All language subtitles for Lost.Monster.Files.S01E03.Thunderbird.of.Pennsylvania.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

For over 25 years,

a creature has been
terrorizing a small town

nestled in
the Allegheny Mountains.

It scared me.

With a wingspan
of over 18 feet...

And it goes like this...

...12-inch talons
capable of lifting children...

Grabbers picked me up.

...and a razor-sharp beak that
can pierce a human skull...

Oh, my God.

...the Thunderbird has been
reported across North America

for over seven centuries.

Now, encounters
have started to rise.

But the menacing creature
remains unconfirmed.

What the hell is that?

In the mid-20th century,

scientist Ivan Sanderson

set out to
separate fact from fiction.

He investigated hundreds
of frightening encounters

with unexplained creatures
around the world.

My next guest tonight

is one of the world's
leading naturalists,

accumulating material
for some 30 years.

As the founder
of cryptozoology,

he built the
most extensive archive

of unclassified
creatures on Earth.

There seem to be
a lot of these creatures

on our continent,
in South America and Africa,

and all of Asia.

But following
his death in the 1970s,

that archive disappeared...

until now.

Armed with modern tech and
Sanderson's lost research...

We need to take this
and compare it to what's in the archives.

...a team of experts
will reinvestigate

his unexplained cases,

using up-to-the-minute
research

and predator expertise.

I've never seen
wildlife do this.

There's nothing like that that
should be doing that here.

Holy.

Can Sanderson's files lead to an incredible new insight...

...and take another creature
from myth...

Did you see that?

...to reality.

One of the cases
that Ivan Sanderson was obsessed with

was the Thunderbird.

These stories span decades,
if not hundreds of years.

These large birds coming down

and attacking children
or small people.

Thunderbirds are linked to large bird-like sightings

all over the world.

The Thunderbird
was first recorded

in 2,000-year-old
cave paintings

by indigenous tribes

as an enormous winged creature

that creates thunder by
flapping its wings

and lightning
by flashing its eyes.

Endless reports of
huge winged things,

light brownish birds

looking like buzzards
or turkey vultures.

In one account,

the wingspan was four feet
greater than a two-lane road,

stretching 25 feet wide.

In correlation
with the sightings,

people of all ages
went missing.

There's tons of
Thunderbird material in here.

He was definitely obsessed
with this creature.

And don't forget,

one of the largest stories
ever told

was by Marlon Lowe.

Right. And that
story came out in 1977,

which was four years after
Sanderson had passed away.

Marlon was attacked.

He and his mother claimed
the huge bird swooped in,

picked Marlon up,

and then tried
to fly off with him.

Had Ivan been alive
when that occurred,

he would have
had a lot of interest in talking to Marlon.

- Yeah.
- I think there's a real opportunity

to get his firsthand account.

I really think that this would
be a really interesting case

to figure out what's going on.

Because the sightings
in Pennsylvania,

they've been ongoing,
especially at Chestnut Ridge.

Like, I had actually
heard from a guy

that has had multiple accounts
on his property.

He's saying that
it's been visiting his farm

and he's seen him
multiple times.

And it's interesting to note
that Ivan Sanderson

actually looked
into the Chestnut Ridge.

Around Chestnut Ridge in western Pennsylvania,

Ivan Sanderson documented
over two dozen frightening encounters.

I could actually kind of
cross reference

where the farm sits

to the ridge that Ivan

was already mapping out
in Pennsylvania.

So we've got the map
and a location.

- Yep.
- We have Marlon's firsthand account,

and we have a farm

where the Thunderbird
keeps showing up.

I think we have enough
to start

making our way to
Pennsylvania.

Chestnut Ridge was
the main area of interest in Ivan's research,

and we are going to carry
that investigation forward.

Brittany, Justin and Troy
will head to Chestnut Ridge

and investigate
the recent sightings that are occurring there.

Tracy and I will
interview Marlon Lowe.

We'll measure
the gathered evidence

against his
classification index.

That will help us determine

if this creature is
a known animal species,

a Lazarus species,

something formerly
thought to be extinct,

or an entirely
new species altogether.

Sanderson believed that
he was close

to tracking the Thunderbird
at Chestnut Ridge.

And this is
a great opportunity to build on his work.

Our goal is to figure out
what the Thunderbird is

and document proof
that this creature exists.

A creature
the size of the Thunderbird

speaks to the Andean condor.

Yet this massive
new-world vulture

is an ancestor
of the teratornis,

the ancient winged animal
whose size dwarfed

that of the condor's
we are familiar with today.

Now, some scientists claim
it became extinct

at the very end of
the Pleistocene,

some 10,000 years ago.

However,
I'd like to propose that...

perhaps the
mysterious Thunderbird

is truly a living
breathing teratornis.

This is
one of the eyewitnesses

that sees these large birds

that would be considered
the Thunderbird.

- Okay.
- So I wanted to come out here

and take a look at everything

because the sightings are
starting to really accumulate

out in the area
and around this area.

I guess we might as well go up and check this out.

You ready?

Chestnut Ridge
is a 90-mile long ridge

in the Allegheny Mountains
of Pennsylvania.

For decades, this area has had
attacks from Thunderbirds.

The most recently
reported sightings

are all located
in the same vicinity

that Sanderson
had circled on his map,

a Thunderbird hotspot
along the ridgeline.

How's it going,
good sir? - Aaron.

Good to see you, sir. - Justin.

- Hi, Justin.
- Troy. Nice to meet you. How are you?

Troy, how you doing?

The team
meets with an eyewitness

who recently encountered
the creature on his farm,

which sits directly below
the Chestnut ridgeline.

Interviewing an eyewitness
is extremely important

because it's
allowing us to identify

what we could be dealing with.

We know a lot of
the species in the area,

but based off
of what the sightings are,

this is something much larger.

You seem to have some
sightings on your property.

Do you mind kind of...

- No, I don't mind at all.
- ...just kind of giving us some background.

I've seen them three times.

- Okay.
- The first time I seen 'em,

I was out here
cutting the field.

And we're looking
out there at the field

and there's a tree stump.

and I'm thinking,
"Why is there a tree stump in my field?

I just cut it."

And the tree stump
picked its head up.

And it goes like this...

So then it takes one
kind of like a lean forward into the breeze,

kind of gets up and goes...

It was thick in the neck
and big.

So feathered all the way
from the front to the back?

Yeah.

We've seen a lot of birds
flying around here.

There's pelicans,
there's storks,

there's buzzards,

there's eagles.

This was none of those.

This was much,
much more massive.

I want to get
an idea of size.

Justin, if you stand
over here for a minute.

Justin's about 6'5". I'm 6'1".

So, if we...

if we had a wingspan
like this, right? - That's it.

- Add this.
- Stretch out.

Yeah, right here.

So about like this, Brittany.

Sweet Jesus.

So we're looking at a 15,
almost.

That's how big we are,
right here. - Yeah.

Based on Aaron's testimony,

I don't think we're talking
about the cryptid,

but I have no idea
what the culprit would be.

So hopefully we can
do some more experiments

and really try to nail
something in.

Something maybe
a little bit less ordinary.

I just want
to get to the facts, okay?

Sanderson theorized
that the Thunderbird

could be related
to a prehistoric species.

So, like we're
talking neo dinosaurs.

Neo dinosaurs are
a Lazarus species of cryptid,

which are animals
believed to be extinct,

but some believe could have
survived extinction.

We have the Argentavis.

They had
a wingspan of 20 to 25 feet

and weighed in
at about 180 pounds.

The teratorn had a wingspan
of about 13 feet,

and weighed
between 30 to 40 pounds.

And he did mention both.

He seemed to lean a little bit
more towards the Argentavis.

Let's just understand
what we're doing here.

We're talking about
a Thunderbird we know nothing about.

As far as I'm concerned,
it's mythological.

When you see
a bird that's five feet tall

and flies over it,
it looks massive to you.

So sometimes
perception is wrong.

Now, could there be
a gigantic bird,

something that
just grew a little bigger

that's already
a large species?

You've got those herons.

What else you got?
You're talking hawks,

red-shoulders, golden eagle.

The bald eagle,

they're gonna have
white patches and stuff

that may be harder
to see from up high.

The reason why I think
it's gonna be a golden eagle

is, number one,
it's a large-sized bird,

one of the largest raptors
we have in the area

with a wingspan
of almost eight feet.

Number two, the color,
the shape of the beak.

The one thing
that does throw me off,

the cross over of the wings,

the head down,
and then looking up.

That's more of like
what we would see

with a bat hanging
upside down.

What if we're dealing
with something that isn't documented?

It's just completely
undocumented and flying under the radar.

That's a possibility.

Aaron mentioned to us that
when he mowed,

this thing would swoop in.

It's possible this bird
has habituated.

It triggers the sound to food.

When Aaron mows,
mice scurry around,

and it becomes
a feeding frenzy.

If we can replicate
those conditions,

we might bring
the Thunderbird to us.

45 miles away, Charlie

and former CIA intelligence
agent Tracy Walder

head to Farmington,
Pennsylvania,

to meet
with a potential witness.

We're on our way
to meet Marlon Lowe.

He was attacked in 1977
by a large bird.

So we want to
get his direct account.

In 1977,

the story of 10-year-old
Marlon Lowe's abduction

by an enormous bird
made national headlines.

The claim made
by Marlon and his mother

is still met
with skepticism today.

An important part
of this investigation

is attempting to authenticate
the accounts we're being given

and detecting
signs of deception.

They used to call me the
human lie detector at the CIA.

And I think the reason
I'm able to do that

is because
I keep people talking.

I'm Tracy.
It's nice to meet you. - How are you doing?

And I keep people talking

to look at consistencies in
their stories, body language,

and their voice inflection.

Would you be willing to
sort of like walk me through

what you experienced?

- Yes, I would.
- All right, cool.

My name is Marlon Lowe,

and I had a life-changing
experience when I was young.

I got picked up by
a Thunderbird

when I was 10 years old.

I just want to get an idea...

of what you experienced.

And I was running down
behind my house.

And while I was running,

those wings had pushed
right like that.

And when it pushed me,

something just grabbed me
right by my tank top

and my shoulders
and picked me up.

And when it picked me up,
I was just running on my feet, you know.

And when I run...

the-- it dropped me,
and I just kept running.

Typically, when someone's
being untruthful,

they tend to tense up
and become highly anxious.

But that's actually not
what I got with Marlon.

His answers
were very consistent.

And he actually relaxed.

It had like
a 15 to 25-foot wingspan,

black with
a ring around his neck

and a curved beak on it.

It looked just like a condor.

But it was ten times the size
of the condors you see now.

Where did it grab onto you?

Well, it grabbed me
just around my shoulders.

- Okay.
- I got a little scar.

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

I think "little"
is an understatement...

- That's--
- ...respectfully, sir.

- That's quite a large scar.
- That's-- I can't--

That must have really hurt.

Oh, it did.

Would it be all right,
for my journal,

if I measured your scar
with a measuring tape?

- Yeah. Yes.
- Just to get an idea.

Okay.

With the curve, uh,
somewhere around six inches.

Yeah, it probably
got a little bit bigger

because of my...

You got older
and grew. - As you get older,

it probably stretched
a little bit.

Marlin's firsthand account
is terrifying.

His scar is interesting,

but I think I really need
to get up with Troy and Justin

because they know a lot more
about birds than I do.

I want to figure out
what could have done this.

Back at Chestnut Ridge,

Brittany is prepping
an experiment

to try and lure in
the Thunderbird.

Right now, I'm having Aaron do
what he normally does,

which is just clear the land.

When he does this, it seems
to bring this bird in.

You know, birds like to look
for things that are moving,

uh, and they also go
by sense of smell.

So what I'm trying to do is
I'm going to set up something

that will not only have
their food moving,

but it's gonna smell
really bad.

These are the carcasses
that, uh,

Aaron is allowing us to use.

They died naturally,

which is the only way
I would use them as bait.

Some large raptors,
like eagles,

can see prey as small
as a rabbit two miles away,

while others,
like turkey vultures,

use scent to smell their food
from eight miles away.

Brittany is attempting
to appeal to the strengths

of all the Thunderbird's
predation tactics.

She hopes,
by using collected carcasses from around the farm,

she can lure out
the Thunderbird

to see where they are nesting.

So these guys
are really important

because they're
actually motion activated.

They get triggered. And what
they do is these are video.

I need one in the skies

to see where birds are
coming from and going to.

And then I have this one
pointed down

at my rotating table
of delights.

All right. I've got
all the equipment going,

I've got the turntable going,

and I'm just waiting and
hoping to find a Thunderbird.

I've spent 40 years
doing what I call search,

searching for answers
by conducting

rigorous empirical studies

by way of careful analysis
and observation.

We're gonna
keep this out for a while,

so the experiment's
going to be ongoing

and we'll see what happens.

While Brittany
attempts to draw out

the monster bird of prey
from its nesting site,

20 miles away,
Charlie, Troy, and Justin

meet at
a local bird sanctuary.

How you doing, big boy?

How we doing, man?

Their goal is to determine all of the bird species

in Chestnut Ridge large enough

to be identified as
a Thunderbird.

- Hey. Good to see ya.
- Hello.

- Hello.
- How are you?

I'm Katie Fallon,

and I'm the executive director

of the Avian Conservation
Center of Appalachia.

I'm kind of obsessed
with birds and bird-watching,

and we heard that there may
be some Thunderbirds

or other unidentified large
flying birds in our region.

And I would like to think that
there are things out there

deep in the heart
of Appalachia,

that might be
unusual or undiscovered.

We have an account where someone says a large bird

with a 25-foot wingspan

essentially grabbed them
and left a big scar.

Are there any bird species
you know of in here

that could be big enough
to do something like that?

Let's be very clear
on one bullet point that we talked about.

Condors, which is what's
described in that account,

does not grab like that.

Yeah,
they have chicken feet. - Yeah.

I would bet that
it's a species of raptor.

Carnivorous birds can be classified into two groups,

hunters and scavengers.

This bird,
this is a peregrine falcon.

These particular species

can get very territorial
around their nests.

Birds that hunt their prey like hawks, falcons and eagles

have bodies
and talons designed to attack

and kill their prey.

That's the
red-tailed hawk in there.

Look at that display, dude.

You can see the wingspan
that hawks like this,

they have a big body.

Scavenger birds
like vultures and condors,

which are descendants of
the teratorn and Argentavis,

are larger in size
but have feet like chickens

and pick carcasses
with powerful beaks.

This is Neo,
the broad-winged hawk.

And Neo is
a female broad-wing,

a lot bigger than broad-wings
you would see in the wild.

I think these birds
are a bit too small.

Is there anything here
of larger stature?

I would say
your huge amazing eagle.

Beautiful baby.

With several
species in Pennsylvania,

eagles are the largest birds
of prey in the United States.

With wingspans
topping seven feet,

they are fierce hunters with
strong territorial instincts.

The largest of them all,
the golden eagle,

can drop down on prey,

including full-sized cattle
and deer

at speeds of over 200 mph.

But notice the talons.
Look at the grip on the foot.

When it goes down,
watch the grip.

Watch it, watch it.

And look at
the length of the legs.

So it could 100% be
what this guy is saying.

It's a massive bird.

They can definitely
think that the bird

is a lot larger than it is.

Yup, I 100% agree.

Accounts of the Thunderbird describe a creature

with characteristics
that just don't make sense.

It would be
bigger than a condor,

but attacks with talons.

And nothing here comes even
close to that description.

So we have to
take into account, Charlie,

that this may be something

that may not be exactly
native to here.

It looks like
we've eliminated everything, but maybe an eagle.

So rogue migration
is not out of the question.

Big weather events
can change migration patterns.

So there's a possibility
that we may have a bird,

a species of bird,

that could be here that's
unrecognizable to the locals.

What birds are
migrating through here

that's not
supposed to lately? - Right.

So there are certain species
that may be showing up

further north
than they used to be.

Steller's sea eagle
is an example.

There was
a Steller's sea eagle

about a year ago that
was sighted

in a lot of different places
in the eastern US.

And that's a species
that's in Siberia.

I don't know
that we really know

how that Steller's sea eagle

ended up, um,
in eastern North America.

This actually
makes the mystery deeper.

We've ruled out so much

that this sort of
takes the legend further.

Based on what I've seen today,

I'm a little more intrigued
with the possibility

this could be
a giant eagle species,

possibly even a golden eagle.

But the idea that we could be
looking at something migratory

is something
worth looking deeper into.

There are a ton
of fireflies right now.

They're just circling
on the tops of the grass.

It is so quiet out here.

It's starting to get dark.

This experiment
was a complete bust.

Raptors normally hunt
during the day,

so maybe
I'll get lucky after sunrise.

Oh, God, it stinks over here.

That is animal carcasses.

Where the hell is
that sound coming from?

Do you hear that?

I can't either.

I don't know.
I saw some movement over here.

I don't know
if it's any kind of animal.

I see something.

What's that?

Do you see that?

What is that?

Is that a wing?

I don't know.
I saw some movement over here.

I don't know
if it's any kind of animal.

It's hard to tell
what it is on the thermal.

It could be a wing.

Let me listen again.
Hang on.

I want to go closer to it.

I don't know.
It could have flown away.

I think whatever was here
is gone,

but I think
we encroached on it.

God dang it.

Personally, I feel like
this was a failure.

I really believed that I had
something in the tree,

but unfortunately I do think

that I may have scared it
away from this area.

40 miles away,
Charlie and Tracy

are meeting
with a local journalist

who has traced
the Thunderbird's migration.

Hey!
Come on in, guys. - Thanks for having us.

Come on in, guys.
No, no, it's my pleasure.

So Marlon's account
obviously isn't the only Thunderbird story.

There are hundreds from
right here in Chestnut Ridge.

And we've already
spoken to bird experts.

So Tracy and I are gonna
meet up with a Thunderbird expert.

You may have a seat, stand,
or whatever you may like.

My name is Ron Murphy,

and I'm a local author
and researcher

who have lived in the shadows
of the Chestnut Ridge

for my entire life.

And I've been
researching the Thunderbird

and writing about such things
for about 35 years.

You know,
this used to be marginalized

into the field
of cryptozoology,

but in actuality,
there's been a lot of people

writing about
these Thunderbird legends

for quite some time.

I think the Thunderbird
is actually

an uncatalogued avian species,

and I get people
reporting sightings

at least once a month.

So, Ron, it appears that the bird is highly migratory.

You've studied the stories.

How do you
think we can track it?

Well as a researcher,

the first thing
I take into account

is whatever kind of mythology
and legends exist

from its origin, right.

Because that is when
we get closer to the truth.

The Thunderbird
has been recorded

by over 20 different
Native American tribes.

Cave paintings
uncovered in Wisconsin

reveal a history of
the large intimidating bird

dating back
almost 2,000 years.

I think that when you look at
these Native American legends,

whenever they talk about it
coming in on the storms,

it looked as if they were
bringing the storms with it.

But in actuality,

it was just a way
to soar over the, uh...

over the plains.

It just makes perfect
sense to me.

Right. I mean, just
the mechanics of the wings.

- Absolutely.
- Like, the bone structure.

I really liked
that Ron connected

modern science to folklore,

and these birds
would arrive with the storm.

They would
bring the storm with them.

We know through our
understanding of flight now

that the reality is
birds of a certain size

have to ride weather systems.

According
to indigenous accounts,

including the Wekakawahu,

whose totem
features a Thunderbird.

The creature brought with it
spring and summer storms.

Sanderson and
other cryptid researchers

suggest that
because of these legends,

the Thunderbird uses storm
fronts to ride up drafts,

heat and other seasonal
wind patterns for migration,

allowing it
to soar through the sky

and remain undetected in the
dark sky at high altitudes.

Something is migratory, okay?

People see it, they report it,
investigators go to the scene.

By the time they get there,

this creature could already be
hundreds of miles away.

If something
is riding weather systems in a migratory pattern,

that means they'd be flying
21,000 feet in the air.

Migrating birds
can actually be tracked

using different types
of radar.

Have you done
any research into that?

Absolutely.

I visited our local airport,

which is a very small,
little airport,

and I got access to the room
that has the radar

of the commercial planes
and the private planes.

They all come up with
an ID number.

And it was curious because

there were other things
coming up on the computer,

uh, that were not labeled.

When was this?

About three years ago.

The gentleman
who was manning it

told me that the ones that
were not marked were military.

Right?
But this is the same range

where people are witnessing
the Thunderbird,

which would also
appear on radar as well.

- So--
- How do you differentiate?

How do you differentiate it?

Observing anomalous
objects on a radar

means a lot
of different things.

But the thing
that I took away from that

is that critics will say,

"Why don't we see
Thunderbirds on radars?"

My response to that
would be

maybe we are,
and they're just unidentified.

According to Ron,

a Thunderbird would be large
enough to be spotted on radar.

I want to give Brittany a call

and get this
information to her stat.

Hey, Charlie. What's up?

I just got to meet with Ron,
the Thunderbird expert.

He shared some details

that I just hadn't
even considered before.

So one of the questions
that comes up all the time

is why aren't these things
showing up on radar?

- Ron thinks they are.
- Really?

Yeah. So he got in
with the local airport

and the only thing that
the air traffic controllers

really care about when they're
looking at these radars

are the commercial airlines.

There are things on there
that aren't tracked,

like government planes,

other anomalous
flying objects.

And within the last
couple of years,

flight traffic control now
tracks a way broader spectrum

of height
and size of objects.

And there's all kinds of
stuff showing up

that wasn't showing up before.

For most of history,

US radar filters
have been set to track

high-speed objects
over a certain size.

In 2023,
these filters were adjusted

resulting in detection
of more anomalous objects

at slower speeds,
lower altitudes,

and smaller sizes.

So the air traffic controllers
are required

to keep records for
six months.

- Okay.
- So here, check this out.

You see where the planes
are represented here by little icons

and they have
an ID number on there?

Yeah, I see them.

And then there's
some anomalous objects

in here that don't have IDs.

That could be our animal.

Over here is Chestnut Ridge.

So focusing in on that area,

you can see
that over the course

of the six months of records,

there's a notable increase,
a peak, and then a decrease

in unidentified things
in the sky there.

So if, let's just say,

that could be
the bird of interest,

that would match up with
what our eyewitness is saying.

Because basically there's only
certain times of the year

that he is seeing
these large unknown birds.

So the radar gives us

a specific point
on Chestnut Ridge.

It could be the
Thunderbird's nesting spot.

But it also shows us
a dwindling migration pattern.

We need to get there.

Could you send me
that pinpoint of interest?

I'd like to be able to send it
to Troy and Justin,

meet up with them,
and get up to the ridge.

We may only
have a small window,

and we'd really need
to get up there before that window closes.

Absolutely.

I have faith only in reality.

And I have
no hesitation in stating

that I am an
out-and-out materialist.

By this,
I mean that I do not believe

there is anything unmaterial,
or non-material,

any more than
there is anything material.

You collect
the evidence necessary to make it material.

So in order
to collect the evidence,

one must have faith in the
unrealized and undiscovered.

And that is what
I as a scientist do.

In the westernmost
escarpment of the Alleghenies

lies Chestnut Ridge,

a rugged expanse
stretching some 90 miles,

a formidable range of
sharp cliffs.

This is a land of
low mountains and forests.

And it is from here that
the most startling reports

of the presence and passage
of modern Thunderbirds comes.

This ridge
was really important

to Ivan Sanderson's work.

When he was
here doing research,

he had the whole
Chestnut ridgeline circled.

But according to the radar
that Charlie showed me,

they're flying
over this specific path on Chestnut Ridge,

but the activity
seems to be dwindling.

If they're migrating,
that period is pending.

Using
the flight-path coordinates

from Charlie's radar data,

the unidentified objects
on the radar

circled near the ridgeline
above the Schachte farm.

Charlie's found
a possible nesting location for these birds.

We have a long range to cover.

We've got a lot
of steep rocky cliffs.

Guys, I've got this
big, bad boy right here.

I'm gonna be able to get
wherever we want to get with that.

And then I can click it
from regular imaging to thermals.

As long as we get
to the high point, I can send this bad boy out,

and then we can look for
the nesting that we need.

Troy, you got that knife?

Well, just in case there's
a rattlesnake or something.

Now birds of prey do
demonstrate nest aggression.

Kinda spear.

To explain
what nest aggression is,

is if you're sitting
in your own house and you have your children,

and someone decides
to kick into your territory,

what would you do?

Out in the middle
of the woods, you can look behind me.

It is dense forest
from here to Timbuktu.

You can keep
looking up, too.

I mean, obviously,
the birds are gonna take a good spot to nest, so...

Some of the bigger ones
will be on the cliff sides,

but we could have
some other birds of prey

nesting up in the trees.

The location
in which we're standing in right now

is a perfect location
for any cryptid.

They like to remain
out of sight,

and completely hidden.

They look for forest ranges,
high-cliff altitudes,

a lot like this, especially
when we're talking about the cryptid,

the Thunderbird.

The Thunderbird
could have been migrating

to this area for years

and stayed completely
out of sight.

Here we are,
right through here.

Probably runs
all the way this way,

and all the way out there.

If you wanna
put your bags up, I'm gonna go down.

We'll go look for some nooks
and see if there's anything nesting.

We're gonna be looking
for all kinds of evidence.

Bird activity,
what's in the area,

and then also
just the remnants of birds,

whether it's old nesting
or the regurgitated pellets.

We'll go through it
and see what, you know,

the birds around here
are eating.

Or see if we can
find anything strange

located on the ridge.

I mean, rodents poop a lot.

So this is from Alvin,
Simon and Theodore,

chipmunks out here,
hanging around.

So it gives us a good sign
that we've got

plenty of, uh, food around.

Even though I don't see any
signs of birds nesting here,

this general location might be
a good spot to search.

So the landscape that we have

is ideal for...
for larger predatory birds,

or larger birds, in general,

to kind of feel safe,
against the rock,

where nothing's gonna come
from above or below,

and they have eyes
on everything.

So we'll launch the drone,
get a better look,

and then we'll use the thermal
to see if we can get any heat signatures.

Are you guys ready?

Yep.

The temperature
inside a bird's nest

is typically between 96
and 105-degrees Fahrenheit.

This optimal range
for bird egg development

is usually 20 degrees
above the ambient temperature,

meaning it should
stand out along the cliffs.

You see how
it's all lit up? - Mmm-hmm.

- And we've got a lot of hot.
- We've got a lot of hot.

Now you see
the smaller hot spots?

- Yeah.
- That's what we want.

Aim the camera back
towards the cliff for me.

What's that right there?

- I don't just--
- I don't know. What is that? I don't know. There's...

I don't know what
that is there.

- That looks huge.
- Wow.

That means there's
probably nesting there? - I would assume.

Well, let's go look.

Using
a thermal drone,

we found a cluster
of hot spots on the cliff

just to the west of us.

That is the spot that
I need to investigate next with the team,

and hopefully,
find the nesting site.

- Ugh.
- Oh, my gosh.

Let me see
if I can, uh...

Ooh!

Hey, be careful.

Oh, it goes down
pretty far. Careful, J.

Oh, dude, it's like
a whole ass cave system.

You have any signs
of nesting down in there?

Mmm...
not that I can see. - That's just too deep

- to be bird--
- Definitely bats.

But, hoo! We got
a fall down here.

- Thats' bad.
- Yeah, that drop down there, look at that, huh?

That's a drop.

All right,
I'll come back up to you guys, then.

Look at this.

It's a pellet.

Carnivorous birds
eat their prey whole,

but their digestive systems

are not capable
of breaking down the bones

and tougher pieces
of their kill,

so they must regurgitate
the remains into a solid form

known as a pellet.

- All right...
- Yeah.

So we'll
dissect this.

- All right, so...
- So, it ate a snake.

That's an eye socket
right there.

You know,
a little raised brow. - Mmm-hmm.

And this would
be the rest of the skull right here.

So the eye's on this side.

That's really cool.

And I can't say for sure
because it's just the pellet,

but if I had to bet
my bottom dollar,

I would, a 100 percent,
go for a vulture.

This is a small pellet.

That's not the bird
we're exactly looking for.

But we could probably
look along the side

and we can... might be able
to find some more.

Now they only do it
once or twice a day.

And that might
have been his one.

Look at this.

What is it?

Oh, my God.

Look at that. Dirty.

Wait, let me see.

Look, it's pecked.

Or chewed.

That's not
teeth marks,

so, like, you have
the chewing.

Okay, well, we also
have rodents under that chew that for calcium.

It just looks
like drags, not teeth drags.

This bird is eating
a large prey.

Yo! I got a nest.

That's a lot of bird

That is... Please be careful.

Well, there's a piece
of a bone down there. - Oh, yeah.

I see it.

That's a big nest.

I got a nest.

Please be careful.

This makes me very nervous.

So what do you got, J?

That's a big nest.

Yeah, some sort of,
uh, hoofstock.

There's some fresh
green stuff in there, though.

It's built
on some grass.

- Is that built...
- Yeah, it's...

- ...on top of? Oh.
- That grass is connected. Yeah.

This was definitely a nest
for a larger bird.

But everything here

looks like it's been vacated
for quite some time.

What the hell is that?

- Jesus!
- What does he have? I can't see it.

He's got a pellet.

A pellet?

That's not a pellet.

- What is it?
- A submarine.

So we found the large pellet,

which is gonna lead us
to believe that we're in a very large species of bird,

and it's kind of in between
the base of rock.

So it looks like it's
nesting on these rocks,

which is very common
for a large species of bird.

Let me lay down here, bud,

and I'll take that from you,
so you can climb up. You ready?

- This rock is--
- I see the bones.

Yeah.

We know
it's from a large bird

because we own large birds.

I have a Eurasian eagle-owl.

That's one of the largest owls
in the world.

So that spits out
a very large pellet.

So, for that pellet
to be bigger than what I have at home,

it's gonna be
a very large bird.

This isn't like a...

vulture-type of deal either.

Wait,
Can you smell it? -

- God, bless--
- Don't open it up anymore.

Can you feel
a little bit of that there?

- Can you tell--
- Jesus, bud, don't...

- I don't need the waft...
- Sorry. I'm trying to look away

- from you. I won't--
- ...in my direction.

That's a feather.

- Okay.
- So, there's bird in it.

Then there's
some smaller bones

- and fur.
- Stop! Stop.

Okay, so we know

the bird's in this area,

but what...

known bird would do it
this size in this area?

Let's just say a really
big eagle like a harpy.

They're not supposed
to be here.

The only other theory
that I would have is gigantism.

There's a very big possibility
there's golden eagles here.

There's bald eagles here.

Maybe they're just seeing
a giant bird

that has just
had an overproduction of growth hormone

and got really, really big.

Or it's not even gigantism.

What if it's just
an unknown

anomaly of a bird

like the teratorns
or the Argentavis,

that lives
in a certain region,

and maybe got off its...
got off course?

This is enough evidence
for me to believe

that there is some type
of raptor

that is off its migration
and shouldn't be here.

So let's put together
all the evidence.

Extremely large,
abnormal-sized pellets,

on top of that,
we found skull remains.

Based off of everything
here today,

I feel that we can walk away

with two possible culprits

in this investigation.

One being a large raptor

that is not local
to this area,

off migration,

and possibly dealing
with gigantism.

Also, I'm thinking Teratornis.

Again, yes, it went extinct,

but there could have
been descendants

from that line of bird.

And we don't know for sure.

All we can do now
is bring back the evidence

and samples we have collected

and see if DNA testing
reveals anything.

But for me, those two culprits

are what we're
dealing with out here.

So in the case
of the thunderbird,

we have contributed
a lot to the file.

Yeah, I definitely think so.

I mean, the field exploration

really brought us
a lot of good evidence.

The report from the pellet
came back,

that Justin found
in that nest,

that we discovered
up on the ridge.

The DNA was identified
as an eagle.

However, it does mention
down here in the comments,

multiple species,

and a possible, uh,
potential cross-contamination.

So it wasn't actually
able to conclusively indicate

one specific bird species.

So we could be looking
at an eagle...

Could be looking
at an eagle. - Or we could be looking

at something
that ate an eagle.

- That's right.
- Okay.

So the DNA testing
is inconclusive.

But the evidence
that we've collected between the large pellet

and interviews with witnesses,

the radar detection reports,

they all point
to a large flying predator in Chestnut Ridge.

We have two theories
of what that could be.

One is an eagle
with gigantism.

That would fall
under the known species.

Or number two,

it could be
a modern-day teratorn.

That would fall
under the Lazarus species.

We just don't have
enough evidence to make a definitive call.

That's at least one area
that Ivan looked into,

but we have other areas
with different sightings,

and we can go back
to those later.

Like Ivan Sanderson,

I still believe
the thunderbird exists.

We're still discovering
different species all the time.

So our research will continue.

The Thunderbird
is out there somewhere,

and hopefully,
one day we'll find it.

There are very few experts in the unexplained

because how can you
be an expert

in something people know
very little about.

But it is through
their disciplined inquiry,

that we are able to glimpse

even a fraction of the, uh,

profound mysteries
that surround us.