All language subtitles for The.Proof.Is.Out.There.S04E10.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

- Tonight, on "The
Proof Is Out There",

a worm shaped UFO in the sky.

- The way this thing
spins around in the sky

is unlike any aircraft
I've ever heard of.

- [Tony] It's no fluke,
but is this lake monster

the world's biggest goldfish?

- You've heard of big
fish in small ponds.

Well, this is it.

- [Tony] Strange subterranean
sounds in an ancient city.

- [Erin] Maybe
someone is digging

secret underground tunnels.

- [Tony] And does this
mysterious inscription

point the way to one of the
holiest relics in history?

- The theory goes that the
Shugborough Hall inscription

leads to the location
of that lost treasure.

(dramatic music)

- [Tony] Around
the globe are videos.

- [Witness] What
are those things?

- [Witness] It's moving.

- [Tony] Photos and sounds
that defy explanation.

(static buzzing)

- [Kathy] We don't know
where they come from,

who made them, or
how they operate.

- [Tony] What are they?

- [MJ] Some sort of
bizarre mutation.

- [Marc] What's exciting
is nobody really knows.

- Extraordinary claims
need extraordinary proof.

- I'm Tony Harris
and as a journalist

for more than 30 years,

I've followed the facts
where they take me.

Now, I'm bringing that
spirit of investigation

to the world's strangest
sounds and images.

We'll analyze each
one with top experts.

- It's a credible case,
it's a credible video.

- [Tony] And pass a
verdict on what it is.

- This video was clearly faked.

- The proof starts now.

(dramatic music)

Good evening and welcome to
"The Proof Is Out There."

Everyone knows how
much I love our fans,

so when one of them
tweeted me a video of a UFO

that interrupted
their shopping trip,

let's just say it really
wormed its way into my heart.

Take a look.

February 2022, Colorado
Springs, Colorado.

"Proof" viewer Bruce Lanni
is picking up his son

to go to the hardware store.

Their outing gets put
on hold when Bruce spots

a long, dark shape hovering
high in the sky above them.

- We looked up in the
sky and all of a sudden

we saw this kind of
anomalous feature

and didn't know
really what it is.

- [Tony] Look closer. As
Bruce starts filming,

his son Christian provides
the color commentary.

- I mean, it took us back,

because at first
it was horizontal,

then it turned vertical.

- [Bruce] And it looked
between 40 and 60 feet long.

- It was definitely not
anything that I have ever seen.

- [Tony] Bruce was quick to
reach out to us on Twitter

because as a fan of the show,

he believes there's
something else up there.

- Actually, I'm a pretty
firm believer in that,

because even if you go
back throughout history,

you can see two,
three, 4,000 years ago

depictions of objects in the
sky that can't be explained.

- [Tony] As author
Amy Teitel points out,

almost every ancient
culture has tales

of strange, worm-like,
flying objects.

- There are a lot of myths
in different cultures

concerning worm-like beings,

although sometimes they're
more serpents or dragons

that can move through the sky.

- [Tony] UFO investigators
wonder if these legends

are how the ancients
described UFOs.

In 1561, observers in
Nuremberg, Germany,

described an assortment
of these objects.

Orbs, crosses, rods,
and malleable strips.

At the time, it was interpreted
as a sign from God,

but it's been speculated the
objects may have been engaged

in some kind of
extraterrestrial battle.

In our modern era, when
people spot sky worms

or other UAPs, they
don't just pray,

they often call the cops.

- [Amy] In April 2022 above
Lazy Mountain in Alaska,

there was a sighting of a
worm-like object in the sky.

And there were
enough eyewitnesses

that police were
dispatched to the area

to see whether it was a
UFO or a downed plane.

- [Tony] After
finding no wreckage,

state officials blamed the
phenomenon on the contrail

from a New York bound jetliner.

But this strange object

doesn't appear to have
anything to do with a plane.

- The way this thing
spins around in the sky

is unlike any aircraft
I've ever heard of.

- Let's take a closer look

at that sudden
rotation of the object.

It's this counterclockwise
motion happening right here

that is really intriguing to us.

If we time it, that's
about a 180 degree turn

in less than 10 seconds.

So what kind of estimated
40 to 60 foot craft

could make that speedy move?

Let's see what
our experts think.

(tense music)

Aviation analyst
Tim McMillan agrees,

there's something
strange on Bruce's video.

- It's certainly odd.

It doesn't readily resemble
an aircraft, a helicopter,

or any type of object that
you would typically see

traveling through the sky

and there's no distinguishable
pattern to its flight path.

- [Tony] What McMillan
doesn't see is evidence

of any of the dazzling,
possibly alien tech

documented in other
UFO sightings.

- [Tim] You don't see
any extreme speeds

and then right angled turns,

you know, instantaneous
acceleration,

abrupt deceleration.

We don't see any of that.

It moves very consistently
with something

that is either achieving lift,

or being propelled
solely on wind motion.

- [Tony] If the object isn't
controlled by aliens in space,

is it possible it's controlled
by a human holding a string?

- Whatever this object is,
it has a definite orientation

it wants to maintain
towards the ground,

so which would suggest
there's something

holding it down or a payload
that's keeping it that way.

So that would certainly
be consistent with a kite.

- If the apparent
size of Blake's object

makes the kite theory sound
farfetched, consider this.

The world's largest kite

flown in the Middle
Eastern nation of Qatar

stretches over 200 feet.

That's large enough
to potentially lift

the kite flyer into the air.

- [Tim] You certainly
could have a kite

that would be oddly
shaped like this,

or perhaps a more conventional
kite that has a long tail

that's giving us
this appearance.

- [Tony] Video effects designer
and astronomer Marc D'Antonio

agrees with many of
McMillan's observations,

but he does not agree
with the kite theory.

- This could very well
be a solar balloon.

Those are long and thin
and black like we see here.

And because they're black

and they're absorbing
the sun's radiation,

the air inside tends to get
warm and it will start rising,

the same principle as
a hot air balloon.

And so what people do
with these solar balloons

is they hold them
out lengthwise,

they let the sun heat it up,

and eventually when it stands
up, you kind of push it

a little bit into the air and
off it goes up into the sky.

(tense music)

- Our verdict, solar balloon,

or as Blake's son
Christian would put it,

"A bleeping solar balloon."

The color, shape, and way it
moves seems pretty conclusive.

Now, solar balloons can be
dangerous to other aircraft,

so always follow
the FAA's guidelines

if you plan to release one.

The goldfish is known and
beloved as a common first pet.

Though they often don't live
long without proper care

and the right living conditions.

But the creature you're
about to see didn't just

outlive the average goldfish,
it outgrew them big time.

We're not just gonna need
a bigger fishbowl here,

we're gonna need a bigger lake.

It's November of 2022
in Putteville, France.

A man from the UK is
fishing at Blue Water Lakes

in the Champagne region.

Fishery manager
Jason Cowler is there

when he gets a big bite.

- Hey!

It was amazing, it
was mind blowing.

I kept calling it the carrot,
it looks like a big carrot.

- [Tony] One of the
largest goldfish on record,

found in South Carolina,
weighs in at nine pounds,

so this would be more
than seven times the size.

- She's probably one
of the biggest ones

of her color and size out there.

It is just one of those
things, freak of nature.

Yeah, it is quite exciting.

- [Tony] Though we
think of goldfish as

small, everyday pets,

bigger versions have been
bred throughout East Asia

since around the
9th or 10th century.

And field researcher Ken Gerhard

says the largest specimens
became objects of wonder.

- One legend in fact stated

that they were a
gift from the gods

and because of this
remarkable gold color,

they were often viewed as a sign

of prosperity and great wealth.

- [Tony] Mutant goldfish
with unusual characteristics

were so prized that
they weren't killed

or eaten when they were caught,

but were instead shown mercy.

- Ancient Buddhist monks
would introduce goldfish

into mercy ponds and this
was viewed as a good deed

or an act of self purification,
called fang sheng.

- [Tony] So while this may
not be an act of mercy,

could it be an instance where
a pet goldfish was released

into the wild when it outgrew
its owner's expectations?

In South Florida, the
non-native Burmese python

has become an invasive
species ever since pet owners

began releasing them
when they got too big.

In fact, in July 2023, a
record 19 foot long snake,

that's as long as
a giraffe is tall,

was captured in Big
Cyprus National Preserve.

But yet another theory
is that this giant fish

could be a product of
human manipulation.

Consider this. In 2015,

the FDA approved a brand
new manmade species of fish

called the AquAdvantage Salmon.

- [Ken] These salmon are
genetically engineered

and this is done by introducing
super, hyper proteins

into their genetic code.

And the AquaAdvantage Salmon
are said to grow twice as fast

as standard farm fed salmon.

So it's not impossible
that we could be dealing

with a similar situation here,

where this fish has been exposed

to some type of
genetic manipulation.

- Researchers have been
able to increase the size

of various fish by transferring
a growth hormone gene

from one species to another.

For example, a mud
loach developed in Korea

is able to grow 35 times
faster than normal.

So what's up with the carrot?

Let's turn to our experts

to filet down this
overgrown fish tail.

(tense music)

First forensic video
analyst Michael Primeau

determines if this fish
story is too good to be true,

despite the digital evidence.

- A high degree of
sophistication would be needed

to fabricate these
images to recreate

the translucence of this
object in the water,

as well as the shadow.

You see the shadow of the
individual that's holding it

and as the water changes
position as the fish enters,

characteristically, this
would be incredibly difficult

to fake, so these
images are real.

- [Tony] Marine biologist
Dr. Shea Steingass

says released goldfish
can be pretty large,

because it's the
size of their tank

that limits how big
they can get as pets.

They'll keep growing
in the wild as long

as they have the right
water temperature

and enough food and space.

But Steingass still
isn't sure this fish

is a goldfish at all,

because it has other traits
that are uncharacteristic.

- Its dorsal fins extend
all the way down its back,

whereas goldfish don't
really have this feature.

And you see that it has a
little feature on its mouth

that looks a little
bit like an antenna,

and that's called a barbel.

If this were just a large
goldfish, we wouldn't actually

see that particular organ,
so we can narrow down

that this is in fact a carp.

- [Tony] The carrot may not be
a genetically engineered mutant,

but Steingass says this is
a selectively bred hybrid.

- This is actually a hybrid of
a leather carp and a koi carp

and both of these species
are bred selectively,

and in some cases, koi can sell

for over a million
dollars per fish.

- [Tony] Once we tracked down
Jason, the fishery manager,

he explained that
the fish are stocked

and fed in the pond where
the carrot comes from.

So she's been able
to grow this large

thanks to the absence of
any natural predators.

(tense music)

Our verdict, we're going
to say this massive fish

is the product of
selective breeding.

It's a hybrid carp rather
than an oversized goldfish.

As for whether she has
spiritual properties

as the ninth century
Chinese monks believed,

we can only say that

the fishermen who
caught this mega fish

had enough reverence for her
to let her live another day.

(dramatic music)

- The city of Thessaloniki
in Greece is more than a town

full of beautiful old
buildings and colorful sunsets.

The city also has secret
sites, underground networks,

and more than its fair share
of allegedly haunted locations.

Did any of that cause
the nightly disturbances

that terrified its
citizens for over a month?

It's after midnight in
early December 2021

and the residents of the
Meteora Polichni area

in Thessaloniki,
Greece are awakened

by a strange and booming noise.

(rhythmic deep thumping)
- (speaking Greek)

(dog barking)

- [Tony] Take a listen
to that sound again.

(rhythmic deep thumping)

Residents have described it
as deafening and otherworldly

and it can be heard
from over a mile away

as it makes the ground
shake and tremble.

- (speaking Greek)
(rhythmic deep thumping)

- [Tony] Representatives
from the Thessaloniki

Water Supply Authority
quickly said

the sounds weren't emanating
from any sewer system.

Journalist Erin McCarthy says

that's when the citizens
began to speculate.

- There are a lot of theories

as to what these
sounds could be.

Some have suggested that
maybe someone is digging

secret underground tunnels.

- [Tony] You see, 16.5
feet below street level

are the catacombs of St. John,

a vast array of
underground tunnels

that many believe are only part

of a huge hidden
subterranean network

that's still being extended.

Then, there's the
supernatural theory.

McCarthy says that Thessaloniki

is frequently called
the City Of Ghosts,

known for its many
allegedly haunted locations.

- Some have even wondered,

could this be a ghostly,
tortured spirit?

The area actually became one
of the most visited spots

for paranormal enthusiasts.

- [Tony] There may be no
bigger draw for ghost hunters

than the legendary
Longos Mansion,

also known as the Red House.

- It's a huge mansion
that was built in 1926

for local industrialist
Ioannis Longos.

Almost immediately,
really weird things

started happening
at the Red House.

Part of the building
was destroyed in a fire

and there were reports
of paranormal activity.

- [Tony] Many residents
have reported strange sounds

and noises from the Red House.

Rumors even spread that it was
housing a crypt of vampires.

Perhaps that's the origin
of these strange sounds,

or perhaps there's a simple
seismological explanation.

- Others have suggested that
maybe it's an earthquake.

- So, strange noises in
an ancient Greek city.

We've got ghosts, earthquakes,

and secret tunneling
as competing theories.

To find out what's really
responsible for all the ruckus,

we need our experts
to sound off.

(tense music)

First up, geologist
Dr. Bob Anderson

considers the seismic theory.

(rhythmic deep thumping)

- Well, the most common sounds
that you would get in nature

would be earthquakes or
faults or something breaking,

but those kinds of
sounds that you hear,

it's very short
lived, very quick.

(rhythmic deep thumping)
(people speaking Greek)

- This sound is very rhythmic,
it's very constant.

It doesn't actually
vary very much at all,

which leads me to believe
that it's some machinery

down below, whether they
are digging tunnels,

or running pipe, or whether
there is a power station

or something nearby.

- [Tony] Forensic Audio
Analyst, Dr. Rob Maher,

agrees with Anderson
that the noises

seem to be mechanical in nature.

- When we look at
the time waveform

and the spectrogram
for the sound...

(rhythmic deep thumping)

The time between the different
sounds varies a little bit,

but they have that relatively
rhythmic quality to them.

The fact that they're relatively
loud and low frequency

indicates to me there's some
mechanical aspect to this.

- [Tony] But what's making
the mechanical pounding?

Troubled ghosts,
secret excavators?

Maher has his own theory.

- One of the sources of a
rhythmic sound like this

could be a plumbing phenomenon
known as a water hammer.

(water hammer thumping)

Anyone who might
have steam radiators

is familiar with this
"whump" sound that happens

due to the flow of those liquids

in the thermal
system of the pipe.

- [Tony] When a valve of
running water is quickly closed,

the stream slams into the valve

at nearly eight
times the pressure,

creating a shock wave
through the pipes

that makes the
water hammer sound.

And the bigger the pipes,
the bigger the sound.

- So that type of sound is
what we're hearing here,

but on a much larger scale.

- [Tony] He puts the
theory to the test

when he runs a
comparative analysis

of the Thessaloniki
mystery sounds

and the sounds made

by a residential water
hammer in action.

- When we look at this
recording of a water hammer

situation in a residence...

(water hammer thumping)

We can see that there
is a lot of energy

in this low frequency range
down around 100 hertz.

So that mechanical source of
the sound is very similar.

(rhythmic deep thumping)

(water hammer thumping)

The characteristics
of the frequency range

and the repetition
are both consistent

between those two
types of sounds.

(tense music)

- Our verdict, water hammer.

Incidentally, we did
some more digging

and it turns out that even
though representatives

from Thessaloniki Water
Supply originally denied

the noise was coming from them,

the president of
the Water Authority

later made an announcement
that the sound

was coming from routine
tuning of the water supply.

So for now, let's just call
this water under the bridge.

(dramatic music)

- The imagery of the creature
from the "Black Lagoon"

has captivated our imaginations
for almost 75 years.

But what if I told you
there was a real creature

from a mud lagoon?

August 8th, 2017, north
Queensland, Australia.

David White, who runs cruises

in the Daintree River
Wildlife Preserve,

is hoping to capture
footage of a crocodile

he had spotted
earlier in the day,

but instead, he captures
something much more disturbing.

A tide pool sits undisturbed,

something sticks
out of the water.

Still, it could
almost be a rock,

but then, slowly, it
begins to descend

straight down into the pool.

It goes down, down, down,

until eventually it
sinks under the surface

and out of view, leaving only
a tiny bubble in its wake.

Is this a creature, a rock,
or something else entirely?

Field researcher
Ken Gerhard believes

we could be looking
at a famed monstrosity

from the land down under.

- When I think of Australia,
I think of the bunyip.

Like many legendary creatures,

the bunyip has various
interpretations,

but the most common one is
that it is an aquatic creature,

covered in hair with
a head like a dog,

very large and powerful.

And the Aboriginal people
greatly fear the bunyip

because it's said to come
onto the land at night,

and drag its unwilling
victims back into the swamp.

- [Tony] Bunyip
sightings were reported

in Australia newspapers
throughout the 19th

and 20th centuries, dating
as far back as 1851,

where it was reported

that a bunyip had killed
an Aboriginal man

and had to be speared to death.

- Being that the bunyip legend

is so prevalent
throughout Australia,

I think we have to stop and
consider the possibility

that what we could
be looking at here

might be at the root of
this bunyip mythology.

- So the theory suggests
that this is in fact

some kind of living thing.

Is it possibly a new discovery?

Australian taxonomists name an
average of 1,000 new species

each year, and its
estimated that two thirds

of the continent's total
species remain undocumented.

Let's see what our
experts can discover.

(tense music)

Some have guessed that we're
looking at the front tip

of an Indo-Pacific crocodile.

A species prevalent
in this region,

but our marine
biologist is skeptical.

- I can rule this out
entirely as a crocodile,

because I don't see
any of the body,

or head features
of a crocodilian.

It's not behaving
like a crocodile.

It's coming vertically
up out of the water.

And we have a little bit
of size reference here

when we see the bubble on
the surface of the water,

which means whatever this is,
it's actually pretty small.

And in addition to that, it
actually has pretty smooth skin.

- [Tony] For those same reasons,
both size and smoothness,

Steingass thinks this
creature contradicts reports

of the legendary bunyip.

- I would probably rule
out that this is a bunyip,

especially because the bunyip
is said to hunt at night

and this footage was
taken during the day.

- [Tony] Then what is it?

- Based on this video and
looking at the environment,

I think this is
actually a mudskipper.

- [Tony] The
mudskipper is a fish

that can spend as much time
in air as in the water.

It can grow up to
12 inches in length,

breathes through its skin,

and uses its fins
like legs to walk.

But NASA geologist Bob Anderson

says that can't be,
because the environment

is just too harsh for
most known animals.

- The environment around
it, it's very carbonaceous.

There's probably
a lot of sulfate,

because the landscape is
white, so it's very toxic.

It's not where a
reptile, an alligator,

or anything would want to live

because there's no
food source for them.

- [Tony] So does that rule
out any living organism?

Not exactly.

- If you notice, there's
a slight green tint

to the creature,

and so most likely that
is a living organism.

That's what we
call an algal mat.

- [Tony] An algal mat
is a mat of algae

that may grow in water
or on rocks in both toxic

and non-toxic environments,

which can balloon up and float
to the surface while forming.

- [Bob] In a fish tank,
you'll see algae build up

and if you have a pump in there,

you'll see that the algae
literally starts to rise,

because the air bubbles
get trapped underneath

to lift that mat into
the air, release it,

and then the mat goes
back down to the bottom.

- [Tony] Makes sense in theory,

but algal mats tend to
look like, well, mats.

This thing has a
completely different shape.

So what gives?

(tense music)

Our verdict, unknown
organic specimen.

While our experts disagree on

what this mysterious mud
creature is, they both concur

that it is in fact an organic
life form of some sort.

Proving that even in the
harshest of environments,

life finds a way.

(dramatic music)

- The relationship between
space, time, and motion

is a complex matter.

Astrophysicists say
many of these concepts

can be explained with
Einstein's theory of relativity,

but this next clip seems to
ignore all laws of physics.

It's January 2023 in Port
Colborne, Ontario, Canada.

A woman and her young daughter
are driving down Lakeshore Road

when the mom sees something
strange on the horizon.

A video that they record
from their dashboard

shows a large white building
straight ahead in the distance.

But check this out.

As they drive closer, all
of the trees and houses

along the roadside
stay the same size,

while the big building
seems to shrink

right before our eyes.

- [Driver] It's getting smaller.

Why was that building so big?

- [Tony] Look, as the
car gets even closer

and then rounds the bend
in front of Lake Erie,

the mill structure gets so
small it nearly disappears

below the top of the guardrail.

Journalist Erin McCarthy
believes the real world is real,

but she can see why phenomena
like this make people wonder.

- You would assume that the
building would get bigger,

not smaller as we approach.

So there's definitely something
very strange happening here.

- [Tony] The comment
section on this video

is chock full of wild ideas.

Perhaps the most intriguing is
that what we are seeing here

is a glitch in the matrix.

- There's a group called
the Church of Simulation

and they believe that
the entirety of reality

is a simulation that was created
by super intelligent beings

and kicked off by the Big Bang.

(explosion booming)

- [Tony] The theory that we
are living in a simulation

has gained traction
in modern times,

thanks to Swedish
philosopher, Nick Bostrom.

Bostrom has proposed
that we have simulated

rather than biological minds,
created by future advanced,

or perhaps even
alien civilizations

who have access to large enough
amounts of computing power

to run many detailed
simulations.

- [Erin] This has led
some people to suggest

that the building
getting smaller

as we approach
rather than larger

is a glitch in the simulation.

- So, could this strange,
shrinking mill on Lakeshore Road

be evidence we're living
in a computer simulation?

Is there something especially
eerie about Lake Erie?

Let's let our experts
take the wheel

and drive this one home.

(tense music)

We check in first with
forensic video analyst

Michael Primeau,
who runs some tests.

- Through analysis
of the metadata.

We know that this is an
original camera file,

thus we're able to authenticate
the structure of this recording.

Furthermore, additional
testing of the specific pixels

in this region did not report
any significant changes

in that center
area of the image.

- [Tony] So since this
recording is the real deal,

could this clip be showing
an imperfect simulation

that we're actually living in?

- The whole idea that
physical reality itself

is an illusion created
by a computer program

is so fantastic.

Think of what it would cost
to maintain such a matrix.

Not just one person, but all
of reality, all of space time.

All the universe would
have to be simulated

in the memory of the
matrix, not possible.

- [Tony] At least not possible
given the current state

of our abilities, but
give AI a million years

of exponential machine
learning, and who knows?

Still, Kaku believes
it's more likely

that what we're really seeing
is not a glitch in the matrix,

but rather a glitch
in our brains.

- Our brain
automatically assumes

the observer is
stationary, is constant,

and reality stems
from that fact.

But if you are moving, then
you begin to realize, no,

reality as you know
it is distorted.

The trees fool you.

If you remove the trees by
putting your fingers like this,

then everything is
back to normal again.

You begin to realize that
that object in the back

is getting larger, not smaller.

And this is nothing but
an optical illusion.

- [Tony] Kaku says it
has everything to do

with your ability to
see the horizon line,

which, when first
approaching the mill,

is obscured by the
surrounding trees.

As one drives closer to the bay,

more of the surrounding
horizon is revealed,

causing one's perception
to constantly readjust

and give one the feeling
that the mill is shrinking.

And Primeau confirms, the
proof is in the pixels.

- When we highlight this area,

this pixel region of width
and height on the image,

and travel using the
same pixel region

to the end of the recording
where the mill is more revealed,

there's less information
around it from the landscape.

The box actually fits
in a similar size

to what was captured originally
at the beginning of the video.

So the optical illusion
that the mill is shrinking

is from all of the
information around the mill.

(tense music)

- Our verdict, this is a size
contrast optical illusion.

The mind is tricked about
how big the building is,

because of the comparative
size of the objects

that surround it as
the car moves closer.

(dramatic music)

- Since the days of King Arthur

and the Knights of
the Round Table,

treasure hunters
have been on a quest

to find the long
lost Holy Grail,

but could a mysterious
structure in England

hold the secrets to
its hiding place?

See if you can crack this code.

2020, Staffordshire, England.

Historical researcher
Andrew Baker

is visiting Shugborough Hall,
a centuries old country house

with numerous
neoclassical monuments,

but he's here to see just one.

Framed by a pair of columns
sits an enigma carved in stone,

The Shepherd's Monument.

- The monument
stands by the river

surrounded by trees
and by dark shrubs.

So it's eerie and mysterious.

- [Tony] Footage of
the marble relief

shows four people gathered
around a tomb that reads

"Et In Arcadia Ego."

Below the carb scene
is a stone plaque

bearing only the cryptic
letters O-U-O-S-V-A-V-V,

flanked by a D and an M.

Andrew says its meaning

is one of the most enduring
puzzles in England.

- The idea that
there was something

in England that had a
coded message on it

might be to do with secret
societies treasurer,

who knows what?

It's as if it's been planted
there for us to read today.

- [Tony] Historians believe
the Shepherd's Monument

was commissioned by
the estate's owner,

Thomas Anson, and that it was
built sometime around the 1750s.

Beyond that, the
details get murky.

- The theory goes that
Thomas Anson's brother,

Royal Navy Admiral George
Anson, circumnavigated the globe

collecting treasure that
was hidden away somewhere.

And that the Shugborough
Hall inscription

leads to the location
of that lost treasure.

- [Tony] Yet some believe the
inscription leads to treasure

even more precious than gold.

- Another theory goes
that the Anson family

were members of an organization
known as the Priory of Sion,

descendants of the
Knight's Templar,

who were rumored to
originally be charged

with protecting The Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail is
said to be the cup

that was used to serve
wine at the last supper,

and collected blood from
Jesus during the crucifixion.

- [Tony] Or could the Holy
Grail be something else?

According to legend,
the Priory of Sion

claimed that Jesus
Christ was an earthly,

not a heavenly king whose
bloodline traced itself

to ancient France's
Merovingian dynasty.

So some believe the Holy Grail
is not actually a physical cup,

but rather the Priory's
secret knowledge

that Jesus married
Mary Magdalene

and had children with her.

One codebreaker has suggested
the Shugborough inscription

stands for "Jesus,
as deity defy,"

which has been linked to
these controversial beliefs.

Many of these theories
laid the groundwork

for Dan Brown's wildly popular
"Da Vinci Code" franchise.

Professional scholars
have dismissed

many of those claims
is pseudo history,

but the idea of a secret society
protecting a holy bloodline

retains a grip on
popular culture.

So it's time to
see if our experts

can chisel out the truth.

(tense music)

Archeologist Dr. Ed Barnhart
begins with the theory

that George Anson collected
treasures from around the world

and that the code is
a way to find them.

- What George Anson
collected in today's money

would be millions of
dollars of wealth.

But if we look at the
Shugborough Hall property,

and all of these
amazing monuments,

it would appear that
most of George's wealth

went into the estate itself.

- [Tony] If Anson spent the
lion's share of his fortune,

which seems to be the case,

since his family fell
out of prominence,

then maybe this isn't
a literal treasure map,

but rather a clue to how
the Ansons hid the truth

about the Holy Grail as
members of the Priory of Sion.

Catholic miracle
researcher Michael O'Neill

says the main problem
with that theory

is this supposed secret
society didn't actually exist.

- In the 1950s, a French
man named Pierre Plantard

started this Priory of Sion

and he attempted to
draw a connection

between that secret society
and the Knights Templar.

Unfortunately, there
was no such connection.

And then in 1993, we see a raid
of the apartment of Plantard

where they find all
these documentation

and letters between
Plantard and his friends

talking about their intentions

to perpetrate this great hoax.

so ah the proof is in the puddin

- [Tony] So if
the Priory of Sion

and its connection to the holy
grail is completely made up,

then what does this
inscription mean?

Barnhart thinks
he's found a clue.

- The inscription itself
is clearly the initials,

the first letters of
a longer statement.

This D and this M are
typically on Roman tombs,

and it means Dis Manibus,

which means dedicated
to the venerated dead.

So this may be some
sort of monument

dedicated to someone
who's passed away.

(tense music)

- For us, many
unanswered questions

about this inscription remain.

Our verdict is that it's a
memorial dedication to someone,

though we're still
not really sure who.

We may have to accept
that the message

was meant to be kept private

and may stay that way forever.

(dramatic music)

- If a tree falls in a forest

and there's no one there to
hear it, does it make a sound?

Maybe not, but what
about a hundred trees?

And what if they could
have been knocked down

by a raging Bigfoot?

It's January 27th, 2018,

in Olympic National
Park, Washington.

During the middle of the night,

seismic monitors
pick up an event

that registers as
a small earthquake.

In the morning, park rangers
head out to the location

where the readings took
place near Lake Quinalt.

And that's where they find this.

Toppled and snapped trees
litter the landscape,

blocking the road and
damaging utility lines.

Field researcher Cliff Barackman

says park rangers witnessed
about 100 trees torn apart

over an area that extends
nearly half a mile long.

- This example of one of the
snapped trees is staggering.

It is a very large tree.

This trunk is probably
four or five feet

in diameter, or more.

Many of these splinters
are literally the size

of two by fours.

- [Tony] This tree fall
quickly became a local mystery.

What could have caused
such awesome damage?

Of course, weather is the
most obvious explanation.

- Many believe if the
circumstances here

point to some sort
of weather pattern.

There are microcosms of
unique weather patterns

that are very
highly destructive.

- [Tony] Barackman notes
that after these pictures

were released, speculation
heated up on the internet

that this destruction was
the work of a creature

believed to roam the
area for centuries,

the Sasquatch.

- Sasquatches, like
all other apes,

are known to break
and twist trees.

Why would a Sasquatch
be breaking trees?

Apes might break things to show
how big and strong they are.

- [Tony] And a Bigfoot
might show how big

and strong he is to
protect his territory.

At least, that's how
one story tells it.

In 1924, gold prospectors
on Mount St. Helens

allegedly encountered a group

of seven foot tall,
ape-like creatures.

They say they shot at the
creatures, injuring one,

but that night, they
say they paid for it.

The ape men descended on
the prospectors' cabin.

throwing boulders and
ripping holes in the roof

until daybreak.

So perhaps these territorial
Bigfoots are back in action.

But by Barackman's
own admission,

nobody has ever seen
a bigfoot this angry.

- Something like this
would be unheard of.

- Now, Olympic National
Park is well known

for strange and
paranormal occurrences.

Some say the area is haunted
by the Lady of the Lake.

The spirit of a young woman
whose oddly preserved body

was found floating in
the park's Lake Crescent

three years after
she disappeared.

Is what we're seeing here
something supernatural,

or is there a more
earthly explanation?

Let's see what
our experts think.

(tense music)

Could this damage be the work

of one of America's
most elusive creatures?

People are often drawn
to the bigfoot theory.

And even though anthropology
and anatomy professor

Jeff Meldrum is
convinced Bigfoot exists,

he's just as
convinced these photos

are not proof of the
creature's handiwork.

- I do not think these trees
were knocked down by Bigfoot.

You look at behavior of animals,
they're very goal-oriented.

They don't have a surplus
of calories to expend

on frivolous activities
like pushing down trees,

even if they were
capable of doing that.

Unless there was some
motivation or some return,

I don't think attributing this

to Bigfoot activity would
be reasonable at all.

- [Tony] Okay, so
Dr. Meldrum says

we can rule out a Sasquatch,

but meteorologist
Juan Hernandez says

the weather theory has
its own challenges.

A microburst is
typically accompanied

by heavy thunderstorms,

but radar from that day
shows nothing of a kind.

- The storms were not there.

We had what we call stratiform
rain that was ongoing.

- [Tony] Microbursts
also scatter broken trees

in every direction, these
trees fell in one direction.

- That is one of the reasons

that I believe this
was not a microburst.

- [Tony] Of course, strong
winds can knock down trees

even when there's no rain.

But Hernandez notes
that the winds

were coming out of the south
and the trees were knocked down

in the opposite
direction, so what gives?

- Now, when we
compare wind damage,

it could potentially be
two different sources.

It could be straight line winds
or it can be tornadic winds.

When we're looking for tornado
damage, a lot of the trees,

oftentimes they fall in
a criss-cross pattern.

Here, we don't have that,

they're all laying
down in one direction.

- [Tony] The answer, one
of those quirks of science

we love so much on this show.

- There are specific
weather patterns

that oftentimes lead to
something that is fairly common

in mountainous terrain, and
that is rotor circulations.

- [Tony] A rotor circulation
is a turbulent airflow pattern

that occurs near mountains or
large topographic features.

As stable horizontal airflow
encounters a mountain,

it is forced to ascend
on the windward side

and descend on the leeward side.

The interaction between
the descending air

and the updraft creates
a turbulent region

known as the rotor,
characterized by

rapidly changing winds
and severe turbulence.

Hernandez says that's what
knocked the trees down

and the force of
those falling trees

was ultimately so powerful,

that's what registered on
the park's seismic monitors.

- The conditions were ripe

for the occurrence of
a rotor circulation.

We had a stable layer
around the peak,

meaning the wind would
come up the mountain

and quickly descend because
of that stable layer on top.

That wind was allowed
to rotate in a valley

where the damage occurred.

It does check all the
boxes for conditions

that would promote
the development

of a rotor circulation.

(tense music)

- Our verdict,
rotor circulation.

Hernandez's analysis
has us convinced

that we are looking
at a weather event,

but we're still on the hunt

for that definitive
evidence of Bigfoot.

So send us anything you have.

And that's our show for tonight,
thank you so much for watching.

And as always, keep
those cameras rolling.

(dramatic music)