All language subtitles for The UnXplained Special Presentation S01E09 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER: A fabled king
who united a nation.

A lost city of gold
hidden in the jungles of Peru.

And a bizarre crystal skull

that may possess
incredible healing powers.

Throughout history,
legends have been used

to teach moral lessons,
explain the unknown,

and even serve as
a form of entertainment.

But is it possible
that some of these stories

are based on actual events?

If so, can we unravel

centuries of
fictional embellishment

to find the truth
behind these legends?

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

♪ ♪

(cheering)

SHATNER: Every year,
thousands of people gather

at the Gulf Coast
Renaissance Faire

to experience
a taste of medieval life.

The fair is one of
many similar events

held around the globe

that are inspired
by age-old tales

of King Arthur and
the Knights of the Round Table.

I don't know
what child growing up

doesn't want to be
a knight in shining armor.

It's such
a romanticized time period

that the stories of King Arthur
and Knights of the Round Table

and all of their quests
and adventures

have branched
and become bigger and bigger,

right through today's
modern age.

It has such a collective

grab on our imagination
and our soul.

DORSEY ARMSTRONG:
King Arthur is everywhere today.

You'd be hard pressed
to find another legendary figure

that is as popular
all over the world

in so many times,
and so many places,

whether it's in the 12th century

or the 15th century

or the 21st century.

SHATNER:
Since the Middle Ages,

the legend of King Arthur has
captured the imagination

of countless people
all over the world.

But what are the origins

of this powerful story?

JONATHAN YOUNG:
The Arthur story begins
with a boy raised by farmers.

One time, his brother is
in a sword fighting contest

and his brother's sword breaks.

And Arthur said,
"No, don't forfeit.

Hold off for a second.
I saw a sword."

And he saw a sword
stuck in a stone.

SHATNER:
As the story goes,
the sword that Arthur saw

was no ordinary blade.

It had been prophesied that

only the future king of England

could draw the sword
out of the stone.

Many men had tried to remove it,

but all of them failed.

That is, until Arthur
pulled the sword,

and it slid out of the stone.

YOUNG:
This is the earliest
that Arthur begins to understand

that something is happening
in his life beyond his grasp.

Gradually,
this unusual young man

does become king of all Britain.

JULIETTE WOOD:
The Arthurian
legend basically tells

about a young person
who discovers their destiny,

and discovers how
to achieve this destiny.

He becomes the center
of these medieval romances,

where he is
the quintessential leader.

He is "Rex Quondam,
Rexque Futurus,"

the once and future king.

It's amazing
how much of that story

has permeated our culture
just sort of by osmosis.

And the image we all have
is that King Arthur

lives in Camelot,
which is a big stone castle.

He had a wife Guinevere,

and also he is assisted

by a wizard named Merlin.

His knights of the Round Table

looked for the Holy Grail.

And he has a fabulous sword
named Excalibur.

It is this wonderful repository

of symbols and themes

and adventures

that are all interlinked,

because they all
relate to the court

of this one marvelous figure.

SHATNER:
The vast influence

of the Arthurian legend
is undeniable.

But for more than
a thousand years,

a fascinating question
has lingered.

Is it possible that King Arthur

wasn't merely a myth

but, rather, a real man?

GRAHAM PHILLIPS:
If we go back to

the original accounts
of King Arthur,

written during the Dark Ages

around about 500 AD,

the Roman Empire collapsed,

and the Roman soldiers
withdrew from Britain.

And this country turned into

complete anarchy.

There were various separate
tribes fighting each other,

and what was needed

was one single warrior

or chieftain or king to
unite them all.

And Arthur is said to
have been that person

in myth and legend.

TONY McMAHON:
There are lots of theories
on who King Arthur

might really have been.

And really,
there's no clear answer.

The Arthur that we think we know

came from many hands,

many authors, many writers,

who had slightly different
takes on the Arthur story.

We know the basic
elements of the story,

but the man himself
remains a mystery.

SHATNER:
According to historians,
there are numerous versions of

the King Arthur legend,

many of which
have been lost to time.

But the most influential
telling of the story

dates to the 12th century,

when a Welsh monk named
Geoffrey of Monmouth

claimed he'd discovered
a long-lost account

of early British history
that recorded King Arthur

as being an actual person

who lived around
the year 500 AD.

Monmouth then published a
translated version of this text,

which he called The History of
the Kings of Britain.

Geoffrey of Monmouth,

in his text in the 12th century,

this is what breaks
the Arthurian legend wide open.

What's fascinating is that

so many of the things and places

and events he writes about,

in recent times,
have been proven

to be correct in terms of

being the right time,
the right place

and the right elements

to be based on,
many historians believe,

real events.

SHATNER:
Could it be possible

that the tales of King Arthur

are more than mere fantasy?

Perhaps a clue may be found

by examining a castle in
southwest England

that Geoffrey of Monmouth
claimed to have been

the site where
King Arthur was born.

Overlooking the rocky cliffs
of Bristol Channel

are the ruins of
Tintagel Castle.

Built in the 13th century,

this once-mighty fortress

is now a popular
tourist attraction

with a fascinating history.

WIN SCUTT:
Well, Tintagel
is a really wondrous

and mysterious location

because it hides an enormous
amount of knowledge

about our past.

There's this fantastic castle
that is 900 years old.

But, below the ground,

there's tons of information

about hundreds of years
before this,

in the period when
perhaps Arthur existed.

ARMSTRONG:
What's really fantastic

and incredible about
this spot in particular is that

Geoffrey of Monmouth
tells us that

Arthur's born in Tintagel,

and that has now been
very conclusively proven

to have very, very strong links.

SHATNER:
Excavations beneath Tintagel
have revealed

the remains of an earlier castle
that dated back to

the sixth century AD.

And a curious inscription

found among
the prior castle's remains

offers evidence in support of
Geoffrey of Monmouth's claim

that the real King Arthur

had a profound connection
to Tintagel.

SCUTT:
In 1998,

Glasgow University
were excavating here,

and they found a drain cover
behind one of the buildings.

And that drain cover,
they were amazed to find,

it had an inscription on it.

At the top of
the stone is very clearly

Artognou, A-R-T-O-G-N-O-U.

It was securely dated
to the sixth century

based on the items around it,

and on that stone
was carved a name

that looks very much
like "Arthur."

"Artognou."

When you have
the site of Tintagel,

that has been associated with
Arthur's supposed birthplace

for centuries,

and the discovery of a stone

that has a name on it
that begins "A-R-T,"

you have all the elements
coming together

at the right time,
in the right place.

SHATNER:
Explorer Ceslav Cieslar

leads an international team
of researchers

on an expedition
deep inside the jungle.

Their mission,
to find a legendary

Inca city of gold known as...

...Paititi.

SHATNER:
For centuries,
legends of Paititi

have tempted
hundreds of explorers to

risk their lives in the hope of

being the first to
locate the lost golden city.

But, in almost
500 years of searching,

no one has found it.

Which begs the question:

Did Paititi even exist?

The lure of a lost gold city
called Paititi

has beckoned
many explorers and scholars

over centuries now,
leading many to their death.

I don't think there's any reason
to assume it doesn't exist.

We know that there
are many sites

that remain to be discovered,

hidden in this densely forested

and jungled area,

in the vast wilderness

of what was once occupied by
this Inca Empire.

SHATNER:
If Paititi is,
in fact, a real place,

as those who keep
searching for it believe,

then where might it be hidden?

Perhaps the answer can be found

by examining
how the obsession

with the legendary
golden city started.

Spanish conquistadors,
led by Francisco Pizarro,

invade the Inca capital city
of Cajamarca...

...and capture Atahualpa,

the Inca emperor.

BELLINGER:
Atahualpa knew

that all the Spaniards
wanted was gold.

He said, "I will give you
a roomful of gold and silver

if you will let me go."

The gold came in
bits and pieces.

Pizarro was impatient.

He killed Atahualpa

before the entire ransom
had been delivered.

And those Inca
who were still en route

bringing more of this gold
headed for the hills.

With evidence everywhere
for abundant gold,

Pizarro and the rest of
the conquistadores

concluded that there
must be a city somewhere,

what has become known as

this golden city of Paititi.

And it started a quest

that has eluded people,

but has attracted
many, many expeditions

over centuries since.

(indistinct chatter)

SHATNER:
If anyone understands

the ongoing obsession
with Paititi,

it is American explorer
Greg Deyermenjian.

Greg has led more
than 20 expeditions

into the depths of
the Peruvian jungle

in what has
become a very personal quest

to locate Paititi.

GREG DEYERMENJIAN:
People think I'm a masochist

with the ongoing pain
and exhaustion

that, um, I feel
on the expeditions

'cause it's just so
difficult and far

and remote and uncomfortable.

Even though, you know, this is

the most important
thing in my life.

As far as how close we are

to finding Paititi,

that's very difficult to be said

because there's so many
unexplored areas still hidden

in the recesses of Peru.

SHATNER:
The Peruvian rainforest
stretches across

thousands of square miles,

an impenetrable sea of trees

waiting to swallow anyone
brave enough, or perhaps

obsessed enough,

to search for Paititi.

But Ceslav Cieslar believes

he finally has the key to
finding the hidden city

using images
collected by satellites.

SHATNER:
Could satellites allow

Ceslav and his team to succeed

where so many others
have failed?

Perhaps.

But one thing is certain.

Treasure hunters are
not going to stop

looking for Paititi
anytime soon.

DEYERMENJIAN:
Paititi resonates

within the human psyche for two,

maybe connected
but maybe separate, reasons.

One is just simply
the age-old fact that

anything associated with gold,

be it in 1532

or 1650 or 2021,

that's always an attraction.

The other is there'll always be

some desire for something
that's mysterious,

that's adventurous,

that's out there
that's yet to be found,

that's yet to be documented,
that's yet to be explained.

SHATNER:
While exploring the remains

of an ancient Maya ruin,

English adventurer
Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges

and his daughter Anna

find a human skull

carved out of pure quartz.

BILL HOMANN:
It was high noon and she was
at the top of the pyramid,

and the way the sun came in,

the way the rocks had moved,

in that there was just
a small opening,

and the light
from the sun went through

and it hit the top of the skull.

And, uh, she ran down
and she's all excited.

So they got
a small hole big enough

and Anna was chosen,
and they tied a rope to her

and put her down into the hole.

And she came up with
the top of the skull.

When the natives saw it,

it was like
their god had returned.

They all started
crying and kissing

the earth and everything.
They were just so excited.

And Mitchell-Hedges,
seeing this,

he presented it to
the high priest.

And they put it in an altar,
and for 24 hours a day

they burned flames
around the crystal skull.

SHATNER:
But even more extraordinary
than the skull itself

was the fact that
a legend came with it,

one so amazing that

Frederick Mitchell-Hedges
and his daughter Anna

didn't know whether they should
rejoice in their discovery

or be intimidated
by the burden of it.

HOMANN:
The legend of
the crystal skulls,

this was given to
F.A. Mitchell-Hedges

by a medicine woman

back in Lubaantun.

Mayans say

there are 13 skulls,

and 13 skulls have been placed

in various parts of the world,

but possibly on
the different energy centers.

And when they're all activated,

all 13 of them,

then they say that
it's a time of

peace and harmony in the world.

What I think is
all those crystal skulls

have a unique purpose.

So I'm not exactly sure
where all the 13 skulls are.

You have to see it
to really appreciate

the Mitchell-Hedges skull.

It's a pretty amazing
piece of crystal just in itself.

And then the workmanship
that went into it.

How it was made
is really a mystery.

SHATNER: Weighing
approximately 12 pounds,

the crystal skull is
remarkably accurate

in its anatomical detail.

CLIFF DUNNING:
They've tried to
analyze how it was cut,

but they do not know,
to this day.

The technology is
so sophisticated,

it's almost like
from another world.

MARTIN ETTINGTON:
The skull in question
that we're talking about

is one that they can't
find tool marks on it.

So, if any of the crystal skulls

are actual pre-Mayan artifacts,

then the Mitchell-Hedges skull
probably is the one.

SHATNER:
If modern technology
is unable to replicate

the Mitchell-Hedges skull,

then how was it created?

To find out, teams of scientists

were brought in to
conduct a number of tests.

DUNNING:
At one point in the 1960s,

an IBM engineer
named Marcel Vogel

began testing this skull.

What he believed was that
it is filled like a microchip

with the history of
the world at that time.

So it's a very old,
rough computer basically.

SHATNER:
A quartz crystal computer

storing history
like a hard drive?

It seems impossible

but in 2016,

researchers at
the University of Southampton

were able to use
a piece of quartz

similar to that
found in the skull

to perform
just such a function.

AARON CELESTIAN:
What they did is
they used lasers

to form dots withinside
of a quartz crystal,

at different levels within it.

And the pattern that
they print is the data.

You know, like zeros and ones

that we use for
computers right now.

You could store about
360 terabytes of information.

Even if humanity were to
go completely extinct,

this data and this information

would last as long as

the Earth would last.

SHATNER:
If it's true that
the Mitchell-Hedges skull

could be storing vast amounts
of information,

what secrets might it divulge

if, or when, someone figures out

how to decrypt it?

As the caretaker of the
Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull,

it was my job,
carrying on the tradition,

to let it out for people to see

and be around and experience it.

Some people claim

that the crystal skull

has given them premonitions

or visions of the future.

But there are
many people who believe

that the Mitchell-Hedges
crystal skull

was actually
made in ancient times

originally as a healing device.

SHATNER:
A healing device?

Is it possible that
the skull of doom

can actually have
the power to save lives?

According to one woman,
the answer is yes.

A local singer and costume
designer named Phoenix Rising

is going about her workday
when, out of the blue,

she's struck with
an intense migraine headache.

And although she has a lifelong
history of migraines,

for some reason,
this one feels different.

PHOENIX RISING:
I went to the emergency room,
I said to the nurse,

"Something is going on."

She put me in for a scan,
and when she came out,

her face was white as a ghost.

And literally,
it was three, two, one and...

paramedics, everybody, boom--
IVs, the whole thing--

and I was having
a brain hemorrhage.

So I spent the next two weeks
in ICU.

They were trying to figure out
how in the world I was alive,

breathing, being able to see,
being able to walk.

NARRATOR:
After hearing about
Phoenix's condition,

a Native American Pueblo elder,
who claimed to have once

been a keeper
of the Mitchell-Hedges skull,

offered to send her
a piece of quartz

that had been kept
in close proximity

to the crystal skull
for some time.

RISING:
He got me on the phone--
his name is John Francis--

and he said, I'm gonna
send you a quartz crystal

that's been charged from
this Mitchell-Hedges skull.

I want you to put it in water,

and in the morning,
I want you to drink it,

and you're gonna drink it
every morning,

and I want you to see
what's gonna happen.

At this point,
I'm trying to recover,

so I'm willing, absolutely,
to do anything.

NARRATOR:
Although skeptical,

Phoenix felt
she had nothing to lose

by trying the bizarre remedy.

For two days, she followed
the medicine man's instructions,

seemingly without results.

And then, on the third day,

something unexpected happened.

RISING:
I drank the water
in the morning,

and probably about five,
six-ish minutes later,

I literally hear
a sound inside that went,

"Voo-ooh..."

like a vibration.

This quartz was healing me,
and repairing

my body, my cells,
my water, my DNA.

And when I went back
to the hospital,

the doctors were absolutely,
yes, 100% shocked

that I was able
to drain the blood out,

and that I was healing.

SHATNER: Whether Phoenix's
shocking recovery

made sense
to the doctors or not,

it appeared undeniable
that her condition had improved

due to the unique properties
of the crystal skull.

For me, I definitely know

that it unlocked
something in my brain

that healed me from
a life-threatening condition

that then allowed me to move
into success in my life,

to be here.

The supposed healing powers
of the Mitchell-Hedges skull

suggest that there may be
a shred of truth

to the Mayan myths
about this crystal artifact.

But not all famous legends
involve mystical energy.

Like the story
of a heroic railroad worker

from West Virginia

that pitted man against machine.

NARRATOR:
For centuries,

mankind has told stories

about people who have
the ability to perform feats

that require extraordinary
physical strength.

But why are we so fascinated
by these superhuman characters?

LYNNE McNEIL:
We love stories

about humans that push the
boundaries of exceptionalism.

And history is full
of this kind of folk hero

who is stronger
than any other human.

We have characters like Hercules
who are half god;

that's the source
of his strength.

There's someone like Samson
from the Bible, whose hair

gives him strength beyond
what a normal human might have.

And nowadays,
we have superheroes--

Batman, Spider-Man-- characters
who similarly are human,

but a little bit better
than other humans.

All these stories

let us talk about
the possibilities

of human endurance
and human capability.

How far can we push ourselves?

How much faster
and stronger can we be?

NARRATOR:
Here, at the foot
of the Allegheny Mountains,

lies a decommissioned
railroad tunnel

known as the Great Bend Tunnel.

According to folklore,
this was the site

of a famous legend
from the 1870s

about a superhuman
railroad worker

named John Henry.

TEMPLE:
The legend is that John Henry
was six-six, 280 pounds,

muscular, solid, glistening.

You could see him
half a mile away.

The legend has it
that he was born in enslavement.

And he had all these goals
for his family

coming out of enslavement.

And he says, "I want a good job.

I want to provide
for my family."

And he saw the C&O railroad
laying track,

and John Henry shows up
and says, "I'm your guy."

The fable has it that
any man who signed up to work

would get 50 acres of land

if they completed the railroad.

And sometimes this railroad
had to be completed

through a mountain,
and so, John Henry

not simply laid rail--
the railroad track--

but he had to drive a stake
into the rock,

which creates enough space
to then load dynamite.

John Henry was
the best steel driver,

and then here comes a man
with a steam drill.

The legend speaks
of this race taking place

between John Henry
and the machine.

(steam whistle blows)

NARRATOR:
As the story goes,

there was a competition between
John Henry and the machine,

to see which of them
could drill farthest

into the side of the mountain
in a single day.

During the contest,
the strength of John Henry

was reportedly so powerful

that the blows from
his twin sledgehammers

shook the mountain itself.

The story is that the steam
drill only went nine feet.

John Henry went 14.

And so,
John Henry is superhuman,

and more supreme than a machine.

John Henry beats the machine
in this-this competition.

But he passes away.

He dies of a heart attack.

He dies from overexertion.

And what we have here is

John Henry begins to symbolize

this overpowering physique
of a muscle man,

and the ability to achieve
in the face of extreme odds.

TEMPLE:
The legend of John Henry

represents this Black man,

this hero who did superhuman
feats, from the 19th century.

It overshadows the harshness
of the Reconstruction period,

but it also shows us how
Black men who were able-bodied,

who had that spirit
of willing to do anything

they needed to do
to provide for their families.

McNEIL:
Most of us know about
John Henry

from a literary work.

Like so many folk heroes

from the same time period
in American history--

Paul Bunyan, Joe Magarac,

Pecos Bill,
they are all compatriots

of John Henry in
this larger-than-life,

super capable
American folk hero model.

And what they capture
is the spirit of industry

that our nation
so badly wanted to embody

and project to the rest
of the world

at this point in history.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The legend of John Henry's
battle against the steam drill

was first immortalized in an
African American folk ballad,

and since then,
the inspirational story

has also been celebrated
numerous times

in magazines, plays and books.

Another superhuman feat
of John Henry

is that he was able
to inspire so many.

And so, whether
it's inspiring in terms

of actually working
on the railroad

or other industries,
John Henry was a beacon of that.

Also, in terms of him losing
his life, that's a sacrifice

that those who came after him
could appreciate,

as they strive
to be as good as John Henry.

NAMA:
There also is an overlap,

certainly, with John Henry
and superheroes.

In the early 1990s,

Superman passed away,
and that set up a situation

for the comic book version
of John Henry

to come in and save the day
as the character of Steel.

In order to save
the citizens of Metropolis,

he builds a suit,
encased in steel,

and carries, of all things--
would you believe it--

a sledgehammer.

And that speaks to,
kind of, like,

the reinterpretation
of John Henry

within the framework
of the superhero,

uh, Afrofuturistic
sci-fi version.

TEMPLE:
The idea that John Henry

is a superhero,

standing firmly in that space
of post-enslavement

and Reconstruction
is really phenomenal.

The legend of John Henry
proves that human strength

is inherent in all of us.

NARRATOR:
On a blustery winter
afternoon,

military historian
Ricky Phillips

is walking his dogs along
the misty shoreline of Loch Ness

when he spots a strange
disturbance in the murky waters.

I was walking along
the line of the River Oich.

The River Oich runs down
into Loch Ness.

It was absolutely lovely,

and I went and I stopped
and I took a photograph over it.

I was sort of one eye on
the phone, one eye on the dog.

There was a strange noise,
and my dogs went crazy.

As I looked down, there was
something in the photograph.

NARRATOR:
The grainy image

appears to show a sinuous figure

rising from the dark gray waters
of the loch.

It's unclear what type of animal
the photograph reveals.

But many researchers
analyzing the photo

believe it could be
the latest evidence

that confirms the existence
of an infamous creature

from lore and legend

that is known as
the Loch Ness Monster.

The Loch Ness Monster,
or Nessie, is without a doubt

the most famous
or iconic monster

that has been reported
around the world.

Stories go back decades,

there have been thousands
of eyewitness accounts.

We have compelling
photographic evidence,

so it certainly has built
a strong reputation

in the world of fabulous
monsters and creatures.

Through the years, there
have been hundreds of sightings.

For example, on July 15, 1965,

nine eyewitnesses observed
the animal moving around

for up to an hour.

This involved a veteran
Loch Ness investigator,

as well as a local
police sergeant

and the local county surveyor,
and six other eyewitnesses.

And what they all described
was identical

from different vantage points
around the loch.

NARRATOR:
Since that mass sighting
in 1965,

researchers, scientists
and even ordinary people

have journeyed to Loch Ness
in search of the famed monster.

NARRATOR:
Could there really be a monster

living in the waters
of Loch Ness?

Many researchers
believe it's possible.

And as evidence, they point
to recent sonar scans,

which reveal something enormous

moving beneath
the waters of the Loch.

The best evidence
we've ever had from Loch Ness

was a sonar contact
taken by Ronald McKenzie,

who operates a boat
called the Spirit of Loch Ness.

And three years ago,
they got a sonar contact,

crystal clear sonar contact

about 600 feet down.

And it's there.

It wasn't there an hour earlier

when he went past it
on the boat,

it wasn't there an hour later.

It was there and then it wasn't.

It's one solid object,
the size of a transit van.

Photographic experts
came back and said,

that is probably
an animate object.

SHATNER:
If it's true that there's
something moving deep

within the waters of Loch Ness,
then, what could it be?

Over the years,

researchers have put forward
many theories--

from shapeshifting spirits
known as kelpie,

found in Scottish folklore,

to a giant, mutated eel,

to a surviving prehistoric snake
known as a Basilosaur.

But perhaps
what's most fascinating

about the legend
of the Loch Ness Monster

is that there are reports
of similar creatures

all over the world.

GERHARD:
The lake monster phenomenon is
not just relegated to Loch Ness.

There are, in fact,
similar lake monsters

that have been reported
around the world.

Something known
as the Lake Monster Belt,

which is lines of latitude
between 40 to 60 degrees north

in the northern hemisphere.

And if you plot these across
a map of the world,

you'll find
the famous lake monsters

all fall within the same lines
of latitude.

That is very
compelling evidence.

CHAD LEWIS: What we're finding

is these different lakes
are very similar.

Many of them are very long,
relatively narrow.

You have Champ
of Lake Champlain.

The Ogopogo monster
of Okanagan Lake

in British Columbia.

You have the Lake Brosno
creature of Russia.

So it's led researchers
to believe that maybe

there's something
with that latitude

that has the perfect conditions
for such lake monsters to exist.

SHATNER:
Near the rustic town
of Chiusdino stands

the haunting ruins
of San Galgano Abbey.

Constructed around 1220 AD

to memorialize the Catholic
saint Galgano Guidotti,

the abbey's once-proud roof
has decayed,

leaving its soaring cathedral
exposed to the ravages of time.

But nearby,
inside a round mausoleum

originally built
to entomb Saint Galgano,

is a sacred artifact
so remarkable,

that it has been encased
beneath a protective shell--

The sword in the stone.

So many people are aware

of the Arthurian legend, you
know, the sword in the stone.

But this is a story
that comes much earlier.

You can go
to this chapel in Italy

and see this sword that's stuck
in the middle of this stone,

and you're thinking,
"How did that sword get there?"

SHATNER:
For centuries,
visitors have struggled

with the same question.

How did a Medieval sword--

which were known to be brittle

and often break easily
on the battlefield--

come to be driven nearly
up to its hilt in solid rock?

According to local legends,

Saint Galgano had
some divine help.

COLLINS:
Galgano was said to have been
a ruthless character.

He started receiving visions
of the Archangel Michael.

And these visions told him
to change his ways,

become a more pious character.

And he ignored them

until he was passing
this local landmark

known as Montesiepi.

HUSSAIN:
In the story,
Galgano is on his horse

and the horse takes him
up to the top of this hill

and the horse refuses
to go any further.

Michael appears to him
and tells him

that he is to serve the Church

and to renounce his wealth.

Galgano basically says,

"It's just as easy for me
to renounce my wealth

as it is for my sword
to go into this stone."

COLLINS:
At this point,
he got out his sword

and stuck it down into the rock.

And it penetrated
through the rock.

It was said, like a knife
going through butter.

And thereafter it remained
stuck within the rock,

like King Arthur's Excalibur.

SHATNER:
The legends of both
King Arthur and Saint Galgano

have long been considered myths

illustrating
the power of the divine,

rather than actual,
historical accounts.

But unlike Excalibur,

this sword in the stone is
one that can be seen.

In fact, it's been
scientifically proven

to be an authentic
Medieval blade.

HUSSAIN:
What's interesting is
that in the 21st century

they did some testing
on the sword and realized that,

"No, this is actually a sword
from the 12th century."

That the material is
actually 12th century.

So whether the thing
actually happened or not,

it's certainly that
the pieces are of the time.

SHATNER:
Even though it appears

the San Galgano sword
is indeed authentic,

there's one question
that remains unanswered.

Because despite our advanced
technology and understanding,

we still don't know
how this simple metal blade

was able to be driven
so perfectly into stone.

HUSSAIN:
To become a saint

you have to have, uh,
miracles that are tested.

In Galgano's case,
this is the, the miracle.

The rock opens,
it accepts this sword

and so you have
the sword in this stone.

Galgano just a few years
after his death is made a saint.

I think for religious people,
miracles precisely are that.

They're miraculous.

There is no explanation
for this that's scientific,

that's rational.

Whether legends speak
of divine intervention,

mystical powers
or hidden treasures,

these stories spark
our curiosity

because we never quite know

which parts of the tale
are history,

and which parts are fantasy.

Perhaps the glimmer of truth
that we find in legends

is what keeps us
searching for the answers

to what remains... unexplained.

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