All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S09E16.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The images still

provoke stunned disbelief.

As investigators continue
the search for answers,

conspiracy buffs
continue to push

scenarios of military
involvement and high level

cover up.

What happened to TWA Flight 800?

It was a young
family's dream house

that turned into a
nightmare of ghostly turmoil

and demonic mayhem.

Can a team of high
tech ghostbusters

find out what's
behind the chaos?

Don't miss this hair-raising
tour of a haunted house.

From Ancient Greece
to TV's "Xena,"

the mythic exploits of
fearless women warriors

have captivated
countless generations.

But were the Amazons
more than just a legend?

Recent discoveries in Russia
may provide a surprising answer.

In 1992, doctors told
Candy Hoerner's family

to prepare for the worst.

But as she slipped
into a coma, Candy

says she was visited by
an extraordinary vision

of love, a vision
that brought her back

from the brink of death.

Join me for these
intriguing case.

Perhaps you may be able
to solve one of tonight's

unsolved mysteries.

[theme music]

For most of us, haunted
houses are the places

we visit on Halloween.

We scream, we jump, we
laugh, and we go home.

But for 20 years, a family in
a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio,

has had to deal
with a daunting fact

that, for them, home
is a haunted house.

- Wait, wait, wait, OK.
- Got it?

Yeah.

Yeah, you first.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In
1972, a newly married couple,

we'll call them
Joe and Mary Smith,

moved into what they thought
was their dream home.

But the dream didn't last long.

By the time Mary was pregnant
with their first child,

she got her first warning
something was seriously wrong.

[footsteps]

[crash]

On a night when
Mary was all alone,

she heard a commotion
start up in the attic.

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER):
It really worried me

because it sounded
much more than a mouse,

or a raccoon, or something.

Sort of like grating noises
and things being dragged,

so to speak.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary called her father,

a Cleveland police detective.

He approached the attic with
gun drawn, expecting a burglar.

Sweetheart.

Come take a look at this.

Oh my god.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
attic was a complete mess--

blankets pulled out, boxes
of Christmas ornaments

dumped, childhood
trinkets broken.

There was no sign
of a human culprit,

and the attic was supposed to
be sealed tight against animals.

The thought ran
through my mind

that no animal could possibly
have done that kind of chaos.

It wasn't probable.

And at that point,
I just shivered

with fear, because something was
there that I didn't know about.

And I didn't particularly
care for that feeling at all.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Hints of something sinister

in the house never stopped.

Door knobs turned
of their own accord,

and the strange
noises continued.

Mary soon learned the house
had a disturbing past.

Now we've had a nice walk.

No, no, no, we hold
hands until we get back.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In the 1940s,

previous owners had reportedly
adopted a little boy.

One day, the child
mysteriously vanished.

Even now, no one knows
what happened to him.

Over the years,
Mary couldn't help

but suspect that that boy might
be connected to the hauntings.

One night, when her own
son was almost the same age

as the long lost
child, Mary says he let

out a blood-curdling scream.

CHILD: Mommy!

Honey.

What's wrong, baby?

Honey, what's wrong?

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER):
It just was

a very tormented type of a cry.

That's what I heard in his
voice, was that horrible fear.

What's wrong?

What do you see, honey?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary had no idea

what had so traumatized
her son until he

visited his grandmother
a few weeks later.

I'll be in the
kitchen if you need me.

Grandma!

What is it?

No!

I wanna go home.

Well, why, honey?

And I thought, what happened?

He says, Grandma,
I wanna go home.

I'm never coming
back here again.

I said, why?

Why aren't you coming back?

He says, no, no,
a devil, a devil.

I thought, what is
he talking about?

A what?

A devil.

What are you saying?

A devil.

Devil?

Devil.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The child

was pointing at a religious
picture of St. Michael

the Archangel trampling
Satan underfoot.

The little boy later told his
mother it was the same devil

he had seen in his bedroom.

I'll take the
picture down, OK?

[baby crying]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Life in Mary's house

became a ride on a
surreal roller coaster,

especially when she
realized the hauntings

were not always malevolent.

Shortly after Mary's
second child was born,

he developed a life-threatening
case of jaundice.

The condition required surgery.

The night before the operation,
Mary got down on her knees

and prayed.

Dear Lord, I pray
to you tonight.

I am grateful for all you
have given me, but, please--

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER):
And much to my surprise,

as I was kneeling
there praying, I

saw this most beautiful white
light that just engulfed

your whole inner being with just
a soothing, real soothing peace

that everything
will be all right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary says the light was coming

directly from the baby's room.

[baby cooing]

Dear.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary was astonished.

All traces of
jaundice seemed gone.

The next morning,
blood tests confirmed

the baby boy was cured.

Oh my god, it's gone.

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER):
I think it's

an evil spirit in our house, but
I also think there's a guardian

angel looking over us.

And I think that there
is a war between the good

and the evil going
on, is my explanation.

We're caught right
in the middle.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
Mary's third son was five,

he had a different
kind of encounter

with the spirits of the house.

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER): And he
stared, and blinked his eyes,

and stared again,
and he still saw it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
During the next several years,

the boy suffered
severe stomach pains.

Doctors couldn't find
a cause or a cure.

Eventually, like the
man on the stairs,

the pains just disappeared.

I think it's going to come
down to be just plain being

it's not unexplainable.

I can say that the medications
that I've used for him have

helped ameliorate his
symptoms and maybe

have helped a little bit of
the irritation that was there.

But as far as being
able to cure and taking

responsible for curing his
problem, I cannot do that.

[dog barking]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Mary
and her husband considered

moving many times, but they had
invested a good deal of money

and effort in the
house, and they

didn't want to risk losing it.

Finally, in 1993,
Mary discovered

what she now believes is
the key to the house's

unsettling history.

Rumor had it that the little
boy who once lived there had,

in fact, died under
mysterious circumstances

and was actually buried
somewhere on the property.

It just was creepy.

I perhaps thought there
might be a connection.

In fact, it wasn't a might be.

I was very concerned that there
probably was a connection.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary went to bed that night,

believing that the unhappy
fate of the little boy

had somehow tainted
her house with evil.

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER): I
felt an electrical shock

going through my whole body.

The shocks were so strong
that I felt as though I

was welded to that bed.

I thought I was going
to die in that bed,

actually, because I
couldn't escape it.

And I didn't know if there
were going to be more shocks.

And then the radio
started playing,

which made it even worse.

It made it more bizarre.

[radio fading in and out]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Downstairs,

Mary's second son,
then a teenager,

had just finished showering.

He noticed the dryer had
inexplicably gone on by itself

and could not be turned off.

MARY SMITH (VOICEOVER): And
I attribute it to the spirit

that I believe
exists in our home

was so angry that
the pieces finally

fit that it just went crazy.

When most people think
of a haunted house,

they think of
spirits of the dead.

But in most cases, houses
that are haunted genuinely

appear to be haunted by some
type of an energy force.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Dr. Andrew Nichols

is a parapsychologist,
a ghostbuster

who hunts unexplained phenomena
with the latest in technology.

At the request of "Unsolved
Mysteries," Dr. Nichols,

his colleague Russ
McCarty, and another

well-known parapsychologist,
Dr. William Roll,

investigated Mary's home.

This house really has
quite a bit of activity.

Boxes moved.

ANDREW NICHOLS (VOICEOVER): We
conducted a series of energy

field scans throughout
the house to try

to establish a baseline
energy field reading--

electromagnetic,
electric, magnetic fields,

microwave fields--

to try to determine if there
were any unusual energy

fields present in the house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In one of the bedrooms,

the parapsychologist
found an unusually strong

electromagnetic field
surrounding a dresser

left behind by previous owners.

One of the suggestions
that I made to the family

was that they
remove the dresser,

at least from the bedroom,
and preferably from the house

temporarily, and see
if it has an effect

on the haunting phenomena
that they're experiencing.

In many cases, we find
that that's the case.

If a person has acquired
a piece, an antique,

and suddenly, haunting
phenomena starts up,

it may be actually associated
with that piece of furniture.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The parapsychologist

found even stronger
readings in the basement

where an abandoned
well ran down 120 feet

to an underground lake.

ANDREW NICHOLS
(VOICEOVER): We find

many houses that are haunted
are located over sources

of underground water.

And so there does seem
to be a correlation.

This may conduct some
form of psychic energy.

It may conduct some
form of natural

Earth-based magnetic
fields that stimulates

a person's psychic abilities.

The well pipe is
located directly

under the bedroom of
the primary witness,

so it's possible that
she is being exposed

to these natural Earth-generated
magnetic and electrical fields

on a regular basis.

People ask us frequently,
do we believe in ghosts?

And the answer is yes,
there is no question

that people experience ghosts.

But what are they?

Are they actually
spirits of the dead?

Are they some type of entities
from another dimension?

Or are they some strange
artifact of the human psyche?

Unfortunately, those are
questions which, for now,

remain an unsolved mystery.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Coming up, did a missile cause

the tragedy of TWA Flight 800?

Could the US Navy be involved?

A special report
on the controversy

that refuses to go away.

But first, when an undercover
drug operation goes bad,

a federal agent is gunned down.

[clinking glass]

I'd like to propose a toast.

To Richard Fass, best agent
this side of the Mississippi.

Here, here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
June 30, 1994,

was a red letter day for drug
enforcement agent Richard Fass.

I just want to say that
I'm really proud to work

with all of you guys.

Honesty, I mean, you
guys are the best team

of agents I ever worked with.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After more than eight years

of dangerous,
undercover work, he was

finally leaving the streets.

Fass was being promoted to
an administrative position.

Fass' partner, Michael Pelonero.

But I think Richard
was in a position

where he was ready to
advance his career.

This is really a
positive stepping stone

in an agent's career.

We're gonna miss you, buddy.

Thank you, boss.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The lunch celebration

ended at 2:00 PM, but Richard
Fass had one last piece

of unfinished business.

Late that afternoon,
Agents Fass and Pelonero

drove to an
automotive repair shop

just outside of
Phoenix, Arizona.

They were posing as drug buyers
and carrying $160,000 in cash.

It was Richard Fass' last
undercover assignment.

The previous day, he had
set up a deal with this man,

Augustin Vasquez Mendoza.

Mendoza had agreed to sell him
22 pounds of methamphetamine,

or speed.

Mendoza was known to agents
Fass and Pelonero as Fernando.

6:25 PM.

Pelonero stays in the truck
while Fass enters the garage.

The man in the dark blue
shirt is a confidential police

informant.

The other man is Juan Vasquez,
an associate of Fernando's.

Fernando himself is not present.

[speaking spanish]

The operation
proceeds as expected.

Vasquez wants to see the cash.

In the back of the
garage, two more men wait.

On the left, a second
police informant.

On the right, a man named
Rafael Rubio, another

associate of Fernando's.

Who's this?

It's my brother-in-law.

How you doing?

How's it going?

Let me see.

He looked into the
duffel bag and didn't touch

it or anything, but apparently,
he was satisfied that there

was, in fact, $160,000 there.

Yeah, we got a deal.

Bueno.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 6:30.

Vasquez apparently calls
Fernando to confirm

that the buy is good.

[speaking spanish]

Fass waits outside until Agent
Pelonero repositions the truck.

6:32.

Pelonero puts backup
units on alert.

The deal is going down.

6:35.

A double cross.

[speaking spanish]

Vasquez and Rubio want
the drugs and the cash.

Richard told the individual
that if he wanted the money,

that he didn't have to do
this, that he had kids,

he had a family, that he was
just doing this for profit,

and that he didn't have
to do anything wrong,

that anything he
wanted, he could have.

One individual told the
other one to handcuff

Richard and the two informants.

I believe that Richard saw
death staring him in the face,

and he reacted.

[gunshots]

[speaking spanish]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Rubio has been shot once.

He and Vasquez flee in
opposite directions.

All units, it's gone to hell.

It's a rip-off.

It's a rip-off.

I'm going on.

On our way.

It was very chaotic
at that point.

But when I saw the vehicle
leaving, I tried to ram it,

and I missed it.

I was on the radio all
this time, and I just--

I put out a message that that
vehicle needs to be stopped.

He's been hit.

Fass's been hit.
- Where is he?

He's in there.

Let's go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
With backup units

in pursuit of the suspects,
Pelonero rushes inside.

Oh, no.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Richard Fass has been shot five

times at point-blank range.

He will be dead within an hour.

[crash]

6:41.

Drug enforcement agents in
high speed pursuit of Rubio.

MICHAEL PELONERO (VOICEOVER):
When he fled in the vehicle,

it was rush hour traffic.

He was on both sides, weaving
in and out of traffic.

And he was making every
attempt possible to avoid

being captured.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): 6:45 PM.

Vasquez enters an alleyway
a few hundred feet

from the crime scene.

6:52.

Three miles away, the
agents close in on Rubio.

Freeze, punk!

Freeze!

Out of the car!

Give me a reason.

Get up here.

Get down.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
By 7:15, it's all over.

Later, Rafael Rubio
and Juan Vasquez

are booked on charges
of first degree murder.

They are both convicted and
sentenced to life in prison.

However, Augustin Vasquez
Mendoza is still on the run.

He has also been charged
with first degree murder.

Authorities believe he
masterminded the rip-off.

Robbery was their motive
from the very onset.

I don't think that there
was ever any intent

to do a dope deal with
us, that they knew

that the money was outside.

Apparently, these people
did not want to negotiate.

They had a plan, and no matter
what Richard did or said

was going to deviate them.

And at that particular
point in time,

I believe that Richard realized
that he had to do something

to protect not only his life,
but the life of other people

as well.

[gunshot]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Richard Fass died a hero's

death at the age of 37.

He was honored with a
DEA's Award of Valor.

He left behind a wife
and four children.

I lost my best friend.

I miss him dearly.

Richard will always
be in my heart.

Nothing can ever take those
memories and him away from me.

But our main intention
now is to seek

this fugitive that's out there.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next.

Every week, millions of
fans thrill to the feats

of Xena, the Warrior Princess.

But did a legendary race of
Amazon women ever truly exist?

They call them Amazons, strong,
fearless women like TV's Xena.

Ruthless warriors
who dominated men.

Contrary to popular belief,
the legend of the Amazons

did not originate
in South America,

but in Ancient Greece,
where the historian

Herodotus first immortalized
their mythic deeds

in the 5th century BC.

Rumor had it Amazons
were so warlike

that they could not marry
until they had first

killed an enemy in battle.

Even their name had
awesome implications.

In Greek, "Amazon" apparently
meant "without one breast."

The women supposedly
cut away their own flesh

to make it easier to
shoot a bow and arrow.

The Greeks used the Amazons
as the antithesis of what

a Greek woman should be.

The Greek woman should stay at
home, take care of the kids,

take care of the house.

And the Amazon went out
and fought the Greeks.

And so therefore, she
got what was coming

to her when she was killed.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For centuries, people

assumed the tales of
wild Amazon warriors

were merely fiction,
an ancient myth created

to enhance the glory of Greece.

Now, 2,500 years later,
archaeological digs

on the windswept
Russian steppes have

revealed a long buried secret--

a tribe of nomadic
women warriors,

perhaps real-life Amazons, once
ruled these desolate plains.

The goal is if
we can determine

any specific ethnicity from
these particular tribes.

They're Indo-European, but
there may be subtle differences.

There are subtle difference.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jeannine Davis-Kimball

and a team of American
and Russian archaeologists

have spent four years
excavating Iron Age burial

mounds in Southern Russia
that date from the time

of Herodotus' writings.

Traditional scholars
believe early nomads

were male-dominated tribes.

The men were the leaders,
the warriors, the priests.

But these graves
tell a new story.

We never think of women in the
context of a nomadic society.

It's not ever been interpreted
from that point of view.

So here we are,
out in the Steppes,

we're excavating
nomads, early nomads.

And suddenly, we have
women with weapons.

Women who are actually
controlling wealth, because

of the wealth in their burials.

We have a different
concept entirely

of what we think of nomads.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The burial

mounds contain the graves
of both men and women.

Perhaps the most
intriguing remains

were those of a young girl,
no more than 14 years old.

She was only as tall as
an average woman today,

but the artifacts
buried with her prove

she was no ordinary teenager.

JEANNINE DAVIS
KIMBALL (VOICEOVER):

She had a quiver by
her side that had a lot

of bronze arrowheads in it.

She had a dagger
on the other side.

And then there was this large
boar's tusk that was drilled,

and it was probably suspended
around her waist from a cord.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Another woman

was found with a
bronze arrowhead still

embedded in her
body cavity, a sign

that she likely died in battle.

But these women were
more than warriors.

The wide variety of ritual
artifacts found in the graves

showed a society where
the power of a woman

was often greater
than that of a man.

The graves of the male nomads
also revealed surprises.

We have a lesser
variety of status

among the male population than
among the female population.

There's guys that fight,
and there's guys that don't.

And we even have males that
have a child buried with them.

And this is extremely unusual,
because we have no females

with a child buried with them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But
who were these warrior women?

Are they the archetypes
for the Amazons?

Their matriarchal
culture is gone,

overrun 2,000 years
ago by invading

Mongols, Huns, and Visigoths.

Today, only their
bones bear witness.

We've scientifically
proven that there were

women warriors, number one.

Number two, we also now realize
that women have not always

been at the bottom
of the pit, and can

control their own lives,
and be like a woman warrior.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The legend of the Amazon

still echoes.

In South America, the
majestic Amazon River

is named after them.

In the United States,
California takes its name

from an Amazon queen, Khalifah.

And on television, the
mythic power of warrior women

continues to
fascinate the world.

The discovery in Russia
isn't definitive proof

that Amazons were
real, but it does raise

tantalizing possibilities.

Who knows what the next
excavation will reveal.

Perhaps someday, archaeologists
will discover evidence

of other ancient fables--

the true root of Ulysses'
odyssey, the calcified bones

of the cyclops, or the
shattered marble columns

of the lost city of Atlantis.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When we return,

a woman on the brink of death,
an extraordinary vision,

a breathtaking recovery
that her doctor

says can only be a miracle.

And later, ever since the
crash of TWA Flight 800,

the investigation
has been shadowed

by disturbing rumors of
conspiracy and government

cover up.

According to all the
medical literature,

Candy Gaither Hoerner
should have died in 1992.

She is convinced
she is alive today

because her sister Roxy
reached out to save her life.

If so, it's nothing
less than amazing.

Roxy had been dead for 13 years.

In October of
1992, Candy Hoerner

was fighting a critical
run in an eight-year battle

against leukemia, a battle
no one expected her to win.

Please, don't give up.

Every day, I felt I was
getting worse, that I didn't--

I didn't really know if I
was going to make it or not.

Keep fighting, sweetheart.

When I started slipping into
my coma, I thought about Roxy.

I thought about seeing
her in her hospital bed.

I thought about, Mom and
Dad are going to have

to go through this again.

I thought a lot about that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Candy
and Roxy were the two oldest

in a family of six children.

They were the only girls,
born just 13 months apart.

They and their four brothers
grew up in a small farming

community in Illinois.

Like most youngsters,
the sisters often

fought as much as they played.

But by the time they were
both adults and young mothers,

Candy and Roxy had formed
a deep and permanent bond.

So fast last night.

Thank you so much for the warm--

Roxy and I got real close.

Well, she became a mother
first, and then I did.

So I asked her advice,
and she gave it to me,

and we started getting along
really, really well then.

She's in an auto accident.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then on February 27, 1979,

Roxy was rushed to the hospital.

Roxy.

Roxy, honey.

Honey, it's Mom and Dad.

Hi, honey.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Roxy had

suffered serious head injuries
after being thrown from a Jeep.

She was awake and talking, but
her condition was critical.

By the time Candy arrived,
Roxy had slipped into a coma.

I thought that
she would be fine.

I thought she would wake
up, and we'd go home,

and everything would be fine.

That's what I thought.

I love you, Roxy.

I know I've never said
those words before, but I--

I hope you've always known that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Candy never knew

whether Roxy heard her words.

Two days later, Roxy died.

She was 22 years old.

It was really hard.

For a long time, I just--

I still thought she was
just gone for a while.

She'd be back.

It took a long time
for me to realize

that she was really gone gone.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): 13 years

later, Candy herself was lying
in a hospital, desperately ill.

After seven years in remission,
her cancer had revived,

more virulent than ever.

The only hope was a
bone marrow transplant.

At first, the transplant
seemed to be a success.

But five days later, Candy's
body began to shut down,

her liver failed, and she
started sinking into a coma.

Her family had
been very dedicated

and continuously supporting
her, talking to her,

and praying for her.

But there came a time when I
felt that I needed to prepare

them for her possible death.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): What
Candy needed was a miracle,

and she believes she got one.

At some point during
her ordeal, Candy

says she felt a gentle
touch upon her hand

and awoke to see a young
woman bathed in white light.

Roxy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
It was Roxy, exactly

as she had appeared in life.

Candy, I love you, but
you can't come with me now.

Mom and Dad need you here.

CANDY HOERNER (VOICEOVER):
I was so glad to see her.

You need to stay.

CANDY HOERNER (VOICEOVER):
It had been so long.

I can't.

I'm too tired, and
it hurts too much.

Mom and Dad already lost me.

They couldn't stand
to lose you too.

But I don't think I can
take the pain any longer.

You have to stay here.

You know why?

Because you're going to
be a grandmother someday.

Really?

I promise you.

And I'm going to be
watching over you, always.

CANDY HOERNER (VOICEOVER):
At first, I thought

Roxy's visit was a dream.

But then the more
I thought about it,

I thought, I was
so close to death,

and I actually believe
that she did visit me,

and she did give me
the strength to fight.

I felt cold one day.

I don't know why.

I just felt real cold.

And I just opened my eyes,
and there was my husband

and my dad, standing there.

What's going on?

You're gonna be
all right, honey.

You're gonna be all right.

They were smiling.

I knew something
good had happened,

I just wasn't sure what.

I think all physicians
have cases in which they

cannot explain the outcome.

However, in my experience
as a physician,

this is truly the
most amazing case,

and I feel it qualifies,
truly, as a medical miracle.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Two weeks later, Candy

was released from the hospital.

Two years later, Roxy's
prediction came true.

Candy's daughter had
a baby girl, Emmy.

CANDY HOERNER
(VOICEOVER): Someday,

when my granddaughter
grows up, I'm going

to tell her all about Roxy.

Mom and Dad already lost me.

CANDY HOERNER (VOICEOVER):
I figure people can believe

what they want to
believe, but I know

that she was there with me.

She was with me.

I don't know how, but I do
know that she was there,

and I did talk to her,
and she did talk to me.

Me and Roxy had such a bond.

I loved her so much.

I never got to tell
her that I loved her.

And I feel like she
came back to tell me,

hey, I know you love
me, and I love you too.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Next, what caused

the crash of TWA Flight 800?

Some conspiracy buffs are
adamant that a missile

fired by our own military
brought the plane down.

Investigators insist the charges
are baseless and irresponsible.

It was the summer
of 1988, tensions

were running high between
the United States and Iran.

The USS Vincennes was
patrolling the Persian Gulf.

This footage was shot
aboard the ship on July 3rd.

[gunfire]

That morning, the
Vincennes, believing

it was about to
be attacked, fired

two surface-to-air missiles
at an unidentified aircraft.

We had him.

That was a dead-on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The crew's jubilance

soon turned to horror.

The target turned out to be
an Iranian passenger plane,

carrying 290 innocent civilians.

It was a terrible
tragedy, but it

did occur in what
was essentially

considered a war zone.

Certainly, it could never
happen in peacetime.

Certainly, it could
never happen here.

Or could it?

July 17, 1996.

TWA Flight 800 crashed
into the Atlantic

off the coast of
Long Island, killing

230 passengers and crew.

I have found some people
who have other information--

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Four months

later, Pierre
Salinger, former press

secretary to President
John Kennedy,

made a stunning allegation.

He claimed TWA 800 had been
shot down by our own Navy

and that the Navy was
attempting to conceal the truth.

It's the rumor that
refuses to go away.

But is such a scenario
even possible?

And if it did happen, why
have hundreds of people

not said a word?

Today, authorities are
still trying to determine

what caused the crash.

The longer it takes, the
greater the pain for those

who lost family and friends,
and the more whispered innuendo

turns into public speculation.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The investigation has

been painstaking and tedious.

Since the night of the
tragedy, tons of debris

have been scraped off the
ocean floor in an attempt

to piece the plane
back together.

Officials have narrowed down the
cause to three possibilities--

a bomb, mechanical malfunction,
or a shoulder-launched

terrorist missile.

The missile scenario
is largely supported

by more than 30 credible
eyewitness accounts

of an unusual streak of
light seen in the sky

just before the explosion.

However, a physicist and
missile expert, Bud Sewell,

says those accounts
could just as likely

support a bomb scenario.

A terrorist bomb,
if properly designed,

would indeed give you a
very bright, luminous streak

out from the aircraft.

So that it would be
very possible to have

a design which could produce
what the eyewitnesses said

they saw.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But eyewitness testimony,

no matter how credible,
cannot stand alone.

As far as anyone knew, there
was no physical evidence

of a missile hit, much less
one fired by the US Navy.

Unless you believe
Pierre Salinger.

And despite Navy statements
that they had nothing

to do with the TWA 800 crash,
we have strong evidence

that they are wrong.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Just last month,

Salinger was back again.

At a press conference in
Paris, he produced still

frames of radar
sweeps that he claimed

were recorded in the tower
of New York's Kennedy Airport

on the night of the tragedy.

According to "Paris Match"
magazine, TWA Flight 800

is represented by this
written designation.

Circled on the right is a
Navy plane, a P-3 Orion.

Circled in the center
is US Air Flight 217.

The object circled on
the left is unidentified.

The conspiracy
camp believes it is

a Navy surface-to-air missile.

In this frame,
reportedly recorded

a second before the crash,
the unidentified object

has disappeared.

The P-3 Orion, TWA
800, and US Air 217

are all in close proximity, but
flying at different altitudes.

In later frames, the
TWA 800 designation

has vanished from the scope.

But if the plane was
brought down by a missile,

then where is the evidence?

The government has said they
found nothing conclusive

to indicate a missile hit.

Pierre Salinger disagrees.

Moreover, we have
discovered that certain bodies

on the plane were
crushed by something

which went through the plane--

the missile.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Let us suppose

for the sake of argument that
the conspiracists are right.

There is some
circumstantial evidence

to support their claims.

The Navy has admitted that
military exercises were

being conducted
off the Long Island

coast the night of the crash.

In fact, TWA 800 diverted
from its original flight path

to avoid a restricted area.

The Navy would
almost certainly

try to conduct exercises
where they're not going

to get in the way of shipping.

And they don't really
fire many missiles

because the darn things
cost a million dollars each.

So they really
don't do exercises.

They assume that if they get
a radar lock-on with the ship,

they will get a hit.

And they just can't afford
to shoot that many missiles.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): But suppose

the Navy did shoot a
live missile that night,

either accidentally
or intentionally, then

where could it have come from?

According to the
Navy, the USS Normandy

was the only ship with standard
missile capability in the area.

The Normandy was reportedly
on maneuvers in the Atlantic,

180 miles south
of the crash site.

The main problem is
that the maximum range of

a standard missile is 80 miles.

And the Normandy was
alleged to be 180

miles away from the incident.

So it just doesn't make sense.

If a missile ship had been
within the 80 mile radius

to shoot it, the
eyewitnesses would

have seen a tremendous
flash of light,

because the initial launch
of a standard missile

essentially lights
up the night sky.

But regardless
of what they say,

we have now reached
a point where

we are totally sure that
what we are saying is true.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Assume again that the conspiracy

theorists are right, and the
Normandy or some other ship

was, in fact, within
range and did accidentally

shoot down the airliner.

Is it conceivable that the
Navy brass could successfully

engineer a cover up?

If it were a
friendly fire incident,

it would take approximately
one day for everybody

in the country to know it.

You had, what?

Several hundred people on
that ship, on the Normandy.

How can you cover anything up?

Sailors would write home
to their sweethearts

or their parents and
say, my god, we did this.

You couldn't.

There's no way you
could cover it up,

because sailors love to talk.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But the conspiracy camp

points out that the Navy has
been less than forthcoming

in the past.

When the Vincennes shot down
the Iranian airliner in 1988,

Navy officials initially
tried to justify the action

with false information.

They claimed the plane had
been emitting military codes.

They have since admitted
that this was not true.

Could the same thing have
happened with TWA 800?

I did contact a higher
ranking person in the Navy,

and for what it's worth, the
Navy, after this incident,

did a thorough inventory.

I mean, they should with things
that cost a million dollars.

And they can account
for every ordinant

of missile in the Atlantic
fleet by serial number.

Of course, the doubters would
say, sure, that's certainly

what they'd say.

But I have known this person
that I talked to for 40 years,

and I've found very reliable.

As you know, in the press
yesterday and this morning,

the FBI has been renewing
its attack on us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Pierre Salinger

and his associates
continue to insist

that the government is lying.

But critics of the
conspiracy theory

are quick to point out that a
cover up would have to include

not just hundreds
of Navy personnel,

but also hundreds of
civilians involved

with the investigation.

[music playing]

Join me next time for
another compelling hour

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]