All language subtitles for The UnXplained S04E16 1080p WEB h264-KOGi_track3_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER: Ferocious
monsters from the deep.

Hellish hounds
that prowl the night.

And ancient dragons
that rule the skies.

Since the dawn of time,
there have been tales

of monsters that live among us.

Creatures of myth and legend
that lurk in the shadows

and hunt us like prey.

But are these fantastic beasts

merely figments
of our imagination?

Or could they actually be real?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

For centuries,
mankind has told stories

about fearsome monsters

that inhabit our world
and can strike without warning.

What is it about these strange
creatures that terrifies us?

Monsters are found everywhere,
in all cultures,

in all, uh,
locales around the world.

If you look at monsters
from an anthropological sense,

they are very often wild
and dangerous and aggressive.

And very often inescapably evil.

They have humanlike motivations

and humanlike
or even godlike abilities.

And this reflects a lot
of real, um, issues, fears.

And as well as encounters
of the most fantastical kind.

KEN GERHARD: Monsters have
been with us a long time.

In Australia,
the ancient aboriginals would

talk about the Bunyip, which
was a swamp-dwelling creature

that would rise in the moonlight
to slaughter its victims.

The Native Americans
talked about horned serpents

and thunder beings with wings
that would roam the skies.

In Norse or Viking mythology,

there were
a number of monsters as well.

You had trolls, elves, ogres.

So we have
all manner of horrible,

strange monsters
lurking the planet.

They are the embodiment of evil.

They represent the mystery
in our world, the unknown.

What a lot of people
don't realize is

that at least some of
these monsters have stepped

from beyond
the veil of mythology

into our reality.

SHATNER: Is it possible
that some monsters are

not merely fictional characters

but, rather,
flesh and blood creatures?

There are those who
believe the answer is yes.

And as evidence,
they point to a beast

that has been reported
in England for centuries.

As thunder and rain pounds
St. Mary's Church,

the worshippers inside
gather in silent prayer.

Suddenly,
a monstrous doglike creature

with glowing red eyes crashes

through the church doors
and attacks the people inside.

Dozens are wounded,
and two parishioners

are killed
in the unexpected rampage

caused by one of England's

most feared monsters...

the hellhound.

MARK NORMAN:
The hellhound of Bungay is one

of the best known
of the monster stories

in the U.K.

It kills two
parishioners in the church

as it makes its way through.

It then goes off to the town

of Blythburgh,
which is about 12 miles away.

And it kills two more
parishioners

and a young boy, as well,

before scrambling to get out

of the church and leaving its
claw marks in the church door,

which you can still see as
black scorch marks to this day.

It's a really important story,

especially for the local area.

The black dog is seen
on the weathervane in the town.

It's on the coat of arms.

Hellhounds are
abnormally huge black dogs.

They are thought to be
an omen of death or a harbinger

of ill fate, mishap,
misfortune, and death.

Sometimes they're as large
as a full grown cow,

heavily muscled,

with glowing red eyes,

as though embers of hell
are emanating

from the creature.

These traditions
and stories of hellhounds

date back centuries in England,

all the way
back to the 12th century.

All over England,
you have different regional

aspects of these black
dogs that are considered

to be the manifestation
of the devil himself.

They're known by a variety
of different names,

the most popular being the
Black Shuck and the Hairy Jack.

There are still people even to
this day that report encounters

with these strange,
ghostly dogs.

Whatever they represent,
we can't deny

that the black dogs are
here to stay.

SHATNER: The hellhound
has clearly frightened

the people
of England for centuries.

But there's
another monster that's

believed to dwell in the country

that has inspired even
greater fascination and fear.

It's known
as the Beast of Exmoor.

While trekking through
a field

in a former
royal hunting preserve,

two hikers capture video footage

of something
no one would ever expect

to see in the backwoods
of South West England.

The video shows
a large black animal

slinking through the grass.

There was a video
filmed of a mysterious

catlike creature
roaming the moors of Exmoor.

It's about seven feet long,

two and a half feet high
at the shoulders.

Coal black in color,

green eyes.

It's very strange.

RICK MINTER: The people
who took the video seem

to be low to the ground,

And it's so difficult
to judge the perspective.

But the interesting thing
about this video, I think,

is, this cat was seemingly

a big black panther-like animal

and it was walking
through a field

and looking confident.

SHATNER:
A black panther?

In England?
According to the U.K.

government's organization
for rural affairs,

there is no cat species
native to England

that resembles a black panther.

But some researchers
believe it's possible that

the enigmatic creature was,
in fact...

...the Beast of Exmoor.

NORMAN: The Beast of Exmoor
is a supernatural

or phantom cat that lives,
according to legend,

around the Exmoor area,

a national park in Devon.

GERHARD: The Beast of Exmoor
is described as a very large,

powerfully built cat.

There have been
hundreds of sightings

dating back centuries,
but it didn't really

become ingrained in
the local fabric of the culture

and folklore until there were

a number of mysterious
livestock attacks and killings

in Southern England that
hit the newspapers in 1983,

when a sheep farmer
named Eric Ley

reported up to a hundred sheep

had been killed
in a very violent way.

Typically the throats
were ripped out,

they were eviscerated,
disemboweled.

So it certainly
has really become sort of

the local monster, if you will.

SHATNER: After the attack
on Eric Ley's sheep, the British

tabloid The Daily Express
picked up the story

and offered a substantial
reward for anyone

who brought in the notorious
beast, dead or alive.

Many reward-seeking amateur
hunters staked out the hills

of Exmoor
in search of the monster.

As reports of livestock deaths
and sightings of the beast

reached a fever pitch,
the British government decided

to send military troops
to investigate the matter.

In North Devon the Royal Marines
are on the trail of a mystery

black beast that's killed
60 sheep in the past month.

People just
don't know what it is.

Rogue dog, wild cat,
or indeed something else.

NORMAN: The Royal Marines are
dispatched onto Exmoor

to search
for this animal to avoid

any more killings
taking place if possible.

Some of the Marines
report possibly seeing

something through
night vision equipment.

But ultimately they stood down

because there's a danger
that if they do

see anything and shoot at it,

the chances are, it's going
to be one of the many amateur

photographers who
are also out on the moor,

trying to capture
evidence of this beast.

And so that hunt
really comes to nothing

at the end of the day.

The evidence is inconclusive.

It's very hard
to pin down for certain

what a lot of these
sightings actually are.

And therein
lies the mystery behind it.

If it's true that
phantom cats and hellhounds do,

in fact, exist,
then it begs the question...

could there be
other monsters from myth

and legend that are also real?

Well, if a recent discovery
in China is to be believed,

then it could be
that we share our world...

with dragons.

SHATNER: In a rural community
120 miles from Beijing,

residents make
an extraordinary discovery

in a local field.

They find
a 60-foot-long set of bones

belonging to
a highly unusual animal.

STEAVU: The remains unearthed
in Zhangjiakou had antlers.

It had prominent claws.
It had a long serpentine body.

So this created a huge buzz
and a lot of fascination.

SHATNER: A video of
the strange bones went

viral on the Internet,
and researchers were

baffled as they attempted to
identify the bizarre creature.

But many local villagers

insisted that
the bones were the remains...

of a dragon.

Dragons are a huge part
of a lot of Asian culture,

particularly Chinese culture.

They are a tremendously
important symbol

for many, many people

STEAVU:
Dragons are perhaps one

of the most defining elements
of Chinese cultural lore.

And they have been
for thousands of years.

Dragons symbolize knowledge,

wisdom, uh...

otherworldly power even.

A lot of the early
imperial families

drew their authority
from associating themselves

with dragon blood
or portraying themselves

as descendants of dragons.

So dragons are a very, um...

present creature in
Chinese cultural imagination.

SHATNER:
Mainstream scientists

remain skeptical as
to whether or not the skeleton

that was discovered in 2017

belonged to a real dragon.

But the media frenzy
sparked by its discovery

suggested that many people,
not only in China

but throughout the world,

believe in
the existence of dragons.

TINA BOYER:
We have dragons everywhere

in time
and in different cultures.

And it is fascinating,
because some of these

cultures never met, they never
had contact within history.

So the pervasiveness
of dragon myths in cultures

across many folkloric contexts
is probably no accident.

Dragons are
one of the more fantastic

creatures to study in mythology
and folklore and legends

because they're so widespread.

They're a big part
of our Western culture.

Satan is described
as a dragon in some

passages in the Bible.

They're one
of the most powerful animal

gods in Aboriginal mythology.

We have dragons
in Ethiopian iconography.

And one of
the fascinating things is,

representations
of what a dragon is supposed

to look like remains
remarkably consistent over time.

What's really remarkable
is that, if we consider

all of these different
influences that may have

contributed
to the dragon legends,

they're all typically
portrayed as being reptilian

in nature, having scales
and claws, often wings that are

very bat-like or membranous
in nature, a long reptilian tail

with a strange structure or
a spike or a stinger on the end,

very sharp teeth,
the ability to breathe fire.

And so we have
to consider the possibility

that at least some of these
dragon legends could be based on

some type of extraordinary
and perhaps unknown animal.

SHATNER: Is it possible that
the many dragons described

in legends
throughout the world weren't

just fictional
but were actually real?

Perhaps the answer lies
in examining some

of the historical accounts
in which people have

claimed to have had
encounters with actual dragons.

In bygone centuries,
encounters with dragons

were not considered to
be fables or tall tales.

They were
written down and documented

as historical fact.

They were told as real
stories of encounters

with mysterious
flesh and blood animals.

In the eighth century,
there's an example

recorded
by, uh, St. John of Damascus...

...where the Roman army is
immensely surprised

when a large creature
described as a dragon

rises up behind them.

They fight and ultimately
slay the creature.

And they skin it and they
send the skin back to Rome.

BOYER: People took
this extremely seriously

up to the early modern period.

A city in Germany called
Worms

is famous
for its dragon fighter.

In the 16th,
17th, and 18th century,

they hung up dragon bones
all across the city

to prove that dragons are real.

SHATNER: Do the many historical
reports of dragons prove

that these legendary beasts
were, in fact, real?

Perhaps, but if so,

then it naturally
begs the question...

could giant, winged serpents

still exist today?

According to some researchers,
the answer is yes.

And as evidence,
they point to numerous sightings

in the early 20th century
of a flying creature

that was known as
the Van Meter Visitor.

In the early 1900s,
a town in Iowa,

the small town
of Van Meter, Iowa,

was plagued by a giant
eight-foot, bat-like creature

with huge leather
bat-like wings,

and it had a horn on its head
that could project light.

For five nights,
it terrorized this small town.

And on the fifth night,
during thunderstorms,

it appeared with
a smaller version of itself,

perhaps the female gender
or the offspring,

before descending back into
the coal mine and disappearing,

never to be seen
in Van Meter again.

SHATNER: What was the mysterious
dragon-like creature

that terrorized the residents
of Van Meter, Iowa?

Some researchers believe
a clue can be found

in the fossil record.

Beginning in the Triassic period
220 million years ago,

there was an animal
out there that actually

looked like a dragon.

So-called pterosaurs,
which were these winged

reptiles that endured
for 150 million years

and ruled
the skies of our planet

and then went extinct
at the end of the Cretaceous.

But isn't it interesting
that we have modern accounts

and sightings of something
that looks like a living dragon?

A reptilian
creature with a long tail,

presumably scales,
leathery wings,

sharp teeth.

As improbable as it seems,
if, in fact,

pterosaurs had managed to endure

throughout history
up until modern times,

their existence
would most certainly explain

the dragon legends of the world.

Is it possible that
the numerous accounts of dragons

throughout history
were actually encounters

with dinosaurs that
somehow survived extinction?

It's an incredible notion.

But no more extraordinary

than new evidence which suggests

that a fearsome monster
might be lurking in the ocean.

A beast known as...

the kraken.

SHATNER: Deep in these
cold, turbulent waters,

located south of Japan,

live some of the most mysterious
marine species on Earth.

And at approximately 9:15 a.m.
on September 30, 2004,

scientists monitoring a digital
camera more than a half

a mile
below the ocean's surface

captured images of a creature

that had never been
photographed underwater before.

The giant squid.

When the picture came out, we,
we as a scientific community

were very excited
because we've only had

all these myths and legends
and sea stories before this.

So, to get photographs
was really exciting

because that was
actually the first time

that we have seen images
of a live giant squid

in its natural environment.

It was a big deal.

SHATNER:
In 2019,

another team
of marine biologists

recorded stunning video
of a giant squid

for only the second time
in history.

The footage,
filmed at a depth of 2,500 feet,

shows a 12-foot long giant squid

attempting to devour a lure
shaped like a jellyfish.

It was the best insight
thus far into the behavior

of these elusive creatures
that remain shrouded in mystery.

Because we have such
little information about them,

one of the major ways
they were finding

evidence of the giant squid
out in the oceans is actually

from the stomach contents
of whales.

Giant squid have eight arms,
two tentacles,

and at the end of those
tentacles, there are clubs,

and those clubs will bring in
prey towards the mouth,

which is this
beak-like structure

that has these little
rasping little

teeth-like structures inside,
called the radula, that help

break food down that the squid
is bringing in to digest.

We believe they get to be
about 40 to 45 feet long,

about the size of the
traditional yellow school buses.

SHATNER:
Modern scientists
continue to search

for giant squid
lurking in the depths,

in hopes of learning more
about these massive predators.

But for centuries,
sailors from around the world

told stories of a mysterious
squid-like monster

that was much larger
and more ferocious.

It was known as the kraken.

LEWIS:
If you've ever seen old sailing
maps, and you see the monsters,

you would see a representation
of the kraken,

a giant squid-like creature
that would not only capsize

and sink boats but would
devour the crew

and had an insatiable hunger
for human flesh.

The kraken was believed
to be the most diabolical

and evil of all
the sea monsters.

In 1555,
the Swedish cartographer

Olaus Magnus first began
to write about a multiarmed

sea monster that lived
off the coast of Norway,

and would often attack boats,

pulling sailors off of ships.

And it was even described
as creating

such a massive whirlpool

that it would actually
suck ships deep into the ocean.

We have some accounts
from whalemen

from the 1840s and 1850s
reporting things

floating by that were over
100, 150 feet long.

And then, in 1861,
a French Navy vessel,

the Alecton, actually spotted

a large kraken,

or what they believed to be a
kraken, floating at the surface.

They didn't want to launch
a small boat because

they were afraid
that the tentacles

would endanger the sailors.

And so, they got
as close as they could.

They started
to shoot the animal.

They harpooned the animal.

They got a noose, and they tried
to lift it out of the water.

But then the animal just sunk.

GERHARD:
If we consider that these
kraken accounts from

centuries past
were taken as historical fact,

what could
these animals represent?

And, although we've
scientifically documented that

these giant squids can obtain
lengths of up to 50 feet,

it is not beyond
scientific possibility

that they could get
much, much larger.

So, it's certainly possible
that somewhere out there exists

a squid of kraken-type
proportions.

SHATNER:
Is it possible that
the kraken does, in fact, exist?

And if so, could it be
a bigger and more monstrous

relative of the giant squid,
as some believe?

Perhaps the answer
may be found by examining

a modern encounter
with what may have been

a real-life kraken.

The Pacific Ocean. 1978.

The United States naval frigate
the USS Stein is on patrol,

when it is suddenly attacked
from beneath the waves.

In 1978,
the U.S. vessel the USS Stein

was out patrolling the waters...

...when some unknown creature
disabled its sonar dome.

They had to go into port,
and they discovered

that the heavy rubber coating

of the sonar dome
was torn to shreds.

There were giant claw marks
on the rubber,

the longest of which
was over four feet in length.

Even more puzzling,
researchers found

hooked sharp claws

embedded into
the rubber coating.

GERHARD:
We know that squids actually
have these types of teeth,

or claws if you will,
lining their suckers.

And so, for a squid claw
of this size,

we could imagine that
the squid that created

this damage on this sonar dome

must have been monstrous
in proportion.

KING:
So, they took it to
the naval biologist

and they tried to identify
what this could be.

But this was a much
larger claw and

not easily connected
to a current known species.

Biologists don't know for sure,
but they do believe

that it's quite possible that
there are large squid species

that we have yet to identify.

Could there be
giant squid that are

100, 150 feet long?

We just really don't know.

Could colossal,
150-foot-long squid

actually be lurking
in the depths?

Perhaps. And it turns out
there may be

an even more powerful creature

dwelling in our oceans.

A giant whale

with a taste for revenge.

SHATNER:
In the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean,

about 850 miles
from the coast of Portugal,

lies a tiny chain of islands
known as the Azores.

The Azores are famous for being
one of the best places in

the world to witness
the breathtaking sight

of massive sperm whales
leaping out of the sea

and crashing back
beneath the waves.

Sperm whales are just
extraordinary animals.

They can get up to 65,
70 feet long.

They're the largest predator
on Earth.

They can make the loudest sound

of any living organism on Earth,

this clang that they make

that can be heard
over 12 miles away.

They can go
over a thousand feet deep.

They can stay underwater
more than two hours.

Most of their life is spent
in the dark, underwater,

and yet they're breathing,
warm-blooded mammals.

SHATNER:
The largest sperm whales
are estimated

to weigh an astonishing 80 tons.

And while these
massive creatures

may seem quite passive today,

in the 19th century,
sperm whales were actually

hunted all over the world,

and sailors considered them
to be powerful

and deadly monsters.

The whaling industry,
uh, for a while,

was the big industry
in the world,

sort of like the petrochemical
industry of its day,

because streetlamps
ran on whale oil.

And so, the whaling industry had

a huge impact in global history.

KING:
In the mid-1800s,

there were over 650
American whaling ships sailing

all around the world
in every single ocean

to hunt sperm whales
and burning the blubber out

into oil to put into barrels,

and then bringing it home
to light lamps,

to lubricate small machinery,
to create candles.

THOMPSON:
It was a very bloody operation
to be a whaler,

to be chasing these things.

And during that time period,
we have various legends

throughout the world as sailors
and shipmen would come across

these fantastically
large creatures

that sometimes
would destroy boats.

They would swallow people.

They could become
wild and dangerous

and aggressive.

SHATNER:
Perhaps the most famous story

inspired by legends
of monster whales

is the classic
American novel Moby-Dick.

Written by Herman Melville
in 1851,

the novel told the story
of Captain Ahab,

a maimed whaler
obsessed with hunting down

and killing his nemesis,

a giant white sperm whale

known as Moby Dick.

Moby Dick is possessed with
human intelligence and cunning.

It's vengeful.

It wants revenge at the whalers

and Captain Ahab that went out
looking to hunt

and kill this monster.

KING:
In the novel,
Melville makes it clear that

Moby Dick is intelligent,

he's malicious,

he's devious, he's malignant.

Moby Dick will sort of
lure sailors along

and then quickly turn around
and smash their boat.

As one of the great
American novels, Moby-Dick,

uh, has received
a lot of attention

about the great white whale.

Most people see this
as an allegory,

but it demonstrates the fear
that people had of whales,

and many believe it was
based on actual sightings.

SHATNER:
Is it possible that Moby Dick
was based on a real whale

that would attack
19th century whaling ships

in an act of revenge?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining actual

historical accounts from the
19th century which suggest that,

during this period of time,
monstrous whales

were more than just
fictional characters.

In 1819,
the whaleship Essex leaves

out of Nantucket Island
with about 20 people on board.

One day, the first mate

sees an exceptionally
large male sperm whale

actually coming
towards his ship.

He estimates this whale
to be over 80 feet long.

And the whale
actually comes and hits

the hull of the whaleship.

It goes underneath and aims
for the ship a second time

and this time rams
the Essex so hard

that it actually puts
a hole in the hull,

and they watch
their ship go down.

At the time, there was
another real story

of a whale called Mocha Dick,

that Herman Melville was
certainly well acquainted with

and was the inspiration
for the name Moby Dick.

Mocha Dick was another whale

that, uh, supposedly
had turned on humans,

attacking them
and destroying several ships.

There was a belief
that this one whale

took it upon itself to attack
these whaling ships.

KING:
Whalemen were recognizing
that sperm whales were adjusting

their behavior based on hunting.

The whales got harpooned,
they were afraid,

they were terrified,
they responded, and they

smashed these
whaleboats to bits.

SHATNER:
It certainly makes sense
that whales defended themselves

when they were hunted by humans
trying to kill them.

But is it possible that,
in the 19th century,

there was a whale that actually
possessed the intelligence

to methodically stalk
and attack whaling ships

in a premeditated fashion,

like in the story of Moby Dick?

There's no question that sperm
whales are intelligent animals.

We've observed them
teaching their young.

We've observed them
learning things

over the course
of their lifetime.

They can communicate
with each other.

They can recognize individuals.

About a third of their body
is their head.

They've got the
largest brain on Earth,

17 pounds of brain.

Now, whether a sperm whale

can feel emotions
like hate or vengeance,

it's certainly something that
Melville explores in Moby-Dick,

and it's a question that will
continue to fascinate people

as we're learning
about animal behaviors.

The notion that an 80-ton whale
could suddenly decide

to attack a ship
is certainly terrifying,

but there is another
elusive beast

who lurks beneath the water.

Not in the ocean
but in a quiet lake

in the Scottish Highlands,
and it's known as

the Loch Ness Monster.

SHATNER:
On a blustery winter afternoon,

military historian
Ricky Phillips

is walking his dogs along the
misty shoreline of Loch Ness,

when he spots
a strange disturbance

in the murky waters.

I was walking along
the line of the River Oich.

The River Oich runs down
into Loch Ness.

It was absolutely lovely,
and I went and I stopped

and I took a photograph over it.

I was sort of one eye on
the phone, one eye on the dog.

There was a strange noise,
and my dogs went crazy.

As I looked down, there was
something in the photograph.

SHATNER:
The grainy image
appears to show a sinuous figure

rising from the dark
gray waters of the loch.

It's unclear what type of animal
the photograph reveals.

But many researchers
analyzing the photo believe

it could be the latest
evidence that confirms

the existence
of an infamous creature

from lore and legend
that is known as

the Loch Ness Monster.

The Loch Ness Monster,
or Nessie,

is without a doubt the most
famous or iconic monster

that has been reported
around the world.

Stories go back decades,
there have been

thousands
of eyewitness accounts.

We have compelling
photographic evidence,

so it certainly has built

a strong reputation

in the world of fabulous
monsters and creatures.

Through the years, there have
been hundreds of sightings.

For example,

on July 15, 1965,

nine eyewitnesses
observed the animal

moving around for up to an hour.

This involved a veteran
Loch Ness investigator,

as well as a local
police sergeant

and the local county surveyor

and six other eyewitnesses.

And what they all described
was identical

from different vantage points
around the loch.

SHATNER:
Since that mass sighting
in 1965,

researchers, scientists,
and even ordinary people

have journeyed to Loch Ness

in search of the famed monster.

SHATNER:
Could there really be a monster

living in the waters
of Loch Ness?

Many researchers
believe it's possible.

And, as evidence,
they point to recent sonar scans

which reveal something enormous

moving beneath
the waters of the loch.

The best evidence we've
ever had from Loch Ness

was a sonar contact

taken by Ronald Mackenzie,

who operates a boat called
the Spirit of Loch Ness,

and three years ago,
he got a sonar contact,

crystal clear sonar contact

about 600 feet down,

and it's there. You know,
it wasn't there an hour earlier

when he went past it
on the boat,

it wasn't there an hour later.
It was there,

then it wasn't.
It's one solid object,

the size of a transit van.

Photographic experts
came back and said,

that is probably
an animate object.

SHATNER:
If it's true that there's
something moving deep

within the waters of Loch Ness,
then what could it be?

Over the years,
researchers have put forward

many theories,
from shapeshifting spirits

known as kelpie found
in Scottish folklore,

to a giant, mutated eel,

to a surviving prehistoric
snake known as a Basilosaur.

But perhaps
what's most fascinating

about the legend
of the Loch Ness Monster

is that there are reports
of similar creatures

all over the world.

GERHARD:
The lake monster
phenomenon is not just

relegated to Loch Ness.

There are, in fact,
similar lake monsters

that have been reported
around the world.

Something known as
the lake monster belt,

which is lines of latitude
between 40 to 60 degrees north

in the northern hemisphere.

And if you plot these
across a map of the world,

you'll find famous lake monsters

all fall within
these same lines of latitude.

That is very
compelling evidence.

LEWIS: What we're finding
is, these different

lakes are very similar.

Many of them are very long,
relatively narrow.

You have Champ
of Lake Champlain,

the Ogopogo monster
of Okanagan Lake

in British Columbia,

you have the Lake Brosno
creature of Russia.

So, it's led researchers
to believe

that maybe there's something
with that latitude

that has the perfect conditions

for such lake monsters to exist.

The idea that there are monsters
living in lakes

all across the northern
hemisphere is unsettling,

but what's even more chilling
is that some believe

there is a monster that
walks on two legs right here

in North America.

It's a terrifying creature

that is known as the Dogman.

SHATNER:
Late one night,
16-year-old James West

heads out to the snowy woods

behind his property
to hunt coyotes.

He settles in beside
a mound of gravel to wait

when he sees
something terrifying.

I turned the light on,
and approximately ten feet away

is this thing on all fours,

sniffing the ground.

My first reaction was,
"Man, that is the biggest coyote

I have ever seen in my life."

I mean, huge, massive head

and long body.

And then it looked up at me.

And it lifted itself up
onto its hind quarters.

It was between seven foot,
ten inches tall and eight foot.

The snout was, I would say,
a good six to eight inches long.

But also massive upper arms,

huge pectorals, like a werewolf.

It took one step towards me,
and I shot it in the chest.

It let out a yelping sound
and took off.

And at that point I just said,
"I'm out of here."

It's been approximately 20 years
since I had my encounter.

I still have flashbacks,
even though it's been 20 years.

It made me more aware that

there are things out there
that we don't understand yet.

SHATNER:
James West is just one
of hundreds of people

who have reported
seeing the monster

that has come to be known
as the Dogman.

THOMPSON:
Dogman, or Dogmen,

they're a little bit different
than a werewolf.

Usually, the idea
of the werewolf is

that they transform, um,
maybe with a full Moon,

uh, between human form
and, uh, the wolf form,

at which point they become wild
and dangerous and aggressive.

Well, Dogmen, they are Dogmen
their entire lives,

uh, so this is
just who they are.

GERHARD:
Dogman really burst
onto the scene

in the late 1980s, early 1990s,

when a creature from Wisconsin
was seen feasting

on roadkill and chasing cars
on a lonely country road.

Since that time,
the Dogman phenomenon

has blown up around the world.

SHATNER:
Is it really possible there's
a half-man, half-dog monster

roaming the wilds
of North America?

Many researchers say
the answer is yes.

And as evidence, they point
to the fact that similar

monsters have been reported

all over the world
for centuries.

THOMPSON:
We have many reports
of Dogman going back

to European folklore.

A really important thing
to understand

about why people
believe in monsters,

um, is that people see them.

And I have talked to many, many
people who have affirmed

that they have seen the Dogman.

SHATNER:
So far, there's been
no indisputable evidence

found that proves
the Dogman's existence,

which is also the case
with many other monsters

of myth and legend.

But for people who claim
to have witnessed

one of these creatures
firsthand,

seeing is believing.

THOMPSON:
People have experiences

that can be very, very powerful

and can completely change
their own belief systems.

This brings to the front

a really important fact
about folklore.

Saying something is a legend
does not mean it's not true.

What it means is,
it hasn't been accepted

by scientific discourse.

So, saying something
is a monster

doesn't mean it's not real.

Is our world full
of monsters lurking

in the shadows,
waiting to be discovered?

It may seem far-fetched,
but consider this.

We once thought creatures
like the giant squid

were mere legends, too.

So, for the moment,
we have no choice but to accept

that the truth about Dogmen

and lake monsters

and dragons will remain unknown

and unexplained.

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