All language subtitles for The UnXplained S05E03 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

SHATNER: A priceless diamond
with a deadly past.

A picturesque lake

that hides a ghost town.

And a pharaoh's tomb

that was not meant

to be disturbed.

Throughout recorded history,

every major civilization

has believed in curses

and their power to inflict harm

on the unsuspecting.

Even today,
many people are afraid

of walking into
a so-called cursed place

or touching
a reportedly cursed object.

But if curses are,
in fact, real,

then what brings them
into existence?

And how are they triggered?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

A young boy working
for a British excavation team

led by archaeologist
Howard Carter

is riding his donkey
home one night

when suddenly
the animal's hoof slips

into a hole below the sand.

Carter and his team
later excavate the site

and discover
a mysterious chamber

hidden deep beneath
the shifting sands.

Peering inside,
they lay their eyes upon

one of the most incredible

archaeological finds in history.

A massive treasure trove of gold

and ebony artifacts,

all laid out
before another chamber

guarded by two imposing statues

and sealed shut

with an intricate combination

of rope knots and clay.

The long-lost tomb
of King Tutankhamen.

It was absolutely
a magnificent discovery,

it made headline news
all over the world,

and really sort of
captured public imagination

at just the right time.

Unlike most of the other tombs

that had been discovered of
the ancient Egyptian pharaohs,

King Tut's tomb was untouched.

It had not been plundered,

it had not been destroyed,

and so there was a tremendous
wealth of archaeological data,

as well as just a stunning
display of artifacts.

SHATNER:
After spending nearly
three months cataloging

the more than 5,000 relics

found within
the tomb's antechamber...

...on February 16, 1923,

at just after 2:00
in the afternoon,

members of the press
gathered to watch

Howard Carter finally
break the seal

protecting King Tut's
burial chamber,

which had lain undisturbed

for more than 3,000 years.

NICOLAS BROWN:
Carter started excavation
of the burial chamber

within Tutankhamen's tomb,

and he found the intact
burial of Tutankhamen,

which was contained,
essentially, within

nine protective layers.

The sarcophagus
is very elaborate.

It's got gold,

it's inlaid
with precious stones,

and there's several layers of it

before you get down
to the central layer,

which is of course the mummy
of King Tutankhamen himself.

BROWN:
Once Carter began unwrapping
the mummy of Tutankhamen

and removed
the funerary death mask

and made his way
through the different

mummy bandages
and the bundle itself,

he was able to see
the face of Tutankhamen,

which hadn't been seen
by any living person

for nearly 3,500 years.

So, in a way, the opening
of the tomb of Tutankhamen

is a kind of a resurrection.

SHATNER:
The discovery of
King Tut's mummy

launched an
international media frenzy,

making headlines in every major
newspaper around the world.

But Howard Carter and his team

had barely begun
enjoying their success

when several strange things
started happening to them.

That evening, Howard Carter
is having his dinner,

and hears a commotion
in the next room.

Goes in, and his

pet canary is being attacked

inside its cage by a king cobra.

Now, the king cobra is
a symbol for the pharaoh.

And a canary, the symbolism.

The canary is the first to go.

The canary is
the weakest and a warning.

After that, Lord Carnarvon,

the financier
of the whole expedition,

was there on-site,

and then, while they're
inventorying the treasures,

he gets a mosquito bite.

A few days later, accidentally
nicks the bump with his razor.

The bump gets infected.

It leads to blood poisoning,

and he dies of it.

A prominent British radiologist

came out to the site
to X-ray King Tut,

and shortly after
handling the mummy,

he catches a mysterious disease
that cannot be diagnosed,

cannot be treated,
and it kills him.

SHATNER:
All told, the deaths
of no fewer than

seven members of
Howard Carter's expedition

took place shortly
after the reopening

of Tutankhamen's burial chamber.

While it was certainly possible

their untimely deaths were
nothing more than coincidences,

many believed that by
disturbing King Tut's mummy,

the archaeologists
had somehow triggered

a deadly curse.

To the ancient Egyptians,
death was not the end.

But in order to guarantee
yourself eternal life,

you actually had to preserve

your earthly body for the spirit

to be able to function properly.

The idea of a mummy curse

is to keep those people
out of the tombs.

The Egyptians said,
if you bothered these mummies,

you would have a problem.

And people who have
discovered those tombs

actually ended up
dying weird ways.

If that's not a curse,
what would be?

The ancient Egyptians, uh,

prepared the body
for mummification

by removing the internal organs.

They would remove the brain
through the nose

with a metal hook,

and clean out all of the organs

and put them in jars,
except for the heart

because, for them, uh, the heart
was the key to the afterlife.

JEREMIAH:
And then, at that point,
they'd wrap the body in linen,

and then they'd
put them in sarcophagi

that looked like human beings,

and they were made
to resemble the deceased.

The Egyptians thought
the soul had multiple parts.

Upon death, certain
parts of the soul

went down into the earth,

certain parts went
up into the sky,

and then other parts
remained with the actual body.

If you want that person
perpetuated for eternity,

you need to maintain all
aspects of the soul together.

That can happen
if the body is preserved.

THOMPSON:
The idea was that, at some
point, you will face the gods,

and those who are unworthy

would be obliterated
for all time.

So these tombs were meant to be
there until the day of judgment.

You were not supposed
to open these.

SHATNER:
Is it possible that
the ancient Egyptians

were able to preserve
the soul of King Tut

within his mummified remains,

effectively keeping his spirit
alive for thousands of years?

And if so, could
the pharaoh's spirit

have unleashed a curse

upon the men
responsible for disturbing

his sacred burial chamber?
Perhaps.

But there are some researchers

who claim that even before
King Tut's tomb was disturbed,

there was already
a pharaoh's curse in place.

A curse that was associated
not with King Tut

but with his father Akhenaton.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
Akhenaton was controversial

because he used his
considerable power as pharaoh

to change the religious system.

Ancient Egypt had always
been polytheistic--

many gods-- and then

there is a new pharaoh
with a new idea.

Akhenaton announces
there will be one god,

they will be
a monotheistic people.

Aten, the sun god, would be

the one divinity
they all worshipped.

The sun disc.

It shook the empire
in really terrible ways.

BROWN:
Part of this
religious revolution

included purposely erasing
the names of older gods,

closing down their temples,

erasing their names
from monuments,

and trying to obliterate
these other deities

that the Egyptians
used to worship.

SHATNER:
Before the reign of Akhenaton,

the most sacred deity
of the ancient Egyptians

was known as Amun-Ra,
the chief of all Egyptian gods.

According to legend,
Amun-Ra was angered

by Akhenaton's acts of heresy

and took vengeance
upon the pharaoh.

For his offense,

Akhenaton was cursed by Amun-Ra,

a curse unique

to religious views in Egypt.

He would be cursed after death

to wander endlessly.

His soul would never
be reunited with his body,

which was the point of
all those funerary practices.

He would be disconnected
and dislodged forever.

SHATNER:
Was King Tut's body mummified

and placed within
a sealed burial chamber

so that he could escape
the fate of his father?

And is that why
breaking the seals

on the tomb of King Tut

brought a curse upon
Howard Carter and his team?

Well, it would seem

that either these tragic deaths

were a series
of unfortunate coincidences

or the curse of the pharaoh
was all too real.

But not every alleged curse

originates from
the spirit of the dead.

Some are thought to be placed
upon physical objects.

For instance, there
are those who believe

that one of the most valuable
gemstones in the world

has the power

to kill any man who touches it.

Over one million people turn out
for the funeral procession

of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,

otherwise known
as the Queen Mother

of Great Britain's
Queen Elizabeth II.

Atop her casket, in addition to

ceremonial flowers
and her coat of arms,

is the crown she wore

at her husband King George VI's
coronation in 1937.

Although it is adorned with
an estimated 2,800 diamonds,

one in particular attracts
more awe and fascination

from the crowd than the rest.

The diamond known
as the Koh-i-Noor.

That, an imperial crown,

and at its center,
in the front,

the most famous diamond
in the world--

the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

The name means
"Mountain of Light."

Since 1895, it has
only been worn by a woman,

by Queen Mary, the Queen
Mother's mother-in-law,

and then by
the Queen Mother herself.

SHATNER:
Measuring a massive 105 carats,

and estimated to be
worth over $1 billion,

the Koh-i-Noor is one of

the largest cut
diamonds in the world.

And, according to historians,

it is also one of
the most feared.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond

is one of the, uh,
more impressive diamonds

that have ever been unearthed
in the history of humankind.

It was unearthed
somewhere in India,

which was the main spot
that diamonds were unearthed.

But this particular diamond,

it has a very, very long
and sort of tragic

and bloody history.

And there are legends
attached to this,

where it is held to be
accursed and bring curses

to, especially,
any man who touches this,

which is why, even in
the British royalty,

it remains a part of the, um,

Crown Jewels for women only.

SHATNER:
A curse on any man
who touches it?

But what could give
a beautiful stone

such a dark power?

Many believe the answer
can be found by examining

the Koh-i-Noor's
storied history,

which, according to records,
dates all the way back

to 14th century India.

The Koh-i-Noor really
catches your eye.

It's like a hundred-carat stone.

But what really catches
your eye is the history.

The diamond was really
first identified

after Mughal Empire invaded
what's now Northern India.

They settled in Delhi
after their conquest

and started
collecting gemstones.

Shah Jahan became
the ruler in 1626.

He designed this throne,
called the Peacock Throne,

that was in the tradition

of biblical throne,
like King Solomon.

It took seven years

and cost three to four times
more than it cost

to build the Taj Mahal.

And you can understand
the immense expense

that this took to create.

And then
at the centerpiece of this

was the Koh-i-Noor
at the very top.

SHATNER:
In 1739, after
100 years of peace,

a merciless Persian ruler
named Nader Shah invaded India.

Tens of thousands died

in his relentless quest
for power.

Following his savage victory,

Nader Shah seized
the Koh-i-Noor

and had it placed
on his personal armband

as a symbol of his might.

SHOR:
Nader Shah

wasn't going to
keep it in the chair.

It was going to be
with him at all times.

Now, Nader Shah

became a very,
very repressive ruler,

and even his allies
began to hate him.

And they poisoned him.

After Nader Shah's death,

the diamond passed
through various rulers

who-who died in
very violent ways.

SHATNER:
In the years after,

the Koh-i-Noor would pass
from one ruler to another,

almost always
drenched in the blood

of its prior owner,

as if the diamond
itself demanded

a mortal sacrifice
in order to possess it.

Because of battles, um,

it fell from
one person to a next

and started to build up
this, um, legend

that it had some kind of curse

associated with it.

Because, as soon as it was
in the hands of one ruler,

they would be killed
or their kingdom

would be lost, and it would
be passed on to another.

SHOR:
Now, these rulers were
wearing the Koh-I-Noor

as the armband
to be a protector.

And this is probably where
the curse legend came in

because the diamond certainly
wasn't protecting them.

COLLINS:
And then, in the 19th century,

when the British were in India,

it fell into the hands
of the British Army,

and it was said that
from that point onwards,

that no male

should ever wear this diamond.

SHATNER:
Is the supposed curse
of the Koh-i-Noor diamond

merely the stuff
of folklore and legend?

Or is there
any scientific evidence

to prove that its deadly
reputation is justified?

So, diamonds are really good
at taking heat away

from a source and
transmitting it elsewhere.

And if you've never held
a large diamond in your life

and if you've first
encountered the stone

and you're putting it
on your chest

or on a necklace,
it would feel much colder

than anything that you'd have

because the heat is being
sucked out of your skin

and transmitted
through this diamond.

It could be one reason
why somebody might feel like

the stone has got
some magical properties

or why it might be cursed.

COLLINS:
As long as we believe that
something bad will happen,

if a male heir actually
uses this or wears it,

then I think that it needs
to be taken seriously.

So, very clearly,

no British king
will ever wear it.

Some may scoff at the idea
that a cursed diamond

can bring about death.

But then again,

I suspect that we probably
won't see a British king

wearing the Koh-i-Noor
anytime soon.

Truth is that
there are many curses

around the world that
are still acknowledged

and feared.

Like the curse that is said
to plague a lake in New Jersey,

where numerous boaters
and swimmers have vanished

without a trace.

SHATNER:
Nestled beside
the sleepy suburbs

of Clinton Township

lies Round Valley Reservoir.

First formed in 1960
as a primary water source,

this man-made lake
is beloved by locals

for its great fishing
and scenic views.

But many believe
this idyllic watering hole

conceals a deadly secret.

For more than 40 years,

people have been disappearing
in Round Valley Reservoir.

And not just a few.

More than two dozen men
have been lost

beneath these placid waters,

never to be seen again.

Locals do believe that
this lake is cursed,

and it's easy to understand why
with so many tragic deaths

surrounding it
in just about 40 years.

And while I can't be
sure if it's cursed,

there's always one thing
that's given me the chills.

I heard someone say that

when one body is found
at Round Valley Reservoir,

another quickly replaces it.

We don't even know for sure how
many bodies there really are.

(indistinct radio chatter)

HILL:
When I worked in news,

I would hear the police
scanner crackle to life

with "Round Valley,"

"fishermen," "trouble,"

"boater,"

somebody has gone
under the water.

It's a creepy, horrible
feeling when you hear this,

because you know

that 90% of the time,
this is not

going to end well.

I can't explain why these people

at the bottom of the lake
haven't been found,

especially after
searching for them

with such a degree of intensity.

Even after bringing
in cadaver-sniffing dogs,

using sonar technology,

and submarines
to crawl the lake,

there was no sign.
It's almost as if

some of these people
disappeared without a trace.

And an interesting thing,

if you're looking for
bones in Round Valley,

is that you aren't
necessarily going to

find a fisherman who
disappeared 13 years ago.

You may find a bone
that was in the ground

long before Round Valley
became a reservoir.

SHATNER:
Bones from a time

before Round Valley
became a reservoir?

There are some who
believe that these bones

may have been the very reason

the bodies of those
who have disappeared here

have never been found,

and that the lake's refusal

to give up its victims

is actually an act of revenge.

There was a town here once.

For centuries,

people put down roots
in this valley.

It was very fertile
and rich farmland.

There were thousands of acres,

and people grew their own food.

They raised their animals.

Then, in the 1950s,

there was a drought
in New Jersey.

And they needed
a source of water

for, predominantly, Newark

but the surrounding
area as well,

and so they had to
fill in somewhere,

and Round Valley, they believed,
was the best choice.

People were opposed to
the reservoir being built.

It was a small
farming community,

very close-knit,

and no one wanted
to leave their homes.

Most of the homes were
eventually razed or moved.

HILL:
Their homes were
either torn down

or they were put on flatbeds
and taken out of the valley.

And that construction
started on the reservoir.

In the 1960s,
they started filling it.

There was a lot
of bad feeling here

when the landowners were
pushed out of their valley.

Did these
ill feelings carry over?

There are people
who will say yes, they did.

When you're at
Round Valley, you feel

the spirit of the people
who came before you.

There is a presence here

that can make you feel
a little disconcerting.

SHATNER:
The idea that
any body of water,

let alone a man-made one
less than a century old,

could somehow be imbued
with a deadly curse

seems far-fetched,
to say the least.

And yet outlandish

and presumably irrational
notions such as these

have been held
by nearly every culture

throughout history. But why?

We all are afraid of things

and we would like to
be able to understand them,

if only to give a little
mental illusion of control

over things that
go bump in the night.

And so we come up with stories,
and they help.

They're entertaining
and maybe they're true.

And then they get passed down
to children and grandchildren,

and they gain
authority through time.

A curse has to be believed
in order for it to have power.

It's kind of like hypnosis.

You have to be willing
to go under hypnosis

in order for it
to actually be effective.

So maybe these curses

are created by us,
by our imagination,

by us trying to deal
with the mystery of nature.

It's just a game
that we're playing,

but we ascribe meaning to it.

So, if we ascribe
meaning to a curse,

could that actually
make the curse real?

SHATNER:
Although it may be human nature
to blame inexplicable tragedies

on some sort of dark force,

according to skeptics,
there's nothing

supernatural about
the disappearances

at Round Valley Reservoir.

They claim that
these strange occurrences

must have a perfectly
rational explanation.

Some people who live
around here think it's more

a matter of respecting
your environment.

And when the wind swirls,
you can get waves

up to three feet tall
on this reservoir.

And that's where
people get in trouble.

They're not expecting it.

In my career, I've
handled anything from, um,

plane crashes,
homicides, suicides,

uh, you know, lost children.

But, uh, when you're
out there in a small boat

and there's fog
coming across the lake,

it can be very eerie at times.

You have these
40-mile-per-hour winds

that come up out of no place.

They only allow small boats.

You have excessively cold water,

which leads to hypothermia.

I can guarantee

probably nine out of ten people

that are out on this lake don't
wear their life preservers.

I think it's because
of those factors.

And you know what?
Just plain bad luck.

Period.

SHATNER:
So where did the bodies
of the lost men

of Round Valley Reservoir go?

Could it be that
they're merely trapped

somewhere deep beneath
the lake's surface,

in a place searchers
haven't yet looked?

Or are they really victims

of a deadly curse?

The very notion
that a malevolent force

could plague an entire lake

is a... chilling proposition.

But unlike this
infamous body of water,

some curses
are impossible to avoid,

including one that is thought

to have the power
to strike anyone anywhere.

It's called the curse
of Friday the 13th.

SHATNER:
At least once a year,

all around the world,
it happens.

From the moment
the new day dawns...

...to the 12th chime
of midnight...

(clock chimes)

...it is utterly unavoidable.

No continent is safe.

No country is spared.

No city is immune.

No matter where you are
or what you're doing,

there's no escaping

Friday the 13th.

HOLST:
Well, it's actually
very interesting,

the whole idea
about Friday the 13th,

the mysteriousness,
the-the fear, the dread.

There's a natural human desire
to understand things,

to know why something happened.

And sometimes,
if the unexplainable happened

but there was a curse involved,

you say,
"Aha, I have the reason."

We never know when they're
gonna turn out to be real,

but we have to give all of them

a fair shot and say, "Maybe."

SHATNER:
Believe it or not, there is
some statistical evidence

which suggests that
more bad things happen

on Friday the 13th than
any other day of the year.

But is it really cursed?

And, if so, how?

Although it would seem
that the public's awareness

of Friday the 13th really
came of age in modern times,

as it turns out,
the origin of this curse

actually dates back
to the 14th century.

It goes back, in my opinion,

to what happened
to the Knights Templar.

So, the Knights Templar were
founded in the 12th century,

and they were the world's
first combination

of warrior and monk.

They were the guardians

of a lot of the treasures
of various kings

and popes and monarchs,

and because of their
amazing reputation,

they became known as the world's
first international bankers.

Friday the 13th
was such a pivotal day

in the life of
the Knights Templar

that it ended one chapter
and began another.

It literally was the day
of the destruction of the order.

And the Friday the 13th

that was so critical
to the Knights Templar

happened on the 13th
of October in 1307.

The king of France needed money,

but he owed money to everybody,
including the Templars,

and he decided the Knights
Templar had money,

he wanted it,
so he attacked them.

Everyone was arrested,
people were thrown in jail.

They were tortured,
they were being killed.

Then there were long trials.

These trials were conducted

by the Catholic Church,

and it basically ended

with the death
of Jacques de Molay,

the grand master.

WHITEHEAD:
Jacques de Molay was
a powerful enigmatic figure,

and so it was important
for the Church

and the Crown to
execute him publicly

to show as an example.

And when they were burning
Jacques de Molay,

the fire was being lit,

he cursed Pope Clement

and also King Philip

and said, "Within this year,

you will die."

And, lo and behold, they did.

(bell tolls)

HOLST:
What happened was,
within 33 days,

the Pope died of
a terrible illness.

And all of a sudden,
it just seized him

and killed him,
just like that, suddenly.

Seven months later,
the king of France

was on a hunting expedition,
had a massive stroke,

fell down dead
on the ground right there.

SHATNER:
In the years since the Templars'
eventual exile from Europe,

there were many
who began to believe

that Jacques de Molay's
death curse applied

not only to his enemies
but also to the very day

that spelled
the beginning of the end

for the Knights Templar.

The day they were arrested:
Friday the 13th.

But is it really possible
that a centuries-old curse

still has the power
to cause bad luck

after 700 years?

There is this legend
around Jacques de Molay

that he possessed some kind
of extraordinary power.

When it comes
to the Knights Templar,

one of the things that
stand out is, of course,

they were the guardians
of the Temple of Jerusalem,

and some people believe
that they may have found

some ancient artifacts there,

possibly the Ark
of the Covenant,

or came across some
ancient knowledge

that was, sort of, confiscated

and held sacred
from the general public.

And so some people look
on Jacques de Molay

as some kind of a sorcerer,

in a way,
where he had this ability

to put a curse that actually
really did come into fruition.

HOLST:
When something happens,

such as De Molay's curse,
the Templar curse,

it's entirely possible

that this actually
has reality behind it.

It's entirely possible that
just simply saying the words

and putting it
in everyone's mind

was like a common prayer
between so many people,

and the power of so many people
desiring it and wanting it

might have influenced
events as they happened.

The story of
Jacques de Molay's curse

on Friday the 13th
is fascinating,

and it raises
an intriguing question.

Can a curse actually
be created by simply

speaking it into existence?

Perhaps a clue can be found
in the ruins of a lost city

located in the jungles
of Honduras.

A city which some believe

would have been
best left forgotten.

SHATNER:
Deep in the heart of the jungle,

a team of American explorers,

journalists and archaeologists
make a dramatic discovery--

evidence of an ancient city

that has been lost
for more than 500 years.

We were standing there
on the banks of this river,

and the archaeologist
was pointing

to this wall of jungle and
saying, "Across the river,

that's the beginning
of the lost city."

So we crossed the river

with soldiers with machetes
cutting a path for us.

And all of a sudden,
there it is,

rising up out of the jungle.

Just straight up, practically.

It was the most amazing thing.

And then what we saw

was a cache of sacred objects

carved out of stone
that had been left

at the time the city
was abandoned.

And this was a gigantic mystery.

Why did these people
leave all of a sudden?

SHATNER:
The expedition announced

that they had uncovered
the top level of a vast city

which has been buried under
centuries of jungle vegetation.

Soon afterwards,
many began to speculate

as to whether the ruins were
those of a legendary place

known to Hondurans
as Ciudad Blanca,

or the "White City."

A place that was believed
to have been deserted

centuries ago because
of a deadly curse.

When we went to do our
ground expedition in 2015,

many of the local Hondurans

and the Honduran Air Force
people that were with us

and the special forces people

said, "Oh, yeah. My grandmother
or my grandfather told me

"all about the lost city
when we were kids,

and they said it's cursed."

They said, "If you go there

"and you pick any
of the flowers,

you will die.
You will never come back."

THOMPSON:
In the case of the White City,

there is a very
interesting tradition

of a Tawahka Indian

who came to
live there with them,

uh, and they refused him
shelter, chased him out.

And in turn, he cursed the city

and he cursed that area...

...so that it became, basically,

a poisonous area to live in,

and the people had to abandon
their city and leave.

PRESTON:
You know, we heard
these stories,

but, you know, we're scientists.

We're, uh, anthropologists,
archaeologists, ethnobotanists.

You know, we don't
believe in curses.

Or so we thought.

But, you know, sometimes
curses are based on the truth.

ELKINS:
After we completed
our first ground expedition,

everybody came back alive,
nobody got injured.

We're shaking hands,

tipping a beer and going,
"Great, we made it."

You know, everyone survived.

We all had
hundreds of bug bites.

Didn't think anything of them
until about a month later.

And 60% of our crew,

including the Hondurans,
they had a bug bite

that didn't go away,
it got bigger.

Eventually it became
a big open wound,

a big open ulcer.

A couple of the people
became very, very ill.

Two of them almost died.

And then we had them diagnosed
at NIH, and they said,

"Yes, you have leishmaniasis,
but not even just

"regular leishmaniasis,
this is an entirely new one.

"We just did a genetic sequence,

and it's a really virulent one
we've never seen before."

SHATNER:
More commonly known as
"flesh-eating disease,"

leishmaniasis is
a rare parasitic disease

that is spread by the bites
of certain sand flies.

The affliction eats away

at the skin of the limbs,
nose and mouth.

The new strain that
infected the explorers

is particularly aggressive

and, if not treated
properly, fatal.

But even so, a parasitic disease

is hardly proof
of an ancient curse.

Or is it?

WHITEHEAD:
What's interesting about
the legend of this curse

is that it actually
does appear to be true.

How can we explain
that hundreds of years ago

a man left a curse
saying that, forevermore,

people will be
ravaged by disease

and all of these things,

and then we actually
see it happen?

SHATNER:
Was it merely a coincidence
that the American team

happened to contract a deadly
and previously unknown disease

at a site believed to be cursed?

Or could the curse
have been real?

As far as journalist
Doug Preston is concerned,

the answer is obvious.

PRESTON:
I used to think that curses
were just kind of silly,

but not anymore.

Next time I go somewhere
and I'm told that it's cursed,

I'm really going
to think twice about it.

Can the disease that
infected the archaeologists

who rediscovered the White City

be explained by science,

superstition, or perhaps both?

In any case,
it may have been better

to leave these ruins
undisturbed.

The same can be said
for the body of a man

who had been frozen
in ice for 5,000 years.

SHATNER:
While making their way
across a snowy mountain range

spanning the border
of Italy and Austria,

two German hikers
make a gruesome discovery.

The body of a man
half-frozen in ice.

When scientists later
remove the skeleton

from the icy ground,

they come to
a shocking realization.

The man,

who they nicknamed Ötzi,

lived over 5,000 years ago.

ALEX PRYOR:
This is a really
spectacular find

because of the level
of preservation here.

Um, we have
the full body preserved,

including all of his skin,
all of the internal organs,

and all of the possessions that
he was carrying at the time.

And this, therefore,
is giving us unique insights

into this individual

and also what life
was like when he lived.

SHATNER:
The recovery of Ötzi's skeleton
made headlines worldwide,

and his bones became an object

of intense fascination
and scientific study.

But then, unexpectedly,

a series of bizarre
deaths took place

in the years after Ötzi's
bones were recovered.

There's something very
mysterious going on here

with this Ötzi Iceman
since he was discovered.

In the early '90s,
and going into the 2000s,

people have died
who were involved

in the discovery
or the presentation of Ötzi.

A gentleman called Rainer Henn
had the privilege

of placing Ötzi's body into
a body bag at the discovery.

He died in a car crash.

Kurt Fritz, who was involved
in the transportation

of Ötzi from
one place to another,

died in an avalanche.

Helmut Simon, one of
the discoverers of Ötzi,

had fallen 300 feet
to his death.

Several other people
have died as well.

SHATNER:
All told, seven people

connected to
the discovery of Ötzi died.

Were their untimely deaths
simply a coincidence?

Or is it possible

that the deaths were actually

the consequence of
disturbing Ötzi's bones,

which had remained untouched
for thousands of years?

NEWMAN:
Some people believe
there may even be a curse

associated with this man
buried in the ice.

Ötzi had these
very strange tattoos,

all these spirals
and different designs.

If he was some kind
of shaman or sorcerer,

did he place a curse
over his body

to protect him from future
generations digging him up?

It's known that
it took four full days

to excavate him from the ice,

so there's an element
of desecration of a grave.

THOMPSON:
There are many, sort of,
curse stories and curse rumors

that follow
the realm of archaeology,

because archaeology
is often involving

digging people
out of their graves.

Is that disturbing their peace,

not allowing them
to rest in peace?

What we can see is
that this does reflect

a popular belief that maybe
there is something wrong

with handling a body
in this mundane sense,

as if it's an object to study.

Cursed bones, cursed tombs,
cursed diamonds,

and even a cursed day
on the calendar?

It seems like there's
curses everywhere we look.

And while that may be
a slight exaggeration,

the fact is, there are
plenty of reasons to believe

that our world is
filled with dark forces

that we don't fully understand.

So, until science can provide
us with rational explanations,

perhaps we shouldn't dismiss

the idea that there are

powerful curses
in our world that remain...

...unexplained.

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