All language subtitles for The Alaska Triangle S01E06 The Alaskan Titanic 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Alaska, a vast,
remote wilderness

twice the size of Texas...

There are dangerous,
unpredictable forces

at work here.

NARRATOR: ...in one of the most
mysterious corners of the globe.

A lot of things can kill you
out here without even trying.

NARRATOR: This is a place
hundreds of times more deadly

than the Bermuda Triangle.

MAN: [ Filtered voice ]
Oh, my God.

NARRATOR:
Stories of alien abductions...

I believe it was a UFO.

NARRATOR: ...the paranormal,
vanishing airplanes,

and strange beasts...

The Alaskan Bigfoot.
He can rip you in half.

These accounts
are really widespread.

[Bleep] It peeked out
of the tree right there.

NARRATOR: ...have haunted
those who dare set foot here.

In the last 30 years,

16,000 people have disappeared
without a trace.

More people have disappeared
than the Bermuda Triangle,

two to three times the amount.

NARRATOR: Witnesses tell us
their shocking stories.

I was petrified.

NARRATOR: And we've gathered
some of the world's

leading experts in their field.

I'm always after
scientific evidence

that can be
independently corroborated.

NARRATOR:
To try and unlock the mystery

of the Alaska Triangle.

♪♪

The coast of Alaska includes

some of the most treacherous
waterways in the world.

It's no surprise
that ships go down.

But some of these wrecks
are shrouded in mystery.

Extraordinary,
terrifying events

seemed to plague the seas
of the Alaska Triangle.

It's as though some
mysterious forces

are luring ships to their doom.

NARRATOR: And that includes
the biggest of all --

the Princess Sophia.

The sinking of
the S.S. Princess Sophia

is without doubt
the worst maritime tragedy

in Alaskan history.

It's a huge tragedy
in the Pacific Northwest.

It took rich and poor.
It took everybody.

NARRATOR: It's a long forgotten
maritime disaster,

unknown and unexplained.

This is one of the big mysteries
of the Alaska Triangle.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The sinking of
the S.S. Princess Sophiain 1918

was the greatest loss of life

in a single event
in Alaskan history.

Yet to this day,
the reason why it went down

in the southern corner of
the triangle remains an enigma.

♪♪

And there are stories
even today of ghosts

and paranormal activity
linked with the Sophia,

including right in
the very center

of the Alaskan capital,
Juneau.

As an investigator,
we hear these stories

and what it's all about really
is trying to establish

if there is credibility,

if there's truth
to those stories.

You know, there's paranormal
events that have been said

to happened there.

But what is actually going on?

♪♪

NARRATOR: The story
of the Princess Sophia

is bound up
with the story of Alaska

at the turn
of the 20th century.

The gold rush was over,

but the remote interior
was still peppered

with small mining communities
and lone prospectors.

But it was seasonal work,

impossible over
the Alaskan winter.

♪♪

Bjorn Dihle is
an Alaskan writer

who's researched the history
of the miners during that era.

Alaska in 1918, there's still
people making a living mining,

many of who spend spring
and summer in Alaska

and then in the wintertime
come and travel

by steamer down south,

and one of these steamers
was the Princess Sophia.

NARRATOR: The embarkation point
for the steamers was Skagway,

a small gold rush port
on the south coast.

It's late October in Skagway,

it's the last run of the year
to get prospectors, miners,

other folks out of the interior
of Alaska.

There's no road in or out.

So the Princess Sophia
is the last chance.

You're stuck if you don't.

You're in Alaska
until May, June.

So you have all these people

that are just kind of
fleeing to Skagway.

♪♪

NARRATOR: One man who knows
these waters well

is British author,
Anthony Dalton.

He's written extensively

about the maritime history
of this area

and in particular,
the Princess Sophia.

It was
a Canadian Pacific steamship.

She was a passenger
and cargo ship

sailing between Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada

and Skagway, Alaska.

♪♪

In October 1918,

Princess Sophia
was at the dock in Skagway.

There was a flurry of activity
getting her loaded.

353 people
were legally on board,

plus 24 horses, one dog,

and there were some stowaways.

Mostly the passengers
would have been men

heading south for the winter
back to Vancouver.

They left Skagway
and headed down the Lynn Canal.

♪♪

[ Ship horn blows ]

NARRATOR:
At over 2,000 feet deep,

the 90-mile Lynn Canal
is the deepest fjord

in North America

and one of the deepest
and longest in the world.

It's renowned
for its treacherous

and unpredictable weather.

DIHLE: From having spent a lot
of time in that waterway,

Lynn Canal, even on days
where it is placid calm,

it has gone
in a matter of a couple minutes

to all of sudden
you're in two meter high seas,

five meter chop,

no visibility, snow all over
the deck, icy spray.

♪♪

And you're fighting for
your life to get out of there.

NARRATOR: As it made its way
down the fjord,

the Princess Sophiawas hit
by an unusually fierce storm

with winds
of 80 to 90 miles per hour.

80-mile-per-hour winds
in northern Lynn Canal,

is essentially hell on earth.

NARRATOR: The men who had been
digging for gold in Alaska

were now under attack
by Alaska's forces of nature.

♪♪

But none of this
should have been a problem

for the Princess Sophia.

Her maiden voyage
had been just six years before

and she had sailed the Atlantic

rounding
the hazardous Cape Horn.

This is a big boat
we're talking about,

this boat's designed
to take terrible weather.

NARRATOR:
But for some unknown reason,

the Princess Sophia
strayed off course.

DALTON:
Around 2:00 in the morning,

traveling at 12 knots,
which is full speed,

Princess Sofiawas one mile
away from where she should be.

And she ran straight up
on Vanderbilt Reef.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Explorer Hugh Newman
has been

looking into
the Princess Sophiastory.

♪♪

The Vanderbilt Reef was
well-known to the Captain,

it is like a rocky outcrop

just slightly sticking out
of the water.

There were gale force winds,

but still the ship
should have handled this.

It had a double steel hull,

unlike the previous wooden ships
that were around at that time.

So why the ship ended up
on the reef a mile off course

is a big mystery.

It's almost like the elements
were conspiring

to bring down this ship.

It's a really strange story.

NARRATOR: The ship was stuck,
but it was low tide.

There was still
no need to panic.

The Captain decided there
was nothing they could do,

just wait for
the tide come up more.

He really felt the ship
would float off.

Theoretically, you refloat
and you're able to limp

into port and not go down.

So they wait and they wait.

They wait 40 hours
and the storm never lessens.

NARRATOR: In fact,
the storm worsened.

But still, the ship
should've been safe.

♪♪

Later that night,
the unthinkable happened.

The ship suddenly turned
on the reef.

When the ship started
to pirouette,

I believe terror would've been
a very large part

of the emotion onboard,

not just for the passengers
but also for the crew

because the sound alone would've
been really frightening.

NARRATOR: The steel hull tore
open and water came rushing in.

NEWMAN: It's recorded
that the boiler exploded.

Oil went everywhere.

And then the boat
properly then sank.

DALTON: The last message
from the radio operator

is a good indication
that he called for help

and said,
"We are moving, we are moving."

And then it was gone.
There was nothing.

One of the big questions
about this whole story

is the fact that it appears
even though it took half an hour

for the ship to actually sink,

people stayed in the cabins
in pitch blackness.

So why on earth
would they do that?

NARRATOR: Others entered
the freezing oil covered water,

some putting their trust
in the life preservers.

Those who didn't have
life jackets on,

would've gotten down
with the ship, been sucked in.

When a ship goes down, it tends
to create almost a vacuum.

And if you're within that area,
you pulled down into it.

Those who weren't sucked in
by the ship

would have drowned
in the waves.

And, of course, the effects
of the viscously bunker oil.

So all in all, 353 people died,

potentially more that
weren't accounted for.

All hands except for a dog.

NARRATOR: One dog.
The lone survivor.

An English setter

found exhausted
and covered in oil,

washed ashore two days
after the sinking.

180 bodies
were also washed ashore.

The rest, up to 200 bodies,

unaccounted for.

The S.S. Princess Sophia
had become a mass grave.

It's the greatest
maritime disaster

of the Pacific Northwest.

WOMAN: [ Screams]

NARRATOR: But the end
of the Princess Sofia

was just the beginning
of the strange events

surrounding
the Alaska Triangle's

most tragic incident.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: In one corner of
the Alaska Triangle

is the site
of a major shipwreck,

which, despite
the terrible loss of life,

remains little known
outside Alaska --

the S.S. Princess Sophia.

Just how did this sturdy
state of the art steamer

hit a well-known reef and end up
at the bottom of the Lynn Canal?

♪♪

The S.S. Princess Sophia
really should have handled

moving down
through the Lynn Canal.

It should not have
hit the reef.

It shouldn't have gone
anywhere near it.

And so the fact that, you know,

this happened does suggest
it was human error.

NARRATOR: If it was human error,
maybe the Captain was at fault.

And since the disaster,
he's borne much of the blame.

Captain Locke
of the Princess Sophia

has long been villainized

just because he was
the easiest scapegoat

for this massive tragedy.

But he was super experienced.

And there's no proof
that he was anything

but a very accomplished
and responsible Captain.

♪♪

The Captain had been
on her for two years,

running that route
between Skagway and Vancouver,

backwards and forwards
for the whole summer.

He knew the route.
He knew the dangers.

All skippers on that route knew
the dangers of Vanderbilt Reef.

♪♪

NARRATOR: As this remarkable
photo shows,

it's simply astonishing
that Captain Locke

would've made such a mistake.

♪♪

So much so that Hugh Newman
has been drawn

towards an interesting
new theory.

In southern Alaska
around the point

where this disaster happened,

there are reported
major magnetic anomalies.

We have strange geology
shifts in the magnetic field,

up to 20% different
to the standard reading.

And these can have an effect
on navigation, on compasses,

and even on the mind.

So perhaps this was one of
the causes of this disaster.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Strange magnetic
forces have been cited

as being behind other mysteries
of the Triangle

such as the 1950 disappearance
of a Douglas C-54,

lost without a trace
near the Canadian border.

♪♪

Mike Ricksecker is
a paranormal investigator

with a particular interest

in the effects
of electromagnetism.

The Alaska Triangle
has a lot of potency with it.

You had the proximity to
the North Pole, magnetic north.

All this swelling of
the electromagnetic activity

can disorient can affect
people's mood swings.

These releases of energy

could certainly
drastically affect people.

NARRATOR: So perhaps the crew

of the Sophia
were disoriented and confused.

♪♪

There's even a theory
that extreme electromagnetism

can lead
to the distortion of space

and the creation of vortices

blamed by some for the mysteries
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Our bodies are our
greatest asset

in picking up incensing
supernatural phenomena.

But these vortices
can affect objects

that are even larger
like ships.

You hear about
these disappearances

in the Bermuda Triangle.

Same thing in Alaska
around the Alaska Triangle.

Ships have gone down
from these vortices,

ships have gone completely
missing from these vortices

without a trace.

So is this all connected?

And is this all part

of the mystery
of the Alaska Triangle?

♪♪

NARRATOR: Alternatively,
could it even be the case

that the Triangle
is somehow striking back

against those taking away
its valuable minerals?

♪♪

So there are traditions
all around the world of

when you take things
from certain places,

especially, you know, reserves
of gold and diamonds and riches

that are really part
of the sacred landscape

to the indigenous people
of these areas

that often great thunder
and lightning and bad weather

can sometimes be manifested.

You disturb just
the spirit of the land,

these kind of things
can happen.

NARRATOR:
And wrecks of steamships

associated with the gold rush

litter this corner
of the Triangle.

♪♪

Annette Smith is a local diver

who knows these waters
as well as anyone.

SMITH: This area around Juneau,
we have many shipwrecks here.

We're lined with shipwrecks.

You can start down
at Gambier Bay,

which is just south of Juneau.

There's the wreck
of the State of California.

Come up behind Douglas Island
is the wreck of the Islander.

♪♪

These waters are not waters
to be trifled with.

This is a dangerous area.

♪♪

NARRATOR: In 1910,
the Princess Mayran aground

on rocks in the Lynn Canal
within sight of Vanderbilt Reef.

She was laden
with Alaskan gold.

♪♪

But it's the sinking
of the Princess Sophia

that was the region's
greatest tragedy.

♪♪

DIHLE:
After the Sophiawent down,

a huge search
and rescue party

went out and recovering
all the bodies that they could.

Even the governor is out there
collecting bodies.

They're all looking for people.

And of course, you know,

no one besides the dog
is ever found alive.

Despite extensive searches
by divers at the time,

over 200 bodies
were still unaccounted for.

The owners of the ship,
Canadian Pacific,

said that they were not found
on the ship

and they were never washed up.

So what happened
to these bodies?

We really don't know.

NARRATOR: When she sank, it
seems that the Princess Sophia

took many secrets with her.

But now Annette Smith
is going to dive the wreck

and what she'll discover
down there

will change our understanding

of this mighty ship's
final moments.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Hundreds of shipwrecks
littered the coast of Alaska.

♪♪

But the greatest loss of life
was on the Princess Sophia,

which went down in 1918

at the southern tip
of the Triangle.

Precisely why the ship sank
is still a mystery.

♪♪

Now local diver Annette Smith
is going to dive down

to investigate
the wreck itself.

♪♪

So where we are sitting
right now

to the wreck of
the Princess Sophia

is directly underneath us

and where she lived
the last 40 hours of her life

is right over there
on that reef.

♪♪

And she's laid out
facing that reef

and coming out this way
at an angle,

and so, she at some point
came across the reef.

It was very fast
and she went down.

NARRATOR: This isn't
a dive for the fainthearted.

The currents
can be treacherous.

And if you become separated
from your boat,

it's seven miles to shore.

♪♪

NARRATOR: 100 feet down,
cloaked in white,

bulbous sea anemonies,
the lost ship comes into view.

Inevitably,
thoughts are with the victims

in their last moments.

♪♪

SMITH: Nobody knows
what really happened there,

what the final minutes were.

We do know there was
a radio transmission that said,

"For God's sakes, come.
Water's coming into the cabin."

♪♪

SMITH: We do know that
it was quick.

♪♪

But what really happened
that night? We don't know.

But you can imagine the terror
of sitting here all alone,

hearing the ship
you're on being ripped apart

and going down.

It must have been horrible.

♪♪

NARRATOR: This is the scene
of a great tragedy,

known little outside of Alaska.

In history, it's overshadowed
by the sinking of the Titanic.

Why? Much of the reason
is because of the timing.

SMITH: The story
of the Princess Sophia

is a story that has been lost
in time in history.

It was lost because it happened
at the same time

that the end of
World War 1 occurred.

We were in the middle
of the Spanish flu.

So these were big events
that overshadowed this wreck.

♪♪

So I went down
and just swam up the bow

and the bow sits like this,
the rails,

and it's covered in these
white plumose anemonies

and they're huge anemonies.

Tall, white, ghostly figures
moving in the current.

And for me, it was like
the ghosts of the Sophiasaid

it was okay for me
to be there.

♪♪

It really brought home to me

what really happened there.

You know, you know what
you're diving.

You're diving a graveyard.

NARRATOR: The wreck is corroded
and overgrown.

But Annette was able to make out
the boilers of the ship

and they're intact.

SMITH: There's a lot of
questions about the wreck.

There's questions
of what really happened.

What history says happened
didn't happen.

Its history said the boilers
exploded and they did not.

All three of them
were down there.

They're still down there.
We saw them today.

And they are still whole.

There's mysteries
of what happened

to the other hundred people.

Where are they?

So there's a lot of questions.

NARRATOR: The bodies
that were recovered

were still enough to overwhelm
the local resources.

They were brought back
to Juneau,

which you got to remember,

they were a tiny little town
at the time.

They didn't have the resources,
they didn't have a morgue

that was designed
to carry more than 10 bodies.

All these bodies
had to be stored

wherever they could
in the main spot

that they were stored
was near Front Street

in downtown Juneau today.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The bodies of these
unfortunate victims

would now add to the growing
mystery surrounding the tragedy.

Because it said the souls
of the deceased returned

as ghosts to haunt
the Alaskan capital.

♪♪

[ Screams ]

NARRATOR: And now a leading
ghost hunter is on their trail.

Say your name for me.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
When the S.S. Princess Sophia

mysteriously sank
at the southern tip

of the Alaska Triangle,

around 180 bodies were recovered
and taken to nearby Juneau.

♪♪

They were to be stored
temporarily

wherever was possible.

The bodies that were recovered,

many of them were placed
inside the Juneau Drugstore

in the center of town.

Others were placed in various
other buildings

all over the area.

NARRATOR: Paranormal activity
was then widely reported.

Ghosts were seen, strange noises
and voices were heard

and even possible
poltergeist activity.

♪♪

NARRATOR: The focus
of this activity

was the basement
of the drugstore

and it said to continue
to this day.

In 2017, nearly a hundred years
after the tragedy,

an employee of the drugstore
went down to the basement,

which is used for storage.

A distressed,
ghostly figure appeared.

The store worker
watched in terror

as the figure looked at her
and then vanished.

WOMAN: [ Screams ]

♪♪

Jeff Richards, he's a leading
paranormal investigator

from Saskatchewan in Canada.

In his experience,
ghostly activity is common

at a scene of great tragedy.

That amount of loss and death,

combined with
the outpouring of grief

that the community
would have felt,

that would have torn
a pretty big hole

energy-wise to the area.

And I think that sometimes
when those pockets are created

or when we have these massive
moments of great pain and strife

and suffering and death,

those places become sort of
like beacons for spirit.

♪♪

NARRATOR: Jeff has now come to
Juneau to visit

the infamous drugstore.

RICHARDS: It's exciting.

It gives us an opportunity
to find out the truth

behind the tales
that were being told.

NARRATOR:
The manager of the drugstore

is Brenda Lamas.

♪♪

- Hello. Hi.
- Hi.

- Brenda?
- Yes.

- Jeff.
- Brenda, nice to meet you.

As well, now, Juneau Drug,

I understand that
the Princess Sofiagoes down

and a lot of the bodies are
brought here to Juneau Drug.

- Yes, right in the basement.
- Were stored in the basement.

Yes.

Have you had
any experiences personally?

I've been pushed or touched
on my shoulder.

It was kind of
like a heavy push.

I turned back
and nothing was there.

Something physically
pushed your shoulder?Yeah.

Something that
you could not see?No.

Now, do you mind
if I have a look down there?Yeah, let's go.

Yeah, I'll show you
where it is.

♪♪

All right, and the basement's
just right down there.Okay.

♪♪

Now, do you feel comfortable
going down there?

- I'd rather not.
- Okay.

I'll get started.

- Okay.
- Thanks.

♪♪

If I was trying
to hide away from people,

I would probably...

I would want to -- I would want
to go hide away in here.

NARRATOR:
As a paranormal investigator,

Jeff's first step
is to use his intuition

to try to pick up sensations
caused by the spirits.

RICHARDS: There's a sensation
that I'm picking up right now.

Cold, it's really cold.

I can feel myself
physically cold.

Also, there's sort of this
feeling in the back of my neck

right back here.

There's these two hands.

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

That'd be about
an adult size hand.

NARRATOR: Believing that
there is a spirit present,

Jeff's principal method
is to will it to make contact

by its use of
electromagnetic forces.

I'm gonna ask you
to come forward.

Talk to us if you can.

♪♪

You trying to pull the energy
out of the batteries?

♪♪

That's what you're trying to do?

♪♪

Can you make the flashlight
go completely off?

♪♪

Can you make that flashlight
go off?

♪♪

NARRATOR: One of Jeff's major
tools is his EMF meter,

which detects
electromagnetic energy.

RICHARDS: Can you touch
this meter right here?

Good. Touch this light.

That green light,
can you touch that?

Oh, little bit
of power there?

I don't know your name.
I don't know who you are.

Touch that meter,
touch that light,

this green light right here.

You've killed my flashlight,
Now touch that green light.

♪♪

I'm gonna count
to three and on three

what I want you to do is I want
you to touch this meter.

Touch it just your whole hand.

♪♪

One...

two...

...three touch the lights.
Three. Oh, good.

Good, good, good, good, good.

Amazing.

One more time.

Can you do that again
with the lights there?

Okay, good.
Good, see you touch that,

it's fine, it doesn't hurt you,
it does not hurt you.

♪♪

I'm gonna count to three
and when I hit three,

I want you to touch
the green light for me.

Just grab it.

One...two...three.

Very good.

NARRATOR:
Having established contact,

Jeff wants to try to get
information out of the spirit

using other specially
developed technology.

He has with him an electronic
device called the Spirit Box,

which he hopes will allow
the spirit

to actually speak to him.

Are you a father
looking for his son?

[ Static ]

Yes.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR: Paranormal
investigator, Jeff Richards,

is in the basement
of the Juneau Drugstore

trying to communicate
with restless spirits

believed to be present here.

The ghosts are said
to be of the dead

of the S.S. Princess Sophia,

Alaska's greatest
maritime tragedy.

Many bodies from the wreck
were stored here before burial.

♪♪

Jeff has with him
an electronic device

called a Spirit Box,

which scans the airwaves,
amalgamating the frequency

sounds into what's known
as white noise.

So the idea here is that
this device

actually gives away
for the spirit

to communicate vocally.

So we'll be able to hear
their words in real time

as I'm asking them questions.

So I'm gonna try to give you
a voice if you're here.

I want to hear you speak.

♪♪

So if you can please
come forward and say your name.

[ Static ]

NARRATOR: Jeff listens beyond
the normal background sound

for the words of any spirit
trying to communicate.

[ Static ]

Say your name for me.

I'd like your name.

Can you tell me your name?

♪♪

Boy, boy. Very clearly, boy.

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Jeff hears the word boy.

Are you looking for your boy?

[ Static ]

If this is a father
looking for his son,

I just want you to touch
the light my hand

or say the word yes.

NARRATOR: This time,
the answer is clearer.

What sounds like a distant
yes is shouted.

If this is a father
looking for his son,

I just want you to touch
the light in my hand

or say the word yes.

NARRATOR: The sound here has not
been doctored in any way.

I just want you to touch
the light in my hand

or say the word yes.

[ Static ]

You're looking for your son.

Is there a boy
touching this right now?

Oh, here we go.

Just say your name for me,
please.

[ Static ]

No.

Just say your name
for me, please.

No.

[ Static ]

You don't wanna
tell me your name?

[ Static ]

Wait? You want us to wait?
What do you want me to wait for?

[ Static ]

Your message isn't
coming through very clearly.

So I'd like for you

to say the word yes or no.

When I ask a question,
just a simple yes or no.

Are you a father
looking for his son?

[ Static ]

Yes.

Was your son in this building?

[ Static ]

Here.

Just say your name
for me, please.

Scott. Did you hear that
very clearly, Scott.

Did you pass --
Did you pass away on the Sophia?

[ Static ]

♪♪

NARRATOR:
Most of the first names

are absent from the records
of the passenger in crew list

of the Princess Sophia,

the children and of course any
stowaways aren't named at all.

But there are three men listed
with the first initial S.

♪♪

Thank you very much
for communicating

with us here today.

I'm gonna leave you
in this space.

I'm gonna ask for you
to stay in this space.

Do not follow myself
or a member of this crew.

Do not attach yourself
to any of us.

You need to stay
where you are.

Stay where
you're comfortable.

This is your home.
This is your safe space.

Thank you for communicating.

We leave you with love
and respect.

♪♪

[ Ship horn blows ]

NARRATOR: In Alaska, the tragedy
of the Princess Sophia

is not forgotten.

Here in the basement
of this drugstore,

Jeff believes he has actually
communicated with its dead.

♪♪

♪♪

NARRATOR:
When the S.S. Princess Sophia

hit the Vanderbilt Reef
in October 1918,

it was the beginning of a series
of events that haunt Alaska

to this day.

NARRATOR: And for a paranormal
investigator, Jeff Richards,

there's clear evidence
that spirits of the deceased

have remained in the area.

It's very clear to me there
is definitely someone here.

There's someone here

in the lower level
of the Juneau Drugstore.

Three,
touch the lights. Three.

Oh, good, good, good,
good, good, good.

Amazing.

NARRATOR:
Paranormal activity like this

is unusual in the middle
of a populated area.

In Alaska, most reports
come from remote areas

somewhere out
in the vast wilderness.

It's all over
the Alaska Triangle,

we have paranormal activity,
ghostly sightings.

But this time,

it's in the capital city
of Alaska,

right in the center of Juneau.

DIHLE: I certainly think
there's a possibility

there's paranormal events

happening underneath
the Juneau Drugstore.

And I certainly do believe
that the people who experienced

these events 100%
believe they were happening.

NARRATOR: As big and mysterious
as Alaska is,

I think more incredibly,

it is a place that
has been marred

by such upheaval,
such progress.

And in terms of that
comes tragedy, heartbreak.

You know, all of these
huge outpourings of emotion

that people feel
and experience.

You know, it's bound
to have many spots

that are haunted
and many stories that persist.

NARRATOR: The stories about
the Princess Sophiashow

no sign of going away.

Tales from
the Juneau Drugstore endure,

as well as all the mysteries
surrounding her sinking.

This really
is Alaska's Titanic.

When Princess Sophia
slid backwards off that reef

and took over 300 people
to their deaths,

it was a maritime
disaster reminiscent

in some ways of when the Titanic
hit an iceberg in the Atlantic

and went down
with huge loss of life.

The difference is
with Princess Sophia

it was total loss of life.

No humans survived
that sinking.

We have to question,
why did it go a mile off course?

Why did it hit the reef?

Why did people stay
in their cabins?

And what happened
to the bodies?

Was it some kind of
elemental forces?

Was it some kind of curse
placed on the boat

or some of the people
on the boat?

So this really is one of
the big mysteries

of the Alaska Triangle.

NARRATOR: The S.S.
Princess Sophiais at rest.

♪♪

The spirits of its dead,
however, may not be.

It was the Alaska Triangle's
greatest tragedy

and it still haunts
the region to this day.