Original subtitles

- [Tony] UFOs.

- [Tony] UAPs.

- [Witness] Holy [bleep]. Did you see that?

- [Tony] USOs.

- [Witness] That is phenomenal, man. Look at that.

- [Tony] No matter what we call them,

are we any closer to proving aliens really do exist?

- You see something in the sky like this,

it's not unreasonable to think

that some people would think that they're UFOs.

- [Tony] But why do some places

become what are known as UFO hotspots?

- We have so much documented evidence

of UFOs around volcanoes.

- Some people believe that UFOs are attracted to them

because of all the heat it emits.

- [Tony] On this special episode of,

"The Proof is Out There: Alien Edition,"

our team of top experts

will investigate UFO hotspots around the globe.

- It was almost like something out of "Star Trek."

Very confused as to what I was seeing.

- [Tony] From orbs hovering over volcanoes

to light formations beaming in mountainous regions,

to UFOs tracking a cargo plane midair.

- [Witness] Look at that, dude.

[laughs] This is awesome, man!

- [Tony] Then we'll pass a verdict.

- Now I can definitively say we are not alone.

- The proof starts now.

[dramatic music]

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

If I say Dorothy and Toto,

basketball dynasties and wheat, lots of wheat,

you think Kansas, right?

Well, not everything is what you'd expect out on the plains.

Check this out.

March, 2021, the good people of Wichita, Kansas

are going about their business.

Property manager Mike Marler is one of them.

- I was on my lunch break and I was going back to work

and I was getting off on my exit.

- [Tony] Mike glances to his right and spots this.

- [Mike] What the [bleep] is this?

I noticed in the sky there was something silver.

It was long, it was shiny,

it was moving very, very fast.

So it was very challenging to get a really good angle.

What is it?

- [Tony] We slow it down and zoom in.

But even then it seems to race out of frame.

- [Mike] And then in a matter of seconds

it just disappeared.

- [Tony] When Mike posts the video to social media,

he learns that dozens of others saw the same object.

UFOs in Kansas are nothing new.

In 1972, one of the world's most famous UFO encounters

occurred in Delphos, Kansas,

witnessed by 16-year-old Ronnie Johnson on his family farm.

- All of a sudden a large object descended,

began hovering over his backyard and then disappeared,

but it left burn marks on the ground.

- [Tony] Ronnie's mother

took a picture of this strange circle.

- We call it a physical trace case.

We also know that there was a slight increase

in radiation around the area where the UFO was

compared to soil further away from the site.

- Did the people of Wichita witness something similar?

There were a lot of eyes on this one.

So unless we're dealing with a massive hoax,

the video is real.

And given the Sunflower State's history with UFOs,

it's worth asking our experts if this is proof

of an extraterrestrial encounter

or a case of mistaken identity?

[mysterious music]

Our aviation analyst, Tim McMillan,

first tries to determine where Mike was

when he spotted the object.

- As they were filming they passed several street signs

and so that allows you to narrow down exactly where they are

and what direction they're facing.

- [Tony] McMillan uses the location

and timestamp on the video to compare it

to the flight data from that day.

He zeroes in on one craft

that is occasionally mistaken for a UFO over Wichita.

- [Tim] The NASA Super Guppy is a very odd-shaped

wide body cargo aircraft that can even be used

to transport the space shuttle.

There was one in Wichita that day.

- [Tony] The Super Guppy can carry up to 26 tons of payload.

It looks like a cross between a cargo plane and a zeppelin.

NASA itself says it's often mistaken for a UFO,

especially when its reflective metal catches the sun

and it frequently flies in and out of Fort McConnell,

right near Wichita.

- But when you look at the flight radar data

from that particular day,

the Super Guppy was actually several hundred miles away

to the southwest.

So we can say with absolute certainty

this was not the Super Guppy that was being filmed here.

- It almost looks like

it's kinda waving a little bit in the wind.

So the next question is,

could it be one of those advertising banners

that's towed behind these light planes?

And the answer is

that theory actually matches this the best.

- [Tony] But McMillan disagrees

and points to his research on flight data that day as proof.

- There isn't anything in that vicinity

that's showing up on that flight data.

Whatever aircraft it is, it's not operating a transponder.

So it's not gonna be a civilian aircraft,

it's not gonna be a commercial aircraft.

[mysterious music]

- So what do we think?

The Guppy, a banner, a top secret craft,

or none of the above?

Without more evidence, we're gonna call this a genuine UFO,

but please reach out to us if you have any more information.

This next video requires a serious look.

It comes to us from a pilot with nearly 30 years

of commercial and military experience.

He knows what should and shouldn't be

flying around up there.

And what he caught on camera can't be dismissed.

March 19th, 2020.

We are in the skies over Monterrey, Mexico,

on a cargo plane headed

to Memphis, Tennessee.

About an hour into the flight

while Captain Erik Delgado is enjoying his dinner,

something catches his eye.

He pulls out his device and records this.

- [Erik] Oh man, that is phenomenal, dude.

I'm so glad you saw that.

And you saw it drop out of the sky and just-

- It just stopped?

[Erik laughs]

- [Erik] This is awesome, man.

And it's pulsating too, man.

That is nuts.

- [Tony] Captain Delgado says this thing

dropped straight down from above

and hit his plane with some kind of spotlight.

- It looked like a lighthouse

in some thin fog as it's turning.

So that really got my heart going.

- [Tony] No doubt A UFO shining a light on your plane

would be a terrifying moment.

- I thought there could have been a safety issue

because initially this thing is turning into us

and then it decided to park itself off our left wing tip.

- [Tony] The glowing orb

maintains its position pacing the plane.

Delgado says it stayed there for 25 minutes

before darting off at a sharp angle.

- At that point the fear was gone and then it was just,

I was flabbergasted.

It was just wonderment I guess.

- [Tony] And there's more.

This is the part of Mexico where Delgado saw the UFO.

It's a short flight from Central Mexico's zone of silence,

a weird place that locals say blocks radio transmissions

and where UFOs have been seen for centuries.

And check out this video.

Similar objects recorded by the Mexican Air Force in 2004.

[pilot speaking in Spanish]

- I guess now I can definitively say we are not alone.

- So what's the story down in Mexico?

We passed Captain Delgado's video

onto some top aviation and video analysts

and you need to hear what they have to say.

[mysterious music]

We turned back to Mark D'Antonio,

who has spent 15 years doing image and video analysis.

He first wanted to check if this orb

could actually be the planet Venus,

which is sometimes mistaken for a UFO.

- Number one, Venus doesn't move around

in the sky like they saw it

and this object shone a light

inside the cockpit of the aircraft.

Planets don't have spotlights on 'em.

- [Tony] So could it have been

a meteor or a piece of space junk?

Fun fact, there are about 130 million pieces

of junk in our orbit.

But look at how this meteor leaves a long tail

and only for a few seconds.

That's not what this thing does.

Aviation expert Tim McMillan.

- Meteors fly into the atmosphere,

you know, at a speed of 25,000 to more.

You don't have something

that's following you for 30 minutes.

We can scratch that off the list.

That's not gonna be a good explanation.

- [Tony] McMillan is equally convinced

this was not another plane.

- If you'd had another plane

that was flying in the vicinity,

it would be operating the lights that are on either wing

so your green and red lights.

Anybody who's looked up in the sky has seen those blinking

and so you don't see anything else but that.

- [Tony] And of course other aircraft

are supposed to show up on radar.

But look at what happens when Delgado pans

to the cockpit monitors.

- It may be the most inexplicable part

of this whole incident.

The orb never appears

on Delgado's collision avoidance system

or air traffic control's radar.

- You would see,

if there was another aircraft in the vicinity

where they're looking, which is in this region,

you'd see a plane on this.

So we don't see that.

So there's definitely not another aircraft.

- You now have a case that's really truly mysterious.

This looks like there's mystery here.

- That was a UFO.

You can look at the footage and form your own opinions.

I'm not the story, the footage is the story.

[mysterious music]

- So America, time for the answer.

Is it proof or not?

Well, it's not a planet.

There are no wings and Delgado said it followed him.

Now we didn't see any evidence

of the spotlight he described, but our verdict?

A UFO,

which is technically any unidentified flying object.

which is technically any unidentified flying object.

- Did you know the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force

was once responsible

for recording all UFO sightings across the UK?

That effort was shut down back in 2009,

but the recent release of the records

has confirmed that London is a bonafide hotspot

with the most UFO reports of anywhere in the UK.

Don't believe it? Look for yourself.

June, 2011.

It's a partly cloudy day in London, England,

when suddenly a commotion in the streets has one pedestrian

pulling out a camera to film this.

Did you see that?

Let's take another look.

Five glowing orbs pass from one cloud to another,

then a larger oval-shaped UFO hovers above the city

and suddenly darts away.

[car horn honks]

It's a sight that seems to shock the London pedestrians

as well as author and blogger Amy Teitel.

- What's interesting about this video

is that it seems to be morphing.

It kind of narrows and then expands again to a ring shape.

So what could this possibly be?

- [Tony] The UK has reported

over 5,000 UFO sightings in the past 20 years.

In fact, 7% of Britons say they've seen A UFO

and some of them are aviation professionals.

- This sighting is somewhat reminiscent

of the story told by Captain James Howard.

In 1954, he and a crew were flying a Stratocruiser to London

and they saw an oblong or an elongated black object

with kind of upturned ends that were curved.

And as they watched it, it morphed,

it changed shape and became a flat object

with a pointed wing almost looking like a shark's fin.

This video bears some similarities

to this commercial pilot's sighting.

And in both of these sightings,

the main body seems to morph.

In this video, it's a circle that squishes into an oval

and then goes back into a circle again.

- Even before the media sensation

of Captain Howard's sighting,

the British government was well aware

of UFOs in their airspace.

In fact, in 1952,

Winston Churchill himself wrote a letter

asking for an official report on flying saucers.

It's a short letter.

Let me read it to you.

"What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to?

What can it mean?

What is the truth?

Let me have a report at your convenience.

WSC."

So are they back?

We take that question to our team of experts.

[mysterious music]

First we talk to aviation expert Tim McMillan

to find out if there's any known aircraft

that matches this object.

- It's definitely odd.

If it was say your normal conventional aircraft,

we would see wings, we would see a tail stabilizer

and it needs to have forward momentum.

And in this case we see it hovering.

- [Tony] Okay, the shape doesn't match any typical aircraft.

What about something that does match

the shape, like a balloon?

- You can see lenticular-shaped

large different atmospheric balloons,

but yet we're left with the fact

that it doesn't maneuver like a balloon.

- [Tony] It's the quick starts

and stops that don't fit for McMillan.

- If a balloon is caught into air flow

of the upper atmosphere it's gonna go with that

and that's not really what we're seeing here.

So we're seeing something

that appears to be under controlled flight.

- [Tony] Without any conventional explanation,

we turn to forensic video analyst Michael Primeau.

So could this be a fake?

- Typically multiple witnesses viewing something

is sufficient to be able to verify

that there's something upward

in the sky that they're all looking at.

[witnesses chattering]

- [Tony] Primeau says a thorough examination

of the metadata reveals a crucial clue.

- In the macro block analysis

we see all of these different colors

and when something is created in a software program,

these macro blocks are random as you see here

because its goal is to shrink the file size

as much as possible.

So the actual pixel content that goes into the video

when it's created have all been changed drastically.

- [Tony] For Primeau, that's all he needs to know.

- The gradients that were used to blend the sky

with these UFOs was compelling.

This is probably the most convincing hoax

that I've ever analyzed.

Mostly because at the preliminary level

of the examination,

it even had me fooled for a brief moment.

[mysterious music]

- Our verdict? Hoax.

Credit where credit is due,

the multiple apparent witnesses

did give this video a sense of realism, but in the end,

these UFOs are nothing more than a digital creation.

But we still don't know what Captain Howard

and his crew saw that day in 1954.

If you happen to have any real proof,

be sure to send it our way.

- Canada has a long UFO history

and its government keeps a public record of sightings.

In 2020, the number was 1,243,

In 2020, the number was 1,243,

a notable uptick from the previous year,

continuing a trend that goes back decades.

But of all those sightings over all those years,

there may be none as famous as this.

November 7th, 1990.

It's just after 7:00 PM in downtown Montreal, Canada.

A guest is enjoying an evening swim in the rooftop pool

at the Bonaventure Hotel.

When suddenly she looks up into the sky and sees this.

Look closely, four strange glowing green lights

seem to point outward from the center like spokes.

While two bright yellow lights

can clearly be seen in the center of the object.

The woman notifies management

and soon a group of people including the police

come to the hotel rooftop.

As the crowd gathers,

initial estimates among witnesses placed the lights

at least 1000 feet above the hotel.

Journalist MJ Banias explains why this event is famous

not only in Canadian history, but UFO lore.

- The Bonaventure UFO incident was very unique

because almost 30 people saw this strange object in the sky

hovering above this hotel

and more bizarrely, this hovers above this hotel

for two or three hours

and you would assume people in the city would see it,

but the only people who are able to see this

were the people on the roof of the hotel

or on the sidewalk just outside it when they looked up.

- [Tony] Additionally,

no aircraft was identified in that location

by military or commercial radar.

So what happened and why this specific hotel?

- Two UFO researchers were able

to comprise a report quite quickly after the encounter

and they were able to collect significant witness testimony.

- [Tony] The witnesses all described to investigators

a craft that matches what's seen in the photograph.

But most intriguing is after the craft disappears,

one witness later that night sees a boomerang-shaped object

hovering over the Hydro-Quebec Long Point power station.

Is it the same craft that hovered over the hotel?

- This story has everything

and when you get a whole bunch

of people telling the same story,

it's gonna automatically draw a lot of attention.

- Montreal's Hotel Bonaventure

is nestled on the top two floors

of the sprawling 17- story-plus Bonaventure.

When it first opened in 1967,

it was the world's largest commercial building

at 3.1 million square feet,

more than the Empire State Building.

So perhaps the reason the alleged UFO in 1990

selected the Hotel Bonaventure was its size,

but is it even a UFO?

We asked our experts to take a look.

[mysterious music]

We start with aviation expert Tim McMillan.

- Basing it on the image here,

possibly a helicopter that has a search light

or some type of bright lights attached to it,

but you would be able to see the warning lights

that are on helicopters.

Also you can hear helicopters from miles away.

They're loud,

especially one that is hovering for three hours.

That's a long time.

- [Tony] Is it possible location plays a factor?

Meteorologist Juan Hernandez notes that Canada is well known

for one of the most spectacular natural phenomena on earth.

- My initial thought was could it be the Aurora Borealis?

But Aurora Borealis often move and are quite transient.

In this case, the report was stationary light

that lasted for several hours.

- [Tony] But the hazy nature of the photo

does lead Hernandez to investigate

if Mother Nature could still be playing a role.

- I was able to track down

the weather observations from that day.

We do have temperatures

that were actually about 30 to 34 degrees

while this was occurring,

but the relative humidity itself

was somewhat on the high side.

So whenever you have something like this,

you oftentimes develop

either some sort of fog or low clouds.

- [Tony] For astronomer

and video effects designer Mark D'Antonio,

that may be the key to solving this mystery.

- I believe that we're seeing

a reflection back from the clouds,

the fog that looked like something else.

You've seen this every time you go out in your car

and you drive along on a foggy night.

So these lights could have been lights from the pool

and from some other lighting

around the Bonaventure hotel reflecting up into the sky

and then down to the pool again.

- [Tony] It's a plausible theory,

but if it was the reflected pool light,

wouldn't the guests and police there that night

have put two and two together?

Plus consider this.

It's been 30 years.

There have been many foggy nights in Montreal in that time,

and if it's a reflection,

it's one that's never been seen again.

- Whenever you're trying to form

a really good investigation,

you're testing different hypotheses,

but I'm inclined to believe that multiple,

potentially up to 80 witnesses,

someone would've been able to determine

if it was a light being reflected.

Categorically, based on the image,

and what the eyewitnesses said,

it is a UFO.

[mysterious music]

- Our verdict?

We're going with genuine UFO.

As McMillan says,

while there are plausible theories, in our view,

we still don't have a smoking gun.

The Hotel Bonaventure incident is still considered

one of the most famous UFO sightings in Canada.

So much so that in 2020 it was depicted

on a $20 silver glow- in-the-dark coin.

[mysterious music]

For hundreds of years,

the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights

has had a deep spiritual meaning

for Canada's Aboriginal Inuit people

often involving the lives of the departed

and a belief that souls of the dead dance in the Aurora.

But now another strange light phenomenon

has been documented in Canada that as far as we know,

is not part of any Native traditions.

So our question, what is it?

January, 2017.

North Bay, Ontario, Canada.

It's 2:00 AM and TJ Elzinga is woken up by his son's crying.

Then after putting him back to bed,

Timmy looks out the window and sees this.

Take a closer look.

A row of multicolored beams of light

stretch across the horizon,

shooting down from the sky into the ground.

TJ ventures outside with sub-zero temperatures

for another view.

- Oh my goodness.

It was almost like something out of "Star Trek"

or something like "Scotty. beam me up,"

and I was very confused as what I was seeing.

And I've never seen this before in my life.

- [Tony] Now you might be thinking

this is the fabled Aurora Borealis,

which is visible in the Great White North

about 240 nights a year.

But that phenomenon looks like this,

not these clearly defined beams of light.

Writer Eric Grundhauser agrees

that these are unlike any phenomenon he's ever seen.

- You see something in the sky like this,

it's not unreasonable to think

that some people would think that they're UFOs.

- [Tony] The phenomenon is somewhat reminiscent

of these mysterious lights

spotted above Montreal's Hotel Bonaventure,

which we just saw.

Could this be a similar anomaly?

- So this is not something anyone would expect.

I think that most people would see these

as an unnatural phenomenon.

- Now, when I first saw these lights,

I figured it could be some manmade art installation

like the famous tribute in light

at Ground Zero in Manhattan.

But before we commit to any theory,

let's let the experts illuminate us.

[mysterious music]

Could these light beams be a hoax?

- Upon investigation of the way

that the camera captured this information,

this shutter speed value is consistent

with what we would refer to as nighttime photography

or long exposure.

The images are authentic.

The images haven't been photoshopped in any way.

Nothing was detected that suggests

that they were fabricated or created.

- [Tony] Next we go to astronomer

and video effects designer Mark D'Antonio.

- Is it a Martian invasion?

Is it an alien attack?

I know that people said that this

was some kind of big UFO hovering in the sky,

but there really isn't any structure visible

and you would think if it was that close

where you would actually see some kind of structure.

- [Tony] So are we looking at a natural phenomenon?

We take that question to meteorologist Juan Hernandez

and he points to an uncommon

and rarely photographed phenomenon called light pillars.

- Light pillars are a phenomenon characteristic

of cold climates.

Oftentimes when we have below freezing temperatures,

we have ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere.

Those ice crystals are in the shape of hexagons,

so they're hexagonal ice crystals that act as a mirror

where light is reflected towards the surface.

It might seem like there's a beam of light

coming from the surface of the earth,

but in reality it's actually an optical illusion.

- [Tony] But while a light pillar

can be generated by the sun,

it turns out it's primarily our modern city lighting

that causes them and their different colors.

- It just depends on what the light source is.

If it's a light post

or if it's something coming from a residence or a building.

Due to the differences in the sodium vapor

within the lamps themselves,

we're able to get distinct colors such as the blue hues.

We're able to get the orange hues or even the yellow hues.

[mysterious music]

- Our verdict?

Light pillars.

These rare phenomena have been spotted around the world

on cold winter nights from Wyoming to Sweden,

even the Antarctic.

But conditions have to be just right

for this rare phenomenon to occur.

In most instances when light pillars form

temperatures are minus 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit,

if not colder.

So if you go out looking for them, don't forget your coat.

- If you live in a Scandinavian country like Norway,

you often get a front row seat

to the famous Northern Lights.

But while that dazzling sight has a scientific explanation,

we found some other lights in the Norwegian skies

and they're leaving us

with many more questions than answers.

For more than 30 years,

computer science professor Erling Strand has been traveling

the Hessdalen Valley in his native Norway,

spending countless hours investigating a mystery

that no one can explain.

It's a phenomenon so rare

that not many have ever captured it on film,

but when it happens,

Erling's camera and tripod have been there

to record these eerie images.

One of Erling's videos taken on December 4th, 1999

shows a pulsating flickering light

that appears above the horizon.

Another video shows what appears to be

a single mysterious pulsating light.

When we zoom in, the shape, size,

and intensity seem to be fluctuating

as these lights travel high above the mountains.

- There was no natural thing which could make these lights.

I had found that very little scientific information existed.

- [Tony] Closeup photographs reveal

what appears to be an amorphous gas-like substance.

But what are they?

The lights have been observed since the 1930s,

but investigative journalist MJ Banias says

it was the period between December, 1981 to mid 1984

when the scientific world really took notice.

- What makes Hessdalen very interesting is we don't know

if this is some sort of a naturally occurring phenomena.

We don't know if this is a manmade phenomena

and we also don't know

if this could have some sort of otherworldly answer.

- [Tony] While sightings of the lights

are not as frequent as they once were,

this has not stopped ufologists

from believing that the lights

are signs of extraterrestrial activity.

- Some people believe that due to mineral deposits

or the location of a specific mountain or valley

that UFOs are drawn to it

or that valleys and mountains play hosts

to sort of underground bases for UFO pilots.

- [Tony] But researchers have recently come up

with a more earthly explanation.

The unusual lights may be caused

by a natural battery buried deep underground,

created by metallic minerals reacting

with sulfur in the river running between them.

- The area itself is very rich in minerals.

For a very long time,

mining operations have existed in the area,

predominantly for minerals like copper and zinc,

and these lights could be somehow connected

to the mining operations that occur in the valley.

- Researchers are so determined

to figure out this phenomenon that in 1998,

a permanent station called the Blue Box

began monitoring the valley with a magnetometer,

two black-and-white cameras and one color camera.

Clearly something strange is going on there, but what?

We asked our experts to weigh in.

[mysterious music]

Physics professor Matthew Szydagis says

that since teams of scientists

have been studying this phenomenon for decades,

they've had plenty of time to eliminate

several of the more mundane explanations.

- We've already ruled out car, airplane, helicopter,

because those objects don't fit

the description of these lights,

which have different behaviors blinking on and off,

changing shape, changing color.

- [Tony] While Szydagis says

that the natural battery theory makes sense,

it's still just a theory.

- The natural minerals in the area may develop

positive and negative charges naturally

like in your everyday battery.

So if you have a strong enough electric field,

you might end up with what look like lights in the sky.

The downside of the natural battery theory

is these minerals are not necessarily next to each other.

They're separated by the river in the area.

- [Tony] Astronomer and video effects designer

Mark D'Antonio says another leading theory

is that the lights are literally generated by the earth.

- The theory is that the lights are generated by some type

of electrical energy coupled with some magnetic influences

that ends up becoming visible in the air

as naturally caused lights in the same way

that you scruff your feet on a carpet

and touch something metal and you see a little spark

between your finger and that metal thing

that might be able to occur on a larger scale.

But I think that we're lacking information

to say definitively what they are.

So we don't know for sure we exactly what we're seeing here,

but it is a rather compelling video, nonetheless.

[mysterious music]

- Our verdict?

We're calling this an unexplained phenomenon.

While the theory that the geology of Norway

is causing the Hessdalen lights is compelling,

it is still only a theory

and it begets the question,

why don't we see this battery effect

around other similar geological areas?

One thing is certain, more research is needed,

and if you want to head to Norway to do it,

they'll leave the lights on for you.

and if you want to head to Norway to do it,uary 2.

It's early evening in the skies over Mexico City.

Webcams around the country livestream images

of Mexico's national monuments and cultural treasures,

but no one ever expected them to capture this.

A small light appears to launch

from the top of Popocatepetl volcano

known locally as El Popo.

But look closely,

the light flies closer and closer to the camera

when suddenly,

it explodes into a glowing orb

and climbs up into the atmosphere.

[mysterious music]

And look at this,

the second camera facing El Popo on a different day.

What are these glowing orbs we're seeing at different times

around the volcano and are they related?

Paty Contreras, Director of Digital Strategy

for Webcams de Mexico says

for Webcams de Mexico says

she wasn't even sure what was going on.

what is happening here?

This is not a plane, this is not the drone.

What is this thing exploring in the sky?

- [Tony] In fact, Mexico is seventh in the world

when it comes to UFO sightings

with several reported near El Popo each year.

But why do these unidentified objects

seem to be attracted to volcanoes?

According to journalist MJ Banias,

it may be because UFOs need volcanoes

for camouflage and energy.

- [MJ] Some people believe that the UFOs

are attracted because of all the heat it emits.

- [Tony] Banias says some believe UFOs

are using cracks in the volcano to hide and refuel.

- On one side of the volcano is a large vent

that often is spewing hot ash and lava

and some people believe this is the point

of entry and exit for UFOs.

They use the volcano as a sort of base of operations.

- From March to May, 2021,

state cameras over El Popo captured at least five instances

of lights flashing above the volcano.

Are the lights a product of Mother Earth

or are they from Mother Someplace Else?

We turned the footage over to our experts to decide.

[mysterious music]

First we asked Rich Hoffman to examine the video

of the bright light seen over Mexico City.

Could it be a real UFO?

In this case, Hoffman is skeptical.

- The brilliance of this light going over a major city

should have yielded all kinds of reports

about this huge ball of light.

But then you look to see if there's any evidence

for any kind of an indication of UFO reports

or sightings on that given day.

And there are none.

It was a big ball of light that came from the volcano

and none of the geologists are talking about it

and none of the people in the city.

- [Tony] So what are we looking at?

Hoffman says the location

and the light itself yields a clue.

- It just so happens that a little bit to the right

of that camera over in the distance

there is Puebla International Airport.

The aircraft are supposed to turn on their landing lights

when they're below 10,000 feet.

They don't use landing lights when they just are landing.

They use 'em when they're also taking off

or if they're also gonna be changing their altitude.

- [Tony] By looking at a map of the city

and using a little math,

Hoffman has more evidence for his theory.

- I also did a thing to compute the speed.

If it would be coming from the airport,

it would be about six and a half miles away.

You put that in terms of the fact that it took 55 seconds

before it came just directly above the web camera,

and you come up with the fact

that it's within about 425 miles per hour,

which is typically about the speed of a commercial aircraft.

I also used flight radar

to be able to see the air traffic coming out

of that particular airport,

and I was able to actually look

at the actual type of aircraft.

It's an Airbus 321 that takes off from there

that heads over to Cancun.

- [Tony] But what about the video

with the floating glowing orbs?

Next we go to astronomer

and video effects designer Mark D'Antonio.

Could the objects have come from the volcano itself?

- One of the things that I thought about

when trying to look at these objects

I was trying to say, are those embers?

And the problem is if they're embers,

seem to stay the same brightness

for quite a long period of time

and that's the problem I have with it.

[dramatic music]

- Our verdict?

We're going with a mixed decision here.

While Hoffman makes a solid case

for the exploding light being an airplane,

we're still not sure what we're seeing in the other video,

but one thing is for sure,

strange objects near volcanoes

appear to be a real phenomenon around the world.

So while some strange sightings

near El Popo can be explained,

we're still on the lookout and you should be, too.

- When a volcano erupts

it makes a lot of igneous rocks like this,

and it makes the news.

People are fascinated by the awesome power of nature.

But a recent video shows

we might not be the only intelligent life

interested in watching.

March, 2021.

The Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland

ends a nearly 900-year dormancy with an explosive blast.

It's beautiful, but what's really eye-catching is this.

A live feed camera set up to observe the eruption captures

what appears to be two mysterious blue orbs

hovering in the plume of smoke above the lava.

Both seem unfazed by the heat and toxic gases

and when we zoom into one, we can see just how blue it is.

[volcano rumbles]

There are roughly 50 volcanic eruptions

going on at any time around the world,

and many include strange lights

and flying objects like these

at Arenal volcano in Costa Rica

and this incident in Pueblo, Mexico

near the volcano called Popocatepetl.

In fact, sightings near volcanoes are so common

filmmaker Darcy Weir produced a documentary called,

"Volcanic UFO Mysteries"

about the phenomenon.

- We have so much documented evidence

of UFOs around the volcanoes.

It's possible that they may be energy events

that could be offering a fueling supply

to some of the UFO craft.

- [Tony] Just one volcano

can produce more power than the combined nuclear arsenals

of the United States, China and Russia.

[explosion rumbles]

So UFOs could use the heat from the lava

to store and produce energy.

[static crackles]

Or another theory, volcanoes provide access to a network

of underground alien bases all over the world.

- Some people believe, well,

if you build a base in a place that's very dangerous

for people to visit, mankind, that is,

well, that's a perfect defense and no-go area.

- This goes back at least as far as 1947.

Aviator Kenneth Arnold was flying over Mount Rainier,

a dormant stratovolcano,

and he claimed he saw a string of flying saucers.

He's credited with coining that term.

So why are UFOs attracted to volcanoes

and what exactly are we seeing in this video?

Let's ask our experts.

[mysterious music]

Let's consider the earthly explanations first.

Could these be drones trying to record the eruption?

- Geologists studying volcanic eruptions will use drones

that remotely transmit video back for scientific reasons.

- [Tony] The temperature of lava

spewing from a volcanic vent

can reach 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit,

hot enough to melt most earthly metals.

For a drone, that would be a short one-way trip.

But these orbs were visible for at least 30 minutes,

far longer than drones could take the heat.

And when we look at the volcano in daylight,

a whole new set of theories arises.

It's surrounded by hills.

So maybe the orbs aren't actually in the air,

they're on hillsides on the far side of the volcano.

So maybe the answer is

that the orbs spewed from the volcano itself

and landed on the surrounding hills.

D'Antonio notes their strange color.

- You can have what has been termed as blue lava.

It's actually sulfur that's burning

and burning sulfur burns blue.

- [Tony] Also known by the Indonesian term Api Biru,

blue lava usually burns along the ground and not in the air,

and it's not often seen in Iceland.

Looking close, the stationary orbs

do appear to be flatter on the bottom,

suggesting they may actually be sitting

on a surrounding slope.

- It's a very rare phenomenon, but it does happen.

And I think that we're actually witnessing

blue lava here as well.

I think that it's fascinating.

[mysterious music]

- So we know blue lava is rare in Iceland,

but that's going to be our verdict, at least for now.

Still, that doesn't explain

all those UFO sightings around volcanoes the world over.

Our experts will continue to investigate volcanoes

and other regions around the globe

where UFO sightings are on the rise.

As we've seen tonight,

the great UFO question continues to build momentum

and we will be here ready to analyze videos,

hoping to get closer to the truth.

Thank you for watching this special edition

of "The Proof is Out There."

Please send us any

videos, images, or sounds

you think we should investigate

and remember to keep

those cameras rolling.

[dramatic suspenseful music]