All language subtitles for The UnXplained S07E06 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER:
An abandoned seaside villa

with a deadly reputation.

A nuclear wasteland

unfit for human life.

And a tropical retreat

that was once home
to a witches' coven.

Our planet is covered with
islands of all shapes and sizes.

But all across the globe,
there are ominous islands

that are tainted
with dark histories,

mysterious curses...

...and unspeakable tragedies.

While their stories may vary,

these places all conjure
a similar sense of dread.

Could it be that evil forces
or even unholy entities

are what create these...

islands of the damned?

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

♪ ♪

This residential quarter
in South Naples

dates back
to ancient Greece and Rome.

2,000 years ago,
this hillside district

was once a vacation destination
for wealthy Roman nobles.

And today,
it's just as prestigious.

It's home to some of the city's
wealthiest residents

and its most opulent villas.

But among them is
a desolate, abandoned mansion

that sits
just off the coastline,

on a jagged outcropping
called Gaiola Island.

J.W. OCKER:
Gaiola Island
is unlike most areas.

It sticks out
as a strange island,

right off the coast of Naples.

(gulls calling)

It's basically the size
of a small estate.

Just a house and yard, really.

And it's just contained on
these two outcroppings of rock.

You can see it
right from the beach.

So you can get close to this,

but it's been abandoned
for decades.

SHATNER:
Located just a short
100-foot swim from shore,

Gaiola Island's
a tempting location

for curious beachgoers
to explore.

But don't be fooled.

According to local legend,

it's best to stay well away,

because many believe
this long-abandoned island

has been damned

by a deadly curse.

Locals are
terrified of this island.

Everyone who's owned
this property,

whether they were
on the island or not,

some type of tragedy
occurred in their lives.

Whether it was losing a fortune
or losing a family member

or going insane.

Whoever owned this island,

nothing but tragedy followed.

SHATNER:
Gaiola Island's
forbidding reputation began

in the late 19th century,

when a successful
local businessman

decided to build there.

OCKER:
The first owner of the island
was Luigi Negri.

He's the one that built
the villa on the island

that is still there today
but is abandoned.

He built it and
then immediately went bankrupt.

It's not strange for
a businessman to go bankrupt.

But in this case,
it was a precursor

to a series of misfortunes
that got worse and worse

over the course
of the 20th century.

SHATNER:
While Gaiola Island
may or may not be responsible

for Luigi Negri's
financial collapse,

others who dared to make
the isolated property their home

would suffer
far worse consequences.

GENTILE:
Another owner of the island

is Hans Braun, a businessman.

As soon as he takes up residence
on the island,

his luck turns.

His body's found
wrapped in a rug.

He's died
under mysterious circumstances.

Soon after that, his wife
falls off the island and drowns.

It was at this point
where people started thinking

there's something more
going on here.

Something supernatural.

SHATNER: A string of tragedies
would continue to unravel

on Gaiola Island.

German perfume dealer
Otto Grunback

suffered a fatal heart attack

shortly after purchasing
the property.

And madness and suicide
put an end

to owner Maurice-Yves Sandoz,

a Swiss
pharmaceutical industrialist.

Even Gaiola's
most famous proprietor,

American oil tycoon
Jean Paul Getty,

could not escape speculation

that the cursed island
played a hand

in troubling events
that surrounded his family.

OCKER:
Jean Paul Getty
owned this island.

And of course,
his fortunes are legendary,

but so are his misfortunes.

Jean Paul Getty's son
commits suicide.

He has a younger son, at 12,

that contracts
a fatal brain tumor.

And then, of course, there's the
infamous case of his grandson,

John Paul Getty III.

John Paul Getty III was
kidnapped by the Italian Mafia

and then, over the course of the
negotiations for his freedom,

had his ear cut off.

Eventually, he was freed
for a little over $2 million.

But he would go on to suffer
the effects of that kidnapping

for the rest of his life
until a string of addictions

caused him to become
a quadriplegic.

SHATNER:
Could Gaiola Island
really have the power

to doom the lives
of those who call it home?

And if there is an evil energy

imbued
in the exclusive property,

just where did it come from?

While it's impossible
to say for sure,

some attribute it to an old
hermit called "the Wizard"

who was rumored
to once reside there.

But others believe

the curse began
more than 2,000 years ago,

in the first century BC,

when Gaiola Island
was attached to the mainland

and part of a magnificent estate

that belonged
to a cruel Roman politician

named Publius Vedius Pollio.

Publius Vedius Pollio was

a member of the cavalry
and the Roman army.

And he adopted this area,

this gorgeous Posillipo area,
for his own.

He had a 2,000-seat theater

and constructed
an incredible villa

with gardens,
fountains, sculptures,

and a spa complex.

Now, interestingly,

Pollio came from modest roots.

He was of slave stock himself.

And one would think
this might make him

rather generously disposed
to his own slaves.

But by all accounts,
that was not the case.

He owned many slaves,
and he treated them very poorly.

And in fact,
whenever a slave displeased him,

the story goes that he fed them

-to a pool of moray eels
that he kept on the property.
-(shouting)

(splashing)

GENTILE:
Pollio was

a friend of Emperor Augustus,

which certainly helped
his rise through the ranks.

-(indistinct chatter)
-Well, one day,

Augustus is visiting Pollio
at one of his villas,

and a slave is pouring wine
in these crystal goblets.

The slave spills the wine.

The goblet crashes
to the ground and breaks.

Pollio grabs the slave

and goes to drag him
to this pit of moray eels,

where he's to be devoured alive.

(man shrieks)

The slave scrambles away,

throws himself
at the feet of the emperor

and is begging. And Pollio says,

"You can't beg for your life
from the emperor. You're mine."

Augustus does not like this.

He breaks every crystal goblet
in the entire house.

Soon after that,

Augustus took the villa
and razed it to the ground.

And local legend has it
that he cursed it.

And ever since then,
there is a negative energy

that has certainly permeated
the culture

and the minds of the people
that lived there.

SHATNER:
A century after Augustus
destroyed Pollio's estate,

a massive earthquake leveled
a large section of the property,

causing it to collapse
into the sea,

forever separating Gaiola Island
from the mainland.

Are the traumatic events
experienced

by the former landowners
of Gaiola Island

merely coincidence?

Or is the rocky outcropping
actually cursed?

It's hard to say.

And with its history
of epic misfortune,

it may be a very long time
before someone is brave enough

to tempt fate
and live there once again.

OCKER:
Once a place

is deemed cursed or...

has some aura of dread about it,

it's really hard
to get rid of that.

Even if you move the people away

or you chase away
the source of the rumors

or you tear down the buildings
that were supposed to house

the tragedies that happened,

evil still remains.

SHATNER:
About 500 miles south
of Gaiola Island

is another, very different
island of the damned,

an ancient place
where some believe

giants once walked the earth,

ready to grab anyone

who ventured into their cursed
underground lair.

SHATNER: Just south of Sicily
in the Mediterranean Sea

is the island nation of Malta.

It's famous
for its dazzling coastline,

stunning architecture,

and fascinating history.

But perhaps most remarkable
are the massive prehistoric

stone structures that can be
found all around the islands.

These Megalithic Temples
of Malta are some

of the oldest freestanding
structures on Earth,

and legend is...

they were built by giants.

BELLINGER:
Maltese temple culture,
as it's known--

you legitimately
could call their creations

the greatest engineering feats
of the Neolithic world.

They are put together
painstakingly.

And what remains of the ruins
above ground today

still towers 20 feet up.

And this was done
6,000 years ago

without the benefit
of the wheel or metal tools.

It predates Stonehenge
and the Great Pyramids

by close to a thousand years.

And according to Maltese legend,

a giantess called Sansuna

constructed
these monumental temples

so that the local people
could worship.

NEWMAN:
So when it comes

to understanding
the Maltese temples,

there are traditions
of giants constructing them.

These were 40 to 50
to 60-ton blocks

put together like jigsaw pieces
in a profound manner.

This is why many people believe

and say
they were built by giants.

SHATNER:
It's intriguing to think

that giants may have inhabited
Malta thousands of years ago,

leaving behind
enormous stone structures

that still mystify
archaeologists and engineers.

But if the legends are correct,

these megalithic builders
were menacing creatures

of great strength,

who lived underground,

in a dark and dangerous world.

These were very strange,
kind of mythical beings.

They even lived
all across the island

where there were caves
and underground areas.

It was said
to be a place of darkness,

a place of death.

SHATNER:
Could the islands
of Malta be the home

of an ancient race of
treacherous prehistoric giants?

Some experts believe
a chilling clue may lie

within one of Malta's
stone structures...

deep underground.

In the small town of Paola,

workers digging the foundation

for a new home
make a remarkable discovery.

They uncover the entrance
to an ancient underground temple

extending
deep beneath the surface.

It's called... The Hypogeum.

BELLINGER:
"Hypogeum" means

literally "underground"
in Greek.

It's an astonishing
underground complex of halls,

corridors and passageways

hollowed out
from limestone rock,

seemingly built
beginning with natural caves.

And what archaeologists
discovered there

astonished them.

It consisted of a number
of burial chambers.

About 6,000 people are thought
to have been buried there.

There's really
nothing else like it

in the world that we know about.

NEWMAN:
People have suggested
it may have been a tomb,

but no one really knows.

The Hypogeum's got
this weird energy about it.

And this could be why we hear
all these very strange stories

associated with this place.

SHATNER:
While some believe

The Hypogeum is simply
an underground cemetery,

a number of disturbing incidents
have been reported here.

And perhaps the most shocking
is a firsthand account

published in The Journal
of Borderland Research.

In it, thrill-seeker Lois Jessop
recounts a disturbing encounter

she had
while exploring the dark depths

of The Hypogeum in the 1930s.

NEWMAN:
Very strange story is that

of a British woman
called Lois Jessop

who actually worked
for the British Consulate.

And she went down there
with a private guide.

She wanted to go further
than you were allowed to go.

GENTILE:
Lois wants to go down so far

and so dark and so deep

that her tour guide
won't go with her.

So what he does is
he ties a rope around her waist,

and she dangles down to a ledge.

All she has
to light her way is a candle.

According
to Jessop's eyewitness account,

she found herself
overlooking a wide chasm.

And suddenly,

a group of "20 persons
of giant stature"

emerged from a cave
across the abyss.

GENTILE:
She sees men

that she describes

as three times the size
of normal men.

The candle's blown out.

She tugs the rope,

and they pull her back
to the surface.

But what Lois saw could be
evidence of the people,

the creatures that created
those structures on that island.

SHATNER:
Did Lois Jessop encounter

the lost giants of Malta
somewhere deep

within the island's Hypogeum,

or was it something else?

While it's hard to say,
perhaps a clue can be found

by examining the story
of another chilling encounter

in The Hypogeum's depths.

One that appears to indicate

that whatever
is lurking down there

does not take kindly
to strangers.

Another incredible story
was published most notably

in the National Geographic
in 1940.

And it recounts a story

of about 30 school children
going out on a school trip,

going into The Hypogeum,
but then getting lost

in some of the tunnels there,
never to be seen again.

(children laughing)

And it gets weirder because none
of the children were ever found.

But people claimed
they heard the screams

and yells of children
all across the island

where there were known caves
and underground areas.

So this suggests

that The Hypogeum
may have been an entrance

to an underground network
of tunnels,

that stretches all the way
underneath Malta itself.

GENTILE:
And to this day,

we don't know
what happened to those kids.

But these stories could suggest

that there is maybe
something more down there,

something
that we don't understand.

Maybe something
hiding in the darkness.

And whether something
is supernatural or not happening

in The Hypogeum,
you just get a feeling

there's something bad
happening there.

Could the legends of giants

that dwell below the island
of Malta really be true?

Whatever the case may be,

these massive creatures
loom large

in local folklore.

But off the coast
of Venice, Italy,

there are two islands

with very different stories
to tell,

tales of plagues, madness

and even... vampires.

SHATNER:
Founded in 421 AD,

this ancient port
on the Adriatic Sea is renowned

for its Renaissance
architecture,

cobblestone alleyways,

and of course,
its world-famous canals.

But among the 118 small islands

that make up this iconic city,

there are a few that have
a much darker mystique.

Because many centuries ago,

several
of these Venetian islands

would be the grim home
to thousands of people suffering

from the terrifying disease
known

as the Black Death.

BELLINGER:
Venice is one

of the major trading ports

in the Middle Ages
and the Renaissance.

And it was

disproportionately affected

when Black Plague
rolled through Europe,

initially in 1348,

killing 50%
of the population of Venice.

They had to quickly get control
of this situation

because diseases were spreading
like wildfire.

Venice was particularly
susceptible to the Black Death.

They always had ships coming in

laden with strangers and people
coming to their islands.

They were on islands,
so once infection happened,

it was hard to get away from it.

And of course,
they were built on the water

so it was hard
to bury the bodies.

SHATNER: In an attempt
to contain the plague,

the government of Venice
directed all incoming ships

to dock on a number
of its more remote islands,

where infected passengers
could be isolated.

One of these was known
as Poveglia.

GENTILE:
Poveglia was used

as quarantine island
during the black plagues

that affected Venice at various
times throughout history.

So, what happened was,
if you showed signs of sickness,

you would be taken
to Poveglia and given 40 days.

And you had two choices--
get better or get dead.

And most people died
on Poveglia.

BELLINGER:
Poveglia was one

of the most notorious islands
in Venice.

And unlike other islands,

where they buried the dead
in mass graves,

on Poveglia, they appeared
to have cremated human remains,

and just let the ashes lie
where they fell.

To the extent that even today,

it is thought that half
the topsoil is comprised

of human ashes
from plague victims.

SHATNER:
Historians estimate

that approximately
160,000 people died

on Poveglia from the plague.

But the history

of this small island
would only get darker

in the centuries to follow.

OCKER:
The cursed history

of Poveglia Island doesn't
just stop at the plague.

In the late 19th century,

they built a mental asylum
on the island.

The purpose of
the mental asylum were various--

to care for the elderly,
the indigent,

those who needed help,

but according to the legends,

the asylum was run
by a doctor who was sadistic.

He would torture the patients,
he would experiment on them.

He would do these crude
lobotomies with drills,

just to see what would happen.

Some say the inmates,
fed up with all the pain

that they had gone through
as a result of him,

pushed him off the bell tower.

So the island itself is a place
of not being wanted, of rumors

and stories that scare you away
from visiting it.

SHATNER:
Today, Poveglia is abandoned,

and locals claim
it's still haunted

by the lingering spirits
of those who suffered there.

Yet, Poveglia isn't
the only island

in the Venice lagoon
with a dark past.

During the plague outbreaks
of 1573 and 1630,

two islands north of Poveglia--

Lazzaretto Vecchio
and Lazzaretto Nuovo--

also served as quarantine
stations for the afflicted.

Since 2004,
archaeologists have uncovered

thousands of skeletons
on these islands,

including one
especially disturbing discovery

on Lazzaretto Nuovo--

the skull
of a 16th-century woman,

whose jaws had been forced open

by a brick jammed in her mouth.

This particular skull
was really interesting

because the brick
inside its mouth is actually

from a Germanic tradition

that is called "shroud-eaters."

And these are like vampires
in a way,

and they spread pestilence
and disease.

ANDREW COLLINS: And the way,
the prescribed manner

that you keep this particular
type of vampire down,

is to shove a brick
in their mouth,

and that will stop it.

SHATNER:
Is it possible
that 16th-century Venice

was not only being terrorized
by fears of the Black Death,

but the spread
of vampirism, as well?

It's a disturbing notion.

And even today,
the legacy of darkness

associated with these islands
of the damned

is so deeply rooted

that people continue
to avoid them...

like the plague.

BELLINGER:
The fate of the islands today

is kind of astonishing,

given the congestion
in Venice overall.

They are just
completely abandoned,

and people are forbidden
from even setting foot on them.

And looking at it
throughout history,

anyone who comes
to these islands

is looking
at a pretty grim outcome.

While the plague islands
of Venice have been vacant

for decades, many believe

that their disturbing history
makes them some

of the most haunted places
in the world.

And paranormal powers are
also present in South America,

on another island
where evil sorcerers are said

to inflict harm and misfortune

on anyone

who dares to cross their path.

SHATNER: Off the coast
of Chile in the Pacific Ocean

is an archipelago
made up of about 40 islands.

And among them,
there is one large island

that is brimming
with frightening tales

of monsters and dark sorcery.

The locals call it
"La Isla Magica,"

the Magic Island.

The world knows it as Chiloé.

OCKER:
Chiloé Island is
this beautiful island,

as far away as you can get

and still be habitable
as an island.

So it's no surprise

that a place like Chiloé Island
would gather all these stories

of magic and the supernatural.

SHATNER: Despite
its breathtaking scenery,

legends have persisted
that Chiloé is overflowing

with dark and dangerous magic.

So much so,
that even the ancient Inca--

the mighty civilization
that once had the largest empire

to ever exist in the Americas,

stretching from Colombia
to southern Chile--

stretching from Colombia
to southern Chile--

avoided this island
at all costs.

avoided this island
at all costs.

The Inca were great conquerors
and great empire builders,

The Inca were great conquerors
and great empire builders,

but they viewed this island

as a place
where their own empire ended,

and a strange new world began.

Chiloé Island was occupied
from about 600 BCE

by a people called the Mapuche.

Mapuche beliefs were very much
tied into the natural world.

That inanimate objects
possessed spiritual powers

for good or for bad.

They believed in shape-shifting,
magical creatures

who could be helpful to them,

but could just
as easily turn on them

and cast spells, even curses.

SHATNER:
These supernatural practices
became a subject

of national concern
when, in 1880,

a group of Chiloé Island Mapuche
were brought to trial

by Chilean officials.

Their crime?
Murder and kidnapping

by use of poison and magic.

The accused were a group
of men who claimed

to be part of a mysterious
secret society of brujos,

or male witches,

known as
"The Righteous Province."

BELLINGER:
So 1880, in Chile,

a group of male witches
or warlocks

that they called
"The Righteous Province"

constitute what is probably

the last big witch trial
in the world.

And it was a weird one.

These people were
on trial for black magic,

and for just
generally terrorizing

this small island community
for generations.

NEWMAN:
The Righteous Province

would do lots
of different horrible things,

like extortion, murders,
kidnappings and everything else,

but also, they would kill people

by inflicting magical wounds
upon them.

OCKER:
These brujos were responsible
for deaths,

for livestock mutilations.

It was rumored that they would
take young girls,

feed them certain potions

that would make them turn
into large, dark crows.

(cawing)

Those crows would do the deeds
of the brujos,

and then come back
and turn back into girls.

They were people to be feared.

According to the handwritten
trial testimony,

the headquarters
of the Righteous Province

was located somewhere near
the coastal village of Quicavi,

carefully concealed
within a deep, dark cave.

And this cave was guarded
by hideous monsters

that protected the brujos

as they engaged
in diabolical rituals

and malevolent magic
against the people of Chiloé.

NEWMAN:
One of the beasts that was said

to have protected
the cave entrance

was a goat-like being

that had bristles
all over its body.

This was said to have been
a human baby at birth

that then got transformed
and manipulated

by magic, torture and sorcery.

It was also said
that the other beast

that protected the cave was
this grotesque being, so much so

that the only thing
they fed it was human flesh.

Whether these were real or not,
we really don't know.

But from the accounts
that came forth,

it seems like something
very strange was going on here.

SHATNER:
Is it really possible
that an evil coven

of warlocks terrorized
the island of Chiloé

from deep inside a cave
of dark magic?

The whole truth remains elusive.

Even though we have the trial
transcripts from 1880,

it's very difficult
to tease apart fact and fiction

in this case.

But something clearly
was going on.

This brujo society of men

doing bad things was real.

Were the brujos
actually warlocks

who had the powers
to change into other animals?

It doesn't really matter,
does it?

People believed they did.

And faith is all it takes
for people to fall in line.

SHATNER: The trial
against the Righteous Province

saw many
of their leaders imprisoned.

Some were put to death,

shackled to a rock,

and drowned during high tide.

But even today,
superstitious locals believe

that the dark magic
of these evil sorcerers

is still present
on Chiloé Island.

OCKER:
The idea was
to control the brujos,

to incarcerate them,
to get them out of the picture,

which they do.

But one of the byproducts

of that trial was,
all these details become part

of the lore of the island.

The legend
of the brujos continues.

Whether those brujos
are still there,

nobody really knows,

but belief is
what makes curses strong

and what keeps them going.

Does a secret sect

of dark wizards
still inhabit Chiloé?

Well, the local people
certainly believe they do.

But there's another island,

just across the river
from New York City,

whose eerie reputation
is not due to evil acts,

but rather...
the haunting of lost souls.

SHATNER: More than
eight million people live,

work and play
in this iconic metropolis,

making it the most populous city
in the United States.

But just off the coast
in Long Island Sound,

there's a tiny, 131-acre outpost
known as Hart Island.

With its pockets of trees
and grassy fields,

Hart Island would seem
to be free

of the hustle and bustle
of the nearby city.

However, appearances
can be deceiving.

Because this unassuming strip
of land

actually has a larger population
than most small cities.

The only difference is,

the residents of Hart Island

-are all dead.
-(birds chirping)

GENTILE:
New York City

is divided into five boroughs.

Only one of those
is on the mainland--

that's the Bronx.

Now, from the Bronx,

-you can see a small island.
-(gulls calling)

That is Hart Island.

If you're a Jane Doe or John Doe
dying in New York City,

you get buried on Hart Island.

OCKER:
Hart Island is the country's
largest potter's field.

Potter's fields are mass graves
that are anonymous people,

people who were forgotten about,

people who didn't have
family members to bury them.

ANDREW KINKELLA:
There are over a million
dead bodies on Hart Island.

These burials are often unmarked

or they're in just mass burials.

But that's how this "island
of the dead" was created.

SHATNER:
Before Hart Island became New
York City's Island of the Dead,

it was originally used
in the mid-1800s

as a quarantine station,

a military base,

and even a jail.

So how did it become
a massive graveyard

for over a million people?

KINKELLA:
In the late 1860s,

there are lots of immigrants in
New York City and around there.

And many of these people
of course died.

Many of 'em were penniless.

And you have
to bury people somewhere.

OCKER:
Hart Island became

the city's potter field

because the city
was just growing.

And they just didn't have
places to put

all the bodies in the city.

Most of the parks in New York
are all ex-cemeteries--

Bryant Park,
Washington Square Park.

So they started using
Hart Island.

SHATNER:
New York City's Department
of Charities and Correction

purchased Hart Island
from a private owner in 1868

as a location for an industrial
school for destitute boys.

Within a year,
the first unclaimed body

was brought to the island
and buried there.

Since then, Hart Island
has become the city's cemetery

for everyone
from unidentified Union soldiers

killed during the Civil War

to the victims
of the Spanish flu in 1918,

the AIDS crisis of the 1980s,

and, most recently,

the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than one-third
of the people buried there

have never been identified.

Hart Island in the past
has sometimes been thought of

as a bit of a cursed place
or a place with some foreboding.

Mostly just because it was
kind of kept secret by the city.

They stopped all ferry service
in the 1970s.

Rikers Island inmates
were burying the bodies,

and nobody could actually go
to Hart's Island.

So it started gathering
this forbidden aura around it.

SHATNER:
For decades, the cemetery
was strictly off-limits

to the public.

But in 2023,

the city's Department
of Parks and Recreation

was given permission
to lift restrictions

and open Hart Island

to tours and gravesite visits.

OCKER:
Today,

Hart Island is at the beginning
of a new chapter.

People are allowed
to go there now.

People who just want to see
this place of history.

It's becoming less secretive,
more open.

The Parks Department
now runs it,

just like any park in the city.

These days,
Hart Island is becoming

a place for the living
as much as it is for the dead.

SHATNER:
The transformation of
Hart Island from city cemetery

to public park
is indeed remarkable.

Nevertheless, the fact
that there are still hundreds

of thousands
of unidentified bodies

resting beneath the surface
is unsettling.

And it raises
a fascinating question.

Can an island of the dead
be brought back to life?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining another island

7,000 miles from New York City

that has become one of
the most toxic places on Earth.

♪ ♪

SHATNER: In the middle
of the Pacific Ocean,

thousands of miles away
from solid land,

is a ring of 23 small islands
known as Bikini Atoll.

It's a geological formation
of coral reefs

that grew along the rim
of an ancient volcano.

Once part of the U.S. territory
known as the Marshall Islands,

this atoll surrounds a vast,
230-square-mile lagoon

famous for its deep blue waters.

From afar, it would appear
to be a tropical oasis.

But almost 70 years ago,

a devastating event
took place here.

MAN:
Five, four,

three, two, one.

SHATNER:
On March 1, 1954,

the U.S. military
detonated an explosion here

1,000 times more powerful

than the bomb
that destroyed Hiroshima.

It was a nuclear weapons test
code-named Castle Bravo.

KINKELLA:
The Castle Bravo test was
the largest thermonuclear test

that the United States ever did.

The scientists at the time
thought it was gonna be

about a five
to six-megaton explosion.

But when it went off, it was
actually a 15-megaton explosion.

So it was much bigger than
they thought it was gonna be.

SHATNER:
Over the next decade,

Bikini Atoll would serve as the
U.S. military's testing ground

for nuclear warheads.

In fact, from 1946 to 1958,

23 nuclear devices
were detonated in the area...

...generating
enough fallout to cover

more than 7,000 square miles
in deadly radiation,

transforming
this tropical paradise...

...into one of the most toxic
places on Earth.

KINKELLA: The entire area
basically became uninhabitable.

Bikini Island itself
was obviously just wasted.

But some of these other islands

had really, really bad
nuclear fallout.

It started to "snow."

Of course,
this wasn't snowflakes--

this was nuclear fallout.

BELLINGER:
The water was full of radiation
that people were drinking.

And they couldn't raise crops
in the soils,

'cause those
were still contaminated.

They were far too irradiated
for human consumption.

It was all just the stuff
of nightmares.

SHATNER:
70 years after the United States
completed its nuclear tests,

Bikini Atoll remains one of the
most irradiated places on Earth.

Many experts believed it would
never be habitable again.

But recently,
a team of scientists

from Stanford University

discovered
something astonishing.

Life has apparently returned.

ADAM RUBEN:
In 2017,

scientists returned
to the Bikini Atoll

and found that it's thriving.

It's teeming with life,
with marine life.

There are coral reefs
the size of cars.

Somehow life has found a way
to keep building itself

in a radiation-rich environment.

BELLINGER:
You've got to think

that all of this nuclear testing
in the Pacific

is about the worst things
humans have thrown

at an isolated island community.

And yet Bikini Atoll

showed just a crazy variety
of marine life thriving.

We're talking schools
of thousands of fish,

sharks and snappers, tuna.

The Earth found a way to adapt,

to regenerate, to come back.

SHATNER:
Is it possible that the return
of life to Bikini Atoll

is an indication that the Earth
is reclaiming these islands

from human abuse?

And if so,

could there also be hope

that the many other islands
of the damned

will one day
become healed as well?

COLLINS:
Every island has its own spirit.

And with human interaction
across the centuries,

And with human interaction
across the centuries,

negative energy can be embedded
within an environment,

within a landscape.

It's almost like
an invisible bloodstain.

So go there at your own peril.

Once one bad thing
happens in a place,

bad things start to just happen

and kind of stack up there.

And then the superstition,
I think,

embeds itself
into the local culture.

But as we see in Bikini Atoll,

nature always finds a way
to survive.

It's encouraging to think that
life can return and flourish

in a place as damned
as the Bikini Atoll.

And might that be the case
for other islands that suffer

from dark forces,

terrifying monsters,

or unimaginable misfortune?

It's certainly worth hoping for.

But for now,

if you ever decide to visit
one of these sinister sites,

pay close attention
to what the locals are saying.

Because the true dangers
of these islands of the damned

remain...

unexplained.

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