Beyond Skinwalker Ranch (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - Chris Bledsoe - full transcript

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NARRATOR: Tonight
on "Beyond Skinwalker Ranch"...

Whatever you see,
it's a very good chance

that it can do something
so dramatic that,

you'll know without a doubt.

Well, look, look,
everybody, look, look.

- Whoa!
- Wow. I saw that.

I began to see
what looked like the sun.

When it appeared, it shot.

The fear just rolled over me.
You see it coming?

- Here it comes.
- This is unprecedented,

to capture it in real time.
Nobody has done this before.



For years,
scientists have been working

to reveal the secrets
of Skinwalker Ranch.

♪

But is it possible that
the clues to unlock the mystery

are located beyond the borders
of this hub of high strangeness?

- Now...
- Whoa.

An ex-CIA agent

and a veteran journalist

have been recruited
by the Skinwalker team

to go on a high stakes mission
across America.

Look at all this activity
that's happened.

- That's unbelievable.
- Oh, my gosh.

Look at that. Look at that,
look at that, look at that.

The goal... uncover evidence that
may finally expose the truth.



- What is that thing?
- It's getting more intense.

PAUL: You ever seen
anything like this before?

ANDY: No.

♪♪

This is just the beginning.

♪♪

Paul and Andy, it's good to have
you back at the table again.

Can't wait to see
what you've got in store.

Well,
this one's a little different.

This is really about a story
of high strangeness

that originates not
with a place, but with a person.

Oh, that's interesting.

So, you know
Colonel John Alexander?

- Mm-hmm.
- ERIK: I do.

TRAVIS: He was with
NIDS and BAASS, right?

ERIK: Yeah.

So, Colonel Alexander
connected us

with an individual
by the name of Chris Bledsoe.

So, during Colonel Alexander's
time as a researcher,

he came across a story

in which Bledsoe had
some kind of encounter.

And do you have a description
of what that encounter entailed?

As we understand it,

uh, there was some sort
of experience that Chris had

in a river valley close
to his home in North Carolina.

Right. The Cape Fear River.

And from that experience
that was documented

and reported
by multiple eyewitnesses,

there were orb sightings,

there were potential
other life forms

that were on site as well.

And Chris had hours of
lost time during this experience

where he was missing,
and others were looking for him.

What was the time period
when this encounter took place?

The initial encounter that Chris
experienced was in 2007.

Okay.

And then very shortly
thereafter, just days after,

he seemed to have
a continuing, predictable,

and recurring relationship
with some kind of orb activity.

PAUL: Here's a guy
who purports to have some kind

of connection with UAPs or orbs.

And then
what's really striking is,

once Colonel Alexander
and Bledsoe had connected,

they went back to the scene of
Bledsoe's original experience,

and Colonel Alexander
had his own experience.

- Right?
- Hmm.

ERIK: Now, that's interesting.

John's never said anything
about that to me.

So, after Colonel Alexander
introduced us to Chris,

Chris actually welcomed us
to come out and visit,

and then he sent us
a clip of a recording that

he had made just days prior.
- Okay.

And I wanna share that with you.

[keyboard clicks]

[whispers] See?

That was an orb in the tree.

Oh, look at... oh, wow.

TRAVIS: I mean, that looks like
it's behind a tree limb

right there.
- Mm-hmm.

But before you do that,
it doesn't.

ERIK: Now, admittedly,

the focus isn't great
in this particular piece,

but whatever that thing is,
it's bright.

Yeah.
I mean, and the question is,

is there data that we can gather

while he's, you know,
having this experience,

while he's, you know,
making this connection

to these orbs that he reports?

I'll just tell you,
based on your results to date,

if anyone can begin
with a narrative like that,

where we've
got anecdotal information

and then take it into
the data-generating regime,

you're the guys to do it.

- ANDY: All right.
- Great, guys.

Go forth
and come back with great stuff.

- All right.
- Sounds good. Thanks, guys.

♪♪

♪♪

PAUL: Sunny Fayetteville.

[laughter]

- But I'm excited about this.
- Yeah, you know,

this is the first time
that we've had a chance

to take our investigation to
a person instead of a place.

And it's really interesting
because,

you know,
Chris has been researched before

by very legitimate scientists...
NASA, CIA investigators,

DIA investigators,
FBI investigators.

He's probably
the most credible person

in the experience or space
to have ever been studied.

The thing that also
is interesting about Chris is

he is clearly not someone

who is in this
for the publicity, right?

This has been going on for him
since 2007... 16 years.

He is very private about this,

and so this is
a unique opportunity for us.

It's almost like
we're really, I think,

the first camera crew that he's
spoken to in years and years.

♪

- ANDY: All right, man.
- PAUL: Oh, there he is.

ANDY: Yeah. There's Chris.

[truck doors close]

♪

- Hey, Chris.
- Hey, hey.

- Paul.
- Paul. A pleasure.

- I'm so excited to meet you.
- Yeah, same here.

- Andy. It's great to meet you.
- Andy, good to meet you.

I'm honored.

Can you describe what types
of phenomenon it is

that you're experiencing

and what types
you see the most often?

90% of it is light...
Balls of fire, what I call orbs.

I basically reported
these 40-foot balls of fire.

- 40-foot?
- 40 foot around, yeah.

- Wow.
- That's massive.

That was on this very river.

In 2007,

it came out of the sky, and...

Were you still seeing it
on a daily basis

and trying to just come to terms
with what was happening?

Yeah. It's been
a 16-year journey

of experiencing this,

and it's only been uplifting
to me,

even though it set
my life upside down

for the first five years...

and our whole family.

And I got rejected from
everybody in the community,

so it kind of
isolated my family.

Everyone began
to make fun of my kids.

People would pick on 'em
in school

and church and all around town,

which actually pulled us
together closer.

They've never wavered.

I've never wavered from...
From that point.

We normally carry out
investigations

with a lot of science
and a lot of technical tools.

You know, we've got
a truck full of... of gear,

but in a way, it's really

gonna be a different posture
that Andy and I take.

You know, we're really gonna
follow your lead

and try to just participate.

Whatever you see,

reserve judgment
and humble yourself.

It's a very good chance
that it can do something

so dramatic that,
you'll know without a doubt.

♪

NARRATOR:
After their initial meeting,

Andy and Paul head
down the Cape Fear River

with Chris, his son, Chris Jr.,

and longtime friend
Colonel John Alexander.

Chris is taking the team

to the location
where he and Chris Jr.

Encountered strange phenomena
on January 7, 2007.

[whirring]

Now, how often do
you guys still, as a family,

come down
to the Cape Fear River?

I haven't been on this water
since, uh,

it happened 16 years ago.

But John and I went
to the river.

The night that we had
the experience together,

we didn't go on the water.

We just drove down
and walked down to the bank.

We didn't have any expectations.

Chris just took us down
to the river and said,

"Here's where this happened,

and here's where
that's happened."

And then we had walked
back up to the car

that was parked up
near the field,

and we were continuing there

with what I thought was
a benign conversation

until he said,
"Oh, I think they're here."

And with that,
this thing pops into view

and goes zipping off
to the south.

- I had heard the story.
- Right.

The difference now was
it happened to me.

Okay. I mean,
that... that says something.

You see how the trees up on
that bank are clear behind it?

- Yeah.
- That's kind of the way it was

when the orbs landed.
- PAUL: It was like that?

Yeah.
Right up on top of that hill.

♪♪

It was a cool day,

and it was my son, Chris Jr.,
and three other guys,

and they asked me,
"You wanna go fishing today?"

My mind wasn't
into fishing at all.

I was worried about everything.

I had lost my business,

and I was worried
about supporting my family.

But Chris Jr. wanted to go,

so I agreed to take him
to the Cape Fear River.

They set their poles up
and was just enjoying the day.

I asked 'em. I said,
"Do you guys wanna go home?

They're like,
"Hey, we wanna fish.

We're just gettin' started."

I said, "Well,
it's gonna be cold tonight,

so we might better
get a fire started."

They were sitting there,
fire going, and I said,

"I'll be back about dark.

I just want to go out
and look for wildlife,"

never telling them
what was happening,

what I was thinking
and struggling with.

♪

I left 'em, and I got 50 feet
into this road leading out,

and the whole time, I'm crying
out to whoever can hear me,

"What do I do? I need help.
I don't know what to do."

[motor rumbling]

Right there,
right on that bank to our left.

♪

I walked away from them
to head up to the field,

which is that way west of here.

The minute I started
walking down that path

is when I heard somethin'
in the woods.

♪

Maybe 20 feet
from the top of the hill,

I began to see
what looked like the sun.

And this fire was swirling,

and these little flames
were shooting off of it,

and it's... it's going, uh,
in this direction.

And the higher I got, the...

My peripheral vision
began to widen.

I began to see
the top of this thing,

and suddenly I'm seeing
a top of a second one.

♪♪

I have
a commercial pilot's license,

and that matters because

I've seen
a lot of stuff in the sky,

that I never...
I never thought about UFOs,

but I knew
it wasn't anything that we had.

And the fear just...
Just rolled over me.

I was thinking
it was going to harm me.

I didn't know.
I didn't know what it was.

♪♪

As I made it
to the top of that hill,

I walked up on these two
40-foot glowing balls of fire.

♪

The first thing I thought of
was my son.

"I'd better get back to him.
I have got to run."

And when
I made that decision to run,

I turned my body,
and I looked back.

When I did, it saw me.

Within a second,
there was a third

40-foot glowing
orange ball of fire

sitting beside the other two.

When it appeared, it shot.

♪

We were all doing
our thing, fishing,

and, uh, next thing you know,
Dad was gone.

He decided to go his own way.

I started to worry about him.

He'd been gone a while,

and I wanted to know
where he was, so...

And I ended up
in the woods alone.

I, uh, walked up the embankment
and was looking down this path.

I saw what to be two
red balls of light glowing,

just hovering above the ground.

I couldn't move or...
Or scream or yell,

and I was trying to do
all those things.

I was freaking out inside.

♪

It knew I was there.

You know, I thought they were
gonna come... come get me.

The next thing I remember...

♪

Is I'm about 50 yards
from the fire.

So, as I'm trotting up
to these guys standing there,

they're not fishing anymore.

They're just standing
around the fire, looking down,

talking quietly.

I come trotting up to 'em.

I'm like, "You guys
won't believe what I just saw."

And one said, "Where in
the world have you been?

We've been looking at you
all night."

And I said, "Oh, my Lord.
Where's Chris Jr.?"

They said, "Well, he went back
the same way

you did earlier in the day.

He went back on foot
looking for you."

I took off running,
shouting for Junior.

I remember my dad
yelling my name,

and I was able to run out.

He was, uh...

um... he was a mess.

[sniffles]

And when I found him, um,

The first thing he said is,

"Why'd you leave me?

Where you been, Daddy?"

♪

I said,
"I didn't leave you, son.

I've only been gone 20 minutes."

He said, "No, dad,
you've been gone all night.

All night.
I've been looking for you."

And he was... he was in shock.

I told Dad... I was like,

"You won't freaking believe
what I just saw."

We both said
at the exact same time,

"I saw a UFO." We were both
saying that at the same time.

I wasn't afraid of it.

Um... after I came back,

I couldn't understand why
it didn't frighten me

like it did before.

I actually wanted to see it
again every night of my life.

I described it
as 45 to 50 feet long,

hovering sideways,
crossways of the road.

And then when it did...

There's an orb right here,
coming at us right here.

See it? Everybody got it?
It's pretty bright.

- Oh, yeah.
- Right above us.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. Yeah.

You see it right there?

I would ask if you would
give us some sort of sign,

brighten up for us or flash us
and...

There's another one.
Yeah, here's another one.

Look, there's one
coming straight at us.

There's two. Oh, it just...
It dimmed out on us.

ANDY: I did. I saw that, too.

The other one
was coming straight at us,

and it faded away as well.

PAUL:
When I first met Chris,

I was really taken
by his manner.

He just seems like
such a genuine person.

But I got to say, I was
still a little skeptical

about the whole phenomenon.

You know, I need to see this
to believe it.

And sure enough,
these orbs are appearing.

I don't know what we're seeing,
but it's happening.

♪♪

Whoa. That was
a very powerful shooting flash.

It just wanted us
to see it briefly

and see, it just
answered my voice, I'm sure.

- I call him streaker.
- Streak.

It's exactly
what it looked like.

♪

After visiting the location
on the Cape Fear River

where Chris Bledsoe had
his first experience seeing

what he believes
were multiple UFOs,

Andy and Paul have
chosen a neutral site

20 miles away
from Bledsoe's home

to test his claims

of a continued connection

with orbs in the sky.

You said it took you a while
to kind of process

what you had experienced.

Did you start having visits?

It... It... It never stopped.

It immediately came home
with me.

That very night it came home,

and I experienced it
in the backyard.

This is when things started.

See that?

There's an orb right there.

Orbs are showing up, hovering
over my backyard.

Is it moving?

It was way up here
at the top of the trees.

Orbs, some of 'em big
as beach balls,

just floating through the trees.

Never before could I do that
before this event.

For tonight's experiment,

Andy and Paul will be using
an AI-powered camera

called a UFODAP.

This system of two cameras
puts nonstop eyes on the sky

and can track objects
to identify

whether it's captured
a plane, satellite, or star,

or if it's locked on to
an unknown aerial phenomenon.

♪

So, what I'm doing...

♪

Is I'm broadcasting

my intentions
in every direction.

♪

And I'm asking 'em to come

and share their experience
tonight with us.

And, um...

and sometimes immediately,
they come,

and then sometimes
it might be a few minutes.

[beeping steadily]

We have to be ready.

♪

I just saw a flash right there.

Look. Here it comes.
I'm pointing at it.

- Yeah.
- See it?

I-I see it.

♪

CHRIS:
I send out a thought, and, um...

♪♪

And sometimes,
immediately they come.

Hmm.

And then sometimes
it might be a few minutes.

Andy and Paul are with
Chris Bledsoe at a neutral site

alongside the Cape Fear River,

where they will try
to observe and record

his claimed interactions

with orb phenomena in the sky.

They're also using
an AI-powered camera

that can detect
anomalous aerial objects.

CHRIS:
It's getting close to time.

♪

Not sure.

♪♪

It's... It's time right now.

♪♪

Here it comes.

♪

You see it coming?
I'm pointing at it.

- ANDY: Yeah.
- See it?

I-I see it. Oh, wow.

Yeah.

♪

PAUL: What the hell?

ANDY: I don't know what this is.

♪♪

Paul and I have done
a lot of experimentation,

and it takes a long time
for things to happen.

That's kind of how
experimentation works.

But for some reason with Chris,
within just a few minutes,

I am already seeing some sort
of unknown aerial phenomenon.

And it's not just me.
It's not just my two eyes.

CHRIS: Now we
got one right here. Ooh!

- MAN: Ooh, look.
- ANDY: Wow. I saw that.

- CHRIS: You see that?
- MAN: Yeah, that was... wow.

CHRIS: Orb all the way
across the sky.

PAUL: Our entire camera crew

is watching
with our jaws on the floor.

That was...

[laughter]

That was
an incredible thing to see.

It's just beginning.
Do you all see it?

MAN: It's back.

CHRIS:
This is what we're looking for,

and so I suspect
we may see a whole lot more.

♪

And do you see the...

That's an airplane there.
I'm sorry. It's the airplane.

ANDY: It looks nothing like
the aircraft at all.

PAUL: It's extremely bright.

CHRIS: Yeah, the aircraft's
on the bottom.

♪

That's why I was facing
this direction.

I just sensed this is where
it was gonna start.

It's not dark enough
to see a satellite.

CHRIS: No, no, it's not
a satellite. I saw it appear.

Thank you.

Always give 'em thanks.
They hear your thoughts.

They know what you're
gonna say before you say it.

They know the direction you're
gonna look before you look it.

Look.

- See it going away?
- Absolutely.

I don't think they're coming
from some other far place.

They're here.
They're part of this earth.

We have the clouds
setting in again.

- Right.
- But it makes me wanna take

a peek at what the UFODAP
may have collected

while we had the clear skies.
- We could.

- All right. So, Chris?
- Yes, sir.

What we're going to do
is look at each camera

and see
what they may have captured.

- Okay.
- All right.

One of the benefits
of this technology

is if it can rule out
that it's unidentified,

if it can rule it as something
known, it'll stop recording.

- It won't...
- Get outta here. Really?

It won't take any space
on something that's known.

- It's high-tech.
- [laughter]

- We try to keep it that way.
- Let's see here.

All right.

♪

- Look at that.
- Wow.

Yeah,
it captured it right there.

And you can see the red block,
Chris?

- Tracking it.
- The red box is the UFODAP

collecting and tracking
the object in the sky.

Wow. Incredible.

This is how we learn
what we're dealing with

through science... is important.

Yeah.

What we've got here, Chris,
is watch...

It tracks it across,

And then final composite ID...
Unknown.

So, it doesn't know
what that is.

Right. We know what it was.

[laughter]

This is... This is unprecedented.

To capture it in real time,
actually, by request...

- Yeah.
- From you,

analyzing it real time
and confirming that it is not...

It is not in a known database
of aerial phenomenon,

nobody has done this before.

It's just the beginning.

♪♪

Chris' relationship
with this phenomenon is uncanny.

- Yeah.
- Every time he's taken us out,

he's been able to establish
some kind of connection

and create a scenario
where we can

see the phenomenon
right there with him.

I have to point out that, uh...

There's an orb right here
coming at us right here.

See it? Everybody got it?
It's pretty bright.

Tracking right
toward Orion right now.

If you think about it,
he has had multiple experiences

where he's been able to share

his experience and share his...
His gift with others.

- Yeah.
- See? It's coming.

And this is it. I've been
putting out my thoughts

in this direction.

That is high,
and it's just dimming out now,

but it's just starting.

So, I think what I wanna
try to understand now,

I mean,
now that we've seen this,

is what is happening
for him internally?

Right.

What is he thinking and feeling

during this unique experience,
right?

But then he also has
this very deliberate process

by which he connects
to trigger the phenomenon.

- Right.
- And that seems like something

that we should be able
to dig into with science.

We can get
inside his head literally

in real time, and we run
some kind of brain scan.

Whatever it is he's doing,

we'll be able to put
some data to that experience.

Yeah. The best tool for any
kind of brain energy is called

the electroencephalogram.
- Right.

- The EEG.
- Right.

We can create
an experiment with an EEG

that allows him to execute
his process as normal,

and we can actually see
the activity in his brain.

Right.

If we can validate
his experience,

we have
a completely new data set

that we can send back
to the team at Skinwalker.

That's what
I'm really curious to see.

Is there a way to quantify

what is happening
when he makes this connection?

I think we've got our plan.

♪

Hey, that's a star right there,
right?

Is that Jupiter popping out?

- Yeah.
- Nice and steady and bright.

The team has called in

neuroscientist
Dr. James Thompson

to help monitor
Chris' brainwaves

and look for scientific evidence

of a correlation
when the orbs appear.

- Hello, sir. How are you?
- Oh, good to meet you.

- Faruk. Nice to see you.
- Faruk, thanks for being here.

Thanks for helping us out
with this.

Absolutely.

So, this is
an electroencephalogram headcap

able to measure electrical
activity in the brain.

So, as messages and neurons
are firing in the brain,

we get all that information
in real time,

and we'd be able to see changes

that occur
in the brainwave patterns.

So, hearing... we'll start
to see temporal lobes.

Visual will be
in the back of the head.

So, we'll start looking at what,

uh, areas of the brain
are lighting up,

whether they're active,
or even shut down.

- Right.
- So, the... the bottom line here

for all this, Chris,
is just do your thing.

- Okay.
- That's it.

An electroencephalogram, or EEG,

uses electrodes on the scalp
to detect and record

the location, frequency,
and strength

of electrical signals sent
to different areas of the brain.

This will give Andy and Paul
a real-time analysis

during Chris's potential
interaction with the phenomenon.

Would you like to sit down
so we can place this on you?

- Right here? There, too?
- How about right there?

Okay.

When these things first started,
we were using pastes and glue,

and you'd have
to clear areas of the hair...

- Wow.
- Get inside,

and they would be stuck
on the head.

- Wow.
- With new technologies,

new amplifiers,
these dry sensors can pick up

high resolution activity
deep within... through the skull.

I mean, that's a huge advantage
for us in kind of

understanding what
Chris is experiencing

through data instead of just
through personal observation.

And what we'll be able to
look at is how he's processing.

- Right. Right.
- So we don't know

what he's thinking,
but we know how he's thinking.

The muscles are all regulated
through electrical flow as well.

So, I've asked Chris to try
and reduce any muscle tension

through his forehead
and his jaw and things

as we do the recording.
- Right.

So if you can see
the signal now...

This is live.

We have 19 points that we're
recording from on the scalp.

We can actually
correlate the points

and start to look
at deeper structures...

Mm-hmm.

To see where the energy
is being sourced.

There.
Now he's starting to relax.

- The musculature.
- Wow, you can...

You can really see it.
Look at that.

There's energy flowing

throughout all regions
of the brain.

The brain is
communicating within itself

and within different regions,
but different regions are doing

what we would expect them
to be doing,

where he's calm,
relaxed, not overthinking.

ANDY: So, by all means,
what we're seeing right now

is a very normal brain.
- Very normal brain.

So, Chris, if you could give
an indicator

as we do the recording,

maybe a hand up or something...
- Okay.

Without disrupting the...
The signal in your scalp,

that'll give us cleaner signals.

- Oh, I'll do my best. [laughs]
- Yes.

Yeah, just give us
a couple of beats,

and we'll track
wherever you're pointing.

So, we'll keep recording.
We can have Chris move out

and start to observe some orbs
and interact.

- Great.
- Okay.

I'll stay here.
I'll start working with this.

♪

ANDY: You're comfortable?

We're gonna leave you alone
for a little bit.

- We'll follow your hand signals.
- Right.

- Okay.
- Right? Good luck, sir.

Thanks.

Now that Chris's baseline
readings have been established,

the team places him
out of earshot

and eyeshot
of the EEG evaluation area.

So, he's doing a good job
for us, now, staying still,

and you can see
the frontal lobes

are actually
not too active right now.

His eyes are open.
His visual cortex is alert.

- He's probably...
- He's scanning.

Yeah, he's scanning it.

What I'm saying in there
is that he's very relaxed,

and he's not overthinking.

- Which is exactly what we need.
- Exactly.

Interesting. Okay.

♪

Just had a sighting.
We just had a sighting.

- He's pointing.
- Oh, wow.

Bunch of movement there.

Here we go. He's very engaged
with his visual cortex.

- Yep. Yep.
- Interesting.

The left hemisphere
and right hemisphere

are differently active.

The right hemisphere
is a little more... engaged.

PAUL: It sounded like in your
voice that that sounded unusual.

DR. THOMPSON: That's right.
So, the frontal lobes

have these higher
cognitive functions,

but they're also responsible
for emotion.

So, when we see changes
in there, he might be having

an emotional connection to what
he's... or a feeling here...

- Mm.
- That he's then processing.

He often talks
about having a relationship

with the entity,
with the phenomenon around him.

And this is demonstrating that
that's not a story.

- No.
- That he very, really feels

an emotional connection.

♪

♪

ANDY: Just had a sighting.
We just had a sighting.

- Wow.
- Interesting.

The left hemisphere
and right hemisphere

are differently active.

So, the frontal lobes have these
higher cognitive functions,

but they're also
responsible for emotion.

He might be having
an emotional connection

to what he's...
Or a feeling here...

- Mm.
- That he's then processing.

One thing that I still
can't figure out is how Chris

can predict so accurately when
the orbs will start appearing.

I mean,
he calls it within just one

or two minutes at a time before
we have our first sighting,

and he can't explain why,
and so far, the only thing

that seems to give us
any insight is the EEG

and the fact that he seems
to have some kind

of energy-based
neurological connection

with the phenomenon around him.

That's in
his left frontal region,

an idling state
in the left frontal bone.

ANDY: You said that's
an idling state?

- Yeah.
- But in this moment,

he's actually calling.
He's requesting, right?

DR. THOMPSON: He's requesting.

It's almost like he goes
into a meditative state...

- That's what I'm...
- to requests.

That's what I'm thinking.
He kind of shuts it down.

That's interesting,
where normally, if you were

to request something,
you would see more activity

in the communication center
of the brain.

You've heard of athletes
going into the flow state?

- Right.
- I would equate it to that.

What's fascinating
about watching Chris's EEG

is as he makes these requests,

his brain actually calms down,

which implies that there is
something going on there

that is unusual,
because you would expect,

as he makes an effort to do
this, to see increased activity.

It's actually
the opposite for Chris.

And so we're
all trying to figure out

what is really happening there.
What does this mean?

ANDY: He's searching.

Look. Just as you said.
Look at all that effort.

PAUL: Really intense effort
there right now.

♪♪

He's pointing now.

So, maybe he's focusing on one.
That would make sense.

ANDY: He has one.
He's got one in the tree line.

♪

When we started seeing
that intense effort,

he spotted an orb
in the tree line.

Well, that certainly matches up,
because everything spiked.

Mm-hmm.

And it appears
that when we see him

actually having the experience,
these temporal lobes

and the different regions
that process language

and generate language,
when he's not actually speaking,

what we saw is those regions
starting to be active.

- So essentially, he's listening.
- One of those regions

in the temple.
- He's listening to something.

Right.
That's really interesting.

Seems that he is receiving
and interpreting

verbal communications...
- Yeah.

And then would be looking
to generate speech.

All of that is indicative
of a genuine relationship

with a phenomena
that presents itself to him.

So, we'll look at the data.
We'll do some deeper analysis.

We'll start comparing baselines
to some of the activity we saw,

and we'll see what comes up.
- Yeah.

So, Chris, one of the things
that we were looking at

is in your temporal lobes,

in that region, you have
these areas that receive

and understand
verbal communication,

but there was a mental point

at which we actually know
you were quiet

'cause we were watching,

but these areas of your brain
became quite active,

like you were receiving
verbal communication

and like you were preparing
to respond.

I know when
they're communicating,

but it's hard to understand
how to explain it.

But you just explained it to me
what I have been feeling.

- Well, you showed us, actually.
- [laughter]

So, I can tell you for sure,
Chris,

it was absolutely fascinating
to watch your brain

instinctively cycle
through deep, relaxing states

and states of active energy.

Wow.

You show an opposite reaction
to the phenomenon

than what we would expect
to see from any other person.

Really?

They seem to put you
into a flow state,

into a more meditative state.

Whereas I think my reaction
would be to...

- More excitement. [laughs]
- Yeah. Clamp down on it,

try to understand it, and you
seem to have a more sort of

intuitive response,
which is really interesting.

I know there are a number
of struggles that your family

has had
with people challenging you

and people accusing you,

and people just saying
terrible things about you,

but from the data
that we've seen tonight,

you've been absolutely honest,
you've been very transparent,

and everything
is totally natural.

That seems to be occurring here.

Can only imagine what
you struggle through.

That's... That's a big thing.

♪

We were open game
to harassment from everybody.

Everywhere we went,
they would point fingers

and laugh and snicker
and make jokes

as my kids are
coming home crying.

It nearly destroyed my family.

But I had no clue 16 years ago
would lead to this, you know,

to... to all the people
I've met or seen.

Just kind people that really
reached out when we needed 'em.

And I'm telling you, I've never
been the same, period.

It...

It only magnified everything.

It just started getting
greater and greater until today.

Long time coming.

- But thank you.
- PAUL: Thank you.

ANDY: Thank you
for letting us be here.

How did this guy get
this ability to do this,

is the question.

If he does
truly have a superpower,

we have evidence
of what it looks like.

This is probably one of the most
profound things I've seen.

♪

Guys, y'all are back
from North Carolina, I see,

and I can't wait to
find out what actually

happened
when you met Chris Bledsoe.

This is pretty wild.

I mean,
it's literally mind-blowing.

ANDY: Yeah. Really saw
some incredible things.

Having that first night there
where I think we were

both kind of struck a little bit
when we were trying to observe

the phenomenon in person
with Chris.

He senses something,

and he will say,
"Look in this direction,

and then 30 seconds to sometimes
four or five minutes...

- Yeah, it's there.
- In that direction.

- Okay.
- So, here's some

of the highlights
from our first night.

See, it's coming,
and this is it.

I've been putting out
my thoughts in this direction.

That is high,
and it's just dimming out now,

but it's just starting.

So, what you're looking at here,

this is, uh, footage
through a recording camera

that's looking through

a military grade
night vision goggle.

Okay. Now, at this early stage,
I can't distinguish this

from other things that
I might see in the night sky.

I'm not convinced yet
from looking at this

that it's not orbital mechanics.

They look like satellites.

I'm not... I'm not saying that I'm
100% convinced it's a satellite,

but right now the question is,
what's causing it?

Did he manifest it somehow,

or is whatever this
manifesting it?

And who's to say, you know,
what we're seeing yet?

You know,
we don't have enough data

to say one thing or the other.

So, our mission with this trip
was really to try to

bring data to help contextualize
a history of stories.

- Right?
- Mm-hmm.

And one of the things
that we all agreed

we wanted to lean into
was medical data first.

- So, we did set up an EEG.
- Oh, great.

And we had a fantastic
opportunity to study Chris

in the field while he was having

an active relationship
with the phenomenon.

You've already said a lot.
I'm on the edge of my seat.

Wait. Did something happen while
you have the EEG connected?

- It did. Yeah.
- I cannot wait to see this.

Yeah, it's very cool.
It's very cool.

So, we've actually asked
the neuroscientist

that we had on site
to do the analysis

that he was able to do
while we were coming back here.

- So, we've got him live...
- Oh.

On standby,
ready to talk to you.

- Oh, great.
- Okay.

- Cool.
- Dr. Thompson, good to see you.

Hi, everyone.
Great to see you again.

- Travis Taylor.
- Erik Bard.

They are really excited,
as are we, to see your results.

You know, we've explained to
them that we saw the experiment

in real time, but that
you've got a lot more data

and a lot more analysis
to share with us.

That's correct.

We've got some deeper analysis
that we performed on the data.

We're excited
to share that with you.

So, I was curious
if you noticed any markers

that were out of the ordinary,

or did it just seem like
a normal brain?

With Chris,
we did not note any markers

that we would flag as...
As abnormal

or out of the ordinary.

You know, at rest,

Chris has the balanced
frequencies and brainwaves

that we would expect to see in
the majority of the population.

So when you read the EEG,

the squiggly lines represent
electrical activity as you're

having these discharges
throughout the brain.

We know that during
this period of time,

there were not any significant
encounters with the orbs,

and we can use this
as a baseline metric.

What we then did is we
timestamped specific encounters.

There was a specific moment
where we instantaneously saw

in the raw data that the waves
became absolutely huge.

Some sort of event
must have triggered these.

ANDY: Just had a sighting.
We just had a sighting.

DR. THOMPSON: And the only event
that was occurring at that time

were the presence of the orbs.

There was a direct correlation

with the time of when an orb
was present in our vicinity,

and Chris's shift
into that state.

Interesting.

And if we look now at the right
hand side of the screen,

what we can see is
a distinct difference

in how the brain is reacting

and what was happening
with Chris.

During the encounters,

Chris instantaneously
switched into this flow,

or meditative state.

How do we interpret that?

This red represents an intensity

three standard deviations

outside of his baseline,

and they represent dominance

of the theta
and the alpha brainwaves.

And those are the relaxed,
calm, meditative states.

So, it's not like Chris
is talking to these orbs.

Those centers are
actually shut down.

The way I interpret this
is that he's more

sensing information
than just receiving language.

The state change that occurs

in the presence of the orb,
which is instantaneous,

it's really only held by
the highest level meditators.

You look at a Buddhist monk,
they can move into this state.

They focus, they relax,

and they shut out
the external world.

For Chris,
this happens instantaneously.

♪

Have you ever seen anything

other than drugs
or hypnosis or meditation

induce this effect
onto the brainwave patterns?

No, and that sudden shift
is not explainable

outside of what
you just described.

It's a very unique,
unique pattern.

So, I've heard the word "orb"
spoken several times

in this conversation,
and I can't wait to see

the corresponding video record

to... to get an idea
of what we're talking about.

There was one in the forest.
Do you guys wanna speak to that?

Stand by one second.
Here we go.

[keyboard clicks]

He's pointing now,
so maybe he's focusing on one.

That would make sense.

ANDY: He has one.
He's got one in the tree line.

I saw a flash there.

It's about head high
in the woods.

TRAVIS: Now, did you guys
see this with your naked eye?

- PAUL: I... Yeah, we saw...
- ANDY: We did.

TRAVIS: What color
did it appear to you?

- Orange.
- Yeah. Sort of an amber.

ERIK: Deep into the woods,
or was it actually close to you?

ANDY: I perceived it to be
in the woods,

passing behind some branches
and in front of other branches.

PAUL: Exactly.

ERIK: It appeared that
that bright light

was in front of what
I'm interpreting to be a tree.

- Right?
- Okay.

I can't explain
the thing in the woods.

- Right.
- I have no explanation for that.

But the interesting piece
to this is the entire brain,

it looks like, for Chris,

whenever this phenomena
is occurring,

goes into this state.

- Mm-hmm.
- That tells you something.

- Mm-hmm.
- What it's telling you,

I don't know yet,
but it's telling you something,

and that is very significant.

This is great data to something
much more complex

of an experiment
that we need to think of.

This is probably one of the most
profound things I've seen,

at least it's hinting at it.

I'm excited by, uh, what
it could mean.

Great start, then, I think.

Yeah.
Thank you so much, Dr. Thompson.

Great meeting everybody,
and let's continue.

- TRAVIS: Absolutely.
- Thanks again, Dr. Thompson.

[keyboard clicks]

I don't know
what I was expecting,

but I wasn't expecting this.
The big piece of it that's

that is high strangeness is,
how did this guy...

- Mm-hmm.
- Get this ability to do this,

is the question.

I want to do more experiments
with this guy.

- Yeah.
- I find that really interesting.

It's generated
some kind of phenomena in him

that's created him to be able
to control his brain state

almost instantaneously,
like a switch.

Right. We may have discovered
something that,

if he does truly have
a superpower,

we have evidence
of what it looks like.

- Mm-hmm.
- And I would suggest

that you could train to gain
that superpower yourself,

because we know
what type of brain state

you would have to be in...
- Mm-hmm.

To be able to do those things.

It's not an everyday thing
that we see that,

but there are individuals
who've demonstrated the ability.

That's why we're doing this.
Hey, part of my... part of my goal

since I was in the third grade
was to be a scientist,

an astronaut, and a superhero.

- [laughter]
- Right.

- Two out of three so far.
- And I'm... so, you know,

This is part of the quest.

Guys, you have conducted
what may be

the most important science that
we're going to... to touch.

- All right.
- So, great work as usual, guys.

- Yeah.
- And there's more to come.

- All right.
- All right. Thanks, guys.

TRAVIS:
We'll see you next time.

- ANDY: Yeah.
- PAUL: Yeah, man.