Original subtitles

Wildman: A waterfall of blood.

They were baffled. No one knew what this was.

Wildman: A haunted tale of sorcery.

These people were convinced that they had seen a ghost.

Wildman: And a magic stone to sail the sea.

Green: This seems like a fantastical object

ripped from "game of thrones."

wildman: But first, an out-of-this-world discovery.

Anderson: They're some of the best photos

that have ever been taken of a ufo that up close.

Wildman: Amazing mysteries,

bizarre phenomena, and chilling secrets.

I'm don wildman.

Join me on a journey beyond the unknown.

♪♪

roswell, new mexico, became famous in 1947,

when rumors surfaced that an unidentified flying object

had crashed just outside of town.

It sparked a host of wild theories

that aliens had landed on earth.

♪♪

today this out-of-this-world reputation is celebrated

at the international ufo museum and research center.

♪♪

here, tucked among metal fragments

from the alleged 1947 crash site

and artistic models of extraterrestrial life-forms

is a mysterious set of documents marked classified.

Anderson: The artifact contains magazines,

photographs, and articles, all in a brown folder.

The most prominent piece is actually the photograph

of an unidentified flying object floating in the night sky.

♪♪

wildman: The images in this file

recall a mind-bending series of events

that could prove the existence of extraterrestrial life.

This is one of the strangest close-encounter stories ever.

♪♪

wildman: November 1987, gulf breeze, florida.

Duane cook is the editor of the gulf breeze sentinel,

a newspaper that charts everyday life in this small coastal town.

Anderson: The gulf breeze sentinel

basically runs stories like the latest football game winnings,

the council meetings, and changes on the bus service.

♪♪

wildman: But one evening,

something happens that will alter life

in gulf breeze forever.

On November 17th,

a man named ed walters walks into the sentinel's office

and makes an extraordinary claim.

Walters says that about a week earlier,

he saw a strange, disk-like object hovering above his home.

He grabbed his camera and snapped five pictures.

♪♪

one of those prints is on display

at the international ufo museum and research center.

Walters is convinced the unidentified flying object

was in fact an alien spacecraft.

Now he wants duane cook to publish the photos

in the sentinel.

At first, cook thinks walters is making the story up.

But when he looks at the images, he starts to wonder.

Anderson: He's in complete awe

because they're some of the best photos

that have ever been taken of a ufo that up close.

Wildman: But without any supporting evidence

of a sighting, the seasoned journalist

is reluctant to publish walters' account.

Anderson: He can't just print these pictures

based off of one person's story.

Wildman: Then, later that evening,

two other locals contact cook.

They claim that they also saw a strange object

flying over the town.

With these other reports in hand,

cook publishes the account and walters' photographs of the ufo.

The article sparks a frenzy of interest in the tiny community.

This turned into a sensation for gulf breeze.

♪♪

wildman: Over the next few weeks,

more than 100 gulf breeze residents

report seeing a strange craft flying in the sky.

Anderson: People like politicians,

a retired air force officer, doctors,

all saying that they'd seen ufos.

Wildman: So, are there really alien spaceships

flying above florida?

♪♪

some skeptics suggest that what the residents actually saw

was a series of meteor showers

that could have been mistaken for ufos.

But the national weather service has no record

of any meteors in the sky at that time.

Others theorize that the sightings might be connected

to some kind of top-secret military project.

Anderson: There was a local air force base nearby.

Some people thought there was

some special military training happening.

Wildman: Air force officials, however,

deny that the reports are linked to any military activity.

♪♪

with authorities unable to provide a rational explanation

for the sightings,

speculation as to what it was that people saw

only intensifies.

So what's the truth behind the gulf breeze ufos?

♪♪

for years, the reports from gulf breeze are heralded

as among the most credible accounts of ufo appearances

in recent history.

Then, in 1990, something happens

that turns the entire story on its head.

Ed walters, the man who took the first photos

of the strange craft,

sells his house and moves away from gulf breeze.

When the new owners of the house set about cleaning the property,

in the attic, they make an astonishing discovery.

There they find a small, disk-like object

made of styrofoam, cardboard, and plastic.

It looks strangely like the ufo that ed walters saw

flying over his house all those years ago.

When the model is brought into the offices

of the gulf breeze sentinel,

reporters compare it to walters' pictures,

and their suspicions are confirmed.

♪♪

it seems that the photographs taken by ed walters

were nothing but an elaborate hoax.

Anderson: People were shocked.

I think they were pretty disappointed.

Wildman: Residents theorize walters built the model

and hung it up in a tree.

Then he took pictures of it

to make it look like a flying saucer.

But even if walters' images were indeed faked,

one question remains.

Anderson: How do you disclaim 135 other key witnesses?

These were upright citizens in the community.

Wildman: Many of the original witnesses stand by their stories

and contend that back in 1987,

gulf breeze was indeed visited by extraterrestrials.

Anderson: Even to this day, people are still saying

that they were there, and they claim that they saw it.

♪♪

wildman: And this dossier,

containing detailed accounts of the ufo sightings

and a copy of one of ed walters's original photographs,

is stored in the archives at the international ufo museum

and research center in roswell, new mexico.

It recalls the otherworldly tale

that had a small florida community staring at the skies.

♪♪

a bizarre phenomenon of biblical proportions

and a decades-long search for the truth.

Yuko: A terrifying sight that mystified the world

for more than a century.

♪♪

wildman: 1910.

Respected geologist thomas griffith taylor

is on the journey of a lifetime.

He has joined an expedition to the coldest place on earth --

antarctica.

Yuko: Taylor is the type of guy you went to

if you had any questions about the planet,

and his work was known throughout the world.

Wildman: Under the command

of the famed british explorer captain robert falcon scott,

taylor will be among the first to conduct a thorough study

of the frozen continent's geology.

Yuko: This was really his shot

to do more than just spend time in a lab.

He was gonna make it count.

Wildman: After six months at sea,

the expedition party finally reaches antarctica.

Taylor begins the process of analyzing

the geological features of the harsh landscape.

Yuko: Taylor would take notes on things he was noticing,

especially glaciers.

♪♪

wildman: In September, taylor heads out on his own

to study a glacier not far from camp.

And as he approaches,

he sees something that stops him dead in his tracks.

Flowing from the top of the glacier

is a five-story-high waterfall.

But this is no ordinary cascade.

The water appears to be... Blood red.

♪♪

yuko: It was as if there was a giant gash in the glacier

and it was gushing blood.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

Wildman: So the perplexed geologist brings his colleagues

to see the scarlet waterfall.

Yuko: They were baffled, too.

No one knew what this was.

Wildman: Some suggest that the discoloration is caused

by red algae in the water.

But when the team examines the liquid further,

there is no trace of the tiny organisms.

People were just shocked, and they didn't know what to do,

because this was the logical explanation,

and it wasn't true.

Wildman: In 1912, after more than a year in antarctica,

taylor returns to England.

There, news of his discovery spreads like wildfire.

Yuko: When the world heard about the waterfall,

no one really knew what to make of it.

The scientific community was pretty stumped.

Wildman: With no plausible explanation,

some seek an answer in the bible,

suggesting the phenomenon must be a sign from god.

Since ancient times,

there have been accounts of water running red.

According to the old testament, blood rained down

upon the egyptians as a form of divine punishment.

And in the new testament, a river of blood is described

as a harbinger of the apocalypse.

Yuko: The book of revelation tells us

that when the world ends, blood will run through the rivers

and the oceans and waterfalls, so people thought

that the waterfall was a sign of the end of times.

Wildman: So, what's the secret of antarctica's blood falls?

Wildman: In 1911, geologist thomas taylor was in antarctica

when he made a sinister discovery --

a waterfall that appeared to be blood red.

When scientists of the day fail to offer

a plausible explanation,

some suggest that the ominous cascade

could be a sign of an impending apocalypse.

So, what's the chilling truth behind the blood falls?

♪♪

for more than a century,

the mysterious waterfall leaves scientists baffled.

Then, in 2017,

erin pettit, a glaciologist from the university of alaska

in fairbanks, takes up the case.

Pettit leads a team of researchers to the blood falls,

located on what's now known as taylor glacier,

after the geologist who studied it a century earlier.

Yuko: The researchers were fascinated,

like everyone else, with the blood falls.

This was something that they really wanted to solve.

Wildman: The group scans the ice

with a portable ground radar machine.

It allows them to see what lies beneath the ice.

The results reveal something surprising.

Taylor glacier sits atop a giant lake.

And the lake's bottom is made up of rock

that's rich in iron.

The researchers thought this was a remarkable discovery.

Wildman: With this observation,

pettit and her team are finally able to explain

the secret of the blood falls.

As the glacier slowly moves,

it presses down on the lake below.

This pressure forces the water through fissures in the ice.

When the fluid flows to the surface,

it carries iron sediment up from the lake bottom.

Yuko: The sediment in the water was oxidized

when it hit the air, and it turned a deep blood-red color,

kind of like when you leave metal out in the rain

and it rusts.

Wildman: In April 2017,

pettit's team publishes their findings to great acclaim.

Not only have they proven that liquid water can persist

inside a frozen glacier, but they finally shed light

on the secret behind the blood falls.

Yuko: The researchers were thrilled.

They'd finally solved the puzzle

people had been trying to solve for 100 years.

♪♪

wildman: Buffalo, new york, has a unique claim to fame.

It's here that theodore roosevelt

took the oath of office

to become the nation's 26th president.

And in the charming suburb of west seneca is an institution

that celebrates the region's rich history --

the west seneca historical society and museum.

♪♪

the collection includes

a harley-davidson police motorcycle from 1950,

purple hearts awarded to local men

who were injured or killed in service,

and one of the first pacemakers,

invented by a buffalo doctor in 1956.

But hidden among these pristine treasures is a well-worn item.

Winfield: This rectangular artifact is mottled,

weathered by age.

The writing inside is in old german,

and it's in a type of print

that most of us don't even recognize as letters anymore.

Wildman: This tattered tome recounts the real-life story

of an epic battle between good and evil.

It's a tale of witchcraft and cold-blooded murder.

♪♪

wildman: It's 1843.

Upheavals in europe

have prompted a new wave of immigrants

to leave the old world behind

and seek out a new life in the united states.

Among them is a young man named christian metz.

Winfield: Metz was charismatic.

He was dramatic.

He had an unflinching belief in himself.

♪♪

wildman: Metz had come to the u.S. From germany,

where he had been persecuted for leading a religious order

known as the ebenezer society,

a group of pacifists who believe in communal living.

Now he has purchased a piece of property outside of buffalo,

where he hopes to establish his new spiritual community.

The land, located on a seneca indian reservation,

comes with simple wooden cabins for the members to live in.

Winfield: Although any of these cabins

would have been modest by contemporary standards,

it beat the heck out of living in the woods.

Wildman: Metz and his companions

hope to find peace and tranquility in this new land.

But a chilling incident

is about to turn their dream into a nightmare.

As the story goes, several members of the community

are sleeping in their cabin one night

when they are awoken by a terrible wailing sound.

It sounded like a pack of demons had moved in with them.

Wildman: The source of the harrowing noise is a mystery.

And then something happens that makes their blood run cold.

Before their eyes, a figure appears in the cabin.

It's a native american woman wearing a white dress

wrapped in chains who seems to be floating.

Horrified, the ill-fated pioneers flee into the forest.

These people were completely spooked in that cabin.

Wildman: When they tell metz about their experience,

the religious leader is dumbfounded.

The encampment is miles from any other human habitation.

So metz and his companions reach a frightening conclusion --

the cabin is haunted.

These people were convinced that they had seen a ghost.

Wildman: So who or what is the source

of this spirited sighting?

In search of answers, christian metz turns

to the people who previously lived in the cabins --

the seneca.

And they tell the religious leader

what is behind the ghostly sighting.

According to legend, 20 years earlier,

the tribe had a medicine woman named kau-qua-tau.

She was known to be a powerful healer.

One day, kau-qua-tau was treating a patient

for a minor illness when the man died unexpectedly.

Some of the dead man's friends accused kau-qua-tau

of having used dark magic to murder the man.

The medicine woman professed her innocence, but to no avail.

Kau-qua-tau was arrested and charged with witchcraft.

Winfield: If you had the power to heal,

you probably also had the power to hurt.

Wildman: Kau-qua-tau was convicted by a tribal court

and given the ultimate punishment.

Winfield: If you're convicted of witchcraft,

there was only one possible sentence -- death.

Wildman: After her execution,

kau-qua-tau's body was wrapped in chains

and buried beneath her home -- the very same cabin

where members of the ebenezer society

experienced their ghostly encounter.

For the seneca people, when a witch was buried,

the bones could still have power.

They could radiate negativity for generations afterward.

Wildman: Hoping to put an end to the hauntings,

metz and his followers burned the dwelling to the ground.

♪♪

eventually, the ebenezer society outgrows their commune

and moves west, to iowa.

But the legend of kau-qua-tau and her restless spirit remains.

Winfield: Over 170 years later, there's still an open space

where the cabin of kau-qua-tau may once have stood,

and people that live very near there

think their houses are haunted.

♪♪

wildman: Today the diary

of ebenezer society leader christian metz

is kept in the west seneca historical society and museum

in west seneca, new york.

It recalls a spiritual group's terrifying encounter

with a vengeful force from beyond the veil.

A seance, an unsettled spirit,

and the creation of a creepy new sensation.

Bensch: This is a surprising story

behind one of the most popular board games in american history.

♪♪

wildman: In the mid-1800s,

around the time of the civil war,

a new religious movement swept the united states --

spiritualism.

The practice claimed to give people the chance to communicate

with the spirits of deceased relatives and other loved ones.

We're talking about the period of the civil war,

when there were huge losses of life.

It was a time when children died young,

adults died in midlife.

People wanted the comfort of being in touch

with their dead ancestors.

♪♪

wildman: While many adherents of spiritualism

chose to participate in seances or work with mediums,

the most popular way to contact those beyond the grave

was a simple homemade contraption

called a talking board.

Often fashioned out of paper,

the crude device was marked with a hand-scrawled alphabet

and featured a pointing device.

Groups gathered around such boards,

placed their hands on the pointer,

and asked questions of the dead.

Then they waited for the pointer to glide across the paper

and spell out the answers.

Some people believe that the spirits on the other side

are moving it across the board.

Wildman: But in 1890 in baltimore,

one entrepreneur decides

to capitalize on spiritualism's popularity

and takes the talking boards from rustic to refined.

His name is elijah bond.

This civil war veteran and law-school graduate

designs his own talking board,

this one made of polished wood with finally printed letters.

As the story goes, bond's sister-in-law,

an adherent of spiritualism herself,

allegedly has a mysterious vision in which she sees

the name of this new kind of spectral transmitter.

Using her vision, bond calls it the ouija board.

Bensch: Elijah bond saw this spiritual trend

and decided to tap into this fierce demand

in the american public.

Wildman: Bond wants to mass-produce ouija boards

and sell them across the nation.

But before he can do so, he must patent the device.

On February 10th,

bond arrives at the patent office in washington, d.C.,

along with a spiritualist medium named helen peters.

Bond presents the ouija board to a patent officer

and explains what it does.

Bensch: Bond was essentially telling him

that this is a spiritual tool

to be in touch with forces beyond our world.

Wildman: But the patent officer is skeptical.

Bensch: The patent officer was used to seeing inventions

that had engineering, gears, levers, electrical current.

This was so beyond his usual field

that he had a tough time judging how this worked.

Wildman: The officer tells bond and peters

that the only way the patent can be approved

is if they can demonstrate that the device actually works.

The patent officer proposes a simple test.

Since neither bond nor peters knows his name,

he wants them to ask the board to spell it out.

The patent officer thought this would be a good test

because this would be something

that only supernatural powers could help with.

Wildman: So, will the ouija board pass the test?

♪♪

wildman: It's 1890 in washington, d.C.

Businessman elijah bond is trying to secure a patent

for a new supernatural novelty called the ouija board.

But first he has to demonstrate that it works.

What happens next may prove that there's more to the ouija board

than mere child's play.

Bond, his spiritualist friend helen peters,

and the patent clerk place their hands on the pointer

and ask the spirits to spell out the officer's name.

Then, after a few moments, the pointer begins to move.

The trio watches as it glides from one letter to another

until finally the full answer appears.

It spelled out the name of the patent officer --

charles mitchell.

Wildman: The patent officer is astonished.

It seemed like the board could actually do what it claimed to.

Wildman: He wastes no time

issuing a patent for the ouija board.

Bond must have been jubilant.

Wildman: Bond is quick to cash in on the ouija board.

Soon he's mass-producing the product

and selling it from coast to coast.

It became a phenomenal success for more than a century.

Wildman: Today believers and enthusiasts

can see one of the earliest ouija boards,

from the turn of the 20th century,

at the strong national museum of play.

It stands as a testament to one of the most intriguing

and mysterious board games in history.

A mysterious skeleton

and the chilling tale of a fabled beast.

This is a story of two strangers,

a community in panic, and a mythical monster.

Wildman: What is this astonishing set of bones?

And is it proof of the existence of an amazing creature?

♪♪

northern ohio.

For as long as anyone can remember,

tales of a strange colossus skulking in the depths

of the state's largest body of water have abounded.

The name of this legendary leviathan --

the lake erie monster.

The earliest sightings date back to the 19th century.

Sailors reported seeing a fierce behemoth thrashing

on the water's surface.

Greenberg: They claimed it stretched

more than 16 feet long,

with a pointy head and large, treacherous jaws.

♪♪

wildman: Over the years, word of the serpent spread.

Greenberg: People were scared.

There was the wave of fear that everybody felt.

♪♪

wildman: But the strangest tale of the lake erie monster

comes from July 1931.

As the story goes, two men,

cliff wilson and francis bagenstos,

were out fishing in their rowboat at night...

...When the beast rose from the depths.

Terrified, the men attacked.

Greenberg: They disabled it by battering it with an oar.

And then they managed to pull it onto their vessel.

♪♪

wildman: They bring the unconscious creature onshore

for all the locals to see.

Led by the town sheriff,

a throng of residents gathers to witness this historic moment.

Greenberg: It was a giant creature --

about 20 feet long, a about a foot in thickness,

with scales all over its body.

When the sheriff looked at it, he said,

"yep. Sure looks like a monster to me."

wildman: So, is this the lake erie monster?

Wildman: It's 1931 in sandusky, ohio.

For decades, residents have told of a giant sea serpent

lurking in nearby lake erie.

Then two men claim they've captured

the legendary leviathan.

So what's the truth behind the lake erie monster?

♪♪

the announcement that the serpent has been caught

sends shock waves throughout the community.

Greenberg: People freaked out.

They wanted to see it with their own eyes.

Wildman: The fervor attracts the attention of harold madison,

a zoologist at the museum of natural history in cleveland.

Intrigued, he heads to the lake.

But when he lays eyes on the creature,

madison recognizes it immediately.

It's a massive, slithering animal not native to the region.

But it's no mythical beast.

The monster was a 20-foot python from asia.

Greenberg: The residents of sandusky were truly bewildered.

It looked nothing like the animals

they were accustomed to seeing.

Wildman: But the question remains --

how did a python from the other side of the world

end up in lake erie?

♪♪

local officials have to look no further than the two men

who brought the slippery snake forward in the first place --

wilson and bagenstos.

They discover that the duo worked at a traveling carnival

that had entertained locals with a menagerie of exotic animals.

And the cunning con men

were hoping to exhibit the dead creature in their show

as being the real lake erie monster.

Greenberg: Authorities in sandusky

began to connect the dots.

The tale started to make sense.

♪♪

wildman: Since this beast wasn't the lake erie monster after all,

many residents continue to believe in the legend.

Greenberg: Just because wilson and bagenstos didn't capture

the lake erie monster

doesn't mean that the lake erie monster doesn't exist.

♪♪

wildman: This ancient ship symbolizes

the vikings' mastery of the open ocean.

But few know that their success

depended on a seemingly supernatural talisman.

Green: This story recalls a time

when all it took to rule the seas was the right tool.

Wildman: Of all the explorers and adventurers

that fill the annals of history,

perhaps none capture the imagination

like the famous warriors of the north -- the vikings.

From the 8th century to the 11th century,

their longships sailed over a vast swath of ocean

that stretched from scandinavia to the mediterranean

and even north america.

The vikings ruled the seas.

Wildman: Most impressive of all,

the vikings built this maritime network

400 years before the compass was introduced to europe.

So how did they do it?

What was the secret of the vikings?

Green: It's been something of a historical dilemma

why the vikings were so much better at dominating the seas

than other maritime nations.

Wildman: Many believe that without a compass,

vikings navigated by the sun or the stars.

But the skies in the north atlantic are too overcast

to reliably use either as a guide.

Northern europe is incredibly cloudy and gloomy.

Wildman: Others argue that vikings used landmarks

along the shore to find their way.

But this doesn't explain their unprecedented prowess

in traversing expanses of open sea where no land can be seen.

♪♪

still others believe the answer lies in viking lore.

Ancient texts claim the norsemen were aided

by a magical object called a sunstone.

According to legend, a sunstone is a mystical gem

with the ability to reveal the position of the sun

even before dawn, after sunset,

or when it's behind thick clouds.

The very idea seems preposterous.

Green: This seems like a fantastical object

ripped straight from "game of thrones."

wildman: Could this seafaring stone be for real?

Wildman: The vikings have long been regarded

as among history's greatest seafarers.

But at a time before compasses were used in europe

and with the skies over the north atlantic

frequently too cloudy to navigate by the stars,

how did they do it?

According to viking legend,

they used a seemingly magical tool called a sunstone.

But is this sunstone fact or fiction?

♪♪

in 2002, a team of archeologists off the coast of northern France

excavates a medieval shipwreck.

They find swords, armor, and other common tools.

But deep within the ship, they come across something unusual --

a small, chiseled crystal of translucent stone.

Green: The stone was not something

that divers had come across before.

Wildman: The archeologists identify the object

as a nonprecious stone. Called iceland spar.

Iceland spar is found naturally

across iceland, scandinavia, and in England.

But the archeologists have no idea

why this one has been carved, nor what purpose it served.

They're very keen to find out

what on earth it could possibly have been.

Wildman: News of the curious discovery

reaches a french physicist named dr. Guy ropars.

And he has a theory as to what this thing is.

Ropars suspects that it might be a sunstone.

Wildman: To prove it,

ropars acquires a fresh slab of iceland spar.

He performs a series of tests

and discovers the crystal has a unique property.

When light passes through the rock,

it splits into two separate beams.

Green: When he holds it up to the sky,

you see two prisms.

Wildman: Usually when the crystal is held up to the sky,

one of the rays is much brighter than the other.

But the two beams of light become equally bright

when the top of the crystal is perfectly aligned with the sun.

♪♪

according to ropars,

this is the key to viking prowess on the high seas.

Green: That allows you to pinpoint

where the sun is hiding behind the clouds.

Wildman: Guy ropars publishes his findings to great acclaim.

This was guy ropars' big moment.

His theories seemed to prove that these translucent cubes

were used by the vikings to achieve maritime supremacy.

♪♪

wildman: A supreme leader and his supernatural demise.

Alcock: This is a story about ancient times,

a great leader, and a potential assassination.

♪♪

wildman: It's 323 b.C.

32-year-old king alexander iii

oversees a vast empire stretching from egypt to india.

His victories on the field of battle

have earned him the title alexander the great.

Alcock: People were in awe of alexander the great.

Nobody had ever achieved such domination

really of the known world at that time.

Wildman: But not everyone is enamored

with the all-powerful ruler.

Alcock: Alexander at this point in his life was becoming

increasingly unpopular with his generals.

They felt that he was pushing the boundaries of his empire

at a rate that was too fast and inevitably unsustainable.

Their patience with their king is beginning to wear thin.

Wildman: It's among these rising tensions

that one day in early June,

alexander attends a lavish feast.

He spends the evening drinking and carousing.

But as the night wears on, the king complains

that he does not feel well and excuses himself.

The next day, alexander develops a high fever,

intense joint pain,

and as his condition steadily worsens,

he eventually loses the ability to speak.

Physicians of the utmost fame are summoned

to the monarch's bedside.

But there is little they can do.

Ten days after falling ill,

alexander the great breathes his last.

The iconic ruler's death sends shock waves

throughout the empire.

Alcock: He was incredibly fit and healthy.

He's 32. He's a peak physical specimen.

People wanted to know what had happened to this young man

and what caused his untimely death.

Wildman: The doctors suspect

that the king had too much to drink at the feast

and died of alcohol poisoning.

But his subjects find this difficult to believe.

After all, the great man was known for his strength

and fortitude.

Alcock: The idea that alexander could have died

from consuming too much alcohol

was something that people didn't really believe.

♪♪

wildman: So in the absence of an obvious cause of death,

a more sinister theory is proposed --

that alexander the great was assassinated.

Alcock: The obvious suspects, of course,

in any assassination with alexander the great

would have been his generals.

Wildman: Perhaps on the night of the feast,

one of alexander's enemies slipped poison into his drink.

♪♪

at the time, the poison of choice

was a highly toxic plant called hemlock.

But hemlock causes respiratory failure,

nausea, and tremors,

effects inconsistent with alexander's symptoms.

And while alexander suffered for 10 agonizing days,

hemlock kills its victims almost instantly.

So perhaps a different poison that springs

from an otherworldly source killed alexander.

A rumor emerges that he was poisoned by drinking water

from the mythical river styx.

According to legend,

the river connects the earth with the underworld

and its waters are deadly.

Alcock: Although there was a huge amount of theory

and debate at the time, really nothing could be proved,

and there was no definitive evidence of any foul play.

And so history moved on.

Wildman: As the years go on,

the death of alexander the great

becomes one of the biggest mysteries of the world.

Then, 2,000 years later, evidence emerges

that could solve the mystery once and for all.

So, what really killed alexander the great?

Wildman: For centuries, historians and scientists

have debated over what killed alexander the great.

Some say he died from alcohol poisoning.

Others say a lethal substance was slipped into his drink.

So will the mysterious death of alexander the great

ever be solved?

♪♪

it's 2010.

32-year-old american toxicologist antoinette hayes

is investigating whether the ancient legend

of the river styx has any basis in truth.

Hayes not only believes that the river styx was real,

but that it's actually a river that she could pinpoint today.

Wildman: One day she reads a report about a peculiar waterway

in the mountains of greece called the mavroneri river.

According to locals,

the waters are said to have unusual properties

that erode crystal, pottery, and even bronze.

After studying the waters,

hayes identifies the source of the river's strange powers.

The waterway is a breeding ground

for a deadly bacterial compound called calicheamicin.

Alcock: Calicheamicin is produced by bacteria

which are sometimes found on limestone rock.

It's an incredibly toxic substance.

Wildman: When hayes studies the effects

the compound has on the body, she makes a striking connection

to one of the biggest mysteries of the ancient world.

Alcock: The symptoms of ingesting calicheamicin

are a very high fever, joint pain,

and gradually, over time, the inability to speak --

exactly the same symptoms suffered by alexander the great.

Wildman: Hayes theorizes that on the night alexander fell ill,

one of his enemies may have secretly given him water

from the mavroneri river

and it was that bacteria-laden drink

that ultimately killed the king.

Here, with the work of hayes, we have this tiny insight,

a tiny glimmer, a new possibility,

a little window of insight into an ancient world.

Wildman: As for who killed the legendary ruler,

the mystery remains.

♪♪