Original subtitles

WILDMAN: A weird floating phantom puts a city on edge.

This story is one of New York’s most sensational ghost stories.

WILDMAN: A strange hovering object terrifies the town.

Many people claimed that this was an alien spacecraft.

WILDMAN: And an ancient book filled with shocking secrets.

ROSTAND: To great rocks being engulfed in flames.

Nostradamus got every part of right.

WILDMAN: But first, this weatherbeaten artifact

was once at the heart of an investigation

that was truly out of this world.

LANASA: This story is about a potential spaceship

on a South Carolina beach.

♪

WILDMAN: Amazing mysteries,

bizarre phenomena

and chilling secrets.

I’m Don Wildman.

Join me on a journey beyond the unknown.

WILDMAN: 2018, Seabrook Island, South Carolina.

Lauren Rust is a marine biologist

who heads a local wildlife organization.

Rust is a very well‐respected scientist in South Carolina.

She’s smart.

She loves what she does,

and she really cares about animals.

WILDMAN: A key part of her work involves rescuing dolphins,

whales and other sea creatures

that have become stranded on the state’s beaches.

On October 4th, Rust is walking along the shore

when she spots something on the beach.

It looked like a weird mass looming up out of the sand.

WILDMAN: It’s roughly cylindrical in shape,

rust‐colored and about the size of a small vehicle.

It appears to have a hollow interior.

LANASA: It looked concrete

and had various different gashes in it

with wires and things hanging out of it.

WILDMAN: But when Rust places her hands on the object,

she notices something strange.

LANASA: I believe she was expecting something more firm.

It was almost eerie when she touched it.

Some spots were hard.

Some spots on the inner were bungee.

WILDMAN: To Rust, the many layers

resemble some kind of insulation.

But Rust has no idea what to make of this weird object.

She was almost in a semi state of shock of,

"What is this? Is this dangerous?"

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

WILDMAN: Intrigued, Rust takes photos and posts them online.

Rust really wanted to know what this item was.

WILDMAN: Within a matter of days,

theories start rolling in.

Some think it could be a piece of the Challenger space shuttle,

which tragically exploded more than 30 years earlier.

I remember sitting in school and watching it.

Everyone there was shocked.

WILDMAN: Pieces of debris were scattered across the East Coast.

Perhaps the massive foam‐like ring

could be from the destroyed spacecraft.

LANASA: Because of the multi layers of insulation,

people thought that it could be some part of a shuttle.

In outer space, that’s what you need to protect you

from harsh environments.

WILDMAN: But when experts examine the images,

they say the object didn’t come from the Challenger.

LANASA: It’s not the Challenger

because of how long ago this happened.

There would be barnacles all over the thing.

It would be pretty thickly encrusted.

WILDMAN: Others believe the finding is a piece of refuse

from a government munitions dumping site

and could contain harmful chemicals,

but there are no signs of any toxic residue

coming from the object.

Then another very different theory emerges.

Just a few weeks earlier,

Hurricane Florence ravaged the East Coast.

The record‐breaking storm brought wind gusts

over 100 miles per hour,

delivered more than 30 inches of rain

and killed dozens of people.

Ultimately, it caused around $17 billion in property damage.

Hurricane Florence was one of the weirdest hurricanes

I’ve ever saw.

It came in very strong

and then sat over the East Coast for days.

It didn’t go anywhere.

It just sat there and churned.

WILDMAN: Some believe that this intense storm

is behind all the fuss.

Several years earlier in 2014,

biologists at the University of North Carolina

had set up solar‐powered research buoys off the coast.

LANASA: It was possible that one of these solar buoys

could have broken loose and washed up onto the beach.

WILDMAN: The mysterious foam object

and the buoys have quite a few similarities.

LANASA: The insulation is actually the reason why the buoy floated.

The wiring is what attached to the solar panels.

WILDMAN: So perhaps Rust found a damaged part of a buoy

on the beach that day.

But some critics don’t buy this explanation.

They believe the object may have otherworldly origins.

LANASA: They proposed that an alien spacecraft crashed

into the ocean and washed up onto the beach.

♪

WILDMAN: Eventually, the town removes the object

from the beach,

and many think that this action is part of a larger conspiracy

to cover up evidence of extraterrestrial life.

A lot of people from the area think the item was removed

and taken to Area 51.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, a fragment of this strange object

is now on display

at the Museum of the Bizarre in Wilmington, North Carolina.

It recalls how a piece of mysterious rubble

washed up on the beach

and sparked a storm of speculation

that’s continued to this day.

♪

Salon‐de‐Provence, France, has a unique claim to fame.

It was once home to the most controversial clairvoyant

in history who some say predicted many of history’s

most critical events hundreds of years

before they happened ‐‐

Nostradamus.

And in the center of town is an institution dedicated

to celebrating this puzzling prognosticator,

the Nostradamus Museum.

♪

Located in his former home,

the establishment features a treasure trove of artifacts

detailing the famous prophet’s career,

but the centerpiece of the collection

is a tome that solidified

the soothsayer’s mystical reputation.

The artifact is about 4 inches wide and 7 inches high.

It’s wrapped in a fine green leather,

and embossed on the front is a circular laurel wreath

in bright gold.

It looks in extremely good condition

which belies its age of 500 years old.

♪

WILDMAN: This ancient book is said

to hold the secrets of the future.

This item contains some of the most extraordinary writings

that have ever been known.

♪

WILDMAN: Throughout history, countless clairvoyants

have claimed the ability to predict the future,

but none of them compares to the great Nostradamus.

The name Nostradamus echoes through the centuries.

♪

WILDMAN: In the early 1500s,

Nostradamus worked as a physician

in his native France,

but he rose to fame thanks to his fascination with the occult.

During the nights, he would apparently meditate

with a bowl of water suffused with all kinds of herbs,

and he would go into a trance.

WILDMAN: Nostradamus claimed that during

these hypnotic episodes

he could see into the future.

In 1555, he published a record of his visions

in a book called "Les Propheties,"

a first‐edition copy of which is on display

at the Nostradamus Museum in Salon‐de‐Provence, France.

♪

Among the events he foresaw are the Great Fire of London,

the French Revolution, and even the rise of Adolf Hitler.

Nostradamus talks about from the depths of the west,

a child born of poor people conquering the world

and battles raging against Hister.

Now Hister is very close to Hitler,

who came from the west, who was born in a poor family.

♪

WILDMAN: And many believe the famous prognosticator

anticipated the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

ROSTAND: Nostradamus spoke of two great rocks

being engulfed in flames in a place called New City.

♪

WILDMAN: While some hail Nostradamus’s

mystical abilities,

others think he’s nothing but a fraud.

They point out that many of the omens are vague

and riddled with troubling inconsistencies.

For instance, the passages about Hister,

which many believe refer to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler

could be about something else entirely.

Hister is also the Latin name for the Danube River,

and throughout the ages,

the waterway has been the site of numerous battles.

Fighting near the Danube was bound to happen

because there were constant wars in Europe.

WILDMAN: The prediction about 9/11

is also seen as flawed.

It is incredibly vague.

New cities were springing up all the time over Europe,

and great fires have destroyed them,

so again there’s nothing new there.

WILDMAN: But buried deep within "Les Propheties"

is one divination that even the toughest critics

can’t dismiss.

ROSTAND: While many people think Nostradamus is a fraud,

this one prediction just blows that argument

right out of the water.

WILDMAN: So what is this mysterious premonition?

♪

It’s 1863.

In Paris, a well‐known biologist

has just made an astounding discovery.

The tiny microbes commonly found in wine and beer

can be killed by heating those liquids to around 120 degrees.

The scientist’s name?

Louis Pasteur.

His process becomes known as pasteurization,

and when applied to other liquids, such as milk,

it puts a stop to one of the primary

causes of food poisoning.

ROSTAND: It has saved millions of lives since then.

It was one of the most important inventions

in public health ever.

♪

WILDMAN: Amazingly, this earth‐shattering discovery

may have been predicted by Nostradamus 300 years earlier,

but unlike many of his other prophesies,

this one is so detailed that it can’t be explained away.

It tells of a great invention

that will save millions of lives,

and it specifically mentions Pasteur.

ROSTAND: Here is the exact name, the exact process,

and the impact of his invention.

Nostradamus got every part of that right.

♪

WILDMAN: To this day, this accurate

prediction motivates people

to scour Nostradamus’s writings for a glimpse into the future.

Some prophesies that have yet to come true include

an asteroid slamming into the Earth,

the coming of the Antichrist, and even World War III.

ROSTAND: His writings have endured for a reason.

Is it just this sort of romantic desire to know the unknowable,

or is there really something there?

♪

WILDMAN: Today, on display at the Nostradamus Museum

in Salon‐de‐Provence, France,

is a first‐edition copy of "Les Propheties."

It recalls the mystical visionary

who revealed the secrets of the future.

♪

Albany, New York.

In 1911, a devastating fire

tore through the state capitol building,

killing a night watchman.

Although the structure has since been restored,

some say the ghost of a doomed guard

can still be seen patrolling the halls at night.

More stories from the region’s past can be found nearby

at the New York State Museum.

♪

The impressive collection includes

a fully functional carousel from 1912,

a vintage New York City subway car,

and a 1910 milk delivery wagon.

♪

But among these oversized relics

is a small item with a chilling past.

MARSHALL: It’s 7 inches tall, 4 inches in diameter.

It is made of tin.

The artifact has a lens on the front.

The object appears worn, like it has gotten a lot of use.

WILDMAN: This antique lantern sheds light on an unwelcome visitor

who put a city on edge.

This story is one of New York’s most sensational ghost stories.

♪

WILDMAN: January 1863 ‐‐ New York City.

A popular weekly broadsheet called The Sunday Mercury

has published the account of a family

who says their home on East 27th Street is haunted.

♪

According to the report, the husband and wife

were enjoying a quiet evening at home

when a ghostly white figure floated into the living room.

The couple claims that the apparition

then took a seat by the fire and began to warm itself.

And when they approached the spectral figure,

it shot them a ghoulish glare.

MARSHALL: They said they were very scared.

It was inexplicable to them what this was,

but they knew that it was something supernatural.

WILDMAN: Then, according to the family, the spirit vanished.

But the episode left them spooked.

MARSHALL: The family ended up fleeing the premises in terror

and never came back to the property.

WILDMAN: When their tale is published in The Sunday Mercury,

it triggers a frenzy of interest across the region.

MARSHALL: The story was a huge deal.

People came from all over to see this ghost,

and they flocked to the street in droves.

WILDMAN: Soon, the street is jammed with so many onlookers

that the police are called in to maintain order.

MARSHALL: The crowds of people had gotten so wild and unruly

that police were stationed 24 hours a day

to ensure the safety of the residents.

WILDMAN: But the suspected ghost never makes another appearance.

And soon the crowds fade.

But the story doesn’t end there.

The following year, a new family moves into the home.

MARSHALL: Enough time had passed,

and ultimately, someone was interested in the house.

WILDMAN: But before long, they, too,

report strange bumps in the night.

The new occupants say that one afternoon,

they arrived with furniture movers

to carry in a sofa and a few chairs.

After placing the items in the living room,

they left for the night.

But when the family returned the next morning,

they found an unusual scene.

The chairs had disappeared.

Eventually, the seats were found in the basement...

...arranged around the smoldering remains of a fire.

♪

MARSHALL: They thought it clearly had to be the work of the supernatural.

They all wondered, "Could this be the 27th Street Ghost?"

WILDMAN: So, is this house really haunted?

♪

WILDMAN: It’s the 1860s in New York City.

Several residents of an upscale home on 27th Street

claim the building is haunted.

Seven years later in 1870,

a reporter from the New York Times

decides to investigate the paranormal claims.

When he interviews several longtime residents

of East 27th Street, a shocking story emerges.

It all started in 1863

when several vacant houses on the block

were occupied by some unsavory new tenants ‐‐

brothels.

The appearance of these scandalous salons

alarmed the neighbors.

They were worried that this would ruin their neighborhood

that they loved so much.

WILDMAN: So to scare them off, the residents of 27th Street

started a wicked rumor.

MARSHALL: They thought that if they planted a story about a ghost

in one of the houses on 27th Street in the papers,

that this would be enough to run the brothels out of town.

♪

WILDMAN: Sure enough, the ghost story caused so much commotion

that the police began regular patrols.

Officers even illuminated the street with lanterns,

like the one on display at the New York State Museum.

Eventually, the brothels were forced to leave.

For the Times reporter, just one question remains ‐‐

what of the alleged freaky furniture incident?

♪

As it turns out, the answer also lies with

the increased police presence.

One night, one of the policemen who was stationed on 27th Street

really wanted to find a warm place to rest for the night.

He shimmied down into this house that he knew to be vacant.

When he saw the furniture, he thought,

"Wow, I can bring this furniture over to the fire, start a fire

and be warm for the rest of my shift."

WILDMAN: On September 18, 1870,

the New York Times publishes the report,

putting the entire episode in a whole new light.

Today, a lantern like the ones

used by the police officers keeping watch on 27th Street

is on display at the New York State Museum in Albany.

It recalls the unsavory source

of a legendary Big Apple apparition.

♪

This strange artifact recalls a baffling event

that may be proof of extraterrestrial life.

This is a story of a threat from beyond the stars.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1984.

35 miles north of New York City,

on the banks of the Hudson River,

is the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

This massive complex generates electricity

for more than 7 million residents of the Big Apple.

As a result,

it’s one of the most secure locations in the nation.

This is a highly guarded facility.

In the event of a breach or an accident,

you have millions of people

that would be affected just 35 miles downstream.

♪

WILDMAN: On the night of July 24th,

security workers are settling in

for what they think will be a quiet evening shift,

but then something breaks the calm.

The system that monitors the plant’s security

suddenly goes out.

GONYO: Alarms, cameras,

all sorts of monitoring and notification systems ‐‐

they just die.

WILDMAN: Security workers scramble to find the source of the glitch.

At such a sensitive location, security systems going down

is a very dangerous and alarming situation.

WILDMAN: If someone were to infiltrate the plant and shut it down,

New York City could be plunged into chaotic darkness.

♪

Even worse, a sabotaged reactor could trigger a nuclear disaster

the likes of which has never been seen.

GONYO: So they’re scared.

They’re unsure of what’s going on.

WILDMAN: But this night is about to get even more bizarre.

One member of the security detail, a guard named Carl,

claims that while patrolling the plant’s fence line,

he saw something strange in the sky.

GONYO: He sees a series of lights,

and they appear to be attached to a V‐shaped structure ‐‐

an aircraft that almost looks like a boomerang.

WILDMAN: The guard claims the craft

was the width of three football fields,

and despite its enormous size, it didn’t make a sound.

GONYO: He’s really struck by the fact how silent this thing was

in the air despite how close it was in the sky.

WILDMAN: Then Carl says that just as suddenly as it arrived,

the flying object disappeared, and amazingly,

it was at that exact moment that the security system rebooted.

With all systems restored, just one question remains.

What was the curious craft?

GONYO: Everyone wanted a logical explanation,

but what they got was completely unexpected.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1984 in New York state.

An unidentified flying object

is seen above the Indian Point nuclear power plant,

and security workers are astonished and terrified.

Some say a clue may be found in the shape of the craft.

Its alleged "V" shape is similar to one of the military’s

most advanced warplanes, the B‐2 stealth bomber.

It’s thought that the aircraft’s state‐of‐the‐art

radar‐jamming technology

may have interfered with the plant’s security systems,

but this theory has its detractors.

They point out that the B‐2 is only 69 feet wide,

and the unidentified flying object was reported to be

more than 10 times larger.

And that’s not all.

You wouldn’t test an aircraft over a nuclear reactor,

where, if this aircraft should have an accident,

you have a nuclear explosion.

That’s a very shortsighted decision.

♪

WILDMAN: Others suspect the UFO could have been a meteor.

Some researchers believe that when the interstellar objects

slam into the Earth’s surface, the impact can create

an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP.

Such a force could have shorted out

the facility’s security system.

But this, too, seems unlikely.

While asteroids streak across the sky,

the mysterious craft was said to hover in place.

This theory just doesn’t make sense.

WILDMAN: With no logical explanation at hand,

some look to the stars for an answer.

GONYO: Many people claimed that...

this was an alien spacecraft.

♪

WILDMAN: Incredibly, the theory has some credence.

Over the years, thousands of people have claimed

to see the same triangular‐shaped craft.

GONYO: In fact, between 1982 and 1985,

there are over 7,000 credible reports

of people seeing a large UFO in the sky

over the Hudson Valley.

WILDMAN: Today, the identity of the craft

remains shrouded in mystery.

♪

And this model of the Hudson Valley UFO

is on display at the Pine Bush UFO and Paranormal Museum

in Pine Bush, New York.

It recalls an otherworldly object that defies explanation.

♪

Michigan’s upper peninsula ‐‐

In the town of Negaunee

is an institution that celebrates innovation.

The Michigan Iron Industry Museum.

On display is a 19th century wooden wheelbarrow,

a metal car that once transported explosive powder

deep underground,

and a replica of a mine shaft.

♪

But there’s one object in the collection that recalls

a spooky, supernatural story.

COX: The artifact is 18 inches wide and about a foot tall.

It’s made of brass.

There’s a lot of different moving parts.

There’s a dial and the words inscribed on it

are "Burt’s patent."

WILDMAN: This device, called a solar compass,

helped solve a mystery that baffled the nation.

This artifact is linked to a haunted forest,

terrified explorers, and a skeptical scientist.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1824 in the wilderness of what is present day

Marquette County, Michigan.

As the story goes, a fur trapper named John C. O’Driscoll

has come to the area to hunt in uncharted forest.

But when he encounters local Native Americans,

he learns that the terrain is believed to be haunted.

These woods were acting like a Bermuda Triangle.

People would go in and they would get lost.

The native people believe that there were evil spirits

that drove men insane and it even killed some people.

WILDMAN: But O’Driscoll doesn’t believe in ghosts.

COX: He was a frontiersman.

He had conquered other places,

and he thought he’d be able to conquer the forest, too.

WILDMAN: He grabs his compass, his Bible, and backpack of supplies

and sets off into the deep, dark woods.

At first, his foray into the wild goes smoothly,

but he soon gets disoriented.

COX: He’s not quite sure where he is.

He can’t seem to catch his bearings.

Everything looks the same.

WILDMAN: But then he notices something unique.

An eerie, bright white tree.

This is the first time he saw something

that actually stood out

among all of the repetition of the forest

and the trees over and over again.

WILDMAN: O’Driscoll decides to begin a new course,

taking his bearings off this distinct marker.

Using his compass.

He heads due north.

He had this renewed sense of hope

he’d be able to find his way out.

WILDMAN: But after a day of trekking through the forest,

he comes to a spot that looks eerily familiar.

There is even a strange white tree.

Then glancing at the ground, he spots his own Bible.

♪

COX: It was the exact same tree,

so even though he thought he was going north,

he had gone in a complete circle.

WILDMAN: For the first time, O’Driscoll starts to believe

the legend of the haunted forest is true.

How could it be possible to follow a course north

and wind up walking in a giant circle

and he’s beginning to get this really creeping sensation

that maybe the natives were right.

WILDMAN: It takes O’Driscoll days to find his way out.

When he does, his tale spreads through the region.

For years, people are terrified

to go back into the freaky forest.

But two decades later, one man will reveal the truth

behind this bewildering woods once and for all.

♪

WILDMAN: According to legend, a vast forested area

in northern Michigan’s Marquette County is haunted.

Locals claim the woods are populated by evil spirits

and those who dare to enter never come out.

♪

It’s 1844.

William Burt is a surveyor for the U. S. government.

William Burt had always had an interest in mathematics

and astronomy and navigation,

and so he had parlayed those interests into a job.

WILDMAN: Burt is tasked with mapping the wilderness

of the newly admitted state of Michigan,

including the supposedly haunted forest.

♪

COX: He heard the rumors that there were evil spirits,

that it drove men insane,

but William was a man of science.

He didn’t believe any of that.

WILDMAN: Burt grabs his compass

and ventures into the imposing area.

And like those before him,

he soon witnesses strange happenings.

♪

COX: Just as it had happened 20 years before,

he’d see the same things

and he couldn’t seem to catch his bearings.

WILDMAN: Most significant

is the fact that the needle on Burt’s compass

is behaving strangely.

The needle on his compass would spin erratically,

and it was clear that it was not marking north.

WILDMAN: Burt’s compass had been working normally

before he set out into the woods,

so he reasons that something else must be going on.

It turns out the answer is right beneath his feet.

♪

Burt concludes that he must be

standing atop a vast deposit of iron ore.

Burt knew that iron ore was one of the most magnetic

of all naturally occurring minerals on Earth.

It must have been the reason his instrument wasn’t working.

WILDMAN: Burt eventually finds his way back to civilization.

And when word of his discovery gets out,

it draws prospectors from all over the country.

In the years that follow,

billions of dollars worth of iron ore

are pulled from the ground, and the newly created state

of Michigan becomes rich in the process.

It became the largest mining stampede

that the young country had ever seen.

♪

WILDMAN: For his part, Burt goes on

to develop a navigational tool

that isn’t affected by the presence of metal.

He created a compass that used the sun

instead of a magnetic field

to map out your position.

WILDMAN: Using a device called a solar compass,

Burt eventually completes his task of mapping the area.

Burt’s Solar Compass became the most accurate way

of surveying land.

♪

WILDMAN: This red‐winged blackbird

recalls an ominous event

and a terrifying prophecy of doom.

DELGADO: This is a story about thousands of dead birds

and the end of the world.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1958 in Tabasco, Mexico.

Poet Carlos Pellicer is exploring

an old Mayan ruin named Tortuguero.

Hidden among the overgrowth,

he comes across three rectangular stones.

What he saw was shocking.

WILDMAN: The light‐colored slabs

are covered with rows of intricate carvings.

Try as he might, Pellicer is unable to decipher

these ancient hieroglyphs.

For the next two decades, the strange carvings baffle

even the greatest cryptographers,

but in 1978, a fascinating theory emerges.

It recounts an ancient ritual,

and it makes a catastrophic prediction.

On December 21, 2012, the world is going to end.

DELGADO: If this Mayan legend were true,

was humanity just doomed?

WILDMAN: As the clock counts down towards Doomsday,

speculation is rife as to what form the Mayan Armageddon

will take.

Some believe the end of the world

will come in the form of a nuclear disaster.

Others think the Earth will be pulled into the sun,

but while many scoff at the thought of Doomsday,

in the small town of Beebe, Arkansas,

something happens that suggests

perhaps the Mayans were right after all.

♪

On December 31, 2010,

the townsfolk are preparing to celebrate the new year.

DELGADO: People are excited.

They’re looking forward to what the new year will bring.

WILDMAN: Suddenly, the revelry is interrupted

by an ominous noise.

[ Thudding ]

DELGADO: It’s almost midnight,

and just as they were preparing to toast and celebrate,

they started to hear these thuds outside.

They had no idea what was going on.

WILDMAN: When the townsfolk look outside,

they are met by a startling sight.

People saw these small, dark figures crashing into cars,

trees, windows, and people were horrified.

It looked like it was raining birds.

♪

WILDMAN: In a matter of minutes,

the small town is littered

with the corpses of red‐winged blackbirds

like the one on display

at the Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro.

Over 5,000 of these birds had fallen from the sky.

WILDMAN: And it causes many to speculate

that it could be the harbinger

of the Mayan’s Doomsday prophecy.

DELGADO: If this Mayan legend were true,

these deaths were just the beginning of the end.

Some people couldn’t help but wonder if they were next.

WILDMAN: So what’s the truth

behind this baffling blackbird mystery?

WILDMAN: It’s 2011 in Beebe, Arkansas.

The discovery of a Mayan prophecy

that warns of the end of the world

has caused panic among the masses.

And when thousands of dead birds suddenly fall from the sky,

many fear their days are numbered.

Cleveland, Ohio.

A man named Mark Johnson

is determined to solve the mystery.

DELGADO: He needed to figure out what caused these birds

to fall from the sky.

WILDMAN: He digs into the events of that night

and in doing so discovers a clue.

What he found was shocking.

WILDMAN: According to research, red‐winged blackbirds

have notoriously bad eyesight,

so they normally only fly during the day.

DELGADO: For them to have taken flight

in the middle of the night was very bizarre

and made this entire event that much more strange.

WILDMAN: But what could have caused these blackbirds

to risk their lives by leaving their roost?

The answer lies in the calendar.

It was New Year’s Eve.

DELGADO: In the town of Beebe on New Year’s Eve,

they were known to have lots of firework celebrations.

WILDMAN: Johnson concludes that the earsplitting display

must have startled the birds,

causing them to take to the skies,

and ultimately it was this impromptu night flight

that led to their collective demise.

DELGADO: Because these blackbirds have poor eyesight,

they became disoriented, so they were flying into

buildings, into cars, into the pavement.

WILDMAN: And it turns out

that the Mayans had it wrong after all.

The blackbirds’ death spiral was not a sign

that the world was ending.

They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

♪

WILDMAN: Austin, Texas, is home

to Bullock Texas State History Museum.

Among the exhibits celebrating

the Lone Star state’s illustrious past

is a curious contraption with a deadly tale to tell.

BETZ: This artifact weighs about 200 pounds.

It’s painted a very distinctive green.

It’s very clear that it’s a mechanical device of some kind,

but it’s not immediately obvious what its use would be.

♪

WILDMAN: This strange machine recalls a tragedy

that inspired a life‐saving innovation.

This device was created so that something good

could come out of horrible devastation.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1937.

The nation is mired in the Great Depression,

but in the rustic town of New London, Texas,

things are looking up.

The reason?

It sits on one of the world’s richest oil deposits.

BETZ: New London was really an anomaly during that time.

Because of this discovery of oil within the town,

the population exploded.

Money came pouring in.

WILDMAN: The town has recently invested much of the windfall

into a brand‐new school.

BETZ: The school was a huge point of pride for the town.

It cost, at that time, more than a $1 million to build.

WILDMAN: But this prized institution

is about to go up in smoke.

On March 18th just after 3:00 p. m.,

the school is rocked by a massive explosion.

The force was incredibly powerful.

It was strong enough to push large pieces of concrete

hundreds of feet into the air.

WILDMAN: When rescuers rushed to the scene,

they’re met with a sight of utter devastation.

MAN: The scenes of the disaster were indescribable.

WILDMAN: Crews frantically searched

the rubble for survivors

and pull out the remains of those who were not so lucky.

When the dust settles,

311 students and faculty are dead,

and many more are injured.

MAN: Hundreds of school children

and their teachers killed and mangled

and everywhere sobbing, hysterical parents.

WILDMAN: The tragedy leaves New London stunned,

but the cause of the disaster is a mystery.

Everyone wanted answers,

and a number of crazy rumors

started spreading around town.

WILDMAN: Some believed the school

may have been destroyed by a disgruntled student.

BETZ: Some people saw a student earlier that morning

yelling at a teacher

and thought that he might have brought dynamite into the school

and caused an explosion.

WILDMAN: The school was near several oil‐drilling sites

that were stocked with the volatile material,

but none of them reports that any dynamite had gone missing.

It seems the cause of the blast may never be known,

but an explosive new piece of evidence

is about to blow the case wide open.

♪

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1937 in New London, Texas.

A massive explosion has leveled the town school

leaving hundreds dead and wounded.

Now investigators are determined to discover

the cause of this lethal blast.

The case is taken up by a Texas inspection bureau agent

named H. Oram Smith.

BETZ: H. Oram Smith was a fire investigator,

so he was brought in

to determine the cause of the explosion.

WILDMAN: Smith and his team begin

by speaking with the survivors.

Eventually, an intriguing story begins to emerge.

In the days leading up to the blast,

those inside the school suffered from strange symptoms

including prolonged headaches and burning eyes.

For the investigator,

this points to a different cause for the explosion.

BETZ: These complaints could be the result of prolonged

exposure to natural gas.

WILDMAN: But where did this dangerous gas come from?

The answer lies with the construction crews

who built the school.

BETZ: To save about $300 a month, roughly $4,000 to $5,000

in today’s money,

the school had cut their contract with the gas company.

WILDMAN: Instead, they tapped into a gas line

from a neighboring oil refinery,

but the connection was shoddy,

and gas began to leak into the school’s basement.

Over time, the dangerous fumes build up unnoticed

beneath the building.

BETZ: Gas is orderless in its natural state,

so this leak could’ve gone undetected for quite some time.

WILDMAN: And it only took one small spark

to blow the whole building sky high.

BETZ: The shop teacher had been plugging in a belt sander,

which caused a spark, which ignited the explosion.

[ Explosion ]

WILDMAN: In the aftermath,

Texas passes a law requiring all natural gas

to be odorized.

Integral to the process is a machine called an odorizer.

BETZ: The device would make gas smell bad like rotten eggs.

Now there’s a very obvious smell that is a first warning sign

if there is a gas leak to ensure

that this wouldn’t happen anywhere again.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, of the original odorizers sits on display

at the Bullock Texas State History Museum.

It recalls the tragedy and the life‐saving innovation

that linger to this day.

♪