Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,650
narrator: the fatal crash of delta airlines flight 191
2
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,830
to support fujita's theory.
3
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:25,040
as the airplane approaches the rain column,
4
00:30:25,070 --> 00:30:28,410
a downdraft hits the airplane, which pushes it down,
5
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:33,010
causing it to instantly lose airspeed and crash.
6
00:30:33,050 --> 00:30:36,020
traditionally, pilots are alerted to these situations
7
00:30:36,050 --> 00:30:39,020
because they can see the rain column ahead of them.
8
00:30:39,050 --> 00:30:43,520
but sometimes the cool air columns can be invisible.
9
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,760
hinton: one of the very dangerous aspects of microbursts,
10
00:30:46,790 --> 00:30:48,900
particularly in the high plains region of the country,
11
00:30:48,930 --> 00:30:51,170
for all this precipitation is that it's possible
12
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,270
to evaporate before it reaches the surface.
13
00:30:54,300 --> 00:30:57,070
that's particularly dangerous because there's no visible rain.
14
00:30:57,110 --> 00:30:59,810
the pilot may see clear skies, a clear path, but there could be
15
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,010
a very dangerous microburst in front of the aircraft.
16
00:30:12,060 --> 00:30:14,160
finally provides the missing evidence
17
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,450
forces the aviation community to immediately push for research
18
00:31:10,490 --> 00:31:12,220
into new technology
19
00:31:12,250 --> 00:31:16,960
that could warn pilots of microbursts in the area.
20
00:31:16,990 --> 00:31:19,160
the solution is a radar beam
21
00:31:19,190 --> 00:31:22,260
that detects changes in wind speed and direction
22
00:31:22,300 --> 00:31:24,060
that is now installed in the nose
23
00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:26,570
of every commercial aircraft.
24
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,740
it gives the cockpit crew a warning
25
00:31:28,770 --> 00:31:30,810
before entering a microburst.
26
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,370
hinton: so this is a radar system.
27
00:31:32,410 --> 00:31:36,310
the transmitter that generates essentially the microwave energy
28
00:31:36,340 --> 00:31:37,980
the aircraft that's going to exit
29
00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:39,810
is sending it through a wave guide
30
00:31:39,850 --> 00:31:42,550
down through this system and back out to the radome,
31
00:29:33,990 --> 00:29:36,560
setting off a deafening explosion.
32
00:28:44,970 --> 00:28:49,280
and can last between 5 to 15 minutes.
33
00:28:49,310 --> 00:28:51,680
fujita suggests that these downdrafts
34
00:28:51,710 --> 00:28:56,690
could be to blame for a series of airplane crashes.
35
00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,820
hinton: a downdraft is basically air flowing downward.
36
00:29:00,860 --> 00:29:02,460
and it can also be the microburst,
37
00:29:02,490 --> 00:29:04,690
which was the killer type of downdraft
38
00:29:04,730 --> 00:29:06,830
for transport aircraft for many years,
39
00:29:06,860 --> 00:29:09,400
which is induced by precipitation.
40
00:29:09,430 --> 00:29:12,870
narrator: the idea is hotly disputed for the best part of a decade
41
00:29:12,900 --> 00:29:18,410
until, on august 2, 1985, tragedy strikes.
42
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:24,480
in the midst of a thunderstorm, delta flight 191 descends
43
00:29:24,510 --> 00:29:28,320
towards dallas-fort worth international airport.
44
00:29:28,350 --> 00:29:30,350
less than a mile from the runway,
45
00:29:30,390 --> 00:29:33,960
the jet inexplicably plummets into two water tanks,
46
00:31:42,580 --> 00:31:44,420
which is then steered left, right or up or down
47
00:29:36,590 --> 00:29:39,130
137 people die.
48
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,000
20 more sustain serious injuries.
49
00:29:42,030 --> 00:29:44,970
[sirens]
50
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000
as nasa engineer david hinton explains,
51
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:49,400
the crash turns out to be
52
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,210
one of the most significant in aviation history.
53
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,380
hinton: delta 191 was a very important event,
54
00:29:55,410 --> 00:29:56,880
a very tragic event,
55
00:29:56,910 --> 00:30:01,320
and it occurred just as the federal aviation administration,
56
00:30:01,350 --> 00:30:03,620
national aeronautics and space administration,
57
00:30:03,650 --> 00:30:07,390
the airline industry was beginning a program to solve,
58
00:30:07,420 --> 00:30:09,360
tackle and solve this problem.
59
00:30:09,390 --> 00:30:12,030
narrator: but delta airlines flight 191
60
00:33:30,290 --> 00:33:32,330
under clear skies.
61
00:32:54,620 --> 00:32:56,360
as to what the wind is doing it's simply not available
62
00:32:56,390 --> 00:32:59,490
at that moment in that location.
63
00:32:59,530 --> 00:33:02,500
narrator: in rainstorms, downdrafts and microbursts
64
00:33:02,530 --> 00:33:04,700
can be potentially fatal.
65
00:33:04,730 --> 00:33:07,300
but on the day steve fossett disappears,
66
00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:09,140
there are no storms.
67
00:33:09,170 --> 00:33:10,610
could there be something unique
68
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,810
about the mountainous region of the sierra nevada
69
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:18,250
that creates a similar effect?
70
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,350
the downdraft that brought down the delta airlines flight
71
00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:23,220
happened in the middle of a storm
72
00:33:23,250 --> 00:33:25,820
and on perfectly flat terrain.
73
00:33:25,850 --> 00:33:27,690
but steve fossett has crashed
74
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,260
into the high mountains of the sierra nevada
75
00:32:53,150 --> 00:32:54,590
perfect information; doesn't have
76
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:37,130
the question is can these microbursts strike without rain?
77
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:43,610
the first clue that they might dates from 1933
78
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:48,110
when two german glider pilots make an extraordinary discovery.
79
00:33:48,140 --> 00:33:50,310
when hans deutschmann and wolf hirth
80
00:33:50,340 --> 00:33:53,250
glide next to a mountain range in germany,
81
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:55,680
they discover that when a mountain drops away
82
00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:57,150
to a hot plain,
83
00:33:57,180 --> 00:34:01,860
there is a surprising phenomenon.
84
00:34:01,890 --> 00:34:03,960
when winds blow into the mountain,
85
00:34:03,990 --> 00:34:06,490
the air is pushed up and over the peak.
86
00:34:06,530 --> 00:34:10,000
the cool air drops quickly towards the ground.
87
00:34:10,030 --> 00:34:11,800
in the punishing heat of the plains
88
00:34:11,830 --> 00:34:13,870
surrounding the sierra nevadas,
89
00:34:13,900 --> 00:34:17,510
the air is rapidly heated and rises back up.
90
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,290
there were people who thought it might not be feasible
91
00:31:44,450 --> 00:31:47,690
to project the radar beam where we would like it to go.
92
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,760
then a reflected beam is picked up by the same antenna.
93
00:31:50,790 --> 00:31:53,500
so they transmit, listen, transmit, listen;
94
00:31:53,530 --> 00:31:54,900
it's a pulse system.
95
00:31:54,930 --> 00:31:57,300
picked up again by the signal, by the radome
96
00:31:57,330 --> 00:31:59,570
through the wave guide back into a receiver.
97
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,100
narrator: but many in the aviation community
98
00:32:02,140 --> 00:32:05,340
are possible. don't think these radar systems
99
00:32:05,370 --> 00:32:08,910
hinton: delta 191, as tragic as it was,
100
00:32:08,940 --> 00:32:10,450
led to a tremendous urgency
101
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,750
to develop the solutions to the problem.
102
00:32:12,780 --> 00:32:14,280
at the time of that accident
103
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:16,080
this system for wind shear detection
104
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:17,690
was simply not available.
105
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,940
it can hit the ground and spread out in all directions,
106
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:21,890
to put in a small radome,
107
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:23,960
all the processing and the quality of the beam
108
00:32:23,990 --> 00:32:26,490
required to extract the wind shear.
109
00:32:26,530 --> 00:32:28,960
this program developed these radars
110
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:30,260
that are now installed,
111
00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:32,970
so the problem has been solved
112
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,640
because of the urgency with which the faa, nasa,
113
00:32:35,670 --> 00:32:41,280
the airlines and others put into developing this solution.
114
00:32:41,310 --> 00:32:44,010
narrator: but even with this new technology installed,
115
00:32:44,050 --> 00:32:46,710
pilots still have to remain vigilant.
116
00:32:46,750 --> 00:32:48,920
hinton: one cannot be certain
117
00:32:48,950 --> 00:32:51,220
about the currents over a mountain.
118
00:32:51,250 --> 00:32:53,120
the pilot of an aircraft
119
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:13,600
but this doesn't stand out to me
120
00:24:24,010 --> 00:24:25,680
into the twilight zone. like you're going
121
00:24:25,710 --> 00:24:29,050
relatively benign conditions you're, you're going from
122
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,220
to unexpectedly not so benign conditions,
123
00:24:33,250 --> 00:24:35,260
and this is in the dark.
124
00:24:35,290 --> 00:24:38,090
[thunder]
125
00:24:38,130 --> 00:24:40,960
narrator: kelly redmond now examines weather data
126
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,700
for september 3, 2007: the day steve fossett disappeared.
127
00:24:46,740 --> 00:24:50,740
could he have been trapped in similarly disastrous conditions?
128
00:24:50,770 --> 00:24:52,770
looking at here is a map redmond: what i'm
129
00:24:52,810 --> 00:24:57,380
of what the conditions were on september 3rd of 2007.
130
00:24:57,410 --> 00:25:01,280
september is not a month of very strong storms, typically.
131
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:06,560
and they show that the flow, uh, over the sierra nevada
132
00:25:06,590 --> 00:25:09,830
was moderate winds out of the southwest
133
00:25:09,860 --> 00:25:11,930
to the, to the northeast.
134
00:24:22,810 --> 00:24:23,980
you know, you sort of feel
135
00:25:13,630 --> 00:25:16,160
as being particularly strikingly strong
136
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,470
like you see in the winter months.
137
00:25:18,500 --> 00:25:21,000
narrator: the weather data shows that steve fossett
138
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,970
taxied down the runway on a clear day.
139
00:25:24,010 --> 00:25:25,640
other pilots flying that day
140
00:25:25,670 --> 00:25:30,080
also reported that it was a beautiful day to fly.
141
00:25:30,110 --> 00:25:31,780
but even on clear days,
142
00:25:31,810 --> 00:25:35,680
small meteorological anomalies can strike.
143
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,090
kelly finds new significant evidence
144
00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:40,420
in the weather data for that day.
145
00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:42,220
redmond: there was a little hitch in the wind direction,
146
00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:44,390
which sort of indicates that a little impulse
147
00:25:44,430 --> 00:25:46,730
might have been moving through in the atmosphere.
148
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,300
the kind of thing you normally wouldn't catch
149
00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:41,740
narrator: the archive is also a critical tool
150
00:23:02,630 --> 00:23:04,970
tolby: some weather is more predictable than others.
151
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:06,870
we knew today that there was going to be thunderstorms
152
00:23:06,900 --> 00:23:08,170
in the area.
153
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,510
where exactly those are going to be at any one point
154
00:23:10,540 --> 00:23:12,440
is really challenging.
155
00:23:12,470 --> 00:23:14,710
narrator: could these unpredictable storms
156
00:23:14,740 --> 00:23:17,280
be behind some of the hundreds of plane crashes
157
00:23:17,310 --> 00:23:19,980
in the sierra nevadas?
158
00:23:20,020 --> 00:23:22,780
at the nevada desert research institute,
159
00:23:22,820 --> 00:23:27,090
climatologist dr. kelly redmond has access to 60 years
160
00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:30,590
of historical weather data for the united states.
161
00:23:30,630 --> 00:23:34,000
kelly redmond: we store weather and climate data from the past
162
00:23:34,030 --> 00:23:36,100
because it turns out it has tremendous value.
163
00:23:36,130 --> 00:23:39,270
the past is, is a guide for the future.
164
00:25:48,330 --> 00:25:50,900
much attention to. or wouldn't pay
165
00:23:41,770 --> 00:23:43,940
for air crash investigators.
166
00:23:43,970 --> 00:23:47,710
it can reveal local weather conditions at the precise time
167
00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:51,650
some of the most famous disappearances occurred.
168
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,620
kelly locates the weather data for february 18, 1969,
169
00:23:56,650 --> 00:24:00,520
crashed. the day the gambler's special
170
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,690
he discovers that it's highly likely
171
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,960
that the weather played a critical role in the disaster.
172
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,900
redmond: so these darks colors here are 70, 80, 90% humidity.
173
00:24:11,930 --> 00:24:14,570
so this means that the clouds
174
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,740
were probably pretty prevalent at the time,
175
00:24:16,770 --> 00:24:18,540
and once they got into 'em it'd be pretty hard to get,
176
00:24:18,570 --> 00:24:20,580
to get back out of them.
177
00:24:20,610 --> 00:24:22,780
[wind howling]
178
00:27:59,830 --> 00:28:04,400
doing is, uh, trying to pinpoint theodore fujita: what i'm really
179
00:27:13,650 --> 00:27:15,920
and they create a wave cloud,
180
00:27:15,950 --> 00:27:19,120
um, beneath that the winds can get really turbulent,
181
00:27:19,150 --> 00:27:20,320
and those kind of winds
182
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:24,030
are really, really challenging to predict.
183
00:27:24,060 --> 00:27:27,630
narrator: most of us have experienced turbulence during air flights.
184
00:27:27,660 --> 00:27:30,200
but most aircraft navigate through these winds
185
00:27:30,230 --> 00:27:32,630
without any serious problems.
186
00:27:36,470 --> 00:27:41,310
but in 1977 a meteorologist, dr. theodore fujita,
187
00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:44,580
proposes a previously unknown weather phenomenon
188
00:27:44,610 --> 00:27:47,120
that he thinks might transform bad weather
189
00:27:47,150 --> 00:27:50,180
into something potentially deadly.
190
00:27:50,220 --> 00:27:52,550
fujita is known as "mr. tornado"
191
00:27:52,590 --> 00:27:55,790
for his work on the detailed behavior of twisters.
192
00:27:55,820 --> 00:27:57,930
announcer: aeronautics and space report.
193
00:27:10,850 --> 00:27:13,610
tolby: when the really strong winds come over the sierra
194
00:28:04,430 --> 00:28:08,470
which particular thunderstorms might produce tornadoes.
195
00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:10,810
with tornadoes reveals narrator: fujita's work
196
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,140
that when hot and cold air are mixed in a rainstorm,
197
00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:17,450
intense, localized downdrafts can be caused
198
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:19,750
by the rapidly cooling air.
199
00:28:19,780 --> 00:28:21,480
david hinton: what theodore fujita found
200
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,790
from flying small planes in areas
201
00:28:23,820 --> 00:28:26,820
that had been hit by tornadoes and severe storms,
202
00:28:26,850 --> 00:28:30,290
he found patterns in blown-down trees
203
00:28:30,330 --> 00:28:33,130
that were not appropriate for a tornado.
204
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,700
so he coined the term "microburst."
205
00:28:35,730 --> 00:28:37,400
microburst downdraft.
206
00:28:37,430 --> 00:28:38,670
narrator: fujita's theory is
207
00:28:38,700 --> 00:28:41,570
that when rain-cooled air sinks suddenly,
208
00:26:29,740 --> 00:26:31,840
we send up a balloon twice a day;
209
00:25:50,930 --> 00:25:52,870
this seems to me a kind of a typical thing
210
00:25:52,900 --> 00:25:54,940
that happens in mountains,
211
00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:58,470
where weather can change very dramatically, very suddenly,
212
00:25:58,510 --> 00:26:00,340
especially in the lee of a large range
213
00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:02,310
like the sierra nevada
214
00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:04,380
where there was, uh, a wind system
215
00:26:04,410 --> 00:26:06,750
coming through at the time.
216
00:26:06,780 --> 00:26:09,120
narrator: such localized changes in wind direction
217
00:26:09,150 --> 00:26:13,150
are invisible to the naked eye, but they can be lethal.
218
00:26:16,290 --> 00:26:19,330
meteorologist zach tolby knows all too well
219
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:21,660
about erratic localized wind conditions
220
00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:24,000
in the sierra nevada.
221
00:26:24,030 --> 00:26:25,470
tolby: are we clear for a balloon launch?
222
00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:27,240
okay, thanks. bye.
223
00:34:17,540 --> 00:34:21,040
as the warm air hits the cooler air at high altitude,
224
00:26:31,870 --> 00:26:34,540
once at 4 a.m. and once at 4 p.m.
225
00:26:34,580 --> 00:26:37,750
we do this along with about 800 other sites worldwide
226
00:26:37,780 --> 00:26:42,520
and about 90 sites around the united states and north america.
227
00:26:42,550 --> 00:26:46,550
narrator: these regular readings help to calculate the weather forecast.
228
00:26:46,590 --> 00:26:48,120
key to their accuracy
229
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,890
is the behavior of wind in the upper atmosphere.
230
00:26:51,930 --> 00:26:53,130
tolby: the measurements from the balloon
231
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:54,400
tell us a lot about wind.
232
00:26:54,430 --> 00:26:58,770
they actually physically measure the wind with a gps.
233
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,970
narrator: the balloon data reveals that wind speed and direction
234
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,870
can vary considerably at different altitudes.
235
00:27:04,910 --> 00:27:07,580
at the boundaries between these different layers,
236
00:27:07,610 --> 00:27:10,810
the wind can interact in very unexpected ways.
237
00:42:02,570 --> 00:42:06,010
of climbing at 300 feet per minute.
238
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,300
the national transportation safety board concludes
239
00:41:25,330 --> 00:41:27,470
that a downdraft was responsible
240
00:41:27,500 --> 00:41:32,110
inexplicable loss of control. for steve fossett's otherwise
241
00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:33,540
how else could a pilot
242
00:41:33,570 --> 00:41:36,740
who routinely calculated the dangers of the wind
243
00:41:36,780 --> 00:41:38,510
fall prey to it?
244
00:41:38,550 --> 00:41:40,380
flight instructor bill schroeder
245
00:41:40,410 --> 00:41:43,750
final report. agrees with investigation's
246
00:41:43,780 --> 00:41:46,890
in the sierra nevadas, winds can rush down
247
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,520
at 400 feet per minute or more
248
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,660
and then bounce back up again even faster.
249
00:41:53,690 --> 00:41:58,100
schroeder: he was in a 400, 500 foot per minute, possibly more.
250
00:41:58,130 --> 00:41:59,670
his aircraft was only capable,
251
00:41:59,700 --> 00:42:02,540
at that density altitude where he was flying,
252
00:41:19,730 --> 00:41:22,160
after a five-month investigation,
253
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,110
so he didn't have the power.
254
00:42:08,140 --> 00:42:11,410
he could not get out of the downdraft.
255
00:42:11,450 --> 00:42:14,820
narrator: while filming, bill's plane is suddenly hit
256
00:42:14,850 --> 00:42:16,850
by an invisible downdraft.
257
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:18,590
to get a li... schroeder: see, we're starting
258
00:42:18,620 --> 00:42:22,590
oh, probably a 200, 300 foot per minute downdraft here,
259
00:42:22,620 --> 00:42:24,830
right at this location here.
260
00:42:24,860 --> 00:42:28,600
narrator: today bill is high enough to ride out the downdraft--
261
00:42:28,630 --> 00:42:31,900
but at lower altitudes, closer to the mountain ridge,
262
00:42:31,930 --> 00:42:33,970
even the most experienced pilots
263
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,540
will struggle with the rapid loss of speed.
264
00:42:37,570 --> 00:42:40,010
up here just a little bit. schroeder: i'm going to climb
265
00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:44,680
and paying close attention to it all i'm doing is i'm aware of it
266
00:42:44,710 --> 00:42:46,880
and getting myself into a position
267
00:40:33,450 --> 00:40:35,550
and trying to keep the plane aloft--
268
00:39:48,500 --> 00:39:51,810
to actually visualize what's happening.
269
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,180
narrator: the model aircraft is being flown
270
00:39:54,210 --> 00:39:56,580
by a member of the facility.
271
00:39:56,610 --> 00:39:58,880
to prevent the airplane from crashing,
272
00:39:58,910 --> 00:40:02,480
it is held loosely in position by restraining wires.
273
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,950
the remote pilot is having no problems
274
00:40:04,990 --> 00:40:06,650
flying through headwinds
275
00:40:06,690 --> 00:40:08,890
modified to approximate the conditions
276
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,660
steve fossett had been flying in.
277
00:40:13,690 --> 00:40:16,460
when a powerful wind suddenly, there's trouble
278
00:40:16,500 --> 00:40:21,000
starts battering the airplane, and the pilot loses control.
279
00:40:23,540 --> 00:40:26,010
mathers: we can certainly see in this particular experiment
280
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,940
that the plane was not able to overcome downward velocity.
281
00:40:29,980 --> 00:40:33,410
so even though we had a pilot operating the controls
282
00:42:46,910 --> 00:42:49,250
where if i should have to turn,
283
00:40:35,580 --> 00:40:37,880
using as much climb rate as possible--
284
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,550
he was still not able to overcome
285
00:40:39,590 --> 00:40:43,120
and was still dropping in altitude.
286
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,060
narrator: by slowing down the footage
287
00:40:45,090 --> 00:40:47,860
we see how the plane engine isn't powerful enough
288
00:40:47,900 --> 00:40:51,800
to overcome the wind forcing it towards the ground.
289
00:40:51,830 --> 00:40:54,570
the forces recreated here are no greater
290
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:58,000
than those possibly faced by steve fossett.
291
00:41:06,210 --> 00:41:08,550
steve fossett was a skilled pilot
292
00:41:08,580 --> 00:41:12,620
who broke more than 100 aviation records around the world.
293
00:41:12,650 --> 00:41:14,560
but he crashed flying his airplane
294
00:41:14,590 --> 00:41:16,820
in the sierra nevada mountains,
295
00:41:16,860 --> 00:41:19,690
a place he knew like the back of his hand.
296
00:45:10,660 --> 00:45:13,230
who have crashed in the sierra nevadas,
297
00:44:30,450 --> 00:44:31,890
knowing the likely cause
298
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,760
is cold comfort to surviving relatives,
299
00:44:34,790 --> 00:44:36,260
like william ogle,
300
00:44:36,290 --> 00:44:39,990
whose father disappeared over the sierra nevada ridge.
301
00:44:40,030 --> 00:44:41,800
for 40 years, ogle: i've been dealing with it
302
00:44:41,830 --> 00:44:44,260
and they may not find his wreck,
303
00:44:44,300 --> 00:44:45,700
to deal with it. and i'll continue
304
00:44:45,730 --> 00:44:48,900
but that's just something that i've accepted.
305
00:44:51,540 --> 00:44:53,510
narrator: the nevada triangle has been home
306
00:44:53,540 --> 00:44:58,280
to thousands of lost airplanes over the last 60 years.
307
00:44:58,310 --> 00:45:00,210
the missing evidence concludes
308
00:45:00,250 --> 00:45:01,980
that some of the airplane crashes
309
00:45:02,020 --> 00:45:07,690
can be attributed to the testing of military airplanes.
310
00:45:07,720 --> 00:45:10,620
but for steve fossett and hundreds of other pilots
311
00:44:27,450 --> 00:44:30,420
narrator: but until all the missing aircraft are discovered,
312
00:45:13,260 --> 00:45:17,030
the culprit is mother nature herself.
313
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:23,400
and although technological advances
314
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,040
have made flying safer than ever,
315
00:45:26,070 --> 00:45:28,810
the sierra nevadas will always pose a threat
316
00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:31,080
to those who fly through them.
317
00:45:31,110 --> 00:45:33,450
schroeder: you really have to treat the winds in the mountains
318
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:35,080
with respect.
319
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:37,850
narrator: the winds in these mountains don't discriminate
320
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:42,760
between the most experienced pilot and the novice.
321
00:45:42,790 --> 00:45:45,660
schroeder: regardless of how professional,
322
00:45:45,690 --> 00:45:50,360
how much training, how much experience a pilot has,
323
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,400
they can still get in trouble.
324
00:45:52,430 --> 00:45:55,170
and so we have to be very vigilant when we're flying,
325
00:45:55,200 --> 00:46:00,140
especially here in the mountains.
326
00:43:44,370 --> 00:43:48,180
the head of the civil air patrol came and sought me out.
327
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:53,850
the left toward lower terrain. i'm going to be turning to
328
00:42:53,890 --> 00:42:57,420
narrator: steve fossett was no stranger to these downdrafts.
329
00:42:57,460 --> 00:43:01,100
but on that particular day, he was flying too low
330
00:43:01,130 --> 00:43:03,100
and too close to the mountains,
331
00:43:03,130 --> 00:43:06,670
and that was a deadly miscalculation.
332
00:43:06,700 --> 00:43:09,300
downdrafts also explain the mysterious force
333
00:43:09,340 --> 00:43:11,070
that came out of the blue
334
00:43:11,110 --> 00:43:15,340
and so nearly took the lives of jim nowlin and his passengers.
335
00:43:15,380 --> 00:43:19,180
is pushing on you nowlin: it's almost like a hand
336
00:43:19,210 --> 00:43:21,650
and stealing away your airspeed.
337
00:43:26,890 --> 00:43:29,660
in spite of all the hours i'd spent flying
338
00:43:29,690 --> 00:43:32,360
over and around the sierra,
339
00:43:32,390 --> 00:43:36,900
uh, i had never encountered that kind of a downdraft.
340
00:43:36,930 --> 00:43:41,000
i probably used up 99% of my luck in that one time.
341
00:39:45,130 --> 00:39:48,470
smoke within the airflow we're going to try today to use
342
00:43:48,210 --> 00:43:50,310
in search and rescue and he's been involved
343
00:43:50,340 --> 00:43:52,950
for i think he said 45 years,
344
00:43:52,980 --> 00:43:54,880
and he said he wanted to shake my hand
345
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:58,050
because it was the first chance he ever got to do that,
346
00:43:58,090 --> 00:44:00,090
to shake the hand of someone who'd gone down
347
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:04,420
in the sierra like that.
348
00:44:04,460 --> 00:44:07,660
that anything ever happened. it's the only trace
349
00:44:07,690 --> 00:44:09,460
till now, and i, i haven't touched it
350
00:44:09,500 --> 00:44:13,970
this probably came off but it's, uh, i would say
351
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,840
one of the, uh, wingtip moldings.
352
00:44:16,870 --> 00:44:19,840
and, uh, yeah, this is the only sign
353
00:44:19,870 --> 00:44:21,880
that anything ever happened here.
354
00:44:21,910 --> 00:44:25,350
no sense leaving it here. [laughs]
355
00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:30,270
but for airplanes they can be treacherous.
356
00:35:48,900 --> 00:35:52,470
there's a nice little bump.
357
00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:55,370
parallel to the mountains; there's that line of clouds
358
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,770
about a quarter of the distance we're gonna get
359
00:35:57,810 --> 00:35:59,940
between the top of the mountain and the middle of the cloud.
360
00:35:59,970 --> 00:36:04,110
where the best lift will be. that'll be the,
361
00:36:04,150 --> 00:36:06,350
the area underneath these clouds;
362
00:36:06,380 --> 00:36:07,620
there can be a rotor,
363
00:36:07,650 --> 00:36:09,280
it can be really turbulent getting up into it,
364
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:11,290
and if we get up above those clouds
365
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,360
and get into the actual wave, it'll be very smooth,
366
00:36:15,390 --> 00:36:18,990
very smooth conditions, just no turbulence at all.
367
00:36:19,030 --> 00:36:22,030
feels like you're not moving.
368
00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:24,100
narrator: for a glider, mountain waves
369
00:36:24,130 --> 00:36:26,870
offer the thrill of extreme sport.
370
00:35:44,230 --> 00:35:48,860
to be able to use it for your advantage.
371
00:36:30,300 --> 00:36:32,510
holtz: power pilots may not fly in these conditions
372
00:36:32,540 --> 00:36:35,040
just because they have not experienced them.
373
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,150
in this much wind. they're not used to flying
374
00:36:38,180 --> 00:36:40,450
narrator: and the winds closest to the mountains
375
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,720
can be the most lethal for airplanes.
376
00:36:46,150 --> 00:36:48,460
to better understand the mountain wave,
377
00:36:48,490 --> 00:36:50,930
climatologist kelly redmond explains
378
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:52,930
that we first need to understand
379
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,360
unique topography. the sierra nevada's
380
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:57,800
redmond: one factor about the sierra is they,
381
00:36:57,830 --> 00:36:59,500
they come up gradually on the west side
382
00:36:59,530 --> 00:37:02,600
and they drop very steeply on the east side.
383
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,170
and so when the air is climbing the slope on the west side,
384
00:37:05,210 --> 00:37:08,180
at a fairly gentle slope. it's kind of climbing at a,
385
00:35:05,750 --> 00:35:07,620
so you... some of it's moving up and down,
386
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:23,010
the process is repeated,
387
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:28,850
creating waves of hot and cold air.
388
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,350
as a glider pilot, russell holtz
389
00:34:31,390 --> 00:34:34,090
regularly seeks out this strange phenomenon
390
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,130
in the sierra nevadas, known as a "mountain wave."
391
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,560
russell holtz: this area is, has some of the best weather,
392
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:42,600
best conditions for soaring.
393
00:34:42,630 --> 00:34:46,570
we can get really high, we can go really far.
394
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,440
narrator: some gliders, like russell's, have no engines,
395
00:34:49,470 --> 00:34:53,210
so they need a tow plane to reach the right altitude.
396
00:34:55,780 --> 00:34:59,310
then they are released.
397
00:34:59,350 --> 00:35:02,850
once set free they rely purely on the rising wind currents
398
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,150
to keep them up.
399
00:35:04,190 --> 00:35:05,720
holtz: almost always the air's in motion,
400
00:37:08,210 --> 00:37:11,080
and then it has an abrupt break that's shaped like this.
401
00:35:07,660 --> 00:35:09,960
if a glider stays in the, uh, up part,
402
00:35:09,990 --> 00:35:11,230
in the air that's moving up,
403
00:35:11,260 --> 00:35:13,790
then we can stay up indefinitely.
404
00:35:13,830 --> 00:35:18,370
same thing you see birds doing.
405
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,300
narrator: in clear skies, currents are invisible,
406
00:35:21,340 --> 00:35:24,100
so glider pilots have to be extremely aware
407
00:35:24,140 --> 00:35:28,280
of their surroundings.
408
00:35:28,310 --> 00:35:29,780
holtz: and all the data you're gathering--
409
00:35:29,810 --> 00:35:33,250
via clouds, your wind drift, what you're feeling,
410
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,580
what the instruments are saying,
411
00:35:36,620 --> 00:35:39,090
so all that you try to put into a mental model
412
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,960
of what the air is doing...
413
00:35:41,990 --> 00:35:44,190
the more you know about the safer it is
414
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:04,390
with the almost identical power-to-weight ratio.
415
00:38:27,860 --> 00:38:29,690
we're using the facility
416
00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:32,360
in a way that we never envisioned before.
417
00:38:32,390 --> 00:38:35,660
narrator: andrew mathers and his team have rigged up a replica
418
00:38:35,700 --> 00:38:38,970
inside the wind tunnel. of steve fossett's plane
419
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,100
a remote-controlled aircraft; mathers: it's
420
00:38:40,130 --> 00:38:42,100
it's actually 1/8 scale.
421
00:38:42,140 --> 00:38:44,840
uh, it has almost the same physical properties
422
00:38:44,870 --> 00:38:46,240
as the super decathlon
423
00:38:46,270 --> 00:38:48,680
that steve fossett was flying at the time.
424
00:38:48,710 --> 00:38:52,350
um, it has very similar scale model wing span length.
425
00:38:52,380 --> 00:38:55,050
the fuselage is hung underneath it's a high wing design, so
426
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,420
so that gives it similar center of gravity,
427
00:38:57,450 --> 00:38:59,490
similar flying properties.
428
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,090
a single-prop aircraft as well it's
429
00:38:25,750 --> 00:38:27,820
doing something a little unique. andrew mathers: but today we're
430
00:39:04,430 --> 00:39:06,630
narrator: they have studied the meteorological records
431
00:39:06,660 --> 00:39:10,260
to recreate the precise wind speed and direction
432
00:39:10,300 --> 00:39:13,970
in the region where steve fossett lost his life.
433
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,000
mathers: okay, fans coming up to 50%.
434
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:20,970
narrator: with 106 fans, each individually controlled,
435
00:39:21,010 --> 00:39:23,380
the team are hoping to reproduce the effects
436
00:39:23,410 --> 00:39:27,050
of the invisible and unpredictable downdrafts
437
00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,550
that researchers now think make the nevada triangle so deadly.
438
00:39:31,590 --> 00:39:34,890
mathers: achieve the flow that we wanted, we're configuring our fans to
439
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:36,790
which was a combination of forward flow
440
00:39:36,820 --> 00:39:39,030
as well as downwash.
441
00:39:39,060 --> 00:39:41,090
different combinations of fans uh, so we're using
442
00:39:41,130 --> 00:39:45,100
to achieve what we want to.
443
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:42,740
and some of it comes over, and it comes down
444
00:37:11,110 --> 00:37:13,450
it has an abrupt break where it can go downhill,
445
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,920
and this can cause lots of different wave phenomena
446
00:37:15,950 --> 00:37:17,890
in the atmosphere.
447
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:20,120
narrator: studying the flow of water in a riverbed
448
00:37:20,150 --> 00:37:22,360
can help visualize just how turbulent
449
00:37:22,390 --> 00:37:25,760
these downhill winds can become.
450
00:37:25,790 --> 00:37:27,630
redmond: if you think of that whole line
451
00:37:27,660 --> 00:37:29,760
of, uh, rock underneath the water,
452
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,600
a mountain range. it's sort of like
453
00:37:31,630 --> 00:37:32,870
there's not a lot going on
454
00:37:32,900 --> 00:37:34,770
in the upstream side of the mountain.
455
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,270
but on the downstream side
456
00:37:36,300 --> 00:37:38,570
is where most of the action is occurring.
457
00:37:38,610 --> 00:37:40,610
we see different types of flow coming over,
458
00:22:58,430 --> 00:23:02,600
but predicting where and when they occur is far from easy.
459
00:37:42,780 --> 00:37:48,080
and it jumps up, and it gets very turbulent.
460
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:49,480
narrator: the river's downstream
461
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,220
is the mountain equivalent of a downdraft.
462
00:37:52,250 --> 00:37:54,960
they occur below the crest of the mountain.
463
00:37:54,990 --> 00:37:57,960
the winds accelerate as they come over the ridge,
464
00:37:57,990 --> 00:38:01,960
clinging to the surface as they race down the slope.
465
00:38:04,100 --> 00:38:08,070
are these powerful downdrafts, unique to the sierra nevadas,
466
00:38:08,100 --> 00:38:10,610
responsible for steve fossett's crash
467
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:15,210
and hundreds of others in the nevada triangle?
468
00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:17,110
scientists at the windeee dome,
469
00:38:17,140 --> 00:38:20,010
hexagonal wind tunnel facility, the world's first
470
00:38:20,050 --> 00:38:23,320
usually study the effects of wind on fixed structures
471
00:38:23,350 --> 00:38:25,720
like buildings and bridges.
472
00:07:27,730 --> 00:07:30,470
studying the sierra nevada phenomenon,
473
00:06:51,230 --> 00:06:53,300
but at least the findings give hope
474
00:06:53,330 --> 00:06:58,370
is more likely accidental. that ogle's disappearance
475
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,270
as the number of crashed airplanes
476
00:07:00,300 --> 00:07:02,040
unearthed by fossett's manhunt
477
00:07:02,070 --> 00:07:04,210
continues to grow alarmingly,
478
00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:08,080
the press dub the area "the nevada triangle."
479
00:07:08,110 --> 00:07:10,680
the news is no surprise
480
00:07:10,710 --> 00:07:14,320
to aviation archaeologist pat macha.
481
00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:16,420
pat macha: the nevada triangle, the name
482
00:07:16,450 --> 00:07:18,960
came from the steve fossett search.
483
00:07:18,990 --> 00:07:21,060
suddenly this element of mystery,
484
00:07:21,090 --> 00:07:22,390
why can't we find him,
485
00:07:22,430 --> 00:07:25,260
other wrecks in this area. oh, there's so many
486
00:07:25,290 --> 00:07:27,700
narrator: pat macha has spent 50 years
487
00:06:48,690 --> 00:06:51,190
doesn't match his father's airplane.
488
00:07:30,500 --> 00:07:33,470
and he is not surprised by the comparison.
489
00:07:33,500 --> 00:07:35,870
the bermuda triangle is infamous--
490
00:07:35,910 --> 00:07:39,880
yet within it, there have only been about 30 unsolved cases
491
00:07:39,910 --> 00:07:42,450
of aircraft or marine disappearances
492
00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,650
since the late 1800s.
493
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,980
the so-called nevada triangle falls within an area
494
00:07:48,020 --> 00:07:52,120
between three cities: reno, las vegas and fresno.
495
00:07:52,150 --> 00:07:55,720
and within it there have been far more disappearances.
496
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,260
macha: there weren't dozens
497
00:07:57,290 --> 00:07:59,560
but hundreds and hundreds of aircraft
498
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,400
over the years in the mountains.
499
00:08:03,430 --> 00:08:05,670
if we marked all of the crash sites,
500
00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:08,270
this map could not hold all the pins.
501
00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:11,470
it would be so loaded you wouldn't believe it.
502
00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:11,650
charles ogle, a businessman
503
00:05:34,650 --> 00:05:36,450
by air and on foot.
504
00:05:36,490 --> 00:05:39,590
and although they find no sign of steve fossett,
505
00:05:39,620 --> 00:05:41,920
they do find plenty of evidence
506
00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,690
that the skies above the sierra nevadas
507
00:05:44,730 --> 00:05:46,300
could be treacherous.
508
00:05:46,330 --> 00:05:47,860
schroeder: while we were searching for steve fossett,
509
00:05:47,900 --> 00:05:51,770
we found several other aircraft that had crashed in the areas
510
00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,170
that were reported missing,
511
00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,540
but the planes had never been found.
512
00:05:55,570 --> 00:05:58,210
families had gone for years and years
513
00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,680
without knowing what happened to their relatives.
514
00:06:01,710 --> 00:06:04,550
narrator: one of those family members is william ogle,
515
00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:08,050
whose father charles disappeared 43 years earlier.
516
00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,090
reporter: the year was 1964.
517
00:08:11,510 --> 00:08:16,210
narrator: pat has documented more than 2,000 wrecks in the area.
518
00:06:11,690 --> 00:06:13,960
and ex-military pilot from california,
519
00:06:13,990 --> 00:06:18,190
flew a single-engine plane out of oakland headed for reno.
520
00:06:18,230 --> 00:06:21,160
narrator: for decades, william and his family wondered--
521
00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,470
did he abandon them, or was there an accident?
522
00:06:24,500 --> 00:06:27,900
43 years on and the search for fossett's plane
523
00:06:27,940 --> 00:06:30,570
raises the possibility that ogle
524
00:06:30,610 --> 00:06:33,840
is also a victim of the sierra nevadas.
525
00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,610
could one of the wrecks be his father's?
526
00:06:36,650 --> 00:06:38,820
william ogle: it would be nice to sort of have the closure
527
00:06:38,850 --> 00:06:41,820
so that you know that he didn't just run off.
528
00:06:41,850 --> 00:06:44,150
i mean, an accident, something happened.
529
00:06:44,190 --> 00:06:47,060
narrator: unfortunately it is bad news.
530
00:06:47,090 --> 00:06:48,660
the plane's registration number
531
00:10:32,210 --> 00:10:34,750
and was familiar with the terrain.
532
00:09:51,310 --> 00:09:53,780
what is uncommon is that there were five lost
533
00:09:53,810 --> 00:09:55,980
in the search for one.
534
00:09:56,010 --> 00:09:58,350
the following summer narrator: it's not until
535
00:09:58,380 --> 00:10:00,420
that the wreckage of the gambler's special
536
00:10:00,450 --> 00:10:02,450
is discovered near mount whitney,
537
00:10:02,490 --> 00:10:06,060
when the receding snow reveals the scale of the tragedy.
538
00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:09,590
macha: the nature of this impact was terrible.
539
00:10:09,630 --> 00:10:12,600
and the aircraft disintegrated.
540
00:10:12,630 --> 00:10:14,960
narrator: the wreck is found on the east-facing cliff
541
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,400
on mount whitney.
542
00:10:16,430 --> 00:10:20,740
there are no signs of mechanical or electrical malfunction.
543
00:10:20,770 --> 00:10:22,970
the official investigation concludes
544
00:10:23,010 --> 00:10:26,780
that the cause of the crash is bad visibility.
545
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,180
but like fossett, the pilot was vastly experienced
546
00:09:48,900 --> 00:09:51,270
this is not uncommon, however.
547
00:10:34,780 --> 00:10:36,750
one month after it starts,
548
00:10:36,790 --> 00:10:41,860
plane is called off. the search for steve fossett's
549
00:10:41,890 --> 00:10:43,360
schroeder: it was abandoned because of the fact
550
00:10:43,390 --> 00:10:45,900
that we just had searched so long, so many areas,
551
00:10:45,930 --> 00:10:48,000
covered these areas not just once, twice,
552
00:10:48,030 --> 00:10:51,800
three or four times, and we weren't getting anything.
553
00:10:51,830 --> 00:10:54,200
narrator: disappearance it seems that steve fossett's
554
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,810
will have to join the growing list of mysteries
555
00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,440
within the nevada triangle.
556
00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,280
the hunt to explain the staggering number of accidents
557
00:11:02,310 --> 00:11:03,710
continues.
558
00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:06,020
and just like the bermuda triangle,
559
00:11:06,050 --> 00:11:08,180
the nevada triangle is generating
560
00:11:08,220 --> 00:11:10,850
some extreme theories.
561
00:09:05,630 --> 00:09:07,900
or early the next morning.
562
00:08:16,250 --> 00:08:18,250
over the last 50 years,
563
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,420
every month. that's close to three crashes
564
00:08:21,450 --> 00:08:23,090
yet it is only rarely
565
00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:27,620
that these plane crashes attract headlines.
566
00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:29,320
one of the exceptions
567
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,960
is the 1969 hawthorne nevada airlines flight 708,
568
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,130
the so-called gambler's special.
569
00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:42,470
macha: the story of the gambler's special
570
00:08:42,510 --> 00:08:46,010
is a very interesting case.
571
00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,810
there was the hawthorne nevada airlines,
572
00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,750
and they had two dc-3 aircraft, and they would fly routinely
573
00:08:52,780 --> 00:08:57,590
from long beach to burbank to hawthorne, nevada.
574
00:08:57,620 --> 00:09:01,190
and people could fly up there, they could party and gamble
575
00:09:01,220 --> 00:09:05,590
and then fly back home late that night and,
576
00:05:31,980 --> 00:05:34,620
narrator: for more than a month they comb the mountains
577
00:09:07,930 --> 00:09:11,470
narrator: but on february 18, 1969,
578
00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:13,000
the commercial airliner,
579
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:17,240
carrying 32 passengers and 3 crew members, disappears.
580
00:09:17,270 --> 00:09:20,380
macha: radio contact was lost.
581
00:09:20,410 --> 00:09:24,680
the aircraft did not arrive in, at burbank as scheduled.
582
00:09:24,710 --> 00:09:27,820
so a search was immediately launched.
583
00:09:27,850 --> 00:09:30,350
narrator: but the tragedy turns into a disaster
584
00:09:30,390 --> 00:09:34,490
when five of the search aircraft also crash into the mountains.
585
00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,660
the country is shaken by the rising death toll.
586
00:09:37,690 --> 00:09:40,400
macha: the press, uh, really latched on to that story
587
00:09:40,430 --> 00:09:44,070
because it was so interesting and compelling.
588
00:09:44,100 --> 00:09:45,670
the search in the first place,
589
00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:48,870
and then to lose so many searchers in the process.
590
00:02:20,860 --> 00:02:22,530
a couple of things make it very special around here.
591
00:01:27,670 --> 00:01:29,570
to discover the deadly truth
592
00:01:29,610 --> 00:01:33,810
behind the area that has been dubbed "the nevada triangle."
593
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,490
the sierra nevada mountain range stretches 400 miles
594
00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,460
across the state line between california and nevada.
595
00:01:49,490 --> 00:01:52,830
most famous parks: it houses three of america's
596
00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:56,200
yosemite, sequoia and kings canyon.
597
00:01:56,230 --> 00:02:00,270
people from all over flock to enjoy the stunning scenery,
598
00:02:00,300 --> 00:02:03,010
from the emerald green waters of lake tahoe
599
00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,380
to the rugged forests.
600
00:02:05,410 --> 00:02:07,040
but for thrill-seekers,
601
00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,380
the most dramatic and compelling aspects of the sierra nevadas
602
00:02:11,410 --> 00:02:13,950
are the skies above them.
603
00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:18,590
bill schroeder: i started flying in the sierra nevadas
604
00:02:18,620 --> 00:02:20,820
about 1970.
605
00:01:24,300 --> 00:01:27,640
sophisticated wind chamber and in the world's most
606
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,230
number one, it's challenging,
607
00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:27,260
and i think that pilots need to be challenged.
608
00:02:27,300 --> 00:02:28,800
the other thing i like about flying here
609
00:02:28,830 --> 00:02:30,870
is just the beauty of the area.
610
00:02:30,900 --> 00:02:32,670
you know, you get up in the early morning
611
00:02:32,700 --> 00:02:34,640
and come out here when it's nice and cool,
612
00:02:34,670 --> 00:02:37,940
clear, visibility totally unlimited.
613
00:02:37,970 --> 00:02:39,880
you can take a turn to the right,
614
00:02:39,910 --> 00:02:41,310
take a turn to the left, and what do you have?
615
00:02:41,340 --> 00:02:43,280
just beautiful mountains.
616
00:02:43,310 --> 00:02:46,150
narrator: but on september 3, 2007,
617
00:02:46,180 --> 00:02:48,620
the disappearance of a famous pilot
618
00:02:48,650 --> 00:02:53,220
would throw a spotlight on the mountains' terrible secret.
619
00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:55,630
reporter: aviation officials are looking for adventure pilot
620
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,260
man: while we were searching for steve fossett
621
00:00:09,860 --> 00:00:13,500
one of the most beautiful and dramatic places in america.
622
00:00:13,530 --> 00:00:15,400
a land of extremes--
623
00:00:15,430 --> 00:00:19,100
from snow-covered mountain peaks to scorching deserts.
624
00:00:19,140 --> 00:00:22,270
but these mountains hold a terrible secret.
625
00:00:22,310 --> 00:00:25,410
is pushing on you man: it's almost like a hand
626
00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,080
and stealing away your airspeed.
627
00:00:27,110 --> 00:00:30,550
narrator: a mysterious force that has taken countless lives
628
00:00:30,580 --> 00:00:32,420
over the past 60 years.
629
00:00:32,450 --> 00:00:34,620
man: if we marked all of the crash sites,
630
00:00:34,650 --> 00:00:37,050
this map could not hold all the pins.
631
00:00:37,090 --> 00:00:38,220
[applause]
632
00:00:38,250 --> 00:00:39,690
narrator: but it takes the disappearance
633
00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,860
of billionaire steve fossett in 2007
634
00:00:42,890 --> 00:00:45,760
before the extent of the mystery becomes clear.
635
00:02:55,660 --> 00:02:57,960
and world record holder steve fossett.
636
00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:51,200
we found several other aircraft that had crashed in the areas
637
00:00:51,230 --> 00:00:55,670
that were reported missing, but the planes had never been found.
638
00:00:55,710 --> 00:00:58,780
man: there are literally hundreds of plane crashes
639
00:00:58,810 --> 00:01:00,380
in the surrounding area.
640
00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:02,210
it's an intriguing mystery.
641
00:01:02,250 --> 00:01:05,280
man: instruments fail, compasses go haywire,
642
00:01:05,320 --> 00:01:07,350
and in the worst-case scenario
643
00:01:07,380 --> 00:01:10,090
the ignitions of jet engines fail.
644
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,520
narrator: so why have so many pilots lost their lives
645
00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,390
and others vanished without a trace?
646
00:01:16,430 --> 00:01:18,090
and what is the missing evidence
647
00:01:18,130 --> 00:01:20,600
that could explain the disappearances?
648
00:01:20,630 --> 00:01:24,270
we explore the phenomenon on the ground, in the air,
649
00:04:51,740 --> 00:04:55,010
to call in a flight plan-- that fossett doesn't even bother
650
00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,640
for a civilian in peacetime america.
651
00:04:16,670 --> 00:04:18,640
reporter: aircraft are continuing to criss-cross
652
00:04:18,670 --> 00:04:21,440
over an area of about 17,000 square miles
653
00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:22,880
of northwest nevada.
654
00:04:22,910 --> 00:04:25,180
narrator: aviation safety expert bill schroeder
655
00:04:25,210 --> 00:04:27,680
was one of the lead coordinators on the search.
656
00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,450
he recalls how the terrain made their job incredibly tough.
657
00:04:31,490 --> 00:04:33,890
to find aircraft schroeder: it's very difficult
658
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,460
that go into canyons, that go in between the trees.
659
00:04:36,490 --> 00:04:38,130
to search. from the air it's really hard
660
00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,060
narrator: when fossett says goodbye to his wife that morning,
661
00:04:41,100 --> 00:04:44,700
he refers to his flight as "a sunday drive."
662
00:04:44,730 --> 00:04:49,070
he takes off from a private airport 60 miles south of reno.
663
00:04:49,110 --> 00:04:51,710
the sunday drive is so routine
664
00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:14,000
the biggest and most expensive search ever undertaken
665
00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,410
an error that will seriously hamper the search teams.
666
00:04:58,450 --> 00:05:01,720
schroeder: a person of his stature in aviation--
667
00:05:01,750 --> 00:05:03,350
tell somebody i don't know why he didn't
668
00:05:03,390 --> 00:05:05,890
exactly where he was going to be going,
669
00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,120
i really don't know.
670
00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,160
narrator: with no idea of the direction fossett took,
671
00:05:11,190 --> 00:05:15,200
the teams are forced to search over 30,000 square miles,
672
00:05:15,230 --> 00:05:18,000
an area equivalent to the state of maryland.
673
00:05:18,030 --> 00:05:20,440
schroeder: we had our air national guard involved
674
00:05:20,470 --> 00:05:22,170
in the search as well,
675
00:05:22,210 --> 00:05:25,380
to see if, uh, if they could find anything on the dry lakes.
676
00:05:25,410 --> 00:05:27,380
we had other pilots, believe it or not,
677
00:05:27,410 --> 00:05:29,380
that decided they were going to help,
678
00:05:29,410 --> 00:05:31,950
and no one could find him.
679
00:03:34,530 --> 00:03:36,300
i've wanted it for a long time.
680
00:02:57,990 --> 00:03:01,100
narrator: billionaire adventurer steve fossett takes off
681
00:03:01,130 --> 00:03:02,700
from a private airstrip
682
00:03:02,730 --> 00:03:05,670
about 30 miles south of carson city, nevada,
683
00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:08,000
in a single-engine airplane.
684
00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,310
he never returns.
685
00:03:10,340 --> 00:03:11,910
man: we are not going to rest
686
00:03:11,940 --> 00:03:15,580
until we bring this to what we feel is a successful conclusion.
687
00:03:15,610 --> 00:03:17,980
narrator: fossett is an experienced aviator
688
00:03:18,010 --> 00:03:21,380
who lives to break aviation records.
689
00:03:21,420 --> 00:03:24,420
in 2002 he becomes the first person
690
00:03:24,450 --> 00:03:28,060
to fly solo across the world in a hot air balloon,
691
00:03:28,090 --> 00:03:29,590
and a few years later,
692
00:03:29,630 --> 00:03:32,830
he does the same in a single-engine aircraft.
693
00:03:32,860 --> 00:03:34,500
steve fossett: so this is a prime record.
694
00:11:10,890 --> 00:11:13,320
ufo enthusiast bill birnes
695
00:03:36,330 --> 00:03:38,400
narrator: to commemorate the historic event,
696
00:03:38,430 --> 00:03:40,070
both aircraft are housed
697
00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:43,740
national air and space museum. at the smithsonian's
698
00:03:43,770 --> 00:03:47,010
how could a man with more than 100 world flying records
699
00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:48,380
to his name
700
00:03:48,410 --> 00:03:52,020
disappear on a routine flight in his own back yard?
701
00:03:52,050 --> 00:03:55,620
the mystery captures the attention of the world's media.
702
00:03:55,650 --> 00:03:57,120
schroeder: i think it became a big story
703
00:03:57,150 --> 00:03:59,290
because of the fact of his reputation.
704
00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,460
reputation as an aviator, as an adventurer
705
00:04:03,490 --> 00:04:06,400
that suddenly just disappeared,
706
00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:08,800
kind of shocked the world. and i think that's what
707
00:04:08,830 --> 00:04:10,670
narrator: fossett's disappearance triggers
708
00:19:24,980 --> 00:19:27,680
where i could maneuver the airplane to some degree,
709
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,950
the ground rising quickly below him.
710
00:18:49,980 --> 00:18:51,610
you know, nowlin: it's almost like,
711
00:18:51,650 --> 00:18:56,790
a hand is pushing on you and stealing away your airspeed.
712
00:18:56,820 --> 00:19:00,320
in aviation there are two things that are irreplaceable:
713
00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:02,460
that's airspeed and altitude.
714
00:19:02,490 --> 00:19:04,190
if you have the right combination of the two,
715
00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:06,530
then you can handle most anything.
716
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,560
if you have one or the other taken away from you,
717
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,600
then you're in trouble.
718
00:19:11,630 --> 00:19:13,270
i mean, it slowed me up so much
719
00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:17,970
the airplane was no longer capable of flying.
720
00:19:18,010 --> 00:19:20,540
the last thing i really remember was there's some tall trees
721
00:19:20,580 --> 00:19:22,810
back behind us over there
722
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,950
i still had enough airspeed
723
00:18:43,710 --> 00:18:47,010
but seconds later, he loses airspeed,
724
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,280
and i was bound and determined
725
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,890
i was going to stay out of those trees.
726
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:33,260
narrator: luckily for jim,
727
00:19:33,290 --> 00:19:37,330
he and his passengers all survive without serious injuries
728
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:40,930
and are rescued within hours of the crash.
729
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:42,900
but could his experience cast light
730
00:19:42,930 --> 00:19:45,930
on the fate of steve fossett?
731
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,170
in october 2008,
732
00:19:50,210 --> 00:19:54,110
over a year after the search for fossett's plane is called off,
733
00:19:54,140 --> 00:19:56,610
a hiker makes a discovery.
734
00:19:56,650 --> 00:19:58,550
man: i said, "oh, my gosh, what's that?"
735
00:19:58,580 --> 00:20:00,620
and in the dirt with the pine needles,
736
00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:03,120
in the dirt i see like an i.d. card.
737
00:20:03,150 --> 00:20:04,650
reporter: tonight at the command post,
738
00:17:57,490 --> 00:18:00,360
jim nowlin's story is typical.
739
00:17:20,820 --> 00:17:26,390
but of course makes no mention of any ufo-related research.
740
00:17:26,430 --> 00:17:30,700
merlin: i think sometimes people prefer to believe the mystery.
741
00:17:30,730 --> 00:17:33,270
literally tell me i've had people
742
00:17:33,300 --> 00:17:34,870
that the more they learned
743
00:17:34,900 --> 00:17:37,510
about what was actually going on at area 51,
744
00:17:37,540 --> 00:17:40,710
the less interested they were.
745
00:17:40,740 --> 00:17:42,340
narrator: military accidents can account
746
00:17:42,380 --> 00:17:44,310
for a lot of the crashed aircraft
747
00:17:44,350 --> 00:17:47,220
found in the vicinity of area 51--
748
00:17:47,250 --> 00:17:48,850
for the crashes but they don't account
749
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,990
in the sierra nevada mountains.
750
00:17:51,020 --> 00:17:53,190
most of the crashes and disappearances
751
00:17:53,220 --> 00:17:55,520
in that area of the nevada triangle
752
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,460
are civilian aircraft.
753
00:20:04,690 --> 00:20:06,150
officials are waiting for daybreak
754
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,270
on a sunny spring day in may 2013,
755
00:18:04,300 --> 00:18:08,900
jim nowlin is taking his friends out for a ride in his airplane.
756
00:18:08,940 --> 00:18:13,110
jim nowlin: my friend had set it up many weeks in advance
757
00:18:13,140 --> 00:18:15,640
as a birthday present for his girlfriend
758
00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,510
to do a tour around lake tahoe,
759
00:18:17,550 --> 00:18:19,050
many of those. which i've done many,
760
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,890
most of my life, i'd been flying over the sierra
761
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,690
was going to be any issues. so i didn't really think there
762
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,030
well, when we took off it was bumpy--
763
00:18:31,060 --> 00:18:34,660
nothing that i considered at all unsafe.
764
00:18:34,700 --> 00:18:38,900
turbulence over the years. i've been in some pretty good
765
00:18:38,930 --> 00:18:41,140
narrator: jim flies out of the mild turbulence
766
00:18:41,170 --> 00:18:43,670
and back into calm weather conditions.
767
00:22:12,450 --> 00:22:15,150
and a lot of times for us that's daytime heating,
768
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,420
at the national weather service in reno, nevada,
769
00:21:43,450 --> 00:21:45,920
believes that the unpredictable weather conditions
770
00:21:45,950 --> 00:21:47,460
over the mountains
771
00:21:47,490 --> 00:21:50,460
are the key to unraveling the nevada mystery.
772
00:21:50,490 --> 00:21:52,160
tolby: the sierra nevada is unique
773
00:21:52,190 --> 00:21:54,200
to an ocean, because it's very close
774
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:57,000
and we get strong storms out of the eastern pacific
775
00:21:57,030 --> 00:21:58,670
during the wintertime.
776
00:21:58,700 --> 00:22:01,470
narrator: and when those storms hit the unusual geography
777
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:03,270
of the sierra nevadas,
778
00:22:03,310 --> 00:22:06,810
the huge fluctuations in altitude and temperature
779
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,110
can intensify the storm.
780
00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:10,550
tolby: the thunderstorms form
781
00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:12,410
in the atmosphere, when there's instability
782
00:21:38,410 --> 00:21:40,480
narrator: zach tolby, a meteorologist
783
00:22:15,180 --> 00:22:16,520
which creates that instability,
784
00:22:16,550 --> 00:22:18,590
and the cooler air up, up in the atmosphere,
785
00:22:18,620 --> 00:22:22,260
and so as that warm air rises and then condenses,
786
00:22:22,290 --> 00:22:24,130
it accelerates up.
787
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,660
narrator: with its peak soaring to over 14,000 feet above sea level,
788
00:22:28,700 --> 00:22:31,500
mount whitney is the highest point in the u.s.a.
789
00:22:31,530 --> 00:22:33,570
outside of alaska.
790
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,970
yet at the foot of the mountain lays death valley--
791
00:22:37,010 --> 00:22:40,880
at 282 feet below sea level.
792
00:22:42,510 --> 00:22:44,750
as the cool stormy air from the ocean
793
00:22:44,780 --> 00:22:47,180
flows over the high mountain peaks,
794
00:22:47,220 --> 00:22:52,020
it is met by the hot, humid air rising from death valley.
795
00:22:52,050 --> 00:22:55,360
the combination causes sudden and intense storms.
796
00:22:55,390 --> 00:22:58,390
[thunder]
797
00:20:48,030 --> 00:20:49,600
whatever brought him down,
798
00:20:06,190 --> 00:20:07,460
so that ground crews can try
799
00:20:07,490 --> 00:20:09,560
to confirm the sightings from the air
800
00:20:09,590 --> 00:20:11,760
of possible wreckage of an airplane,
801
00:20:11,790 --> 00:20:17,100
probably the long lost missing plane of pilot steve fossett.
802
00:20:17,130 --> 00:20:19,670
narrator: a few days later, investigators reach
803
00:20:19,700 --> 00:20:21,970
the mangled wreckage of fossett's plane
804
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,670
outside of mammoth lakes, california,
805
00:20:24,710 --> 00:20:28,680
just 65 miles south from where he took off.
806
00:20:28,710 --> 00:20:30,710
man: what we have learned thus far
807
00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:35,150
is indicative of a high-impact crash
808
00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:40,760
which appears to be consistent with a non-survivable accident.
809
00:20:40,790 --> 00:20:42,820
narrator: the initial investigation reveals
810
00:20:42,860 --> 00:20:44,930
that at the time of his crash
811
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,000
his plane was in perfect working order.
812
00:17:17,290 --> 00:17:20,790
the dossier details testing of advanced aircraft,
813
00:20:49,630 --> 00:20:53,970
or mechanical failure. it wasn't alien technology
814
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,400
the nevada triangle has claimed another pilot
815
00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,040
in mysterious circumstances.
816
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,450
with no clues emerging from steve fossett's wreckage,
817
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:08,550
the ntsb pursues a new culprit: the weather.
818
00:21:09,580 --> 00:21:11,590
and it turns out, the weather here
819
00:21:11,620 --> 00:21:15,820
is among the most complex and unpredictable in america.
820
00:21:18,830 --> 00:21:22,200
the sierra nevadas are 400 miles of granite
821
00:21:22,230 --> 00:21:24,270
that vary in elevation.
822
00:21:24,300 --> 00:21:27,870
there are hundreds of peaks higher than 12,000 feet,
823
00:21:27,900 --> 00:21:32,880
and at those heights, weather can change very rapidly.
824
00:21:32,910 --> 00:21:35,580
zach tolby: we just issued a severe thunderstorm warning
825
00:21:35,610 --> 00:21:38,380
for central washoe county.
826
00:13:17,610 --> 00:13:20,420
they need to keep their new venture top-secret,
827
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,210
and crashes in the area.
828
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,450
birnes: why are there so many plane crashes in this area,
829
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:45,650
the nevada triangle?
830
00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,250
well, one theory is this: that because ufos,
831
00:12:49,290 --> 00:12:50,950
either the ones we're testing
832
00:12:50,990 --> 00:12:53,360
from here, or the ones that don't come
833
00:12:53,390 --> 00:12:57,160
fly around in this electromagnetic envelope,
834
00:12:57,190 --> 00:13:00,300
instruments fail, compasses go haywire,
835
00:13:00,330 --> 00:13:02,400
and in the worst-case scenario,
836
00:13:02,430 --> 00:13:05,870
the ignitions of jet engines fail.
837
00:13:05,900 --> 00:13:08,800
narrator: the mysterious reputation of area 51
838
00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,240
has its roots in the 1950s,
839
00:13:11,270 --> 00:13:14,980
when the cia partners with the lockheed aviation company
840
00:13:15,010 --> 00:13:17,580
to build and test aircraft.
841
00:12:37,340 --> 00:12:40,010
is the reason behind aircraft disappearances
842
00:13:20,450 --> 00:13:26,320
so they choose this remote location in the nevada desert.
843
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,920
named simply by its map coordinates,
844
00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,730
area 51 sparks the imagination
845
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,800
of many conspiracy theorists in the united states
846
00:13:34,830 --> 00:13:37,030
and around the world.
847
00:13:40,100 --> 00:13:43,510
peter merlin is a well-known aeronautical historian
848
00:13:43,540 --> 00:13:47,240
who has been studying area 51 for 30 years.
849
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,050
he also thinks that the heavily guarded base
850
00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,080
is behind many of the crashed planes littering the area.
851
00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:55,380
watched right now peter merlin: we're being
852
00:13:55,420 --> 00:13:57,890
by area 51 security.
853
00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,930
they detected us coming in using road sensors that are magnetic
854
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,060
to detect any metal object coming by, like a truck.
855
00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:10,000
the whole time now he'll be watching us
856
00:11:58,100 --> 00:12:02,200
because a flying saucer or a flying wedge-shaped object
857
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,160
believes that the high number of crashed aircraft in the area
858
00:11:17,190 --> 00:11:19,760
is due to the fact that the triangle's footprint
859
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:24,400
includes the secret base known as area 51.
860
00:11:24,430 --> 00:11:26,770
bill birnes: so right over those mountains over there,
861
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,270
the famous, the historic, the mysterious area 51.
862
00:11:31,310 --> 00:11:34,740
the legend is that all the way back from the 1950s,
863
00:11:34,780 --> 00:11:37,380
at least through middle 1990s,
864
00:11:37,410 --> 00:11:41,850
you could be shot on sight if you crossed the border.
865
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,450
narrator: the high level of secrecy surrounding the base
866
00:11:44,490 --> 00:11:46,620
attracts plenty of controversy--
867
00:11:46,660 --> 00:11:48,560
controversy that can be traced back
868
00:11:48,590 --> 00:11:51,190
to the so-called roswell incident.
869
00:11:51,230 --> 00:11:54,660
birnes: in july 1947, some people say
870
00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:58,070
that human history changed
871
00:14:10,030 --> 00:14:11,400
as long as we're out here,
872
00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,240
crashed outside of roswell.
873
00:12:05,270 --> 00:12:07,710
initially when the army saw the material,
874
00:12:07,740 --> 00:12:09,280
they didn't know what they had.
875
00:12:09,310 --> 00:12:12,820
all they knew was it wasn't from this world.
876
00:12:12,850 --> 00:12:14,250
then they decided
877
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,720
what it is ourselves, if we can't figure it out
878
00:12:16,750 --> 00:12:18,520
of the top engineers, let's get some
879
00:12:18,550 --> 00:12:21,320
the top scientists, the top metallurgists,
880
00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:26,200
in complete secrecy. let's bring them to area 51
881
00:12:26,230 --> 00:12:29,670
narrator: in 1994 the pentagon releases a report
882
00:12:29,700 --> 00:12:31,700
exposing the roswell incident
883
00:12:31,730 --> 00:12:34,640
as no more than a downed weather balloon.
884
00:12:34,670 --> 00:12:37,310
but bill still believes that alien technology
885
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,840
the sightings of the unusual winged aircraft
886
00:15:45,730 --> 00:15:48,460
like air-to-air combat or air-to-ground combat.
887
00:15:48,500 --> 00:15:50,900
all of these are exceedingly hazardous.
888
00:15:50,930 --> 00:15:55,440
to have lots of crashes. it's not at all surprising
889
00:15:55,470 --> 00:15:57,270
narrator: one of those early crashes
890
00:15:57,310 --> 00:16:01,440
is the lockheed u-2 spy plane in 1957.
891
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,910
it is the first airplane ever tested in area 51
892
00:16:04,950 --> 00:16:08,220
and very likely the source of the initial rumors
893
00:16:08,250 --> 00:16:12,490
that link area 51 to captured alien technology.
894
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,220
the u-2 spy plane program
895
00:16:14,260 --> 00:16:18,490
is partially declassified in 1998 by the cia.
896
00:16:18,530 --> 00:16:21,100
although not mentioning area 51,
897
00:16:21,130 --> 00:16:25,200
the file contains details of an incident in the 1950s,
898
00:16:25,230 --> 00:16:26,700
when the prototype flies
899
00:16:26,740 --> 00:16:30,810
at altitudes no one believes possible.
900
00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:45,700
where combat planes are used in mock exercises
901
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,050
prompt many reports of unidentified flying objects
902
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:38,810
in the area.
903
00:16:38,850 --> 00:16:41,950
what the locals are actually seeing isn't alien,
904
00:16:41,980 --> 00:16:44,920
but a marvel of human ingenuity.
905
00:16:44,950 --> 00:16:47,420
the history of area 51 merlin: i've been researching
906
00:16:47,460 --> 00:16:49,530
for more than 30 years.
907
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,860
any evidence whatsoever i've never seen
908
00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:55,260
to do with extraterrestrials. to suggest there's anything
909
00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:59,800
built right here on earth. it's all advanced technology
910
00:17:01,740 --> 00:17:05,640
narrator: in 2013, after decades of being called
911
00:17:05,670 --> 00:17:09,440
"the most famous military institution that doesn't exist,"
912
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,750
the cia finally releases hundreds of declassified papers
913
00:17:13,780 --> 00:17:17,250
confirming the existence of area 51.
914
00:15:01,850 --> 00:15:03,290
there's an f-4e
915
00:14:11,430 --> 00:14:15,340
to the border of area 51. 'cause we're very close
916
00:14:15,370 --> 00:14:19,780
narrator: but merlin has no time for talk of alien technology.
917
00:14:19,810 --> 00:14:22,710
merlin: i think the idea of aliens being involved
918
00:14:22,750 --> 00:14:27,150
with any plane crashes in this area is just rubbish.
919
00:14:27,180 --> 00:14:30,390
narrator: merlin is drawn to this part of the nevada triangle
920
00:14:30,420 --> 00:14:34,490
for evidence that points to a far less exotic explanation.
921
00:14:37,990 --> 00:14:41,200
merlin: this is definitely wreckage from an f-4 phantom ii.
922
00:14:41,230 --> 00:14:43,870
from the side of the aircraft; we're looking at a part
923
00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:47,540
from one of the engines. it's the air intake
924
00:14:47,570 --> 00:14:51,270
and there's a piece up here that's got a part number
925
00:14:51,310 --> 00:14:54,380
an f-4 part number. that's very definitely
926
00:14:54,410 --> 00:14:57,050
narrator: peter merlin has been hunting downed aircraft here
927
00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:58,610
for decades.
928
00:14:58,650 --> 00:15:01,820
to the crash site of an f-4d. merlin: we're very close
929
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:09,830
narrator: the sierra nevadas.
930
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,220
in tempait mountain across the valley.
931
00:15:06,260 --> 00:15:08,990
there's an f-16 down in rachel.
932
00:15:09,020 --> 00:15:12,560
uh, british harrier crashed over the mountains there.
933
00:15:12,590 --> 00:15:14,100
uh, in railroad valley
934
00:15:14,130 --> 00:15:17,100
that collided in mid-air. you've got two f-15s
935
00:15:17,130 --> 00:15:20,470
all of this took place during routine testing and training.
936
00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:22,440
and these are just the crashes i can think of
937
00:15:22,470 --> 00:15:23,940
off the top of my head.
938
00:15:23,970 --> 00:15:26,540
there are dozens more just in the local area
939
00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:28,410
and hundreds in the surrounding desert.
940
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:29,780
narrator: he thinks the reason
941
00:15:29,810 --> 00:15:33,550
for the high number of military crashes is obvious.
942
00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,790
merlin: this is a place where high-tech airplanes are tested,
76227
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.