All language subtitles for Expedition.X.S03E03.UFOs.Over.New.Mexico.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-SLAG_track3_[eng]

-Whoa.
-Whoa.

Oh, that is so steep.
Don't look.

[Josh] My team heads to
the deserts of New Mexico,

to investigate one of the most
compelling UFO encounters
in American history.

This is the case
that changed everything.
Right here.

[Josh] Where
local law enforcement
report a bizarre craft.

[Pablo] They saw
a great, big spaceship...

[Josh] Piloted by
extraterrestrial beings.

One of them
turned and faced him
and scared him.

I was...

It's steep up here.

[Jessica] Trying not to fall
off the edge.

[Josh] And according
to some...

...they have returned.

Different nuclear
military operations
made this kind of a hot-bed

for UFO sightings.

-Jess, get over here.
-[Jessica] Let me see,
let me see.

Check that out.

[Phil] What the... [bleep]

What is this?

[Josh] UFOs Over New Mexico.

My name is Josh Gates.

In my travels,
I have experienced
strange things

that defy logic.
And made me question
everything.

Oh, my God!

Now, I've put together
a team to investigate

the stranger side
of the unknown.

Let's go.

[Josh] Phil Torres
is a scientist

who hunts for rational
explanations.

[Josh] Jessica Chobot's
paranormal research,

has made her a true believer.

Phil, do you see that?

[whispering] I just saw
something right across.

[Josh] Together,
we're searching for answers...

[Phil]
What is that?

[Josh] ...to the world's
most extraordinary mysteries.

This isExpedition X.

Phil and Jess,
I hope you're ready.
We got a wild one today.

What you got?

Well, Phil, even you,
Mr. Science,
are no doubt familiar with

-the 1947 Roswell incident,
in New Mexico?
-Right.

When the poor weather balloon
crashed there,
it was terrible.

-Are you for real right now?
-All right, stay calm,
Jess, stay calm.

Well, what if I told you,
that there was another

potentially even
more significant incident,
that occurred

only a 140 miles from Roswell,
about 15 years later.

Not a crash,
but supposedly an actual
landing of a UFO.

And allegedly
a close encounter
with alien beings.

So, you're talking
the Lonnie Zamora incident,
Socorro, New Mexico.

Unbelievable. You never fail
to impress me, Jess.

Amazing!

Before we dive into it,

Phil, you have gone on record
to saying you think that...

extraterrestrials could be
out there, somewhere, right?

Out there for sure.
I mean, scientists believe
that there are

over 400 billion galaxies
in our universe.

And in our galaxy alone,
they found several hundred
habitable planets.

The more controversial debate,
of course, is whether
any of those extraterrestrials

-have come here.
-Right.

That brings us back
to the Zamora incident.

When this occurred,
the US government
investigated this thoroughly,

and they couldn't solve it.
It remains unsolved.

Locals in this area believe
that the Zamora incident
was real,

and they're still
having experiences.

Experiences that they say,
can end the debate
over extraterrestrials,

once and for all.

New Mexico ranks among
the states with the most
UFO sightings in the country.

With reports nearly doubling
in the last two years.

And they're still on the rise.

But if we trace
the state's most significant
UFO cases,

it begins with
the Roswell incident in 1947.

And perhaps,
an even stranger event
just 15 years later.

The year is 1964,
Socorro, New Mexico.

At approximately45 p.m.,
police sergeant Lonnie Zamora
is pursuing

a reckless driver
just outside of town.

When he hears a loud roar
followed by a large flame
rising from the desert

off the highway.

He breaks off the chase
to investigate.

When he crests a hill,
he claims to see
an oval-shaped object,

emblazoned
with a strange symbol,
resting on four legs,

with two small beings
next to what it appears to be,
a spaceship.

As he approaches on foot,
the craft suddenly lifts
into the air,

and races away
across the desert sky.

Zamora is shaken,
and calls in his encounter
to the local dispatch.

The next day,
the governments'
UFO investigation program,

Project Bluebook,
sends their top investigators
to the scene

where they record
physical evidence.

Charred shrub,
indentations in the soil,
and even small footprints.

But, Project Bluebook
is shut down in 1969,
without ever solving the case.

Lonnie Zamora dies in 2009.

Despite a lifetime of scrutiny
into his story,

he never wavered
that what he saw
was from another world.

And just recently,
hundreds of declassified
federal documents have emerged

about the Zamora incident,
reinvigorating the mystery.

On top of that,
some say UFOs have returned
to Socorro.

Recently,
a mass sighting was seen
by multiple eyewitnesses,

including pilots,
military personnel
and civilians,

all claiming
to see unidentified objects
in the sky

and putting
the city of Socorro back
under the cosmic microscope.

So, guys, what do you think?

I'll admit, Lonnie Zamora
seems like he was
a very credible witness.

He wasn't just some random guy
with a tinfoil hat.

He was
a trained police officer.

Yeah and I think
that's a good point

because law enforcement
usually aren't

the typical people
to come forward
with UFO encounters.

That's what makes this case
so fascinating.

And the fact that there are
new sightings today,

means it is the perfect time
to reopen this case.

So, I've been trying
to get in contact with some
of these eyewitnesses

from this new mass sighting,

but so far they've all been
very reluctant to go public.

But I'm gonna keep working
those leads,

and I think that
where you should start

is to really try to understand
the original Zamora incident.

And see if it could
be connected to the sightings
that are happening today.

You up for this?

Hell, yeah!

-Sounds like a plan.
-All right,
go have a close encounter.

My team hops on
a 2000 mile flight

from New York City
to Albuquerque.

Then, drive 76 mile south
to the small town of Socorro.

While I try to line up
a credible eyewitness

for the recent UFO sighting
in the area,

I'm directing Jess and Phil
to dig deeper
into the Zamora incident.

[Phil] Out of any
of the investigations
that we do,

I feel like UFOs are the most
likely to actually exist.

-Oh my--
-Out of all of them.

Who knew? You are a believer!

But that doesn't mean
that every story that you hear
is real,

or even the majority of them
are real.

There's a lot of aspects
of the Socorro story
that I'm questioning. Like,

tiny alien people coming out
of there. It's a little weird.

I understand.
But, keep in mind
there was an eyewitness.

And the government
took it seriously enough

that they actually sent out
people to check out the scene.

So, something must
have happened.

I think there's
the potential there

that Lonnie Zamora
actually encountered aliens.

Well, the fact that they're
always conveniently bipedal,
upright,

they have eyes,
they have hands...

That all just seems
a little unimaginative

to what's really out there
in the universe.

My opinion, if something
is visiting us here,

there is no doubt in my mind,
we would be taken over
and destroyed.

That's the optimist
in you, Jess.

[Phil] We've arrived
at the site
where Lonnie Zamora

supposedly witnessed
an alien craft.

-[Jessica] Is it hailing?
-[Phil] What? Oh my gosh.

[Jessica] Oh, that is cold,
oh, yeah.

-All sorts of weird things
coming out of the sky here.
-[Jessica] Yeah.

[Josh] I've arranged for
my team to meet renowned
UFO investigator, James Fox.

-[Jessica] Hi!
-Nice to meet you guys.

[Josh] Two years ago,
James and I investigated

another infamous UFO case
in Zimbabwe.

Where in 1994,
62 school childrenclaimed to
witness a UFO landing.

The details are
strikingly similar

to what Lonnie Zamora reported
seeing in 1964.

James is a filmmaker,
journalist and author,

who has studied every detail
of the Zamora case
for over five years

and has spent decades
pursuing answers
to the mysteries of UFOs.

This is the case
that changed everything.
Right here.

We came out here
to check out where
the actual landing occurred.

Can you guys show us?

-Absolutely.
-Yeah.

-You wanna lead the way?
-Oh, sure.

[Josh] With James,
is Pablo Lopez,

who arrived at the scene
minutes after Lonnie Zamora

reported the incident
to the authorities.

He was 20 years old
at the time.

[Pablo] This is the spot
where it landed.

How did you end up here?

I was at the sheriff's office.
My dad was a radio operator.

And I went in
to visit with him.

And Lonnie came over there
and he was really,
really scared.

And he said he saw
a great big spaceship.

He said, which had landed
right here.

I came up here
with the sheriff.

When I got here,
there was bushes here,
that were smoldering.

They still had smoke
coming out of them,
and some fire.

And there was footprints.

The footprints were tiny,
they were probably
three inches long.

And maybe an inch and a half,
two inches wide.

-Like a three year old's?
-[Pablo] Yes.

Lonnie said they weren't
over...that tall.

One of them turned
and faced him
and it scared him...

...out of his wits.

What do you think landed here?

A UFO.

-Really?
-[Pablo] Yeah.

Something like that,
something unexplainable.

And officer Zamora
was a man's man, okay?

-So, you knew him personally?
-[Pablo] I knew him
personally, yes.

Officer Zamora
wasn't the same person
after this.

He saw what he saw
and it was for real.

I gotta admit, this is messing
with my brain a little bit.

So, James, why this case?
Why does this one stand out
to you?

This case right here,
is what gave Project Bluebook
the conclusion that

UFOs were not only real,
but the close encounters
of the third kind

and that's cases
where witnesses report

beings associated with
the craft.

So, what are some of
the details that you've

gleaned from
your investigating?

There was a blue flame that
came down from this object,

and it didn't hit the ground
and reflect, like
a rocket booster would do it,

it penetrated into the ground.
And unlike anything
you've ever seen,

this object rises to about
20 feet off the ground,

and then it completely
shuts off all propulsion,
and is absolutely silent.

You look at
the Air Force's own files.

And they're saying that
what took place here,

defies
a terrestrial explanation.

I brought some documents
that I personally got
at the National Archives

from Project Bluebook files.

You can take a look
at some of these here.

-Wow.
-[Jessica] These are great--

-[Phil] Look at how charred
that is.
-[Jessica] Yeah.

[James] So,
what I basically want
to illustrate here is,

level of seriousness
that the Air Force took

when they were investigating
this case.

[Jessica] James
has meticulously compiled

hundreds of official
government files on this case.

And two things stand out.

First,
the government investigation
was exhaustive.

The site was extensively
combed for evidence,

soil samples were taken
and scrutinized,

every radar station within
a 100 miles was contacted.

They even tried to match
the indentations
at the landing site

with every variety of plane
and helicopter that was
operating in the region.

Despite their efforts,
the Project Bluebook
investigators

could not come up
with a rational explanation
for what happened.

The other major takeaway,
the investigators
believed officer Zamora.

Not only did they
consider him credible,

but that this incident was,
and I quote,

"The best authenticated
landing sighting on record".

And, "One of the major
UFO sightings in the history
of the Air Force".

So, what's your theory
on this then?

Why would aliens be interested
in this area?

I started looking at
sightings in the '40s and '50s
and '60s,

and I actually took out a map.

And I was looking at proximity
to different
nuclear military operations.

You know,
Trinity Site 44 miles away,

we got White Sands,
Holloman Air Force base.

And I thought, there must be
some sort of correlation,

with our nuclear activity,
our atomic activity,

that had made this kind of
a hot bed for UFO sightings.

[Jessica] Intense UFO activity
around our
most dangerous weapons

would definitely be an issue
of national security.

Thousands of nuclear tests
have been conducted
in these deserts.

New Mexico still has
a stock-pile of
700 nuclear bombs

and over 1,800 active
warheads, that could be
deployed in minutes.

There are structured craft
of unknown origin,

whizzing around with impunity,

under super sensitive
military installations.

We don't know who they are,
where they come from
or what they want.

There are structured craft
of unknown origin,

whizzing around with impunity,

under super sensitive
military installations.

We don't know who they are,
where they come from
or what they want.

The military bases
are all around here,

so I would just think
it's gonna be
a military craft.

But you're saying that
because the military is here,

that's why the UFOs are
interested in this location?

That's one likely scenario.

[Jessica] If Socorro's high
concentration of UFO sightings

is due to its proximity
to the military installations
in the area,

we need to pressure test
that theory.

So, after reviewing
some topographical maps,

we found the most perfect spot
to set up some surveillance.

A mesa,
in the middle of the desert,
located between

the landing site
of the Zamora incident
and White Sands Missile Range.

It offers the perfect
elevated vantage point
to monitor the skies

over Socorro to the north west
and White Sands to the south.

Our objective is to reach
the mesa before nightfall,

and investigate
for any unusual activity.

But getting there?
That's the tricky part.

[Phil] Come on.

Oh! Woah.

-Jess, up here?
-[Jessica] Yeah.

We need to get to the
base of that mesa,
try to get up there.

-[Jessica] Hike on up?
-Yeah.

Hey Phil,
we got a river up ahead.

[Phil] I'm not sure
how deep this thing is.
Hope these horses swim.

-Looks like there's a passage
through here.
-[Jessica] Yeah, let's go.

All right, Jess.
I don't think the horses
are gonna go any higher.

[Jessica] I think
you're right.

[Phil] The height
of this mesa,
which rises 1,200 feet,

makes it ideal
for viewing the night sky
without any light pollution.

Getting steep up here.

But getting to the top
won't be easy.

We're facing
a 70 per cent grade climb

over loose shale
with the sheer drop off.

-[Phil] You good?
-[Jessica] Yeah.

[Jessica panting]

Just looking for snakes,
trying not to fall off
the edge.

[Phil] Yeah,
watch where you put
your hands.

[Phil sighs in exhaustion]

Could be
a snake hole anywhere.

[Jessica grunts]

[Phil] Jess, watch your step.

Oh... [bleep]

You got this.

[panting]

[Jessica grunts]

Well, look around.

We got sky
in every direction here.

Well, if nothing else,
aliens will see us
and say,

"Who are those two idiots
that got to top of that hill?"

That's us, hey,
anything it takes.

With nightfall upon us,
I'm attaching a low light lens
to one of our cameras,

which will amplify
the surrounding lights

and allow us
to more easily view objects

that would usually be hidden
in darkness.

Jess has brought
the flare camera,

which has infrared sensors
that can detect
heat signatures

from any airborne object.

If there are any craft
in the sky tonight,

we're gonna see them.

We got 360 view
of this entire area.

Because you have
such a good lock on
the stars in the sky,

I'll search over here
with the flare
where the military bases are.

Okay.

There's been
a big uptake of sightings
from people in this area.

So, just look for anything
that seems even slightly
out of the ordinary.

-I do think between
this camera, and your flare...
-Mm-hm.

...we should hopefully be able
to get whatever that
something is

on tape, to help identify it.

[Jessica] Yeah.

[Phil] I'll be facing
northwest towards Socorro,

where Lonnie Zamora
had his encounter.

While Jess will scan
the southern skies towards

Holloman Air Force base
and the White Sands
missile range.

So right now,
I can see...

the Milky Way,
and I'm also seeing
some movement. So...

So far anything that's moving
and blinking, it's a plane.

Anything that's moving
really, really steady
in one direction

and not blinking,
that's a satellite.

What I'm interested
is anything that's moving,

that strays outside
of those parameters.

Oh, I just saw
some lightning down there.

[Jessica] Nothing yet.

What the hell is that?

What the [bleep]

It's glowing, it's spinning.

Ryan, you getting this,
you getting this?

Jess, right over that.

-[Jessica] Look at over there!
-[Phil] Oh!

[bleep]

[Jessica] Why is this
not showing up on my flare?

[Phil] I got it on tape.
You seeing that?

Is it showing up on the flare?

[Jessica] No, I can't
get it on the flare.

Come on.

[Phil] Holy [bleep]!

Oh, my God.
So, it's below cloud level.

Jess, get over here.

[Jessica] All right.

Let me see, let me see.

Check that out.

I could not pick that up
on my flare.

It is traveling fast.

[Phil] Really fast.

Oh, that definitely looks...

-...like a disk.
-Oh, my gosh.

Holy [bleep], I lost it.

[Jessica] The object appeared
to accelerate out of frame

and we were unable
to locate it after that,

leaving Phil and I
to try to make sense of
what the hell we just saw.

-So, it came from
the direction of Socorro.
-[Jessica] Uh-huh.

[Phil] It pivoted suddenly
and started heading towards

White Sands
and Holloman Air Force base.

[Jessica] It didn't have
a heat signature.

[Phil] So, it's not a plane,
'cause the thermal would've
definitely picked up

on the heat coming off it.

The spin is weird.
The speed,
the height is weird.

I don't know what that is.

We saw a UFO.

An unidentified flying object.

The spin is weird.
The speed,
the height is weird.

I don't know what that is.

We saw a UFO.

An unidentified flying object.

The shape, speed and rotation
of the object we saw tonight,

is similar to the, now famous,
video captured by

United States Navy
F/A 18 Pilots.

-[on radio] Look at
that thing!
-It's...

[Jessica] For me
the similarities between
our UFO and the Navy's

are impossible to ignore.

But what exactly
are these objects?

In the case of
the F/A 18 sighting,
our own government admits,

they haven't got a clue.

-[on radio] See the disk?
-[on radio] My gosh.

[Phil] It's not lost on me
that Lonnie Zamora claimed
to see

a strange egg-shaped craft
touch down just ten miles
from this location.

But as I replay in my mind
what Jess and I
experienced tonight,

something happened just before
the object appeared.

Lightning lit up the sky.

Oh, I just saw
some lightning down there.

I can't help but wonder
if that could be a clue
to understanding

what is really going on
here in New Mexico.

Oh! That was...
I wasn't prepared for that.

Oh, that is so steep though.
Holy [bleep] don't look.

Oh, my gosh,
I'm not gonna look.

Why are you taking me
up this road?

[Phil] Oh yeah, get this.

Last year, New Mexico had
twice the normal rate
of lightning strikes.

The same year
that New Mexico is reporting
way more UFO sightings.

And last night,
lightning struck right before
I saw the object.

Maybe it's all connected.

[Jessica] I'll admit that
some types of lightning,
like ball lightning,

have been used to explain
some UFOs. But I don't think
that's what we saw.

[Phil] There happens to be
a facility
at the top of this hill,

that specializes
in rare atmospheric phenomena
in New Mexico.

Called them up this morning,
they're happy to see us.

So, let's see
what answers they have.

-[Harald] Hello.
-[Jessica] Hi.

How are you?

-We're good.
-[Jessica] Good.

-Come on in.
The door right there.
-Thank you.

[Phil] The door that says,
"Danger, keep out"?

Don't worry about it,
that's the one.

[Jessica] I'll let you go
first. You're welcome.

[Phil] I've arranged a meeting
with Harald Edens,

the director of
the Langmuir Laboratory
for Atmospheric Research.

This guy studies lightning
for a living.

Yeah, I'm pretty jealous.

Welcome to the top
of the world.

[Phil] Here's why we are here.

One theory I've had
about UFO sightings
around here,

is it could just be lightning.

or some kind of
atmospheric phenomenon
making people think

-they're seeing
a flying aircraft, so...
-Right.

...have you seen examples
of lightning that
could be confused

with something like UFO?

Yes, I have.
Let's go check it out.

[Phil] Since 1963,
scientists here
have been studying

and provoking lightning
with ingenious technology.

They've used weather balloons,
electric cables

and even rockets shot directly
into storm clouds.

I feel like
this whole building looks like
the coolest movie set ever.

It's a time capsule now.
Because nowadays, everything
can be done by just,

basically computer right here.

[Phil] The scientists here
have managed to capture

incredible footage
of all kinds of lightning,

and extremely rare
atmospheric phenomenon.

Which could explain
the massive number
of UFO sightings in the area.

This is intracloud lightning.

[Jessica] Whoa.

[Harald] So,
intracloud lightning is

entirely within
the thunderstorm.

It lights up. The people see
like a flash of light
suddenly,

but you may not know
there is
lightning storm around.

[Phil] Another type
of rare lightning takes place
about 50 miles

above the surface
of the earth.

We have something
called sprites.

That looks like
an alien invasion.

And that does look like
straight out of
War of the Worlds.

[Phil] The luminous tendrils
in sprite lightning

can spread out
for dozens of miles.

Which could easily
be misinterpreted as something
from another world.

But I am eager to ask
Dr. Edens his opinion

about a theoretical type of
lightning,

that many people believe
could be the answer to the
majority of UFO reports.

What about ball lightning?
First of all, is it even real?

I think the evidence
about ball lightning
is so overwhelming

that you basically
have to admit

so to speak,
that ball lightning
probably exists.

[thunder rumbling]

[Jessica] Ball lightning
is usually described as
glowing orbs of electricity

that have been reported
both in the sky
and close to the ground.

They appear for a few seconds
or even a few minutes.

So, it would be something
that would be glowing,
in the air.

-Yeah.
-Persisting for
at least several seconds,

and potentially moving.

It's usually moving.

Based on eyewitness reports.

[Phil] The fact that
a top atmospheric scientist
believes

ball lightning is
a real phenomenon,

means it could easily
be misidentified as a UFO.

And after seeing
unusual forms of lightning

recorded in the same skies
where people
are reporting UFOs,

it could explain
a lot of sightings.

But I'll admit,
these examples don't match
what we saw last night

and whatever
Lonnie Zamora witnessed
in 1964.

With questions still looming,
we decide tocheck-in
with Josh

to update him on our progress.

-Hey, Josh.
-Hi.

Greetings, earthlings.

How goes the search?
Any little green men yet?

No little green men,
but man, we have seen
some weird stuff.

Really?

-Oh, yeah.
-Yeah.

We actually went to
the top of a mesa

-and sure enough
when we were up there,
-Yeah.

we saw a weird glowing light.

What the [bleep]!

It was strange.

Wait, Phil, did you see a UFO?

Yeah, that's what
I'm trying to tell you.

But for me
it still keeps coming down
to the fact that there is

so much military activity
around here.

To your point, Phil,
there are a lot of things
flying around up there.

I wanna play something
for you actually.

This is a conversation
between two commercial pilots

that was captured
fairly recently in the area
that you are investigating.

Listen to this. You ready?

-Yeah.
-[Jessica] Mm-hm, yeah.

Whoa.

-Did he just say UFO?
-Oh, UFO!

[Phil] He really said that.

[Josh] Yes, this is literally
just one account.

There are several of these
that've recently happened.

we're talking
commercial pilots,

Air Force personnel,
air traffic controllers,
all in this area.

They're really credible,
and after a lot of work

I have finally convinced
one of them to talk with you

about another mass sighting
that happened just last week.

[Jessica] Until now,
few have gone on record
to talk about this

new UFO sighting over Socorro.

But Josh managed to track down
a woman that works
at a nearby military base.

Who not only
witnessed the event,

she caught it on camera.

She's agreed to speak with us,
but only on the condition
that we obscure her identity.

I know
that you didn't wanna have
your image on camera,

so I really appreciate
you taking the time
to talk with us.

-Yeah, definitely.
-Can you walk us
through the night?

Like, what did you see?

[witness] I was driving home
from Socorro to Magdalena.

I had my kids in the car.

And I started to hear
this rattling in my engine.

So I pulled the car over.

And that's when I noticed
a single light
coming towards us in the sky.

So, I gave my daughter
my cellphone and asked her
to film it for us.

[Jessica] When we pull up
the footage
that her daughter captured,

you can clearly see
an unidentified light.

-Whoa.
-[Phil] Oh. Wow.

Right there.

There's definitely something
in the sky.

It's hard to make out exactly
what we are seeing,

but a closer look
reveals something
even stranger.

There is more than one,
oh, my God.

[Josh] My team is reviewing
eyewitness footage
captured just last week

of unexplained lights
in the Socorro night sky,

by a woman who wishes
to remain anonymous.

[Jessica] There is
more than one, oh, my God.

[witness] You could see
it was actually
multiple lights.

[Jessica] Oh, my gosh.
Look at that.

-I do see
multiple lights.
-Yeah, me too.

You can see there is what,
three, four different lights.

[Jessica] Yeah,
like a whole line of them.

Interesting.

So you don't think you saw
just a single UFO,

you think you saw,
what, a formation of them?

It seemed kind of like
the fleet of craft.

Which direction
did you see those lights?

I saw the lights
to the southeast,

hovering right around
South Baldy peak.

Heard stories about UFOs,
and aliens but
I've always been skeptic.

After this,
I don't know what to think.

[Jessica] According
to our eyewitness,
the strange fleet of craft

were flying over
South Baldy peak,

just east of Socorro,
and the legendary
Zamora landing site.

So, we're heading
over 10,000 feet
into the Magdalena mountains

And thank God there is a road.

-[Phil] That is really high.
-[Jessica] That is like...

-Keeping my eyes
on the road. Okay.
-[Phil] You got this.

[Jessica] I got it.

This position also offers
a direct line of sight

towards White Sands
missile range,

and Holloman Air Force base
to the southeast.

With no lightning
in the forecast,
there will be no mistaking

anything we see
as atmospheric phenomenon.

And tonight, I'll be deploying
a brand new technique
to hunt for UFOs.

And it's gonna
blow Phil's mind.

[Phil] What is this?

[Jessica] I'll show you.

Three, two, one.

[Phil] What?

[Jessica] Right?

So, one of the theories
running around
the UFO circles right now

is that aliens
are attracted to anything

that has
a lot of lights and lasers.

So, I figured
we'd bring this out here,

we're out
in the middle of nowhere

and try and lure some UFOs in.

So, they're like,
space cats in the sky
following laser pointers?

Pretty much.

It may sound far-fetched,
but a few years ago,
an astrophysicist at MIT

proposed shooting
a high powered laser
into deep space

to attract extraterrestrials
to earth.

They have yet to put the plan
into action,

so allow me
to make some history.

Now, while my setup
won't beam into deep space,

it is reaching
the outer edges
of our atmosphere.

So, if any visitors to earth
are in the neighborhood,

maybe this
will get their attention.

You know, the other night,
when we filmed what we filmed
in the sky, I realized that,

that low light IR camera
didn't quite have

the resolution
I was looking for.

This is the PVS 14.

This is essentially
military-grade
night vision technology.

This thing is gonna let us see
absolutely everything
out there.

Well, I'm gonna head out
with my night vision.

Are you just gonna sit here
and stare at your lasers?

As much as I would like to
hang out here and sing
Pink Floyd to myself,

you know a lot of people say
that when they see these UFOs,

that there is not any sound
that they can hear.

But maybe it's just because
the sound they do emit

is just too faint
for the human ear to pick up.

So, I figured I'd bring
the parabolic mic,

you can be the eyes,
I'll be the ears,
lasers will be the lure,

and any sound that I pick up,
I can record,

and we can go back and listen
and analyze it later.

All right. Sounds like a plan.

All right.
This thing can see anything
out here in the dark.

This military-grade scope
can amplify
any surrounding light

more than
any night vision device
in the world.

But there's one problem,
is that it can't record.

So that's why
we 3D printed this.

A mount for the scope
that attaches to a smartphone

that we can record on,
so we'll get my evidence.

Look at that.
There's just lasers.

I don't know
if anybody's ever tried
to actually record

a UFO sound
with something like this.

Maybe we'll get lucky.

Wait, I'm getting something.

[low hum]

So, I'm kinda picking up

a persistent hum
in this direction.

A low hum.

There, right there.

What the [bleep]

Phil, are you there?

[Phil] Yeah, I'm here,
how's it going?

-[pager beeping]
-I keep hearing things.

[Phil] Um,
what are you hearing?

[Jessica] I don't know
what it is. It's kind of
like this low hum.

Are you seeing anything
or hearing anything
on your end?

[Phil] I'm hearing nothing
on my end.

It is completely silent
out here.

Okay, I'll let you know
if I hear anything else.

[Jessica] After an hour
of scanning the skies,

we're definitely
not getting lucky.

And then...

Wait.

It's back.

That hum is back.

[low hum]

[Phil] Whoa, whoa, whoa,
do you see that?
Do you see that?

What the hell is that?

It's traveling south.

It's hard to keep focus on it.

It's starting to disappear
behind the clouds.

Jess, you there?
Are you there?

-[Jessica] I'm here.
-I saw something.

[Phil] I don't know
what that was.

It wasn't flashing
like a plane and I don't think
it was a satellite.

We've been seeing
some weird stuff out here,
so who knows.

[Jessica] Do you still
have eyes on it?

[Phil] No, I lost it.
It was heading south,
towards White Sands.

[Jessica] I continue listening
for any strange sounds,

while Phil keeps scanning
the stars with
the military-grade scope.

But after scouring the sky
for hours, there is
nothing else to report.

[Phil] I'm shocked that
Jess and I managed to record

not one but two
unidentified flying objects
in a single week out here.

Both were travelling
in the same direction, south,

towards White Sands
missile range.

So, as a new day dawns,
we work the phones

to try to gain access
to this highly secured
military base.

Unfortunately,
our request for information
have so far, been denied.

[Jessica] Yeah,
real shocker there.
But here's the good news.

We located
a fellow investigator
who has uncovered a new link

between
the White Sands Missile Range

and the 1964
Lonnie Zamora incident.

And he has a paper trail
to prove it.

-Hi.
-Hey, Dave.

Glad we could finally
track you down.

Nice to talk to you.

[Phil] Dave Thomas
is a scientist, mathematician,

and president of
the investigative group,

New Mexicans for Science
and Reason.

And after tireless research
and study, he believes

he's finally cracked
the Zamora case.

So, you have great
new evidence on
the Socorro incident,

do you mind
sharing that with us?

I think the best explanation
is probably is this.

It sounds extraordinary
that UFOs visited Socorro,
New Mexico,

to keep tabs
on our nuclear arsenal.

Unless, of course,
it's happened before

and many claim it did,
across the pond.

It's called
the Rendlesham forest incident
dubbed Britain's Roswell.

In 1980, military personnel
claimed to spot UFOs
near RAF Bentwaters,

an airbase in England
that was being used
at the time

by the U.S. Air Force.

I've personally investigated
this story and met with

former deputy commander
of the base,

Lieutenant Colonel
Charles Holt.

[man 1] There it is,
I see it too.

[man 2] What is it?

[man 1] We don't
know, sir.

[Josh] Colonel Holt claimed
that an unidentified craft
shot a beam of light

into the base's
weapon storage facility,

which had long been rumored
to house nuclear weapons.

If an alien craft
really did visit that base,

maybe now, we know why.

[Josh] Jess and Phil
have been investigating
unidentified objects

that have been reported
over Socorro, New Mexico

since officer Lonnie Zamora
claimed to have encountered
an alien craft in 1964.

And scientist Dave Thomas
might have just discovered
hard evidence,

that can finally explain
one of the most iconic events
in UFO history.

I think that explanation,
probably is this.

-Oh, that is interesting.
-Oh, wow.

The White Sands Missile Range
was testing
the lunar surveyor,

on April 24th, 1964.

And we have logs
from the range.

[Phil] April 24th, 1964,

the very same day,
Lonnie Zamora
had his encounter.

And according to the test logs
from the
White Sands Missile Range,

it's the same day they were
testing this highly secretive
lunar surveyor.

Keep in mind,
this was at the height
of the space race.

And five full years before
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
landed on the moon.

The surveyor
had three landing pods,

and then it had
four rocket engines.

And yeah, would have been
one of the strangest gadgets
you can imagine.

One of the things that Lonnie
mentioned seeing
when you came across the UFO,

was the fact that it had this
blue flame shooting up
from underneath it

which scorched the earth
around it.
What could that have been?

I think
what they were testing is,
there's these rockets,

they were on the bottom
of the craft.

Lonnie Zamora did see
something strange,

but we think it's probably
from White Sands,

not from outer space.

Is there anything else
about Zamora's description
that you think

matches up
to this lunar lander?

The two guys in the coveralls
could have been...

...the people in
the helicopter.

That is interesting.

Since gravity on the moon
is six times less than that
on the earth,

the surveyor was suspended
from a helicopter

to mimic the conditions
of a lunar landing.

And that helicopter
was piloted by two people.

The same number of beings
that officer Zamora described.

Dave also has an explanation
for one of the landing's
most puzzling details,

the strange symbol
that officer Zamora
reported adorning the craft.

Lonnie Zamora actually said
he saw some sort of symbol
on the side of the craft.

The logo...

...that Lonnie saw,
may have been...

...from, uh,
Hughes Aircraft Company.

[Phil] The Hughes Aircraft
Company actually built

the first lunar surveyor
for NASA.

And that actually matches up
to a known company
at the time?

Pretty close to what's
on Howard Hughes's
business card.

Man, that's a pretty
good match.

[Phil] Yeah, I can see it.

While not an exact match,
you can definitely see
the similarities,

considering Lonnie Zamora
sketched the symbol he saw
from memory.

How come Project Bluebook
didn't know White Sands
was launching,

you know, test equipment
that day?

You know, when you work on
a classified facility like
White Sands Missile Range,

they have
compartmentalization
and need-to-know.

So, the government might have
been keeping secrets
from itself, essentially?

Uh, it does it every day.

-Thank you, Dave.
-Thank you, Dave.

All right, what do you think?

Well, this Socorro thing,
completely unexplainable.

-Mm-hm.
-And bizarre.
And then we talked to Dave.

I have to say,

what Dave is bringing
to the table,

-is tough to ignore.
-It makes so much sense.

He actually has solid proof
that White Sands military base

had scheduled that lunar test
that same day.

But it still
doesn't explain away
all UFO sightings.

[Josh] Based on this
new revelation,
the Lonnie Zamora incident

is most likely explained
by top-secret testing
of a lunar surveyor.

But, as Jess points out,
this does not discount

every strange sighting
over Socorro.

And, there may be more
to this story,
than meets the eye.

After further analysis
and enhancement of

the mysterious object
captured above the mesa...

What is this?

[Jessica] Oh, look at it spin.

...and after isolating
the strange sounds collected
on the parabolic microphone,

both pieces of evidence
remain unidentified.

There's little doubt
that life exists beyond earth
somewhere in the universe,

as for those who insist
they witnessed aliens

flying over the skies
of Socorro,

that remains to be proven.

So, keep looking skyward,

because the truth really is,
out there.

For more information
on Expedition X,

head to
DISCOVERY.COM/EXPEDITIONX