All language subtitles for Beyond.the.Unknown.S03E15.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

WILDMAN: An alien spacecraft
in the skies over Arizona.

I thought to myself, "If I don’t
get a picture of this,

no one’s going to believe it."

It was totally mysterious.

♪

WILDMAN: A monstrous beast
stalks the rivers of Ohio.

All that was left behind
were marks from the creature.

WILDMAN: And P. T. Barnum’s most
astonishing spectacle.

COX: It was so amazing
that people started calling it

one of the Wonders of the World.

[ Audience gasps ]

WILDMAN:
But first, this spacesuit
recalls three American heroes

and the terrifying
close encounter

that even they
could not explain.

REIDY: This is the story
about a team of astronauts

that might have discovered
proof of alien life.

WILDMAN: Amazing mysteries,

bizarre phenomena,

and chilling secrets.

I’m Don Wildman.

Join me on a journey
beyond the unknown.

♪

May 25, 1961.

In a special address to Congress
and the nation,

U. S. President John F. Kennedy
issues a bold challenge.

KENNEDY:
I believe that this nation
should commit itself

to landing a man on the moon

and returning him
safely to the Earth.

WILDMAN: To fulfill
the president’s promise,

NASA kicks its space program
into high gear.

Over the next nine years,

the U. S. takes valiant steps
into the final frontier,

with the Mercury, Gemini, and
Apollo missions

bringing it ever closer
to its goal.

[ Engine roaring ]

♪

And in 1969, it prepares for the
penultimate mission

before the actual trip to the
moon.

Its name ‐‐ Apollo 10.

Apollo 10 was
like a dress rehearsal

for the actual moon landing.

The plan was to fly to the moon,
where the lunar module

would separate from the command
module,

and both would orbit the moon
together.

They planned to do every
single step

except for the actual landing on
the moon.

♪

WILDMAN:
On May 18th...

MAN ON RADIO:
Engines on five, four, three...

WILDMAN:
...Apollo 10 blasts off from
Cape Kennedy in Florida.

On board are astronauts

Thomas Stafford, John Young,
and Eugene Cernan.

REIDY: All three of these men
were very experienced astronauts

with many space flights
under their belt.

[ Engine roaring ]

♪

WILDMAN:
100 hours into the mission,

Apollo 10 enters the moon’s
orbit.

Stafford and Cernan climb
into the lunar module.

MAN ON RADIO:
Four, three, two, one ‐‐ fire.

[ Radio beeps ]

WILDMAN: Then the spacecraft
successfully disconnects

from the command module

and descends to less than 50,000
feet above the moon’s surface.

As both the lunar and command
modules continue to orbit,

the astronauts make history.

They become the first humans
to see the far side of the moon.

♪

REIDY: The Earth and the moon
rotate at the same rate,

so half of the moon
is always facing away from us,

so we can’t see it.

It was littered with huge
craters, extinct volcanoes,

and big planes that looked
like dried‐up oceans.

WILDMAN: But there’s no time for
celebration.

The most harrowing part
of their mission has just begun.

With both spacecrafts
on the far side of the moon,

none of the astronauts
are able to communicate

with mission control in Houston.

REIDY: The moon is in between
the astronauts and the Earth,

so radio signals
can’t pass back and forth.

WILDMAN: And that’s when
something terrifying happens.

[ Radio distortion ]

In the lunar module,
Stafford and Cernan hear

an eerie, high‐pitched noise
come in over their radio.

The sound is like a strange,
spooky whistling sound.

[ Static ]

[ Eerie whistling ]

WILDMAN: Cernan and Stafford
report what they hear

to Young in the command module.

Young says he, too,
can hear the unnerving signal.

REIDY:
They were totally baffled
by this sound.

They were hundreds of thousands
of miles from Earth.

It should have been
totally silent.

WILDMAN: As the sound persists,
Young, Stafford, and Cernan

are forced to consider
an extraordinary possibility.

This could be some form
of alien communication.

Could there be something
or someone out there

broadcasting this signal
to them?

♪

WILDMAN:
Just as suddenly as it began,
the noise ends.

Soon after,
the lunar lander returns

and docks
with the command module,

reuniting Stafford
and Cernan with Young.

The three astronauts have no
explanation for what they heard.

REIDY:
You can see in the footage

that they’re really freaked out
by this noise.

WILDMAN: On May 26th,
after eight days in space,

Apollo 10 splashes down
in the Pacific Ocean.

REIDY: The Apollo 10 mission
was a complete success.

They were able
to pass over the spot

where they would land
on the next mission.

♪

WILDMAN: Upon returning to NASA
headquarters in Houston,

the astronauts
hand the recordings over

to NASA technicians
for analysis.

The results offer
a simple explanation.

It wasn’t an
alien transmission,

but feedback between the lunar
and command modules.

REIDY: NASA scientists concluded
that this sound

was simply their radios
interfering with each other.

WILDMAN: But some dispute
this conclusion and contend

that Thomas Stafford,
John Young, and Eugene Cernan

could have easily identified
such a noise as feedback.

NASA astronauts know every
square inch of their equipment.

Surely they would have known

if this was
just radio interference.

WILDMAN:
Skeptics continue to argue
that the bizarre sound

was indeed
an alien radio transmission.

REIDY: There are
a lot of competing theories

about these audio recordings,
and they remain a mystery.

♪

WILDMAN:
Today, John Young’s spacesuit
from the Apollo 10 mission

remains on display
at the Museum of Flight

in Seattle, Washington.

It recalls the cosmic cacophony
on the dark side of the moon.

♪

A 100‐square‐foot
miniature circus

handcrafted by a dentist using
tools from his practice,

a pair of clown shoes
from the 1940s,

and a top hat once
worn by a ringmaster

are just a few of
the whimsical items on display

at the Massillon Museum in Ohio.

♪

But among the more than
1,400 circus‐related artifacts

is a small collection

connected to
the Greatest Showman on Earth.

COX: On one of the artifacts,

there is an image of
three very festive figures.

Another one is a photographic
image of a man wearing a suit.

There’s a long piece of dark
wood used for walking.

And the final artifact
is a very small piece of paper.

On the top of it are the words
"Barnum and Bailey."

♪

WILDMAN:
These mementos of legendary
entertainer P. T. Barnum recall

one of his most colossal
and cryptic spectacles.

[ Audience gasps ]

COX: This is a story of
a mammoth mystery

that captivated the nation.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1877.

America’s most popular
entertainer is P. T. Barnum.

His traveling stage show
delights audiences

with rare animals,
odd curiosities,

and bizarre wonders
from around the world.

COX: P. T. Barnum had his hand
kind of on the pulse

of what people wanted to see and
what people found interesting.

♪

WILDMAN:
But he’s about to unveil his
most astonishing exhibit yet.

This was unlike anything
anybody had seen before.

WILDMAN:
The display purports to show
the fossilized remains

of a giant human‐like creature.

It’s more than seven feet tall

and said to weigh
a whopping 450 pounds.

The figure has a large,
oval‐shaped head.

Its arms appear
to be abnormally long,

extending down to the knees.

And that’s not all.

What was perhaps the most
striking and unbelievable

was that it appeared
to have a tail

at the bottom of the backbone

and it was about
two inches long.

WILDMAN:
Barnum calls the bizarre
being the Solid Muldoon,

named after a popular
Irish ballad

that tells of
an extraordinarily strong man.

The showman claims he bought it
from a Colorado farmer

who discovered it buried
in a field.

♪

COX: P. T. Barnum bought it
for $20,000,

which in today’s money
is $370,000.

WILDMAN:
The Muldoon is an instant hit.

People from all over
wanted to see

what this giant
humanoid figure was.

It was so amazing that people
started calling it

one of the Wonders of the World.

[ Audience gasps ]

WILDMAN:
But as the crowds grow,

so do the questions
about the Muldoon’s origins.

What exactly is
this mysterious figure?

COX: Theories abound about
what this actually was.

Some people thought
it could have been

an ancient form of human
that was like a giant species.

Other people thought
it might have been like a link

between apes
and the early humans.

WILDMAN: But the truth
will turn out to be stranger

than anyone
could have possibly imagined.

♪

In January 1878,
a sculptor named E. J. Cox

comes forward
with a shocking confession.

E. J. Cox revealed
to the New‐York Daily Tribune

that he knew the origin
of the Solid Muldoon.

It was no prehistoric artifact.

It was a hoax.

♪

WILDMAN: According to Cox,

he cooked up a scheme
to fabricate the massive body

with none other
than P. T. Barnum.

COX: Barnum was looking
for another big attraction,

and that’s how he came up with
the idea for a Solid Muldoon.

♪

WILDMAN:
But crafting the colossal
creature was no small feat.

Cox started with
an actual human skeleton.

Then he fleshed it out with
a noxious mixture

of plaster, bone dust,
and ground meat.

COX:
This was pretty gross.

These people had to be
really dedicated to this hoax

to see it through to the end.

WILDMAN:
When the figure was ready,

the sculptor baked it in a kiln
for several days.

But the deception
didn’t end there.

Once the Muldoon was complete,

Barnum had it buried
in a field in Colorado,

then hired a farmer
to feign digging it up.

♪

The ruse was a success,
netting Barnum a pretty penny.

But Cox never received
his payout for the scam.

So to take revenge
on the unscrupulous showman,

he exposed the Solid Muldoon
for the fake that it was.

With the truth revealed,

the public quickly loses
interest in the Solid Muldoon.

But that doesn’t stop
the iconic showman

from finding new ways
to draw in the crowds.

P. T. Barnum is purported
to have said that

"A sucker is born every minute."

He was able to capitalize
on that

and make a very lucrative career
from it.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, these items
related to P. T. Barnum

are held
by the Massillon Museum in Ohio.

They recall how
the World’s Greatest Showman

pulled off a hoax
of gigantic proportions.

♪

Located in St. Augustine,
Florida,

is an institution that unveils
the secrets of the unknown ‐‐

Wolf’s Museum of Mystery.

♪

Here,
among the creepy death masks

and menacing monsters,

is a small, ornate object.

It’s believed to be
an ancient clue to a puzzle

that, if solved, could rewrite
the whole of human history.

♪

March 13, 1997 ‐‐
Phoenix, Arizona.

It’s 10:30 p. m., and one of the
city’s most esteemed physicians,

Dr. Lynne B. Kitei,
is getting ready for bed.

KITEI: My husband and I
were just settling into bed,

and we have a beautiful view
of the city skyline.

WILDMAN: But just as the couple
is turning in,

they spot something
strange out the window ‐‐

a series of bright lights
hovering in the distance.

KITEI: Balls of light
in a giant, mile‐wide "V,"

equidistant from each other.

And the lights on
whatever this phenomenon was,

it seemed to be attached
to something.

WILDMAN:
Intrigued, Dr. Kitei grabs her
camcorder and rushes outside.

I thought to myself, "If I don’t
get a picture of this,

no one’s going to believe it."

It was totally mysterious.

WILDMAN: For the next two hours,
Dr. Kitei records

the bizarre objects
as they hover in the night sky.

[ Eerie music plays ]

Then they vanish
without a trace.

And she was not the only person
to witness the glowing orbs.

Hundreds of other residents
across Arizona

also report seeing
the phenomena.

The strange celestial event

becomes known
as the Phoenix Lights.

But what caused these bizarre
illuminations is a mystery.

Everyone was curious.

Why isn’t there an explanation?

WILDMAN:
Some believe the lights

were simply
U. S. Air Force fighter jets

flying in formation.

But none of the eyewitnesses
reported hearing

the telltale roar
of the plane’s engines.

KITEI: If it was any other
conventional aircraft,

you would hear them ‐‐
even stealth aircraft.

[ Engine roars ]

♪

WILDMAN: Then, just as the
mystery appears to deepen,

the military releases
a statement

offering an explanation.

The lights were nothing
more than flares.

KITEI: They said the
Air National Guard was in town

sending off flares
and tactical maneuvers.

That must be
what some people saw.

♪

WILDMAN: But this explanation
doesn’t sit well with Dr. Kitei.

KITEI: Flares drift and drop
with the wind in minutes

and have huge smoke trails
illuminated by the flare itself.

How does a mile‐wide
"V" formation of flares

traverse the entire state
for hours?

♪

WILDMAN: Dissatisfied with
the military’s claims,

Dr. Kitei puts forward
a theory of her own.

She believes the lights were,
in fact...

an alien spacecraft.

KITEI:
It was one solid object

that was hovering right over
the center of Phoenix.

Incredible, advanced technology,
to be sure.

♪

WILDMAN: As it turns out,

the key to unlocking
this mysterious event

may lie in the distant past.

There’s a lot more
to this story.

♪

WILDMAN: On March 13, 1997,
a spectacular array of lights

appears in the night skies
of Phoenix, Arizona.

The military claims they were
simply distress flares,

but not everyone agrees.

Some believe
that an explanation

for the Phoenix lights
can be found

in the jungles of South America.

A thousand years ago,

an ancient culture
called the Quimbaya were known

for molding small,
intricate gold figurines.

Today, a replica of one of
these sculptures is on display

at Wolf’s Museum of Mystery
in St. Augustine, Florida.

And according to the director,
Wolfgang von Mertz,

the objects
have an unusual appearance.

They have an upright tail fin,
and the wings are on the bottom.

It looks like a jet plane.

I mean, it’s unmistakable,
the resemblance.

♪

WILDMAN: But these effigies
were carved

millennia before
the Wright Brothers’

historic first flight.

Some say the sculpture
may be a bird.

Others think it’s an insect.

VON MERTZ: But no bird in the
world has an upright tail fin.

And there’s no insects
that have wings on the bottom.

They’re all on the top.

♪

WILDMAN:
So perhaps the only explanation

is that they actually represent
visitors from another world.

[ Whoosh ]

VON MERTZ: And could be
that aliens existed,

and these early people

were mimicking
what they saw in the skies.

WILDMAN: And these same
extraterrestrial travelers

may have appeared
on Earth many times,

including in Phoenix in 1997.

[ Whirring ]

VON MERTZ: Aliens probably
have been here,

and they’re probably
going to keep coming.

♪

WILDMAN: This detailed diorama
tells of a harrowing encounter

with beings from
beyond the stars.

This is a story of aliens
and abductions.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

♪

WILDMAN: The tale begins
in September 1969

in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

One night, 6‐year‐old
Matt Reed and his family

are driving home from an outing,

when suddenly,
everyone in the car

is overcome
with a strange feeling.

GONYO: The family felt this
tingling sensation.

The pressure all around them
feels like it drops.

WILDMAN: Then, according to
the family,

they are overcome
by a blinding light.

When it fades, young Matt
and his parents

find they are no longer
in their car.

GONYO: The next thing
the family realized,

they were in some sort of giant
hangar‐like construction.

And terrifyingly,
these giant ant‐like creatures

that herd them into cages.

WILDMAN: But before anyone can
make sense of what’s happening,

the horrifying ordeal
is suddenly over.

And then [Snaps fingers]
the next thing Matt knew,

the family was now outside
of the station wagon.

♪

WILDMAN: In the aftermath,
the Reeds tell their story

to friends and neighbors.

As it turns out,
they’re not alone.

GONYO: As that was happening
to the Reed family,

the local police station
was receiving over 40 reports

of sightings of a strange,
yellow ball of light.

♪

WILDMAN:
And the story doesn’t end there.

In 2009, Matt Reed,
now 46 years old,

has another nightmare encounter.

On the night of March 30th,

he’s driving along a deserted
road near Brownsburg, Indiana.

GONYO: So, it was a typical
Saturday night.

He had been out
at the movies with friends.

But what comes next is anything
but a typical Saturday night.

WILDMAN: Just as before,

Reed is overcome
by an intense glare.

♪

And when he regains his senses,

he again finds himself
in a completely new location.

GONYO:
He is no longer driving,

his boots are caked in mud,

blood is running from his nose,

and he has no idea
how he got there

or how long he’s been there.

WILDMAN: But when he gets back
into his car,

the clock says
it’s past midnight.

That’s about an hour and a half
of time he can’t account for.

WILDMAN: So where did he go
for so long?

For Reed, there’s only
one answer ‐‐

he’s been
abducted by aliens again.

GONYO:
Matt Reed’s story was strange,

and it was about to
get stranger.

WILDMAN:
So what’s the truth behind
these two close encounters?

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 2009.

An Indiana man
named Matt Reed is plagued

by an ominous, recurring event.

It only starts
with a blinding light,

and then he wakes up
in some strange location

with no recollection
of how he got there.

Reed believes he’s been abducted
by aliens.

♪

Searching for answers,
Reed publishes an account

of his experiences online.

Initially, his story is viewed
with skepticism.

Some detractors even suggest a
more down‐to‐earth explanation.

It’s called sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis is a remarkably
common phenomenon.

You’ll have these feelings
of paralysis,

feelings of levitation,
visions of strange creatures,

strange sounds, lights, smells.

According to this theory,
Matt fell asleep at the wheel,

went into
a sleep paralysis state.

WILDMAN:
But Reed doesn’t buy it.

He points out that he has
no history

of this debilitating condition.

And besides, it fails to explain
how his entire family

experienced the same phenomenon
in 1969.

GONYO: Matt Reed knew
what happened to him.

He wanted validation for that.

WILDMAN: For help,

Reed contacts an online
community of alien enthusiasts

called the Mutual UFO Network,
or MUFON.

MUFON is the largest and oldest

civilian investigative
organization

for UFO encounters
in the United States.

WILDMAN: Intrigued by Reed’s
accounts, the organization

looks into his claims.

♪

Hoping to find
some physical evidence

of the alleged abductions,

the investigators inspect
the clothes Reed wore

that fateful night in Indiana.

They even examined his car
top to bottom.

It’s then that they uncover
a stunning clue.

GONYO: What they found
was it was almost like

it had its own magnetic field.

Compasses were going crazy.

♪

WILDMAN: It could be a sign that
Reed is telling the truth.

The only way for the car to have
such a strong magnetic field

is if it came into contact

with some sort of powerful
electromagnetic force ‐‐

one that perhaps came
from a spaceship.

Maybe he had
actually been abducted.

♪

WILDMAN: Although no definitive
proof is ever found,

Reed’s story captivates
UFO enthusiasts the world over.

This alien encounter can’t be
easily explained away.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, this diorama

capturing Matt Reed’s terrifying
1969 experience

can be found at the UFO
and Paranormal Museum

in Pine Bush, New York.

It recalls the man who may
have been kidnapped

by extraterrestrials
more than once.

This running shirt
and race medal

are linked to a tale of terror

that seems ripped from the pages
of science fiction.

This is the story
of a creepy creature

that caused a splash
in an Ohio town.

♪

WILDMAN: The legend begins on
the evening of May 25, 1955,

in Loveland, Ohio.

Businessman Jerome Clark
is driving

on a dark and desolate
stretch of road

that runs next
to the Little Miami River.

Suddenly, something flashes
in his headlights,

and he slams on the brakes.

Peering through the windshield,
he sees a strange creature

standing in the middle
of the pavement.

The beast has a huge
frog‐like face.

It was 60 pounds, about
4 feet tall with scaly skin.

It appeared to be half man
and half reptile.

WILDMAN:
And it’s staring right at him.

Then it jerks its arms
into the air.

Clark is terrified.
He hits the gas and speeds away.

♪

Just a few months later,

a woman named
Mrs. Darwin Johnson

is taking a swim
in the Ohio River.

As the story goes,

she suddenly feels something
grab her knee

and try to
pull her under the water.

[ Muffled screaming ]

This was straight out
of a horror movie.

WILDMAN: Mrs. Johnson kicks
frantically at her attacker.

Eventually, she breaks free.

She swims to shore
as fast as she can.

And when she’s safely
on the riverbank,

Mrs. Johnson looks
down at her leg.

Imprinted on her skin
is a blotchy bruise,

shaped just like the palm
of a scaly, webbed hand.

All that was left behind
were marks from the creature.

WILDMAN: But perhaps the most
compelling account

comes from a police officer
named Ray Shockey.

Officer Shockey was an honest,
trustworthy guy.

People in Loveland liked him,
and he was well‐known.

WILDMAN: On the night
of March 3, 1972,

Officer Shockey is on a routine
patrol of the area.

GRAWL:
Officer Shockey was driving.

He came around the corner,

and he saw something
in the middle of the road.

WILDMAN: At first, the officer
thinks it’s a stray dog.

So he stops the car to see
if he can help the poor animal.

But as he approaches,

he realizes
it’s not a dog at all.

What he saw was unlike any other
creature he’d seen before.

WILDMAN: It’s about 4 feet tall
with scaly skin

and a frog‐like face.

But before the officer
can pull his gun or make a move,

the monster leaps
away, out of sight.

Officer Shockey looked to see
where the creature had gone,

but all he saw
were scratch marks

along the side of the road.

WILDMAN: As the number of
sightings grows,

the mysterious beast is dubbed
the Loveland Frogman.

But no one has any idea
what it could be.

Residents are left to wonder
what bizarre beast

is stalking their sleepy town.

There appeared to be a monster
on the loose.

♪

WILDMAN: According to legend,
the town of Loveland, Ohio,

is home to a bizarre half human,
half amphibian creature.

Its name?
The Frogman.

Many wonder if it’s simply
a giant lizard.

Some species can grow to be
around 4 feet in length,

but there are problems
with this suggestion.

The monster was missing one very
common reptilian feature ‐‐

a tail.

What’s more, the police officer
reported seeing it moving

with great speed
on a cold winter night,

and reptiles grow sluggish
when temperatures drop.

So perhaps, it’s a descendant
of giant frogs

that once preyed on dinosaurs.

This is like something straight
out of a science fiction movie.

WILDMAN:
But the closest relatives
to those huge amphibians

only live in South America.

While the Frogman
has never been seen again,

many believe it’s still
out there,

and residents have found
a unique way to honor it.

They still talk about the
Frogman in Loveland today.

They even have a race
named after him.

WILDMAN: And today,
this commemorative medal

and shirt from the race itself
are on display

at the Loveland Museum Center
in Loveland, Ohio.

It’s a lasting reminder
of a strange beast

that lives forever
in the heart of a small town.

♪

Portland, Maine.

This thriving city is home

to an institution
dedicated to chronicling

the most mysterious creatures
in the world ‐‐

the International
Cryptozoology Museum.

On display is a model
of the enormous Bigfoot...

[ Creature growls ]

...and a replica of a legendary
Wisconsin monster

known as the Beast of Bray Road.

[ Creature growls ]

Tucked among these creatures
of the land

is a statue of another
bizarre being

that some say
stalks the sea.

It weighs about two pounds.

It’s 6 inches high
and about 8 inches across.

Its gold and white and blue.

It has a long roll
of golden spines along its neck.

♪

WILDMAN: According to museum
director Loren Coleman,

this figurine represents

a terrifying monster
from the deep.

COLEMAN: This story recalls
the vicious beast

that roams the waters of Maine.

♪

WILDMAN: The cold, dark ocean
off the coast of New England

hides a chilling secret.

For the past 240 years,

there have been rumors
of a mysterious creature

lurking below the surface.

The story begins in 1779,

when naval officer Edward Preble

was aboard his ship
just off the coast of Maine.

Peering into the distance,

he claims he spotted
something unusual,

a serpent‐like creature
with a long neck.

It charged in his direction,

plunging in
and out of the water,

Preble was terrified that this
creature was gonna attack him.

He shot at it...

[ Gunshot ]

...missing the creature
entirely.

But he did scare it
so that it took off.

♪

WILDMAN: Throughout
the 19th century,

multiple sightings
described a beast

with the head the size
of a horse

circling ships before sliding
back into the murky depths.

This thing was roaming
the seas of Maine.

Locals were terrified.

WILDMAN: But perhaps the most
horrifying encounter of all

occurred in the early hours
of June 5, 1958.

Out on the bay
is one of the area’s

most experienced fishermen ‐‐
Ole Mikkelsen.

He’d been a veteran of the sea
for 40 years.

WILDMAN: Mikkelsen is casting
his nets

when he spots
a massive sea creature.

It appears to measure 100 feet

and has a long neck
rising above the waves.

Mikkelsen had never seen
anything like this.

He was sure that
this had to be a sea serpent.

WILDMAN: Mikkelsen watches in
horror as the creature charges

straight at his tiny vessel.

COLEMAN: He was terrified
that this thing

was about 4 times
as big as his boat.

WILDMAN:
And just before impact,

the behemoth veers
sharply to the side

and vanishes
beneath the surface.

[ Bubbling ]

Over the years, the mysterious
beast acquires a nickname ‐‐

Cassie,
after the Casco Bay in Maine,

where it has often been spotted.

But what Cassie actually
is remains an enigma.

♪

♪

WILDMAN: For centuries,

rumors have swirled about
a colossal sea serpent

lurking in the frigid coastal
waters off Maine.

Many theories circulate as to
what the creature named Cassie

actually could be.

Some suggest its long,
thin neck strongly resembles

the periscope of a submarine.

COLEMAN: Many people believe
that the Soviets had subs

off the coast of Maine
during the Cold War.

WILDMAN: And while
this could line up

with the fisherman’s account
from 1958,

it cannot explain
all the sightings.

COLEMAN: Personally,
that’s not my theory,

and I don’t think that works.

♪

There’s so many reports of
Cassie twisting and turning

and being animate.

Submarines are made of steel.
They’re rigid.

It can’t move in the same way
that we hear Cassie moves.

And people have been seeing this
beast for hundreds of years,

long before the invention
of the submarine.

WILDMAN: Another theory takes
this timeline into account

and looks far back in history,

all the way to a creature
called a plesiosaur.

It had the long neck
and a long body,

and they look serpentine.

It’s definitely existed.

It’s in a fossil record,
and that’s in museums.

♪

WILDMAN: But this behemoth
died out with the dinosaurs

66 million years ago.

However, there’s another,
more plausible explanation ‐‐

sperm whales.

These huge sea mammals
are 50 feet long

and are known to charge ships.

But how would that explain
the long, thin neck?

Some think that
the strange creature

is actually a male
whale’s reproductive organ.

The breeding and mating behavior
of sperm whales

are that they flip over
on their back

and that sexual organ
that’s about 4 feet long

sticks up into the air.

♪

WILDMAN: Other sea serpent
sightings from around the world

have been explained away
because of these similarities.

COLEMAN: Some of the sightings
off of Norway

have matched up with the
sexual behavior of sperm whales.

WILDMAN: But according
to Loren Coleman,

some prefer to believe
that Cassie and other creatures,

like the Loch Ness Monster,
are really out there.

The ocean
is really full of unknowns.

I am 100 percent convinced
that sea serpents exist.

♪

WILDMAN: Some say the pages
in this book reveal

a real life gateway to Hell.

This is the story
of an ancient Greek historian,

an Italian explorer,

and a legendary portal
to another world.

♪

WILDMAN: Since the dawn of time,

the concept of the underworld
has gripped the human mind.

ALCOCK: Pretty much every
human civilization

has had some sort of dark,
unpleasant place,

perhaps where the souls
of evil people would go.

WILDMAN: Some cultures have even
thought it possible

to descend
into these fiery realms

through pathways or portals.

♪

The ancient Mayans believed
the underworld could be entered

through sinkholes
in the Yucatán Peninsula.

The Native American Klamath
tribe thought one was located

inside a towering mountain
called Mazama.

Even in modern times,

many claim the existence
of gateways to Hell.

But perhaps the most intriguing
of these dark tales

comes from ancient Greece

and a renowned historian
named Strabo.

ALCOCK: Strabo traveled around
the world as far as he could,

documenting everything he saw,

recording all the strange and
wonderful things

that he came across.

WILDMAN: Around 21 A. D.,

Strabo published an account
of his travels

called "Geographica."

In it, he tells of his visit

to a Greek city
called Hierapolis.

ALCOCK: There were hot springs.
There were baths.

Many people would go there
to experience

the healing effects
of the thermal springs.

WILDMAN: But according
to the story,

the area’s biggest attraction
was a temple

dedicated to the Greek god
of the dead ‐‐ Hades.

[ Thunder cracks ]

Local lore held that it was
a deadly gateway

to the underworld.

[ Thunder cracks ]

Outside the strange monument,

Strabo said he found two priests
engaged in a mystical ritual.

They were chanting.
Their eyes were rolling.

They seemed
to be having visions.

♪

WILDMAN: And then
the historian witnessed

something truly bizarre.

ALCOCK: Strabo wrote that
as the priests’ ritual started

to increase in intensity,

a very thick mist, a fog almost,
started to emerge from the cave

and began to billow
around the entrance.

WILDMAN: As the fog poured
out of the temple,

one of the priests produced
a small bird from his cloak

and flung it into the air.

But as soon as the creature
hit the mist, it dropped dead.

Even more baffling,

the priest who performed
the sacrifice remained unharmed

by the apparently pestilent fog.

ALCOCK: Strabo was so moved
by this experience,

so astonished as a man
of science by what he had seen,

that he decided to record every
detail in his book,

"Geographica."

WILDMAN:
While Strabo’s description
of the Temple of Hades

survives to this day
in "Geographica" ‐‐

a copy of which is on display

at the Allard Pierson Museum
in Amsterdam ‐‐

the same can’t be said
of the site itself.

According to records,
in 17 A. D.,

a major earthquake caused
the monument to collapse.

For millennia afterwards,

historians wondered if the
fabled portal to the underworld

actually existed at all.

But in 2013, an astounding
discovery reveals the truth

behind this legendary gateway
to Hell.

It was about to be
uncovered at last.

♪

♪

WILDMAN: In the first century,

a mysterious cave
was discovered in Greece.

The ancients believed
it was a portal to Hell.

It’s 2013.

Italian archeologist
Francesco D’Andria

is on a quest
to reveal the truth

behind these ancient tales
of portals to the underworld.

ALCOCK: D’Andria
was really fascinated

by the legends of history.

He had already spent much of his
career uncovering ancient tombs

and making often
quite startling discoveries.

WILDMAN: D’Andria pores over
Strabo’s "Geographica"

and concludes that the gateway
Strabo described

was located in what is now
the Turkish city of Pamukkale.

Just like the ancient city
described by Strabo,

it, too, is known for
its mineral‐rich thermal waters.

ALCOCK: D’Andria thought that
the springs and baths

might provide the secret
to the entrance

of Strabo’s gates of Hell.

WILDMAN:
When D’Andria and his team

begin digging
into the volcanic hillsides,

they uncover fragments
of ancient pillars

bearing depictions of Hades.

And excavating further,

they find an entrance
to a vast cave,

which is emitting a hazy mist.

Not only that,

strewn all around the opening
are remnants of dead birds.

This was the archeological
equivalent of a pot of gold.

♪

WILDMAN: D’Andria posits
that the volcanic activity

that creates the thermal springs
also emits a poisonous gas,

so he and his team
test the vapor.

They find it contains large
amounts of the deadly gas

carbon dioxide.

Just enough to kill a small
animal, but not harm a human.

For D’Andria,

this explains how the priests
in Strabo’s description

could have survived the fog
while the birds perished.

Now D’Andria had sort of all the
pieces of the puzzle in place.

♪

WILDMAN: In fact, the scientist
believes he’s finally located

Strabo’s long lost portal
to the underworld.

ALCOCK:
D’Andria realized that what
he and the team had discovered

was exactly what Strabo
was describing

in his account
all those centuries ago.

♪

WILDMAN: Today,
this 15th‐century reproduction

of Strabo’s "Geographica"

is on display
at the Allard Pierson Museum

at the University of Amsterdam.

It recalls an archeologist
who unlocked the gates to Hell.

♪