Ancient Aliens (2009–…): Season 16, Episode 2 - The Lost Kingdom - full transcript

Could be the gateway
to another realm.

There's a place
somewhere in tibet

that's some kind of vortex.

Giorgio a. Tsoukalos:
It is said that this was

the abode of the gods.

Narrator: With thousands
of reports of ufos...

Suddenly they saw an
oval-shaped object pass over them.

Narrator: ...Accounts
of terrifying monsters...

These yetis are able to
appear and disappear at will.

Narrator ...And mysterious
mass vanishings...

Jonathan young: This kingdom had power,
it had glory.



And then it disappeared.

Narrator: ...Could tibet be
an extraterrestrial outpost

- on earth?
- Tsoukalos: The reason why

this area of the world has
become a religious center

is because of the arrival
of the extraterrestrials.

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.



Narrator: On the northern
side of the himalayas

lies the highest geographical
region on earth: Tibet.

Known as "the
roof of the world,"

it has an average elevation
of nearly 15,000 feet.

There is 40% less oxygen to
breathe here than at sea level,

and the weather can be
dangerous and unpredictable.

Yet more than three million
people call tibet home.

Millions more brave the
harsh conditions to travel here

each year and visit
tibet's sacred peaks,

including mount everest,
which reaches

nearly five and a half
miles into the heavens.

Tibet we call "land of snow."

young: Here is this mountain kingdom,
very hard to get to,

with an exotic culture all its own,
amazing architecture...

...And the dizzying
heights of its location.

Deepak shimkhada: There
are a lot of mysteries involved,

with the origin of, uh, tibet,
and also a lot of history.

Tibet is usually referred
to as a land of gods.

It is a kind of exotic land

where many people...
westerners... Wanted to go there.

Young: The secrets
of the tibetan culture

have eluded us and held our
fascination since early times.

Narrator: Humans have inhabited
tibet for at least 20,000 years.

Little is known about
the earliest inhabitants

of this forbidding environment,

but ancient
tibetan texts identify

the region's first rulers
as the zhangzhung people,

who emerged around 500 bc.

Much about this early
civilization is still a mystery.

But their spiritual tradition,
called bon,

remains a powerful
force in tibet.

The native indigenous
tibetan religion,

which is known as bon or bon po,

that, in many ways,
is similar to taoism.

It connects nature
and spirituality.

Certain spots are
very powerful spots.

There's a lot of magic involved,
like, with demons and exorcisms.

Narrator: In the eighth century,
tibetan king trisong detsen

introduced a new religion

and philosophy to
the area: Buddhism.

Followers of buddhism
share a belief in reincarnation

and don't acknowledge
a supreme god or deity.

They instead focus on
achieving enlightenment,

a state of inner
peace and wisdom.

The combination of bon,
buddhism,

and other local traditions

resulted in what is known
today as tibetan buddhism.

At the same time buddhism was introduced,
tibet also gave rise

to the world's most
mysterious spiritual leader,

the dalai lama.

Young: The great tibetan
thinkers strongly believe,

along with the rest
of the population,

that this is, in fact,
the 74th incarnation of the chenrezig.

And it is a continuation
of the buddha himself.

So,
the current dalai lama is a continuation

of this great energy.

Shimkhada: These lamas
and all these great personalities

lived in tibet,
so perhaps there is something

to be learned from these
great masters in tibet.

David childress: Having
traveled in tibet a number of times,

it really expands your mind.

And in many ways,

tibet is that magical,
mystical place where anything can happen.

Narrator: Tibet not only
stands at a crossroads

of eastern religious traditions,
but is believed by many

to be a place where heavenly
beings actually reside on earth.

Tsoukalos: It is said that this
was the abode of the gods.

The himalayan region
is filled with stories

of so-called "celestial beings"

that descended from
the sky in flying vehicles

that they're referred to as
dragons and flying furnaces.

According to some of
the earliest sanskrit texts,

the first buddha that
ever walked the earth

was nine feet tall,
had light blue skin,

and his arms reached all
the way down to his knees.

And there are multiple statues
all throughout that region

of the world that depict
exactly a buddha like that.

Tsoukalos:
Visitation did happen,

and this was something that
has remained in the consciousness

of the local people
over millennia.

The reason why
this area of the world

has become a religious center

is because of the arrival
of the extraterrestrials.

Narrator: Is it possible
that the culture of tibet

was influenced by
ancient alien visitors?

And if so,
could they still be present

in this mountainous
region today?

According to both hindu
and buddhist traditions,

the gods reside in a hidden
kingdom in the himalayas

known as shambhala.

Childress: Shambhala
is ruled by kings

who live for hundreds of years.

They are all-knowing.

And they, particularly,
are guiding the planet.

Very much as we often think
that extraterrestrials are doing.

They have wonderful technology.

There's electricity.
There's airships.

So what is going
on in shambhala?

Is it some mystical
city of the masters,

where extraterrestrials
and humans

are living and working together?

I mean,
that's what many people believe.

Narrator: Is the lost kingdom
of shambhala really a secret city

of advanced
extraterrestrial beings,

as some ancient
astronaut theorists suggest?

And if so,
might evidence of its alien origin

be found somewhere in tibet?

Perhaps clues can be found
in one legendary expedition

into the very heart
of the unknown.

William henry: We're told that people live
there narrator: Russian painter, philosopher

and archaeologist
nicholas roerich

embarks on an
unprecedented expedition

into the uncharted territory
of the tibetan plateau

on a quest to find the
lost kingdom of shambhala.

On August 5, 1927,

roerich notes a strange object
in the skies while traveling

through the mountains along
the northeastern border of tibet.

Roerich writes that they
were looking up at the sky,

watching an eagle fly around,
and then suddenly they saw

a sort of oval-shaped object,
moving from north to south

at very fast speeds,
pass over them.

Hugh newman: At one of
his later lectures in 1935,

nicholas roerich described
his sighting as a spacecraft

or an aerial vehicle that must
have come from shambhala itself.

Narrator: Did nicholas
roerich witness

an alien craft in tibet
nearly a century ago,

decades before the era of
modern ufo sightings began?

And if so,
is it possible that the traditions

that have endured
here for centuries

reflect not only a
profound spirituality,

but are tied to an
otherworldly presence?

Perhaps further
clues can be found

by examining an early
buddhist civilization

that suddenly and
mysteriously disappeared.

Ngari prefecture, tibet, 2020.

Towering at over 12,000 feet,

these ancient ruins
are all that is left

of the mysterious
buddhist kingdom of guge.

Established in
the tenth century,

this civilization
flourished for 700 years.

But then,
according to local legend,

its inhabitants vanished.

The ruins of this early
city are truly amazing.

They're in the
southwest corner of tibet,

and there are thousands
of what were temples

and palaces, mostly gone now.

This was a kingdom of
great influence in its time.

This magnificent capital
had artwork over all the walls,

images of the buddha,
sacred carvings

and images of all kind.

It had power, it had glory,

and now it is nothing.

Henry: Guge was in
continuous operation

until it mysteriously,
virtually disappeared.

Nobody knows exactly
what happened there

or why people
stopped living there

or why they... where they want.

Narrator: Guge was
brought under the rule

of the central tibetan
government in 1680,

but remained largely
isolated and independent

for more than 200 years.

Then, in the early 20th century,

the tibetan government
decided to finally

start taxing the
residents of guge.

But when soldiers
arrived to collect,

they were shocked to find

that the entire population,
an estimated 100,000 people,

had disappeared.

Where they went remains
a complete mystery,

and many tibetans
believe the reason why

is because the people of guge
traveled deep underground.

Childress: The fortress of
guge had all kinds of tunnels

and hidden staircases
that went underground

and went inside this mountain.

So even though it was,
uh, ruins already

when archaeologists went there,

they were astounded
that this city of guge

apparently led inside the earth.

What people seemed
to believe was that

if you were to follow
these tunnels far enough

into the earth,
you would eventually

come to that hidden
city of shambhala...

An active city full of
light and-and power.

Narrator: Did the people
of this ancient civilization

flee underground
on an epic pilgrimage

to the mythic kingdom
of shambhala?

And if so,
where did their path lead?

Some researchers
believe the tunnels of guge

lead to a holy
mountain to the east

that can be clearly
seen from these ruins...

Mount kailash.

Every year,
thousands of pilgrims

make the treacherous
journey to the base

of this sacred peak.

Steavu: Every year,
there are pilgrimages

around mount kailash in
order to gain the blessing

and maybe even
some of the powers

associated with
the residing gods

and,
and buddhas and deities of mount kailash.

It lasts up to four weeks
if it's done correctly,

with full prostrations
at every step,

and it's also a very
unforgiving landscape,

so many people end up giving up,
and some of them

also end up dying.

Narrator: According to
ancient buddhist texts

known as the kalachakra tantra,

the kingdom of shambhala

can be found
"behind" mount kailash,

or, as some interpret it,
within.

And many who have
stared up at this sacred peak

have observed mysterious
objects in the sky.

Mount kailash is at the
center of all sorts of mysteries.

Ufo sightings,
the hint that there might be

something hidden there,
but it's unknowable.

Henry: There are many myths
and legends and strange things

that have gone on
at mount kailash.

People go there on pilgrimages,

but they're told not
to stay there long,

because there's
something radioactive

inside the mountain.

And we're told that
people live there,

both in physical form
and in nonphysical form.

It has to be one of

the strangest
places on the planet.

Narrator: Is it possible that
the mysterious phenomena

occurring at mount kailash,

and its association
with shambhala,

is connected to
extraterrestrial activity?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest answers can be found

by studying the sacred
buddhist monuments

known as stupas,
found all throughout nepal,

india and tibet,
including at the ruins of guge.

Henry: For centuries,
people have been sighting ufos

or unexplained craft coming
in and out of mount kailash.

And it's very interesting
when you compare the shape

of the stupas that
we find in tibet,

these dome shapes,
and how they highly resemble

some kind of extraterrestrial
craft sitting on the ground.

So perhaps people saw

these craft entering
into kailash and decided,

"we're gonna build stupas in
remembrance of what they saw."

tsoukalos: A stupa,
by definition,

is a vehicle with which to
reach the realm of the gods.

That is the
definition of a stupa.

Well, just change the wording,
"a vehicle

with which to reach space."

these stupas can be seen,
for example,

in the ajanta cave,
with smoke and fire at the, at the bottom.

And what more do you want?

It's no longer a
symbol. It is the truth.

Narrator: Might the buddhist
stupas of tibet be monuments

to alien craft witnessed flying

in and around mount kailash,

a site believed by many to
be the kingdom of shambhala?

And if so,
how has it remained hidden for millennia?

Could it be that somewhere
on the slopes of mount kailash

is the entrance to a hidden
extraterrestrial realm?

While countless expeditions
have tried and failed

to find the legendary
kingdom of shambhala,

there are some who
claim to have found a way

to communicate with its
otherworldly inhabitants.

Newman: Was she
somehow in contact

famed russian mystic
and philosopher

madame helena petrovna blavatsky

publishes her seminal
book the secret doctrine.

In it,
she offers detailed descriptions

of the legendary lost continents

of atlantis and lemuria.

She claims not only that these
ancient civilizations existed

but that they possessed
highly advanced technology,

including flying machines,
thousands of years ago.

Madame blavatsky
maintained that human lineage

is vastly older
than we understand

and that primordial
civilizations,

like atlantis or lemuria,

formed the foundation
of human history

and were much older
than egyptian culture,

than vedic culture,

than any culture
known to humanity.

This, to her,
was an occult history that humankind,

uh, had forgotten about,
had failed to understand.

Lachman: Atlantis, we know,
goes back to plato.

Uh,
he's the first one to really talk about it.

And both atlantis and
lemuria at some point,

they sort of turned dark.

They became
fascinated with a kind

of form of black magic,
and a kind of hyper technology.

And this led to their demise.

Narrator: Madame blavatsky
claimed she received this knowledge

from a mysterious
entity she described

as a "mahatma,"
a sanskrit word that means "great soul."

he called himself koot
hoomi and resided in tibet.

Koot hoomi communicated
with her telepathically.

In other words,
she kind of channeled him.

Shimkhada: The
way she described him

is almost like an eternal baba,
eternal soul,

so, you know, he is,
like, immortal.

Michael salla: Also,
he was able to manifest himself

in her apartment
in new york city,

even though it was
thousands of miles away.

Newman: We have to question
what was going on here.

Was she somehow in contact

with some kind of hidden
world in the himalayas?

Narrator: In 1875,

madame blavatsky founded
the theosophical society.

It was made up of
prominent thinkers

who sought to explore
eastern religions and the occult,

and create a kind of
universal brotherhood

based on the
teachings of koot hoomi

and other mahatmas.

Lachman: Theosophy means,
uh, "the wisdom of the gods."

the theosophical society was incredibly,
um...

Successful and
popular and influential.

Not only in the occult world,

but she was also influential
in the cultural world.

Uh, people like, uh,
the-the painter, mondrian,

and wassily kandinsky
were early theosophists.

L. Frank baum,
who wrote the oz books.

Abner doubleday,
who invented baseball.

Thomas edison
invented the light bulb.

These were all
very early members

of the theosophical society.

Narrator: While
many important figures

joined the theosophical society,

madame blavatsky had a
particularly profound influence

on a young indian law student

who came to visit
her in london...

Mohandas gandhi.

Horowitz: Gandhi wrote
about this as one of the pivotal

encounters of his life.

He maintained that
madame blavatsky gave him

the first sense of universal

brotherhood that
later came to form

the core of his philosophy,

not only of radical equality
but of radical nonviolence.

Now, this is quite astonishing,
when we think about

the potential here
that perhaps an entity,

this strange tibetan entity

that's making psychical
contact with blavatsky,

has now reached out to
someone who would go on to be

one of the most famous
persons in history,

and would have made this
radical change in india that would,

you know, really shock the world

and change the face
of the british empire.

Narrator: Was gandhi's
transformative leadership

and indian independence
in part a result of influence

from these mysterious,
enlightened masters in tibet?

And if so,
who were these so-called mahatmas?

Ancient astronaut theorists
believe the answer can be found

by examining an encounter
with a similar entity.

New york city, 1918.

British occultist and writer
aleister crowley engages

in a magic ritual he calls
the amalantrah working.

He claims the ritual opens
an interdimensional portal,

allowing him to interact
with an otherworldly being.

Aleister crowley is
probably the most famous,

or, rather, infamous,
magician of the 20th century.

And crowley took it
upon himself to revive

the ancient black arts... The dark arts,
as it were.

He was contacting
lots of different beings

from other dimensions.

But there was also a vision
crowley had of this individual,

this entity that he called lam.

Narrator: According to crowley,

this entity claimed to reside
high in the mountains of tibet,

just like the mahatma
that madame blavatsky said

she encountered.

Lam claimed to be a
tibetan master of wisdom,

somewhat in the footsteps
of some of the figures

that madame blavatsky
had been in touch with.

And he was a kind of
mystical or otherworldly adept,

in his own description,
according to crowley.

Picknett: Aleister crowley
drew a sketch of this creature.

And if you look at this sketch,
one thing that hits you

very forcibly... In fact,
startlingly...

Is the fact that this
looks like a grey alien.

Narrator: More than 70%
of alleged alien abductees

describe encountering what
have become known as the greys,

or grey aliens.

Is it possible that
there is a connection

between these beings
and the tibetan masters

that both aleister crowley
and madame blavatsky

claimed to have contacted?

And if so,
does this suggest that there is a hidden

extraterrestrial
realm within tibet?

Some ancient astronaut
theorists believe

that physical proof

of an alien presence
in tibet was uncovered

more than 80 years ago

by adolf hitler and the nazis.

Lachman: The idea is that the
statue has some kind of mystical,

may, 1938.

Roughly one year before the
start of the second world war,

german explorer and
zoologist ernst schafer

leads a nazi-funded
expedition into tibet.

Schafer's official
objective for the expedition

was the creation of a complete
scientific record of tibet.

But unofficially,
he was given another directive:

To determine whether tibet
was the cradle of the aryan race.

This was allegedly inspired
by a 19th century book written

by british author edward
bulwer-lytton called

vril,
the power of the coming race.

He describes this
extraordinary race of beings

that have magical powers...
Sort of superheroes, really.

And they have the "vril" power.

And sadly,
this idea also permeated

into the very early nazi
ideologues' worldview.

The idea that a man
can be a superman,

and in order to do this,
in their eyes,

you had to be of the aryan race.

Narrator: Some within the nazis'
ranks identified the tibetan mahatmas

described by madame
blavatsky as a race of supermen,

and sought to prove that the
aryans were their descendants.

But even more important to the
german expedition than proving

nazi superiority was finding the
hidden kingdom of shambhala.

Collins: The nazis took
an incredible interest

in looking for that
entrance to shambhala.

The nazis were almost
certainly influenced

by the works of
madame blavatsky,

because she said if
somebody could find access

into shambhala,

they would also be able to
control the destiny of humanity,

and the world as a whole.

Lachman: While they were there,

the war broke out in 1939,
so they were called back.

So, uh, they didn't really
return with any positive proof

about what, you know,
what they were looking for,

but the story is,
they did come back with this statue.

Narrator: Among the items
schafer brought back to germany

was a mysterious
22-pound iron statue

of what was presumed
to be a buddhist deity.

The figure had a swastika on its clothing,
a symbol of divinity

that predated the nazis
by thousands of years.

One of their discoveries
was a little nine-inch statue

of a being wearing a
swastika on his chest,

which certainly would have
got the attention of the nazis,

having adopted the
swastika as their symbol,

although they put it into
its counterclockwise form.

The swastika was originally
a tibetan symbol for prosperity

and for good luck.

Narrator: In the late 19th century,
the term aryan

referred to an
indo-european language group

that included german,
romance and sanskrit languages.

The ancient symbol of the
swastika became associated

with "aryan" due to
where it was found.

But when the nazis
redefined the term to identify

what they called "the master race,"
they adopted the swastika

as a symbol of their heritage
and self-proclaimed superiority.

We can assume that this
is what stood out to them,

was this, you know,
swastika emblazoned on the chest,

and they decided that
this is a representation

of one of these entities
that are somehow involved

in the backstory
of the aryan race

and their sort of
greatness in the world.

Narrator: Could the
"iron man" statue depict

one of the powerful mahatmas
described by madame blavatsky?

Was it perhaps a sign
that the nazi expedition

was close to finding shambhala?

While most researchers have
been preoccupied with determining

what the statue
is meant to depict,

80 years after its discovery,
a scientific study uncovered

an even more intriguing
aspect of the iron man.

Narrator: Stuttgart university,
2012.

A team of german
geologists that have performed

a new examination
of the iron man statue

publish their analysis
in the scientific journal

meteorics & planetary science.

They estimate the figure
was created in the 11th century

and have found that it was
not made of earthly iron,

but was carved from
the chinga meteorite.

Pope: It turns out
this thing is made

from one of the rarest
meteorites in human history,

that fell to earth over tibet
around 15,000 years ago.

It's the most unusual

and hardest meteorite
ever discovered.

The ancient tibetans who
carved this into a statue

clearly suspected that
this thing had great power.

Childress: The tibetans themselves
seem to realize that this was special.

And you have to wonder,
is this meteorite,

was it perhaps
part of a spaceship?

Something that had
crashed there in tibet,

and the chinga meteorite
is all that's left of it?

Narrator: Is it possible
that the iron man statue

was made from
part of an alien craft

that crash-landed on earth
thousands of years ago?

Could it be a
remnant of an event

that marked the arrival
of otherworldly visitors,

and the beginning of
the legend of shambhala?

Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest that the reason

this alien realm remains
so elusive can be found

by examining stories
of a tibetan monster

known as the yeti.

Childress: Were
they murdered by,

April 29, 2019.

Just a few miles south of the
tibetan border, the indian army

reports the discovery of
enormous footprints in the snow

measuring an astounding 32
inches long by 15 inches wide.

They identify the footprints
as having been made

by the legendary
monster known as the yeti.

Shimkhada: The yeti is some
kind of a himalayan monster

that looked like a man,
that looked like an ape.

This is a composite, uh, figure.

Local people have seen it in the snow,
in the mountains.

Narrator: Tales of the yeti
stretch back to pre-buddhist tibet,

where the shamanic
mystics of the bon religion

told of wild men that
guarded a hidden place

of power and perfection
called olmo lung ring,

known in the tibetan buddhist
tradition as shambhala.

The yeti have this reputation
of being extremely violent

and aggressive towards humans.

And one explanation for this
is because they're considered

to be the guardians
of shambhala.

Keeping away all those
that are not pure of heart

from entering into this
holiest of holy places.

Childress: When the
early british expeditions

went through india into tibet,

they would stop at
tibetan monasteries

on their way to mount everest

and they would
be told about yetis.

And that yetis were guardians

of the entrances to shambhala.

Narrator: Monsters guarding the
entrances to the land of the gods?

While it may sound
like the stuff of legend,

ancient astronaut
theorists suggest there is

disturbing evidence
that may prove

such stories are,
in fact, very real.

Uttarakhand, india.

16,000 feet high
in the himalayas,

just 40 miles from
the tibetan border,

lies roopkund lake.

While it has become a
popular tourist destination,

those who approach this small,
picturesque body of water

are confronted
with a chilling sight...

Because roopkund
lake is littered

with the remains of
over 600 human bodies.

For decades,
scientists assumed that the dead

had fallen victim to a
single massive catastrophe.

But in 2019, dna sampling

revealed that the
bodies contained

in what has been
dubbed "skeleton lake"

did not all die at once,

but at different points in time,

over a period of at
least a thousand years.

Some of the skeletons, uh,
had, uh, what they said were,

um... Unhealed compression
fractures on the head.

Were they murdered by, like,
being hammered on the head

and then thrown into this lake?

So researchers were
baffled by this whole thing.

And the more information
that came out of this lake,

the stranger it became.

Shimkhada: Recently,
indian scientists have performed

dna testing on those
bones in roopkund.

They have found
many south asians

and some east asians...

Meaning chinese and koreans...

And of course
some from the west,

you know,
for example mediterranean region.

So that is really intriguing,
you know, how these people

wound up there,
uh, that's baffling.

Narrator: What could have drawn
people from all over the world

to make the treacherous
journey to this very small

and remote mountain lake?

And not just at a
single point in time,

but continuously for
hundreds of years?

Lachman: Roopkund lake is

on the pilgrims' trail, uh, to

uh, mount kailash, which is,

uh, one of the central, uh, uh,

geographic sites in-in,
um, hindu

and-and tibetan and buddhist,
uh, religion.

These people at different
times could have been

on the pilgrimage path.

Henry: If the yeti is considered
to be the guardian of shambhala,

and if shambhala is kailash,
then it makes perfect sense

why the yeti is somehow
taking these people, killing them,

harming them,
and throwing them in skeleton lake.

(growling)

narrator: Could the bones
found at skeleton lake

belong to pilgrims
who were seeking

shambhala and fell
victim to the yeti?

Although there have been
numerous reported sightings

of yetis in tibet,
no reliable physical proof

of their existence has
been successfully retrieved.

In fact,
these mysterious beings are often reported

as simply vanishing
into thin air.

In 1951,
the world-famous mountaineer eric shipton

was on his way to mount everest.

He's at 19,000 feet.

And all of a sudden,
he sees these giant

footprints in the snow.

And he follows
them for over a mile

until they disappear
into the glacier.

The yeti could, in fact,
be an interdimensional creature,

capable of either
cloaking itself

or disappearing
into other realms.

Perhaps they are not
physical biological beings,

but are some sort
of interdimensional

class of entities, which is able

to appear and disappear at will.

And manifest themselves
at will to stop those

who are not supposed
to enter certain areas.

Narrator: Is it possible
that both the yeti

and the kingdom of shambhala
that it is said to protect

are not only extraterrestrial,

but also interdimensional?

Might this explain why
they remain so elusive?

Some modern researchers,
people like jacques vallée,

john keel, amongst others,

have drawn the conclusion
that maybe we're not really

dealing with extraterrestrials
from outer space,

but ultra-terrestrials were
coming from parallel space.

That's exactly what
masters of mysticism

and experiences of
the prophetic traditions

have been saying
for thousands of years.

Narrator: If a gateway

leading into another
dimension exists somewhere

in tibet,
as ancient astronaut theorists suggest,

could it be a site
where extraterrestrials...

Or, perhaps,
ultra-terrestrials...

Are entering our world?

And might it also be
possible for us to enter theirs?

Ancient astronaut
theorists believe

that the key to accessing
this cosmic paradise

may not lie in traveling to
a secret location in tibet...

But in mastering an ancient
technique of the mind.

Narrator: Seda county, china.

December 11, 2015.

In the southeast region
of the tibetan plateau,

renowned tibetan buddhist monk

lama thubser has been in a
state of continuous meditation

for seven straight days,

engaged in a
practice that is said

to go back some 10,000 years.

He is attempting to
attain what is known

as the "rainbow light body."

tibetan buddhists believe that
through meditation practices

like this,
it is possible to access alternate realms.

And that this may be where
the kingdom of shambhala

truly exists.

You will find people within
tibetan buddhist tradition

who believe that
shambhala is an actual place.

But it may be what we might
call an interdimensional place.

So it cannot be accessed through
ordinary material techniques.

But it exists in another dimension,
so to speak.

Narrator: Is it possible that the
concept of the rainbow light body

holds the key to
reaching an alien realm

that exists on earth?

And is there any evidence that
such a transformative process

could actually take place?

Recently, scientists have
discovered that the human body,

particularly in the brain,

naturally produces light
in the form of biophotons.

The average person
emits 14 to 20 photons

by centimeter square per second.

This is very, very low.

But in a state of meditation,

you are able to
raise that number

by 100,000 photons per
centimeter square per second,

which is extremely bright.

This tells us that when
we are in a higher state

of consciousness,
our bodies emit a huge amount of light.

And perhaps that is the reason
why we call it enlightenment.

Narrator: Tibetan buddhists say
that when a highly trained priest

commits himself to attainment
of the rainbow light body,

his material body
will fade away.

Photographs taken
by those in attendance

on the seventh day of
lama thubser's meditation

provide an incredibly
rare documentation

of this sacred process.

As his breathing stops and
his physical body begins to die,

it dramatically
decreases in size.

According to the monks,

he has dissolved into light.

And a final photograph reveals
a beam of light shooting up

into the sky from the
site of his transformation.

Henry: In the tibetan tradition,
they tell us that once a lama

has achieved
this state of being,

that they're able to then
travel to 12 star systems

where this teaching is taught,
that are all connected

with the earth,
and that beings come and go,

bringing this teaching
and enlightening

all other civilizations they
come into contact with.

The rainbow light body,
it is an extraterrestrial teaching

that was imported to earth
from other star systems.

Tzadok: Right now,
very few make the efforts

to learn how to
expand consciousness,

to interact
with our parallel dimensions.

But the future is
to bring the worlds together.

This is what the biblical
tradition teaches

when it says everyone
will know the truth.

There will be
enlightenment for all.

Narrator: Could it be that high

in the mountains of tibet,

there is a gateway
into another dimension?

And if so, is it possible
that this alternate realm

can only be accessed through
a state of enlightenment?

Perhaps as science begins
to understand more

about human consciousness,

we will learn
what the tibetan masters

have known for centuries.

That we can reach
the stars not only

by mastering technology

but by mastering
the power of the human mind.