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- [Rudy] The following program
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contains footage of
military operations.
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Viewer discretion is advised.
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Tonight, on The Proof is Out
There: Military Mysteries.
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Combat ops,
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photos of an American
fighter shot down over Iraq.
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Was the pilot missing in action,
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captured, killed,
or all of the above?
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- Even though he left
behind a trail of clues,
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no one knows what happened
to Michael Scott Speicher.
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- [Rudy] Covert ops,
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is this a caught-on-camera
assassination
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by some of history's
toughest spies?
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- I'm 99% sure that this
is the work of Mossad.
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- [Rudy] PSYOPs,
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behind the photos
of the WWII geniuses
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who fought the Nazis with
balloons and cardboard?
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- This is one of the most
incredible use of creativity
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in the history of warfare.
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- [Rudy] And special ops,
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unbelievable night footage
of this week's secret weapon
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in action.
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- It's just death
raining down from above.
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(dramatic music)
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- [Rudy] In the modern history
of war there are films.
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- Shazam!
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- [Rudy] Photos,
recordings, and documents
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that raise questions.
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- So everything about this
story is one big mystery.
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- This particular footage has
caused a lot of controversy.
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- [Rudy] What's
really happening?
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- [Joe] There's so
little information.
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- Nothing like this has
been attempted before.
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- [Rudy] That's
where we come in.
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Our mission,
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investigate the battlefield's
strangest images, sounds,
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and more.
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- [Tim] This photo
blows my mind.
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- You can imagine how
terrifying it would be.
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- [Rudy] We'll analyze
each with military experts
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and try to come up with answers.
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- I'm Ronnie Adkins, former
US Army Intelligence Analyst.
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- I'm Rudy Reyes, Recon
Marine war veteran.
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The proof starts now.
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(dramatic music)
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- Good evening
everybody and welcome.
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I'm Ronnie, he's Rudy.
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- We're wheels up and ready
to go and we hope you are too.
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- No mystery is
more gut-wrenching
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than a soldier or pilot
going MIA behind enemy lines.
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- That was the
case with one pilot
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in Operation Desert Storm.
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The mystery, what
really happened
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to Lieutenant Commander
Scott Speicher?
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It's December 1993,
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nearly two years after the
start of the first Iraq War.
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A group of hunters is
in the Iraqi desert
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using falcons to
track down prey,
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but they end up locating
something much more important.
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- The wreckage was in
the middle of nowhere
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in a country to which
we didn't have access,
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a country that was our enemy.
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- [Rudy] This is a
photo of wreckage
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from a crashed US Navy
F-18 Charlie Hornet.
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Take a close look.
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Here you can see the canopy
that encases the cockpit,
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but where is the pilot?
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- Nobody knew what
happened to him.
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- [Rudy] The mystery begins
in the very first hours
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of Operation Desert Storm
on January 17, 1991.
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- This was a pretty crazy night.
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- [Rudy] Ward Carroll,
a former naval aviator,
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says a squadron of Hornets
launched from the USS Saratoga.
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They're the vanguard
of a mission,
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what's known as an alpha strike,
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a large attack by
US Navy aircraft.
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But something goes wrong.
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- Sometime during that strike,
there was a flash in the sky.
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At first, nobody
was sure who it was,
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and as they started
to return to the ship,
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process of elimination,
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they realized that it
was Scott Speicher.
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- [Rudy] Lieutenant Commander
Scott Speicher's plane
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is shot down by an
Iraqi fighter jet.
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Mark Sauter, a former US
Army Special Forces Officer,
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an expert on American POWs,
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says Speicher is initially
listed as missing in action.
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The war ends just
six weeks later.
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The Iraqis turn
over human remains
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they say is a downed US pilot.
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Speicher is the
only missing one,
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but the tissue doesn't match.
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- Why would the Iraqis
send human remains
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that were not Speicher's back
to us and claim they were?
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This was one of the
first indications
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that there was a game afoot.
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- Now, once the Iraqis
sent phony remains,
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the story gets a whole
lot more complicated.
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To follow along,
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there are a few things that
we should get straight.
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Ronnie?
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- Yeah, so you've probably
heard some of these before
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but let's make sure.
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MIA stands for
missing in action.
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KIA means killed in action.
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Then you've got KIA/BNR,
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and that means killed in
action, body not recovered.
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Now last,
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there's this status
called missing/captured.
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This is also known by a
more common term POW,
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a prisoner of war.
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- And that's important because
Scott Speicher's status
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would change repeatedly.
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(tense music)
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In May of 1991,
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the Navy determines that
no credible evidence
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exists to suggest
Speicher survived.
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His status has changed from
missing, or MIA, to KIA/BNR,
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killed in action,
body not recovered.
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But all that changes
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with the discovery of the
wreckage of Speicher's plane
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in 1993.
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A key clue?
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That cockpit canopy, it
isn't near the other debris.
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- This indicated to experts
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that he had ejected
successfully.
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He was not blown up in the air,
he was not killed immediately.
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- Let's assume he was alive
when he hit the ground.
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Now what?
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Right, the plot thickens.
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- [Rudy] Two years later,
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the Iraqis allow the Red
Cross and US officials
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to visit the crash site.
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According to an
unclassified CIA report,
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that group suspected evidence
had been tampered with.
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- They recovered
Speicher's flight suit.
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It had been cut up.
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Nobody really could figure out,
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had it been cut off
of Michael Speicher
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when he was alive or dead?
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A number of investigators
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believed that
Speicher's flight suit
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had been planted at the scene.
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The mystery only got deeper.
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- [Rudy] 90% of F-18
pilots who eject survive,
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and there were no human
remains found in the wreckage.
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- Was he captured?
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It's completely believable
that he's not dead.
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- Dead people don't eject.
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These planes are
eminently survivable
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with a hit on the wing.
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It was not the type
of catastrophic hit
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that one could assume
the pilot didn't survive.
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- [Rudy] In 1997, it's revealed
that several years earlier,
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a US spy satellite positioned
over the crash site
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captured manmade symbols
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suggesting Speicher
not only survived,
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but that he was able to initiate
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what's called an E&E plan.
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- Pilots, they often come
up with a good E&E plan
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or an escape and evade plan.
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Within that plan, they
have certain things
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to indicate to those
who may be watching
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that they are actually trying
to make their way to freedom.
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- [Rudy] In 1999,
another shoe drops.
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An Iraqi defector
tells investigators
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that he drove an American
pilot to Baghdad years earlier,
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around the time
Speicher disappeared.
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Then the Pentagon does
something that it's never done
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in 200 years.
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- [Ward] His status was
changed from killed in action
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to missing in action, first
time this has happened.
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- [Rudy] Then, in
October of 2002,
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secretary of the Navy
Gordon England writes,
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"I am personally convinced
the Iraqis seized him
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sometime after his
plane went down."
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Speicher's status is
changed yet again.
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He is now classified
missing/captured, a POW.
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- The reason he was reclassified
was because we were relentless.
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I mean, this was their
husband, their dad,
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very much a family man.
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- [Rudy] The March
2003 invasion of Iraq
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brings the area where
Michael Speicher went missing
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under US control.
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A shocking discovery is
made within weeks in Baghdad
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by our own Kevin
Key and his team.
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- We were conducting
multiple combat operations,
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looking for any kind of evidence
of weapons of mass destruction,
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and also looking for evidence
of Michael Scott Speicher.
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We were looking throughout the
prisons in Downtown Baghdad.
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We saw chiseled graffiti,
mostly in Arabic.
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One thing unique
that our team found
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was three initials in English
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in one of the larger
prison cells, MSS,
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Michael Scott Speicher.
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I find it very peculiar
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that amongst all
this Arabic graffiti
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we have his exact initials, MSS.
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- Pilots are taught to do this.
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They're taught to put
evidence of their survival
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where they can.
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- [Rudy] Was Speicher
held as a POW for years?
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Did the Pentagon do
enough to bring him home?
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Just as it seems this
story is about to blow up,
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it gets tied up in a bow.
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In 2009, Bedouins lead US forces
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to a new site.
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It is just kilometers
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from where Speicher's plane
was discovered years earlier.
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There, in the desert,
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they find bones and
skeletal remains.
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Dental records conclusively
identify the remains
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as those of Captain
Michael Speicher.
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- The locals said that
his body was buried
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the night of the crash
by local Bedouins.
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So there's no way to prove
exactly if that is in fact true,
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but that's the story.
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- The mystery continues.
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The US government continues
to keep information
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about Michael Speicher's
fate classified.
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What are in those
classified documents?
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I hope one day we see them.
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(tense music)
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- So the official story
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is that Speicher died on
the night of the crash.
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Rudy, are you buying that?
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- In one word, hell no.
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In my opinion,
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Speicher, highly trained pilot,
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was identified as a valuable
asset by the Iraqis.
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So he was taken and
died in captivity.
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- Spycraft is built on secrecy.
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When a spy mission
is successful,
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you never know what happened.
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- So when experienced
spies get caught on camera
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allegedly assassinating someone,
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the question at hand becomes,
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is it a hit job or
is it a frame job?
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January 19th, 2010, Dubai.
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You're looking at
security camera footage
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from the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel.
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Watch as a registered guest,
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Palestinian merchant
Mahmoud Muhammad,
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enters the lobby, gets
into the elevator,
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then exits and
heads to his room.
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Look again.
(tape rewinding)
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It all seems normal.
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00:11:03,208 --> 00:11:06,292
What's different is the
way this guy checked out.
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Later that day, housekeeping
makes a grim discovery,
250
00:11:09,917 --> 00:11:12,708
the guest is dead in his bed.
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- At first glimpse, it
looked like natural causes.
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00:11:16,458 --> 00:11:18,167
This man had died in his sleep.
253
00:11:18,250 --> 00:11:20,875
- [Ronnie] There are no
obvious signs of foul play.
254
00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,958
Authorities bring his
body to the morgue
255
00:11:22,958 --> 00:11:24,958
and look for his next of kin.
256
00:11:26,542 --> 00:11:29,250
But soon, the Islamic
militant group Hamas
257
00:11:29,375 --> 00:11:32,292
claims the dead man is
one of their leaders,
258
00:11:32,375 --> 00:11:34,167
Commander Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh.
259
00:11:35,458 --> 00:11:37,958
They also insist
he was assassinated
260
00:11:38,042 --> 00:11:41,208
and blame the Israeli
spy agency, Mossad.
261
00:11:42,208 --> 00:11:44,667
- Mossad is a
world-class spy agency
262
00:11:44,792 --> 00:11:46,667
that is known to
conduct assassinations
263
00:11:46,708 --> 00:11:47,958
throughout the world.
264
00:11:48,042 --> 00:11:49,750
They are one of
the world's best.
265
00:11:49,875 --> 00:11:52,000
They work in secrecy.
266
00:11:52,042 --> 00:11:54,208
- [Ronnie] Since helping
murder two Israeli soldiers
267
00:11:54,292 --> 00:11:55,750
in 1989,
268
00:11:55,833 --> 00:11:58,833
Al-Mabhouh had been a top
target on Mossad's hit list
269
00:11:58,917 --> 00:12:02,083
and had even survived a
previous assassination attempt.
270
00:12:02,167 --> 00:12:04,958
The Dubai police launch
an investigation.
271
00:12:05,042 --> 00:12:08,000
The coroner's report is
amended to indicate foul play,
272
00:12:08,083 --> 00:12:10,833
but stops short of an
exact cause of death.
273
00:12:10,833 --> 00:12:12,042
- Even today,
274
00:12:12,208 --> 00:12:14,833
the final results of the
autopsy aren't certain.
275
00:12:14,875 --> 00:12:15,958
There's been a couple
different theories
276
00:12:16,042 --> 00:12:17,625
on the assassination.
277
00:12:17,708 --> 00:12:19,333
One that he was
electrocuted to death,
278
00:12:19,375 --> 00:12:21,792
one that he was given
kind of a paralyzing agent
279
00:12:21,875 --> 00:12:23,667
and then suffocated.
280
00:12:23,750 --> 00:12:25,292
- [Ronnie] Things
break wide open
281
00:12:25,375 --> 00:12:28,875
when police review all the
CCTV cameras at the hotel
282
00:12:28,958 --> 00:12:31,375
and discover the
alleged Mossad hit.
283
00:12:31,375 --> 00:12:34,250
- This is one of the most
brazen espionage cases
284
00:12:34,333 --> 00:12:35,500
in modern history,
285
00:12:35,625 --> 00:12:37,833
and it was all
captured on camera.
286
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,292
- The Caesarea branch
287
00:12:40,375 --> 00:12:43,542
is the most elite and
secretive unit within Mossad.
288
00:12:43,708 --> 00:12:45,333
That's who's trusted
with the toughest
289
00:12:45,375 --> 00:12:47,000
and most sensitive missions,
290
00:12:47,042 --> 00:12:49,333
and that's especially
true for wet work.
291
00:12:49,375 --> 00:12:50,833
- So clandestine,
292
00:12:50,875 --> 00:12:52,583
they train these
operatives separately
293
00:12:52,667 --> 00:12:54,125
from the rest of Mossad.
294
00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:57,042
- So when we analyze the tape
of this supposed operation,
295
00:12:57,167 --> 00:13:01,333
we have to ask ourselves, who
are we really looking at here?
296
00:13:01,417 --> 00:13:03,458
(tense music)
297
00:13:04,958 --> 00:13:06,417
To the untrained eye,
298
00:13:06,542 --> 00:13:09,500
this looks like regular
guests checking into a hotel.
299
00:13:09,542 --> 00:13:13,083
Dressing for tennis, sharing
elevators, making a phone call.
300
00:13:14,375 --> 00:13:17,833
But to those trained in
spycraft, it shows odd behavior,
301
00:13:17,958 --> 00:13:21,542
like dressing for tennis
but never leaving to play.
302
00:13:21,667 --> 00:13:24,000
- But they linger at
a lobby of a hotel
303
00:13:24,083 --> 00:13:27,083
for hours and hours and hours,
304
00:13:27,167 --> 00:13:29,917
that did not make
sense, that stood out.
305
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,708
- [Ronnie] Or ducking
into the bathroom
306
00:13:31,792 --> 00:13:34,125
and emerging in a new disguise.
307
00:13:34,208 --> 00:13:36,708
- It's not normal to
walk into a bathroom
308
00:13:36,792 --> 00:13:38,125
and change your wig.
309
00:13:40,208 --> 00:13:42,375
- [Ronnie] Or always
following the guy
310
00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:44,250
who turns up dead later.
311
00:13:46,042 --> 00:13:47,375
- You'll see some of
these tennis players
312
00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:48,875
stay in the same place
for a long period of time
313
00:13:49,042 --> 00:13:50,917
and only get up when
Mahmoud walks by.
314
00:13:52,458 --> 00:13:53,625
- [Ronnie] It all makes sense
315
00:13:53,708 --> 00:13:55,333
if they were
plotting to kill him.
316
00:13:56,875 --> 00:13:58,417
- We now see the alleged target
317
00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:00,167
being followed by
these tennis players,
318
00:14:00,250 --> 00:14:03,167
presumably to identify
his exact location
319
00:14:03,167 --> 00:14:05,292
and his exact hotel room.
320
00:14:05,375 --> 00:14:08,875
- [Ronnie] They follow Mahmoud
out of the elevator on his floor
321
00:14:08,958 --> 00:14:10,583
and once they know
what room he's in,
322
00:14:10,667 --> 00:14:13,708
it's not hard to create a
key card to open the door.
323
00:14:13,792 --> 00:14:15,833
Now all they need is a lookout.
324
00:14:16,917 --> 00:14:19,583
- You can see here the
lady in the poor wig
325
00:14:19,667 --> 00:14:23,000
is likely notifying the
team that he is on his way.
326
00:14:23,083 --> 00:14:24,833
- [Ronnie] And after the
target is neutralized,
327
00:14:24,958 --> 00:14:27,083
there's this final sequence,
328
00:14:27,167 --> 00:14:31,167
the entire team leaving
the hotel at the same time.
329
00:14:31,250 --> 00:14:34,500
- A signal's been given that
now the assassination team
330
00:14:34,583 --> 00:14:35,875
can go ahead and withdraw
331
00:14:35,958 --> 00:14:40,292
and remove themselves
from this area of crime.
332
00:14:40,375 --> 00:14:43,417
- [Ronnie] So if the tape
does reveal an assassination,
333
00:14:43,500 --> 00:14:46,417
we need to ask, why
would elite spies
334
00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:48,208
execute a perfect murder
335
00:14:48,333 --> 00:14:51,542
only to ignore the
first rule of spycraft?
336
00:14:51,625 --> 00:14:53,958
- One of the worst things
in an intelligence operation
337
00:14:54,042 --> 00:14:56,083
is to be caught on camera.
338
00:14:56,208 --> 00:14:58,625
- [Ronnie] Kevin Key thinks
the obvious sloppiness
339
00:14:58,708 --> 00:15:00,792
points to an actual frame job.
340
00:15:00,875 --> 00:15:05,000
- My opinion is that this was
an inside job done by Hamas
341
00:15:05,083 --> 00:15:08,583
to make Mossad and Israel
look more like criminals.
342
00:15:08,667 --> 00:15:11,500
- [Ronnie] That's known
as a false flag operation.
343
00:15:11,542 --> 00:15:16,042
So does the damning tape
actually show us expert spycraft
344
00:15:16,125 --> 00:15:19,542
bungled just enough to draw
attention for the cameras?
345
00:15:19,667 --> 00:15:22,792
- Knowing what I know about
the way that Mossad operates,
346
00:15:22,875 --> 00:15:25,042
I find it very strange
347
00:15:25,125 --> 00:15:28,333
that they would leave such
an easy path through time,
348
00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:31,250
point the finger at them
as the actual assailant.
349
00:15:32,708 --> 00:15:35,292
- [Ronnie] Preston Stewart
finds this idea interesting.
350
00:15:35,375 --> 00:15:38,958
- Is there somebody out there
who wanted Mahmoud dead,
351
00:15:39,042 --> 00:15:42,125
also hates Mossad enough
to try to frame 'em?
352
00:15:44,083 --> 00:15:47,125
Maybe, maybe that's
why it was so sloppy.
353
00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:49,125
- [Ronnie] But
he's not convinced.
354
00:15:49,208 --> 00:15:54,125
- I'll say I'm 99% sure that
this is the work of Mossad.
355
00:15:54,208 --> 00:15:57,125
There are people in and
around the hotel at the time
356
00:15:57,208 --> 00:15:59,333
that fit the description of
some methods and procedures
357
00:15:59,375 --> 00:16:01,375
that Mossad has
done in the past.
358
00:16:01,375 --> 00:16:03,458
- [Ronnie] Reviewing the
Mossad's greatest hits,
359
00:16:03,458 --> 00:16:04,708
you can see a pattern.
360
00:16:04,833 --> 00:16:07,167
April 1973,
361
00:16:07,208 --> 00:16:10,208
a Palestine Liberation
Organization operative
362
00:16:10,208 --> 00:16:12,875
killed in a hotel room
in Athens, Greece.
363
00:16:12,958 --> 00:16:16,042
June 1980, Paris, France,
364
00:16:16,125 --> 00:16:19,917
an Iraqi nuclear scientist
also killed in his hotel room.
365
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,375
And in October, 1995,
366
00:16:22,458 --> 00:16:26,542
an Islamic Jihad member shot
in front of his hotel in Malta.
367
00:16:26,625 --> 00:16:29,208
That leads us to a
more obvious theory,
368
00:16:29,333 --> 00:16:31,125
that the tape shows the Mossad
369
00:16:31,208 --> 00:16:33,500
not deliberately
flaunting their presence,
370
00:16:33,583 --> 00:16:37,000
but simply taking big
risks for a big target.
371
00:16:38,167 --> 00:16:41,167
- It's not a movie, it's not
Jason Bourne or James Bond.
372
00:16:41,208 --> 00:16:44,458
These are incredibly
complex operations
373
00:16:44,542 --> 00:16:47,292
trying to take place in a
city with cameras everywhere
374
00:16:47,375 --> 00:16:48,583
and cell phones,
375
00:16:48,667 --> 00:16:51,083
and it's hard, there's
going to be mistakes made.
376
00:16:51,167 --> 00:16:54,167
- The word got out that
the Mossad will reach out
377
00:16:54,208 --> 00:16:56,208
and get you no
matter where you are,
378
00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:59,042
where you feel that
you are most secure
379
00:16:59,042 --> 00:17:00,958
even though you're a
major terrorist leader.
380
00:17:01,042 --> 00:17:03,375
Was the risk worth it?
381
00:17:03,542 --> 00:17:04,542
Absolutely.
382
00:17:04,625 --> 00:17:07,333
On my book, it was a
very successful mission.
383
00:17:07,417 --> 00:17:10,000
(tense music)
384
00:17:10,083 --> 00:17:12,708
- So the simplest answer
seems most likely.
385
00:17:12,792 --> 00:17:15,000
Mossad likely executed the hit,
386
00:17:15,167 --> 00:17:17,625
but some of the spycraft
was a bit sloppy.
387
00:17:17,708 --> 00:17:21,125
- Look, they only needed the
assassination to remain secret
388
00:17:21,208 --> 00:17:25,000
long enough to escape the
country, which they did.
389
00:17:25,042 --> 00:17:27,583
So, as far as the
Mossad are concerned,
390
00:17:27,667 --> 00:17:28,750
that's mission accomplished.
391
00:17:32,667 --> 00:17:36,000
- You know, over 65,000 American
planes were lost during WWII?
392
00:17:36,042 --> 00:17:38,542
That's about 50 a day.
393
00:17:38,625 --> 00:17:40,917
Many of those wrecks
are never found though.
394
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,667
- This next incident is about
the wreck of a WWII bomber
395
00:17:44,708 --> 00:17:46,792
that was found.
396
00:17:46,875 --> 00:17:49,000
But why was it so far off course
397
00:17:49,042 --> 00:17:50,250
and where was its crew?
398
00:17:51,708 --> 00:17:54,417
We're asking what happened
to the Lady Be Good?
399
00:17:55,875 --> 00:17:58,333
November 9, 1958,
400
00:17:58,417 --> 00:18:01,917
a British oil exploration team
flying over the Libyan desert
401
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:03,917
spots something highly unusual,
402
00:18:04,042 --> 00:18:06,625
a large bomber broken
into two pieces.
403
00:18:06,708 --> 00:18:09,292
As you can see in these
photos from the scene,
404
00:18:09,375 --> 00:18:11,833
it's an American B-24 Liberator.
405
00:18:11,875 --> 00:18:15,083
The wreckage leaves Air Force
officials deeply puzzled
406
00:18:15,167 --> 00:18:16,875
for two reasons.
407
00:18:16,958 --> 00:18:19,917
First, they aren't
missing any planes.
408
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,333
Second, the B-24 Liberators
409
00:18:22,458 --> 00:18:25,833
were decommissioned
14 years earlier.
410
00:18:25,875 --> 00:18:28,833
The Air Force sends a
search team to investigate.
411
00:18:28,875 --> 00:18:32,167
- They spot this airplane
almost completely intact,
412
00:18:32,208 --> 00:18:33,667
sort of like a ghost ship.
413
00:18:33,792 --> 00:18:35,917
The electrical system
on board the aircraft
414
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,000
was still operational,
415
00:18:37,083 --> 00:18:38,667
the radios would still work,
416
00:18:38,792 --> 00:18:41,417
and there it was off by
itself in the desert.
417
00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:43,583
- There was water in canteens.
418
00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:46,625
There were some of the
personal effects on board.
419
00:18:46,708 --> 00:18:49,667
They didn't find any
of the crew members.
420
00:18:49,708 --> 00:18:52,500
- [Rudy] There was one
B-24 that went missing,
421
00:18:52,583 --> 00:18:53,875
the Lady Be Good,
422
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,375
but that was back in 1943 and
it was lost over the ocean.
423
00:18:58,458 --> 00:19:01,333
Let's rewind.
(tape rewinding)
424
00:19:01,458 --> 00:19:06,083
April 1943, 25 bombers take
off from a dusty airstrip
425
00:19:06,167 --> 00:19:07,750
in Soluch, Libya
426
00:19:07,833 --> 00:19:11,458
for a high-altitude strike on
a critical target in Italy.
427
00:19:11,542 --> 00:19:14,167
One of those bombers
is the Lady Be Good,
428
00:19:14,208 --> 00:19:16,833
whose nine-man crew is
fresh outta training
429
00:19:16,958 --> 00:19:18,667
and on their very first mission.
430
00:19:18,708 --> 00:19:21,542
- This was the Allied focus
in Europe at the time.
431
00:19:21,625 --> 00:19:24,000
There would've been near
continuous bombing runs
432
00:19:24,125 --> 00:19:25,333
over parts of Italy
433
00:19:25,375 --> 00:19:27,333
at least every day
from multiple airfields
434
00:19:27,417 --> 00:19:28,917
across North Africa.
435
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,917
- [Rudy] From the start, the
mission is beset by problems.
436
00:19:32,042 --> 00:19:34,000
- They take off
during a sandstorm
437
00:19:34,083 --> 00:19:36,250
that is interfering
with the ability
438
00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:38,833
to see the surroundings.
439
00:19:38,917 --> 00:19:41,875
- [Rudy] The vicious sandstorm
forces half the squadron
440
00:19:41,958 --> 00:19:43,167
to turn back
441
00:19:43,208 --> 00:19:44,583
and causes the Lady Be Good
442
00:19:44,667 --> 00:19:47,000
to lose sight of the
rest of her team.
443
00:19:47,125 --> 00:19:48,833
- The Lady Be Good continued.
444
00:19:48,917 --> 00:19:51,417
There was cloud
cover over Naples
445
00:19:51,542 --> 00:19:54,458
and they weren't able to
drop their bombs on target.
446
00:19:54,542 --> 00:19:56,625
They headed back towards Soluch.
447
00:19:56,708 --> 00:19:58,875
- [Rudy] The Lady Be
Good radios command,
448
00:19:58,958 --> 00:20:00,167
asking for a bearing.
449
00:20:00,208 --> 00:20:03,500
It's the last time
she's ever heard from.
450
00:20:03,542 --> 00:20:05,708
- Okay, Rudy, so
we know two things.
451
00:20:05,792 --> 00:20:07,000
This is a super green crew
452
00:20:07,083 --> 00:20:09,917
and this is one of the toughest
planes to fly in combat.
453
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,333
- That's right, Ronnie.
454
00:20:11,417 --> 00:20:14,667
In fact, the crew's nicknamed
it the flying coffin.
455
00:20:14,750 --> 00:20:17,667
You can see the body
rests below the wing,
456
00:20:17,792 --> 00:20:20,958
making it especially
deadly to fly over water
457
00:20:21,042 --> 00:20:22,250
because if you ditch it,
458
00:20:22,375 --> 00:20:24,500
the plane could snap
in half on impact.
459
00:20:24,667 --> 00:20:26,458
- Okay, it sounds
reasonable to believe
460
00:20:26,542 --> 00:20:28,833
that when the Lady Be Good
didn't return to base,
461
00:20:28,875 --> 00:20:32,000
the command team assumed it
went down in the Mediterranean.
462
00:20:32,083 --> 00:20:36,208
But what caused her to
overshoot the base by 400 miles?
463
00:20:36,333 --> 00:20:38,917
(tense music)
464
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,167
- [Rudy] Military historian,
Martin K.A. Morgan,
465
00:20:42,250 --> 00:20:45,000
says wind conditions
played a major role.
466
00:20:45,125 --> 00:20:46,792
- The navigator on
board this aircraft
467
00:20:46,875 --> 00:20:49,083
made a critical mistake
468
00:20:49,208 --> 00:20:51,958
in that he failed to
adequately compensate
469
00:20:52,083 --> 00:20:54,250
for a significant tailwind
470
00:20:54,333 --> 00:20:56,375
and that's what led the
aircraft, ultimately,
471
00:20:56,375 --> 00:21:00,000
to overfly the airbase and
fly deep into the Sahara.
472
00:21:00,042 --> 00:21:02,292
- [Rudy] The Lady Be Good
likely ran outta fuel
473
00:21:02,292 --> 00:21:04,917
and the airmen bailed
out before she crashed.
474
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,625
- Normally you wouldn't want
to try to stay on an aircraft
475
00:21:08,708 --> 00:21:09,667
that's going down,
476
00:21:09,750 --> 00:21:11,333
especially an
aircraft like the B-24
477
00:21:11,417 --> 00:21:13,667
which does have a bad history.
478
00:21:13,708 --> 00:21:15,833
- [Rudy] Okay, so that
answers the question
479
00:21:15,875 --> 00:21:18,458
about how the plane
ended up in the desert,
480
00:21:18,542 --> 00:21:20,083
but what happened to the crew?
481
00:21:20,167 --> 00:21:22,208
In the summer of 1959,
482
00:21:22,292 --> 00:21:24,500
Air Force and Army
mortuary teams
483
00:21:24,583 --> 00:21:26,500
searched for the crew's remains.
484
00:21:26,583 --> 00:21:29,042
After combing the
desert for six days,
485
00:21:29,125 --> 00:21:30,625
they find nothing.
486
00:21:30,708 --> 00:21:34,417
Finally, 19 miles north
of the crash site,
487
00:21:34,500 --> 00:21:37,083
investigators find
their first clue,
488
00:21:37,167 --> 00:21:39,417
a pair of fleece flight boots.
489
00:21:39,500 --> 00:21:41,500
They seem to have
been left deliberately
490
00:21:41,542 --> 00:21:43,542
as a marker pointing north.
491
00:21:43,708 --> 00:21:46,042
- They leave a trail of items
492
00:21:46,125 --> 00:21:49,042
in hopes that if anyone stumbles
upon either the parachutes
493
00:21:49,125 --> 00:21:51,667
or any of the wreckage,
494
00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:54,375
that they at least
have shown a path
495
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:55,958
to the direction they're going.
496
00:21:57,208 --> 00:21:58,667
- What the men didn't
know, tragically,
497
00:21:58,750 --> 00:22:00,708
was that they were so far south
498
00:22:00,792 --> 00:22:02,833
that these search parties
never stood a chance
499
00:22:02,917 --> 00:22:06,000
of spotting the
parachutes that they left.
500
00:22:06,042 --> 00:22:07,833
- [Rudy] In February 1960,
501
00:22:07,917 --> 00:22:11,375
after months of searching,
another grim discovery.
502
00:22:11,458 --> 00:22:13,375
Five bodies buried in the sand,
503
00:22:13,458 --> 00:22:15,417
along with diaries
504
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:18,500
written by Lady Be Good's
co-pilot Robert Toner
505
00:22:18,583 --> 00:22:21,375
and engineer Harold Ripslinger.
506
00:22:21,458 --> 00:22:22,917
- Those journals are found
507
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:24,833
that provide this
heart-wrenching account
508
00:22:24,875 --> 00:22:28,250
of what the men were going
through as they walked off,
509
00:22:28,250 --> 00:22:29,458
believing that they would walk
510
00:22:29,542 --> 00:22:31,333
to the airfield at
Soluch eventually.
511
00:22:31,375 --> 00:22:32,750
- [Rudy] Ripslinger writes,
512
00:22:32,833 --> 00:22:35,833
"We can hardly walk, a
few drops of water each.
513
00:22:35,917 --> 00:22:38,667
Can't hold out much
longer - pray."
514
00:22:38,750 --> 00:22:43,125
From co-pilot Robert Toner,
"Shelly, rest in peace,
515
00:22:43,208 --> 00:22:45,542
more separate, and
try to go for help.
516
00:22:45,625 --> 00:22:47,792
Eyes bad, all want to die.
517
00:22:47,875 --> 00:22:50,333
Could make it if
we all had water."
518
00:22:50,417 --> 00:22:53,667
The five bodies were
Toner and four of the men.
519
00:22:53,708 --> 00:22:56,458
They had likely been
covered by sandstorms.
520
00:22:56,542 --> 00:22:59,500
The three final crew
members pushed on for help.
521
00:22:59,583 --> 00:23:01,458
Two of their bodies were found,
522
00:23:01,542 --> 00:23:03,792
including Lieutenant
Harold Ripslinger
523
00:23:03,875 --> 00:23:07,458
who made it 109 miles
from the crash site.
524
00:23:07,542 --> 00:23:10,208
The last body was never located.
525
00:23:10,292 --> 00:23:14,083
- We can still marvel at the
fortitude that these men had
526
00:23:14,167 --> 00:23:17,083
to try to survive under
impossible circumstances.
527
00:23:17,208 --> 00:23:19,667
(tense music)
528
00:23:19,750 --> 00:23:22,000
- Ronnie, it's a tragic story.
- It is.
529
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,333
- But it's also heroic.
530
00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:27,000
They survived far longer
than they should have.
531
00:23:27,125 --> 00:23:30,000
Their diaries show how their
training really kicked in.
532
00:23:30,125 --> 00:23:31,375
- It did.
533
00:23:31,458 --> 00:23:33,375
Just the fact that they
found the discipline
534
00:23:33,458 --> 00:23:35,583
to write in 'em at
all is incredible.
535
00:23:35,583 --> 00:23:36,917
- Well, that's
what you're taught,
536
00:23:37,042 --> 00:23:39,625
if you're stranded, you need
to assign yourself tasks
537
00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:42,667
to keep your mind sharp
and maintain hope.
538
00:23:42,708 --> 00:23:45,917
Their story really speaks to
the power of the human spirit.
539
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,000
- You know, there's an
ancient military maxim,
540
00:23:51,083 --> 00:23:53,167
"Appear weak when you are strong
541
00:23:53,250 --> 00:23:55,292
and strong when you are weak."
542
00:23:55,375 --> 00:23:58,000
- My man knows his Sun Tzu.
- Art of War.
543
00:23:58,042 --> 00:24:01,125
- Now keep that quote in mind
as you ponder our next mystery.
544
00:24:01,208 --> 00:24:04,417
How did a division of
tanks appear out of nowhere
545
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:07,083
to stymie a Nazi counter attack?
546
00:24:07,167 --> 00:24:09,375
Take a good look at this photo.
547
00:24:09,458 --> 00:24:10,625
Looks like a bunch of tanks
548
00:24:10,708 --> 00:24:13,000
stationed near a
country road, right?
549
00:24:13,083 --> 00:24:14,583
But looks can be deceiving.
550
00:24:14,667 --> 00:24:16,333
And what's really going on here
551
00:24:16,375 --> 00:24:19,708
is one of the wildest
stories of WWII.
552
00:24:19,792 --> 00:24:25,208
September 1944, France, just
three months after D-Day,
553
00:24:25,292 --> 00:24:29,625
Allied forces are advancing
swiftly across Western Europe.
554
00:24:29,708 --> 00:24:31,333
George Patton's Third Army
555
00:24:31,417 --> 00:24:34,042
is attacking the
fortress city of Metz.
556
00:24:34,167 --> 00:24:35,917
- In September of 1944,
557
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,625
the Germans have of course
been pushed out of Normandy
558
00:24:38,708 --> 00:24:41,625
and the Allies are
racing across France
559
00:24:41,708 --> 00:24:45,083
as quickly as their supply
lines will allow them to do so,
560
00:24:45,208 --> 00:24:47,708
with the hope of being able to
basically cross into Germany
561
00:24:47,792 --> 00:24:51,750
and try to end the war
before the onset of winter.
562
00:24:51,875 --> 00:24:53,542
- [Ronnie] But
Patton's rapid advance
563
00:24:53,625 --> 00:24:56,167
has put his troops far
ahead of his supply lines
564
00:24:56,250 --> 00:24:57,542
and reinforcements,
565
00:24:57,625 --> 00:25:00,125
spelling potential disaster.
566
00:25:00,208 --> 00:25:03,208
- And once that happens, his
troops become overstretched
567
00:25:03,292 --> 00:25:05,958
and are potentially vulnerable
to German counter attacks
568
00:25:06,042 --> 00:25:09,125
to exploit weaknesses
in his line.
569
00:25:09,208 --> 00:25:12,250
- [Ronnie] German command sees
a mouthwatering opportunity,
570
00:25:13,417 --> 00:25:15,042
but seemingly overnight,
571
00:25:15,125 --> 00:25:18,500
new recon comes in, the
6th Armored Division.
572
00:25:18,667 --> 00:25:20,875
More than 8,000 men with tanks
573
00:25:20,958 --> 00:25:24,750
has appeared out of nowhere
to shore up Patton's flank.
574
00:25:26,250 --> 00:25:27,917
That photo we showed you
575
00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:31,292
captures a little bit of what
the Germans would've seen.
576
00:25:31,375 --> 00:25:33,625
It spooks them and
they turn back.
577
00:25:35,708 --> 00:25:38,167
For decades, the Pentagon
refuses to divulge
578
00:25:38,250 --> 00:25:42,250
how the division suddenly
appeared like superhumans.
579
00:25:42,333 --> 00:25:44,000
- I'm going out on a limb here.
580
00:25:44,042 --> 00:25:47,333
The disinformation campaigns
put on by the Allies
581
00:25:47,375 --> 00:25:49,042
at the end of WWII
582
00:25:49,125 --> 00:25:51,667
may have been the best
in military history.
583
00:25:51,750 --> 00:25:54,125
- I'd agree, they had
this uncanny ability
584
00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:55,292
to keep the German recon
585
00:25:55,375 --> 00:25:57,458
looking at what they
wanted 'em to see,
586
00:25:57,542 --> 00:26:00,625
all while hiding what they
needed to keep secret.
587
00:26:00,708 --> 00:26:02,708
- So these tactics
were so effective,
588
00:26:02,792 --> 00:26:05,125
they were kept top
secret for decades.
589
00:26:05,208 --> 00:26:07,667
So while heroes like
General George Patton
590
00:26:07,750 --> 00:26:10,458
got all the credit in the
world for winning the war,
591
00:26:10,542 --> 00:26:14,417
these geniuses remained
unsung 'til now.
592
00:26:14,542 --> 00:26:16,792
(tense music)
593
00:26:18,958 --> 00:26:21,000
- [Ronnie] The secret of how
the 6th Armored Division
594
00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:23,917
appeared out of nowhere
is that they didn't.
595
00:26:25,042 --> 00:26:27,833
What the Germans really
saw was a different unit,
596
00:26:27,917 --> 00:26:32,750
the 23rd Headquarters Special
Troops, the Ghost Army.
597
00:26:32,875 --> 00:26:35,208
- The 23rd Special
Headquarters Troops unit
598
00:26:35,208 --> 00:26:38,583
was the first multimedia
military deception unit
599
00:26:38,667 --> 00:26:40,375
and it was there to
basically confuse
600
00:26:40,458 --> 00:26:41,917
and deceive the Germans
601
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,667
about Allied strengths as
they advanced towards Germany.
602
00:26:45,750 --> 00:26:47,083
- [Ronnie] These
military magicians
603
00:26:47,208 --> 00:26:49,833
could make their small,
agile force of 500
604
00:26:49,917 --> 00:26:54,000
look like a fearsome
wrecking crew of 8,000.
605
00:26:54,042 --> 00:26:56,042
- Denial and
deception operations
606
00:26:56,125 --> 00:27:00,500
are pivotal in warfare
and in this operation
607
00:27:00,542 --> 00:27:03,083
that was the key to
defeating the Nazis.
608
00:27:04,208 --> 00:27:06,833
- [Ronnie] As you can see in
this footage shot by the Army,
609
00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:11,000
the Ghost Army's weapons were
visual and sonic deception.
610
00:27:11,083 --> 00:27:13,708
- The people that are
actually there are there
611
00:27:13,792 --> 00:27:17,500
to create the illusions
of this much larger unit.
612
00:27:17,542 --> 00:27:21,000
- [Ronnie] What kind of soldier
was needed to pull this off?
613
00:27:21,083 --> 00:27:25,167
The kind with special skills
not typical of combat units.
614
00:27:25,250 --> 00:27:28,708
- The people who did this
were artists and designers,
615
00:27:28,833 --> 00:27:30,333
real creative types.
616
00:27:31,375 --> 00:27:34,250
- [Ronnie] The visual deception
involved inflatable equipment
617
00:27:34,375 --> 00:27:37,333
that looked like tanks and
artillery from a distance.
618
00:27:37,417 --> 00:27:40,750
This model, which is about
as deadly as a beach ball,
619
00:27:40,833 --> 00:27:44,250
is an inflatable replica of
the legendary Sherman tank.
620
00:27:44,333 --> 00:27:48,500
And this is a dummy
Howitzer artillery cannon.
621
00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:49,917
For sonic deception,
622
00:27:50,042 --> 00:27:53,417
they transmitted a division's
worth of radio traffic.
623
00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:56,500
- The Ghost Army was able to
simulate the radio traffic,
624
00:27:56,625 --> 00:27:59,250
for example, of
American divisions.
625
00:27:59,333 --> 00:28:02,458
- [Ronnie] And to sell the
hoax, they used sonic trucks
626
00:28:02,542 --> 00:28:05,458
to play the sounds of
thousands of men and equipment
627
00:28:05,542 --> 00:28:07,750
for anyone listening.
628
00:28:07,833 --> 00:28:09,042
- You have some of the soldiers
629
00:28:09,042 --> 00:28:11,708
deploying some of
the inflatables here,
630
00:28:11,792 --> 00:28:13,333
while some of the
images that you'll see
631
00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:16,500
now seem even laughable.
632
00:28:16,542 --> 00:28:18,417
How could this be real?
633
00:28:18,542 --> 00:28:20,167
But you gotta think about,
634
00:28:20,208 --> 00:28:22,208
based on the
technologies at the time,
635
00:28:22,333 --> 00:28:25,667
of what the enemy would be
able to see from the air,
636
00:28:25,750 --> 00:28:27,458
from an aircraft,
or from a distance.
637
00:28:27,542 --> 00:28:32,500
This will look very real to
them, and that's what mattered.
638
00:28:32,625 --> 00:28:34,667
- [Ronnie] Seeing is believing,
639
00:28:34,750 --> 00:28:36,292
and what the Germans
thought they saw
640
00:28:36,375 --> 00:28:37,667
was more than they could handle,
641
00:28:37,708 --> 00:28:39,333
so they delayed any action
642
00:28:39,458 --> 00:28:43,083
long enough for some real
Allied reinforcement to arrive
643
00:28:43,167 --> 00:28:45,500
and replace those
inflatable tanks.
644
00:28:45,667 --> 00:28:47,083
The Ghost Army
645
00:28:47,208 --> 00:28:49,292
would pull off almost two
dozen similar operations
646
00:28:49,375 --> 00:28:50,208
during the war,
647
00:28:50,292 --> 00:28:51,583
keeping the German command
648
00:28:51,667 --> 00:28:54,417
scratching their
race-obsessed, power-mad heads
649
00:28:54,542 --> 00:28:56,792
across the European theater.
650
00:28:56,875 --> 00:28:58,500
- You're trying to
confuse the enemy
651
00:28:58,583 --> 00:28:59,917
when you're trying to project
652
00:29:00,042 --> 00:29:03,875
that you have more power
than what you really have.
653
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,708
You want them to see you
as the 10-foot-tall man
654
00:29:07,792 --> 00:29:09,708
and when, in fact, you are not.
655
00:29:09,833 --> 00:29:12,500
Now they fear what is coming.
656
00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:14,833
You've created a legend.
657
00:29:15,875 --> 00:29:18,125
(tense music)
658
00:29:20,125 --> 00:29:21,125
- After the war,
659
00:29:21,208 --> 00:29:23,667
many in the 23rd's
ranks became well known.
660
00:29:23,750 --> 00:29:25,958
Folks like fashion
designer, Bill Blass,
661
00:29:26,042 --> 00:29:27,667
sculptor Ellsworth Kelly,
662
00:29:27,708 --> 00:29:29,833
and wildlife artist,
Arthur Singer.
663
00:29:29,875 --> 00:29:31,500
- Amazing, Ronnie.
664
00:29:31,583 --> 00:29:36,333
The Ghost Army was able to
do its magic again and again.
665
00:29:36,458 --> 00:29:37,750
Quite the sleight of hand.
666
00:29:41,792 --> 00:29:42,875
- Some of the scariest
weapons in military history
667
00:29:42,875 --> 00:29:45,125
are biological and
chemical agents,
668
00:29:45,208 --> 00:29:48,875
like the mustard gas used
on the battlefield in WWI.
669
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,792
- It's even more terrifying
670
00:29:50,875 --> 00:29:53,542
when these weapons kill
innocent civilians.
671
00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:56,875
Let's go back 40 years to an
incident that left dozens dead
672
00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:58,375
in a town in Siberia.
673
00:29:58,500 --> 00:29:59,875
The question,
674
00:30:00,042 --> 00:30:04,875
what was happening at the secret
base known as Compound 19?
675
00:30:06,083 --> 00:30:08,833
You're looking at the
graves of the victims.
676
00:30:08,917 --> 00:30:10,667
People whose lives
were cut short,
677
00:30:10,792 --> 00:30:13,000
people whose deaths
were covered up,
678
00:30:13,083 --> 00:30:16,042
people whose story
can only now be told.
679
00:30:16,875 --> 00:30:19,208
It was May 1979.
680
00:30:19,292 --> 00:30:22,375
Several residents in the
Cold War city of Sverdlovsk
681
00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:26,042
turn up at hospitals
with disturbing symptoms.
682
00:30:26,125 --> 00:30:28,208
- They have fever,
they're vomiting,
683
00:30:28,333 --> 00:30:29,833
and they're unsure
what's happening.
684
00:30:29,917 --> 00:30:32,250
At first, they think it
might be a polio outbreak.
685
00:30:32,375 --> 00:30:35,250
- [Ronnie] Within
days, dozens are dead.
686
00:30:35,333 --> 00:30:38,833
Authorities quickly release an
explanation to calm the city.
687
00:30:38,958 --> 00:30:40,375
- The Soviet government
688
00:30:40,458 --> 00:30:43,542
initially tried to say that
the residents who had died
689
00:30:43,625 --> 00:30:46,125
were killed from
eating spoiled meat.
690
00:30:46,208 --> 00:30:47,750
- [Ronnie] Okay, it happens.
691
00:30:47,833 --> 00:30:49,833
In fact, in 2017,
692
00:30:49,875 --> 00:30:53,083
an outbreak of listeria
from contaminated deli meat
693
00:30:53,167 --> 00:30:56,125
killed 216 people
in South Africa.
694
00:30:56,125 --> 00:30:59,375
But infected meat would kill
people in a random pattern.
695
00:30:59,500 --> 00:31:02,083
These deaths occurred
following a straight line
696
00:31:02,167 --> 00:31:05,167
that just happened to match
the prevailing wind direction.
697
00:31:05,250 --> 00:31:08,125
That means that whatever is
killing them is airborne.
698
00:31:08,208 --> 00:31:11,083
That raises the
possibility of bioweapons.
699
00:31:11,167 --> 00:31:14,500
But hang on, the Soviets
agreed with the US
700
00:31:14,583 --> 00:31:15,792
and other nations
701
00:31:15,875 --> 00:31:19,292
to abandon bioweapons
programs in 1972.
702
00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:21,958
Could they still be
developing them in secret?
703
00:31:22,042 --> 00:31:23,500
You betcha.
704
00:31:23,542 --> 00:31:28,000
In fact, in 1979, their
agency known as Biopreparat
705
00:31:28,042 --> 00:31:31,333
is building the largest
biological warfare program
706
00:31:31,375 --> 00:31:32,333
in history,
707
00:31:33,417 --> 00:31:37,042
and the city of Sverdlovsk
is actually a secret city
708
00:31:37,125 --> 00:31:39,792
built just for that
deadly purpose.
709
00:31:39,875 --> 00:31:41,792
- Sverdlovsk was
built specifically
710
00:31:41,875 --> 00:31:45,083
to explore and develop
biological weapons.
711
00:31:45,167 --> 00:31:46,417
Even the people that lived there
712
00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:48,583
didn't necessarily
know where they were,
713
00:31:48,708 --> 00:31:50,125
they didn't show up on a map.
714
00:31:50,208 --> 00:31:52,375
They were completely hidden.
715
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:54,792
- You weren't really allowed
to tell people where you lived,
716
00:31:54,875 --> 00:31:56,792
you weren't allowed
to visit with anybody.
717
00:31:56,875 --> 00:31:59,500
- Once you went to a
place like Sverdlovsk,
718
00:31:59,500 --> 00:32:04,125
that was your home likely
for the rest of your life.
719
00:32:06,125 --> 00:32:07,833
- I really wonder
how bad an accident
720
00:32:07,958 --> 00:32:10,583
at one of these secret
cities would have to be
721
00:32:10,667 --> 00:32:13,542
for the Soviets to cop
to it as a safety issue.
722
00:32:13,625 --> 00:32:15,208
- The Chernobyl meltdown
723
00:32:15,292 --> 00:32:17,375
could have contaminated the
drinking water in Europe
724
00:32:17,458 --> 00:32:18,875
for like, 1,000 years
725
00:32:18,958 --> 00:32:21,250
and they kept that a secret
as long as they could.
726
00:32:21,333 --> 00:32:23,917
- And that wasn't even
military weaponry,
727
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,500
much less illegal
military weaponry.
728
00:32:27,583 --> 00:32:29,000
So I wanna find out,
729
00:32:29,167 --> 00:32:33,542
was this some kind of crazy
treatment-resistant superbug?
730
00:32:33,625 --> 00:32:34,792
And what happened to it?
731
00:32:34,875 --> 00:32:37,167
(tense music)
732
00:32:39,583 --> 00:32:40,667
- [Ronnie] The biological weapon
733
00:32:40,708 --> 00:32:42,875
being manufactured
at Compound 19
734
00:32:42,958 --> 00:32:45,583
was none other than anthrax.
735
00:32:46,625 --> 00:32:50,083
- Anthrax is an incredibly
deadly bacteria,
736
00:32:50,167 --> 00:32:53,333
and as a biological weapon
is extremely dangerous.
737
00:32:53,375 --> 00:32:55,333
- [Ronnie] But how
did it leak out?
738
00:32:55,417 --> 00:32:57,125
- What went wrong
at this facility
739
00:32:57,208 --> 00:33:00,333
was the scientists have
to replace the air filters
740
00:33:00,417 --> 00:33:03,167
every so often and
what happened was
741
00:33:03,250 --> 00:33:05,333
the scientists took
the air filters out,
742
00:33:05,458 --> 00:33:07,500
but they forgot to
put them back in.
743
00:33:07,542 --> 00:33:11,375
And then, over the weekend,
10 kilograms of anthrax
744
00:33:11,458 --> 00:33:15,292
was released out through
that unfiltered vent.
745
00:33:15,375 --> 00:33:19,000
- And the wind picked them
up in just the right way
746
00:33:19,083 --> 00:33:21,958
to deliver these spores
to the population.
747
00:33:22,083 --> 00:33:23,667
- [Ronnie] And despite
dozens of people
748
00:33:23,750 --> 00:33:26,042
dying from anthrax exposure,
749
00:33:26,167 --> 00:33:28,833
it's actually far from
the worst-case scenario.
750
00:33:28,958 --> 00:33:30,000
- They're actually lucky
751
00:33:30,083 --> 00:33:31,167
because if the wind
had been blowing
752
00:33:31,250 --> 00:33:32,333
in the opposite direction,
753
00:33:32,542 --> 00:33:35,375
hundreds of thousands of
people could have died.
754
00:33:35,458 --> 00:33:37,833
- [Ronnie] Ingesting
naturally-occurring anthrax
755
00:33:37,958 --> 00:33:40,000
has a 60% fatality rate,
756
00:33:40,083 --> 00:33:42,292
roughly twice that of smallpox.
757
00:33:42,375 --> 00:33:46,542
Weaponized anthrax has
a 90% fatality rate.
758
00:33:46,625 --> 00:33:49,667
- Worst-case scenario, somebody
would weaponize anthrax
759
00:33:49,708 --> 00:33:51,750
and modify it so
that the vaccine
760
00:33:51,875 --> 00:33:53,042
wouldn't work against it,
761
00:33:53,167 --> 00:33:55,875
or that it could be
contagious between people.
762
00:33:55,875 --> 00:33:59,000
Right now, anthrax
in its original form
763
00:33:59,083 --> 00:34:01,000
only infects that first person.
764
00:34:01,083 --> 00:34:03,583
- [Ronnie] And the Soviets
had an entire secret city
765
00:34:03,667 --> 00:34:05,083
engineering this stuff?
766
00:34:05,167 --> 00:34:07,875
Actually, they had
more than 50 cities.
767
00:34:07,958 --> 00:34:10,417
In closed sites across the USSR,
768
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:12,458
scientists were
working to weaponize
769
00:34:12,542 --> 00:34:14,708
the viruses that caused
the bubonic plague,
770
00:34:14,792 --> 00:34:16,333
smallpox, Legionnaires' disease,
771
00:34:16,375 --> 00:34:18,750
and even a close
cousin to Ebola.
772
00:34:18,875 --> 00:34:20,167
How do we know all this?
773
00:34:20,292 --> 00:34:23,625
Because in 1992, the Russians
finally copped to it.
774
00:34:23,708 --> 00:34:26,083
- It isn't until 1992 when
the Soviet Union collapses
775
00:34:26,167 --> 00:34:29,000
that Boris Yeltsin
comes out and admits
776
00:34:29,042 --> 00:34:32,667
that this was a Soviet
military program.
777
00:34:32,708 --> 00:34:35,083
- [Ronnie] To usher in a
new era of transparency,
778
00:34:35,167 --> 00:34:36,833
Russia signs a new pact
779
00:34:36,917 --> 00:34:38,792
forbidding bioweapons
development.
780
00:34:38,875 --> 00:34:43,125
So whatever happened to the
anthrax from Sverdlovsk?
781
00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:45,833
- All of the spores that
were in this factory
782
00:34:45,875 --> 00:34:47,583
were destroyed,
covered in bleach,
783
00:34:47,667 --> 00:34:50,500
and then they were buried
on Resurrection Island
784
00:34:50,583 --> 00:34:51,917
in the Aral Sea.
785
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,333
This was thought to be the
safest way to dispose of them.
786
00:34:55,417 --> 00:34:56,792
- [Ronnie] Is the
Russian military
787
00:34:56,875 --> 00:35:00,625
living up to its renewed
promise to abandon bioweapons?
788
00:35:00,708 --> 00:35:01,625
Maybe not.
789
00:35:01,708 --> 00:35:04,958
In 2006, former KGB agent
790
00:35:05,042 --> 00:35:07,917
and vocal Putin critic
Alexander Litvinenko
791
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,667
was poisoned with polonium,
792
00:35:09,792 --> 00:35:12,083
a rare radioactive bioweapon.
793
00:35:12,167 --> 00:35:14,375
Also in the UK in 2018,
794
00:35:14,458 --> 00:35:17,833
Sergei Skripal, a former
Russian military officer
795
00:35:17,917 --> 00:35:19,667
turned double agent
for the British,
796
00:35:19,708 --> 00:35:22,542
was poisoned along
with his daughter Yulia
797
00:35:22,667 --> 00:35:23,833
with a bioagent.
798
00:35:23,917 --> 00:35:27,125
So the Russian bioweapon
program may be alive and well
799
00:35:27,208 --> 00:35:29,667
and still super secret.
800
00:35:29,708 --> 00:35:32,083
(tense music)
801
00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:36,667
In 2016, biologists
were able to test tissue
802
00:35:36,708 --> 00:35:38,292
from the victims
803
00:35:38,375 --> 00:35:40,500
and map the genome of the
anthrax that killed them.
804
00:35:40,583 --> 00:35:43,333
Good news, it was
not re-engineered
805
00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:45,417
into some crazy superbug.
806
00:35:45,500 --> 00:35:48,208
It could be treated if you
caught it early enough.
807
00:35:48,292 --> 00:35:51,125
- So it's just your
everyday, run-of-the-mill,
808
00:35:51,208 --> 00:35:52,750
super-deadly anthrax.
809
00:35:54,042 --> 00:35:55,333
I guess it's better
than the alternative.
810
00:35:55,417 --> 00:35:56,208
- You're not wrong.
811
00:35:59,917 --> 00:36:01,875
- Now it's time for our
regular secret weapons feature.
812
00:36:01,958 --> 00:36:03,708
This is where we
take a close look
813
00:36:03,708 --> 00:36:06,708
at some of history's
game-changing military tech.
814
00:36:06,792 --> 00:36:10,333
- And the footage you're about
to see will make you ask,
815
00:36:10,417 --> 00:36:14,917
what is this monster raining
hellfire down on the enemy?
816
00:36:23,042 --> 00:36:24,333
- [Rudy] You're
looking at footage
817
00:36:24,375 --> 00:36:27,500
from a gun sighting camera
over Afghanistan in 2012.
818
00:36:27,542 --> 00:36:30,417
US airmen from Special
Operations Command
819
00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:32,750
circle above a
Taliban stronghold.
820
00:36:32,875 --> 00:36:37,167
The mission, seek and destroy
high-value enemy targets.
821
00:36:37,208 --> 00:36:40,583
The air support
platform, an old standby,
822
00:36:40,708 --> 00:36:42,500
the AC-130 gunship.
823
00:36:42,583 --> 00:36:46,333
- The AC-130 is typically
used by Special Forces
824
00:36:46,375 --> 00:36:49,917
and is usually operated
in close air support
825
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,917
or CAS, known as C-A-S.
826
00:36:54,417 --> 00:36:56,792
- [Rudy] Within minutes
of the AC-130's arrival,
827
00:36:56,875 --> 00:36:58,167
we see an enemy vehicle
828
00:36:58,208 --> 00:37:01,167
in the crosshairs of
American firepower.
829
00:37:03,417 --> 00:37:05,458
- [Rudy] A direct hit
alerts the Taliban.
830
00:37:11,875 --> 00:37:14,042
- [Rudy] Vehicles attempt to
speed away from the blast,
831
00:37:14,125 --> 00:37:15,667
but they're too late.
832
00:37:15,792 --> 00:37:18,458
The targeting system
effortlessly tracks them
833
00:37:18,542 --> 00:37:22,458
on the move and fires
with devastating effect.
834
00:37:26,542 --> 00:37:29,583
- [Rudy] And this gunship can
take out more than vehicles,
835
00:37:29,667 --> 00:37:32,458
it can annihilate
entire buildings.
836
00:37:37,125 --> 00:37:39,083
- The amount of
firepower coming down
837
00:37:39,167 --> 00:37:40,500
and the explosions
all around you,
838
00:37:40,625 --> 00:37:42,667
it's gotta be
completely overwhelming.
839
00:37:42,792 --> 00:37:45,333
It's just death raining
down from above.
840
00:37:45,417 --> 00:37:47,500
- [Rudy] So what
do videos like this
841
00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:50,375
reveal about the AC-130 gunship?
842
00:37:50,458 --> 00:37:52,167
- I gotta say it
looks a little wack,
843
00:37:52,208 --> 00:37:53,667
but there's a method
to this madness.
844
00:37:53,708 --> 00:37:55,958
First, you gotta
check out this part.
845
00:37:56,042 --> 00:37:59,542
Those are its guns and as
it comes into that bank,
846
00:37:59,667 --> 00:38:01,500
oh man, things are
about to get heavy.
847
00:38:01,583 --> 00:38:03,708
- And brother, it may
look a little weird,
848
00:38:04,708 --> 00:38:08,833
but this is a 105
mike-mike howitzer,
849
00:38:08,875 --> 00:38:11,208
artillery from the sky!
850
00:38:11,333 --> 00:38:12,750
I'll tell you what,
851
00:38:12,875 --> 00:38:16,625
having one of these bad bears
on your side redefines BFF.
852
00:38:16,708 --> 00:38:19,417
- Now to get at how this
thing does its thing,
853
00:38:19,417 --> 00:38:21,292
we turn back to our experts.
854
00:38:21,375 --> 00:38:24,375
(tense music)
855
00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:27,292
- [Rudy] This video is revealing
because it's so steady.
856
00:38:27,375 --> 00:38:29,833
At first glance, you might
think it's from a chopper
857
00:38:29,917 --> 00:38:31,167
or a hovering drone,
858
00:38:31,250 --> 00:38:33,250
but it's actually the AC-130
859
00:38:33,375 --> 00:38:35,625
performing a maneuver
called a pylon turn,
860
00:38:35,708 --> 00:38:37,542
which keeps it
focused on the target
861
00:38:37,667 --> 00:38:39,875
for an extended period of time.
862
00:38:39,875 --> 00:38:43,000
- It's able to maintain
its weapon stability
863
00:38:43,083 --> 00:38:44,958
with the use of gyroscopes,
864
00:38:45,042 --> 00:38:48,708
while the AC-130 is circling
and traveling at speed,
865
00:38:48,708 --> 00:38:51,125
they're also able to
put rounds on target
866
00:38:51,208 --> 00:38:54,417
with extreme accuracy as well.
867
00:38:54,542 --> 00:38:56,667
- [Rudy] The rounds this
gunship can put on target
868
00:38:56,750 --> 00:38:59,167
come from a dizzying
array of weapons.
869
00:38:59,250 --> 00:39:01,333
We'll start with the
little one, so to speak,
870
00:39:01,417 --> 00:39:03,917
a 25-millimeter Gatling Gun.
871
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,500
Nicknamed the Equalizer,
872
00:39:05,583 --> 00:39:09,833
this five-barreled gun can
fire 1,800 rounds a minute.
873
00:39:09,958 --> 00:39:14,333
Moving on and up in caliber,
we have a 40 mike-mike cannon.
874
00:39:14,417 --> 00:39:17,583
It serves up as many
as 120 rounds a minute.
875
00:39:18,500 --> 00:39:20,625
And before taking to the skies,
876
00:39:20,708 --> 00:39:23,833
this weapon started out life
as an anti-aircraft gun.
877
00:39:26,375 --> 00:39:27,708
- While I was in Afghanistan,
878
00:39:27,708 --> 00:39:29,792
the AC-130 was always there
879
00:39:29,875 --> 00:39:32,583
and could aid us in
neutralizing targets.
880
00:39:32,667 --> 00:39:33,917
- [Rudy] As we were
just showing you,
881
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,208
the 105 rounds out the
caliber of ammunition
882
00:39:37,292 --> 00:39:39,792
this deadly machine delivers.
883
00:39:39,875 --> 00:39:41,250
Once upon a war,
884
00:39:41,333 --> 00:39:44,125
this cannon was a
terrestrial light towable
885
00:39:44,208 --> 00:39:46,042
field artillery piece.
886
00:39:46,167 --> 00:39:47,417
In the aerial realm,
887
00:39:47,417 --> 00:39:50,833
it can blast out as many
as 10 shells a minute.
888
00:39:55,833 --> 00:39:57,833
(explosions booming)
889
00:39:57,917 --> 00:39:59,750
- The blast of
what you're seeing
890
00:39:59,875 --> 00:40:02,500
is just a portion of the
area that could kill you.
891
00:40:02,542 --> 00:40:04,208
There's shrapnel comes from
every one of those rounds
892
00:40:04,292 --> 00:40:06,000
that flies out
much, much further
893
00:40:06,042 --> 00:40:09,500
than each one of the visual
blasts on the screen.
894
00:40:09,542 --> 00:40:11,833
(gunshots firing)
895
00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:13,750
(tense music)
896
00:40:14,708 --> 00:40:18,000
- Wow, the sheer freakin' power.
897
00:40:18,083 --> 00:40:19,708
A whole different kind of beast.
898
00:40:19,792 --> 00:40:23,958
Swoops in low, hovers,
circles like a dragon,
899
00:40:24,042 --> 00:40:28,250
locks in on targets,
and bang, bang, bang!
900
00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:30,167
- And it's the
precision that gets me.
901
00:40:30,250 --> 00:40:32,167
There's really no
enemy on the ground
902
00:40:32,250 --> 00:40:33,250
that can match this thing.
903
00:40:33,333 --> 00:40:34,542
It's impressive.
904
00:40:34,625 --> 00:40:37,125
- But unfortunately,
as Afghanistan shows,
905
00:40:37,125 --> 00:40:39,583
sometimes you can show up
with the right weaponry,
906
00:40:39,708 --> 00:40:42,667
the right training, and
win battle after battle,
907
00:40:42,792 --> 00:40:44,542
but still not win the war.
908
00:40:45,958 --> 00:40:48,167
- That's our show for tonight,
thanks for watching.
909
00:40:48,250 --> 00:40:49,917
Remember, keep your powder dry.
910
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,167
- And your head on
a swivel, goodnight.
911
00:40:52,208 --> 00:40:54,958
(dramatic music)
71496
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