1 00:00:02,042 --> 00:00:03,333 WILLIAM SHATNER: An imperial advisor 2 00:00:03,458 --> 00:00:05,167 who foretold the end of a dynasty. 3 00:00:05,292 --> 00:00:07,583 A trance-like state of mind, 4 00:00:07,792 --> 00:00:11,000 attained by a mysterious oracle. 5 00:00:11,167 --> 00:00:14,917 And an entire organization founded on the ability 6 00:00:15,042 --> 00:00:17,375 to predict the future. 7 00:00:17,583 --> 00:00:20,458 There's something about human nature that compels us 8 00:00:20,625 --> 00:00:23,458 to want to know what the future will bring. 9 00:00:23,625 --> 00:00:27,167 We use predictions all the time when it comes to weather 10 00:00:27,375 --> 00:00:29,917 or traffic or even the stock market. 11 00:00:30,083 --> 00:00:33,667 While most predictions are simply a best guess 12 00:00:33,750 --> 00:00:35,750 based on experience, 13 00:00:35,917 --> 00:00:38,750 there are those among us who have the ability 14 00:00:38,917 --> 00:00:42,250 to see the future in vivid detail. 15 00:00:44,125 --> 00:00:45,917 Who are these mystics 16 00:00:46,042 --> 00:00:48,250 who possess the power of prediction? 17 00:00:48,417 --> 00:00:53,875 And just how do they tap into an unseeable realm 18 00:00:54,042 --> 00:00:56,375 to capture details beyond our reach? 19 00:00:56,542 --> 00:01:02,042 And is the ability to see the future a special gift 20 00:01:02,208 --> 00:01:05,167 or something we all are capable of? 21 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:09,333 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 22 00:01:09,458 --> 00:01:11,417 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:25,333 SHATNER: In our modern world, 24 00:01:25,417 --> 00:01:27,917 it might be tempting to assume that prophecy 25 00:01:28,083 --> 00:01:31,833 is merely an antiquated fantasy from the past 26 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,083 that has no relevance today. 27 00:01:35,208 --> 00:01:39,000 But the surprising truth is that millions of people 28 00:01:39,125 --> 00:01:41,958 still rely on psychics, palm readers 29 00:01:42,125 --> 00:01:44,667 and fortune tellers of all kinds 30 00:01:44,833 --> 00:01:48,000 for guidance about the future. 31 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,250 JONATHAN YOUNG: People want to know about the future. 32 00:01:51,417 --> 00:01:54,208 Our hopes get projected into prophecies, 33 00:01:54,375 --> 00:01:56,083 the things that might get better. 34 00:01:56,292 --> 00:01:59,125 Our fears get projected into prophecies, 35 00:01:59,292 --> 00:02:01,292 the things that might go bad. 36 00:02:02,292 --> 00:02:04,750 And various writers and mystics 37 00:02:04,917 --> 00:02:07,917 attempt to tell us what is coming. 38 00:02:08,083 --> 00:02:10,292 Sometimes they get it right. 39 00:02:11,583 --> 00:02:13,667 MITCH HOROWITZ: Predictions continue to garner attention today 40 00:02:13,833 --> 00:02:18,042 because human nature tends to go in the direction 41 00:02:18,208 --> 00:02:20,667 of something that it considers beneficial. 42 00:02:20,875 --> 00:02:25,208 And so, when we speak of prognostication, 43 00:02:25,417 --> 00:02:26,917 or peering into the future, 44 00:02:27,042 --> 00:02:28,333 we at least have to give credence 45 00:02:28,542 --> 00:02:32,125 to the possibility that prophecy works. 46 00:02:33,542 --> 00:02:35,583 SHATNER: Is it possible that some people do, in fact, 47 00:02:35,750 --> 00:02:39,208 have the ability to peer into the future? 48 00:02:40,208 --> 00:02:43,375 Well, for thousands of years, humanity has turned 49 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:45,708 to so-called prophets for information 50 00:02:45,875 --> 00:02:47,833 about what the future holds. 51 00:02:48,042 --> 00:02:52,167 So, perhaps a close examination of some ancient clairvoyants 52 00:02:52,375 --> 00:02:55,375 and their bold predictions will shed light 53 00:02:55,583 --> 00:03:00,125 on the mysterious power of prophecy. 54 00:03:07,750 --> 00:03:09,208 Deep in this remote, mountainous region 55 00:03:09,417 --> 00:03:13,583 lies a small village called Nantian township. 56 00:03:14,875 --> 00:03:18,708 In the center of the community, there is a commemorative square, 57 00:03:18,875 --> 00:03:22,500 within which stands a 15-foot-tall statue 58 00:03:22,708 --> 00:03:28,708 dedicated to an ancient prophet named Liu Bowen. 59 00:03:30,333 --> 00:03:31,500 DAVID ROBINSON: Liu Bowen 60 00:03:31,708 --> 00:03:34,125 is one of the most well-known figures 61 00:03:34,208 --> 00:03:35,625 in all of Chinese history. 62 00:03:36,917 --> 00:03:41,500 He's born in 1311, he dies in 1375. 63 00:03:41,708 --> 00:03:46,500 He was a close adviser of the emperor 64 00:03:46,708 --> 00:03:49,000 of the Ming dynasty, or the Hongwu Emperor. 65 00:03:49,167 --> 00:03:51,792 In the surviving letters that we have, 66 00:03:51,958 --> 00:03:56,208 the emperor repeatedly and explicitly refers 67 00:03:56,375 --> 00:04:00,583 to Liu Bowen's ability to see the future. 68 00:04:02,292 --> 00:04:04,000 DOMINIC STEAVU: On account of Liu Bowen's access 69 00:04:04,208 --> 00:04:06,875 to this untapped knowledge about the future, 70 00:04:07,042 --> 00:04:09,333 the emperor was able to 71 00:04:09,458 --> 00:04:13,667 predict where enemy troops were, when they would strike, 72 00:04:13,792 --> 00:04:17,208 and he was able to defend or attack them successfully. 73 00:04:18,208 --> 00:04:20,208 Very famously, there's a story that says 74 00:04:20,333 --> 00:04:24,167 he helped the Ming emperor secure the throne 75 00:04:24,375 --> 00:04:26,417 and overthrow the Mongols, 76 00:04:26,625 --> 00:04:30,333 who ruled over China previously for a few hundred years. 77 00:04:30,542 --> 00:04:33,500 So, Liu Bowen was a very useful adviser, 78 00:04:33,667 --> 00:04:36,375 and he's, uh, seen as a kind of 79 00:04:36,542 --> 00:04:38,583 a cultural hero nowadays in China. 80 00:04:39,708 --> 00:04:42,000 SHATNER: Liu Bowen made thousands of predictions 81 00:04:42,167 --> 00:04:44,000 related to Chinese affairs of state. 82 00:04:44,208 --> 00:04:47,500 But his most famous prophecy was of an event that took place 83 00:04:47,708 --> 00:04:50,167 not during his lifetime but rather 84 00:04:50,333 --> 00:04:54,875 more than 500 years after his death. 85 00:05:00,208 --> 00:05:05,167 All across China, uprisings occur against the Qing dynasty. 86 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:08,875 The Revolution culminates in the abdication 87 00:05:09,042 --> 00:05:11,250 of the child Emperor Puyi, 88 00:05:11,458 --> 00:05:13,958 and the end of the Chinese monarchy. 89 00:05:15,125 --> 00:05:16,792 This is one of the most important events 90 00:05:16,958 --> 00:05:19,667 in all of Chinese history, because it's the end 91 00:05:19,833 --> 00:05:21,833 of a dynastic system 92 00:05:21,958 --> 00:05:27,292 that had been in play since at least 221 BC. 93 00:05:28,458 --> 00:05:29,875 So, we're talking about 94 00:05:30,083 --> 00:05:32,792 2,000 years of history that ends. 95 00:05:34,042 --> 00:05:36,500 And Liu Bowen is credited with having seen this, 96 00:05:36,708 --> 00:05:39,250 having seen the Revolution in the 20th century. 97 00:05:40,292 --> 00:05:44,042 SHATNER: For some, the idea that a man who lived in the 1300s 98 00:05:44,208 --> 00:05:47,000 could successfully predict the overthrow 99 00:05:47,208 --> 00:05:52,833 of the last emperor of China in 1911 might sound impossible. 100 00:05:52,958 --> 00:05:57,458 But many Chinese people believe that Liu Bowen did, 101 00:05:57,625 --> 00:06:00,083 in fact, do just that. 102 00:06:00,292 --> 00:06:04,625 And as evidence, they point to a cryptic poem Bowen wrote 103 00:06:04,708 --> 00:06:09,750 that is called the "Song of Shaobing." 104 00:06:09,917 --> 00:06:12,667 STEAVU: One of the most important parts of the song 105 00:06:12,875 --> 00:06:16,708 is it has a line about one of the last emperors dying 106 00:06:16,917 --> 00:06:20,125 prematurely in his palace, and this actually occurred. 107 00:06:20,292 --> 00:06:23,500 The penultimate emperor died as a result 108 00:06:23,708 --> 00:06:25,333 of what was probably poisoning 109 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,500 at a relatively young age in the palace. 110 00:06:28,708 --> 00:06:33,458 And it happened only a number of years before the Revolution. 111 00:06:33,625 --> 00:06:35,167 Following this description 112 00:06:35,333 --> 00:06:36,500 of the emperor's premature death, 113 00:06:36,667 --> 00:06:38,417 there is a line about 114 00:06:38,583 --> 00:06:40,708 the appearance of a "golden dragon." 115 00:06:41,750 --> 00:06:44,667 Now, the term "golden dragon" in the Chinese culture 116 00:06:44,792 --> 00:06:49,708 refers to a ruler who is adored by his people. 117 00:06:49,875 --> 00:06:52,375 And this is, indeed, what happened 118 00:06:52,542 --> 00:06:55,417 when Sun Yat-sen came to power 119 00:06:55,542 --> 00:06:58,000 as the first provisional president 120 00:06:58,167 --> 00:07:01,167 of the Republic of China following the Revolution. 121 00:07:02,208 --> 00:07:06,875 He was the savior and father of the Chinese nation. 122 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:09,833 SHATNER: Because of its parallels 123 00:07:10,042 --> 00:07:13,125 with the events of the 1911 Revolution, 124 00:07:13,292 --> 00:07:15,375 the ancient "Song of Shaobing" 125 00:07:15,542 --> 00:07:20,833 is considered an authentic prophecy in Chinese culture. 126 00:07:20,958 --> 00:07:24,500 And in fact, many people believe that Liu Bowen's predictions 127 00:07:24,667 --> 00:07:28,250 continue to have relevance today. 128 00:07:28,417 --> 00:07:30,458 ROBINSON: You can go online, uh, 129 00:07:30,625 --> 00:07:32,500 social media, YouTube, et cetera, et cetera, 130 00:07:32,625 --> 00:07:36,125 and there are lengthy, detailed discussions 131 00:07:36,292 --> 00:07:37,500 of Liu Bowen's prophecies 132 00:07:37,708 --> 00:07:40,500 and how they might match current events. 133 00:07:40,708 --> 00:07:45,792 People read current events in light of those prophecies, 134 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,667 and he's credited now 135 00:07:47,875 --> 00:07:50,958 with having foreseen coronavirus. 136 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,667 STEAVU: The prophecy describes a massive plague 137 00:07:55,833 --> 00:08:00,375 that will ravage China and the rest of the world. 138 00:08:00,583 --> 00:08:04,083 It mentions that the brunt of this plague 139 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:06,333 will occur in the Year of the Pig 140 00:08:06,542 --> 00:08:07,875 and the Year of the Rat, 141 00:08:08,042 --> 00:08:12,792 and this corresponds to 2019 and 2020. 142 00:08:12,958 --> 00:08:15,458 The details are incredibly precise. 143 00:08:15,625 --> 00:08:18,833 ROBINSON: People revisited Liu Bowen's prophecies 144 00:08:18,958 --> 00:08:23,667 and they see this reference to the eruption of an epidemic. 145 00:08:23,875 --> 00:08:26,833 And this seems to provide answers, 146 00:08:27,042 --> 00:08:30,708 to provide some sense of order, offer guidance and clarity. 147 00:08:30,917 --> 00:08:34,042 He did foresee this, just as he's foreseen other things. 148 00:08:35,208 --> 00:08:37,417 SHATNER: Liu Bowen's predictions 149 00:08:37,583 --> 00:08:39,875 about the future of Chinese dynastic history 150 00:08:40,042 --> 00:08:42,417 took hundreds of years to come to fruition. 151 00:08:42,625 --> 00:08:45,083 But if you were looking for more timely advice 152 00:08:45,250 --> 00:08:48,958 thousands of years ago, there was actually a place 153 00:08:49,125 --> 00:08:51,667 where people of all types could go 154 00:08:51,750 --> 00:08:56,292 to consult directly with the gods. 155 00:09:03,917 --> 00:09:06,458 SHATNER: Here on the slopes of Mount Parnassus 156 00:09:06,625 --> 00:09:09,042 lies the ruins of several holy sanctuaries 157 00:09:09,208 --> 00:09:11,625 that were constructed by the ancient Greeks. 158 00:09:12,625 --> 00:09:14,167 The most famous of these structures 159 00:09:14,375 --> 00:09:16,667 is the Temple of Apollo. 160 00:09:17,750 --> 00:09:19,750 Built in the 5th century BC, the Temple of Apollo 161 00:09:19,917 --> 00:09:22,833 was the site of a sacred ceremony 162 00:09:22,958 --> 00:09:26,875 in which farmers, merchants and even kings 163 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,833 would come to hear prophecies about their future 164 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:35,250 from a high priestess who was known as the Oracle of Delphi. 165 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,625 The Oracle at Delphi is a unique individual in the past. 166 00:09:40,708 --> 00:09:44,250 This is a woman who, through her prophecy, 167 00:09:44,417 --> 00:09:47,167 was able to see the future, 168 00:09:47,333 --> 00:09:50,333 and people are coming to her 169 00:09:50,500 --> 00:09:55,042 and expecting to get information that helps sway their actions. 170 00:09:55,208 --> 00:09:58,375 So the Oracle at Delphi was one of the most powerful women 171 00:09:58,542 --> 00:09:59,750 in ancient Greece. 172 00:10:00,875 --> 00:10:02,500 HALE: Inside the Temple of Apollo, 173 00:10:02,708 --> 00:10:05,625 the Oracle was seated on a high tripod 174 00:10:05,792 --> 00:10:08,958 and would be open for consultations, 175 00:10:09,125 --> 00:10:11,125 and people would come from all over the world. 176 00:10:12,833 --> 00:10:15,417 So, kings would come. 177 00:10:15,583 --> 00:10:16,833 Farmers would come if they wanted 178 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:18,750 to know about the next harvest. 179 00:10:18,917 --> 00:10:21,583 Everybody came, in the ancient world, to Delphi 180 00:10:21,708 --> 00:10:24,042 with a life-changing question, 181 00:10:24,208 --> 00:10:26,542 and she could then prophesize, give you a sign, 182 00:10:26,708 --> 00:10:28,917 what's the right way to go. 183 00:10:29,083 --> 00:10:30,958 Her magical power to channel 184 00:10:31,125 --> 00:10:33,167 the prophetic gods was at your service. 185 00:10:33,375 --> 00:10:36,125 SHATNER: The Oracle of Delphi reportedly predicted 186 00:10:36,292 --> 00:10:39,833 numerous important events in the ancient world, 187 00:10:40,042 --> 00:10:42,833 including the rise of Alexander the Great 188 00:10:43,042 --> 00:10:46,667 and the death of the Roman emperor Nero. 189 00:10:48,042 --> 00:10:51,292 Many historians believe a clue to her powers of prophecy 190 00:10:51,458 --> 00:10:53,250 can be found in the writings 191 00:10:53,458 --> 00:10:57,208 of an ancient Greek historian named Plutarch. 192 00:10:58,875 --> 00:11:02,667 Plutarch wrote three long pieces about Delphi... 193 00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:06,750 ...and Plutarch described how when the Oracle 194 00:11:06,917 --> 00:11:10,500 was in the trance-- the ecstasy of the prophecy-- 195 00:11:10,667 --> 00:11:13,042 this "breath" came up from Mother Earth, 196 00:11:13,208 --> 00:11:18,958 and Plutarch also said it smelled sweet like perfume. 197 00:11:19,083 --> 00:11:22,625 And when Mother Earth is breathing at Delphi, 198 00:11:22,833 --> 00:11:25,625 the Delphic Oracle goes into an altered state, 199 00:11:25,792 --> 00:11:28,958 and she becomes like a ventriloquist dummy, 200 00:11:29,083 --> 00:11:32,792 but the ventriloquist is the wisdom of Mother Earth 201 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:36,458 spoken through the Delphic Oracle in Greece. 202 00:11:36,625 --> 00:11:38,833 SHATNER: What was the mysterious breath 203 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,250 from Mother Earth that gave the Oracle her prophetic power? 204 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:45,667 Well, in 2003, 205 00:11:45,875 --> 00:11:48,750 a team led by archaeologist Dr. John Hale 206 00:11:48,917 --> 00:11:51,250 uncovered evidence which suggests 207 00:11:51,375 --> 00:11:53,542 that the answer to this ancient riddle 208 00:11:53,708 --> 00:11:59,250 does, in fact, lie in the earth itself. 209 00:12:00,708 --> 00:12:02,292 The Temple of Apollo had been built around 210 00:12:02,458 --> 00:12:04,083 a subterranean cleft. 211 00:12:05,167 --> 00:12:09,000 We wanted to collect some rocks and see if, by any chance, 212 00:12:09,083 --> 00:12:12,000 that big geological fault that runs under the temple 213 00:12:12,167 --> 00:12:14,125 released intoxicating gases 214 00:12:14,292 --> 00:12:16,958 that the woman got into her altered state from. 215 00:12:17,125 --> 00:12:19,542 So, we took our rock samples, 216 00:12:19,708 --> 00:12:21,417 we had them analyzed in the labs, 217 00:12:21,583 --> 00:12:26,833 and they showed a cocktail of light hydrocarbon gases: 218 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,958 methane, ethane and ethylene. 219 00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:37,333 Ethylene is what puts the sweet smell in every flower, 220 00:12:37,417 --> 00:12:39,167 in the grapes you harvest, 221 00:12:39,292 --> 00:12:41,792 in living things that smell sweet, 222 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,833 and it is one of the most instantly intoxicating gases 223 00:12:44,958 --> 00:12:46,792 known to humanity. 224 00:12:46,958 --> 00:12:48,792 It's the ethylene that does it. 225 00:12:50,083 --> 00:12:51,750 The woman is seated on that tripod 226 00:12:51,917 --> 00:12:54,583 directly above the cleft. 227 00:12:54,750 --> 00:12:56,917 And as the gases come up and she inhales them, 228 00:12:57,042 --> 00:12:59,083 these sweet-smelling gases, With the first whiff, 229 00:12:59,250 --> 00:13:01,000 she would be in an altered state, 230 00:13:01,125 --> 00:13:03,917 because it could go straight through her nasal passages 231 00:13:04,083 --> 00:13:05,583 and into her brain. 232 00:13:07,042 --> 00:13:09,250 HOROWITZ: The Oracle of Delphi may have been in a state 233 00:13:09,375 --> 00:13:14,375 of intoxication that would give visions to the prophetess. 234 00:13:14,542 --> 00:13:15,833 Psychedelic substances 235 00:13:16,042 --> 00:13:19,667 bring about a-a relaxation of inhibitions, 236 00:13:19,875 --> 00:13:23,292 and there are experiments that have been done 237 00:13:23,458 --> 00:13:26,000 that have raised tantalizing questions 238 00:13:26,167 --> 00:13:28,167 about the possibility of precognition 239 00:13:28,250 --> 00:13:31,375 using what we would call narcotics today. 240 00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:34,333 SHATNER: Did inhaling gas 241 00:13:34,458 --> 00:13:36,125 that rose out of the earth 242 00:13:36,250 --> 00:13:39,833 allow the Oracle of Delphi to see the future? 243 00:13:39,917 --> 00:13:42,250 It's a fascinating possibility. 244 00:13:43,167 --> 00:13:46,542 And in fact, for thousands of years, 245 00:13:46,667 --> 00:13:50,417 priests, prophets and shamans from all over the world 246 00:13:50,583 --> 00:13:53,583 have used exotic substances 247 00:13:53,750 --> 00:13:57,083 to unlock prophetic abilities. 248 00:13:58,042 --> 00:13:59,625 One of the best-known examples 249 00:13:59,792 --> 00:14:03,000 is a curious drink called ayahuasca. 250 00:14:05,208 --> 00:14:07,125 LACY: Ayahuasca is a brewed concoction 251 00:14:07,208 --> 00:14:10,500 made amongst a number of Amazonian tribes 252 00:14:10,708 --> 00:14:13,292 and contains a number of different kinds of plants. 253 00:14:14,292 --> 00:14:17,583 Ayahuasca has been purported to elicit 254 00:14:17,750 --> 00:14:18,875 feelings of flying, 255 00:14:19,042 --> 00:14:21,667 and shamans use ayahuasca 256 00:14:21,833 --> 00:14:24,625 to have an ability to see the future, 257 00:14:24,792 --> 00:14:27,583 or to be able to make prophecy. 258 00:14:27,708 --> 00:14:31,458 Ayahuasca is often ingested in religious ceremonies 259 00:14:31,625 --> 00:14:33,583 in the Amazon basin... 260 00:14:34,833 --> 00:14:38,083 ...and used as a sacred, 261 00:14:38,250 --> 00:14:42,292 ceremonial substance, or sacrament. 262 00:14:43,292 --> 00:14:46,167 It is said to release the mind into a deeper, 263 00:14:46,250 --> 00:14:49,625 realer state of being, of vision, 264 00:14:49,833 --> 00:14:52,333 to help somebody glean information 265 00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:54,500 that they might be closed off from 266 00:14:54,667 --> 00:14:57,042 under normal circumstances, 267 00:14:57,208 --> 00:14:59,750 in an effort to foretell the future. 268 00:15:00,792 --> 00:15:03,000 SHATNER: The fact that ancient cultures around the world 269 00:15:03,125 --> 00:15:06,625 used mind-altering substances to enable prophecy 270 00:15:06,792 --> 00:15:09,083 raises a fascinating question. 271 00:15:09,958 --> 00:15:11,958 Did these concoctions 272 00:15:12,083 --> 00:15:14,792 actually help our ancestors see the future, 273 00:15:14,917 --> 00:15:17,958 as people have believed for centuries? 274 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:21,542 HALE: Anytime you're playing with intoxicants 275 00:15:21,708 --> 00:15:24,458 and your brain especially is being affected, 276 00:15:24,625 --> 00:15:27,208 you can't always be sure what's going to happen. 277 00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:33,292 Delphi shows us an example of a culture 278 00:15:33,458 --> 00:15:36,375 in which, when they say there was an external force 279 00:15:36,542 --> 00:15:39,125 coming up out of the rock that triggered the trance, 280 00:15:39,292 --> 00:15:43,167 we can back that up with the geology to show people, 281 00:15:43,333 --> 00:15:46,375 "Take these ancient accounts seriously." 282 00:15:48,375 --> 00:15:50,000 SHATNER: We'll never know if the power of the prediction 283 00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:51,833 witnessed in the Oracle of Delphi 284 00:15:52,042 --> 00:15:55,167 was merely fume-induced fantasy 285 00:15:55,333 --> 00:15:58,167 or the actual ability to see the future. 286 00:15:58,333 --> 00:16:02,042 What can we learn about the secrets of the past 287 00:16:02,208 --> 00:16:07,250 by examining the abilities of modern-day prophets? 288 00:16:15,333 --> 00:16:17,125 SHATNER: Craig Hamilton-Parker, 289 00:16:17,292 --> 00:16:18,958 an English psychic and medium, 290 00:16:19,125 --> 00:16:21,417 posts a series of prophecies on his website, 291 00:16:21,625 --> 00:16:26,167 some of them quite ominous and even oddly disturbing. 292 00:16:26,375 --> 00:16:28,500 I've been a psychic medium all my life, 293 00:16:28,667 --> 00:16:31,500 in touch with the spirit world and sometimes make predictions. 294 00:16:31,667 --> 00:16:34,000 And in, uh, 2015, 295 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:37,292 I decided to put some predictions on my website. 296 00:16:37,417 --> 00:16:40,333 I said that there'd be a massive earthquake in Japan. 297 00:16:40,542 --> 00:16:43,458 I wrote that Brexit would happen, and at the time, 298 00:16:43,625 --> 00:16:45,500 everybody was saying, "It's never gonna happen, 299 00:16:45,625 --> 00:16:47,917 everybody's going to vote to remain, there's no chance." 300 00:16:48,125 --> 00:16:51,250 I saw the terrorist attacks in Nice in my vision 301 00:16:51,417 --> 00:16:53,958 and I put those in my predictions. 302 00:16:54,125 --> 00:16:56,375 Sometimes I don't like telling the future. 303 00:16:57,417 --> 00:17:00,000 SHATNER: Within a year, the predictions Craig made 304 00:17:00,167 --> 00:17:01,833 came surprisingly 305 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,667 and, in some cases, frighteningly true. 306 00:17:06,792 --> 00:17:08,500 On April 16, 2016, 307 00:17:08,708 --> 00:17:12,833 Kumamoto, Japan was shaken by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. 308 00:17:13,042 --> 00:17:17,708 50 people were killed and more than 3,000 people injured. 309 00:17:17,875 --> 00:17:20,000 And then, on June 23rd, 310 00:17:20,208 --> 00:17:22,333 over half of Great Britain voted to approve Brexit 311 00:17:22,458 --> 00:17:24,708 and leave the European Union. 312 00:17:24,875 --> 00:17:27,000 Finally, on July 14th, 313 00:17:27,208 --> 00:17:29,167 a 19-ton truck driven by a terrorist 314 00:17:29,333 --> 00:17:32,333 plowed through a crowded market in Nice, France, 315 00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:36,208 killing 86 people and injuring over 400. 316 00:17:36,375 --> 00:17:40,000 Of course, not all of Craig's prophecies ended up happening. 317 00:17:40,167 --> 00:17:42,250 For instance, he predicted that a gas attack 318 00:17:42,417 --> 00:17:44,500 would take place in a European city, 319 00:17:44,667 --> 00:17:47,292 but there was no such attack in Europe that year. 320 00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:50,500 But the fact that he got three out of four predictions right 321 00:17:50,708 --> 00:17:53,500 led many to believe that his uncanny ability 322 00:17:53,667 --> 00:17:58,250 to see the future couldn't have been a mere fluke. 323 00:17:58,417 --> 00:18:01,042 The natural question that people have is, 324 00:18:01,250 --> 00:18:02,875 "Where does a prediction come from?" 325 00:18:03,083 --> 00:18:06,167 Where is the so-called psychic getting this information from? 326 00:18:06,333 --> 00:18:08,208 The first explanation we go to 327 00:18:08,375 --> 00:18:10,000 is that it's some sort of psychosis, 328 00:18:10,167 --> 00:18:11,417 but that doesn't really hold up 329 00:18:11,583 --> 00:18:14,167 because you can't turn crazy on and off. 330 00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:16,208 And the fact is, if you meet most of these folk-- 331 00:18:16,375 --> 00:18:18,792 and I've met plenty of them-- they're perfectly ordinary, 332 00:18:18,958 --> 00:18:20,958 everyday, functioning people. 333 00:18:21,125 --> 00:18:22,625 SHATNER: According to Craig, 334 00:18:22,792 --> 00:18:25,000 his ability to see events before they happen 335 00:18:25,167 --> 00:18:27,583 is one he was born with. 336 00:18:27,750 --> 00:18:30,667 Since childhood, he surprised his family 337 00:18:30,833 --> 00:18:33,667 with what he called "flashes of the future," 338 00:18:33,792 --> 00:18:38,583 glimpses of things that hadn't yet come to pass but often did. 339 00:18:39,583 --> 00:18:42,667 And in his early 20s, he decided to make a journey to India, 340 00:18:42,792 --> 00:18:46,625 where he studied the writings of ancient oracles 341 00:18:46,792 --> 00:18:49,167 and honed his raw talent. 342 00:18:49,292 --> 00:18:50,500 HAMILTON-PARKER: So, I became very interested 343 00:18:50,708 --> 00:18:53,167 in this idea that there's an ancient tradition 344 00:18:53,375 --> 00:18:55,375 that goes back right through time 345 00:18:55,542 --> 00:18:57,208 over many, many centuries, 346 00:18:57,375 --> 00:18:59,500 maybe back tens of thousands of years. 347 00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:02,583 For me, seeing the future is a bit like a dream experience 348 00:19:02,792 --> 00:19:05,083 in many respects. 349 00:19:05,208 --> 00:19:09,542 I use an old technique from India called trataka, 350 00:19:09,708 --> 00:19:13,042 which I look into a candle, basically. 351 00:19:13,208 --> 00:19:15,375 You go into a sort of a state of gazing 352 00:19:15,542 --> 00:19:17,417 and then move the image of that candle 353 00:19:17,583 --> 00:19:20,292 into the middle of what we call the third eye. 354 00:19:20,417 --> 00:19:21,542 And you'll see it as an afterimage 355 00:19:21,708 --> 00:19:23,042 on the back of the eye, 356 00:19:23,250 --> 00:19:25,250 where all these visions will appear. 357 00:19:25,417 --> 00:19:29,542 I see things-- things I know, things I don't know. 358 00:19:29,708 --> 00:19:32,792 It's like the universe knows better than I do. 359 00:19:32,958 --> 00:19:34,458 It gave me this information 360 00:19:34,583 --> 00:19:36,917 and it's kind of my duty to put it out there. 361 00:19:37,042 --> 00:19:41,042 SHATNER: In the fall of 2016, another of Craig's prophecies, 362 00:19:41,208 --> 00:19:43,958 this time about the U.S. presidential election, 363 00:19:44,083 --> 00:19:45,625 came to pass. 364 00:19:45,750 --> 00:19:46,917 HAMILTON-PARKER: I kept getting glimpses 365 00:19:47,083 --> 00:19:48,583 of this strange character, 366 00:19:48,750 --> 00:19:51,333 you know, and I thought, "Who on Earth is this?" 367 00:19:51,542 --> 00:19:55,000 And then, suddenly, Trump announces himself 368 00:19:55,167 --> 00:19:57,417 in the primaries, and then I knew, 369 00:19:57,542 --> 00:19:59,292 that's what I'd been seeing. 370 00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:01,000 That was this strange figure that kept coming into 371 00:20:01,167 --> 00:20:02,875 my meditations 372 00:20:03,042 --> 00:20:05,542 and interrupting, uh, my thoughts. 373 00:20:05,667 --> 00:20:09,125 Clearly, for me, Trump was gonna be president, 374 00:20:09,292 --> 00:20:11,333 even though everybody at this time was saying, 375 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:14,125 "He don't stand a chance of ever being president." 376 00:20:14,292 --> 00:20:16,792 But the unconscious seemed to know better. 377 00:20:18,167 --> 00:20:20,333 SHATNER: But how is Craig actually getting 378 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:22,375 these messages about the future? 379 00:20:22,542 --> 00:20:26,167 Are they really coming from his unconscious mind? 380 00:20:26,333 --> 00:20:29,167 Precognition is, um, the scientific term 381 00:20:29,333 --> 00:20:30,958 for things like premonitions, 382 00:20:31,083 --> 00:20:34,667 and it's getting accurate information about a future event 383 00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:36,375 that you didn't cause. 384 00:20:36,542 --> 00:20:38,750 MICHIO KAKU: We think that the brain, 385 00:20:38,917 --> 00:20:41,750 no matter how complicated and nonlinear it is, 386 00:20:41,917 --> 00:20:44,375 is still something that could be reduced down 387 00:20:44,542 --> 00:20:46,500 to the laws of physics. 388 00:20:46,625 --> 00:20:48,500 Now, that doesn't mean that the brain can't 389 00:20:48,583 --> 00:20:50,333 imagine the future. 390 00:20:50,542 --> 00:20:55,333 We are genetically hardwired to have premonitions. 391 00:20:55,458 --> 00:20:59,000 We can't stop it. It's part of our makeup. 392 00:20:59,125 --> 00:21:03,500 ANNE CLEARY: The feeling of premonition might be an example 393 00:21:03,708 --> 00:21:06,833 of how our memories orient us toward the future. 394 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:08,333 (horn blaring) 395 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:11,500 So, current thinking among memory researchers 396 00:21:11,708 --> 00:21:15,500 is that our memories are not useful to us so much 397 00:21:15,667 --> 00:21:19,083 for their ability to enable us to-to recollect the past 398 00:21:19,250 --> 00:21:21,625 as they are useful to us for enabling us 399 00:21:21,750 --> 00:21:24,000 to navigate and predict the future. 400 00:21:25,042 --> 00:21:28,042 And from that perspective, the idea that déjà vu, 401 00:21:28,208 --> 00:21:30,333 which might result from a memory process, 402 00:21:30,500 --> 00:21:34,458 might be accompanied by feelings of premonition, fits that. 403 00:21:36,875 --> 00:21:41,292 HOROWITZ: If somebody has an authentic intuitive or insightful gift, 404 00:21:41,375 --> 00:21:44,583 and I do think such things exist, 405 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:48,667 I think it's a kind of ESP in which certain individuals 406 00:21:48,875 --> 00:21:52,792 are able to glean information in anomalous ways, 407 00:21:52,958 --> 00:21:56,042 in ways that go beyond our ordinary five senses. 408 00:21:57,167 --> 00:22:01,500 NICK POPE: The Internet, TV talk shows, and the best seller lists 409 00:22:01,708 --> 00:22:04,125 are full of prophets and prognosticators 410 00:22:04,292 --> 00:22:07,583 claiming to be able to divine the future. 411 00:22:07,708 --> 00:22:09,667 And in a number of these cases, 412 00:22:09,875 --> 00:22:12,042 they really seem to be able to do it. 413 00:22:14,125 --> 00:22:17,750 SHATNER: If it's true that there are such things as real psychics, 414 00:22:17,917 --> 00:22:21,708 then where exactly does their incredible gift come from? 415 00:22:21,917 --> 00:22:24,542 And how can we better understand it? 416 00:22:24,750 --> 00:22:27,333 According to some researchers, 417 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:30,208 the explanation doesn't lie in the distant future, 418 00:22:30,375 --> 00:22:34,167 but rather the ancient past. 419 00:22:35,208 --> 00:22:38,833 RABBI ARIEL BAR TZADOK: The Bible makes it very clear that biblical prophets 420 00:22:39,042 --> 00:22:42,333 were not arbitrary individuals, men or women, 421 00:22:42,542 --> 00:22:45,458 who were just as if minding their own business, 422 00:22:45,625 --> 00:22:47,542 and then God chose them. 423 00:22:47,708 --> 00:22:49,417 It wasn't like that at all. 424 00:22:49,583 --> 00:22:52,417 It was an internal experience 425 00:22:52,583 --> 00:22:55,875 that the Bible calls a dream or a vision. 426 00:22:56,083 --> 00:23:00,833 If you do not learn how to understand dreams, 427 00:23:01,042 --> 00:23:03,583 you will never understand their message. 428 00:23:03,750 --> 00:23:08,125 It is very clearly said in the Bible 429 00:23:08,250 --> 00:23:11,708 that prophets had to go to school 430 00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:17,000 to learn how to experience and interpret 431 00:23:17,167 --> 00:23:20,833 the spiritual message which we call prophecy. 432 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,667 And the biblical teachings of prophecy 433 00:23:24,833 --> 00:23:30,458 were not limited to those of the religious world. 434 00:23:30,583 --> 00:23:34,250 Many people have been trained in these techniques, 435 00:23:34,417 --> 00:23:35,917 and we don't even realize it. 436 00:23:37,583 --> 00:23:40,625 SHATNER: Trained to see the future? 437 00:23:40,792 --> 00:23:44,500 Could such a far-fetched, but also tantalizing, notion 438 00:23:44,667 --> 00:23:47,375 actually be possible? 439 00:23:47,542 --> 00:23:49,833 I think our generation is on the precipice 440 00:23:50,042 --> 00:23:51,375 of a great question 441 00:23:51,542 --> 00:23:53,875 about the extra physical abilities of the mind. 442 00:23:54,042 --> 00:23:55,750 I don't know that we'll answer it, 443 00:23:55,917 --> 00:23:59,083 but I think it is coming more and more into focus 444 00:23:59,250 --> 00:24:01,333 that materialism just doesn't cover 445 00:24:01,458 --> 00:24:03,375 all the bases of life anymore, 446 00:24:03,583 --> 00:24:06,667 and that the mind has capacities, including 447 00:24:06,875 --> 00:24:09,708 extra physical capacities, that are measurable, 448 00:24:09,875 --> 00:24:13,000 that are present and that we're only beginning to understand. 449 00:24:14,125 --> 00:24:16,375 HAMILTON-PARKER: It's a natural part of the human condition 450 00:24:16,542 --> 00:24:18,083 to make predictions, 451 00:24:18,250 --> 00:24:21,750 and couldn't it be that maybe our predictive ability 452 00:24:21,875 --> 00:24:23,667 is far greater than we've ever imagined? 453 00:24:23,833 --> 00:24:27,250 That maybe every one of us somehow has a way 454 00:24:27,375 --> 00:24:28,708 of seeing into the fabric of time. 455 00:24:28,917 --> 00:24:32,917 We just have to trust that ability. 456 00:24:33,958 --> 00:24:36,083 SHATNER: If each of us could learn how to predict the future, 457 00:24:36,250 --> 00:24:39,833 would we accept our fate or fight to change it? 458 00:24:40,042 --> 00:24:42,833 Are people who have the power of prophecy 459 00:24:42,958 --> 00:24:44,833 chosen, like the Bible describes, 460 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,958 or is there a hidden capability 461 00:24:48,125 --> 00:24:51,875 each one of us has that simply needs to be unlocked? 462 00:24:53,417 --> 00:24:55,125 For a young man in Selma, Alabama, 463 00:24:55,292 --> 00:24:59,250 it was the ability to receive remarkable information 464 00:24:59,417 --> 00:25:04,125 while in a deep trance that would make him world-famous 465 00:25:04,292 --> 00:25:08,583 and earn him the name the Sleeping Prophet. 466 00:25:14,208 --> 00:25:17,500 SHATNER: In this small city, at 21 Broad Street, 467 00:25:17,667 --> 00:25:21,667 stands what looks like an ordinary brick building. 468 00:25:22,750 --> 00:25:25,583 But curiously, a historic marker plaque 469 00:25:25,750 --> 00:25:28,500 explains that this was once the home 470 00:25:28,667 --> 00:25:31,667 of an extraordinary man named Edgar Cayce. 471 00:25:31,833 --> 00:25:36,000 In the 1920s, people from all over the country came to Selma 472 00:25:36,208 --> 00:25:39,958 to visit Cayce and seek information about the future 473 00:25:40,167 --> 00:25:44,083 from the man known as the Sleeping Prophet. 474 00:25:45,625 --> 00:25:47,750 HOROWITZ: Edgar Cayce was a man born 475 00:25:47,917 --> 00:25:52,458 in the agricultural south in the late 1870s, 476 00:25:52,625 --> 00:25:57,625 but as he grew older, he detected in himself 477 00:25:57,750 --> 00:26:01,875 the ability to enter into a sleep-like trance state 478 00:26:02,042 --> 00:26:06,917 and be able to perform what were considered 479 00:26:07,042 --> 00:26:11,625 medically clairvoyant readings of subjects. 480 00:26:11,792 --> 00:26:13,833 He was said to have the ability 481 00:26:13,958 --> 00:26:18,917 to diagnose and prescribe cures for different bodily ailments. 482 00:26:19,875 --> 00:26:25,792 In his writings, Edgar Cayce described the process 483 00:26:25,917 --> 00:26:28,750 as accessing information. 484 00:26:30,125 --> 00:26:34,083 And he would read that information, 485 00:26:34,250 --> 00:26:35,500 speak it in trance. 486 00:26:35,708 --> 00:26:37,625 (muttering) 487 00:26:37,792 --> 00:26:41,042 Edgar believed that his abilities were a gift. 488 00:26:42,167 --> 00:26:46,250 But that it wasn't a power of his own. 489 00:26:46,417 --> 00:26:48,625 He was channeling a higher power. 490 00:26:50,083 --> 00:26:52,125 YOUNG: Cayce comes at the time when 491 00:26:52,250 --> 00:26:56,042 there was a strong interest in fortune tellings of all kind. 492 00:26:57,083 --> 00:26:59,250 For one thing, there were tea rooms, 493 00:26:59,458 --> 00:27:01,375 in which you could sell tea 494 00:27:01,542 --> 00:27:03,667 and someone could look at the tea leaves, 495 00:27:03,792 --> 00:27:06,000 usually a fortune teller. 496 00:27:06,208 --> 00:27:08,333 But on the other hand, 497 00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:11,167 Edgar Cayce is a little different. 498 00:27:11,375 --> 00:27:14,125 The level of prophecy, 499 00:27:14,292 --> 00:27:16,125 the predictions he's making are-are 500 00:27:16,292 --> 00:27:19,417 way beyond anything that happens in a gypsy tearoom. 501 00:27:21,167 --> 00:27:22,833 At first, it was just local people 502 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,750 coming for these consultations, 503 00:27:24,917 --> 00:27:27,875 but gradually over time, his fame spread, 504 00:27:28,042 --> 00:27:31,000 and Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, 505 00:27:31,208 --> 00:27:36,667 Woodrow Wilson asked his advice about what might be coming up. 506 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:41,250 Edgar Cayce had a series of readings we call 507 00:27:41,458 --> 00:27:43,750 the World Affairs Readings, 508 00:27:43,917 --> 00:27:46,833 in which he actually predicted 509 00:27:46,958 --> 00:27:50,583 the crash of the New York Stock Exchange 510 00:27:50,750 --> 00:27:53,083 in 1929. 511 00:27:54,167 --> 00:27:56,958 He also described the Asian involvement 512 00:27:57,125 --> 00:28:00,917 in the European war of World War II. 513 00:28:01,083 --> 00:28:06,000 Another fascinating aspect of Edgar Cayce's readings is that 514 00:28:06,167 --> 00:28:11,000 he foresaw and talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls 515 00:28:11,208 --> 00:28:15,000 long before they were discovered in 1947. 516 00:28:15,125 --> 00:28:17,625 He was talking about it in the '30s and '40s. 517 00:28:17,792 --> 00:28:21,583 And so, Edgar Cayce had a great deal of success 518 00:28:21,750 --> 00:28:23,000 with his psychic readings. 519 00:28:24,333 --> 00:28:25,958 SHATNER: Edgar Cayce is considered by many 520 00:28:26,125 --> 00:28:29,833 to be the best-documented prophet of the 20th century. 521 00:28:30,875 --> 00:28:32,417 Unlike most of his contemporaries, 522 00:28:32,542 --> 00:28:36,417 Cayce was widely believed to be not a showman or an entertainer, 523 00:28:36,583 --> 00:28:40,125 but rather, a genuine clairvoyant. 524 00:28:42,792 --> 00:28:44,875 But just where was this information 525 00:28:45,042 --> 00:28:47,500 he prophesied coming from? 526 00:28:48,833 --> 00:28:53,708 Cayce's method to perform acts of clairvoyance 527 00:28:53,875 --> 00:28:58,875 was to glean information from what he called the source, 528 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,208 or what he, at other times, referred to 529 00:29:01,375 --> 00:29:03,167 as the Akashic records. 530 00:29:04,875 --> 00:29:08,208 The concept of akasha extends back 531 00:29:08,417 --> 00:29:10,917 to ancient Vedic culture, 532 00:29:11,083 --> 00:29:14,833 and according to Hindu tradition, 533 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,375 it was like an ethereal hall of records, 534 00:29:18,542 --> 00:29:22,333 in which all events that ever occurred were imprinted. 535 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:25,333 And Edgar Cayce said that this was the record book 536 00:29:25,500 --> 00:29:30,333 that he was using to gain access to extrasensory information. 537 00:29:34,292 --> 00:29:38,208 SHATNER: Was Edgar Cayce somehow able to tap into a universal source 538 00:29:38,417 --> 00:29:42,500 of knowledge that existed outside of his own mind? 539 00:29:42,708 --> 00:29:45,125 For now, the answer is unclear, 540 00:29:45,250 --> 00:29:50,000 but people continue to read Edgar Cayce's predictions 541 00:29:50,208 --> 00:29:53,500 in hopes of uncovering more prophecies 542 00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:55,750 that actually came true. 543 00:29:55,917 --> 00:29:57,833 Edgar Cayce's readings first started 544 00:29:58,042 --> 00:30:02,792 being recorded systematically in 1923, 545 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:09,625 and there are 14,308 surviving readings, 546 00:30:09,833 --> 00:30:12,583 and there are thousands of readings 547 00:30:12,792 --> 00:30:15,917 that have never been fully explored. 548 00:30:16,083 --> 00:30:19,000 There's a vast amount that could be studied 549 00:30:19,208 --> 00:30:22,542 that might have information about the future. 550 00:30:22,708 --> 00:30:26,000 And it's fascinating to theorize about. 551 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,333 SHATNER: Does the answer to prophetic visions 552 00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:31,958 lie in the subconscious? 553 00:30:32,125 --> 00:30:36,042 In that elusive state between wakefulness and sleep? 554 00:30:36,208 --> 00:30:38,500 After all, the fact that we dream 555 00:30:38,667 --> 00:30:42,000 is evidence that our minds never truly shut off. 556 00:30:43,333 --> 00:30:45,500 But what if this ability to see the future 557 00:30:45,667 --> 00:30:46,875 could be put to the test 558 00:30:47,042 --> 00:30:50,833 by an institution set up to rigorously study 559 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,417 this phenomenon? 560 00:30:52,625 --> 00:30:56,417 It just so happens that such a place exists, 561 00:30:56,625 --> 00:31:02,000 and it's called the British Premonitions Bureau. 562 00:31:12,583 --> 00:31:16,333 SHATNER: News organizations broadcast a series of horrific images 563 00:31:16,500 --> 00:31:19,542 that stun viewers across the country. 564 00:31:20,875 --> 00:31:24,333 A tidal wave of mud and shale has swallowed 565 00:31:24,458 --> 00:31:30,250 the small coal mining town of Aberfan in its entirety. 566 00:31:31,375 --> 00:31:34,458 Of the 144 people killed by the landslide, 567 00:31:34,625 --> 00:31:37,708 116 are schoolchildren. 568 00:31:37,875 --> 00:31:40,292 And for this tight-knit community-- 569 00:31:40,458 --> 00:31:44,000 many of whom have lived in Aberfan for generations-- 570 00:31:44,125 --> 00:31:47,167 the loss is devastating. 571 00:31:47,375 --> 00:31:51,042 POPE: One of the first people to respond to the disaster 572 00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:54,083 is psychiatrist John Barker. 573 00:31:55,375 --> 00:32:00,417 Initially, he arrives to offer consultation to the survivors. 574 00:32:01,458 --> 00:32:03,875 VIVANCO: So, when he gets there, he's interviewing parents 575 00:32:04,042 --> 00:32:05,667 that had lost children. 576 00:32:05,875 --> 00:32:10,500 He was really surprised to hear that there were premonitions 577 00:32:10,708 --> 00:32:12,167 before it happened. 578 00:32:12,333 --> 00:32:15,000 One boy drew a picture of people 579 00:32:15,208 --> 00:32:17,167 amassed on the hillside, digging into it. 580 00:32:17,333 --> 00:32:19,083 And he wrote underneath, "the end." 581 00:32:21,042 --> 00:32:23,750 Also, there was a young girl who told her mom 582 00:32:23,917 --> 00:32:28,167 about a dream where she said there was this black mass 583 00:32:28,375 --> 00:32:30,375 over the school, and she couldn't get in. 584 00:32:31,583 --> 00:32:35,375 Both of these children later went to school and died. 585 00:32:37,625 --> 00:32:41,375 POPE: Barker begins to wonder whether these premonitions could be 586 00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:44,667 used as a sort of early warning system 587 00:32:44,833 --> 00:32:48,375 that might prevent future disasters. 588 00:32:48,542 --> 00:32:52,500 So, he asked Peter Fairley, who ran the science desk 589 00:32:52,708 --> 00:32:56,625 at the national newspaper, the London Evening Standard, 590 00:32:56,833 --> 00:32:58,708 to consider setting up a program 591 00:32:58,875 --> 00:33:01,458 to collate people's premonitions. 592 00:33:03,083 --> 00:33:05,208 Fairley not only agreed, 593 00:33:05,375 --> 00:33:10,458 but he set up an entire bureau to act as a focal point. 594 00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:16,542 Starting in January 1967, the bureau commences operations. 595 00:33:16,667 --> 00:33:20,250 Reports come in, and the bureau staff, 596 00:33:20,417 --> 00:33:24,542 they devise an 11-point system looking for patterns. 597 00:33:32,417 --> 00:33:35,125 SHATNER: The British Premonitions Bureau, 598 00:33:35,292 --> 00:33:38,958 as it would come to be called, collected 469 predictions 599 00:33:39,125 --> 00:33:41,417 in its first year. 600 00:33:41,625 --> 00:33:45,583 Unsurprisingly, many never came true. 601 00:33:46,542 --> 00:33:50,125 But those submitted by two individuals-- 602 00:33:50,292 --> 00:33:52,792 Alan Hencher and Lorna Middleton-- 603 00:33:52,917 --> 00:33:54,417 stood out from the crowd. 604 00:33:54,542 --> 00:33:57,583 POPE: Alan Hencher and Lorna Middleton 605 00:33:57,750 --> 00:34:01,167 made headlines in March 1967, 606 00:34:01,333 --> 00:34:05,125 when they both predicted a train accident 607 00:34:05,292 --> 00:34:10,833 just days before a passenger car derailed, killing 49 people. 608 00:34:11,042 --> 00:34:15,500 Hencher also had a premonition about a fatal plane crash, 609 00:34:15,708 --> 00:34:18,917 predicting the number of people who would die. 610 00:34:19,083 --> 00:34:22,208 That kind of accuracy is staggering. 611 00:34:23,500 --> 00:34:25,333 SHATNER: For John Barker, the notion that Hencher 612 00:34:25,542 --> 00:34:28,500 and Middleton's predictions might allow him to warn people 613 00:34:28,667 --> 00:34:33,083 of disasters ahead of time was an exciting one. 614 00:34:33,250 --> 00:34:34,667 For the next year, he sent hundreds 615 00:34:34,792 --> 00:34:37,500 of what he believed to be credible predictions 616 00:34:37,667 --> 00:34:40,500 to the editors of the London Evening Standard. 617 00:34:42,250 --> 00:34:45,292 But, in the summer of 1968, 618 00:34:45,458 --> 00:34:49,167 there was one deadly premonition that he chose to ignore. 619 00:34:49,375 --> 00:34:53,208 One that was shared by both Hencher and Middleton, 620 00:34:53,375 --> 00:34:56,333 and it involved John Barker himself. 621 00:34:56,500 --> 00:35:00,250 Around 1:00 in the morning, Hencher calls Barker. 622 00:35:01,417 --> 00:35:04,792 He's in a panic. He's got a-a terrible premonition. 623 00:35:04,958 --> 00:35:07,167 He says, "Do you have a dark car?" 624 00:35:07,375 --> 00:35:10,125 Barker says, "Yes," and he tells Barker, 625 00:35:10,292 --> 00:35:13,542 "You have to be careful. Be very, very careful." 626 00:35:14,833 --> 00:35:18,667 Then Barker asked him, "What, am I in danger?" 627 00:35:18,833 --> 00:35:20,667 Hencher says, "Yes." 628 00:35:21,917 --> 00:35:25,500 POPE: Barker wrote a memo the next day explaining 629 00:35:25,708 --> 00:35:29,167 that Hencher could only explain that the dark car 630 00:35:29,375 --> 00:35:31,792 was somehow connected to Barker 631 00:35:31,958 --> 00:35:34,125 and a potentially deadly outcome. 632 00:35:34,292 --> 00:35:36,583 It all seemed pretty vague and perhaps 633 00:35:36,750 --> 00:35:39,250 that wouldn't have worried Barker so much 634 00:35:39,375 --> 00:35:42,333 were it not for the fact that there was another warning 635 00:35:42,542 --> 00:35:46,167 from his other superstar, Lorna Middleton. 636 00:35:48,292 --> 00:35:50,208 SHATNER: On August 18, 1968, 637 00:35:50,375 --> 00:35:52,458 less than two years after he had opened 638 00:35:52,625 --> 00:35:55,542 his Bureau of Premonitions, 639 00:35:55,708 --> 00:35:58,833 John Barker was suddenly rushed to the hospital. 640 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:03,417 POPE: Barker died of a sudden brain hemorrhage, age 44. 641 00:36:03,583 --> 00:36:08,208 The British Premonitions Bureau closed down shortly thereafter. 642 00:36:09,375 --> 00:36:11,250 SHATNER: As for the dark car? 643 00:36:11,375 --> 00:36:14,333 There are many who are convinced that the answer is simple, 644 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:18,750 it was the funeral hearse that conveyed John Barker's body 645 00:36:18,958 --> 00:36:21,167 to its final resting place. 646 00:36:21,333 --> 00:36:23,250 It raises the question, 647 00:36:23,417 --> 00:36:26,792 was Barker's own death just a coincidence? 648 00:36:26,917 --> 00:36:29,167 Was it self-fulfilling prophecy 649 00:36:29,333 --> 00:36:31,667 or like the rest of the bureau's predictions, 650 00:36:31,875 --> 00:36:35,625 was fate simply too powerful to be stopped? 651 00:36:42,917 --> 00:36:46,417 SHATNER: In the heart of the city stands the Louvre, 652 00:36:46,583 --> 00:36:49,375 one of the most renowned museums in the world. 653 00:36:50,333 --> 00:36:52,000 Of the hundreds of thousands of artworks 654 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:55,167 contained in its prestigious galleries, 655 00:36:55,333 --> 00:36:58,500 the biggest attraction is the Mona Lisa, 656 00:36:58,667 --> 00:37:02,833 which draws roughly ten million visitors every year. 657 00:37:03,042 --> 00:37:05,792 The Mona Lisa is one of the many important paintings 658 00:37:05,917 --> 00:37:08,625 created by celebrated Renaissance artist 659 00:37:08,833 --> 00:37:11,667 Leonardo da Vinci. 660 00:37:11,833 --> 00:37:15,292 But curiously, da Vinci was much more than just a painter, 661 00:37:15,417 --> 00:37:19,708 he was also a pioneer who envisioned 662 00:37:19,875 --> 00:37:23,000 futuristic technologies. 663 00:37:23,167 --> 00:37:27,167 Leonardo da Vinci is widely regarded as the quintessential 664 00:37:27,292 --> 00:37:29,792 Renaissance man because he did it all. 665 00:37:30,792 --> 00:37:35,500 He was an artist, he was a gifted engineer, 666 00:37:35,667 --> 00:37:39,458 and he was also a great craftsman. 667 00:37:39,542 --> 00:37:42,000 So, he had a wide array of skills 668 00:37:42,167 --> 00:37:44,708 combined with a brilliant mind. 669 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:48,333 When we think of da Vinci, we often think about 670 00:37:48,417 --> 00:37:52,375 his sketches of amazing machines, 671 00:37:52,542 --> 00:37:55,792 and he compiled this vast collection of sketches 672 00:37:55,958 --> 00:37:57,792 in his notebooks. 673 00:37:57,917 --> 00:38:03,500 He was designing fortifications, port facilities, 674 00:38:03,625 --> 00:38:09,417 canals, catapults, and tanks. 675 00:38:09,583 --> 00:38:12,667 These sketches would be completely at home 676 00:38:12,792 --> 00:38:15,042 in the notebook of an engineering student today. 677 00:38:16,292 --> 00:38:20,708 STEPHEN BULL: Leonardo certainly had an amazing imagination, 678 00:38:20,875 --> 00:38:23,625 but one has to say that Leonardo's ideas 679 00:38:23,792 --> 00:38:26,917 were too advanced for his time, 680 00:38:27,083 --> 00:38:30,500 in the sense that he was stymied by the lack 681 00:38:30,708 --> 00:38:33,833 of the right materials in the period. 682 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,833 However, the fact that very few of the things Leonardo depicted 683 00:38:38,042 --> 00:38:42,500 actually were done shouldn't really blind us to his genius. 684 00:38:43,875 --> 00:38:46,333 SHATNER: While most of da Vinci's concepts were too advanced 685 00:38:46,542 --> 00:38:49,083 to be built in the 15th century, 686 00:38:49,208 --> 00:38:50,833 incredibly, 687 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,167 some traces of his actual achievements can be seen today. 688 00:38:54,375 --> 00:38:58,208 In Milan, a canal system designed by da Vinci 689 00:38:58,375 --> 00:39:00,000 has been preserved 690 00:39:00,208 --> 00:39:03,417 and a military stronghold he constructed in Switzerland 691 00:39:03,542 --> 00:39:05,250 still stands. 692 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,167 But of all the futuristic machines 693 00:39:10,333 --> 00:39:13,083 envisioned by Leonardo da Vinci, 694 00:39:13,208 --> 00:39:18,375 his most famous designs were in pursuit of his dream of flight. 695 00:39:18,542 --> 00:39:21,500 For decades, modern historians have wondered 696 00:39:21,708 --> 00:39:24,458 did da Vinci actually discover the secret 697 00:39:24,667 --> 00:39:26,458 to soaring through the sky, 698 00:39:26,667 --> 00:39:29,125 centuries before the invention of the airplane? 699 00:39:30,083 --> 00:39:32,000 Leonardo's understanding of flight was certainly 700 00:39:32,167 --> 00:39:33,958 a lot deeper than many of his contemporaries. 701 00:39:34,125 --> 00:39:38,833 He was one of the first people to study actual bird motion 702 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,667 to try to figure out how birds flew under their own power. 703 00:39:42,833 --> 00:39:47,333 If you look at Leonardo's flying machines, the first machines 704 00:39:47,458 --> 00:39:49,042 that he envisions in his notebooks 705 00:39:49,208 --> 00:39:51,708 are in fact ornithopter designs, very much like birds 706 00:39:51,875 --> 00:39:55,958 where they flap their wings to generate the lift for flying. 707 00:39:56,125 --> 00:39:58,333 And then he progressed on to designs which were 708 00:39:58,458 --> 00:40:00,208 much more like gliders. 709 00:40:03,042 --> 00:40:05,083 MICHAEL DENNIN: One of the really fascinating things 710 00:40:05,250 --> 00:40:08,167 about da Vinci's efforts is he was very creative in thinking 711 00:40:08,333 --> 00:40:10,792 about how humans might spin things or turn things. 712 00:40:10,958 --> 00:40:14,792 One of the designs he had was an aerial screw. 713 00:40:14,917 --> 00:40:18,750 And it's a particular structure like a propeller 714 00:40:18,917 --> 00:40:20,917 to provide lift and have something fly. 715 00:40:22,375 --> 00:40:25,250 SHATNER: Leonardo da Vinci's principle of a single screw 716 00:40:25,375 --> 00:40:27,542 turning a propeller to create lift 717 00:40:27,708 --> 00:40:29,708 is strikingly similar to the mechanics 718 00:40:29,917 --> 00:40:31,833 behind the modern helicopter. 719 00:40:32,042 --> 00:40:34,583 And over the years, engineers have been inspired 720 00:40:34,750 --> 00:40:36,667 to bring da Vinci's visionary designs 721 00:40:36,833 --> 00:40:40,250 to life through real-world experimentation. 722 00:40:41,875 --> 00:40:43,917 MATTHEW LANDRUS: In 1976, 723 00:40:44,042 --> 00:40:47,167 the Gossamer Condor was flown, 724 00:40:47,292 --> 00:40:49,375 and it was the first human-powered flying machine 725 00:40:49,583 --> 00:40:51,667 with one person operating 726 00:40:51,792 --> 00:40:54,125 this propeller-driven glider, essentially. 727 00:40:54,292 --> 00:40:59,708 It was the first attempt at what Leonardo was trying to make. 728 00:41:01,583 --> 00:41:03,000 ADLER: A crew at the University of Maryland 729 00:41:03,208 --> 00:41:06,583 used Leonardo's design for the aerial screw. 730 00:41:08,042 --> 00:41:10,500 The quadcopter design worked, 731 00:41:10,667 --> 00:41:12,292 the air screws actually did provide enough lift 732 00:41:12,458 --> 00:41:14,000 to lift the quadcopter up. 733 00:41:14,167 --> 00:41:17,333 And so, there is some promise for a design like that. 734 00:41:17,542 --> 00:41:21,000 So, Leonardo, even today, does inspire people in their designs. 735 00:41:21,167 --> 00:41:24,750 Was Leonardo da Vinci simply a genius 736 00:41:24,917 --> 00:41:26,333 who was ahead of his time? 737 00:41:26,542 --> 00:41:27,833 Or were his inventions the result 738 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,500 of an ability to see the future? 739 00:41:30,708 --> 00:41:33,708 Whatever the case may be, there's no question 740 00:41:33,875 --> 00:41:37,667 that the unique capability to perceive what is yet to come 741 00:41:37,833 --> 00:41:40,167 has influenced the world as we know it 742 00:41:40,292 --> 00:41:42,000 for thousands of years. 743 00:41:42,167 --> 00:41:44,667 Whether it's called clairvoyance, mysticism, 744 00:41:44,833 --> 00:41:47,833 or prophecy, perhaps one day 745 00:41:48,042 --> 00:41:51,458 we will all be able to access our psychic potential 746 00:41:51,542 --> 00:41:55,458 and practice the power of prediction. 747 00:41:55,583 --> 00:41:58,167 But for now, what the future holds 748 00:41:58,375 --> 00:42:01,375 remains... unexplained. 749 00:42:01,542 --> 00:42:03,750 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A E NETWORKS