All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S18E08.1080p.WEB.h264-KOGi_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
Shadowy figures
appear in the night,

terrifying all
who encounter them.

I don't even know
how to describe

-that level of fear...
-(gasps)

...because it was this big,
hulking black mass.

NARRATOR:
They paralyze their prey.

It was like being chained
to the bottom of the ocean.

You can't move,
you can't breathe.

NARRATOR:
And according to some,

they are not only frightening
but deadly.

DAVID CHILDRESS:
They explained it as

these shadow entities
were killing them.

(sustained beep)

NARRATOR:
Could dark entities

known as the shadow people

be more than just a product
of the imagination?

Are there beings coming to Earth
from other worlds

or other dimensions,
with malicious intentions

for the human race?

JONATHAN YOUNG:
It seems menacing,

it seems from another place.

It's a mystery,
but it's a mystery

that a lot of people
are encountering.

NARRATOR:
There is a doorway
in the universe.

Beyond it
is the promise of truth.

It demands
we question everything

we have ever been taught.

The evidence is all around us.

The future is right
before our eyes.

We are not alone.

We have never been alone.

Vientiane, Laos.

December 2, 1975.

In the wake of the Vietnam War,

the Hmong people,
a group of indigenous Laotians,

are forced to flee their country

as the Communist Party
seizes political control.

Thousands of displaced
Hmong people

immigrate to the United States.

But as they become settled
in their new communities,

they face an unexpected
and much more mysterious threat.

There was a very strange rash
of deaths of Hmong men

who suddenly died
in their sleep.

And medical technicians
could find no reason

for these strange deaths.

If you look at the statistics,

suddenly, when the Hmong people
arrived in the United States,

their death rates skied. Why?

Nobody knows why, because
they didn't have any symptoms.

They just died.

NARRATOR:
After numerous
inconclusive autopsies,

mystified doctors were unable
to find a cause of death

but gave the phenomenon a name:

"sudden unexpected
nocturnal death syndrome."

All but one of the 117 men
who died were in good health,

with a median age of 33.

So, while some doctors
now speculate that the deaths

might be explained by an obscure
genetic cardiac arrhythmia,

the Hmong believe
there is another explanation.

Modern medical science
could not explain these deaths.

But among the Hmong,
they knew it was because

they couldn't practice
their original religion.

In Laos, there is a belief
that there are night spirits

that are dangerous, but if you
have done your rituals,

your prayers, your ceremonies,

and have your ceremonial objects
near your bed, you're fine.

It's all under control,
when you're in Laos.

But when you're brought
to another country

and you're working
odd shifts and things,

maybe your rituals
get a little off.

So you're in trouble
and the night spirits get you

and you die,
which is just so strange.

I mean, these are night spirits.
They're-- that's superstition,

but they died.

The deaths are real.

NARRATOR:
These shadowy night spirits

are known by the Hmong people
as "cho chua"

and are often described
as "pressure demons."

That is,
demons that exert pressure

by sitting
on their victims' chests

until they can
no longer breathe.

The Hmong people talked about
some of the symptoms

they experienced,
not just nightmares but visions,

and a terrible pressure
on their bodies,

because their ancestral spirits
were no longer protecting them.

The Hmong themselves
explained it

as these shadow entities
were killing and punishing them

for not having done
their rituals correctly.

HENRY:
The reason why we know
that they believed

they were dying from this
is because medical experts,

researchers talked
with the family members

and that's what they said.

NARRATOR:
The Hmong people's description

of their interaction

with the pressure demons
known as cho chua

bears a striking resemblance

to what ancient astronaut
theorists describe

as mysterious entities
called shadow people.

An extraordinary experience
has been reported

by thousands
of people worldwide.

They're asleep,
suddenly they wake up,

and there's this dark
humanoid figure that's opaque.

It appears to be made
of some ethereal substance

that reflects no light.

MIKE RICKSECKER:
Shadow entities can be
a lot of different things.

But in general, what we see
with these shadow entities

are some common traits,
such as no facial features.

Everything is black
and dark in nature.

Some may be very solid,
some may be very translucent,

but we're not getting
any detail.

NARRATOR:
Due to their shadowy nature,

experiencers have difficulty
making sense

of just what these entities are.

But for most, the encounters
are terrifyingly real.

Los Angeles, California.

February 2011.

On a quiet night,

journalist Paul Christensen
is asleep in bed

when suddenly, he's jolted awake

by a jarring physical sensation.

It was like being chained
to the bottom of the ocean.

You can't move,
you can't breathe.

You open your eyes, and there is
a presence in the room with you.

You can't make out
who it is, what it is.

It looks like...

just a dark entity.

The air behind them--

I don't know
how to describe this--

it's kind of fuzzy,
it's kind of moving.

And then I was just trying

to make something move
or come out of me,

and it ended in just
the most bloodcurdling scream

that I could get
out of my mouth.

-(screams)
-As soon as I screamed,

my girlfriend that was
laying next to me woke up,

and I turned the light on...

...and it was gone.

NARRATOR:
Paul is uncertain how long
the encounter lasted,

but it was only
the first of several

that would take place
over the next five years.

Each left him paralyzed
with fear.

CHRISTENSEN:
At the time
these were happening,

I was frightened for my life.

Part of me feels like

there's some kind
of demonic presence around them.

I've never felt that they were
there for good intentions.

It's always come with
a heavy feeling of darkness...

...that they were there
for something

other than anything good.

NARRATOR:
While Paul's encounters
with shadowy beings

have left him frightened
and desperate for answers,

his experience is not unique.

In 2001, author Heidi Hollis
released The Secret War,

in which she shared
her own startling experiences

with entities
she called shadow people.

HEIDI HOLLIS:
I don't even know how
to describe that level of fear,

because it was absolutely
hulking over me.

And this started
my whole journey

into the topic of shadow people.

I'm a person that's not afraid

to say I've experienced
something.

I'm like, bring it out into the
light, and let's talk about it.

From the start, when I finally
got the book published in 2001,

thousands of people
from around the world,

from priests to schoolteachers,
have written me seeking help.

So my goal is to try
to help people to understand

that you can keep
these things at bay.

NARRATOR:
According to Heidi's research

collecting and studying
people's encounters,

these dark entities can appear

as various shapes and figures.

The experiences that I receive
often involve a person

waking up, and they feel
a presence is in the room.

And if they spot it,

the thing comes even closer
and pins them down,

and they're paralyzed.

They often come at nighttime
because your guard is down,

so they're
taking advantage of you

when you're not at your best.

So, they're sneaky,
they're deceptive,

and they evoke
a lot of horrific things

into people's lives.

NARRATOR:
The dark, humanoid appearance
of shadow beings

has caused some to identify them
as apparitions or ghosts.

But many researchers believe
the shadow people

are a much different type
of entity.

A ghost is a human spirit

that is taking some sort
of corporeal form.

With a ghost, we get a lot
of detail in the apparition.

We can see facial features.

We can see clothing.
We can see details in the hair.

Where with shadow entities,
we get almost nothing.

NARRATOR:
While many psychologists

continue to dismiss
the phenomenon

as a symptom of sleep paralysis,

researchers point out
that people have reported

encounters that happened
when they were wide awake.

In my own personal experience
with the shadow people,

I was getting ready to go
to sleep, sitting up in bed,

and all of a sudden,
this black humanoid figure

enters into the room,
walks across the room.

I follow it and watch it,
and it just vanishes.

I didn't experience any fear.

I was totally perplexed
by what I've seen

and thought,
"Wow, what was that?"

HOLLIS:
Believe it or not,

the first shadow people
experience that I had

was witnessing it following
another friend of mine

in broad daylight.

And I saw this entity,
this big, hulking black mass--

it kind of looks like a man

with its head directly connected
to its shoulders--

going tree to tree

and bush to bush
as we're walking along.

And I was just beside myself.

The whole way that we go,
we see this thing.

I really thought, you know,
I just witnessed

one crazy thing,
and that was it.

I trust myself, and I know
what it is I experienced,

and I know what was going on.

NARRATOR:
If the so-called shadow people
are not merely

a trick of the mind
but very real

and possibly dangerous entities,

what exactly are they?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining similar accounts

that were recorded
thousands of years ago.

NARRATOR:
Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma.

This nearly
seven-million-acre territory

is home to Native people
who have occupied North America

for more than 4,000 years.

The Choctaw continue to carry on
the centuries-old traditions

of their ancestors to this day.

And one story
that continues to loom large

is that of the Nalusa Chito,

which the Choctaw describe
as a shadow being.

This Nalusa Chito

is a demonic entity.

And the Choctaw believe that if
you're having bad thoughts,

that this will attract
the Nalusa Chito to you.

YOUNG:
The Nalusa Chito

would get you
by creeping inside you

and eating your soul.

The Choctaw were so afraid
of this creature,

they would not say the name.

And many people would move along
and abandon huts and things

because of the fear
of this shadow figure.

BIRNES:
We see the shadow people

in the stories
of other Native American people.

On Native American reservations,

particularly
the Jicarilla Apache reservation

in Dulce, New Mexico,

they talk
about the shadow people

as if they are
their regular companions.

The legend is this.

If a shadow person,
who's really a spirit, sees you

and that shadow people
attaches itself to you,

it will be with you
for the rest of your life.

NARRATOR:
The traditions
of these Native American tribes

originated centuries ago.

And as ancient astronaut
theorists point out,

accounts of shadowy entities
can be found in the legends

of ancient cultures
all around the world.

While there are stories of
shadow people in modern times,

what I find interesting is

there are also references
to what seem to be

shadow people in ancient texts,

and frankly,
they're very strange accounts.

Shadow beings
go far back into antiquity,

all the way back
to the time of ancient Sumer,

where, in that culture,
you see accounts of Alû,

which is a type of udug,

which, in their culture,
was a type of demon.

Now, Alû, in the way
that he would appear to people,

it was very much like
our shadow entities of today

where he was very dark
in nature.

He had no facial features,
no eyes, no nose, no mouth,

and he would hover
over people at night.

YOUNG:
Of course, there are
many accounts of demons

in the scriptures,

the Christian Bible, the Talmud.

In Jewish lore,
there is the shadow of death

or the death shadow.

There is this idea
that there are

malevolent spirits
that could harm you.

NARRATOR:
Commonly compared
with the shadow people

is an entity known in Islam
as the djinn,

supernatural creatures
that are often invisible

and have the ability
to shape-shift.

The derivation of djinn
comes from an Arabic, uh, root,

J-N-N, which literally means
to hide or to conceal.

The djinn are created
of smokeless fire.

Our English word "genie,"

you know, the mythical spirit
that lives inside of a lamp,

comes from the word "djinn."

RICKSECKER:
The djinn are considered
more trickster in nature.

They have
some interesting abilities,

such as
they can instantly transport

from one place to another.

They also seem to appear
very dark and shadowy in nature,

that they were these big,
looming type of characters

when they enter the room.

As a Muslim, you know,
I believe the djinn to be real.

Djinn can be angelic.

They can be demonic.

And so, this idea is

that you have to be careful
with them

because they are
these powerful figures.

They are these
literally supernatural figures.

And so, across the Muslim world,

in the present day, particularly
in places like North Africa,

you may wear an amulet.

You may have things
to ward off the djinn.

You may have,
you know, certain things

that you do to protect you
from the djinn,

because the idea is
that the djinn,

when they're
in their demonic capacity,

will do things
that can be harmful

or tormenting to human beings.

What I find fascinating is that
you have a myriad of cultures

from all over the world

that have
very, very similar beliefs

about these shadow entities.

Now, they may call it
something different,

but you see in Turkey
the Karabasan, the dark presser,

as a very, very similar entity

as to the kana tevoro in Fiji

as to the Pisadeira in Brazil.

They're all talking
about the same type of being,

the same type of entity,

and it calls into question,
how are these beings visiting

all of these different cultures
from all over the world

since they did not have
any contact with each other?

GEORGE NOORY:
Historically,
since the beginning of time,

we have had creature stories
of strange beings,

of shadows, of the bogeyman.

And they somehow echo
some of the reports

that we're hearing today.

They're somewhat similar.

I don't think
they've ever gone away.

They're still here
on the planet.

NARRATOR:
Have separate cultures
around the world

and throughout history

been haunted
by the same dark figures?

And if so, just what kind
of entities are they?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining eyewitness accounts
of strange energy

when face-to-face
with shadow people.

NARRATOR:
Virginia City, Nevada.

October 28, 2016.

Researcher Michelle LeBaron
and a group of colleagues

are investigating reports
of a shadowlike entity

at a historic saloon
called the Washoe Club.

RICKSECKER:
She and another woman

ventured
into one particular room.

And between her and her friend,

this large shadow loomed up.

She described it as about
six-five, six-six in height.

But, again,
very, very dark in nature,

so there was no detail.

At one point, she thought

it had completely engulfed
her friend,

and they ended up screaming
and running out of the room.

Now, this woman,

a few minutes later,
after they collected themselves,

walked back over to the hall,

and there stood again
this very tall, dark shadow,

but it started doing
something very unusual.

There was this pulsating energy

that was emanating forth
from it,

like a "whoop, whoop, whoop."

And she could hear it
as well as feel it.

In many cases,
people feel a certain energy

projecting out
from these beings.

And in this
particular woman's case,

it was
this pulsating type energy.

With other people,
it may be more constant.

So, people are experiencing
different types of energy

from these beings
but, with each of them,

energy nonetheless.

JASON OFFUTT:
I have interviewed people

who have encountered
shadow beings,

and they've heard what sounded
like electricity buzzing.

Uh, and-and the sound
would disappear

when the shadow people
left the room.

RICKSECKER:
There was another woman
I interviewed

who saw a flash of light

out in her hallway,
and all of a sudden,

this shadow man
ran into her room,

jumped on top of her

and pressed her down
into the bed.

And the shadow man
jumped back off,

ran back out into the hallway,

and she saw
another flash of light.

The next morning
when she woke up,

she noticed that

all the electronics in that room
had been absolutely fried,

and she had to call
the fire department

for them to come
and inspect everything.

NARRATOR:
In addition to hearing
and feeling surges of energy,

witnesses often report
another curious detail

about the shadow people:

the appearance of glowing eyes.

HENRY:
A lot of the shadow people have

no facial features whatsoever.
Just blackness.

But some do have glowing eyes,

and, in particular, it's the one
with the red glowing eyes

that appear to be
the most malevolent.

OFFUTT:
When it comes to shadow beings
with eyes,

especially blazing red eyes,

people also experience a fear

that is deeper than just
"there's an entity in my room."

And they feel
that these entities

are-are up to nefarious means.

NARRATOR:
So many reports
of shadow encounters

are associated
with pulsating energy,

glowing eyes
and electronic disturbances

that researchers wonder
if some shadow entities

might actually be
misunderstood technology.

HENRY:
It's often discussed

that powerful alien technology
can influence

human electronics
and technology.

This is definitely something
that is reported

with the shadow people
experiences.

RICKSECKER:
There's also an interesting idea

in which these extraterrestrials
may be using

some sort of cloaking device

to hide themselves
from our view.

But since they
may not quite understand

the physiology of our eyes,

it comes off
more of like a shadow.

So, what we may be seeing

is an imperfect type
of alien technology.

OFFUTT:
I've interviewed
two different people

who have described to me
what sounds like it could be

some sort
of cloaking technology.

One person in particular
said that he saw a cloak open

and saw beyond the disguise.

And what he saw, he said,
was reptilian scales.

Uh, I-I spoke with someone else
who saw something similar

but described the skin
as more, like, slick.

Like a...
like a frog's but gray.

TSOUKALOS:
Could it be

that we're not talking
about shadow people

but some type of a technology

that appeared like a shadow
and it maybe...

You know, sometime
a technology did not work,

it would reveal that person
underneath the cloak

or underneath the device.

And so they will be seen

for maybe a fraction
of a second.

NARRATOR:
For ancient astronaut theorists,

the notion
that the shadow people

might be some form
of misunderstood technology

is an intriguing possibility.

But what many consider
an absolute certainty

is their connection
to extraterrestrials.

As evidence,
they point to the many accounts

linking
the shadow people phenomenon

and alien abduction.

There are a lot
of common denominators

with people
who experience shadow figures

and those who are abducted.

You wake up
in the middle of the night.

You are taken by surprise.

You are paralyzed.

You cannot move.
You cannot speak.

You are helpless.

You feel that this entity
has taken over you.

It is projecting
some sort of energy

that you cannot control.

In my professional,
uh, experience

as an investigative reporter

talking
with maybe about 3,000 people

in the abduction syndrome
over about four decades,

one of the common experiences

that you will hear
from abductees

is that they feel paralyzed

in the presence
of something in their room,

usually an entity.

A few call them shadow people.

In March of 1991,

in my mail,
I received an envelope

that contained illustrations
and an audio cassette

and a letter from a woman

who lived
in Porterville, California.

And part of the story
was her encounter

with shadow people.

And I would like to read a
little bit about what she wrote.

"I was in bed asleep
when something woke me up.

"The room was filled this time

"with an orange glow,

"and at the center of the room
was a hole,

"out of which two well-formed,
seemingly three-dimensional

"solid shadow people
were stepping.

"The two shadow men grabbed me
and pulled me toward the hole.

"That is the last I remember.

"And later,
I realized that the little guy,

"the Grey guy
that I call the creep,

"was standing off to the right,

"watching my reaction
to the whole thing.

He also seemed to be in charge
of what was happening."

NARRATOR:
Could the accounts
of alleged alien abductees

reveal that reports
of shadow people are, in fact,

extraterrestrial encounters?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining a shadowy being
often encountered

by UFO witnesses,

an entity known as the Hat Man.

NARRATOR:
Shadow people witnesses

often describe
the entities they encounter

as appearing vaguely humanoid
with no discernible features.

But in some accounts,

they take
a curiously recognizable form.

RICKSECKER:
One of the most mysterious types
of shadow entities

is what people refer to
as the Hat Man.

This type of entity

may be wearing a fedora-type hat

with an accompanying
trench coat.

It may be a top hat
with or without the cape.

We don't see a lot of detail
with the Hat Man.

We see that vague outline.

OFFUTT:
The Hat Man appears just like
any other shadow being.

There's no definition.
You-you can't see,

uh, a nose, a chin,
uh, the eyes.

You see the outline of a fedora.

RICKSECKER:
Many times, people report

these hat-wearing entities

coming into their bedrooms
at night, sometimes flanked

by two humanoid type
of shadow entities.

And they strike fear

into the person there
lying in bed

and, like an energy vampire,

feed off of that fear.

HOLLIS:
There's confusion out there

between different entities.

Something I once called
Hat Man shadow,

he is not a shadow person.

He can take on
different forms, yes,

as far as being able
to blend into a shadow.

But he could step out,
and he could be very solid,

so he's a very different type
of entity.

But people think
he directs the shadow people.

So, shadow people are
essentially minions to Hat Man.

NARRATOR:
Could reports
of the so-called Hat Man

shed new light
on the shadow people phenomenon?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

one of the very first
reported encounters

with these dark entities.

Bridgeport, Connecticut.

1953.

Albert K. Bender,

the nation's
top UFO investigator,

receives a threatening visit

that will bring his research
to an abrupt and premature halt.

RICKSECKER:
Albert K. Bender founded

the International
Flying Saucer Bureau.

This was
during the big UFO flap of 1952

when flying saucers were
witnessed over Washington, D.C.,

and many other areas
around the world.

And this organization
blew up big

within that first year.

However, just a year later,
he suddenly ended

the International
Flying Saucer Bureau,

and people wondered why.

And what happened
was that he came home one night,

went into his bedroom,

and suddenly these three
dark, shadowy figures

materialized through his wall
into his bedroom.

They were wearing the hats
and the overcoats.

They had glowing eyes,
and they smelled like sulfur.

NARRATOR:
According to Bender,
the three entities

communicated with him
through telepathy,

warning him to discontinue
his UFO research

and stop publishing
his influential magazine,

the Space Review.

Afterwards, he became ill

and didn't eat for three days.

HENRY:
After this experience,

Bender was repeatedly visited,
he said.

They gave him headaches,

they-they controlled him
telepathically,

and he ultimately gave up
his UFO researches

and stopped publishing
the Space Review,

in which he documented
UFO sightings

throughout the world.

He told the people
that had been subscribers

and he was working with,
"They told me,

"'We come from a very,
very far distant place

"'in this universe.

"'And we have been coming
and going

"'from your planet
for some time,

"'and we cannot allow you

"'or anyone to interfere.

"'And, in fact,
we have taken many humans

"'from this planet

to cover up our operations
until we are done.'"

RICKSECKER:
This is a very influential point
in our history,

especially
in the ufology community,

in which shadow entities
interfered

and thwarted somebody's research

and possibly set the field back
a number of years.

NARRATOR:
The visitors
Albert Bender encountered

match descriptions of what is
today known as the Hat Man,

but he called them
by another name:

the Men in Black.

While the Men in Black are
often portrayed in pop culture

as government agents,

many who claim
to have encountered them

believe they are
something other than human.

HENRY:
The Men in Black are

mysterious
and nefarious entities.

They're shadowy.
They wear black clothing.

Many people believe that they're
either extraterrestrials

or somehow, they're working
for extraterrestrials

to prevent humans
from learning the truth

about extraterrestrials
on Earth.

OFFUTT:
They talk to UFO witnesses.

Some people have reported

they seem to not know things
that are common,

like, you know,
which end of a pen to use.

Or, uh, if they're offered
something to eat or drink,

they don't know
how to eat or drink it.

HENRY:
Both the Hat Man
and the Men in Black

are known for wearing a hat.

They both influence people
telepathically.

They both appear
to be sometimes malevolent,

and they could, in fact,
be the same type of a being.

There's a theory
that the Hat Man

and the Men in Black
are actually the ringleaders

of the shadow people

and that, in fact,
they direct the shadow people

to influence humans
in particular

to keep them from investigating
UFO experiences.

NOORY:
There's no question

that the stories
of shadow people,

Men in Black
and other visitations

are all mixed in together.

Are they the same? Possibly.

But what I think what is
really happening on this planet

is mass hysteria

of real events that are
happening to real people,

and they can't understand
what's going on.

Who knows what's happening?

NARRATOR:
For ancient astronaut theorists,

the wide variety of reported
shadow people encounters

makes finding an explanation
for the phenomenon

all the more difficult.

But some researchers suggest

that we may come closer
to the answer

by asking the question,

"Where do they come from?"

NARRATOR:
One of the most common
and most curious observations

reported
by shadow people experiencers

is that these entities
are able to make

physical contact with them

but then often disappear

as though
they are merely holograms.

OFFUTT:
Generally, the shadow people
will leave the room.

Either they will dissolve
in a puff of smoke

or they will walk
through a door.

And they may
or may not be material,

have mass, have structural form.

And there's been talk
about maybe they come

from some other dimension.

We take for granted that we live
in a three-dimensional universe.

The quantum theory makes
possible higher dimensions.

Think of fish living in a pond,
for example.

The pond is two-dimensional.

The fish are stuck
in a two-dimensional world.

They cannot visualize
a third dimension.

But you could lift
one of these fishes

into the third dimension,
and they'd be shocked.

Shocked to realize
there's a whole universe

in the third dimension
beyond their pond.

Well, we physicists, some of us
believe that we are the fish.

We spend all our life
in a three-dimensional pond

thinking
that that's all there is

when right above us,

there could be
higher dimensions,

hyperspatial dimensions
up to 11.

RICKSECKER: Theoretically,
we have up to 11 dimensions,

and there may be other entities
and other life-forms

living within these dimensions.

Now, how would they look to us

if they crossed
over those dimensions

and entered into our world?

Well, maybe a shadow entity

is one of these
interdimensional beings

that has crossed over from
some other place in space-time

into our world.

And we're seeing them
as a shadow

because their energy
and their personal resonance

doesn't quite adhere

to the energy
and the resonance of our planet.

NOORY:
If shadow people exist,

and it's very possible
that they do,

I think they're coming
from other dimensions

within our universe.

I think there are entities
that somehow leak through

because some of them
even look disoriented,

like they-they don't know
where they are.

Somehow, they're coming
through another dimension

into ours,

and we're stuck with them.

NARRATOR:
Could it be
that shadow people experiencers

are witnessing entities

that are capable of traveling
between dimensions?

According to
ancient astronaut theorists,

there is evidence

that certain places on Earth
act as interdimensional portals.

RICKSECKER:
We see shadow entities

in these certain locations
around the world

in which they seem
to appear more often.

There are locations
around our planet

where there's more
of that Earth energy

that is rising
out of the ground.

You know, Stonehenge,
the pyramids,

Carnac,
places with that ancient energy

that's rising from the ground.

Now, an interdimensional being
may be using those locations

to enter into our domain.

NARRATOR:
Some researchers believe
it is also possible

that shadow people

can alter the human mind

to see into other dimensions.

BIRNES:
Ancient peoples believe

that shadow people
have the ability

to enter a person's mind

and change
that person's perception

so the person
can see the spirit.

They've entered
from their world into our world.

NARRATOR:
According to
ancient astronaut theorists,

the notion that the human mind
can be altered

to access other dimensions

is supported by experiments

with a powerful hallucinogen
called dimethyltryptamine,

or DMT,

the active ingredient
in ayahuasca.

This South American drug

is traditionally used
throughout the Amazon

to produce intense visions.

Between 1990 and 1995,

scientists
at the University of New Mexico

administered DMT
to 60 volunteers

and were surprised

to find that many of them
had very similar visions,

including encounters
with strange beings.

One of the greatest scholars
about the effect of DMT

and human beings and what we see
in the other world

is Terence McKenna.

Terence McKenna explained

that the strangest thing
to him was

those who'd taken ayahuasca
generally saw the same thing.

What did they see?

Little green people.

People like Terence McKenna

are saying that's the entrance
to another world,

another dimension.

And we know, he says,

that it has a separate existence
from us

because people
from all different walks of life

see the same thing.

HENRY:
These beings appear to be coming

from higher or lower realms

and entering
into our physical realm,

perhaps to demonstrate
that we, too,

can cross over
into these realms.

It's very important
that we understand the nature

and origins of these beings

because it could be
that they are gonna lead us

to innumerable different species
that exist in our universe

as well as how we, too,

can cross over
into these other realms.

NARRATOR:
Experiments with electric
stimulation of the brain

have also caused people to have
unexplainable encounters.

OFFUTT:
There was a study

done, uh, in-in Sweden

where these scientists
put electric charges

in certain parts of the brain

just to see how the subject
would react to them.

And a young undergrad was
sitting there with a notebook,

and when they increased
the voltage

to a certain part of her brain,

she started pulling away

from something
that wasn't there.

And afterwards,
uh, when she was asked

by the scientist
to describe what was going on,

she said that she saw
a shadow entity behind her.

And when the voltage
was at its highest,

she said it was trying
to take the notebook and pen

out of her hands,
and she was jerking

to keep it from removing them.

So, is it some part of our brain

that needs an electrical charge

or some charge from ayahuasca

to help us see
what's already there?

Very possibly.

NARRATOR:
Are shadow people witnesses

encountering entities
from other dimensions?

Some ancient astronaut theorists

suggest there is an even more
profound explanation:

that just outside the range
of human perception,

Earth is inhabited
by a great multitude

of otherworldly beings.

NARRATOR:
The dark, hulking figure

that comes in the night
and paralyzes its prey

remains the most common
shadow people experience.

But reports of these entities
appearing in broad daylight,

as well as other types
of shadow people accounts,

make it difficult
for investigators to pin down

exactly what this phenomenon is.

When it comes to the different
types of shadow entities,

their behavior, to me,

differentiates
one from the other.

The ones that don't pay
any attention to people at all,

they could be interdimensional.

The ones that are spying on us
could be extraterrestrial.

The ones that instill fear

could be demonic entities.

So, even though
they look the same,

generally, I-I don't think
a lot of them are.

HENRY:
The multifactorial explanation
makes a lot of sense.

It could explain
why some of them instill fear

and some of them don't,

why some of them appear
during daytime

and some of them
only appear at nighttime.

The fact is
we just don't know enough

about the shadow people,

and a lot more research
needs to be done.

NARRATOR:
While answers remain elusive,

one popular new theory
is that the shadow people

exist outside the limits
of human perception,

not occupying
an alternate dimension

but vibrating at a frequency

we are not normally able
to perceive.

TSOUKALOS:
It's a scientific fact

that the human eye
can only see certain things.

For example, we cannot see
the infrared light spectrum.

So you have to wonder
if shadow people operate

in a spectrum that we humans
simply cannot see.

And perhaps there are
certain people

whose brains operate
in a different way,

and they're able to process

more of the reality
that we currently experience.

CORY:
There are other spectrums
that continue on

past our physical brain
and our physical self.

And so, why is it so difficult

to imagine that these entities
could be existing?

That these entities exist

in these other spectrum

and tap into our spectrum

at will and upon command.

RICKSECKER:
I think the benefit for mankind

in learning
about these entities...

I think we'd get a better
understanding of our universe

and how everything
in this universe is connected.

You know, I to you.

Us to the planet,
the planet to the Sun

to the solar system
to our galaxy.

Everything is interconnected.
We're all made of stardust.

And I think we'll have
a better understanding

of our origins

and where we're going
in the future.

TSOUKALOS:
One can argue,

"Oh, it's just a figment
of their imagination."

But some of these people
have experienced this

for their entire lives.

And I think
that we need to investigate

and listen to the people
who tell us these stories.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible

that humankind shares the Earth

with other intelligent beings

that only a select few
are able to perceive?

Perhaps the next step
in humankind's evolution

will not involve the development
of spacefaring technology

but an expansion
of consciousness,

allowing us to see
for the first time

that we truly are not alone,

even on our own planet.

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