1 00:00:10,619 --> 00:00:12,012 [Zachary Quinto] It's an age-old question. 2 00:00:12,055 --> 00:00:13,056 [Zachary Quinto] It's an age-old question. 3 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:14,492 Are we alone in the universe? 4 00:00:15,972 --> 00:00:18,844 Some people believe aliens were here long ago, 5 00:00:18,888 --> 00:00:22,805 and others say there could be countless advanced civilizations 6 00:00:22,848 --> 00:00:25,329 just beyond our own solar system. 7 00:00:25,373 --> 00:00:28,158 Then there are people, like mechanic Kyle Bond, 8 00:00:28,202 --> 00:00:31,857 who believe aliens are making contact with humans today. 9 00:00:31,901 --> 00:00:33,990 I was six when I saw my first UFO. 10 00:00:37,776 --> 00:00:39,517 One night I was laying down on my bed, 11 00:00:39,561 --> 00:00:41,563 and light started coming in the window. 12 00:00:41,606 --> 00:00:43,826 I heard a buzzing noise. Bzzz. 13 00:00:43,869 --> 00:00:46,959 I was too afraid to open my eyes, and I knew it was them. 14 00:00:47,003 --> 00:00:49,745 It was like every other week, I was being taken out. 15 00:00:49,788 --> 00:00:51,921 It's always when I'm least expecting it. 16 00:00:54,750 --> 00:00:56,752 Now I can't get them out of my mind. 17 00:00:56,795 --> 00:00:57,840 I think about them constantly. 18 00:00:59,929 --> 00:01:01,670 They come to me at night, 19 00:01:01,713 --> 00:01:05,326 and they take me. 20 00:01:05,369 --> 00:01:08,155 [Quinto] If stories like Kyle's are true, 21 00:01:08,198 --> 00:01:11,810 might it be possible to finally find evidence of alien life? 22 00:01:11,854 --> 00:01:13,595 My search begins now. 23 00:01:13,638 --> 00:01:16,989 My Name is Zachary Quinto. 24 00:01:17,033 --> 00:01:20,471 As an actor, I've played many supernatural characters 25 00:01:20,515 --> 00:01:23,735 that blurred the line between science and fiction. 26 00:01:23,779 --> 00:01:28,175 I'm drawn to the unknown, the otherworldly, 27 00:01:28,218 --> 00:01:31,482 and those experiences so beyond belief, 28 00:01:31,526 --> 00:01:34,572 they call everything into question. 29 00:01:34,616 --> 00:01:37,793 I'm exploring some of the most enduring mysteries 30 00:01:37,836 --> 00:01:40,404 that continue to haunt mankind in search of the truth... 31 00:01:41,666 --> 00:01:43,233 wherever it leads me. 32 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,594 Throughout history, mankind has always been fascinated 33 00:01:56,638 --> 00:01:59,989 by the possibility of discovering alien life. 34 00:02:00,032 --> 00:02:03,427 More recently, the 20th century gave us technology 35 00:02:03,471 --> 00:02:06,256 that allowed for real-life space exploration. 36 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:10,739 I believe that this nation should commit itself to landing a man on the moon. 37 00:02:10,782 --> 00:02:14,786 At the same time, our imaginations ran wild in movies, 38 00:02:14,830 --> 00:02:16,832 television-- [man] Hurry back to base. 39 00:02:16,875 --> 00:02:20,096 [Quinto] ...and on Earth.My mother and I have both had 40 00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:23,795 close encounters of the fourth kind, also known as "abduction experiences." 41 00:02:23,839 --> 00:02:26,537 BeyondClose Encounters andE.T., 42 00:02:26,581 --> 00:02:30,454 stories of Roswell and UFO sightings mixed in our minds 43 00:02:30,498 --> 00:02:32,587 with scientific breakthroughs like the Space Shuttle-- 44 00:02:32,630 --> 00:02:35,938 [man] ...two, one. We have a liftoff! 45 00:02:35,981 --> 00:02:39,855 [Quinto] ...the Moon landing-- [Neil Armstrong] ...one giant leap for mankind. 46 00:02:39,898 --> 00:02:42,814 [Quinto] ...and exploration of Mars. 47 00:02:42,858 --> 00:02:46,949 And while the US Government has denied investigating aliens in the past, 48 00:02:46,992 --> 00:02:48,777 a 2017 bombshell report revealed 49 00:02:48,820 --> 00:02:51,997 it was running a secret UFO program 50 00:02:52,041 --> 00:02:54,739 investigating alien threats for years. 51 00:02:54,783 --> 00:02:57,089 [man on radio] 52 00:02:57,133 --> 00:03:00,049 [Quinto] In addition to the government's admission 53 00:03:00,092 --> 00:03:02,834 that it's investigating aliens and spending millions to do so, 54 00:03:02,878 --> 00:03:06,142 there have been thousands of individual reports 55 00:03:06,186 --> 00:03:08,797 of abductions and sightings in the last 70 years. 56 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,930 With all of this evidence mounting, 57 00:03:11,974 --> 00:03:14,672 it's possible we may be at a tipping point 58 00:03:14,716 --> 00:03:16,674 for finding out if aliens are really out there. 59 00:03:25,857 --> 00:03:29,948 [man] All right. Follow me. Watch your step. 60 00:03:29,992 --> 00:03:32,212 [Quinto] To start my search, I wanna find out exactly 61 00:03:32,255 --> 00:03:35,127 what it's like for someone claiming to have an encounter, 62 00:03:35,171 --> 00:03:36,955 so I'm meeting with one of the thousands of Americans 63 00:03:36,999 --> 00:03:41,525 who have come forward with a vivid alien abduction story. 64 00:03:41,569 --> 00:03:44,615 So walk me through a little bit-- your first encounter. 65 00:03:44,659 --> 00:03:46,008 I was six years old.Six. 66 00:03:46,051 --> 00:03:48,097 Mm-hmm. And that's weird, 67 00:03:48,140 --> 00:03:50,708 because I don't really remember anything when I was six years old. 68 00:03:50,752 --> 00:03:52,884 But I do remember the UFO. 69 00:03:52,928 --> 00:03:55,409 [Quinto] Thirty-eight-year-old mechanic Kyle Bond 70 00:03:55,452 --> 00:03:56,975 has seen signs pointing to alien life 71 00:03:57,019 --> 00:04:00,849 that he says are beyond any earthly explanation. 72 00:04:00,892 --> 00:04:03,504 I was with my brother and my mother. 73 00:04:03,547 --> 00:04:05,767 There was lights that started coming in the window. 74 00:04:05,810 --> 00:04:09,292 So my mom went up and opened up the window, 75 00:04:09,336 --> 00:04:13,427 and there was a UFO in our yard, and it was tilted, and it was hovering, 76 00:04:13,470 --> 00:04:16,995 and it had lights all the way around it. 77 00:04:17,039 --> 00:04:19,607 And then it just took off. Didn't make no noise or anything. 78 00:04:19,650 --> 00:04:21,304 Just took off. 79 00:04:21,348 --> 00:04:24,264 So, then, what happened three years ago? 80 00:04:24,307 --> 00:04:25,787 Well, I went out on my balcony. 81 00:04:25,830 --> 00:04:29,007 Off in the distance, I seen a strobing light. 82 00:04:29,051 --> 00:04:30,226 Just kept getting closer and closer, 83 00:04:30,270 --> 00:04:32,184 and when it was about half a block away, 84 00:04:32,228 --> 00:04:33,490 I noticed that it wasn't making no noise. 85 00:04:37,233 --> 00:04:40,584 I went in my place, and I heard this loud buzzing noise, like, zzzzz. 86 00:04:40,628 --> 00:04:42,717 And I could feel a vibration. 87 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:44,284 And, for some reason, I knew it was them. 88 00:04:46,677 --> 00:04:49,419 So I stood up, and I was gonna run towards the door, 89 00:04:49,463 --> 00:04:52,292 and my legs folded in, and I fell to the ground. 90 00:04:52,335 --> 00:04:54,250 I blacked out, woke up the next morning, 91 00:04:54,294 --> 00:04:57,079 and I had puncture marks all over me. 92 00:04:57,122 --> 00:04:59,864 Were they actually cuts? Yeah. Yeah. 93 00:04:59,908 --> 00:05:04,521 I have three marks right here.Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. I see that. 94 00:05:04,565 --> 00:05:08,525 It didn't stop there. I just kept getting taken, like, every other week. 95 00:05:08,569 --> 00:05:12,834 It's real hard to go through, so I just started making pictures. 96 00:05:12,877 --> 00:05:15,010 It's kind of like a therapy for me 97 00:05:15,053 --> 00:05:17,055 to, you know, get my mind off of them, 98 00:05:17,099 --> 00:05:21,756 'cause I'm always thinking of ET, constantly. 99 00:05:21,799 --> 00:05:25,281 [Quinto] Kyle's story seems incredible, but it does match with details 100 00:05:25,325 --> 00:05:28,371 from countless other alien abduction reports. 101 00:05:28,415 --> 00:05:31,026 Like the feeling of levitation seeing a powerful bright light, 102 00:05:31,069 --> 00:05:35,770 and being left with physical marks and wounds. 103 00:05:35,813 --> 00:05:38,990 Do you feel like they are studying you? Is that what you-- 104 00:05:39,034 --> 00:05:41,079 It's almost like being an animal, 105 00:05:41,123 --> 00:05:43,430 and someone tags you or checks you out. 106 00:05:43,473 --> 00:05:46,563 I think the hardest part's not being taken by ET. 107 00:05:46,607 --> 00:05:48,913 I think the hardest part's being alone, knowing that they exist. 108 00:05:48,957 --> 00:05:53,962 What do you think would help people believe you? 109 00:05:54,005 --> 00:05:58,140 Maybe I could take a polygraph test. 110 00:05:58,183 --> 00:06:00,055 That's something that you're interested in. Okay.Yes. 111 00:06:00,098 --> 00:06:02,405 I want people to know that I'm not lying, 112 00:06:02,449 --> 00:06:06,670 and other people that's being taken by ET know that they're not alone. 113 00:06:08,629 --> 00:06:10,674 [Quinto] I do believe that Kyle 114 00:06:10,718 --> 00:06:13,590 is incredibly genuine about what he's going through, 115 00:06:13,634 --> 00:06:17,899 but it doesn't leave me with an overwhelming sense of proof. 116 00:06:17,942 --> 00:06:20,597 I'm skeptical. 117 00:06:20,641 --> 00:06:23,861 But I don't want to dismiss anything that Kyle's saying 118 00:06:23,905 --> 00:06:26,255 or anything that anybody's saying yet. 119 00:06:26,298 --> 00:06:28,213 I think astronomers-- everybody-- 120 00:06:28,257 --> 00:06:33,001 I think even NASA are gonna find something. They're gonna capture something. 121 00:06:33,044 --> 00:06:36,526 They don't have to go looking. They're already here. 122 00:06:36,570 --> 00:06:39,094 [Quinto] Kyle is hardly alone in his belief 123 00:06:39,137 --> 00:06:41,618 that aliens have visited us before. 124 00:06:41,662 --> 00:06:42,924 The government program Project Blue Book 125 00:06:42,967 --> 00:06:46,928 recorded 12,618 UFO sightings 126 00:06:46,971 --> 00:06:50,105 from 1948 until 1969, 127 00:06:50,148 --> 00:06:54,588 at which time it mysteriously shut down. 128 00:06:54,631 --> 00:06:58,330 In the past decade, several US military personnel came forward 129 00:06:58,374 --> 00:07:01,464 with their own stories of encounters with alien spacecraft. 130 00:07:01,508 --> 00:07:03,031 [chatter on radio] 131 00:07:03,074 --> 00:07:04,902 [man on radio] 132 00:07:08,036 --> 00:07:10,038 [Quinto] Even today, UFO sightings 133 00:07:10,081 --> 00:07:12,344 continue to be reported around the world. 134 00:07:12,388 --> 00:07:14,912 Is there something to these claims? 135 00:07:14,956 --> 00:07:19,047 And if so, is the government covering up the truth? 136 00:07:19,090 --> 00:07:21,615 Former Navy contractor Marc D'antonio says 137 00:07:21,658 --> 00:07:25,357 the government comes across unexplainable objects all the time-- 138 00:07:25,401 --> 00:07:28,186 in the air and in the sea. 139 00:07:28,230 --> 00:07:30,928 And once incident haunts him to this day. 140 00:07:30,972 --> 00:07:34,671 One day, I was sitting in the sonar suite, 141 00:07:34,715 --> 00:07:38,501 and this kid next to me, he yelled that he had something on the sonar. 142 00:07:38,545 --> 00:07:41,243 Something-- He called it a "fast mover." 143 00:07:41,286 --> 00:07:43,593 Now, to me, a fast mover means a torpedo. 144 00:07:43,637 --> 00:07:45,290 But it turned out to be something very different. 145 00:07:47,205 --> 00:07:49,686 Executive officers said to him, "How fast is it moving?" 146 00:07:49,730 --> 00:07:53,298 "Several hundred knots, sir." 147 00:07:53,342 --> 00:07:56,998 And I'm like, "What?" You know? I was just stunned. 148 00:07:57,041 --> 00:08:00,741 There's no biological objects that move several hundred knots underwater. 149 00:08:00,784 --> 00:08:04,222 No country on this planet makes anything like this. 150 00:08:04,266 --> 00:08:07,791 And the XO said, "Log it and dog it." 151 00:08:07,835 --> 00:08:11,403 Basically, log it and then bury it. 152 00:08:11,447 --> 00:08:14,276 There are very fast-moving objects that we don't know about. 153 00:08:14,319 --> 00:08:17,932 We don't know whose technology it is. We don't know where they come from. 154 00:08:17,975 --> 00:08:21,065 Several years later, I had to do a job for 155 00:08:21,109 --> 00:08:24,852 a very, very high-ranking naval official down in Washington. 156 00:08:24,895 --> 00:08:26,636 And I took him aside, and I said to him, 157 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,334 "What can you tell me about this Fast Mover Program?" 158 00:08:29,378 --> 00:08:30,858 He looked at me, and he could've said, 159 00:08:34,209 --> 00:08:36,211 "What program? But he didn't. He said, 160 00:08:36,254 --> 00:08:39,344 "I'm not at liberty to talk about that program. I'm sorry." 161 00:08:39,388 --> 00:08:43,479 You know, by saying nothing, he said everything. 162 00:08:43,523 --> 00:08:45,829 [Quinto] Since Project Blue Book, 163 00:08:45,873 --> 00:08:48,049 the government's official position has been 164 00:08:48,092 --> 00:08:50,878 that they are not actively researching aliens. 165 00:08:50,921 --> 00:08:55,186 But in 2017, leaked classified documents and video 166 00:08:55,230 --> 00:08:58,799 revealed the existence of a 22 million-dollar government program 167 00:08:58,842 --> 00:09:00,931 investigating UFO threats 168 00:09:00,975 --> 00:09:04,413 that has been running in secret for over a decade. 169 00:09:04,456 --> 00:09:07,242 From my background, and what happened on the boat, 170 00:09:07,285 --> 00:09:09,592 I'm thinking that it's probably a case 171 00:09:09,636 --> 00:09:12,552 where the US Government knows more than it's telling. 172 00:09:12,595 --> 00:09:15,946 It makes me wonder and really think, 173 00:09:15,990 --> 00:09:20,603 "Is it possible aliens are here?" 174 00:09:20,647 --> 00:09:22,997 [Quinto] The fact that the government is no longer denying 175 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,260 its research into the existence of aliens, 176 00:09:25,303 --> 00:09:28,480 it makes me wonder about Kyle's abduction story, 177 00:09:28,524 --> 00:09:31,135 and if it can be proven. 178 00:09:31,179 --> 00:09:34,095 Kyle asked to take a polygraph test to prove 179 00:09:34,138 --> 00:09:36,445 that he is telling the truth about his alien encounters. 180 00:09:36,488 --> 00:09:40,492 And while the results of polygraph tests are often debated, 181 00:09:40,536 --> 00:09:43,800 and can even produce false positives if the subject is anxious, 182 00:09:43,844 --> 00:09:46,542 I arranged for him to have the chance. 183 00:09:46,586 --> 00:09:49,066 Polygraph expert Rachel Levy has administered 184 00:09:49,110 --> 00:09:52,504 over 2,500 tests in her career. 185 00:09:52,548 --> 00:09:55,986 Kyle, the four measurements that this instrument will be taking 186 00:09:56,030 --> 00:09:58,685 is your upper and your lower respiratory, 187 00:09:58,728 --> 00:10:01,339 your blood pressure, 188 00:10:01,383 --> 00:10:05,169 and then the most important, which is your electrodermal activity, 189 00:10:05,213 --> 00:10:06,780 which is the sweat at your fingertips. 190 00:10:06,823 --> 00:10:09,130 Relax your arm, please.Okay. 191 00:10:12,263 --> 00:10:15,658 I can feel my heart beating. 192 00:10:15,702 --> 00:10:18,269 Kind of stressful for me, and I'm not even getting tested. 193 00:10:21,708 --> 00:10:23,448 All right, Kyle. We're now gonna begin the test. 194 00:10:24,798 --> 00:10:26,234 Is your name Kyle? 195 00:10:26,277 --> 00:10:27,975 Yes. 196 00:10:28,018 --> 00:10:29,672 Is today Monday? 197 00:10:29,716 --> 00:10:31,282 No. 198 00:10:31,326 --> 00:10:34,068 Did you see a UFO outside of your home as a child? 199 00:10:47,211 --> 00:10:49,910 [Zachary Quinto] To prove he is telling the truth about his alien encounters, 200 00:10:49,953 --> 00:10:52,782 Kyle has asked to take a polygraph test. 201 00:10:52,826 --> 00:10:55,480 Will it finally confirm the accuracy of his story? 202 00:10:57,091 --> 00:10:59,397 Is your name Kyle?Yes. 203 00:10:59,441 --> 00:11:00,485 Is today Monday? 204 00:11:00,529 --> 00:11:01,661 No. 205 00:11:01,704 --> 00:11:04,881 Is this the month of July?No. 206 00:11:04,925 --> 00:11:09,843 Did you see a UFO outside of your home as a child? 207 00:11:09,886 --> 00:11:12,541 Yes. 208 00:11:12,584 --> 00:11:14,499 Over the course of the last three years, 209 00:11:14,543 --> 00:11:15,805 have you been visited by extraterrestrials? 210 00:11:15,849 --> 00:11:17,807 Yes. 211 00:11:17,851 --> 00:11:21,550 Have you ever been abducted by extraterrestrials? 212 00:11:22,507 --> 00:11:25,249 Yes. 213 00:11:25,293 --> 00:11:27,687 Are you being truthful regarding the origin 214 00:11:27,730 --> 00:11:29,689 of the marks on your body?Yes. 215 00:11:29,732 --> 00:11:33,170 Okay, Kyle. This test is over. 216 00:11:35,477 --> 00:11:39,002 So, Rachel, what did you come up with? 217 00:11:39,046 --> 00:11:43,746 It is my expert opinion that, um... 218 00:11:43,790 --> 00:11:45,748 he is not being truthful-- 219 00:11:45,792 --> 00:11:47,663 [Quinto] Really?...in regards to his-- 220 00:11:47,707 --> 00:11:50,927 I'm just shocked... [mumbles] 221 00:11:50,971 --> 00:11:52,799 Because I'm totally being truthful. 222 00:11:52,842 --> 00:11:55,758 Can you tell which questions I failed? 223 00:11:55,802 --> 00:12:00,067 I'm specifically talking about the things that you've discussed regarding extraterrestrials. 224 00:12:00,110 --> 00:12:02,069 I'm not questioning your experiences. 225 00:12:02,112 --> 00:12:04,462 I wasn't there, so I don't know what you've experienced. 226 00:12:05,812 --> 00:12:08,771 I can't believe it. I'm sorry, guys. 227 00:12:08,815 --> 00:12:11,600 I feel like I wasted your time.No, no, no. It's all right, Kyle. 228 00:12:11,643 --> 00:12:14,951 Go have a moment to decompress. 229 00:12:17,519 --> 00:12:20,652 I honestly feel like-- 230 00:12:20,696 --> 00:12:22,785 I didn't-- I didn't expect it to go that way. 231 00:12:22,829 --> 00:12:24,918 I didn't expect it to--Oh, I didn't either. 232 00:12:24,961 --> 00:12:28,835 Yeah.'Cause I was being a hundred percent truthful. 233 00:12:28,878 --> 00:12:33,143 I don't want you to feel like anybody was here to try to-- 234 00:12:33,187 --> 00:12:36,059 Oh, I don't. I don't. You guys are just out looking for the truth. 235 00:12:36,103 --> 00:12:39,193 I'm not gonna stop here, because I am telling the truth. 236 00:12:39,236 --> 00:12:41,195 [Quinto] I feel conflicted now, 237 00:12:41,238 --> 00:12:44,285 and I don't have enough to go on to say whether or not 238 00:12:44,328 --> 00:12:46,287 Kyle just got caught in an elaborate 239 00:12:46,330 --> 00:12:50,160 and seemingly uncharacteristic lie, 240 00:12:50,204 --> 00:12:53,598 or he was really nervous, and that was picked up. 241 00:12:53,642 --> 00:12:57,515 And I guess it is a difficult thing to believe, 242 00:12:57,559 --> 00:12:59,953 but he makes me wanna believe it somehow. 243 00:12:59,996 --> 00:13:05,175 Kyle is not alone in thinking there are other life-forms out there. 244 00:13:05,219 --> 00:13:08,657 In addition to government programs, there are also ongoing efforts 245 00:13:08,700 --> 00:13:11,399 by the world's leading independent scientists 246 00:13:11,442 --> 00:13:14,141 to find intelligent life in space. 247 00:13:14,184 --> 00:13:18,058 In 1984, a group of these scientists formed SETI-- 248 00:13:18,101 --> 00:13:21,757 the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 249 00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:24,107 SETI is a multimillion-dollar operation 250 00:13:24,151 --> 00:13:27,850 scouring the skies in hopes of finding alien life. 251 00:13:27,894 --> 00:13:31,811 To learn more, I'm heading to a remote part of West Virginia 252 00:13:31,854 --> 00:13:35,989 where SETI is utilizing the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. 253 00:13:36,032 --> 00:13:38,295 The telescope records 254 00:13:38,339 --> 00:13:40,515 all radio signals from outer space, 255 00:13:40,558 --> 00:13:42,430 looking for technology that could come 256 00:13:42,473 --> 00:13:44,519 from another intelligent civilization 257 00:13:44,562 --> 00:13:48,610 and offer definitive proof that aliens exist. 258 00:13:52,353 --> 00:13:54,572 [man] This is command central of the Green Bank telescope. 259 00:13:58,533 --> 00:14:00,970 The telescope is taller than a lot of things you wouldn't expect it to be taller than. 260 00:14:01,014 --> 00:14:05,583 Yeah, taller than the Statue of Liberty, taller than the Washington Monument. 261 00:14:09,761 --> 00:14:13,330 All right. So tell me a little bit about this particular effort. 262 00:14:13,374 --> 00:14:14,941 Ultimately, we're trying to answer a very human question-- 263 00:14:14,984 --> 00:14:17,813 "Is there anybody else out there?" 264 00:14:17,857 --> 00:14:20,294 And, really, for the first time in history, 265 00:14:20,337 --> 00:14:23,123 not only do we know that it's possible for there to be life out there, 266 00:14:23,166 --> 00:14:26,213 we have the capacity to search for it.Wow. 267 00:14:26,256 --> 00:14:28,955 So, shall we go take a look at how we use this thing?All right. Let's do it. 268 00:14:28,998 --> 00:14:30,913 Mike, Zach. How are you? 269 00:14:30,957 --> 00:14:32,132 Zach, good to meet you. Appreciate it.Nice to meet you too. 270 00:14:32,175 --> 00:14:34,830 Thank you for having us.Glad you're here. 271 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,053 [Quinto] So, what's "GBT" stand for? 272 00:14:40,096 --> 00:14:41,924 [Mike] Well, it's the Green Bank Telescope. 273 00:14:41,968 --> 00:14:46,059 It's fondly referred to as the "Great Big Thing." 274 00:14:52,804 --> 00:14:56,286 Wow.Incredible. 275 00:14:56,330 --> 00:14:59,811 I mean, to just be standing beneath it is unbelievable. 276 00:15:03,815 --> 00:15:05,643 [Mike] It's a pretty massive structure. 277 00:15:05,687 --> 00:15:08,995 The reflector-- the mirror for the radio waves-- 278 00:15:09,038 --> 00:15:12,041 That reflector is 2.3 acres in size. 279 00:15:12,085 --> 00:15:17,264 A football stadium would fit inside of that. 280 00:15:17,307 --> 00:15:20,093 So how do you get to the top, Mike?Well, see that little white box? 281 00:15:20,136 --> 00:15:20,876 Yeah.That's actually a manlift. 282 00:15:23,966 --> 00:15:26,621 Not a big elevator.Right. 283 00:15:28,275 --> 00:15:29,667 [thud] 284 00:15:38,502 --> 00:15:40,461 Whoo! 285 00:15:40,504 --> 00:15:42,680 It's a little disorienting. 286 00:15:48,860 --> 00:15:53,735 It's crazy. 287 00:15:53,778 --> 00:15:57,086 It's pretty massive when you're able to get some scale to it. 288 00:15:57,130 --> 00:15:59,828 [Quinto] This is the receiver, essentially, right? 289 00:15:59,871 --> 00:16:02,657 Yeah, this is the mirror of the radio telescope. 290 00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:07,314 What does a radio telescope allow you to gather that an optical telescope doesn't? 291 00:16:07,357 --> 00:16:09,969 [Dr. Siemion] Radio waves can get through 292 00:16:10,012 --> 00:16:12,493 the space between the stars very, very readily. 293 00:16:12,536 --> 00:16:14,234 That signal could be emitted and would cut right through 294 00:16:14,277 --> 00:16:17,672 all the stuff between the stars and arrive here at the telescope. 295 00:16:17,715 --> 00:16:19,021 So at a hundred meters in diamete 296 00:16:19,065 --> 00:16:22,111 this telescope could detect technology 297 00:16:22,155 --> 00:16:24,070 if it existed around another star, on another planet, 298 00:16:24,113 --> 00:16:26,637 all the way across the galaxy. 299 00:16:26,681 --> 00:16:28,813 [Quinto] And so you're looking for 300 00:16:28,857 --> 00:16:33,035 a tiny blip of communication over the range of a trillion stars. 301 00:16:33,079 --> 00:16:35,342 Yeah, that's right.Basically, we're in the movie Contact. 302 00:16:35,385 --> 00:16:36,734 Yeah, that's exactly right.Pretty much, right? 303 00:16:36,778 --> 00:16:39,694 This is like Contact times a thousand, or like-- 304 00:16:39,737 --> 00:16:42,305 It's a needle in a haystack. Absolutely.Right. Right. 305 00:16:42,349 --> 00:16:45,743 I don't think anybody's necessarily expecting long-fingered, big-eyed, 306 00:16:45,787 --> 00:16:48,181 translucent-skinned creatures to come walking down the street, 307 00:16:48,224 --> 00:16:51,401 but what are your thoughts about what's out there? 308 00:16:51,445 --> 00:16:53,664 I wouldn't do this if I weren't an optimist.Right. 309 00:16:53,708 --> 00:16:54,970 So I think that they are out there. 310 00:16:55,014 --> 00:17:00,715 The universe is so vast, so unbelievably big. 311 00:17:00,758 --> 00:17:04,588 For us to be the only intelligent civilization 312 00:17:04,632 --> 00:17:07,026 in that entire vastness would-- 313 00:17:07,069 --> 00:17:10,246 to me, is a statistic improbability. 314 00:17:10,290 --> 00:17:14,511 I absolutely believe that there's intelligent life out there. 315 00:17:14,555 --> 00:17:17,906 [Quinto] The magnitude of what this telescope can do is staggering, 316 00:17:17,949 --> 00:17:20,300 and it holds the potential to find real evidence 317 00:17:20,343 --> 00:17:22,258 of the existence of aliens. 318 00:17:22,302 --> 00:17:24,826 [Quinto] So, are we firing the telescope up? 319 00:17:24,869 --> 00:17:26,915 [Dr. Siemion] We are. We're going to see if we can make a discovery. 320 00:17:26,958 --> 00:17:28,264 Amazing. 321 00:17:32,616 --> 00:17:36,446 [Zachary Quinto] I'm on a mission to find evidence of aliens. 322 00:17:36,490 --> 00:17:39,319 So far, I've met with Kyle Bond who, 323 00:17:39,362 --> 00:17:41,582 despite failing a polygraph test, 324 00:17:41,625 --> 00:17:45,064 maintains he's been abducted by aliens for years. 325 00:17:45,107 --> 00:17:48,806 And Kyle is not alone in his belief that there is life out there. 326 00:17:48,850 --> 00:17:52,245 The scientists running the Green Bank Telescope here in West Virginia 327 00:17:52,288 --> 00:17:54,595 are using the largest radio telescope in the world 328 00:17:54,638 --> 00:17:58,816 to search the skies for signs of intelligent life in space. 329 00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:02,081 [Dr. Siemion] If we were to make a detection, it would be the most important 330 00:18:02,124 --> 00:18:04,866 scientific discovery in the history of science. 331 00:18:04,909 --> 00:18:06,781 Mm-hmm. And how close do you think you've come? 332 00:18:06,824 --> 00:18:12,221 So, about three years ago, a very mysterious radio source was detected 333 00:18:12,265 --> 00:18:15,137 called FRB 121102. 334 00:18:15,181 --> 00:18:19,141 FRB stands for "fast radio burst." 335 00:18:19,185 --> 00:18:22,449 A very, very bright burst of radiation 336 00:18:22,492 --> 00:18:26,148 that lasts only a few milliseconds, and it only happens once. 337 00:18:26,192 --> 00:18:28,933 Well, that was the story until FRB 121102 338 00:18:28,977 --> 00:18:30,674 was observed to repeat. 339 00:18:33,068 --> 00:18:35,288 It was the first, and still the only, 340 00:18:35,331 --> 00:18:37,116 repeating fast radio burst. 341 00:18:37,159 --> 00:18:39,770 It's actually from a little, tiny galaxy 342 00:18:39,814 --> 00:18:43,034 about three billion light years away from us. 343 00:18:43,078 --> 00:18:45,298 Three billion light years away. 344 00:18:45,341 --> 00:18:47,604 [Dr. Siemion] If you calculate how much energy 345 00:18:47,648 --> 00:18:49,606 must be released by the source-- 346 00:18:49,650 --> 00:18:50,694 if it's emitting in all directions, 347 00:18:50,738 --> 00:18:53,349 and we're just eavesdropping on it-- 348 00:18:53,393 --> 00:18:55,438 it's as much energy as the sun emits 349 00:18:55,482 --> 00:18:58,180 in an entire year in less than a millisecond. 350 00:19:00,574 --> 00:19:02,402 And you can listen to it if you want to. 351 00:19:02,445 --> 00:19:04,273 Uh, yeah. 352 00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:08,103 [repetitive bursts of indistinct sound] 353 00:19:13,630 --> 00:19:16,198 [sound continues] 354 00:19:16,242 --> 00:19:19,070 No one knows what causes any of that. 355 00:19:19,114 --> 00:19:20,898 It's a complete mystery. 356 00:19:20,942 --> 00:19:22,552 What could it be? Like, what-- 357 00:19:22,596 --> 00:19:25,425 It could be... natural?Yeah. 358 00:19:25,468 --> 00:19:27,166 Well, maybe it's a neutron star. 359 00:19:27,209 --> 00:19:30,343 And these sources are known to produce radio bursts. 360 00:19:30,386 --> 00:19:32,562 But nothing like this. 361 00:19:32,606 --> 00:19:36,566 Another explanation is that maybe this is not natural, 362 00:19:36,610 --> 00:19:39,830 but is instead some kind of an artificial transmitter. 363 00:19:39,874 --> 00:19:42,703 Perhaps there is a very advanced civilization 364 00:19:42,746 --> 00:19:45,009 that is producing these radio pulses 365 00:19:45,053 --> 00:19:49,449 for the purposes of propelling spacecraft into intergalactic space 366 00:19:49,492 --> 00:19:51,451 at very, very high velocities. 367 00:19:51,494 --> 00:19:54,584 I can't wrap my mind around it fully, if I'm being honest. 368 00:19:54,628 --> 00:19:57,805 My mind is literally melting today. 369 00:19:57,848 --> 00:20:00,634 There are many questions about this source, 370 00:20:00,677 --> 00:20:02,897 but one of the key outstanding questions is, 371 00:20:02,940 --> 00:20:05,639 is does it produce pulses at higher radio frequencies? 372 00:20:05,682 --> 00:20:07,380 How high do they go?Uh-huh. 373 00:20:07,423 --> 00:20:10,644 If we can learn how high in radio frequency they go, 374 00:20:10,687 --> 00:20:14,343 that might help us to understand what, ultimately, is causing the pulses in the first place. 375 00:20:15,997 --> 00:20:19,130 So, tonight, what we're going to do, is we're gonna try 376 00:20:19,174 --> 00:20:21,829 to look at this source at even higher radio frequencies. 377 00:20:21,872 --> 00:20:23,961 This is a brand-new part of the radio spectrum. 378 00:20:24,005 --> 00:20:26,312 We've never observed it here before. 379 00:20:26,355 --> 00:20:27,791 Once everything is set up and this source rises, 380 00:20:27,835 --> 00:20:31,142 we're gonna see if we can make a discovery.Amazing. 381 00:20:31,186 --> 00:20:35,451 We are looking in the far reaches of our galaxy and beyond 382 00:20:35,495 --> 00:20:38,715 to see if we're able to make some kind of contact 383 00:20:38,759 --> 00:20:43,372 with life-forms outside of our own planet, solar system, galaxy. 384 00:20:43,416 --> 00:20:44,417 Who knows? 385 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:46,070 We may actually be able 386 00:20:46,114 --> 00:20:47,855 to find new evidence. 387 00:20:48,682 --> 00:20:52,512 [chatter on speaker device] 388 00:20:54,035 --> 00:20:55,732 So, Dave, do you wanna go ahead and run auto peak focus? 389 00:20:55,776 --> 00:20:58,518 Uh, sure.Where are those guys? 390 00:20:58,561 --> 00:21:00,868 That's our lab in Berkeley.Hi, guys. 391 00:21:00,911 --> 00:21:03,479 Are we ready to launch? Good to go. 392 00:21:03,523 --> 00:21:07,266 [Dr. Siemion] The telescope is ready to begin the data collection. 393 00:21:07,309 --> 00:21:09,616 Would you like to launch these observations?Let me launch them. 394 00:21:09,659 --> 00:21:12,183 All right.So I just click? 395 00:21:12,227 --> 00:21:14,098 Just drag and click the "submit" button. 396 00:21:14,142 --> 00:21:15,491 [clicks] 397 00:21:15,535 --> 00:21:15,578 Done. 398 00:21:18,581 --> 00:21:21,323 [trilling] 399 00:21:21,367 --> 00:21:25,109 After they scan all possible signals coming from that source, 400 00:21:25,153 --> 00:21:27,373 it will take some time before we know for sure 401 00:21:27,416 --> 00:21:29,549 what the higher frequency search discovers. 402 00:21:32,552 --> 00:21:34,641 While SETI is still on a quest 403 00:21:34,684 --> 00:21:37,339 for proof of intelligent life beyond our solar system, 404 00:21:37,383 --> 00:21:40,124 some people believe the proof is already here. 405 00:21:40,168 --> 00:21:42,736 Kyle Bond was left with cuts from his encounter. 406 00:21:45,869 --> 00:21:48,698 But others were left with even more tangible evidence. 407 00:21:48,742 --> 00:21:50,831 I'm Zach.Hi. I'm Steve. 408 00:21:50,874 --> 00:21:53,224 How are you doing?Nice to meet you. 409 00:21:53,268 --> 00:21:55,139 Fifty-seven-year-old Steven Colbern 410 00:21:55,183 --> 00:21:57,577 has vivid memories of being abducted. 411 00:21:57,620 --> 00:22:00,362 You can tell sometimes if you've had an experience. 412 00:22:00,406 --> 00:22:03,104 Sometimes you have fondest memories, sometimes you don't. 413 00:22:03,147 --> 00:22:06,412 [Quinto] But it's not just the details of his story that I'm interested in. 414 00:22:06,455 --> 00:22:07,804 It's what was left behind. 415 00:22:07,848 --> 00:22:10,720 It was the night of February 28, 2008. 416 00:22:10,764 --> 00:22:14,245 Went to bed, and when I woke up, 417 00:22:14,289 --> 00:22:16,204 there was a little bit of blood on the sheets, 418 00:22:16,247 --> 00:22:19,338 and I had a stinging pain in my left second toe. 419 00:22:19,381 --> 00:22:22,384 And I checked it and found two puncture wounds, 420 00:22:22,428 --> 00:22:25,344 as if a needle had been passed through the underside of the toe. 421 00:22:25,387 --> 00:22:28,695 I found two bright green fluorescent spots 422 00:22:28,738 --> 00:22:30,740 at the same sites as the puncture wounds. 423 00:22:30,784 --> 00:22:32,655 Ordered an X-ray of the toe. 424 00:22:32,699 --> 00:22:34,657 I knew I was gonna see something on the X-ray, 425 00:22:34,701 --> 00:22:36,703 but when I did, that changed my life forever. 426 00:22:36,746 --> 00:22:39,706 Found an implant. 427 00:22:39,749 --> 00:22:42,665 The implant itself was about a millimeter in diameter 428 00:22:42,709 --> 00:22:44,537 and about four millimeters long. 429 00:22:44,580 --> 00:22:46,190 [Quinto] As shocking as his story may seem, 430 00:22:46,234 --> 00:22:49,324 Steven is part of a growing number of Americans 431 00:22:49,368 --> 00:22:52,762 who have discovered mysterious implants in their bodies. 432 00:22:52,806 --> 00:22:54,764 And today, Steven has brought the evidence with him. 433 00:22:54,808 --> 00:22:58,420 Here's a chunk of the sample in a vial. 434 00:22:58,464 --> 00:22:59,987 I actually had it removed and analyzed. 435 00:23:00,030 --> 00:23:04,078 Huh. Wow.I did most of the analysis myself. 436 00:23:04,121 --> 00:23:06,428 You have a background in science?Yeah. I'm a chemist. 437 00:23:06,472 --> 00:23:08,865 Wow. So what else did you discover about the implant itself? 438 00:23:08,909 --> 00:23:12,173 I did a pretty thorough protocol of analysis on it 439 00:23:12,216 --> 00:23:14,349 with light microscopy, 440 00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:18,440 scanning electron microscopy, and trace element analysis. 441 00:23:18,484 --> 00:23:22,009 The trace elements indicated that it was a meteoric iron. 442 00:23:22,052 --> 00:23:24,968 There's a lot of cobalt and copper, and gallium, germanium. 443 00:23:25,012 --> 00:23:27,623 That's characteristic of meteorites. 444 00:23:27,667 --> 00:23:30,626 So it's not iron that you would find 445 00:23:30,670 --> 00:23:32,367 naturally occurring on our planet. No, no. 446 00:23:32,411 --> 00:23:34,848 It might not even be from this solar system. 447 00:23:34,891 --> 00:23:38,155 So what do you feel like they're after? 448 00:23:38,199 --> 00:23:41,985 I think it was a device that was put in to do physiological monitoring. 449 00:23:42,029 --> 00:23:47,426 The shiny coating-- presumably, that contains chemicals 450 00:23:47,469 --> 00:23:49,863 that allow the nerve cells to grow into the device. 451 00:23:49,906 --> 00:23:53,997 So, ultimately, the goal is to have this device fused 452 00:23:54,041 --> 00:23:55,956 in some way with your body.Yeah, and it's fused with the nervous system, 453 00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:59,350 so it can gather information somehow. 454 00:23:59,394 --> 00:24:01,875 There were a lot of strange structures-- bone or wire-looking things. 455 00:24:01,918 --> 00:24:06,314 Might have something to do with transmitting radio waves. 456 00:24:06,357 --> 00:24:09,491 And is there more proof like this out there?Yeah, I think there is. 457 00:24:09,535 --> 00:24:11,014 It's easy to be in denial up until something like this happens, 458 00:24:11,058 --> 00:24:13,495 with physical evidence. 459 00:24:13,539 --> 00:24:15,671 Would you be willing to let our team 460 00:24:15,715 --> 00:24:17,760 analyze this forensically 461 00:24:17,804 --> 00:24:20,110 and get a better sense of where it came from? 462 00:24:20,154 --> 00:24:23,070 Yeah. I think that it would potentially confirm that this is extraterrestrial. 463 00:24:23,113 --> 00:24:27,509 Steve is a scientist, so the idea that I'm talking to an experiencer 464 00:24:27,553 --> 00:24:31,513 who's also a scientist is a really interesting combination. 465 00:24:31,557 --> 00:24:34,516 And he has this material 466 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:36,257 that, from his scientific perspective, 467 00:24:36,300 --> 00:24:39,739 contain elements that don't occur readily on Earth. 468 00:24:39,782 --> 00:24:42,045 It's weird, 'cause I never really thought that I'd be like, 469 00:24:42,089 --> 00:24:44,178 "Maybe there's aliens here," you know? 470 00:24:44,221 --> 00:24:46,136 [chuckling] But I'm like, "Maybe there's aliens here." 471 00:24:46,180 --> 00:24:51,272 To hold something in your hand that is a physical piece of evidence 472 00:24:51,315 --> 00:24:52,926 that's tied to all of this is remarkable. 473 00:24:52,969 --> 00:24:54,884 Let's get this tested and see what it is. 474 00:25:01,587 --> 00:25:04,633 [Zachary Quinto] As I continue on my search, 475 00:25:04,677 --> 00:25:08,594 all of these unrelated alien encounters become even more intriguing. 476 00:25:08,637 --> 00:25:12,511 But I'm still looking for tangible proof that aliens exist. 477 00:25:12,554 --> 00:25:15,905 Like the implant from Steven Colbern. 478 00:25:15,949 --> 00:25:19,822 Is there a way to know for sure it didn't come from Earth? 479 00:25:19,866 --> 00:25:21,868 Hi, Dr. Kumar. How are you? 480 00:25:21,911 --> 00:25:24,218 I'm setting up an independent laboratory test 481 00:25:24,261 --> 00:25:26,916 to verify the origins of the mysterious object 482 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,005 Steven dislodged from his toe. 483 00:25:29,049 --> 00:25:31,399 Would you be able to identify alien materials 484 00:25:31,442 --> 00:25:34,533 if they're not known to this Earth? 485 00:25:38,754 --> 00:25:39,712 Uh-huh. 486 00:25:48,111 --> 00:25:52,420 Have you ever tested something that you couldn't identify or trace to the periodic table? 487 00:25:58,426 --> 00:26:00,471 Yeah. Okay. That's good to know. 488 00:26:00,515 --> 00:26:03,083 Well, the man's name is Steven Colbern, 489 00:26:03,126 --> 00:26:06,826 and I'm gonna send him to you for an analysis. 490 00:26:06,869 --> 00:26:11,526 If Dr. Kumar finds that the materials in the implant are not from Earth, 491 00:26:11,570 --> 00:26:16,400 then it will be a lot harder to explain how that object ended up in Steven's body. 492 00:26:16,444 --> 00:26:20,448 [Steven] It's a very complex nanodevice that came out of my toe in 2008, 493 00:26:20,491 --> 00:26:24,104 and I hope that we can find some more unexpected things today. 494 00:26:24,147 --> 00:26:26,628 Hi, Steve. Arun Kumar.How are you? 495 00:26:26,672 --> 00:26:28,195 Thanks for coming in.Yeah. 496 00:26:28,238 --> 00:26:29,544 So you have brought a sample for analysis? 497 00:26:29,588 --> 00:26:31,851 Yeah. It should be an interesting sample. 498 00:26:35,724 --> 00:26:39,336 [Dr. Kumar] Initially, we look at the samples in the optical microscope, 499 00:26:39,380 --> 00:26:42,513 under magnification, to look at the color, shape, size. 500 00:26:42,557 --> 00:26:43,384 We should examine that structure pretty closely. 501 00:26:43,427 --> 00:26:46,866 Zoom in. 502 00:26:46,909 --> 00:26:49,520 And then we go to the electron microscope. 503 00:26:49,564 --> 00:26:55,135 Sample goes on a stage, and then we turn the electron beam on. 504 00:26:57,528 --> 00:27:01,663 She can magnify it up to 30, 40, 50 thousand times. 505 00:27:01,707 --> 00:27:04,710 [Steve] What does that look like to you? You ever seen anything like that before? 506 00:27:04,753 --> 00:27:08,888 At the moment, I can't tell, because we need to do the chemistry on that. 507 00:27:08,931 --> 00:27:12,152 As a scientist, I'm always curious to know material composition 508 00:27:12,195 --> 00:27:14,589 and the source where it may have come from, 509 00:27:14,633 --> 00:27:17,723 no matter what the source might be. 510 00:27:23,467 --> 00:27:27,428 From the analysis we have done today, 511 00:27:27,471 --> 00:27:30,257 it shows that the base material is iron, 512 00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:31,954 containing some nickel in it.Right. 513 00:27:31,998 --> 00:27:35,218 Which is the alloy steel. 514 00:27:35,262 --> 00:27:38,091 [Steve] The trace element pattern indicated that it was 515 00:27:38,134 --> 00:27:39,701 a nickel-iron meteorite. 516 00:27:39,745 --> 00:27:42,225 Meteorite do contain iron and nickel. 517 00:27:42,269 --> 00:27:43,487 Yeah.That is correct. 518 00:27:43,531 --> 00:27:46,534 There's a big variety of materials there. 519 00:27:46,577 --> 00:27:50,407 On the surface, it has small trace amounts of 520 00:27:50,451 --> 00:27:55,674 calcium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, and sulfur. 521 00:27:55,717 --> 00:27:59,416 But most of the material that we see here is found in soils. 522 00:27:59,460 --> 00:28:02,724 A lot of soil contains these kind of oxides, 523 00:28:02,768 --> 00:28:06,510 which most probably is from surface contamination of that material. 524 00:28:06,554 --> 00:28:09,383 [Steven] This was never exposed to soil though. 525 00:28:09,426 --> 00:28:13,343 It came directly out of my body and was put in blood plasma, 526 00:28:13,387 --> 00:28:15,998 and then was put directly into these containers. 527 00:28:16,042 --> 00:28:19,175 What I'm showing is elements which are typical in soil. 528 00:28:19,219 --> 00:28:21,308 Yeah, it's typical in soil. That's true. 529 00:28:21,351 --> 00:28:25,051 Other than that, I don't see any unusual element 530 00:28:25,094 --> 00:28:26,487 that we haven't identified on the surface. 531 00:28:36,149 --> 00:28:37,759 [Steven] The results of the analysis were completely unexpected. 532 00:28:37,803 --> 00:28:41,502 I disagree that the material was contamination. 533 00:28:41,545 --> 00:28:45,375 I took the pieces directly out of my body, 534 00:28:45,419 --> 00:28:48,639 put them on a piece of gauze, then put them directly from there into a vial. 535 00:28:48,683 --> 00:28:53,557 And it was giving off fairly powerful radio signals before removal. 536 00:28:53,601 --> 00:28:56,082 There's just no way it could be giving off radio signals 537 00:28:56,125 --> 00:28:58,301 unless it was a lot more sophisticated than just a piece of metal. 538 00:29:05,831 --> 00:29:10,139 Well, no. I mean, it's highly unlikely I stepped on a meteorite. 539 00:29:10,183 --> 00:29:11,793 That's pretty difficult to explain. We need more data. 540 00:29:11,837 --> 00:29:15,362 I'd like to get, like, a hundred of these objects 541 00:29:15,405 --> 00:29:18,278 and prove to the world that they are devices, 542 00:29:18,321 --> 00:29:20,410 and that this phenomenon is real. 543 00:29:20,454 --> 00:29:23,544 [Quinto] Despite inconclusive results, 544 00:29:23,587 --> 00:29:25,720 why do Steven and other experiencers like Kyle 545 00:29:25,764 --> 00:29:29,158 remain convinced that their alien encounters are real? 546 00:29:29,202 --> 00:29:32,640 There has to be something so visceral about these experiences 547 00:29:32,683 --> 00:29:39,516 that they cannot be denied. 548 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,867 [Zachary Quinto] Meeting with alien experiencers and scientists alike, 549 00:29:41,910 --> 00:29:46,001 I'm on a search for evidence that aliens really exist. 550 00:29:47,873 --> 00:29:51,659 If they are out there, how do we find them? 551 00:29:51,702 --> 00:29:54,009 Doug. How are you?Hey, Zach. 552 00:29:54,053 --> 00:29:58,231 While many are waiting to receive a signal from life beyond Earth, 553 00:29:58,274 --> 00:30:01,234 Doug Vakoch, and his organization, METI, 554 00:30:01,277 --> 00:30:02,801 have a very different strategy. 555 00:30:02,844 --> 00:30:05,716 What if the aliens are not assuming 556 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,370 that they're the ones who have to take contact?Right. 557 00:30:07,414 --> 00:30:10,417 What if their motivation is to say, "We wanna hear"?Right. 558 00:30:10,460 --> 00:30:12,462 [Vakoch] So we're shifting the direction 559 00:30:12,506 --> 00:30:16,249 and sending powerful intentional radio signals to other stars. 560 00:30:16,292 --> 00:30:18,251 The hope is we get a reply back. 561 00:30:18,294 --> 00:30:20,819 So, Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 562 00:30:20,862 --> 00:30:24,039 How do you go about identifying where to put the signal? 563 00:30:24,083 --> 00:30:28,870 So the first transmission we sent was to a star 12.4 light years from Earth. 564 00:30:28,914 --> 00:30:30,698 It's called Luyten's Star. 565 00:30:30,741 --> 00:30:34,006 It was the closest star that we could target 566 00:30:34,049 --> 00:30:37,313 that has potentially habitable exoplanets. 567 00:30:37,357 --> 00:30:39,272 When did that signal go out? 568 00:30:39,315 --> 00:30:41,143 It went out in October, 2017. 569 00:30:41,187 --> 00:30:43,929 It's 12.4 light years from here. 570 00:30:43,972 --> 00:30:47,323 That means it'll take over 12 years for our message to get there. 571 00:30:47,367 --> 00:30:51,197 And if they want to reply, we won't hear from them till 2043. 572 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,982 Right. Okay. So, how did you tell them that? 573 00:30:54,026 --> 00:30:56,898 So, we wanted to make an all-purpose message, 574 00:30:56,942 --> 00:30:59,770 so no matter how the alien encounters the world, 575 00:30:59,814 --> 00:31:01,729 they'll be able to make sense of it. 576 00:31:01,772 --> 00:31:03,165 [Quinto] Using radio signals, 577 00:31:03,209 --> 00:31:05,733 METI has sent a message into space 578 00:31:05,776 --> 00:31:08,040 to convey information about counting and telling time. 579 00:31:08,083 --> 00:31:13,045 What we're telling the aliens, by sending signals, 580 00:31:13,088 --> 00:31:15,612 is that not only are we interested in number, 581 00:31:15,656 --> 00:31:17,614 but we're interested in creating something beautiful. 582 00:31:17,658 --> 00:31:20,487 So we are turning the radio transmitter 583 00:31:20,530 --> 00:31:23,359 to communicate melodies.Huh. 584 00:31:23,403 --> 00:31:28,060 So this is one of the scales that we're sending to Luyten's Star. 585 00:31:28,103 --> 00:31:33,065 ♪♪ [plays five notes] 586 00:31:35,110 --> 00:31:38,897 ♪♪ [repeats five notes] 587 00:31:38,940 --> 00:31:42,074 You imagine what communication 588 00:31:42,117 --> 00:31:43,336 with an alien race might sound like, 589 00:31:43,379 --> 00:31:45,033 and that's a melody that seems to fit with it. 590 00:31:45,077 --> 00:31:48,950 There's an alien quality to it, you know?And, interestingly, 591 00:31:48,994 --> 00:31:51,953 it reflects the melody of our earliest music here on Earth. 592 00:31:51,997 --> 00:31:53,912 So maybe without all of the trappings and all of the elaborations, 593 00:31:53,955 --> 00:31:57,916 but music at its essence. 594 00:31:57,959 --> 00:32:02,529 Doug has the context of how we will be able to communicate with extraterrestrials. 595 00:32:02,572 --> 00:32:05,445 That's what we need, because that's a foundation that can be built upon 596 00:32:05,488 --> 00:32:11,103 until we have some concrete tangible and sharable proof. 597 00:32:11,146 --> 00:32:13,714 So you're sending this signal out. 598 00:32:13,757 --> 00:32:15,542 Is there any controversy around this work? 599 00:32:15,585 --> 00:32:18,849 I mean, I heard rumblings of people who feel like, 600 00:32:18,893 --> 00:32:21,243 you know, you're kind of poking the beast. 601 00:32:21,287 --> 00:32:24,333 We don't know what the extraterrestrials are like. 602 00:32:24,377 --> 00:32:28,859 And some people are afraid that this could lead to an alien invasion. 603 00:32:28,903 --> 00:32:30,600 Other people think it's going to be a salvation. 604 00:32:30,644 --> 00:32:33,081 We're finally going to get solutions to all of our problems. 605 00:32:33,125 --> 00:32:36,128 I don't expect either of those.Mm-hmm. 606 00:32:36,171 --> 00:32:41,350 My hope is that if we can really encounter an alien intelligence, 607 00:32:41,394 --> 00:32:45,702 there's probably going to be something unthinkable that we discover. 608 00:32:45,746 --> 00:32:48,009 [Quinto] Who knows what Doug might find 609 00:32:48,053 --> 00:32:50,490 in his quest to contact alien life, 610 00:32:50,533 --> 00:32:52,405 or what message may come back. 611 00:32:52,448 --> 00:32:56,235 Still, I can't help but wonder about the worst-case scenario. 612 00:32:56,278 --> 00:32:59,151 And many of the brightest minds of our time, 613 00:32:59,194 --> 00:33:03,764 including Stephen Hawking, have expressed serious concern 614 00:33:03,807 --> 00:33:07,072 about the risks of making first contact. 615 00:33:07,115 --> 00:33:10,118 METI is Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence. 616 00:33:10,162 --> 00:33:14,296 And many of us involved in SETI are quite angry about this, 617 00:33:14,340 --> 00:33:16,907 because there might be dangers. 618 00:33:16,951 --> 00:33:19,780 If you look at the history of first contacts 619 00:33:19,823 --> 00:33:21,042 between human civilizations, 620 00:33:21,086 --> 00:33:24,393 this is a dangerous phase 621 00:33:24,437 --> 00:33:26,700 when life meets life 622 00:33:26,743 --> 00:33:29,398 and civilization meets civilization. 623 00:33:29,442 --> 00:33:34,360 We may be the less technologically advanced civilization, 624 00:33:34,403 --> 00:33:35,970 and we should exercise some caution. 625 00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:39,017 There are many explanations 626 00:33:39,060 --> 00:33:41,280 for why we seem, 627 00:33:41,323 --> 00:33:43,630 until now, to be alone. 628 00:33:43,673 --> 00:33:46,328 Now, the question is whether or not 629 00:33:46,372 --> 00:33:49,375 we should be deliberately screaming 630 00:33:49,418 --> 00:33:51,942 into a universe that's surprisingly quiet. 631 00:33:51,986 --> 00:33:54,771 Maybe too quiet. 632 00:33:57,165 --> 00:34:00,168 [Quinto] While experts debate the risks involved 633 00:34:00,212 --> 00:34:02,953 in attempting to contact alien life-forms, 634 00:34:02,997 --> 00:34:05,869 there are so many people around the world who believe 635 00:34:05,913 --> 00:34:07,915 that contact has already occurred. 636 00:34:07,958 --> 00:34:11,092 People like Kyle Bond and Steven Coburn. 637 00:34:11,136 --> 00:34:13,486 Despite inconclusive test results, 638 00:34:13,529 --> 00:34:15,140 their experiences are so detailed and physical 639 00:34:15,183 --> 00:34:17,838 that they still believe. 640 00:34:17,881 --> 00:34:20,449 But unless I actually feel what they felt, 641 00:34:20,493 --> 00:34:23,061 I'll never really know why their beliefs are so strong. 642 00:34:26,412 --> 00:34:28,979 So I'm meeting with someone who has a way to show me 643 00:34:29,023 --> 00:34:30,938 what it might feel like to be abducted by aliens. 644 00:34:35,029 --> 00:34:36,074 Thirty-eight-year-old April Malloy 645 00:34:36,117 --> 00:34:38,902 has had over 20 encounters. 646 00:34:38,946 --> 00:34:40,513 Hi. Hi, I'm April.I'm Zach. 647 00:34:40,556 --> 00:34:41,862 It's great to meet you.Nice to meet you. 648 00:34:41,905 --> 00:34:42,993 And she's convinced that if others 649 00:34:43,037 --> 00:34:45,866 can feel what she's felt, 650 00:34:45,909 --> 00:34:47,868 they would have to believe that aliens are out there. 651 00:34:47,911 --> 00:34:51,741 Why don't we start with the first experience you had that you can remember? 652 00:34:51,785 --> 00:34:54,266 How long ago was it?I was a young child, actually, 653 00:34:54,309 --> 00:34:56,703 seeing something outside. 654 00:34:56,746 --> 00:34:59,749 And how long between then and your next experience? 655 00:34:59,793 --> 00:35:01,142 A couple years back, 656 00:35:01,186 --> 00:35:03,797 the physical evidence started to show up. 657 00:35:05,712 --> 00:35:09,150 Puncture marks in the abdomen. 658 00:35:09,194 --> 00:35:11,979 Finding weird, abnormal things in my body. 659 00:35:12,022 --> 00:35:15,243 Wow. So you discovered that there were actually foreign objects in your body. 660 00:35:15,287 --> 00:35:16,375 Yes, through X-rays. 661 00:35:16,418 --> 00:35:21,031 At that point, it became very real. Wow. 662 00:35:21,075 --> 00:35:23,164 I'm really interested in what you go through, physically, 663 00:35:23,208 --> 00:35:26,167 as you have one of these encounters. 664 00:35:26,211 --> 00:35:28,169 It always begins-- you're sleepy in bed, 665 00:35:28,213 --> 00:35:30,606 you're exhausted, you're tired. 666 00:35:30,650 --> 00:35:32,869 And then you feel something really cold. 667 00:35:32,913 --> 00:35:35,176 And then you feel yourself-- 668 00:35:35,220 --> 00:35:38,571 You're starting to drift up. 669 00:35:38,614 --> 00:35:41,835 It's like you're levitating. All the atoms, or particles in your body, 670 00:35:41,878 --> 00:35:45,143 somehow disperse, and you're physically going 671 00:35:45,186 --> 00:35:48,146 through some type of vortex, through the roof somehow. 672 00:35:48,189 --> 00:35:51,932 It's unexplainable. And then you see a bright light. 673 00:35:51,975 --> 00:35:55,196 Wow. Do you have a sense of fear? 674 00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:56,850 In the beginning, I did.Uh-huh. 675 00:35:56,893 --> 00:35:59,244 I was very fearful. But now, 676 00:35:59,287 --> 00:36:01,768 I'm gonna look at the positive aspects 677 00:36:01,811 --> 00:36:04,553 of levitating and feeling calm. 678 00:36:04,597 --> 00:36:08,078 [Quinto] It's one thing to describe these experiences, 679 00:36:08,122 --> 00:36:11,038 but it's another to actually live through them. 680 00:36:11,081 --> 00:36:14,955 April, and so many others, have reported the same physical sensations-- 681 00:36:14,998 --> 00:36:19,220 levitating, bright lights, a sense of weightlessness-- 682 00:36:19,264 --> 00:36:22,441 that make them absolutely certain that what they felt is real. 683 00:36:22,484 --> 00:36:24,921 I know it's happening around the world. 684 00:36:24,965 --> 00:36:28,577 And if it happens to me and it happens to a thousand other people, 685 00:36:28,621 --> 00:36:33,060 then maybe sometimes be brave enough to talk about it. 686 00:36:33,103 --> 00:36:36,106 When it happens, it's like transcending into another realm. 687 00:36:36,150 --> 00:36:39,197 That's what I hope for you to be able to experience. 688 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:42,765 [Quinto] And now, April has asked me to participate in an experiment 689 00:36:42,809 --> 00:36:45,159 mirroring the conditions of her abduction 690 00:36:45,203 --> 00:36:48,162 so that I can personally feel the physical sensations 691 00:36:48,206 --> 00:36:50,338 she and so many like her have experienced. 692 00:36:50,382 --> 00:36:53,211 I'll be strapping into a harness, blindfolded, and lifted 693 00:36:53,254 --> 00:36:57,171 to recreate what it's like to be taken. 694 00:37:02,611 --> 00:37:04,657 [Zachary Quinto] I'm trying to understand 695 00:37:04,700 --> 00:37:08,313 why thousands of people around the world believe so strongly 696 00:37:08,356 --> 00:37:10,663 that they've been contacted by aliens. 697 00:37:10,706 --> 00:37:13,753 What is the physical experience people go through 698 00:37:13,796 --> 00:37:16,843 that makes them so certain aliens are here? 699 00:37:16,886 --> 00:37:21,021 When it happens, sometimes it's like transcending into another realm. 700 00:37:21,064 --> 00:37:23,589 And that's what I hope for you to be able to experience. 701 00:37:23,632 --> 00:37:27,027 [Quinto] April Malloy has set up an experiment 702 00:37:27,070 --> 00:37:30,248 to help me understand the profound physical nature of her abductions. 703 00:37:35,862 --> 00:37:39,431 I'll be floating weightlessly, and strapping into a harness 704 00:37:39,474 --> 00:37:41,737 that will slowly lift me into the air 705 00:37:41,781 --> 00:37:44,305 to help me feel some of the physical sensations 706 00:37:44,349 --> 00:37:46,438 April says she experiences 707 00:37:46,481 --> 00:37:49,528 when she levitates out of her bed, into some other dimension. 708 00:37:49,571 --> 00:37:52,270 All right.Thank you. 709 00:38:00,582 --> 00:38:02,976 All right. 710 00:38:03,019 --> 00:38:06,719 As you're laying there, you're floating off into deep sleep. 711 00:38:06,762 --> 00:38:10,331 You're slowly beginning, inch by inch, 712 00:38:10,375 --> 00:38:14,857 hovering very calmly, very quietly. 713 00:38:14,901 --> 00:38:18,513 Inch by inch, you're going up. 714 00:38:22,996 --> 00:38:27,000 And now you're floating up to the ceiling. 715 00:38:27,043 --> 00:38:31,526 And your body just disappears in the air, through the roof. 716 00:38:35,835 --> 00:38:39,969 And there's a bright light that greets you. 717 00:38:40,013 --> 00:38:43,190 [Quinto] I've been lifted on wires before, 718 00:38:43,233 --> 00:38:44,844 but never like this. 719 00:38:44,887 --> 00:38:46,628 It gave me a better understanding 720 00:38:46,672 --> 00:38:48,674 of what these people claim to go through. 721 00:38:48,717 --> 00:38:50,850 The instinct, at first, is to be afraid, 722 00:38:50,893 --> 00:38:56,377 and then to realize that you have no control. 723 00:38:56,421 --> 00:38:59,859 It's an exercise of really surrendering to the experience. 724 00:39:02,731 --> 00:39:06,082 The science of this is one exploration, 725 00:39:06,126 --> 00:39:07,736 and the experience of this is another exploration. 726 00:39:07,780 --> 00:39:11,871 And there are an infinite number of reasons 727 00:39:11,914 --> 00:39:14,656 for someone feeling like they've had 728 00:39:14,700 --> 00:39:18,399 an experience that could be classified as an extraterrestrial encounter. 729 00:39:18,443 --> 00:39:23,491 I do really want to believe what April is saying. 730 00:39:23,535 --> 00:39:26,886 Are aliens out there? I don't know. 731 00:39:26,929 --> 00:39:31,238 But I'm certainly closer to believing than I was when I started. 732 00:39:33,283 --> 00:39:36,069 Back when I was working with SETI, 733 00:39:36,112 --> 00:39:38,332 we launched a test with the largest 734 00:39:38,376 --> 00:39:40,987 fully steerable radio telescope in the world, 735 00:39:41,030 --> 00:39:43,772 trying to capture a recording of a mysterious burst 736 00:39:43,816 --> 00:39:47,559 that scientists believe could be alien technology in space, 737 00:39:47,602 --> 00:39:51,867 and the proof we've all been hoping for. 738 00:39:51,911 --> 00:39:55,044 Now, at SETI headquarters in California, 739 00:39:55,088 --> 00:39:59,222 I'm reconnecting with the director of the program, Dr. Andrew Siemion, 740 00:39:59,266 --> 00:40:01,486 to see what the telescope has found. 741 00:40:01,529 --> 00:40:02,791 [Quinto] Andrew. [Dr. Siemion] Zach. 742 00:40:02,835 --> 00:40:06,316 Now, the question is, did you find anything? 743 00:40:08,580 --> 00:40:11,713 So, we've run the first stage of our analysis. 744 00:40:11,757 --> 00:40:15,804 We detected about 380 pulses. 745 00:40:15,848 --> 00:40:19,721 But, unfortunately, all of these look to be from our own technology 746 00:40:19,765 --> 00:40:23,595 rather than from any distant astronomical source. 747 00:40:23,638 --> 00:40:25,118 Mm. 748 00:40:25,161 --> 00:40:27,468 And this is the main problem that we face 749 00:40:27,512 --> 00:40:30,166 when we're trying to look for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. 750 00:40:30,210 --> 00:40:34,388 Our own technology produces signals that look exactly like this. 751 00:40:34,432 --> 00:40:36,956 So, we found some things, but, unfortunately-- 752 00:40:36,999 --> 00:40:41,569 Not what we were--...not the things that we were looking for. 753 00:40:41,613 --> 00:40:43,963 There's no conclusive proof on either side, 754 00:40:44,006 --> 00:40:46,879 but the interesting thing is what you all are in pursuit of, 755 00:40:46,922 --> 00:40:49,272 which is knowledge-- 756 00:40:49,316 --> 00:40:51,884 tangible, discernible knowledge.[slapping hand] 757 00:40:51,927 --> 00:40:55,148 I think I've had the same transformative experience 758 00:40:55,191 --> 00:40:57,629 that all of us have when we look up at the night sky, 759 00:40:57,672 --> 00:40:58,630 and we imagine what's out there. 760 00:41:01,676 --> 00:41:04,766 Here, in this lab, we conceptualize that question 761 00:41:04,810 --> 00:41:07,334 through the lens of science. 762 00:41:07,377 --> 00:41:08,988 Other people conceptualize that question differently. 763 00:41:09,031 --> 00:41:12,513 Like everybody else that works in this field, 764 00:41:12,557 --> 00:41:14,776 I hope for the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence. 765 00:41:14,820 --> 00:41:16,256 I think that would be an amazing discovery. 766 00:41:16,299 --> 00:41:19,259 I think the more that we do it, the better the chances 767 00:41:19,302 --> 00:41:20,521 of making that dream-- dream discovered. 768 00:41:23,002 --> 00:41:27,528 [Quinto] Science is far from conclusive. 769 00:41:27,572 --> 00:41:31,271 The search for life on other planets is propelled by optimism, 770 00:41:31,314 --> 00:41:35,188 but met mostly with silence and darkness. 771 00:41:35,231 --> 00:41:38,104 In all the time humans have lived on this planet, 772 00:41:38,147 --> 00:41:42,325 we've yet to identify empirical proof of life elsewhere. 773 00:41:42,369 --> 00:41:45,590 Whether you believe aliens have been here before and left their mark 774 00:41:45,633 --> 00:41:46,939 or are still light years away, 775 00:41:46,982 --> 00:41:49,942 thanks to technology, 776 00:41:49,985 --> 00:41:52,379 the probability of us being alone 777 00:41:52,422 --> 00:41:54,947 gets smaller every day. 778 00:41:54,997 --> 00:41:59,547 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0