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(eerie music)
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- You know, I've been around for a while,
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met some interesting people,
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done some crazy things.
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So, you just might think that there's
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not much that can take me by surprise.
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You'd be wrong.
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(eerie music)
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The world is full of stories and science
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and things that amaze and confound me.
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every single day, incredible mysteries
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that keep me awake at night.
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Some I can answer.
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Others just defy logic.
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Is the history of the world wrong?
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In a Mexican cave, a young girl finds
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a bizarre 900-year-old skeleton.
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Is it evidence aliens
once walked our planet?
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- This is the equivalent
of landing on the moon.
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- [William] A Peruvian doctor
discovers stone carvings
21
00:01:06,093 --> 00:01:09,850
that could rewrite the
history of evolution.
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Did dinosaurs live alongside humans?
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- This is one of archaeology's
most baffling enigmas.
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- [William] And a
2000-year-old wooden model
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reveals an incredible secret.
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Did the ancient Egyptians
invent the airplane?
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- This is going to throw the way we view
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ancient civilizations
completely topsy-turvy.
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- Yeah, it's a weird world and I love it.
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(dramatic music)
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I love books.
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They make me think, especially
anything about history.
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Thousands of years of human
development and achievement,
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they're all contained in the pages
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of these wonderful documents
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that not only teach
generation after generation
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about where we came from,
but where we might be going.
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Have you ever stopped to consider
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what it might mean for
us if all we've learned
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and all we think we've
learned about our past
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is wrong?
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It's unthinkable, isn't it?
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Well, guess what, there's
real and bizarre events
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out there that are telling us
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we may need to rethink everything
we know about everything.
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The unthinkable is here.
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Researcher Lloyd Pye is the
guardian of what he contends
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is the most important
artifact ever discovered.
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The story begins in
the Mexican countryside
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over 80 years a go.
51
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- It was originally discovered
in about 1930 by a young girl
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about a hundred miles
southwest of Chihuahua.
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She was visiting relatives there.
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She went out exploring the area,
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found a mine tunnel, went in,
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and inside the tunnel,
found two skeletons.
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(eerie music)
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- [William] Examining the bones,
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the girl thinks one of the
skulls looks very strange.
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- It was a misformed or misshapened skull.
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She believed it was a deformity.
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- [William] With no idea
what she stumbled across,
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the girl removes the skull
as a macabre souvenir.
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She holds on to it for 60 years.
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- She brought it to her home in El Paso,
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kept it for her whole life.
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When she found out that she
was dying in the early '90s,
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she asked some friends if
they would take it for her.
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- [William] The skull ends up in the care
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of Melanie Young, a medical professional,
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who immediately makes
a shocking discovery.
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- She had seen a lot of deformity
and she said right away,
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"I don't think this is necessarily
a deformed human skull,"
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and that's how I got involved.
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- [William] Perplexed,
Melanie approaches Lloyd.
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He's an expert in human skulls,
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but in his years of
studying human development,
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he's never seen anything like it.
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- When I looked into those
eyes, it was like Whoa!
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This really is something unusual.
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It's so unusual, it's so bizarre,
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a moron can see this is
not really a human skull,
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it's something else but what?
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But by the same token, I
was like everybody else,
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my first reaction was it has
to be some kind of deformity
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because if it's not, then
this is the equivalent
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of the shepherd that fount
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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I mean this is a big deal,
and I didn't believe that
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that kind of thing would
just fall into my lap.
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I took it to experts in every
field of human physiology,
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the eye guy, the brain guy, the ear guy,
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the skull shape guy,
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During the course of
'99, I came to understand
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that physiologically, it was
really nothing like a human.
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It is human-like, but it
is definitely non-human,
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no other way to say it.
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- [William] But if it's
not human, what was it?
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Lloyd broadens his search.
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- I took it to experts in UFOs and aliens
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and have people who have
been in it for years
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evaluate it.
102
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- [William] After close examination,
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the UFO experts reach
a stunning conclusion.
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- The skull is an alien that died
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on Earth and was buried
on Earth 900 years ago.
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The consensus was it looks
like the skull of a grey alien,
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the alien that we all know,
the one with the heart-shaped
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face on a thin little neck and weird eyes.
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We all know that look, a grey alien.
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- [William] With this in
mind, Lloyd and his supporters
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name the artifact the Starchild skull.
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They keep looking for answers.
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- How it got here, I don't know.
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Was it crash landed?
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I don't know.
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Did it come here on a
visit and get sick and die?
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I don't know.
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The implications are as
big as you can imagine.
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The Starchild is going to change history.
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It's going to prove that at least once,
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an alien being walked on the Earth.
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(dramatic music)
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- Dear friends, we are gathered here today
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to pay our last tributes
and respects to the memory
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of our departed and
beloved alien child, (hum)
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Oh sorry, would you
excuse me for a moment?
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This story is definitely weird or what.
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Does the Starchild skull
belong to an alien child
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who was visiting or even conceived
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on Earth but tragically died?
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If so, change the course of history?
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But even more importantly,
what about the parents?
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Did anyone think of letting them know?
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Did they give their
child a proper farewell?
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I doubt it.
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I'm so sorry.
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(hum) was a wonderful child who loved
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comics, sports, and practical jokes
139
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like destroying planets
with his father's death-ray.
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He'll be sadly missed.
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Would anyone like to say a few words?
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(eerie screeching}
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Is the Starchild Skull the most important
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archaeological discovery ever made?
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Not everyone thinks so.
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Yale University neurology
professor, Steven Novella,
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has studied the Starchild
Skull, and claims
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its appearance is nothing unusual.
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- Going through medical school
and training as a neurologist
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I've seen many examples
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of similar kinds of deformities before.
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There are lots of genetic anomalies
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that produce abnormalities or deformities.
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- [William] Novella's research
has led him to believe
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the Starchild skull belonged
to a human suffering
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from a medical condition
called hydrocephalus.
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- Hydrocephalus is a term that literally
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means water on the brain,
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and what happens is that the fluid that's
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normally inside and around the brain
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does not flow like it normally should,
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and that causes the water and the pressure
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to build up inside the
brain and inside the skull.
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In young children, where
the bones of the skull
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have not yet fused,
this can cause the skull
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to balloon out, sometimes
even to incredible size.
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In an adult, where all
the bones of the skull
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have completely fused together,
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then the hydrocephalus would just cause
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increased pressure on the brain,
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but not an expansion of the skull itself.
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(eerie music)
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- [William] For Novella, it's
this ballooning that explains
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the Starchild Skull's unusual appearance.
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- The overall size and shape of the skull
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and the arrangement of the deformities
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matches pictures of children and skulls
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of people with hydrocephalus.
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Certainly, I've seen
pictures of many of them
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which look very similar
to the Starchild skull.
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- [William] Sadly, there
would have been no treatment
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for this painful condition in the era
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from which the Starchild Skull belongs.
184
00:10:02,538 --> 00:10:04,292
- The modern treatment for hydrocephalus
185
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is to train the fluid out
from inside the brain.
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It reverses all of the abnormal
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effects of the hydrocephalus.
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This is a modern neurosurgical
treatment, however,
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this would not have been available prior
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to 50 or 60 years ago, let
alone hundreds of years ago.
191
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- [William] So, does
this mean that we've yet
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to play host to intergalactic visitors?
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- I have nothing against the notion
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that there are aliens in the universe.
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I think it would be really cool.
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I just don't think this skull is it.
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This is not the evidence
of anything alien.
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Lloyd Pye would have you
believe that this one skull,
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this one bit of evidence,
200
00:10:42,248 --> 00:10:44,874
which really has been
very imperfectly examined,
201
00:10:44,874 --> 00:10:48,089
is enough to rewrite
everything that we know.
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Of course, he's been making
that claim for years.
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Everything you think you know is wrong.
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That's sort of his shtick,
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alternative science, alternative history.
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He wants us to brush aside hundreds
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00:10:58,973 --> 00:11:02,535
of years of evidence and expertise.
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He thinks all scientists
are close-minded and wrong,
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and therefore, he can come
up with any fantasy he likes
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00:11:08,754 --> 00:11:10,467
and present that as the truth
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because he can just ignore
all of established science.
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- [William] So, is this
the end of the mystery?
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00:11:17,856 --> 00:11:20,820
Did the Starchild skull belong to a human
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00:11:20,820 --> 00:11:22,949
suffering from hydrocephalus?
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00:11:22,949 --> 00:11:27,166
Trenton Holiday and John
Verano are professors
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00:11:27,166 --> 00:11:30,589
of anthropology at the
University of Tulane.
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00:11:30,589 --> 00:11:32,932
They have a different take.
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00:11:32,932 --> 00:11:34,473
- Originally when I saw the skull
219
00:11:34,473 --> 00:11:37,271
I suspected it might have
suffered from hydrocephaly.
220
00:11:37,271 --> 00:11:40,027
However, I have since
revised my opinion on that.
221
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I don't think it was a
hydrocephalus individual.
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00:11:43,616 --> 00:11:47,122
- [William] So, if not an
alien and not hydrocephalic
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00:11:47,122 --> 00:11:50,760
just who was the Starchild?
224
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- The most unusual of this Starchild Skull
225
00:11:53,387 --> 00:11:54,971
is just the shape of the skull.
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It's flattened in the back,
it's bulged at the sides,
227
00:11:57,479 --> 00:12:00,524
and I can explain that very
easily by cradleboarding.
228
00:12:00,524 --> 00:12:02,362
- [William] Cradleboarding
was an early solution
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00:12:02,362 --> 00:12:05,502
to a problem many of us face today,
230
00:12:05,502 --> 00:12:07,580
making kids portable.
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00:12:07,580 --> 00:12:09,083
- Cradleboarding was a very common
232
00:12:09,083 --> 00:12:10,809
practice in South America.
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00:12:10,809 --> 00:12:13,597
It was originally done
as a means of restraining
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00:12:13,597 --> 00:12:16,807
the infant so that they can be
brought out into the fields.
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It also was done for aesthetic reasons.
236
00:12:20,106 --> 00:12:22,527
- [William] But how could a
simple baby carrying device
237
00:12:22,527 --> 00:12:26,661
create the bizarre shape
of the Starchild Skull?
238
00:12:26,661 --> 00:12:30,166
- Here's an example of an
actual cradleboard from Peru.
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00:12:30,166 --> 00:12:32,672
I've strapped on a doll
to give you an idea
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of the way an infant would be put on it,
241
00:12:35,010 --> 00:12:37,479
and then here you can see how
the head is strapped down.
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A strap goes over the
forehead and goes over
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at the back of the skull, holds
the child's head in place,
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allows it to move,
probably, from side to side,
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and in fact, many of
these are asymmetrical,
246
00:12:49,163 --> 00:12:50,708
which suggests that they were lying
247
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habitually to one side or another.
248
00:12:54,883 --> 00:12:58,097
- [William] But cradleboarding
have a side effect.
249
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As the skull was compressed
from one direction,
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it grew in the other to make room
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00:13:01,934 --> 00:13:05,015
for the baby's rapidly developing brain.
252
00:13:05,905 --> 00:13:08,161
- This was a child's skull
that was cradleboarded.
253
00:13:08,161 --> 00:13:10,289
It's bulging out on the two sides
254
00:13:10,289 --> 00:13:12,250
and that's because there's
pressure that was put
255
00:13:12,250 --> 00:13:14,005
on the back side of the skull.
256
00:13:14,005 --> 00:13:16,594
What you can see is the
way the skull is flattened
257
00:13:16,594 --> 00:13:19,766
in the back and it's kind
of bulging up from the side,
258
00:13:19,766 --> 00:13:22,397
giving it this unusual shape
that if you didn't know
259
00:13:22,397 --> 00:13:23,776
about cradleboarding, you might think
260
00:13:23,776 --> 00:13:27,004
boy that's a bizarre looking human skull.
261
00:13:27,364 --> 00:13:28,617
- [William] Were the strange features
262
00:13:28,617 --> 00:13:31,455
of the Starchild Skull caused by
263
00:13:31,455 --> 00:13:34,628
an ancient child-carrying device?
264
00:13:34,628 --> 00:13:37,635
Or is the truth way more bizarre?
265
00:13:37,635 --> 00:13:42,587
- The Starchild had an alien
father and an alien mother.
266
00:13:44,901 --> 00:13:48,282
- [William] The features
of a 900-year-old skull
267
00:13:48,282 --> 00:13:50,827
puzzle the scientific community.
268
00:13:50,827 --> 00:13:55,399
Some offer practical explanations
such as cradleboarding.
269
00:13:55,719 --> 00:13:58,022
Others disagree.
270
00:13:58,022 --> 00:14:02,726
- When a skull is cradleboarded,
a baby's bones are so soft
271
00:14:02,726 --> 00:14:06,902
that they flatten, so that if
you feel this, it's very flat,
272
00:14:06,902 --> 00:14:09,207
as flat as the board
that it was pressed to.
273
00:14:09,207 --> 00:14:12,670
The Starchild has its
natural convolutions to it.
274
00:14:12,670 --> 00:14:16,420
So, what that means is it was
not flattened artificially,
275
00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:18,134
it grew this way.
276
00:14:18,134 --> 00:14:20,894
Its genes told it to grow.
277
00:14:20,894 --> 00:14:23,143
Now, another interesting
difference is that
278
00:14:23,143 --> 00:14:27,150
a normal human the crown
of the head is round
279
00:14:27,150 --> 00:14:31,576
all the way around here, rounded, rounded.
280
00:14:31,576 --> 00:14:33,665
If you look at the
Starchild you see clearly
281
00:14:33,665 --> 00:14:37,214
that there is a crease
here down the middle.
282
00:14:37,214 --> 00:14:40,386
A crease, and that could only occur
283
00:14:40,386 --> 00:14:45,260
if the suture, this suture line
right here, had been fused,
284
00:14:45,590 --> 00:14:49,278
in a human, was fused
early and then you could
285
00:14:49,278 --> 00:14:52,035
have a shape like this
where the brain would grow
286
00:14:52,035 --> 00:14:54,705
out and around and that
wouldn't really spread out
287
00:14:54,705 --> 00:14:57,396
because the suture line
would be prematurely fused.
288
00:14:57,396 --> 00:14:59,233
But we CAT scanned the Starchild
289
00:14:59,233 --> 00:15:00,777
and all of its sutures are open.
290
00:15:00,777 --> 00:15:02,404
There's no premature fusing.
291
00:15:02,404 --> 00:15:05,853
It's very normal and also
it's very symmetrical.
292
00:15:05,853 --> 00:15:07,695
If you look at the whole skull,
293
00:15:07,695 --> 00:15:09,660
it's extraordinarily symmetrical
294
00:15:09,660 --> 00:15:11,615
for as strange as it looks,
295
00:15:11,615 --> 00:15:14,119
it's more symmetrical
than the human skull.
296
00:15:14,119 --> 00:15:16,379
It's more symmetrical than my skull
297
00:15:16,379 --> 00:15:18,962
or any average person's skull.
298
00:15:18,962 --> 00:15:21,008
In fact, one of the hallmark's of beauty,
299
00:15:21,008 --> 00:15:24,182
everyone agrees, is that
the most symmetrical
300
00:15:24,182 --> 00:15:28,524
faces are the most beautiful
in people, tend to be,
301
00:15:28,524 --> 00:15:31,278
so, that too, is very different.
302
00:15:31,278 --> 00:15:34,617
Now, another aspect of extreme difference
303
00:15:35,078 --> 00:15:36,877
between the Starchild and a human
304
00:15:36,877 --> 00:15:38,585
is the thickness of the bone
305
00:15:38,585 --> 00:15:41,132
and we can see that very closely here,
306
00:15:41,132 --> 00:15:42,346
you see the difference.
307
00:15:42,346 --> 00:15:45,141
It's half or less, the Starchild's
308
00:15:45,141 --> 00:15:48,834
bone is half or less as thick.
309
00:15:48,834 --> 00:15:52,362
It weighs half as much,
it's very much lighter
310
00:15:52,362 --> 00:15:55,698
in the hand than is a human skull.
311
00:15:56,536 --> 00:15:58,924
- [William] So, if it's not cradleboarding
312
00:15:58,924 --> 00:16:02,298
could hydrocephaly have
deformed the skull?
313
00:16:02,298 --> 00:16:06,560
- Anybody that says the
Starchild is a hydrocephalic
314
00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,646
is missing a very important point.
315
00:16:09,646 --> 00:16:12,110
When you look at standard
hydrocephalic pictures
316
00:16:12,110 --> 00:16:15,077
you see it's blown up all around.
317
00:16:15,077 --> 00:16:18,827
There's no significant features like this.
318
00:16:19,208 --> 00:16:21,504
This grew this way because its genes
319
00:16:21,504 --> 00:16:23,951
told it to grow that way.
320
00:16:23,951 --> 00:16:25,470
- [William] Having dismissed the opinion
321
00:16:25,470 --> 00:16:29,687
of traditional science, Lloyd
undertook his own research.
322
00:16:29,687 --> 00:16:33,100
His findings are astonishing.
323
00:16:33,570 --> 00:16:36,409
- What makes the Starchild skull different
324
00:16:36,409 --> 00:16:40,832
is that there are 25
major physical differences
325
00:16:40,832 --> 00:16:43,925
between it and human skulls.
326
00:16:43,925 --> 00:16:46,846
There's not one part of it
that's exactly like a human.
327
00:16:46,846 --> 00:16:49,142
It is completely different
and what that indicates
328
00:16:49,142 --> 00:16:52,641
is that its genes are radically different.
329
00:16:53,151 --> 00:16:55,537
- [William] But does this
mean the Starchild Skull
330
00:16:55,537 --> 00:16:59,169
could only be of extraterrestrial origin?
331
00:16:59,169 --> 00:17:02,587
In 2003, DNA technology allowed Pye
332
00:17:02,587 --> 00:17:04,881
to put his theory to the test.
333
00:17:04,881 --> 00:17:08,599
- We got the first test by a laboratory
334
00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:11,814
that was capable of doing ancient DNA,
335
00:17:11,814 --> 00:17:13,988
and the answer that they got was
336
00:17:13,988 --> 00:17:16,822
that the mother was human
and the father was not.
337
00:17:16,822 --> 00:17:19,447
Clearly, something is
wrong with the father.
338
00:17:19,447 --> 00:17:21,628
The father's not human.
339
00:17:21,628 --> 00:17:24,002
- [William] Is the
Starchild Skull evidence
340
00:17:24,002 --> 00:17:27,469
that aliens bred with humans?
341
00:17:27,469 --> 00:17:30,188
Native American legends tell stories
342
00:17:30,188 --> 00:17:33,230
strikingly similar to Pye's theory.
343
00:17:33,230 --> 00:17:35,370
- There would be beings from the stars
344
00:17:35,370 --> 00:17:38,616
who would come down from
the skies, pick a woman
345
00:17:38,616 --> 00:17:41,706
in a village and they
would make her pregnant.
346
00:17:41,706 --> 00:17:45,004
So, the Starchild fit right into that.
347
00:17:45,004 --> 00:17:46,757
- [William] But as technology advances,
348
00:17:46,757 --> 00:17:50,975
so does the story of the Starchild skull.
349
00:17:51,434 --> 00:17:55,399
In early 2011, a new DNA test led Lloyd
350
00:17:55,399 --> 00:17:58,697
to an even more astonishing claim.
351
00:17:58,697 --> 00:18:01,706
- The conclusion that we've
come to now after several
352
00:18:01,706 --> 00:18:06,692
DNA tests and an extensive
analysis of those results is that
353
00:18:06,882 --> 00:18:11,355
the Starchild had an alien
father and an alien mother
354
00:18:11,355 --> 00:18:14,145
and when I say alien, I mean non-human.
355
00:18:14,145 --> 00:18:16,066
The difference is so stark.
356
00:18:16,066 --> 00:18:17,486
The difference is so wide.
357
00:18:17,486 --> 00:18:20,996
There is no way that we
can call this a human.
358
00:18:21,337 --> 00:18:22,789
- [William] Is this the first physical
359
00:18:22,789 --> 00:18:26,044
evidence that aliens exist?
360
00:18:26,044 --> 00:18:28,514
Lloyd has no doubt.
361
00:18:28,883 --> 00:18:31,053
- It's going to change human history
362
00:18:31,053 --> 00:18:34,102
to have to accept that at least once,
363
00:18:34,102 --> 00:18:38,901
900 years ago, an alien
being walked the Earth,
364
00:18:38,901 --> 00:18:42,786
lived here, died here,
and was buried here.
365
00:18:42,786 --> 00:18:46,889
This is the equivalent
of landing on the moon.
366
00:18:47,545 --> 00:18:49,968
- [William] What is the Starchild skull?
367
00:18:49,968 --> 00:18:52,639
For now it remains an enigma.
368
00:18:52,639 --> 00:18:54,519
Did it belong to a deformed child
369
00:18:54,519 --> 00:18:57,274
or an ancient adult with
a disease of the brain?
370
00:18:57,274 --> 00:19:02,211
Is it conclusive evidence
that we are not alone?
371
00:19:02,951 --> 00:19:06,417
Weird or what?
372
00:19:06,417 --> 00:19:11,421
(dramatic music)
373
00:19:17,046 --> 00:19:19,868
(drum music)
374
00:19:19,868 --> 00:19:23,617
You know, I've always had a fascination
375
00:19:23,617 --> 00:19:26,581
with the relics of the ancient past
376
00:19:26,581 --> 00:19:28,795
and I'm not just talking about The Beatles
377
00:19:28,795 --> 00:19:31,676
or The Rolling Stones or Leonard Nimoy.
378
00:19:31,676 --> 00:19:33,557
No, no, no, no, no,
379
00:19:33,557 --> 00:19:36,741
when it comes to our far distant history,
380
00:19:37,021 --> 00:19:40,359
there's nothing quite as spectacular,
381
00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:43,715
mysterious and even frightening
382
00:19:44,716 --> 00:19:47,859
as dinosaurs.
383
00:19:48,710 --> 00:19:50,965
Surely, the king of all creatures,
384
00:19:50,965 --> 00:19:53,680
real life monsters that
dominated the planet
385
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,018
until something wiped them out
386
00:19:56,018 --> 00:19:58,561
long before man even evolved.
387
00:19:58,561 --> 00:20:02,195
What a pity that we only find them now
388
00:20:02,195 --> 00:20:06,656
in museums or as cute toys.
389
00:20:10,419 --> 00:20:11,838
Can you imagine what it would be like
390
00:20:11,838 --> 00:20:14,511
to see one in the flesh?
391
00:20:14,511 --> 00:20:18,108
Well, maybe we already have
392
00:20:19,060 --> 00:20:22,569
and maybe we still can.
393
00:20:22,569 --> 00:20:25,769
(dinosaur roar)
394
00:20:26,870 --> 00:20:31,867
Weird (dinosaur roar)
or what? (dinosaur roar)
395
00:20:33,048 --> 00:20:35,927
Adventurer Dennis Swift travels the world
396
00:20:35,927 --> 00:20:38,159
in search of the ancient artifacts,
397
00:20:38,159 --> 00:20:41,858
but nothing he's found
compares to a discovery
398
00:20:41,858 --> 00:20:46,536
made in Ica, Peru by a
man named Javier Cabrera.
399
00:20:46,536 --> 00:20:49,414
- Dr. Cabrera made the greatest discovery
400
00:20:49,414 --> 00:20:51,793
in the history of mankind.
401
00:20:51,793 --> 00:20:54,503
The implications are staggering.
402
00:20:55,344 --> 00:20:56,720
- [William] It began innocently enough
403
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,518
at a birthday party in 1966.
404
00:20:59,518 --> 00:21:02,944
- It was Dr. Cabrera's 42nd birthday.
405
00:21:02,944 --> 00:21:04,528
- [William] One of the
doctor's oldest friends
406
00:21:04,528 --> 00:21:07,908
brings him a special gift.
407
00:21:07,908 --> 00:21:10,707
- Dr. Cabrera was given a stone.
408
00:21:10,707 --> 00:21:14,883
It was found in some official
archaeological excavations.
409
00:21:14,883 --> 00:21:16,344
- [William] The stone was carved
410
00:21:16,344 --> 00:21:18,805
by an ancient Peruvian tribe.
411
00:21:18,805 --> 00:21:20,643
His friend thinks it's a trinket,
412
00:21:20,643 --> 00:21:24,776
but the Dr. makes a discovery
that sets his heart racing.
413
00:21:25,277 --> 00:21:30,223
Etched into the stone, is an
image that defies explanation.
414
00:21:30,624 --> 00:21:33,168
- He recognized it to be a species of fish
415
00:21:33,168 --> 00:21:36,718
that went extinct 150 million years ago.
416
00:21:36,718 --> 00:21:39,453
Now how do you explain that?
417
00:21:42,227 --> 00:21:44,315
- [William] Seeking
answers, the Dr. employs
418
00:21:44,315 --> 00:21:47,738
local workmen to find more stones.
419
00:21:47,738 --> 00:21:50,832
- Dr. Cabrera began to
find more of these stones
420
00:21:50,832 --> 00:21:52,959
and people brought them to him.
421
00:21:52,959 --> 00:21:57,134
The more he delved into it,
the more it consumed his life.
422
00:21:57,134 --> 00:21:59,971
- [William] As more
and more stones arrived
423
00:21:59,971 --> 00:22:03,439
Dr. Cabrera realizes
they feature other images
424
00:22:03,439 --> 00:22:05,777
that just shouldn't have been there.
425
00:22:05,777 --> 00:22:07,095
- Some of the stones seemed
426
00:22:07,095 --> 00:22:09,483
to be depicting impossible scenes,
427
00:22:09,483 --> 00:22:12,866
things that would cause the
textbooks to be rewritten.
428
00:22:14,115 --> 00:22:17,192
- [William] What had the doctor found?
429
00:22:17,192 --> 00:22:21,432
It was something that
would shock the world.
430
00:22:21,432 --> 00:22:24,150
- He risked his reputation.
431
00:22:24,150 --> 00:22:26,495
He said if you look
closely at this, you'll see
432
00:22:26,495 --> 00:22:29,464
a dinosaur carved there with two people.
433
00:22:29,864 --> 00:22:33,288
- [William] It's an astonishing
moment, but how could it be?
434
00:22:33,288 --> 00:22:37,673
Dinosaur fossils weren't
identified until 1824.
435
00:22:37,673 --> 00:22:39,386
How could an ancient people have known
436
00:22:39,386 --> 00:22:41,847
about them a thousand years ago?
437
00:22:41,847 --> 00:22:45,146
- Finding artifacts and
information that showed
438
00:22:45,146 --> 00:22:48,234
that these people had
knowledge of dinosaurs
439
00:22:48,234 --> 00:22:52,003
that predated our knowledge
was truly amazing.
440
00:22:52,644 --> 00:22:54,890
- [William] But could it proved?
441
00:22:54,890 --> 00:22:57,111
(dramatic music)
442
00:22:57,111 --> 00:22:58,243
After comparing the etchings
443
00:22:58,243 --> 00:23:00,728
on over 400 stones to real fossils,
444
00:23:00,728 --> 00:23:03,660
he discovered the
depictions were accurate.
445
00:23:03,660 --> 00:23:07,321
The Peruvian artists must have known
446
00:23:07,321 --> 00:23:09,932
what dinosaurs looked like.
447
00:23:10,403 --> 00:23:14,563
- Now, not only is that
astonishing, it began to say to him
448
00:23:14,563 --> 00:23:17,209
they saw living breathing dinosaurs.
449
00:23:17,209 --> 00:23:20,967
This is one of archaeology's
most baffling enigmas.
450
00:23:20,967 --> 00:23:23,735
- [William] Did the dinosaurs
live millions of years
451
00:23:23,735 --> 00:23:26,019
longer that we thought they did?
452
00:23:26,019 --> 00:23:29,943
- I've studied the Ica stones
for well over 20 years.
453
00:23:29,943 --> 00:23:33,785
I believe they are very
substantial, strong evidence
454
00:23:33,785 --> 00:23:36,381
that dinosaurs and man lived together.
455
00:23:36,582 --> 00:23:38,776
- [William] Current scientific
belief is that the dinosaurs
456
00:23:38,776 --> 00:23:42,343
were wiped out by an astroid
66 million years ago,
457
00:23:42,343 --> 00:23:45,432
(dramatic music)
458
00:23:45,432 --> 00:23:50,233
59 million years before
early man even existed.
459
00:23:50,233 --> 00:23:54,366
Swift, however, believes there's
evidence to the contrary.
460
00:23:54,366 --> 00:23:56,581
- In the cultures around the world,
461
00:23:56,581 --> 00:23:59,880
they talk about encountering these animals
462
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:03,426
of giant size and they fit the description
463
00:24:03,426 --> 00:24:05,724
of what we would call a dinosaur.
464
00:24:05,724 --> 00:24:08,060
Of course, "dinosaur" was not coined
465
00:24:08,060 --> 00:24:11,192
until 1841 by Sir Edward Owen.
466
00:24:11,192 --> 00:24:13,030
It's a compound Greek word that means
467
00:24:13,030 --> 00:24:16,160
terrible lizard or
frightfully fearful lizard.
468
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:21,087
If you read the science books
of the 1300s, 1400s, and 1500s
469
00:24:21,087 --> 00:24:23,342
when they talk about dragons,
470
00:24:23,342 --> 00:24:26,894
they resemble very much what we would
471
00:24:26,894 --> 00:24:29,353
describe as a dinosaur,
472
00:24:29,353 --> 00:24:33,110
and in fact, there's an account
of an Irishman in 900 AD
473
00:24:33,110 --> 00:24:35,783
who encountered a beast that had like
474
00:24:35,783 --> 00:24:37,746
triangular shaped, diamond
shapes on its back.
475
00:24:37,746 --> 00:24:40,505
It had a head like a horse, and it had big
476
00:24:40,505 --> 00:24:42,926
iron spikes on the back of his tail,
477
00:24:42,926 --> 00:24:45,093
and it describes its legs.
478
00:24:45,093 --> 00:24:47,379
Well, what animal could that be?
479
00:24:47,379 --> 00:24:50,236
It could only be a stegosaurus.
480
00:24:50,236 --> 00:24:51,942
I've been with the American Indians
481
00:24:51,942 --> 00:24:53,735
and they say, "we don't
like to tell White people
482
00:24:53,735 --> 00:24:55,322
"cause they make fun of us,"
483
00:24:55,322 --> 00:24:57,535
but they believe their ancestors fought
484
00:24:57,535 --> 00:25:00,672
against what we would call a triceratops.
485
00:25:01,124 --> 00:25:04,552
- [William] Could some dinosaurs
have survived extinction?
486
00:25:04,672 --> 00:25:08,362
Did they walk among ancient Peruvians?
487
00:25:08,853 --> 00:25:11,354
For Swift, the artifacts uncannily
488
00:25:11,354 --> 00:25:14,192
accurate proportions don't lie.
489
00:25:14,192 --> 00:25:16,660
- Here's a styracosaurus on the stone.
490
00:25:16,660 --> 00:25:18,416
Does it have dermal spines? Yeah.
491
00:25:18,416 --> 00:25:20,792
Does the tail sticking out
when it's walking? Yes.
492
00:25:20,792 --> 00:25:23,547
Does it have three toes? Yes.
493
00:25:23,547 --> 00:25:25,506
Alright, so it's a dinosaur.
494
00:25:25,506 --> 00:25:26,968
- [William] But if Swift is right,
495
00:25:26,968 --> 00:25:28,597
there's an even bigger question.
496
00:25:28,597 --> 00:25:30,976
If dinosaurs walked the Earth with humans
497
00:25:30,976 --> 00:25:33,609
only a relatively short time ago,
498
00:25:33,609 --> 00:25:35,530
then what happened to them?
499
00:25:35,530 --> 00:25:37,991
And where are they?
500
00:25:37,991 --> 00:25:40,453
- I believe that they
existed from a few thousand
501
00:25:40,453 --> 00:25:43,542
years ago to maybe 500 years ago
502
00:25:43,542 --> 00:25:45,761
and there's a possibility that there
503
00:25:45,761 --> 00:25:47,682
could be a handful left.
504
00:25:47,682 --> 00:25:50,849
There was a Frenchman in 1967, I believe,
505
00:25:50,849 --> 00:25:53,650
he even took photographs of a footprint
506
00:25:53,650 --> 00:25:57,613
that's three-toed, it's huge,
and it has a claw on the back.
507
00:25:57,613 --> 00:26:00,494
Only a dinosaur had that
kind of a footprint.
508
00:26:00,494 --> 00:26:03,470
So, yeah, dinosaurs could be out there.
509
00:26:03,791 --> 00:26:06,673
- Oh boy, this is incredible.
510
00:26:06,673 --> 00:26:09,356
I mean that guy thinks that dinosaurs
511
00:26:09,356 --> 00:26:11,433
are still roaming the Earth.
512
00:26:11,433 --> 00:26:14,772
Wow, let's think about what that means.
513
00:26:14,772 --> 00:26:17,781
Not a lot of room left on the planet.
514
00:26:17,781 --> 00:26:20,032
so they're going to have to
share our neighborhoods, right?
515
00:26:20,032 --> 00:26:23,289
Maybe we could have one as a pet.
516
00:26:23,289 --> 00:26:25,975
You imagine keeping one in your backyard?
517
00:26:26,295 --> 00:26:28,835
Woo.
518
00:26:29,385 --> 00:26:31,687
I think not.
519
00:26:31,717 --> 00:26:34,724
Has somebody got a pooper-scooper?
520
00:26:34,724 --> 00:26:36,281
A big one.
521
00:26:37,092 --> 00:26:40,823
Did man and dinosaur coexist?
522
00:26:40,823 --> 00:26:43,400
Should we rip up our history books?
523
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,131
- I think that people
actually watch the Flintstones
524
00:26:46,131 --> 00:26:48,556
and think it's reality programming.
525
00:26:51,219 --> 00:26:53,558
- [William] Ancient
Peruvian stone carvings
526
00:26:53,558 --> 00:26:55,770
pose a shocking question,
527
00:26:55,770 --> 00:27:00,775
did our ancient ancestors
walk alongside dinosaurs?
528
00:27:01,495 --> 00:27:05,205
Archaeologist Ken Feder doesn't think so.
529
00:27:05,205 --> 00:27:07,630
- I think that people
actually watch the Flintstones
530
00:27:07,630 --> 00:27:09,631
and think it's reality programming.
531
00:27:09,631 --> 00:27:11,510
It's not, it's a cartoon, folks.
532
00:27:11,510 --> 00:27:14,015
Fred did not have a pet dinosaur.
533
00:27:14,015 --> 00:27:16,604
That really didn't happen.
534
00:27:16,604 --> 00:27:18,148
- [William] But how can Feder be sure
535
00:27:18,148 --> 00:27:20,486
humans never saw dinosaurs?
536
00:27:20,486 --> 00:27:22,287
He points to the tens of thousands
537
00:27:22,287 --> 00:27:24,452
of fossils collected worldwide
538
00:27:24,452 --> 00:27:28,319
which confirm they died
out 66 million years ago.
539
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,343
- We have a whole lot of
evidence that dinosaurs
540
00:27:31,343 --> 00:27:33,434
died off long before there were people.
541
00:27:33,434 --> 00:27:35,808
and the fact that we have a
bunch of stones with carvings
542
00:27:35,808 --> 00:27:37,771
and people riding around on dinosaurs
543
00:27:37,771 --> 00:27:40,648
is not strong evidence at all.
544
00:27:40,909 --> 00:27:44,243
- [William] But if ancient
Peruvians didn't see dinosaurs
545
00:27:44,243 --> 00:27:47,750
how do we explain the Ica stones?
546
00:27:47,750 --> 00:27:49,795
- They're fakes. They're hoaxes.
547
00:27:49,795 --> 00:27:52,309
The story of the Ica
stones from start to finish
548
00:27:52,309 --> 00:27:55,430
mirrors the stories of lots of
other archaeological hoaxes.
549
00:27:55,430 --> 00:27:57,855
It starts small, but once it becomes clear
550
00:27:57,855 --> 00:28:00,233
that there's a guy willing
to buy some stones,
551
00:28:00,233 --> 00:28:02,489
suddenly we have
thousands of these things,
552
00:28:02,489 --> 00:28:03,825
and the actual stones themselves
553
00:28:03,825 --> 00:28:06,018
become more and more elaborate.
554
00:28:06,528 --> 00:28:08,046
- [William] Rather than
finding them in caves,
555
00:28:08,046 --> 00:28:09,475
could the Peruvian peasants simply
556
00:28:09,475 --> 00:28:11,958
have made the stones themselves?
557
00:28:11,958 --> 00:28:14,269
There's only one way to find out.
558
00:28:14,269 --> 00:28:17,101
Art student, Justine McGraw has been asked
559
00:28:17,101 --> 00:28:21,149
to test Feder's theory that
the stones are merely fakes.
560
00:28:21,149 --> 00:28:23,237
She's going to attempt
to replicate the stones
561
00:28:23,237 --> 00:28:25,458
using basic tools.
562
00:28:26,539 --> 00:28:28,749
- So, I begin by just
copying out the image.
563
00:28:28,749 --> 00:28:33,343
It's a very simple line drawing.
564
00:28:34,844 --> 00:28:38,600
- [William] The drawing
complete, Justine begins carving.
565
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,514
She uses a power tool for speed,
566
00:28:40,514 --> 00:28:44,234
but the etching could
easily be done by hand.
567
00:28:44,866 --> 00:28:46,997
Although the pattern is complete,
568
00:28:46,997 --> 00:28:51,001
the stone doesn't have an ancient look.
569
00:28:51,001 --> 00:28:53,724
Justine has an inexpensive solution.
570
00:28:53,724 --> 00:28:54,889
- I'm going to cover the stone
571
00:28:54,889 --> 00:28:58,474
in a mixture of manure and olive oil.
572
00:28:59,852 --> 00:29:02,315
- [William] It's a rather
down to earth solution.
573
00:29:02,315 --> 00:29:05,456
Her method of baking the
stones is equally low-tech,
574
00:29:05,456 --> 00:29:08,841
but could some manure,
olive oil, and a barbecue
575
00:29:08,841 --> 00:29:12,693
really recreate the mysterious Ica stones?
576
00:29:13,184 --> 00:29:15,132
- After just three hours of baking,
577
00:29:15,132 --> 00:29:18,770
this is what my Ica stone looks like.
578
00:29:20,101 --> 00:29:22,313
- [William] For Feder, the results of this
579
00:29:22,313 --> 00:29:24,484
experiment are decisive.
580
00:29:24,484 --> 00:29:26,413
- You have two possible
explanations in science,
581
00:29:26,413 --> 00:29:29,243
one that requires overturning
everything that we know
582
00:29:29,243 --> 00:29:31,332
and one that simply requires that people
583
00:29:31,332 --> 00:29:33,334
are trying to make a buck by hoaxing.
584
00:29:33,334 --> 00:29:34,712
So, it's a lot easier for me to accept
585
00:29:34,712 --> 00:29:37,135
the possibility that
people are making fakes
586
00:29:37,135 --> 00:29:39,236
than to completely
rewrite everything we know
587
00:29:39,236 --> 00:29:42,757
about geology, biology, an so on.
588
00:29:43,108 --> 00:29:46,612
This compressing, this sort of
pushing all of human history
589
00:29:46,612 --> 00:29:48,741
into just a few thousand years
590
00:29:48,741 --> 00:29:51,037
is sort of absurd on its face.
591
00:29:51,037 --> 00:29:54,177
Again, when you have a
convergence of evidence,
592
00:29:54,177 --> 00:29:57,603
convergence of data,
archaeological evidence separate,
593
00:29:57,603 --> 00:30:00,565
geological evidence separate,
biological evidence,
594
00:30:00,565 --> 00:30:03,045
separate, paleontological
evidence separate,
595
00:30:03,045 --> 00:30:04,328
historic evidence separate,
596
00:30:04,328 --> 00:30:07,145
and when all that data converges
597
00:30:07,445 --> 00:30:10,287
that points in exactly the same
direction in ancient earth,
598
00:30:10,287 --> 00:30:13,331
dinosaurs dying off tens
of millions of years ago,
599
00:30:13,331 --> 00:30:16,129
first human ancestors five,
six, seven million years ago,
600
00:30:16,129 --> 00:30:17,758
walking upright in the plains of Africa.
601
00:30:17,758 --> 00:30:19,302
All of that evidence converges.
602
00:30:19,302 --> 00:30:21,435
It all is mutually supportive.
603
00:30:21,435 --> 00:30:24,274
This notion, there really isn't any place
604
00:30:24,274 --> 00:30:29,030
in that history for people
riding their dinosaurs
605
00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:31,579
to the drive-in movie theater.
606
00:30:32,119 --> 00:30:34,498
- [William] Is this
the end of the mystery?
607
00:30:34,498 --> 00:30:37,673
Are the Ica stones just fakes?
608
00:30:37,673 --> 00:30:41,306
Author Andy Lloyd is not so sure.
609
00:30:41,726 --> 00:30:44,018
- They weren't just
created in someone's shed
610
00:30:44,018 --> 00:30:46,398
in the back garden 20 years ago.
611
00:30:46,398 --> 00:30:48,445
Some scientific work that
has been done on them
612
00:30:48,445 --> 00:30:50,405
appears to indicate that there is a degree
613
00:30:50,405 --> 00:30:52,876
of oxidation over the engravings
614
00:30:52,876 --> 00:30:56,251
which would indicate that
they're of some antiquity.
615
00:30:56,251 --> 00:31:00,011
- [William] So, if the
stones really are ancient
616
00:31:00,011 --> 00:31:02,723
that proves that the images they depict
617
00:31:02,723 --> 00:31:04,350
must have happened, right?
618
00:31:04,350 --> 00:31:07,108
Well, not necessarily.
619
00:31:07,108 --> 00:31:09,486
- I don't think that's very very likely
620
00:31:09,486 --> 00:31:11,532
that man and dinosaur could have shared
621
00:31:11,532 --> 00:31:13,035
the Earth at any time.
622
00:31:13,035 --> 00:31:16,249
However, that's not to say
that there isn't something
623
00:31:16,249 --> 00:31:18,885
rather wonderful about the
Ica stones in this regard,
624
00:31:18,885 --> 00:31:21,676
and one of the ideas that I've put forward
625
00:31:21,676 --> 00:31:25,558
is that the makers of the
Ica stones, the artists
626
00:31:25,558 --> 00:31:27,439
from Ancient Peru who created them
627
00:31:27,439 --> 00:31:29,948
may have received
knowledge about dinosaurs
628
00:31:29,948 --> 00:31:33,382
from ancient civilizations
whose own understanding
629
00:31:33,382 --> 00:31:36,958
of the dinosaurs was as good as ours.
630
00:31:37,041 --> 00:31:38,461
- [William] Civilizations stretching back
631
00:31:38,461 --> 00:31:42,553
to ancient Greece
unearthed dinosaur remains.
632
00:31:42,553 --> 00:31:45,142
They thought they were
the bones of giants,
633
00:31:45,142 --> 00:31:48,156
but what if some ancient civilization
634
00:31:48,156 --> 00:31:50,901
did know what they were?
635
00:31:50,901 --> 00:31:54,093
Who could have done such a thing?
636
00:31:55,411 --> 00:31:57,414
- Atlantis is an excellent candidate
637
00:31:57,414 --> 00:31:59,337
because the discussions and
descriptions of Atlantis
638
00:31:59,337 --> 00:32:01,211
show that it was a very technologically
639
00:32:01,211 --> 00:32:04,515
advanced civilization for it's time.
640
00:32:04,515 --> 00:32:06,771
- [William] The lost city of Atlantis,
641
00:32:06,771 --> 00:32:09,438
an advanced ancient
civilization that is said
642
00:32:09,438 --> 00:32:10,989
to have flourished around the time
643
00:32:10,989 --> 00:32:14,616
of the ice age before
falling into the ocean.
644
00:32:14,616 --> 00:32:19,005
Could Atlantians have
discovered dinosaurs?
645
00:32:19,209 --> 00:32:21,587
- We can speculate that
the Atlantians had a very
646
00:32:21,587 --> 00:32:25,054
good understanding of natural history
647
00:32:25,054 --> 00:32:28,269
because their ability with
science and technology
648
00:32:28,269 --> 00:32:31,028
was evidently quite far advanced
649
00:32:31,028 --> 00:32:33,570
and they would have probably
dug up dinosaur bones
650
00:32:33,570 --> 00:32:35,959
during their mining expeditions and piece
651
00:32:35,959 --> 00:32:39,540
together a dinosaur in
the same way that we did.
652
00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:41,503
- [William] But many believe Atlantis
653
00:32:41,503 --> 00:32:44,342
to be little more than a
legend based on stories
654
00:32:44,342 --> 00:32:47,514
told by the Greek philosopher, Plato.
655
00:32:47,514 --> 00:32:51,044
Is this strong enough
evidence of its existence?
656
00:32:52,193 --> 00:32:55,907
- We can't authenticate
the existence of Atlantis
657
00:32:55,907 --> 00:32:58,454
through anything other
than Plato's writings,
658
00:32:58,454 --> 00:33:00,332
but some of his writings
are some of the most
659
00:33:00,332 --> 00:33:02,792
important literature from that period.
660
00:33:02,792 --> 00:33:04,674
It seems odd that it's a story
661
00:33:04,674 --> 00:33:07,054
that Plato would have made up.
662
00:33:07,054 --> 00:33:08,849
This has been the missing Atlantian link
663
00:33:08,849 --> 00:33:13,110
in our understanding of ancient
civilizations and knowledge.
664
00:33:13,275 --> 00:33:15,870
- [William] Could the Atlantians
have traveled the world,
665
00:33:15,870 --> 00:33:19,186
spreading a knowledge that was
kept alive in stories and art
666
00:33:19,186 --> 00:33:21,740
or could the Ica stones
be definitive proof
667
00:33:21,740 --> 00:33:26,259
that our ancestors shared
the Earth with dinosaurs?
668
00:33:26,259 --> 00:33:31,264
Or are they one of the most
elaborate hoaxes of all time?
669
00:33:31,312 --> 00:33:34,818
Perhaps, one day we'll know
for sure, but in the mean time,
670
00:33:34,818 --> 00:33:39,795
it's most certainly weird or what?
671
00:33:39,795 --> 00:33:42,591
(dramatic music)
672
00:33:55,045 --> 00:33:57,574
A 2,000-year-old wooden model excavated
673
00:33:57,574 --> 00:34:02,579
from Egypt's oldest pyramid
reveals an amazing secret.
674
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:07,508
Did the ancients invent modern flight?
675
00:34:07,508 --> 00:34:09,393
- It could have been launched easily
676
00:34:09,393 --> 00:34:11,224
from the top of a pyramid.
677
00:34:11,224 --> 00:34:12,396
- You know, I like to think of myself
678
00:34:12,396 --> 00:34:16,193
as a bit of an adventurer,
sort of an Indiana Jones
679
00:34:16,193 --> 00:34:20,495
if you'd like, Raaa,
680
00:34:21,041 --> 00:34:25,421
Let's see, I've been all over the world
681
00:34:25,711 --> 00:34:29,772
and collected some amazing relics.
682
00:34:31,954 --> 00:34:34,342
Wrong relic.
683
00:34:35,689 --> 00:34:40,228
Of course, some are more
amazing than others.
684
00:34:42,328 --> 00:34:47,314
And some make you wonder
what they might say
685
00:34:50,971 --> 00:34:53,056
if they could talk.
686
00:34:53,056 --> 00:34:55,729
But can you imagine
687
00:34:55,729 --> 00:34:59,403
finding something that could
truly change the world?
688
00:34:59,403 --> 00:35:02,418
Well, here it is.
689
00:35:06,251 --> 00:35:08,088
Saqqara, Egypt.
690
00:35:08,088 --> 00:35:10,967
In one of the country's
oldest burial grounds,
691
00:35:10,967 --> 00:35:14,225
French archaeologists begin to unearth
692
00:35:14,225 --> 00:35:18,455
the burial tomb of the
third century BC official,
693
00:35:18,455 --> 00:35:21,656
Pa-di-Imen.
694
00:35:23,660 --> 00:35:25,664
Among the artifacts
recovered is what looks
695
00:35:25,664 --> 00:35:29,311
to be a model of a bird.
696
00:35:30,882 --> 00:35:33,468
It's cataloged and stored
at the Cairo Museum
697
00:35:33,468 --> 00:35:35,975
for over 70 years.
698
00:35:35,975 --> 00:35:38,523
But no one could predict the shock waves
699
00:35:38,523 --> 00:35:43,374
Special Register 6347 would soon make.
700
00:35:46,204 --> 00:35:49,127
The late Egyptologist, Dr. Khalil Messiha
701
00:35:49,127 --> 00:35:52,758
realized the model was very unusual.
702
00:35:52,758 --> 00:35:56,897
It leads him to a breathtaking conclusion.
703
00:35:57,788 --> 00:36:01,068
- Dr. Messiha had found
evidence of what appears
704
00:36:01,068 --> 00:36:03,701
to be a glider or an airplane.
705
00:36:03,701 --> 00:36:05,206
Something that the ancient Egyptians
706
00:36:05,206 --> 00:36:07,915
supposedly didn't have.
707
00:36:10,628 --> 00:36:12,341
- [William] Author, David Childress thinks
708
00:36:12,341 --> 00:36:17,346
Dr. Messiha has much to teach
historians and the world.
709
00:36:19,396 --> 00:36:23,738
- To me the research of Dr.
Khalil Messiha is very important
710
00:36:23,738 --> 00:36:27,662
because here we have a
mainstream Egyptologist
711
00:36:27,662 --> 00:36:32,255
finding an artifact that
we know is authentic
712
00:36:32,255 --> 00:36:34,890
coming from over 2,000 years ago,
713
00:36:34,890 --> 00:36:39,895
a model, a very miniature
model of an airplane,
714
00:36:40,975 --> 00:36:44,990
much like the early
airplanes that were built
715
00:36:44,990 --> 00:36:48,663
in America and around the world
at the turn of the century.
716
00:36:50,542 --> 00:36:52,675
- [William] Could the artifact be a model
717
00:36:52,675 --> 00:36:54,883
of an ancient flying machine?
718
00:36:54,883 --> 00:36:57,473
It's a stunning revelation.
719
00:36:57,473 --> 00:36:59,227
Our histories tell us, the first powered
720
00:36:59,227 --> 00:37:02,274
human flight was in 1903.
721
00:37:02,274 --> 00:37:05,153
If Dr. Messiha is correct,
the ancient Egyptians
722
00:37:05,153 --> 00:37:06,782
may have beaten the Wright Brothers
723
00:37:06,782 --> 00:37:08,955
by over 2,000 years.
724
00:37:08,955 --> 00:37:12,628
(drum music)
725
00:37:12,628 --> 00:37:14,422
Although met with initial skepticism,
726
00:37:14,422 --> 00:37:17,096
tests by leading aeronautical engineers,
727
00:37:17,096 --> 00:37:20,023
proved that the model, now
known as the Saqqara Bird,
728
00:37:20,023 --> 00:37:23,293
was designed for flight.
729
00:37:26,447 --> 00:37:30,496
- Ancient cultures have
many stories of flight,
730
00:37:30,496 --> 00:37:35,207
of the mannas, of magic
carpets, of flying chariots,
731
00:37:36,050 --> 00:37:40,811
but here with the Saqqara
Bird, we have an actual model
732
00:37:40,811 --> 00:37:43,105
of what could be an ancient airplane.
733
00:37:43,105 --> 00:37:45,067
(dramatic music)
734
00:37:45,067 --> 00:37:46,698
- [William] Did the ancient Egyptians
735
00:37:46,698 --> 00:37:48,490
experiment with flight?
736
00:37:48,490 --> 00:37:52,657
Is the artifact a model of a
full-sized glider or plane?
737
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,631
- It's very important
that we find artifacts
738
00:37:56,631 --> 00:37:59,972
like the Saqqara Bird and
other strange artifacts
739
00:37:59,972 --> 00:38:03,753
from these ancient cultures
because it really helps us
740
00:38:04,524 --> 00:38:09,529
place their legends and myths
in context. such as flight.
741
00:38:10,995 --> 00:38:14,710
Is it possible that
they actually had flight
742
00:38:14,710 --> 00:38:16,422
like we do today?
743
00:38:16,422 --> 00:38:18,571
And I think they did.
744
00:38:18,571 --> 00:38:21,024
- [William] Is the Saqqara Bird proof
745
00:38:21,024 --> 00:38:23,686
that the ancient Egyptians had technology
746
00:38:23,686 --> 00:38:25,982
2,000 years ahead of its time?
747
00:38:25,982 --> 00:38:29,114
And if they did, how did they get it?
748
00:38:29,114 --> 00:38:32,915
- This is going to throw
Egyptology and the way we view
749
00:38:32,915 --> 00:38:36,721
ancient civilizations
completely topsy-turvy.
750
00:38:37,631 --> 00:38:38,925
- [William] A man discovers a model
751
00:38:38,925 --> 00:38:41,847
wooden bird in a Cairo museum.
752
00:38:41,847 --> 00:38:44,978
Is the Saqqara Bird
proof the Egyptians took
753
00:38:44,978 --> 00:38:47,791
to the skies 2,000 years ago?
754
00:38:48,903 --> 00:38:53,908
Katja Goebs is an Egyptologist,
she has her doubts.
755
00:38:53,956 --> 00:38:58,045
- When I first heard that the
Saqqara Bird was being used
756
00:38:58,045 --> 00:39:01,554
to support such claims of early aviation,
757
00:39:01,554 --> 00:39:04,895
I was completely taken aback.
758
00:39:04,895 --> 00:39:07,441
Certainly, they were
fascinated with the skies.
759
00:39:07,441 --> 00:39:10,655
They believed that their
dead ascended to the sky
760
00:39:10,655 --> 00:39:13,577
to become celestial gods after death.
761
00:39:13,577 --> 00:39:16,918
Their chief deities were seen to be
762
00:39:16,918 --> 00:39:18,464
traveling through the sky,
763
00:39:18,464 --> 00:39:21,551
the sun god being most important there.
764
00:39:21,551 --> 00:39:23,344
But there is no evidence whatsoever
765
00:39:23,344 --> 00:39:26,821
to suggest that the Egyptians
had an interest in aviation.
766
00:39:27,898 --> 00:39:29,776
- [William] But if the
Saqqara Bird was not
767
00:39:29,776 --> 00:39:33,116
the model of a glider, what was it?
768
00:39:33,116 --> 00:39:35,497
- The symbol of a bird
is extremely important
769
00:39:35,497 --> 00:39:39,170
within the Egyptian religious
and political system.
770
00:39:39,170 --> 00:39:42,933
We find them used in the
hieroglyphic writing system.
771
00:39:42,933 --> 00:39:46,718
We find them as images
protecting the king.
772
00:39:47,937 --> 00:39:50,275
- [William] One bird in
particular, the falcon,
773
00:39:50,275 --> 00:39:54,389
had a role which explains why
it would be placed in a tomb.
774
00:39:54,830 --> 00:39:57,875
- The deceased Egyptian
wishes to ascend to the sky
775
00:39:57,875 --> 00:40:02,468
and it sometimes says he
does so on falcon's wings.
776
00:40:02,468 --> 00:40:04,975
In particular, the falcon
with the outstretched wings,
777
00:40:04,975 --> 00:40:07,267
you will find at the
back of the king's head
778
00:40:07,267 --> 00:40:10,984
indicating that he is afforded
the protection of the gods
779
00:40:10,984 --> 00:40:13,805
and he is, in fact, Horus on Earth.
780
00:40:13,805 --> 00:40:18,810
And we find amuletic
representations of falcons
781
00:40:19,125 --> 00:40:22,798
as protective devices
in funerary contexts,
782
00:40:22,798 --> 00:40:24,601
that means in Egyptian tombs,
783
00:40:24,601 --> 00:40:27,056
decorating the coffins of the dead,
784
00:40:27,056 --> 00:40:31,524
being placed as little
protective object, amulets
785
00:40:31,524 --> 00:40:35,533
on the actual mummies or
painted on the coffins,
786
00:40:35,533 --> 00:40:38,247
painted on the sides of the,
787
00:40:38,247 --> 00:40:41,554
sorry, on the walls of
the tombs, and so forth.
788
00:40:42,838 --> 00:40:44,802
- [William] There's one problem though.
789
00:40:44,802 --> 00:40:46,263
The Saqqara Bird looks nothing like
790
00:40:46,263 --> 00:40:48,602
the other Egyptian falcons,
791
00:40:48,602 --> 00:40:52,986
so what can explain its flat
tail and plane-like wing?
792
00:40:52,986 --> 00:40:55,698
- It is not unheard of that toys
793
00:40:55,698 --> 00:40:57,785
were given to deceased children
794
00:40:57,785 --> 00:40:59,883
and they would be put into their tombs
795
00:40:59,883 --> 00:41:02,378
so they would be accessible
for their afterlife
796
00:41:02,378 --> 00:41:05,175
and for their eternal pleasure.
797
00:41:05,175 --> 00:41:07,001
- [William] Could the
mysterious artifact be nothing
798
00:41:07,001 --> 00:41:09,517
more than a simple child's toy?
799
00:41:09,517 --> 00:41:11,312
Are the smooth body and flat tail
800
00:41:11,312 --> 00:41:13,984
the result of armature craftsmanship
801
00:41:13,984 --> 00:41:16,099
and not deliberate design?
802
00:41:16,099 --> 00:41:18,792
- Even thought there
are a few idiosyncrasies
803
00:41:18,792 --> 00:41:21,625
in its representation the Saqqara Bird
804
00:41:21,625 --> 00:41:25,257
is most likely an image of a falcon.
805
00:41:25,257 --> 00:41:27,680
There is no evidence that the Egyptians
806
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,318
experimented with aviation technology.
807
00:41:30,318 --> 00:41:33,107
The claim is ludicrous to say the least,
808
00:41:33,107 --> 00:41:36,070
so it is not inconceivable
that the Saqqara Bird
809
00:41:36,070 --> 00:41:39,580
was a toy that was given to a child
810
00:41:39,580 --> 00:41:41,546
or even to an adult who wanted to take
811
00:41:41,546 --> 00:41:45,550
his favorite childhood toy
with him in to the afterlife.
812
00:41:49,012 --> 00:41:52,395
- [William] Are we reading
too much into an ancient toy?
813
00:41:52,395 --> 00:41:55,556
Not everyone thinks so.
814
00:41:57,113 --> 00:41:58,867
- Artifacts like the
Saqqara Bird are important
815
00:41:58,867 --> 00:42:01,414
because science likes to think
816
00:42:01,414 --> 00:42:04,168
it's got everything explained.
817
00:42:04,168 --> 00:42:07,426
We can explain how the
Egyptians built the pyramids
818
00:42:07,426 --> 00:42:09,470
and all of their ancient technology,
819
00:42:09,470 --> 00:42:13,435
but items like the Saqqara
Bird throw a monkey wrench
820
00:42:13,435 --> 00:42:15,022
into some of these old theories
821
00:42:15,022 --> 00:42:18,905
because suddenly it's possible
that the ancient Egyptians
822
00:42:18,905 --> 00:42:22,664
and other civilizations
could do much like we did
823
00:42:22,664 --> 00:42:26,755
and have flight, have
electricity, have machines.
824
00:42:26,755 --> 00:42:29,133
When we look at ancient civilizations
825
00:42:29,133 --> 00:42:31,013
like the ancient Egyptians,
826
00:42:31,013 --> 00:42:35,273
we see that they made so
many magnificent buildings
827
00:42:35,273 --> 00:42:38,820
and their sciences were very exact.
828
00:42:38,820 --> 00:42:41,245
They were good engineers.
829
00:42:41,245 --> 00:42:45,965
They studied nature tremendously.
830
00:42:45,965 --> 00:42:49,677
So the Saqqara Bird seems
to indicate that yes,
831
00:42:49,677 --> 00:42:53,522
the ancient Egyptians knew
about flight and had it.
832
00:42:54,313 --> 00:42:56,063
- [William] But how can
Childress be so sure
833
00:42:56,063 --> 00:42:59,630
that what looks like a bird
is really a model airplane?
834
00:43:00,572 --> 00:43:04,540
- It's clearly an aerodynamic design
835
00:43:04,540 --> 00:43:06,752
and not just some simple toy.
836
00:43:06,752 --> 00:43:10,968
The wings are at what is
known as the dihedral angle.
837
00:43:10,968 --> 00:43:15,315
That's a special angle
that the wings of a glider
838
00:43:15,315 --> 00:43:19,439
have to be at in order to achieve lift.
839
00:43:19,860 --> 00:43:22,365
And the Saqqara Bird has that.
840
00:43:22,825 --> 00:43:25,994
- [William] So, the wings are airworthy,
841
00:43:25,994 --> 00:43:28,941
but what about the tail?
842
00:43:29,091 --> 00:43:32,595
- Dr. Messiha had also found
evidence that the very top
843
00:43:32,595 --> 00:43:36,018
part of the tail rudder
had been broken off,
844
00:43:36,018 --> 00:43:39,776
and he theorized that
it had in fact had also
845
00:43:39,776 --> 00:43:44,781
another vertical tail much
like a modern jet would have.
846
00:43:47,208 --> 00:43:49,921
- [William] But if the
Saqqara Bird was a model
847
00:43:49,921 --> 00:43:53,678
of an ancient glider,
there's one big problem.
848
00:43:53,684 --> 00:43:58,689
Where in Egypt's flat
desert could you glide from?
849
00:43:58,855 --> 00:44:03,161
- If it was a glider, it could
have been launched easily
850
00:44:03,161 --> 00:44:05,827
from the top of a pyramid, perhaps,
851
00:44:05,827 --> 00:44:08,815
much like hang-gliders
themselves launch today
852
00:44:08,815 --> 00:44:12,257
off of cliffs and mountains, or even
853
00:44:12,257 --> 00:44:16,515
the Egyptians could have
developed a relatively
854
00:44:16,515 --> 00:44:21,191
primitive catapult type
of launching system
855
00:44:21,191 --> 00:44:25,617
that would have given
this glider the power
856
00:44:25,617 --> 00:44:29,752
to get in the air and then
fly over areas of Egypt.
857
00:44:29,752 --> 00:44:34,080
I believe that the ancient
Egyptians and other civilizations
858
00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,993
had powered flight, as well as gliders
859
00:44:37,993 --> 00:44:40,989
and airships and balloons
860
00:44:40,989 --> 00:44:45,075
and even they had electricity and lights,
861
00:44:45,075 --> 00:44:49,122
even they must have had power
tools in some of their cases
862
00:44:49,122 --> 00:44:51,921
to build some of the buildings they had.
863
00:44:51,921 --> 00:44:53,422
- [William] Were the crowning achievements
864
00:44:53,422 --> 00:44:58,057
of Egyptian civilization
used as a launch pad
865
00:44:58,057 --> 00:45:01,072
by an ancient pair of Wright Brothers?
866
00:45:01,072 --> 00:45:03,989
- If scientists are right
that this is a model
867
00:45:03,989 --> 00:45:06,281
of a functioning glider,
868
00:45:06,281 --> 00:45:10,123
this is going to throw
Egyptology and the way we view
869
00:45:10,123 --> 00:45:13,370
ancient civilizations
completely topsy-turvy.
870
00:45:14,423 --> 00:45:15,844
- Okay, this is blowing my mind.
871
00:45:15,844 --> 00:45:18,480
Are they honestly trying to
tell me that this 2,000-year-old
872
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:21,313
ugly duckling is evidence
of an ancient mastery
873
00:45:21,313 --> 00:45:25,291
of the laws of aerodynamics,
that it could fly?
874
00:45:26,196 --> 00:45:28,161
Well, there's only one way to find out.
875
00:45:28,161 --> 00:45:33,166
(suspenseful music)
876
00:45:35,089 --> 00:45:37,041
Anybody got any glue?
877
00:45:41,519 --> 00:45:45,405
A simple bird replica or
evidence of early flight,
878
00:45:45,405 --> 00:45:48,867
what is the Saqqara Bird?
879
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,128
Martin Gregorie designs gliders.
880
00:45:54,128 --> 00:45:57,133
He thinks he knows the answer.
881
00:45:57,133 --> 00:45:59,638
- When I first heard the
Saqqara Bird was to model
882
00:45:59,638 --> 00:46:03,980
for a full-sized airplane, I
was skeptical to say the least.
883
00:46:03,980 --> 00:46:07,153
I knew for a start that
the ancient Egyptians
884
00:46:07,153 --> 00:46:09,576
didn't have anything that
could be used as an engine
885
00:46:09,576 --> 00:46:14,581
to power an airplane and
that gives you the clue
886
00:46:14,794 --> 00:46:19,799
because Egypt's pretty flat
and you're going to need
887
00:46:20,264 --> 00:46:23,396
some way of getting the
airplane into the air,
888
00:46:23,396 --> 00:46:26,902
and you also, if you're going
to use it for carrying cargo,
889
00:46:26,902 --> 00:46:29,698
going to need something to power it,
890
00:46:29,698 --> 00:46:31,827
so it can travel a useful distance.
891
00:46:31,827 --> 00:46:34,549
I decided the only way I could find out
892
00:46:34,549 --> 00:46:37,588
if the Saqqara Bird could
have been a flying model
893
00:46:37,588 --> 00:46:40,326
was to build one myself.
894
00:46:41,556 --> 00:46:43,767
- [William] Using the exact dimensions
895
00:46:43,767 --> 00:46:45,481
of the ancient artifact,
896
00:46:45,481 --> 00:46:48,236
Gregorie constructs an identical replica.
897
00:46:48,236 --> 00:46:50,490
He'll launch it with a device used
898
00:46:50,490 --> 00:46:53,028
to test scale glider models.
899
00:46:53,749 --> 00:46:57,254
- I'm just about to
launch the Saqqara Bird
900
00:46:57,254 --> 00:47:00,010
in its original form as
it came out of the pyramid
901
00:47:00,010 --> 00:47:01,166
with no tail plane.
902
00:47:01,166 --> 00:47:05,043
(buzzing)
903
00:47:05,043 --> 00:47:05,640
(click)
904
00:47:08,974 --> 00:47:12,369
That flight did what I expected it to do.
905
00:47:12,369 --> 00:47:14,452
It's lack of aerodynamics kicked in
906
00:47:14,452 --> 00:47:17,904
and it tumbled and fell to the ground.
907
00:47:18,254 --> 00:47:20,467
- [William] The test is conclusive.
908
00:47:20,467 --> 00:47:23,664
- A model of that size
needs a stabilizing tail.
909
00:47:24,475 --> 00:47:27,689
- [William] Dr. Messiha
believed that the Saqqara Bird
910
00:47:27,689 --> 00:47:29,995
originally had a tail,
911
00:47:30,405 --> 00:47:32,493
which had snapped off with age.
912
00:47:32,493 --> 00:47:35,044
Could a tail make a difference?
913
00:47:35,624 --> 00:47:38,627
- Next we're going to launch
the Saqqara Bird again,
914
00:47:38,627 --> 00:47:40,966
but this time fit it with a tail plane.
915
00:47:40,966 --> 00:47:43,425
This will stabilize it and let us see
916
00:47:43,425 --> 00:47:46,227
how good or poor a glider it is.
917
00:47:46,227 --> 00:47:47,847
(buzzing)
918
00:47:47,847 --> 00:47:50,487
- [William] 2,000 years of history
919
00:47:50,487 --> 00:47:52,657
hang on this one test.
920
00:47:53,468 --> 00:47:54,649
(click)
921
00:47:54,649 --> 00:47:59,649
(eerie music)
922
00:48:03,593 --> 00:48:05,514
It travels further but not much.
923
00:48:05,514 --> 00:48:07,480
The end results are the same.
924
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:09,942
- The wing has rounded edges
925
00:48:09,942 --> 00:48:13,573
and that just doesn't generate
very much lift at all.
926
00:48:13,573 --> 00:48:16,913
And in terms of stability,
all modern airplanes
927
00:48:16,913 --> 00:48:20,252
have the wing bent up at
the tips for stability
928
00:48:20,252 --> 00:48:24,515
instead of swooping
down like this one does.
929
00:48:24,593 --> 00:48:25,847
- [William] So, does the experiment prove
930
00:48:25,847 --> 00:48:28,727
that the Saqqara Bird
was really a child's toy?
931
00:48:28,727 --> 00:48:32,472
Following his experiment,
Gregorie has a theory of his own.
932
00:48:33,405 --> 00:48:37,163
- I think there's a possibility
that it was a wind vane.
933
00:48:37,163 --> 00:48:41,211
I discarded the child's
toy theory on the grounds
934
00:48:41,211 --> 00:48:45,929
that all real birds have
a flat, horizontal tail
935
00:48:45,929 --> 00:48:47,890
rather than a vertical fin
936
00:48:47,890 --> 00:48:52,283
and most children will be able
to recognize the difference
937
00:48:52,283 --> 00:48:56,867
and not fooled by the presence of the fin.
938
00:48:58,163 --> 00:49:00,708
To find out whether it was,
939
00:49:00,708 --> 00:49:03,048
could have been a wind vane,
940
00:49:03,048 --> 00:49:05,428
I put a pivot on the belly of it
941
00:49:05,428 --> 00:49:09,393
and as you can see, I
think it's a far better
942
00:49:09,393 --> 00:49:12,774
weather vane than it is a flying model.
943
00:49:14,234 --> 00:49:18,368
- [William] So, is the answer
to a 2,000-year-old mystery
944
00:49:18,368 --> 00:49:20,748
really blowing in the wind?
945
00:49:20,748 --> 00:49:23,923
Was the Saqqara Bird simply
an ancient play thing?
946
00:49:23,923 --> 00:49:26,092
Or could it be evidence of mankind's
947
00:49:26,092 --> 00:49:28,702
first attempt at flight?
948
00:49:29,808 --> 00:49:32,178
We may never know.
949
00:49:32,981 --> 00:49:34,643
Weird or what?
950
00:49:35,112 --> 00:49:39,616
(dramatic music)
951
00:49:43,650 --> 00:49:46,753
(drum music)
952
00:49:49,616 --> 00:49:52,021
So, there we have it.
953
00:49:52,021 --> 00:49:54,289
Three ancient artifacts
that bring into question
954
00:49:54,289 --> 00:49:57,569
everything we understand about history.
955
00:49:59,618 --> 00:50:03,180
A bizarrely shaped skull
is found in a Mexican cave.
956
00:50:03,750 --> 00:50:07,561
Is it proof that aliens
once visited Earth?
957
00:50:10,014 --> 00:50:12,560
Scenes depicted on ancient stone carvings
958
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:15,460
question our natural history.
959
00:50:16,151 --> 00:50:20,032
Did man and dinosaur share our planet?
960
00:50:22,163 --> 00:50:26,170
And a 2,000-year-old wooden
model suggests the impossible.
961
00:50:26,170 --> 00:50:29,283
Did an ancient civilization fly?
962
00:50:31,224 --> 00:50:33,303
You decide.
963
00:50:35,398 --> 00:50:37,568
Join me again next time for more stories
964
00:50:37,568 --> 00:50:42,558
that will undoubtedly be weird or what?
965
00:50:43,079 --> 00:50:47,129
(dramatic music)
76757
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