Original subtitles

A miraculous meteorite

falling from the heavens.

A priceless gemstone

‐with a deadly curse.

And a chunk of sandstone considered so sacred

‐that wars have been fought

‐to protect it.

Throughout history,

many have insisted that simple stones

can do everything from choosing a king

to causing death.

So, what is it about rocks and stones

that inspires some people to worship them?

Well,

that is what we'll try and find out.

The UnXplained S02 - EP05 Mysterious Stones

Subtitled by Diego Moraes

Mecca.

It is home to one of the world's largest religious structures,

the Grand Mosque.

In the center courtyard of this immense edifice

stands a 43‐foot‐tall granite cube known as the Kaaba,

the House of God.

Five times a day, every day,

almost two billion Muslims across the world

turn and pray towards this striking black monument,

the holiest and most sacred site in all of Islam.

Why?

Because embedded in the eastern corner of this shrine

is perhaps the most sacred stone in all the world,

the Black Stone of Mecca.

For the world's 1.8 billion Muslims,

this stone is crucial.

When Muslims face in the direction of Mecca,

they face in the direction of that stone.

This object,

as simple as it might be,

is of incredible significance to the Muslim faith,

because it is said to have fallen from heaven

at the commands of Allah

at the time of Adam and Eve.

And it was said to have marked the position

of the first temple,

which obviously becomes Mecca itself.

Then the story is that stone gets lost during the flood,

because Muslims have the same flood story

that Jews do from the Hebrew Bible.

Then that stone for Muslims is rediscovered by Abraham.

So, Abraham, with his son Ishmael,

build in Mecca

the first place of prayer.

That's why Mecca is important to Muslims,

because this is the first place of prayer to the one God.

Over time, it gets worn away.

The building gets rebuilt.

In 605, the prophet Muhammad himself

is the one that places that stone in its place.

That's part of what gives it power.

Each year,

millions of Muslims make a pilgrimage,

or hajj, to the Kaaba.

Once there,

visitors take part in a series of rituals called Tawaf,

which includes circling the Kaaba seven times,

in the belief that it will bring about true humility

by linking them with God.

The Black Stone

is therefore one of the focal points

of the hajj ceremony

that every Muslim certainly tries to achieve

during their lifetime.

And they will then enter the central court of Mecca

and, if possible, try to kiss the Black Stone

in emulation of Muhammad,

who was said to have set it up in this position

in the year 605 AD.

This is the most mystical encounter

with any material object that a loyal Muslim can possibly have.

They're in such a hypnotic state,

such a transcendent state,

and they use the corner of the building to make sure

it's seven times,

to have the full effect of the ritual activity.

With Muslims in Mecca, the Black Stone has

the power to communicate with people.

And I mean literally talk with people.

There's two million people nowadays

that make that pilgrimage.

You might get trampled, and, unfortunately,

there have been people who have been trampled to death.

But that's so important that it connects you back

to the historic past.

The Black Stone is

a major material focus,

the most sacred object

in one of the world's most major religions,

and it also was sacred to other people.

So people who are outside the Islamic tradition

may risk their lives to travel to see this.

And if they're found out, they may well be killed.

You have these accounts of people

like Captain Richard Francis Burton,

one of these famous explorers

who disguises himself as a Muslim.

There's a power there for him to see the ritual,

to see the stone, to handle this thing.

Richard Francis Burton goes in, sees this,

is able to come back out and writes about this.

So you can see from him the importance of this place

because of the connection to the biblical prophets.

Certainly, the stories that have been built around it

really pull people in.

And some people suggest that maybe it's something

in the stone itself, uh, that pulls people in.

The stone itself pulling people in?

But how?

For the millions, if not billions, of Muslims

who have made their pilgrimage to the Kaaba,

there's no doubt that the Black Stone has an inexorable power

that seems to draw them into its orbit.

And according to some experts,

that's because the Black Stone is not of this world.

Muslims believe that this was sent down by God to Earth.

If we're scientific, we may call that a meteorite.

If we're not scientific, we may call that miraculous.

Here's this stone that comes from the heavens.

When a meteorite hits the Earth and somebody witnessed it fall,

and‐and they were to go to that location,

there's a variety of things that they might be able to find.

If the stone falls in a sandy area, for example,

there might be a lot of heat associated with the meteorite

as it falls, and that could cause a fusion

of the sand to cause some kind of glass to form.

And so, when you walk up onto it, you might find

some interesting new features that you probably wouldn't

have seen in that particular part of the‐the world before.

Meteorites arrive from outer space.

Being exposed to cosmic rays, they're slightly radioactive.

To people not exposed to electromagnetic radiation,

they would might have been able to even feel that buzz

from this rock, from the radiation,

the beta particles especially.

You know, whether you believe it was sent by God

or whether you believe it was a random act,

it has literally extraterrestrial origins.

And so, that creates a real power there.

Could the Black Stone of Mecca really have the power

to physically affect people who come near it?

Well, the truth is, we may never know for sure,

because no one has ever been officially allowed

to inspect or analyze it.

So, there are a lot of exciting and interesting questions

about the Black Stone.

I think the first initial one is, is it actually a meteorite?

A lot of people propose that, and there's some evidence,

particularly from a local impact crater, that it came from there.

And is there some sort of radiation energy that it emits

or is coming from it that we just don't understand yet?

So it would be really amazing to have the opportunity

to analyze the Black Stone.

There are obviously challenges,

both sort of social as well as scientific.

It's in the Muslim world, it's in a very sacred place,

it's a very sacred stone.

So, bringing in scientists and doing careful analyses

have those social challenges and would be difficult.

Even if you don't believe, uh, as a Muslim,

that this, you know, comes from God,

and has this religious significance,

you understand the power of this object,

that for at least 1,400 years,

Muslims have been circling, as they do their prayers.

There's a tremendous power there, we want to touch that.

Millions of people,

drawn to a mysterious stone,

imbued with strange physical powers, from another world?

A far‐fetched notion, perhaps.

But one that many people have believed in for centuries.

Not unlike the belief in another sacred object,

one that may have the ability to bring people back

from the brink of death.

While exploring the remains of an ancient Maya ruin,

English adventurer Frederick Albert Mitchell‐Hedges

and his daughter Anna find

a human skull carved out of pure quartz.

It was high noon and she was at the top of the pyramid.

And the way the sun came in, the way the rocks had moved on that,

there was just a small opening, and the light from the sun

went through and it hit the top of the skull.

And, uh, she ran down and she's all excited.

So they got a small hole big enough, and Anna was chosen,

and they tied a rope to her and put her down into the hole.

And she came up with the top of the skull.

When the natives saw it, it was like their god had returned.

They all started crying

and kissing the earth and everything.

They were just so excited.

Mitchell‐Hedges seeing this, he presented it to the high priest.

And they put it in an altar, and for 24 hours a day,

they burned flames around the‐the crystal skull.

But even more extraordinary than the skull itself

was the fact that a legend came with it,

one so amazing that Frederick Mitchell‐Hedges

and his daughter Anna

didn't know whether they should rejoice in their discovery

or be intimidated by the burden of it.

The legend of the crystal skulls.

This was given to F. A. Mitchell‐Hedges

by a medicine woman back in Lubaantun.

Mayans say there are 13 skulls.

And 13 skulls have been placed

in various parts of the world

but possibly on the different energy centers.

And when they're all activated,

all 13 of them, then they say that it's a time

of peace and harmony in the world.

What I think is, all those crystal skulls

have a unique purpose.

So I'm not exactly sure where all the 13 skulls are.

You have to see it to really appreciate

the Mitchell‐Hedges skull.

It's, it's a pretty amazing piece of crystal just in itself,

and then the‐the workmanship that went into it.

How it was made is really a mystery.

Weighing approximately 12 pounds,

the crystal skull is remarkably accurate

in its anatomical detail.

They've tried to analyze how it was cut,

but they do not know, to this day.

The technology is so sophisticated,

it's almost like from another world.

A lot of crystal skulls are actually known as fakes,

because they were produced in the 19th century

using modern machinery,

and microscopes were able to show tool marks.

But the skull in question that we're talking about

is one that they can't find tool marks on it.

So, if any of the crystal skulls are actual pre‐Mayan artifacts,

then the Mitchell‐Hedges skull probably is the one.

If modern technology is unable to replicate

the Mitchell‐Hedges skull, then how was it created?

To find out, teams of scientists were brought in

to conduct a number of tests.

At one point in the 1960s, a IBM engineer

named Marcel Vogel began testing this skull.

What he believed was that it is filled,

uh, like a microchip,

with the history of the world at that time.

So, it's a very old, rough computer, basically.

A quartz crystal computer?

Storing history like a hard drive?

It seems impossible.

But in 2016, researchers at the University of Southampton

were able to use a piece of quartz,

similar to that found in the skull,

to perform just such a function.

What they did is, they used lasers to form dots

with, inside of a quartz crystal,

at different levels within it.

And the pattern that they print is the data,

you know, like zeros and ones

that we use for computers right now.

You could store about 360 terabytes of information.

Even if humanity were to go completely extinct,

this data and this information would last

as long as the Earth would last.

If it's true that the Mitchell‐Hedges skull

could be storing vast amounts of information,

what secrets might it divulge if, or when,

someone figures out how to decrypt it?

As the caretaker of the Mitchell‐Hedges crystal skull,

it's my job carrying on the tradition,

to let it out for people to see and be around and experience it.

Some people, uh, claim the crystal skull

has given them premonitions or visions of the future.

But there are many people who believe

that the Mitchell‐Hedges crystal skull

was actually made in ancient times,

originally as a healing device.

A healing device?

Is it possible that the Skull of Doom

can actually have the power to save lives?

According to one woman, the answer is yes.

A local singer and costume designer

named Phoenix Rising is going about her work day

when, out of the blue,

she's struck with an intense migraine headache.

And although she has a lifelong history of migraines,

for some reason this one feels different.

I went to the emergency room,

I said to the nurse, "Something is going on."

She put me in for a scan, and when she came out,

her face was white as a ghost.

And literally it was three, two, one, and...

paramedics, everybody, boom

IVs, the whole thing

and I was having a brain hemorrhage.

So I spent the next two weeks in ICU.

They were trying to figure out how in the world I was alive,

breathing, being able to see, being able to walk.

After hearing about Phoenix's condition,

a Native American Pueblo elder,

who claimed to have once been a keeper

of the Mitchell‐Hedges skull,

offered to send her a piece of quartz

that had been kept in close proximity

to the crystal skull for some time.

He got me on the phone. His name is John Francis,

and he said, "I'm gonna send you a quartz crystal

"that's been charged from this Mitchell‐Hedges skull.

"I want you to put it in water

"and in the morning I want you to drink it,

"and you're gonna drink it every morning,

and I want you to see what's gonna happen."

At this point I'm trying to recover,

so I'm willing absolutely to do anything.

Although skeptical, Phoenix felt she had nothing to lose

by trying the bizarre remedy.

For two days she followed the medicine man's instructions,

seemingly without results.

And then, on the third day,

something unexpected happened.

I drank the water in the morning,

and probably about five, six‐ish minutes later,

I literally hear

a sound inside that went...

...like a vibration.

This quartz was healing me and repairing my body,

my cells, my water, my DNA.

And when I went back to the hospital,

the doctors were absolutely, yes, 100% shocked

that I was able to drain the blood out

and that I was healing.

Whether Phoenix's shocking recovery

made sense to the doctors or not,

it appeared undeniable

that her condition had improved due to the unique properties

of the crystal skull.

For me, I definitely know that it unlocked something

in my brain that healed me

from a life‐threatening condition that then allowed me

to move into success in my life, to be here.

Could the crystal which forms the Mitchell‐Hedges skull

really possess healing properties?

Or are the skull's mystic powers,

uh, only in the mind?

Perhaps the answer can be found

by examining one of the most valuable gemstones

in the world, and which many believe

is cursed by a kind of dark energy.

Over one million people turn out for the funeral procession

of Elizabeth Bowes‐Lyon, otherwise known

as the Queen Mother of Great Britain's

Queen Elizabeth II.

Atop her casket, in addition

to ceremonial flowers and her coat of arms,

is the crown she wore

at her husband King George VI's coronation in 1937.

Although it is adorned with an estimated 2,800 diamonds,

one in particular attracts more awe and fascination

from the crowd than the rest.

The diamond known as the Koh‐i‐Noor.

That, an imperial crown,

and at its center, in the front,

the most famous diamond in the world,

the Koh‐i‐Noor diamond.

The name means "mountain of light."

Since 1895, it has only been worn by a woman

by Queen Mary,

the Queen Mother's mother‐in‐law,

and then by the Queen Mother herself.

Measuring a massive 105 karats

and estimated to be worth over $1 billion,

the Koh‐i‐Noor is one of the largest cut diamonds

in the world.

And according to historians,

it is also one of the most feared.

The Koh‐i‐Noor diamond,

uh, is one of the, uh, more impressive diamonds

that have ever been unearthed in the history of humankind.

It was unearthed somewhere in India,

which was the main spot that diamonds were unearthed.

But this particular diamond,

it has a very, very long

and sort of tragic and bloody history.

And there are legends attached to this,

where it is held to be accursed,

and bring curses to especially any man who touches this.

Uh, which is why, even in the British royalty,

it remains a part of the, um, crown jewels,

uh, for women only.

A curse on any man who touches it?

But what could give a beautiful stone

such a dark power?

Many believe the answer can be found

by examining the Koh‐i‐Noor's storied history,

which, according to records,

dates all the way back to 14th century India.

The Koh‐i‐Noor really catches your eye.

It's, it's like a hundred‐karat stone.

But what really catches your eye is the history.

The diamond was really first identified

after Mogul Empire invaded what's now northern India.

They settled in Delhi after their conquest

and started collecting gemstones.

Shah Jahan became the ruler in 1626.

He designed this throne called the Peacock Throne

that was in the tradition of biblical throne,

like King Solomon.

It took seven years and cost three to four times more

than it cost to build the Taj Mahal.

And you can understand the immense expense

that this took to create.

And then, at the centerpiece of this,

was the Koh‐i‐Noor at the very top.

In 1739,

after 100 years of peace,

a merciless Persian ruler named Nader Shah invaded India.

Tens of thousands died in his relentless quest for power.

Following his savage victory, Nader Shah seized the Koh‐i‐Noor

and had it placed on his personal armband

as a symbol of his might.

Nader Shah wasn't going

to keep it in the chair.

It was going to be with him at all times.

Now, Nader Shah became a very, very repressive ruler.

And even his allies began to hate him.

And they poisoned him.

After Nader Shah's death, the diamond passed

through various rulers who‐who died in very violent ways.

In the years after, the Koh‐i‐Noor would pass

from one ruler to another,

almost always drenched in the blood of its prior owner,

as if the diamond itself demanded a mortal sacrifice

in order to possess it.

Because of battles, um, it fell from one person to a next,

and started to build up this, uh, legend

that it had some kind of a curse associated with it.

Because as soon as it was in the hands of one ruler,

they would be killed or their kingdom would be lost

and it would be passed on to another.

Now, these rulers were wearing the Koh‐i‐Noor as the armband

to be a protector.

And this is probably where the curse legend came in,

because the diamond certainly wasn't protecting them.

And then, in the 19th century, when the British were in India,

it fell into the hands of the British Army,

and it was said that from that point onwards,

that no male should ever wear this diamond.

But is it actually possible for an inanimate object

to be imbued with so‐called dark energy?

Human beings are unique in that we imbue objects with meaning,

and so if we're bringing a darkness from within ourselves

and projecting it onto that object,

then that's what results in this thing that we call a curse.

Is the Koh‐i‐Noor's ability to make men kill

in order to possess it all just a legend?

Or is there any scientific evidence

to prove that its deadly reputation is justified?

So, diamonds are really good at taking heat away from a source

and transmitting it elsewhere.

If you've never held a large diamond in your life,

and if you first encountered the stone

and you're putting it on your chest or on a necklace,

it would feel much colder than anything that you'd have,

because the heat is being sucked out of your skin

and transmitted through this diamond.

It could be one reason why somebody might feel like

the stone has got some magical properties

or why it might be cursed.

As long as we believe that something bad will happen

if a male heir actually uses this or wears it,

then I think that it needs to be taken seriously.

So, very clearly, no British king will ever wear it.

It has been said that a diamond is forever.

If that's true, could the Koh‐i‐Noor's supposed curse

also be eternal?

Either way, it's doubtful we're going to see a king

wearing the Koh‐i‐Noor any time soon.

Luckily, the British have another method

of coronating their monarchs.

One that also involves a mysterious, sacred stone.

Only, this one doesn't kill kings, it creates them.

Here on St. Andrew's Day,

Scotland's official national holiday,

a long‐awaited ceremony is finally taking place.

The occasion will finally see the return,

after more than 700 years,

of one of Scotland's most important artifacts:

a roughly two‐by‐one‐foot sandstone block,

weighing 335 pounds, called the Stone of Scone.

Or as it's known according to legend, the Stone of Destiny.

The stone itself is just a stone,

uh, somewhat unremarkable‐looking,

and yet the stories of that stone have been so powerful,

uh, reflecting so many wars

and‐and contests between nations for hundreds of years.

And another fascinating aspect of this is that we know

that this stone was religiously important.

The Stone of Scone has really interesting religious roots.

And this goes back to the biblical tradition.

The patriarch Jacob in the Book of Genesis has this dream

at this place called Beit El, literally the "House of God."

He's sleeping, and he uses stones to rest his head on.

There's a tradition that says Jeremiah, a later prophet,

takes this stone to Ireland.

The stone then finds its way to Scotland.

In 840 AD, a nobleman named Kenneth MacAlpin

brought the sandstone slab to the medieval town of Scone.

According to Scottish legend, it was the stone itself

that proclaimed him Kenneth I, the original king of Scotland.

According to the stories, uh, when the rightful ruler

would place their foot on the stone, the stone would speak out

and proclaim them as the rightful ruler of the land.

It's used in Scottish rituals as a way of coronation.

It's this stone that is really key, and the idea here

is that the monarch isn't just selected by the people;

God has chosen the monarch.

For centuries, the Stone of Destiny was considered

not only one of the greatest treasures in all of Scotland

but also a legitimate means

by which someone could rule the country.

Which is why, in 1296,

the English monarch Edward I wanted it,

and the Scottish throne, for himself.

In the 13th century the English come in and conquer.

We always talk about conquerors taking out valuable objects,

and we think of gold, diamonds, jewels.

We don't think about stones.

But what's one of the first things that they take?

Well, they take this stone, the Stone of Destiny.

The reason Edward I took the stone

was to demoralize the Scots.

This was the treasure of Scotland,

this was the center of their power system.

And now he controlled it and had himself crowned on this stone,

and then could declare that he was not only the king

of the English but the king of the Scots as well.

It was placed in Westminster Abbey

beneath a Coronation Chair known as Edward's Seat.

And thereafter,

it was used in the coronations of all English rulers.

Edward basically builds it into a chair,

covers it over with‐with wood,

and it becomes a throne, essentially,

but the idea is that the power comes from this stone,

the Stone of Destiny.

Destiny,

the idea that the course of one's entire life

has been predetermined by a power beyond our understanding.

Back in the Middle Ages, it might make sense

that people would think that greatness

could be bestowed upon someone by a divine force.

But what is it about this unremarkable slab of rock

that still holds such importance today?

We tend to think of these rituals as somehow going back

to older, superstitious people,

but the fact that the British in the 21st century

still will proclaim the monarch on the throne of this stone,

that becomes really important.

Th‐These are not ancient, archaic people

who don't know anything about the world.

These are modern 21st century Brits who are still saying,

you know, that‐that we still need to be able to show

that our queen or our king comes from this divine

that God has chosen this person.

Nearly every British king or queen since the 14th century

has been coronated on the Stone of Destiny.

It was last used in 1953, during the coronation ceremony

of the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II.

But as a growing number of Scottish people

have begun to speculate,

was Elizabeth's coronation legitimate?

Because, as many have come to believe,

the Stone of Destiny may not be the real thing.

A Christmas Day sensation at Westminster Abbey.

The Stone of Destiny, which had been there for some 600 years,

was stolen from the Coronation Chair.

In 1950,

a group of Scottish students actually got into

Westminster Abbey and stole the Stone of Scone

and took it back to the altar

of Arbroath Abbey in Scotland,

and thus giving it into the hands of the Church of Scotland.

The Church of Scotland then gave the stone back to England.

However, there is a strong rumor that the original stone

never reached Westminster,

a‐and that the one that is there was a fake.

However, whether this story is true or not, we may never know.

A fake Stone of Destiny?

It's an interesting claim,

but one that is not without its problems.

Because when the English returned the Stone of Destiny

to the Scots, they did so on one condition.

In 1996, when the stone is returned back to Scotland,

there's an agreement that, "Okay, you have it,

but we'll use it the next time we coronate a monarch."

The point is that we believe in its power.

We believe in its potency.

And I'm sure that when Charles or Wills

are themselves crowned kings of Britain,

that they will themselves use that coronation stone,

and they will believe wholly in its potency.

Could the Stone of Scone really possess a mystic power?

Or is its power merely based on a legend?

A fairy tale meant to inspire awe

in the weak‐minded.

Well, believe it or not, some ancient legends

are based on fact, much like the stone

located in an Italian chapel that some believe

contains a power from heaven.

Near the rustic town of Chiusdino

stands the haunting ruins of San Galgano Abbey.

Constructed around 1220 AD to memorialize

the Catholic saint Galgano Guidotti,

the abbey's once proud roof has decayed,

leaving its soaring cathedral exposed to the ravages of time.

But nearby, inside a round mausoleum,

originally built to entomb St. Galgano,

is a sacred artifact so remarkable

that it has been encased beneath a protective shell:

the sword in the stone.

So, many people are aware of the Arthurian legend,

you know, the sword in the stone.

But this is a story that comes much earlier.

You can go to this chapel in Italy

and see this sword that's stuck in the middle of this stone.

And you're thinking how did that sword get there?

For centuries, visitors have struggled

with the same question:

how did a medieval sword,

which were known to be brittle and often break easily

on the battlefield,

come to be driven nearly up to its hilt

in solid rock?

According to local legends,

St. Galgano had some divine help.

Galgano was said to have been a ruthless character.

He started receiving visions of the archangel Michael,

and these visions told him to change his ways,

become a more pious character,

and he ignored them until he was passing this local landmark

known as Montesiepi.

In the story, Galgano is on his horse,

and the horse takes him up to the top of this hill.

And the horse refuses to go any further.

Michael appears to him and tells him

that he is to serve the church and to renounce his wealth.

Galgano basically says, "It's just as easy for me

"to renounce my wealth as it is for my sword

to go into this stone."

At this point, he got out his sword...

and stuck it down into the rock.

And it penetrated through the rock, it was said,

like a knife going through butter.

And thereafter it remained stuck within the rock,

like King Arthur's Excalibur.

Legends of both King Arthur and St. Galgano

have long been considered myths illustrating the power

of the divine, rather than actual historical accounts.

But unlike Excalibur, this sword in the stone

is one that can be seen.

In fact, it's been scientifically proven

to be an authentic medieval blade.

What's interesting is that, in the 21st century,

they did some testing on the sword

and realized that, no, this is actually a sword

from the 12th century,

that the material is actually 12th century.

So whether the thing actually happened or not,

it's certainly the‐the pieces are of the time.

Even though it appears the San Galgano sword

is indeed authentic,

there's one question that remains unanswered.

Because, despite our advanced technology and understanding,

we still don't know how this simple metal blade

was able to be driven so perfectly into stone.

It's pretty hard to believe that this piece of metal

could be driven into a stone.

When I'm out mineral collecting, I commonly take my rock spike,

I'll take a hammer, and I will drive that spike into stone.

When I'm hammering, I'm pounding and pounding and pounding,

and the metal is deforming

every time I strike it with the hammer.

Now, to get a sword into the stone,

but on one motion without any other deformation

of the sword taking place, without any deformation

of the rock taking place...

that would be absolutely miraculous.

To become a saint, you have to have

miracles that are tested.

In Galgano's case,

this is the, the miracle.

The rock opens, it accepts this sword.

And so you have the sword in this stone.

Galgano, just a few years after his death,

is made a saint.

I think, for religious people, miracles precisely are that.

They're miraculous. There is no explanation for this

that's scientific, that's rational.

You can say that if you take this sword and hit this rock

a million times, on one of those tries

you might go through.

From the point of view of the religious,

that's not the argument.

The argument is that this is miraculous.

This is completely outside our understanding

of how the world normally is.

This is an item of faith.

And items of faith are something

that affects us deeply,

affects us within our human consciousness.

It's something that we either believe in or we don't.

And if we do believe it, it gives it power,

it gives it energy, and that's what's important here.

And around this strange monument

was built a round church and a chapel.

And even today, this is the site of pilgrimages.

People come from all over Italy, you know, to pay their respects

to this saint, and obviously to God as well.

Whether or not the Sword of San Galgano

found its way into the stone through divine intervention

or something more mundane,

to millions of faithful it remains an enduring symbol

of the power of miracles.

But it's one thing to see a symbol of miracles...

...it's quite another when you're actually able

to witness one firsthand.

Crowds gather as workers prepare to transport

one of the largest monolithic statues in the world.

23 feet tall and weighing 160 tons,

the massive idol dates back over a thousand years.

And although workers are extremely careful

with their preparations as they load it onto the trucks

that will carry it, there's palpable tension in the air.

Because this is no ordinary statue

but one of the mighty Aztec god Tlaloc.

The Aztec religious system had a vast number of gods.

There were water gods and goddesses.

There were sky gods and goddesses.

Fire divinities and earth divinities.

One particularly important sacred god was Tlaloc,

a fertility divinity associated with weather...

...and thunder and lightning.

So it is feared, but it is also greatly revered

because life comes from this.

The life‐giving waters of the rain come from Tlaloc.

More than 25,000 people eagerly wait into the night

to welcome Tlaloc to his new home in Mexico City

after his long journey.

But as the trucks carrying the hulking statue finally arrive,

the crowd isn't expecting what would arrive along with him.

As this statue was erected...

...suddenly the heavens opened up,

and for several days there was intense rain

and thunderstorms.

Now, this was done in the summer months when,

in theory, there should be very little rain at all.

This was so uncharacteristic for this time of year.

Rain during the dry season?

Most people would see such an occurrence

as nothing more than a coincidence.

But some believe the rain was actually a good omen

sent by Tlaloc in response to the warm welcome he received

from the Mexican people.

Certainly a lot of people believe that these events

for example, the downpour

following the arrival of Tlaloc

are connected.

And perhaps they're connected because of the divine force.

Or perhaps it's actually the believers' belief

and their faith that is helping to shape these events.

So, certainly faith is powerful.

The fact is that it doesn't really matter,

because it's about belief.

If people believe strongly enough in an object,

that can create a reality.

An ancient god of rain that triggers a massive thunderstorm?

Just a coincidence, right?

Or was there something more mysterious at work?

Well, how about the Koh‐i‐Noor diamond?

Would you wear it? Huh?

Or are you among those who believe that stones really can

possess special powers?

Powers that for now keep them very much among

the unexplained.

Subtitled by Diego Moraes www.oakisland.tk