Lady in the Lake,

and Excalibur is said to have all sorts of magical properties.

Of course, it was something he would wield in battle.

Arthur seemed to be invincible

and terribly powerful, and so Excalibur

really establishes his right to rule.

[Shatner] There are many myths and legends

of magical swords like Excalibur.

Like the blade known as Gram,

used by the Norse hero Sigurd to slay a dragon,

and Chandrahasa, a divine sword from Hindu mythology,

or Durendal, the French equivalent of Excalibur.

But could a real magical sword actually exist?

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] Over five million people visit

this famed cultural institution every year.

And many come to see the miraculous,

2,500-year-old bronze sword

that once belonged to an ancient king known as Goujian.

Because today, it appears to be as perfect

as the day it was forged.

[Collins] The Sword of Goujian

was found in China during the 1960s.

It's many thousands of years old

and considered to be the most perfect sword in the world.

It's also known as the Excalibur of the East.

And it was actually buried inside a tomb, inside a sheath,

and this tomb

actually was then flooded with water.

Now, normally, the water would actually create oxidization,

but the sword did not rust whatsoever,

and was absolutely

perfect when discovered.

[Ric Furrer] So, this sword blade was rumored

to be razor-sharp when pulled from the scabbard,

and there are gold inlays on it

in what's called "the bird and worm script."

The translation states that this blade

was not only owned

but manufactured by the king of Yue at the time,

who was Goujian.

So the Sword of Goujian is

literally the story of legends.

And that blade is special for several reasons.

It's extremely hard for what it is.

And one hardness test I saw that came out

of a Chinese scholarship claimed it was 650 Vickers.

Vickers is a hardness scale used for metals,

and that sword is harder

than I know any bronze to be able to support.

So even within modern testing of these blades,

there are more things we don't understand.

[McNeill] The Sword of Goujian dates back to the late 400s BCE.

But what's astonishing is that given its age,

it appears brand-new.

And we can attribute that

to the quality of the metal out of which it's made.

But we get immediately the sense

that, whoa, this isn't a normal sword.

And we can see this idea

that a magic sword does not feel far-fetched.

[Shatner] How does a 2,500-year-old sword,

buried in water, survive

in such pristine condition?

Was it due to the masterful metallurgy of its maker

or something much more mysterious?

Perhaps the answer can be found

in another remarkable tale of survival

surrounding King Goujian himself.

[Clements] King Goujian was a very young king

of the state of Yue.

Yue and Wu were always fighting each other.

And Goujian attacked

their mortal enemies in Wu and failed.

He was defeated in battle, he was captured

by Fuchai, the king of Wu.

And Goujian had to serve for three years as his slave.

He dressed as a servant,

and he did everything that Fuchai wanted

to make himself seem completely harmless

and get himself released.

[Furrer] Goujian bided his time.

And because he did good work for that three years

when he was a slave in the royal household,

they allowed him to leave.

And he returned to the state of Yue.

And as a king, he increased his military.

He kept himself in a state of training, of discomfort,

for over a decade

until he was able to wage war again and won.

So the idea is that if you train,

if you're single-minded,

you can accomplish something great.

And that was already in Chinese culture

prior to finding this extremely, remarkably well-preserved sword.

[Shatner] There are many tales in Chinese folklore

where a person's soul or spirit became attached to their sword.

So, some have wondered, is it possible

that the unbreakable spirit of King Goujian

somehow passed into his miraculous weapon,

preserving it for thousands of years?

[Clements] There's this idea in Chinese folklore

that a weapon might be directly tied to a...

a ruler's mandate and fate.

And people start to associate the power of the leader

with the power of the weapon that he wields.

Their power is passed on through it to later generations.

And so,

the Sword of Goujian isn't just a weapon.

It has a story attached to it.

The sword has its own power for that.

Can the Sword of Goujian's longevity be attributed

to extraordinary craftsmanship,

or is there something supernatural at work?

or is there something supernatural at work?

Such is the case of a 16th-century musical instrument

that's said to summon the spirit

of a legendary hero.

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] This museum contains a vast collection

of about two million objects.

And among them, housed safely behind protective glass,

is a legendary 16th-century instrument,

the fabled drum

of one of England's most celebrated heroes

of the high seas,

Sir Francis Drake.

[Geiger] Sir Francis Drake

was the second person to circumnavigate the globe,

and probably the first to really go do it deliberately.

He was also a privateer for the British against the Spanish.

He's the admiral that defeated the Spanish armada.

In England, he has generally been considered

to be a great hero.

And on the ship with him was a drum.

You would use a drum on a ship.

That's part of how you call the crew together.

You can still go see the drum.

It's about two feet tall,

and it has his coat of arms on it.

According to legend, before he died,

Sir Francis Drake put a condition on the drum.

He said that if England was ever in grave danger...

[drum beating]

...the drum would sound, and he would return from death

to help England back to its victory.

From that moment on, this drum wasn't just

some sort of national treasure.

It became a rallying call to arms very symbolically.

[Ocker] It has become an object of immense power.

It represents the power of England,

wrapped into the drum of a naval commander.

But you can't have a story like this without it paying off.

According to legend, during times of national crisis,

the drum has mysteriously started to play on its own.

[Shatner] Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea

on January 28, 1596.

And his famous drum was sent to Buckland Abbey,

his family home in Devon, England.

And according to legend, the first time

its supernatural beat was heard was in 1620...

...when the Mayflower set sail

for the dangerous passage from Plymouth, England,

to the New World across the Atlantic.

And that was only the beginning.

[Simon] It's been

reported that Sir Francis Drake's drum has been heard

when Napoléon was brought to England as a prisoner.

[drum beating]

It was heard during World War I during major battles.

[drum beating]

And it was supposedly heard during the evacuation

of English soldiers at Dunkirk, France, during World War II.

[drum beating]

[Lynne Picknett] The drum sounded in the Second World War

at the Battle of Britain,

with RAF fighting off the Luftwaffe

over the English countryside.

Which was very dramatic and actually

did set the scene on...

on certain successes in the war.

But Drake's drum has sounded by itself.

It's been beaten by invisible forces,

and it alerted people to great

existential crisis in the nation.

[Geiger] Whether people are actually hearing the drum

or whether they're imagining hearing the drum,

all it is, is here to say, this island,

this realm is perpetually protected by Sir Francis Drake.

It is him coming back to defend the kingdom.

And so, I think people

like to believe these legends.

I think people like to believe

that their kingdom is defended

by things like the-the... the magic drum.

[Shatner] It's also said that Drake's drum

was heard on July 7, 2005, when terrorists

coordinated a series of deadly bombings

in London's underground railway system.

So, what is really happening here?

Is this a magical instrument,

somehow linked to the heroic spirit of Sir Francis Drake?

Surprisingly, it's not the only instrument believed

to be imbued with the might of its former owner.

There are some objects that can even cause destruction.

Like the trumpets that were found

in Tutankhamen's tomb.

It was believed that when they were blown

they could release the dogs of war.

And in 1939, when they were played for the first time live

on BBC and listened to by 150 million people,

not long after, the greatest war in history began.

[Shatner] Did the horns of Tutankhamen

usher in World War II?

Or can an Aboriginal didgeridoo invoke ancestral spirits,

as some believe?

Much like Drake's legendary drum,

the truth behind the power

associated with these instruments

remains a mystery that seems impossible to verify.

[Simon] We don't really know where

these rumors come from.

Is it because someone heard drums elsewhere

and maybe reported that it could've been the sound

of Sir Francis Drake's drums?

Could it be born from just the anxieties

people were having from wartime or threats of invasion

that they heard the sound of Sir Francis Drake's drum?

Or is this actually a supernatural object meant

Or is this actually a supernatural object meant

to bring help to England in times of need?

We're not sure, and so it still remains a mystery

and a huge source of fascination.

[Shatner reads on-screen text]

[Shatner] Soon after the Louvre

opens for the day, a group of thieves

disguised as construction workers

carry out a brazen daylight robbery,

targeting some of the most prized royal treasures

in all of France.

[Lewis] They took

objects which were a part

of the French crown jewels.

So, they had gorgeous pieces of jewelry.

They had sapphire and emerald earrings.

They had tiaras and crowns.

The thieves managed to make off

with about $102 million worth of loot.

-[siren blaring] -[Shatner] Yet, amid

the shattered cases and broken glass,

the thieves inexplicably left behind

one of the most valuable jewels in French history,

the Regent Diamond.

[Joanna Hardy] The Regent Diamond

is 140-odd carats.

It's a cushion-shaped diamond

from the Golconda mines in India,

and it is just over an inch wide.

Miraculously,

that didn't get taken.

[Ocker] This gem is worth about $60 million.

So, it is extremely valuable.

So, the fact that these thieves didn't bother

to take it in their just

random smash-and-grab seems to be significant.

[Shatner] Why would a well-planned heist

leave behind such a valuable treasure?

Was it merely an oversight?

Perhaps.

But some believe the answer lies

in the Regent Diamond's sinister reputation

as a cursed object said to bring ruin

to those who possess it.

The first person to wear the Regent Diamond

was King Louis XVI,

who had it put in his crown for his coronation,

and his queen, Marie Antoinette,

had it later put into a headdress.

Well, we know what happened to both of them.

They had their heads lopped off horribly

by the guillotine in the French Revolution.

Even Napoléon wasn't immune to this curse.

He'd done pretty well. He'd conquered most of Europe.

He decided to put this diamond in the hilt of his sword.

And the later part of his reign just went downhill and downhill,

and he ended up exiled in the middle of the Atlantic.

Ultimately, the French royal family decided

they didn't want anything to do with this diamond,

and they sold it to the Louvre, where it still is now.

So, I would say there's good reason

why the thieves decided to leave it be.

[Shatner] Were the robbers who ransacked the Louvre aware

that the Regent Diamond carried a curse

and deliberately chose to leave it behind?

It's a compelling theory

and one that suggests

that the perceived power of certain objects

doesn't simply vanish with the passage of time

as long as there are those who continue to believe.

[Ocker] Objects get their power from us.

We're the ones with the belief. We're the ones with the faith.

We're the ones with the idea,

and we imbue those objects with all of that.

So, without people, objects are just objects.

So we are the ones that really give it the meaning, the power,

the stories around it

that make it become an object of power.

[Fisher] Throughout human history,

across the millennia, civilizations that,

as far as we know, never came in contact with each other,

all share this belief

that material things can be imbued with power.

This connection

between tangible objects

and unseen realities...

...is still a part of the mystery of human existence.

So, what do you think?

Can certain objects possess supernatural abilities,

or is it human nature to be fascinated with the idea

that an ordinary item could transform

into something extraordinary?

Perhaps we're intrigued by the mystery itself.

Tales of a ring that grants special powers

or a cup that heals the sick

can transport us to a magical time and place.

Whatever the case may be,

it's fun to imagine a past

filled with objects of power

that, for now,

remain... unexplained.

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