All language subtitles for Historys Most Shocking S01E08 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

- Tonight on "History's
Most Shocking."

What caused this
multimillion-dollar malfunction

on the runway?

- A pilot could easily
experience something like 20 Gs

of force because you're
essentially riding a rocket

out of this aircraft.

- [Tony] A plague of mice?

Why might this be coming
to a property near you?

- Unfortunately,
we are gonna see

this kind of
situation repeatedly.

- [Tony] How did this cruise
turn into a crisis at sea?

- No electricity, no
propulsion of the ship,

no control of the ship.

- [Tony] When trees attack.

- Wind speeds of about 90 miles
an hour can uproot a tree.

- [Tony] And is there
a new explanation

for one of the most famous
disasters of all time?

- [Broadcaster] It's a terrific
crash, ladies and gentlemen.

[dramatic music]

[metal rattling]
[people screaming]

- [Tony] Disasters,
shocking video,

life or death decisions.

Behind history's
caught-on-camera moments...

- What to do with
one dead whale.

- [Tony] Are the mysteries
of how and why they happen.

- Some sort of metal fatigue
was most likely at fault.

- It's like a bulldozer.

Very few buildings
can actually withstand

that force of moving water.

- I'm Tony Harris.

[mountain lion roars]

[bike revving]

Prepare to be shocked.

[dramatic music]

Good evening and welcome to
"History's Most Shocking."

We start with an aviation mishap

that would almost be funny
if it weren't so expensive.

It is estimated that

the Department of Defense's
F-35 aircraft program

will eat up nearly 1.7
trillion taxpayer dollars.

So for all that money, the
plane should be able to land,

right?

[tense music]

December 15th, 2022,

at the Naval Air Station
Joint Reserve Base

in Fort Worth, Texas.

An $80 million fighter jet

is in the final stage
of a test flight.

- It's an F-35B, which is
a Lockheed Martin plane

that has the unique
ability to land vertically.

- [Tony] An observer
captures the F-35B

slowly descending
onto the runway

for one of those
vertical landings,

but just as the
plane touches down,

a small hop causes the nose
to tip toward the ground

and send it scraping
across the runway.

- [Witness] Oh, he
just crashed, (bleep).

- [Tony] And that isn't all.

With a flash, the pilot
ejects from the plane.

His parachute catches
what air it can.

Moments later, he's
on the ground.

Let's see that again.

The pilot blasts
out of his plane

courtesy of his ejector seat.

Now, ejection seats
have been in military

aircraft for decades.

Early propeller planes
didn't need them

because the planes
moved slowly enough

that pilots could just climb
out and parachute to safety.

But then came jets.

- Modern ejection seats were
developed by Heinkel and SAAB

during the Second World War,

and the first one was installed

in a Heinkel HE-280 prototype
jet engine fighter in 1940.

- [Tony] Because jets
were so much faster,

there needed to be
powered ejection seats

strong enough to
fight the G-forces

and get the pilot
away from the plane.

And over the decades, it's
estimated those seats have saved

the lives of some 10,000 pilots,

including these
two airmen in 1968.

- In one notable incident,

an F-4 Phantom
aircraft was taking off

from the Lambert St. Louis
International Airport

when it burst into flames.

The two crewmen
were able to escape

with only minor injuries,
thanks to their ejection seats.

- [Tony] But whether a pilot
is facing trouble taking off

in 1968, or landing
an F-35B in 2022,

a quick and safe
getaway is the key.

- They're putting these aircraft

through some of the most
rigorous and dangerous

maneuvers in the air.

Ejection seats are
vital to their survival.

- Now, the F-35B is uniquely
equipped with both a manual

and an automatic
ejection system,

but officials haven't
disclosed whether or not

that automatic system
activated in this case.

Either way, what went
so wrong that this pilot

was forced to eject
right before landing?

One clue might be seen

right before the jet
is about to land.

- The first indication that
something has gone wrong

is when you see the
aircraft as it touches down,

it bounces right back up.

That's not what you want to
happen in a vertical takeoff

and landing situation.

When we're seeing the
aircraft bouncing like that,

that is the telltale indication

that the aircraft itself
has descended too fast.

- [Tony] That sounds like
it could be pilot error,

but instead, something
else led investigators

to a problem all too
familiar with the F-35.

- As early as March
2020, there were issues

that were reported
with engine vibrations

that were affecting the
stability of the aircraft

as it undertook a test flight.

- [Tony] The issue
is a phenomenon

known as harmonic resonance.

Sound waves can cause
an object to vibrate.

Those vibrations can exceed
the elastic limit of a material

and damage it.

- Think of a wine glass that
shatters when it's subjected

to a specific note.

And what was found in
this particular instance

was that harmonic resonance
was causing a fuel tube

to vibrate so violently
that it broke,

and that affected the
stability of the aircraft.

- [Tony] And while you don't
think of pilots ejecting

on the ground, the seats
are designed to do that.

- They call 'em zero-zero seats.

Zero altitude, zero airspeed,

even when the airplane
is on the ground.

The rockets are powerful enough
to lift the ejection seat

and the pilot to an
altitude high enough,

maybe about 200 feet,
which allows that parachute

to fill with air and bring
the pilot to a safe landing.

- The takeaway?

The crash was caused
by engine vibrations,

or harmonic resonance.

Now, the pilot in this case
escaped with minor injuries,

but after this incident,

the Pentagon ordered all its
F-35 fighters to be retrofitted

to solve the vibration problem.

Now, from the runway
to the highway.

Most people look out
for the usual dangers

when they're behind the wheel,

a swerving car, maybe a
deer running across the road

on a foggy night, but it
is rare to be endangered

by something that
usually doesn't move.

[ominous music]

January 10th, 2012.

It's a gray winter day

as a dash cam records a
winding road in the mountains

near the town of
Poprad, Slovakia.

The car passes a
couple of fallen trees

on the side of the road,
casualties of a recent storm

that had just ripped
through this area.

But the drivers weren't
prepared for this.

Without warning, the trees
lining the side of the road

start to collapse.

The car slams into
reverse, trying to escape

as the trees fall
toward it like dominoes.

- There's an old saying, if
a tree falls in the forest

and no one's around to hear
it, did it make a sound?

In this case, it definitely did.

- [Tony] Surprised? Don't be.

It turns out, these
tree attacks happen

more often than you think.

- In January of 2021,
there's a famous road

called the Trail of 100 Giants

and this young
couple were driving

when all of a sudden, they
saw a giant, 200-foot tree

basically collapsing
on top of his vehicle.

He guns it and the tree hits
the back end of his car,

missing the passenger
area only by a few inches

and ultimately
saving their lives.

So it really makes you wonder.

This couple in California

that just managed by a hair
to survive one falling tree.

What happens when
an entire forest

comes crashing down around you?

[passengers screaming]

- Believe it or not, many
people are afraid of trees

and there's even a name for it.

Dendrophobia.

Sound silly?

Well, one study found that
between the years 1995 and 2007,

over 400 people in the
United States were killed

by wind-related tree failures.

But what could have
caused all these trees

to fall together in
unison like this?

Our experts get to the
root of the matter.

- The damage we see
here was a result

of an extratropical
cyclone named Andrea

that developed along
the British Isles

and impacted the western and
central portions of Europe.

We can see that the winds
around this vicinity

were on the magnitude of
90 to 100 miles per hour.

Research shows that wind speeds

of about 90 miles an
hour can uproot a tree.

- [Tony] Only problem
is the storm was over

by the time this happened.

Notice, the trees
aren't swaying.

There must have been
another key factor

causing these trees
to fall in unison.

- You look at this video,
you'll notice that

most of the trees
are pine trees,

and pine trees do not
have the big root systems

that you see in oaks.

Their roots won't get
into the rock very well.

Second, the hill slope has
been removed to make the roads,

and so now gravity is pulling
the soil down the hill.

There's nothing stopping that
hill slope from coming down.

The third thing is
that it's raining.

And so you've added
water into the soil area

that's already becoming loose.

You have an ideal situation
for that landslide.

- [Tony] He's right.

In heavy rain events in
areas with loose soil,

you can often see trees

with shallow root systems
just falling over.

And when those roots are cut
together in large batches

to make way for
something like a road,

then that entire line
of trees is vulnerable

and they can collapse in
groups, even at the same time.

- There are a lot of
places in the world

that have less restrictive
highway design regulations

than we find in the US.

The more you cut
back on the hillside,

the more potential you
have for a mudslide.

I think this driver

was definitely put into
an impossible situation.

The thing they did that
probably kept him out of trouble

was pay attention to
what was going on.

Slowing down was
the best choice.

- The takeaway?

This highway was
beset by high winds.

That plus soil erosion

and flimsy root structures
combined to create

a perfect avalanche of trees.

Our advice?

Take a look at the
weather conditions

before hitting the road,

observe your surroundings,

and take it slow.

- In 2022, more than 20 million
people embarked on cruises

and the vast majority of them
came home safe and satisfied.

But this next video
shows what happens

when it's not so smooth sailing.

Batten down the hatches and
try to hold down your lunch.

March 23rd, 2019, after a
voyage to the Arctic Circle

for a spectacular view
of the Northern Lights,

the cruise ship, Viking Sky,
sails down the coast of Norway

toward its final
destination in England.

But that afternoon,
passenger Alexus Sheppard

notices the cruise taking
a turn for the worst.

- The first sign of
things going wrong for me

was when my wine
glass was sliding

and fell off the
table and broke,

and then things
escalated pretty quickly.

- Alexus pulls out a camera
just as furniture and fixtures

fly violently across the room.

The ship heaves
from side to side,

no match for the rough seas
and 50 to 60 foot waves.

[furniture clattering]

Tiles crash down
onto passengers,

furniture careens
across the ship.

- When the general
alarm sounded,

[alarm beeping]

that's when it
became really real.

It went from being
entertaining, to holy crap.

The ship was at the
mercy of the seas

and we were drifting
towards the rocks

in this heavy, heavy storm.

- [Tony] As the waves
continue to rock the ship,

helicopters fly in to
remove the injured.

Though cruise lines
do their best

to carefully monitor
and avoid rough seas,

mistakes do happen.

- I think the worst example

would've been the
Fantome in 1998.

This was a cruise
ship in the Caribbean

and it was trying to avoid
a category five hurricane,

Hurricane Mitch.

- [Tony] Before
the hurricane hit,

the captain dropped off
passengers in Belize

and then left port to try
and circumvent the storm.

- [Josh] Unfortunately,
they miscalculated

and they went right into
the heart of the storm.

Later, they found wreckage
off a nearby island.

All 31 crew members
were presumed dead.

- [Tony] So, if
you had any doubts

that this rocking ship could
have deadly consequences,

think again.

Wow.

Alexus's vacation nearly turned
into a James Cameron movie.

Reports indicate that by
the time the ship's anchors

were finally deployed,
the Viking Sky

was only about 100 yards from
colliding with sharp rocks.

So how did this cruise ship
become a bone to be chewed on

by the storm?

Let's ask the experts.

Sometimes, it's all
about location.

Turns out this is a
notorious stretch of water

along the Norwegian coast.

- This is called Hustadvika
and it is especially dangerous.

Not only is it a 12 mile
stretch prone to rough weather,

but there's big waves and
you can see this cruise ship

is taking it hard.

- [Tony] Locals will tell
you, Hustadvika's coastline

is well known as a
cemetery of ships.

When you combine storms,
shallow waters, rocky reefs,

and a lack of islands
to break up big waves,

you get some of the most
dangerous waters known to man.

But could the weather alone
have caused this level of chaos?

- Typically, a
state-of-the-art cruise ship

would have a very complex
system of stabilizers

who look at the amount
of pitching and yawing

that the ship is doing.

- [Tony] Pitch is the up
and down motion of a ship,

like a teeter-totter,

while yaw is left
and right rotation,

like swiveling on a chair.

- My guess is you're
probably taking on

almost 40 degree
yaws and pitches.

What that would say to me

is that the stabilization
system is not working,

which then tells you that
the engines aren't working,

'cause they're connected.

- [Tony] If that's the case,
how did the engines lose power?

- According to the
incident report,

the lubricating oil was not
filled up to the required level

and because of the stormy seas
rocking and rolling the ship,

the oil in the tank was
sloshing from side to side.

And as the pump was on
one side of the tank,

as the oil sloshed
to the opposite side,

that pump could
only suck up air.

- When the ship's system
detected no oil was flowing,

the engines onboard the
Viking Sky shut down.

- That resulted in
a loss of power.

So no propulsion of the
ship, no control of the ship

in these stormy seas.

- [Tony] The good
news, rescue choppers

were able to evacuate nearly
500 of the 915 passengers

while the rest were
able to stay on-board

as the ship was ultimately
towed to safety.

- There was no loss of life,

and so I guess you
could say that it was

as successful an outcome as
you could have wished for

in this situation.

- We can't speak highly
enough about the crew

of the Viking Sky.

I just can't say enough about
what a wonderful job they did.

This didn't scare us away
from cruising at all.

- Our takeaway?

Too little oil.

The rough seas may have been
the catalyst for all this,

but if enough oil had
been in the engines,

they never would've stalled.

Lessons were learned here.

Not long after the incident,

the Norwegian government
put together a committee

to improve maritime safety.

Moving on.

Let's face it, many
homes are money pits.

You decide to renovate what
you've got the cash for

and put off everything else
for as long as possible.

Well, our next video
proves that unfortunately,

your home sometimes makes
those decisions for you.

It's June 2021 in
Fishkill, New York.

A ring camera captures a couple,
Sean and Sarah Wellington,

inspecting the concrete
floor of their porch.

- [Tony] One of the homeowners

goes to check out
a precarious spot.

And then, some
famous last words.

[tiles clattering]

- [Tony] Let's see that again.

In an instant, the man
falls through the floor

and down into the foundation.

[tiles clattering]

- [Tony] Did he survive?

And could this happen to you?

- [Tony] Sean and Sarah
Wellington of Fishkill, New York

just had a nasty homecoming.

[tiles clattering]

- [Tony] Was this
just a freak accident

or is there a more
widespread danger

lurking beneath
our welcome mats?

When the modern porch came
into vogue in the 19th century,

it served as an escape
from the summer heat.

In the 21st century, this
function has been replaced

by air conditioning, and porches
are now largely aesthetic.

Still, we don't want
them collapsing.

So why did the porch
in Fishkill fail?

And are you in danger
of being swallowed up

by your own entryway?

First, we consider if extreme
weather could be to blame.

- If you combine precipitation

with the fact we've got
hot summers, cold winters,

this porch is going to
thermally expand and contract.

That might weaken it

and cause some of the
structural integrity failure

evidence we see in this video.

- [Tony] Yet, you'd
likely need more than that

for the porch to collapse.

- Freeze-thaw cycles,
wet-dry cycles are things

that concrete can really
experience anywhere.

And so in fairness,

this being the case
alone isn't the culprit

for this particular scenario.

- But Mabry suggests weather

does have some big
role to play here.

- Seeing how much space
was underneath this porch,

it sort of reminds
you of sinkholes,

which are created when
there's a fair amount of soil

that over time can run off

so that there is a
larger and larger void

underneath the surface.

This happens when
there's a lot of rain

or even an underwater aquifer.

- [Tony] Sink holes form
when surface rock dissolves

or wears away, often as
the result of water moving

through cracks in the stone.

As we all know, sink holes
can be a serious issue.

In April 2013, a
huge sinkhole opened

in the South Deering
neighborhood of Chicago,

swallowing up three cars
and injuring one person.

But surprisingly, in this case,

it turns out this
type of collapse

wasn't actually the issue.

[tiles clattering]

Sean Wellington says
that after his fall,

he discovered that
for whatever reason,

there had never been
any soil under the porch

and it was always
just a hollow space.

And unfortunately, the porch
wasn't properly reinforced

when it was built.

- When we were fixing it,
the concrete had no rebar

or anything in it other
than two pieces of steel

running horizontal along
either side of the slab.

But what it had looked
like is that steel

had rusted over the years and
caused the concrete to crack

where that steel bar was.

- [Tony] Sean says he's just
relieved it wasn't much worse.

- I was very lucky
I did not get hurt.

I only had one or two
scrapes on my hands

and that was mostly from
bracing myself from the fall.

It was more of a shock,
more than anything else.

[tiles clattering]

- [Sarah] Sean, are you okay?

Oh my gosh!

- Our takeaway?

Weakened concrete
that wasn't reinforced

caused this porch to collapse.

Luckily, the homeowner, Sean

escaped the situation
relatively unscathed.

But if you spot something
similar, don't wait.

Be sure to call a
contractor straight away.

Moving on.

When you hear someone
say, "catching a wave,"

the first thing that typically
comes to mind is a surfer

heading out into the ocean.

But this next video could change
the meaning of that phrase

and not in a good way.

July 16th, 2022, a
group of residents

from the town of Keauhou
on Hawaii's big island

have gathered outside
their apartment complex,

but this isn't some
summer barbecue.

They've been forced
out of their homes,

because of this.

[wave crashing]
- [Witness] Ooh.

- [Tony] Gigantic waves

are cresting over the two
story apartment building,

crashing into the
parking lot below.

Take another look.

What must be a 25 to
30-foot wall of water

drenches the two story
homes and the street below.

- [Witness] It's
flooding everywhere.

- [Tony] Meanwhile, just a
short ways down the beach,

a wedding party is
about to feel the force

of Neptune's wrath.

[wave crashing]
[people shouting]

- [Tony] A massive wave
pours over a retaining wall

with ease, smashing
tables and chairs

while guests flee for cover.

This video had many people
calling out tsunami.

- Tsunamis are so devastating.

That initial wave comes in,

destroys everything in its path.

You're likely to be
killed by either drowning

or blunt force trauma.

and then those waves violently
recede back into the ocean.

So even if you survived
that initial wave,

you could be sucked out to sea.

If this was a tsunami,

these people are
literally standing

in the worst place
you possibly could.

- Of course, Hawaii is
no stranger to big waves,

especially the north shore
of the island of Oahu,

famous for its surfing.

But this is clearly
quite different.

So what caused these giant waves

to seemingly appear
out of nowhere?

Are we looking at a
tsunami or something else?

Our experts take the plunge.

Hawaii is located
near the middle

of the Pacific tectonic plate,

which would make it a
focal point for a tsunami

caused by an
underwater earthquake.

- A tsunami is generated

at the very deepest
parts of the ocean

where you're getting mass
movement of rock and material.

Sometimes these rocks will
fall, they'll break off,

and what they do is they
cause an earthquake,

and these waves were sent out

as if you'd take a stone and
you throw it in the water.

- [Tony] But Anderson
says in this case,

there are no signs
of a shifting Earth.

- United States
Geological Survey

will monitor earthquakes
all around the world

to see if there's any
that could cause a tsunami

or a large wave,

and in this particular event,
nothing showed up at all.

I think what you're looking
at is a storm surge.

A storm surge is basically just

like you're pushing water
across with a broom.

Those are generated by the winds
that are caused by the storm.

- [Tony] Wait a
minute, what storm?

We've got an outdoor wedding

and there are patches of
blue sky in the video.

- At this time, there
was a tropical storm

that was moving south of
Hawaii, Hurricane Darby,

and we have quite
a bit of energy

that is being pushed
onto the ocean.

- Hurricane Darby raged
across the Pacific Ocean

with winds peaking at
140 miles per hour,

but it dissipated
530 miles southeast

of Hawaii's big island,

which is why you don't
see any storm clouds.

But if it had weakened, how
did we get these massive waves?

Turns out Darby had some help

from something a lot
more predictable.

The tides.

- In this case, we
did see those tides

increase to about an extra
three feet during high tide.

So when you combine
the high tide

with the swells attributed
to the tropical storm Darby,

this is when we get those
giant waves that we experience

in Hawaii.

[people shouting]

- The takeaway?

Bad timing.

That weakened hurricane was
producing some storm surge,

but it wouldn't have
produced such big waves

if it wasn't for the high tide.

- This video freaks me
out like few ever have.

It follows two men
as they go caving.

Now, caving has its fans,

but is the excitement worth
the risk of being buried alive?

You be the judge.

[intense music]

It's November 2022, deep
in the Georgia woods.

Twin brothers, Edward
and James Robinson

are self-taught cave
explorers, or cavers,

and now they're preparing
to descend into the unknown.

- We're pretty
experienced at this point.

We've been doing it for
about five years now.

Finally, we felt like we had
hit the bottom of the cave.

- I was like, dude, you're
crazy for going in there,

but he went in there anyway.

- [Tony] As James hangs
back, Edward continues off

to find a shallow stream
beneath a flat cave ceiling,

a space no more
than a foot high.

I squeezed through
and just start

falling through the river bed.

- [Tony] Edward documents
his journey with a GoPro,

but as he pushes forth
through the tight enclosure,

suddenly his body
becomes sandwiched

between two slabs of rock.

- [Tony] Meanwhile,
James is still back

in that more spacious
part of the cave,

and he's left with a
gut-wrenching choice.

- I was wondering,
should I wait right here

or should I go back out of
the cave and try and get help?

I started getting really scared.

- [Tony] It turns
out, James should be.

- A lot of these caves
are really dangerous.

On June 24th, 1967,

a group of cavers were exploring
the Mossdale Caverns in the UK

and as they were underground,
flooding rains began,

completely inundating the area.

Six cavers drowned
in the flood waters.

This is considered

one of the worst caving
accidents of all time.

I didn't have a plan
for if I did get stuck.

Which is probably why I
was freaking out so much.

The absolute worst thoughts
were going through my head,

because all you can think
about is, water's gonna rush in

and just totally flood you out.

- It is true you can
never quite be sure

what treasures
caving may turn up.

For example, in 2015,

cavers in Northern Israel
uncovered a stash of coins

and jewelry dating back
more than 2,300 years.

Now, Edward didn't
find a treasure,

but he got something better,

he survived.

Our question?

How did he do it?

[intense music]

First, when it comes
to exploring caves,

recognizing the clues of
potential danger is paramount.

- I would look for signs
like water lines or debris.

So if there was leaves
stuck to the ceiling,

the only way those
leaves got there

was if that passage was flooded.

And the roof of this part of
the cave, it's very smooth,

tells me that this area fills
up with water to the top.

This is all water polished.

- [Tony] Keep in mind, the
way caves form over time

is from rainwater seeping
down into the Earth.

- You get these
huge cave formations

because of the
percolation of water

down through the limestone,
eating away the limestone.

- [Tony] And now, it's rainwater

that can make these
narrow passages deadly.

- If you get down into those
very tight confinements

and you get a flood, he
has three to four minutes

of holding his
breath and he's gone.

- [Tony] And not
reading the signs

wasn't their only mistake.

James made the decision to
stay with his trapped brother,

which seems logical, but could
have had bad consequences.

- When you go into a cave,

you always have at
least three people.

If one person gets hurt, one
person stays with that caver,

and one person could go out
to the surface and seek help.

- [Tony] So considering
all that went wrong,

how did Edward
ultimately escape?

- [Tony] But it's impossible.

- [Edward] The way the ceiling
is pressing up against my back

and the rocks against my chest,

I couldn't scoot
backwards outta that cave.

- [Tony] Trapped,
Edward suddenly realizes

his life is literally
in his own hands.

The only way he can
make any room to move

is by digging himself out.

- [Edward] I just fought
for, I think like,

a minute and a half
trying to scrape some

of this gravel
away from my chest.

- [Tony] Finally,
Edward displaces

just enough debris beneath
him to squeeze his body around

and get out the way he came in.

I was so happy when
I saw James again.

But you're always wondering
what's around the next corner.

The lure of the cave
brings you back.

- Yeah.

- Our takeaway?

A few poor decisions
almost created a tragedy,

but Edward's call of
actions saved his life.

And if you're trapped, experts
say stay warm and hydrated

until that third person
you hopefully brought

brings the posse to save you.

It's hard to imagine,

but there was a time last
century when zeppelins

were the ultimate experience
in luxury air travel.

In 1937, that all changed

when the Hindenburg
flew almost all the way

from Frankfurt,
Germany to America.

May 6th, 1937, after a three-day
trip across the Atlantic,

the Hindenburg sails
over New York City

on its way to landing
at a naval air station

in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

It is a massive,
804-foot long airship

kept afloat by more than 7
million cubic feet of hydrogen,

and carrying 36
passengers and 61 crew.

Passing storms delay
the landing for hours.

At 7:21 PM, cables are released

to lure the ship to the ground.

Then at 7:25 PM, it happens.

[explosion booming]

The back of the
Hindenburg explodes.

Watch as the flames
quickly move forward

and engulf the entire
airship within seconds.

- [Broadcaster] It's a terrific
crash, ladies and gentleman.

There's smoke and
there's flames now,

and the flame is
crashing to the ground.

Oh, the humanity!

All the passengers
screaming around it.

- [Tony] 36 are killed,

including one worker
on the ground,

yet miraculously, 62 passengers

and crew live to
see another day.

- When the Hindenburg
incident occurred,

massive investigations were
launched by both the Americans

and the Germans to try and
figure out what happened.

And both investigations
concluded hydrogen

inside the balloon ignited
somewhere in the tail section.

[intense music]

- The images of the Hindenburg's
explosion are soon seen

on news reels and
cinemas around the world.

In fact, it may be
fair to say this event

became one of the first
viral moments ever.

But what really caused one
of the most famous disasters

of all time?

An accident or
something more sinister?

[tense music]

In the immediate aftermath,
rumors began to circulate

this explosion was
no mere accident.

Keeping in mind the Hindenburg
was a German Zeppelin

and the pride of Nazi Germany.

- One of the theories that
really gained some traction

is sabotage.

One of the passengers
aboard the Hindenburg

on that fateful day was
a guy named Joseph Spah.

He was a kind of
contortionist acrobat,

and being a German immigrant
to the United States,

people speculated well,
maybe he hated Hitler,

maybe he had this
ability to clamber around

inside the structure
of the Hindenberg

and maybe plant incendiary
devices or something.

The sabotage theory had
enough traction at the time

that the FBI took it seriously.

They looked into the
background of Joseph Spah

to see if he might be a
really credible suspect,

but he seemed to be just
a nice, family guy,

and they looked at
the wreckage trying

to find out if there was any
bombs or incendiary devices,

but they didn't find anything.

- [Tony] If it wasn't
sabotage, experts considered

if some design or mechanical
failure on the ship

was responsible.

- The outer surface of the
fabric was coated in a lacquer

that contained aluminum powder.

Additionally, the inside
of the fabric balloon

was coated with an iron
oxide, and when you mix them,

it becomes a very
flammable substance.

- [Tony] The theory goes
that some sort of spark

ignited the lacquer on the
surface of the Hindenburg,

but what could be the
most accepted hypothesis

is that it's ultimately
the stormy weather

that became the catalyst
for this disaster.

- We know that the Hindenburg

went through an electrically
charged area, like a storm,

just before it was
supposed to dock.

So the skin of the ship
was probably a supercharged

with electricity, but
it had nowhere to go.

- [Tony] It's
similar to the idea

of walking on a
carpet with socks on.

A negative static charge
in your body builds up.

For you and me,

when that negative charge
meets a positive charge,

like a door handle,
we get a shock.

But for the Hindenburg?

- When you see this
cable coming down,

you say aha, a pathway.

Electricity finds a pathway
from negative to positive.

It could go from the
skin to the middle frame,

down the cable to the
ground, which was wet,

and the slightest spark

could then set the
whole thing in flames.

We can debate exactly
what set off the spark.

That's the key to
the whole puzzle.

- The takeaway?

We like Professor Kaku's idea

that some sort of static
charge is the likely culprit,

although admittedly,
after more than 80 years,

the real answer of
what caused that spark

may never be known.

But even if the Hindenburg
disaster never happened,

only a few years later,

airplanes would supplant the
giant airships as a safer,

faster, and more economical
way to cross oceans.

- Finally tonight, mice can
be annoying, even scary,

but they're never
really dangerous.

Or are they?

March 22nd, 2021, Tottenham,
New South Wales, Australia.

A farmer wanders into his barn

to check some of
his grain stock.

He passes a large tractor
when he suddenly sees this.

Hundreds, possibly
thousands of tiny brown mice

fill the screen,
devouring bags of grain.

[mice squeaking]
[ominous music]

They're seemingly everywhere,
even outside of the barn

where, whoa, hoards
of these critters

are taking shelter under
sheets of corrugated iron.

This horrifying scenario
was part of an infestation

that ran rampant throughout
southern Australia.

- This is nightmare fodder.

The 2021 infestation was
the worst in recent memory.

The mice were
infiltrating farms,

destroying grain, going
into grocery stores,

taking out everything
from food to toilet paper.

Some farmers were saying
that they were catching

or killing 400 mice a night.

The Australian government

said they weren't
just eating crops,

they were even taking
a taste of human flesh.

- [Tony] Flesh eating rodents?

That's right.

Mice are known to
eat almost anything,

including each other, when
nearby food supplies run out.

One woman, the wife of a
farmer, was hospitalized

after she woke up finding
a mouse eating her eyeball.

And the livestock
wasn't safe either,

as mice began to eat the toes

off chickens stuck
in their pens.

Even one bite from these tiny
terrors can be devastating.

- Rodents and mice carry a
large number of diseases.

They can give you
lymphocytic choriomeningitis,

which can cause
meningitis, encephalitis,

or fluid on the brain.

- One reason mice cause
so much destruction

is that their teeth
never stop growing.

In order to keep their
teeth trim and sharp,

mice have to be gnawing on
hard objects constantly.

And mice teeth are no joke,

they are stronger
than iron, copper,

and lead, able to chew
through both metal and brick.

So how does a mouse
plague like this

come about in the first place?

And should we prepare for one
here in the United States?

Let's check in with our experts.

- This plague was caused
by a combination of factors

coming together perfectly.

First, there were
several dry years,

and mice were in low numbers.

Then there was a
series of heavy rains,

which allowed farmers to
grow an abundance of crops.

This provided a food source
for the mice that were there

and then they
quickly multiplied.

- [Tony] It wasn't
just an excess of grain

that caused this
critter catastrophe.

Recent changes in farming
practices allow for farmers

to sow crops directly onto the
prior harvest's dead stalks

instead of just burning
away the stubble,

creating more food and shelter

for these procreating rodents,

making this one of the worst
mice plagues in history.

- Two loved-up mice

can produce up to 5,000
mice babies a year.

I mean, that's kind of
an astounding number.

House mice are not
native to Australia,

so you have a situation
where there is no predator

to try and keep that
particular population in check.

- [Tony] In fact,
many people believe

that mice didn't appear in the
land down under until 1788.

Stowaways on the prisoner
ships of Britain's first fleet

where over 1,000 convicts
were transported

to the isolated continent.

But we need to know,

could we see a similar
vermin explosion in America?

- I think plague is more
difficult in the United States

because there are more natural
predators like coyotes,

foxes, lots of hawks and birds,

but especially the
mammals, raccoons.

- [Tony] And while the US

is lucky enough to
remain plague-free,

it's possible the worst
is still yet to come

for our Aussie allies.

- The fact is that we're looking
at extreme weather conditions,

increased rainfall,
increased drought.

This is definitely not
gonna be the last time

that we see a plague
like this in Australia.

[ominous music]

- The takeaway?

Heavy rainfall, drought cycles,
and a lack of predators

combine to turn a
small pest problem

into one of biblical
proportions.

Australia finally got out
of this critter-catastrophe

by spraying zinc phosphide,

which destroys the
rodent's digestive systems.

Makes you wanna get a cat.

That's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching
and stay safe out there.