Strange Evidence (2017–…): Season 2, Episode 6 - The Beast That Ate Jaws - full transcript
A shark is eaten by a mysterious predator, and experts wonder if a prehistoric monster is to blame. A sinister sight is caught on tape near Russia's Area 51, and the evidence might point to a cover-up.
Narrator: WORLDWIDE, SIX BILLION
CAMERAS ARE WATCHING US...
ON OUR STREETS, AT WORK, AND IN OUR HOMES.
THEY CAPTURE THINGS THAT SEEM IMPOSSIBLE.
IT DEFIES THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
Man: OH, THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, MAN.
Narrator: EXPERTS CARRY
OUT FORENSIC ANALYSIS
OF THESE UNUSUAL EVENTS.
Man: THERE'S GOT TO BE SOME
EXPLANATION FOR WHAT'S GOING ON.
Narrator: COMING UP, WHAT'S
GOT ITS CLAWS INTO JAWS?
Woman: I THOUGHT SHARKS
WERE THE KING OF THE OCEAN.
WHAT COULD EAT A SHARK?
Narrator: IS A DEMONIC CHILD-SNATCHER
USING THESE LIGHTS AS A LURE?
THIS LADY WOULD COME IN
AND GET AHOLD OF CHILDREN.
Narrator: AND, COULD A LOCAL
DEITY BE VENTING ITS ANGER
ON A GOLF COURSE LAKE?
♪♪
BIZARRE PHENOMENA...
MYSTERIES CAUGHT ON SURVEILLANCE...
WHAT'S THE TRUTH BEHIND
THIS STRANGE EVIDENCE?
Narrator: NOW, IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF JAWS...
HOW SCARED SHOULD YOU BE
OF THE BEAST THAT EATS JAWS?
Man: THIS IS A SHARK HAVING
ITS FACE EATEN BY A MONSTER.
Narrator: THE SHARK IS SUPPOSED TO BE
AT THE TOP OF THE OCEAN FOOD CHAIN.
BUT HERE IT IS, BEING ATTACKED
BY SOME STRANGELY SHAPED,
UNKNOWN BEAST.
THIS FOOTAGE IS SO RARE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD BE EATING A SHARK?
♪♪
Narrator: THE SHIMMERING WATERS
OFF THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA...
IT COULD BE THE SETTING
FOR ANOTHER "JAWS" MOVIE.
THESE WATERS ARE TEEMING
WITH OVER 50 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF SHARK,
INCLUDING DEADLY BULL
SHARKS AND HAMMERHEADS.
EVEN THE GREAT WHITE SHARK,
STAR OF THE "JAWS" MOVIE,
HAS BEEN SPOTTED
PATROLLING THE WATERS HERE.
EACH YEAR, SHARKS ATTACK ABOUT 80 PEOPLE,
KILLING SIX.
APRIL 2015...
MARINE BIOLOGIST AND SHARK
EXPERT BRENDAN TALWAR
IS RELEASING TWO CAPTIVE
SHARKS BACK INTO THE WILD.
THE UNDERWATER SHARK CAGE
OPENS TO LET THE PREDATORS OUT.
Man: THERE WERE TWO SHARKS IN THE CAGE.
THEY WERE BOTH IN REALLY GOOD CONDITION,
SO I WOULD EXPECT THEM
TO SWIM OUT OF THE CAGE
WHEN THE DOOR OPENS.
Narrator: BUT INSTEAD OF
THE SHARKS SWIMMING OUT,
SOMETHING ELSE SWIMS IN TO JOIN THEM...
SOMETHING THAT MARINE
BIOLOGISTS HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
WE SEE THE SHARKS SWIMMING AROUND.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN...
THIS CREATURE ATTACHES ITSELF TO THE SHARK.
AND THE SHARK STARTS THRASHING AROUND,
BUT WE CAN'T TELL WHAT EXACTLY IT IS.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS REALIZE
THEY'RE WITNESSING A TYPE OF AGGRESSION
THAT'S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
YOU CAN SEE THIS CREATURE
LATCH ON TO THE SHARK...
TO THE FACE OF THE SHARK.
IT IS NOT ANOTHER SHARK.
IT LOOKS LIKE A PREHISTORIC
CREATURE WITH A GIANT MOUTH,
AND IT'S BITING OFF THE SHARK'S HEAD.
WHAT IS THIS THING THAT IS
TAKING ON A SHARK, HEAD-ON?
♪♪
Narrator: DANNI WASHINGTON BEGAN
HER CAREER IN MARINE BIOLOGY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.
SHE KNOWS THESE WATERS WELL.
NOW SHE'S ON THE TRAIL
OF THIS MYSTERIOUS SHARK-MUNCHING MONSTER.
CLOSELY EXAMINING THIS FOOTAGE,
I CAN SEE THAT THE PREDATOR
HAS SOME TYPE OF EXOSKELETON,
RIGHT, A COMPRESSED, ALMOST, LIKE, SHELL.
AND THAT LEADS ME TO THINK
THAT THIS COULD BE A PART
OF PHYLUM ARTHROPODA, OR THE ARTHROPODS.
Narrator: CREATURES WITH EXOSKELETONS...
WITH THEIR SKELETONS ON THE OUTSIDE...
DATE BACK OVER 500 MILLION
YEARS IN EARTH'S HISTORY.
Man: WE HAVE LOTS OF FOSSILS OF THEM,
BECAUSE THEIR HARD EXOSKELETONS...
THAT ARMOR... THAT CAN
TURN TO FOSSILS REALLY EASILY.
Narrator: BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM.
ARTHROPODS ARE SMALL CREATURES,
LIKE COCKROACHES AND SCORPIONS.
THE ONLY LARGE ONES WE KNOW OF DIED OUT
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO,
WAY BEFORE EVEN THE DINOSAURS.
THERE ARE ARTHROPODS CALLED EURYPTERIDS,
OR SEA SCORPIONS, THAT GOT
BETWEEN EIGHT TO TEN FEET LONG.
AND THEY HAD HUGE CLAWS.
THEY WERE THE TOP PREDATORS IN THE OCEANS
ABOUT 500 MILLION YEARS AGO.
Narrator: AS A RESULT OF
THIS INCREDIBLE FOOTAGE,
SCIENTISTS ARE BEGINNING
TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE.
IT MAKES ME WONDER IF ANCIENT ARTHROPODS
STILL EXIST IN THE DEEP OCEAN,
AND IS IT THE THING
THAT'S ATTACKING A SHARK?
♪♪
Narrator: AT TOLEDO ZOO, CURATOR JAY HEMDAL
STUDIES THE FOOTAGE CAREFULLY.
FOR HEMDAL, THE CREATURE'S HARD-LOOKING,
SPHERICAL BODY SHAPE
MAKES HIM WONDER IF
THERE MIGHT BE SOME DISTANT
GENETIC LINK TO CREATURES KNOWN AS ISOPODS.
HE HAS SUCH A CREATURE IN ONE OF HIS TANKS.
TO MY EYE, THIS IS...
THIS IS THE SAME ANIMAL
THAT WAS IN THE VIDEO.
BUT ISOPOD CRUSTACEANS TEND TO BE SMALL,
AND THEY DEFINITELY DON'T ATTACK SHARKS.
IN FACT, THEY DON'T ATTACK ANYTHING.
Man: THEY'RE SCAVENGERS.
THEY WAIT FOR FOOD, LIKE
A FISH FROM ABOVE TO DIE
OR PIECES OF A FISH, TO FALL TO THE BOTTOM.
AND THEN THEY MOVE TO THAT AND CONSUME IT.
WE SEE ISOPODS IN CAPTIVITY
THAT GO MONTHS WITHOUT FOOD,
AND TO HAVE SOMETHING BE
SO REACTIVE TO A FOOD ITEM
LIKE THAT IN THE WILD
WAS JUST AMAZING TO SEE.
♪♪
Narrator: TO MARINE
BIOLOGIST DANNI WASHINGTON,
THIS SOUNDS LIKE SOME SORT
OF B-MOVIE MUTANT MONSTER.
SHE WONDERS IF SOMETHING IN THE WATER
IS TRANSFORMING TINY, DOCILE
CRUSTACEANS INTO MAMMOTH,
ANGRY SHARK-MUNCHERS.
IN APRIL 2010, THE DEEPWATER
HORIZON OIL PLATFORM
COLLAPSED INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO
AFTER A CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSION.
AN ESTIMATED FIVE MILLION
BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL
SPILLED INTO THE WATERS,
CREATING AN OIL SLICK
THE SIZE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Washington: IT WAS BAD ENOUGH
THAT OVER FIVE MILLION BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL
ESCAPED INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.
BUT WHAT'S WORSE WERE
THE CHEMICAL DISPERSANTS
USED TO CLEAR THE OIL AFTERWARD.
Narrator: TWO MILLION GALLONS
OF CHEMICAL DISPERSANT
WERE USED TO CLEAN UP THE SPILL.
DISPERSANTS BREAK UP THE SURFACE OIL
INTO SMALLER DROPLETS
THAT MIX WITH THE WATER,
SO THAT THE OIL SINKS DEEPER INTO THE SEA.
LOCAL FISHERMEN REPORT
DEVASTATING SIDE EFFECTS
ON THE FISH POPULATION.
FRANKENSTEIN MUTATIONS
INCLUDE SHRIMP BORN WITH NO EYES,
CRABS WITH EXTRA CLAWS,
AND FISH WITH VISIBLE TUMORS.
EVEN DEEP SEA CREATURES LIKE ISOPODS
MAY NOT HAVE ESCAPED THE CHEMICAL FALLOUT.
Washington: THE BODIES OF THOSE ANIMALS
WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM,
AND SCAVENGERS LIKE THE ISOPOD
WILL FEED OFF OF THE CARCASSES.
BUT WHAT THAT MEANS IS,
THE ISOPOD WILL ALSO INGEST THOSE CHEMICALS
AND THE OIL, ACCUMULATING THE TOXINS.
Narrator: DID A MUTATION TURN THE ISOPOD
INTO AN UNDERWATER X-BEAST MONSTER?
Washington: IS IT POSSIBLE
THAT A PASSIVE SCAVENGER LIKE
THE ISOPOD COULD MUTATE ITS BEHAVIOR
DUE TO EXPOSURE TO THE CHEMICALS,
AND TRANSFORM INTO AN ACTIVE PREDATOR?
Narrator: THE FIGHT TO THE DEATH
CONTINUES OUTSIDE THE CAGE,
WITH THE SHARK APPEARING TO BE FINISHED.
THE HUNTERS ARE NOW THE HUNTED.
Man: YEAH, IT'S A BIT FRIGHTENING.
I MEAN, THESE THINGS, THEY
RESEMBLE STORM TROOPERS.
THEY'RE REALLY PRETTY INCREDIBLE
ANIMALS, PRETTY TERRIFYING.
Narrator: EXPERTS CAN'T BE SURE
IF THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS GIANT ISOPOD
IS A ONE-TIME EVENT,
OR IF SHARKS FACE A GENUINE CHALLENGE
TO THEIR UNDERWATER SUPREMACY.
♪♪
NOW, DEVELOPERS AGREE TO BUILD
A GOLF COURSE ON CHIPPEWA LAND.
THEN, WEIRD THINGS START TO HAPPEN.
WHEN WE GOT OUT HERE,
YOU COULD FEEL THE GROUND MOVING.
Narrator: A TOWN UNDER THREAT
FROM A REAL UNDERGROUND MONSTER.
Man: I DON'T THINK THE
GUY WHO SHOT THIS VIDEO
FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE PERIL THAT HE WAS IN.
♪♪
Narrator: LAKE HURON SITS
BETWEEN MICHIGAN AND ONTARIO.
ON ITS BANKS, FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS,
THE CHIPPEWA OCCUPIED
AND WORSHIPPED THE LAND,
ITS ROCKS, RIVERS, AND HILLS.
DEVELOPERS BUILD A GULF
CLUB CALLED INDIAN HILLS
ON ANCIENT CHIPPEWA LAND.
ON JUNE 17, 2015,
A CAMERA CAPTURES STRANGE
THINGS STARTING TO HAPPEN HERE.
STRANGE SOUNDS, STRANGE RUMBLINGS...
THEN THIS.
♪♪
Man: I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE IT,
BUT IF YOU LOOK RIGHT
ACROSS RIGHT ABOVE THE GREEN,
THERE'S THIS HAZE.
Narrator: A WATER HAZARD ON THE GOLF COURSE
TURNS INTO A BUBBLING CAULDRON.
AND WHATEVER IT IS,
IT'S AFFECTING THE WILDLIFE AROUND IT.
Man: THE QUESTION IS, COULD IT
POTENTIALLY, ACTUALLY BE TOXIC?
Man: THE GUY THAT'S SHOOTING THIS VIDEO
PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE STANDING SO CLOSE.
Narrator: COMING UP...
ARE LIGHTS FROM THE HEAVENS
LURING CHILDREN TO THEIR DEATH?
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, WE'D GET SCARED
BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA COME AFTER US.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA,
A SINISTER CLOUD RISES
FROM A MYSTERIOUS MACHINE.
Man: MAYBE WE'VE STUMBLED ON A VIDEO
THAT WE'RE NOT MEANT TO SEE.
Narrator: AND, IS THE EXPLODING
LAKE A CHILLING WARNING
FROM THE OTHER SIDE?
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: A GOLF COURSE
VIOLENTLY ERUPTS IN CANADA,
SPREADING MUD, PANIC, AND CONFUSION.
♪♪
AUTHORITIES MOVE TO WARN RESIDENTS
OF THE NEIGHBORING TOWN OF RAVENSWOOD.
Man: AT THAT POINT, THE
OFFICE OF THE FIRE MARSHALL
DECLARED IT A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
THE ENTIRE VALLEY WAS A
MASSIVE QUARANTINED AREA.
Narrator: RAVENSWOOD BECOMES A GHOST TOWN
AS LOCALS FLEE FROM THE MYSTERIOUS THREAT.
Narrator: TO THE NORTH LIES THE
KETTLE POINT INDIAN RESERVE.
THE LAND HERE STILL BELONGS
TO THE CHIPPEWA FIRST NATION,
WHO BELIEVE THEY KNOW WHAT'S
BEHIND THESE STRANGE EVENTS.
THE ELDERS FROM KETTLE AND STONY POINT
THINK THE THUNDERBIRD WAS UNHAPPY
AND HAD A HAND IN CAUSING THIS TO HAPPEN.
[ SCREECHING ]
Narrator: IN CHIPPEWA CULTURE,
THE THUNDERBIRD SPIRIT CONTROLS THE WORLD
WITH HIS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.
TOM BRESSETTE, CHIEF OF THE LOCAL TRIBE,
SPECULATES THAT MODERN
OCCUPATION AND USE OF THE LAND
IS THE REASON FOR THUNDERBIRD'S RAGE.
♪♪
Narrator: AS THE LAKE CONTINUES
TO EXPLODE THROUGHOUT THE DAY,
THE FOOTAGE REACHES GEORGE KOUROUNIS,
WHO SPECIALIZES IN ANALYZING DISASTERS.
Man: THIS IS BIZARRE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS.
THERE SEEMS TO BE A GEYSER OF MUD
AND WATER COMING OUT OF THIS.
Narrator: KOUROUNIS BELIEVES
THIS FOOTAGE MAY SHOW
A LITTLE-KNOWN BUT DEADLY PHENOMENON.
Kourounis: THERE ARE
PLACES AROUND THE WORLD
THAT EXPERIENCE MUD VOLCANOES.
COULD THAT BE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A BRAND-NEW MUD VOLCANO
IS RISING UP IN THIS GOLF COURSE IN CANADA?
♪♪
Narrator: DEADLY MUD VOLCANOES ERUPT
WHEN WATER IS SUPER-HEATED INTO STEAM
BY TECTONIC ACTIVITY DEEP UNDERGROUND.
AND THAT STEAM HAS TO
BE RELEASED SOMEWHERE.
WHEN IT PASSES THROUGH AN
AREA OF VOLCANIC ASH OR MUD,
YOU CAN GET AN ERUPTION
THAT CAN BE TREMENDOUS IN SIZE,
CAUSING WIDESPREAD DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION.
Narrator: MUD VOLCANOES
CAN BE TRULY TERRIFYING.
MAY 2006, MUD STARTS ERUPTING
IN SIDOARJO IN INDONESIA,
DESTROYING VILLAGES ALL AROUND.
INCREDIBLY, 12 YEARS LATER,
IT IS STILL GUSHING MUD.
♪♪
IF THIS IS THE EARLY SIGN
OF ANOTHER SUCH VOLCANIC MUD ERUPTION,
THE TOWNS ON THE SHORE OF
THIS GREAT LAKE FACE OBLITERATION.
♪♪
GEOSCIENTIST SIAN PROCTOR
STUDIES THE FOOTAGE,
AND FINDS OMINOUS SIGNS
OF SOMETHING ELSE DEADLY
COMING UP WITH THE MUD.
THE CLUE LIES IN THE TERRIFIED
REACTION OF THE GOLFERS.
Man: IT SMELLS LIKE PROPANE.
Woman: IN THE VIDEO, YOU
CAN HEAR SOMEBODY SAYING
THAT THEY CAN SMELL PROPANE,
OR SOME KIND OF GAS.
SOMETHING IS BEING
RELEASED FROM UNDERGROUND.
MOST LIKELY, THAT'S NATURAL GAS.
Narrator: PROCTOR BELIEVES
DEADLY NATURAL GAS,
RATHER THAN STEAM, COULD
BE POWERING THE ERUPTION.
IF SHE'S RIGHT, THEN THE
RESIDENTS OF RAVENSWOOD
COULD BE SITTING NOT
ON TOP OF A MUD VOLCANO,
BUT A VAST EXPLOSIVE
RESERVOIR OF FLAMMABLE GAS.
♪♪
THE WEIRDNESS IS JUST
THE NARROWNESS OF THESE FOUNTAINS, RIGHT?
COMING OUT OF THE LAKE.
I MEAN, IT REALLY IS QUITE EXTRAORDINARY.
I THINK MOST OF US MIGHT
EXPECT KIND OF BIG "BLUH,"
WHICH STOPS QUITE QUICKLY,
RATHER THAN THIS CONTINUING
JET FROM DOWN BELOW.
Narrator: TO TEST HER THEORY
THAT SOME FORM OF NATURAL GAS
IS CAUSING THESE VIOLENT
JETS OF MUDDY WATER,
PROCTOR CREATES AN EXPERIMENT.
THE GOLF COURSE LAKE
SITS ABOVE 60 FEET OF CLAY,
SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET OF SHALE
ROCK, AND MORE ANCIENT BEDROCK.
SHE CREATES THIS GEOLOGICAL
MODEL TO SEE HOW IT REACTS
TO AN OUTBREAK OF NATURAL GAS.
WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS RELEASE SOME GAS
INTO THIS CHAMBER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
Narrator: IF THE EXPERIMENT
MIMICS WHAT IS HAPPENING
IN REAL LIFE, THEN PROCTOR HAS EVIDENCE
TO SUPPORT HER NATURAL-GAS THEORY.
WHOA!
[ SPUTTERING ]
Narrator: THE EXPERIMENT
CREATES NARROW JETS OF GAS
BLASTING UP THROUGH THE WATER,
JUST LIKE THOSE IN THE FOOTAGE.
Proctor: OUR GAS CAME UP THROUGH
THE ROCK AND THE SEDIMENT
TO THE SURFACE OF THE POND,
CAUSING ALL OF OUR POND WATER TO CHURN.
♪♪
THIS IS WHAT I THINK IS HAPPENING.
WE'VE GOT A NATURAL GAS LEAK
OF SOME SORT IN THAT VIDEO.
Man: IT SMELLS LIKE PROPANE.
I DON'T THINK THE GUY WHO SHOT
THIS VIDEO FULLY UNDERSTANDS
THE PERIL THAT HE WAS IN.
IF HE HAD BEEN SMOKING
OR HAD LIT A MATCH, KABOOM.
♪♪
Narrator: THE EXPLOSIVE GAS
LAKE BENEATH RAVENSWOOD
GETS FIERCER AND ANGRIER
AS THE HOURS TICK BY.
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS
RACE TO ONTARIO IN AN EFFORT
TO AVERT A FULL-SCALE DISASTER.
Woman: WHEN WE GOT OUT HERE,
YOU COULD FEEL THE GROUND MOVING.
THERE WAS A DISTINCT RUMBLE,
AND CRACKS HAD OPENED UP ON THE SLOPES.
Narrator: THE FIRST THING THEY SPOT
ARE FRESH CRATERS ON THE FAIRWAY.
THE EXPLOSIVE GAS IS MOVING
FAST TOWARDS THE TOWN.
WHEN THEY DISCOVER IT'S
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE METHANE,
THEY NEED TO ACT IMMEDIATELY.
THEY DRILL DOWN INTO THE
RESERVOIR OF LETHAL GAS
IN AN EFFORT TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE.
BUT ONE WRONG MOVE, AND ALL OF
RAVENSWOOD COULD GO UP IN SMOKE.
SO WE WERE DRILLING FAIRLY SLOWLY
THROUGH THE VARIOUS LAYERS.
THE FLOOR WAS SHAKING.
I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT
WAS HAPPENING, AND BOOM.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP, IN TENNESSEE,
SNOW IS CAPTURED DEFYING GRAVITY,
RISING UP INTO THE SKY.
Woman: I CAN'T ACTUALLY COMPUTE THIS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SNOWING UPWARDS.
Narrator: HAS A DRONE
UNCOVERED A DARK SECRET
IN RUSSIA'S AREA 51?
Man: WHAT WE COULD BE SEEING IN THIS VIDEO
IS A CHEMICAL WEAPONS TEST GONE AWRY.
Narrator: AND, DISASTER THREATENS TOWNS
BY THE GREAT LAKES.
Man: OBVIOUSLY, A FLAMMABLE GAS
COULD CAUSE AN ENORMOUS DANGER
TO PEOPLE IN THAT NEARBY VICINITY.
♪♪
Narrator: A GOLF COURSE VIOLENTLY ERUPTS.
AND THE EXPLOSIONS SPREAD,
THREATENING TO DESTROY A NEARBY TOWN.
A TEAM IS SENT IN TO RELEASE PRESSURE
FROM A GIANT NATURAL
UNDERGROUND RESERVOIR OF GAS.
Man: OBVIOUSLY, A FLAMMABLE GAS
COULD CAUSE AN ENORMOUS DANGER
TO PEOPLE IN THAT NEARBY VICINITY.
IF SOMEBODY WAS SMOKING
OR IF THERE WAS ANOTHER IGNITION SOURCE,
THAT COULD REALLY CAUSE
AN ENORMOUS EXPLOSION.
AND PEOPLE COULD GET KILLED.
♪♪
Woman: ONCE WE DID
FINALLY PUNCH INTO THE GAS,
THE GAS CAME OUT WITH SUCH FORCE
THAT IT ACTUALLY SHOOK THE WHOLE RIG.
THE GAS CAME OUT AND RELIEVED
THE PRESSURE IN THAT BEDROCK.
Narrator: WITH THE PRESSURE RELEASED,
THE ERUPTION BEGINS TO SUBSIDE.
THE IMMEDIATE THREAT PASSES,
BUT RAVENSWOOD RESIDENTS
NOW REALIZE THAT JUST A FEW FEET
BENEATH THEIR HOMES SITS A VAST,
EXPLOSIVE GAS RESERVOIR.
IS THIS A TICKING TIME
BOMB? WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
♪♪
Man: AFTER SOMETHING LIKE
THIS HAPPENS, YOU'RE SHOCKED
'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT REALLY
SURE WHAT'S UNDER YOUR FEET.
Narrator: THE FIRST NATION
ELDERS WARN THAT THIS ERUPTION
IS A JUDGMENT OF THE ANGRY EARTH GODS.
♪♪
NOW, A FEARFUL TEXAS TOWN UNDER SIEGE...
FROM SINISTER, HYPNOTIC LIGHTS.
Woman: LIGHTS JUST DON'T
APPEAR FROM NOWHERE.
THAT'S NOT HOW PHYSICS WORKS.
Narrator: LOCALS FEAR THEY'RE THE WORK
OF A DEMONIC CHILD-SNATCHER.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, WE'D GET SCARED
BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA COME AFTER US.
WE'RE SEEING MALIGNANT SPIRITS
THAT LEAD CHILDREN OFF TO THEIR DEATH.
♪♪
[ SCREAMING ]
[ TRAIN BLOWING HORN ]
Narrator: MARFA, FAR WEST TEXAS...
AN OLD FRONTIER TOWN
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRANS-PECOS DESERT.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER
MINERVA LOPEZ REMEMBERS
SHE FIRST SAW THESE STRANGE LIGHTS
WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL.
THEY'RE SO MYSTERIOUS.
THAT'S WHY FOR US TO SIT HERE
AND WATCH AND STARE AT THEM.
I'VE SEEN THE LIGHTS MAYBE
HUNDREDS OF TIMES, MAYBE MORE.
I LOST COUNT.
THEY CAN BE THERE FOR
FIVE MINUTES, TWO MINUTES.
THEY'RE USUALLY UNPREDICTABLE.
I'VE SEEN THEM ZIG-ZAG, AND THEN
ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY'RE GONE.
IT'S A MYSTERY.
♪♪
Narrator: AS A GIRL, LOPEZ HEARD
THE OLD TALES ABOUT THE LIGHTS
AND THE WARNINGS TO STEER CLEAR OF THEM.
♪♪
Lopez: THEY TALKED ABOUT
GHOSTS A LOT AROUND THAT AREA.
THERE USED TO BE A TALE
ABOUT THE GHOST OF THIS LADY
THAT WOULD COME IN AND AHOLD OF CHILDREN.
Narrator: CHILD SNATCHERS,
REAL AND SUPERNATURAL,
ARE THE NIGHTMARE OF EVERY PARENT.
♪♪
LOPEZ SENDS HER CLIPS TO AN EXPERT,
METEOROLOGIST ANGELA FRITZ.
Woman: THE FIRST THING I WANT TO KNOW IS,
WHERE IS THIS TAKING PLACE?
THEN I START TO GET AN IDEA
OF WHAT COULD BE GOING ON,
IF IT HAS A NATURAL EXPLANATION.
Narrator: THE FIRST
THEORY IS AN OBVIOUS ONE.
COULDN'T THESE JUST BE
LIGHTS FROM CARS ON A HIGHWAY?
WHAT I THINK IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING HERE
IS WE'RE SEEING HEADLIGHTS.
Narrator: THIS SEEMS UNLIKELY,
SINCE THE LIGHTS FILMED BY LOPEZ
DON'T APPEAR AT GROUND LEVEL.
THEY FORM IN THE SKY.
BUT FRITZ THINKS THE CAR-LIGHT
EXPLANATION COULD STILL WORK.
Fritz: MARFA IS A VERY SPECIAL PLACE
BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE VERY,
VARY FAR OFF INTO THE HORIZON.
TEXAS IS ALSO VERY HOT,
UNTIL THE SUN GOES DOWN.
AND AT THAT POINT, YOU GET
THE TEMPERATURE INVERSION.
Narrator: A TEMPERATURE INVERSION OCCURS
WHEN THE COOLING EARTH
CHILLS THE AIR ABOVE IT,
TRAPPING COLD AIR BENEATH A
LAYER OF WARMER, THINNER AIR.
THE LESS DENSE, WARMER
AIR NOW ACTS LIKE A MIRROR,
DEFLECTING CAR HEADLIGHTS
BACK DOWN TO EARTH
AND INTO THE EYELINE OF ANY OBSERVERS.
WHAT I THINK IS HAPPENING
IS, WE'RE SEEING HEADLIGHTS
THAT ARE BEING ANGLED ABOVE
THE HORIZON INTO OUR EYESIGHT.
THAT'S ACTUALLY THE EFFECT
OF A TEMPERATURE INVERSION.
♪♪
Narrator: BUT THE CAR-LIGHT
THEORY CAN'T EXPLAIN
HISTORICAL RECORDS THAT DATE BACK
BEFORE THE INVENTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE.
FOLKLORIST DEBORAH HYDE
HAS STUDIED THIS PHENOMENON
THAT HAS BECOME KNOWN
AS THE MARFA GHOST LIGHTS.
Woman: THESE LIGHTS WERE FIRST SEEN
IN 1883 BY A COWBOY
CALLED ROBERT REED ELLISON.
HE THOUGHT THAT THE LIGHTS
MAY HAVE BEEN MADE BY APACHES.
THE APACHES THEMSELVES WERE SAID TO BELIEVE
THAT THEY WERE STARS
COMING DOWN FROM THE SKY.
AND OTHERS WERE SAID TO BELIEVE
THAT IT WAS MALIGNANT SPIRITS
THAT LEAD CHILDREN OFF TO THEIR DEATH.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP, IS THIS
MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN MACHINE
PUMPING OUT A DEADLY CHEMICAL?
THE POSSIBILITIES CAN BE
REALLY, REALLY TERRIFYING.
Narrator: THE WORLD IS TURNED
UPSIDE-DOWN IN TENNESSEE.
Man: THESE LITTLE PARTICLES
SEEM TO BE RISING UPWARD
FROM THE GROUND, LIKE REVERSE GRAVITY.
Narrator: AND THE MARFA
LIGHTS GET EVEN WEIRDER.
Man: WHAT WAS FASCINATING WAS,
THE ORIENTATION OF THE LIGHTS,
THEY MOVE.
♪♪
Narrator: HYPNOTIC LIGHTS
APPEAR FREQUENTLY IN THEY SKY
OUTSIDE A SMALL TEXAS TOWN.
ACCORDING TO LOCAL STORIES,
THERE APPEARANCE HAS,
IN THE PAST, COINCIDED WITH
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CHILDREN.
♪♪
NOW TEXANS KEEP VIGIL
ON THESE CREEPY APPARITIONS.
Woman: I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS.
THERE WERE LITTLE DOTS OF LIGHT.
AND THEY WERE MORE WHITE OR YELLOWISH.
I'VE HEARD OTHER PEOPLE
TALK ABOUT SEEING THEM,
THEY WERE ORANGE AND GREEN.
BUT I THINK IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERYBODY.
♪♪
Narrator: THIRD-GENERATION
OILMAN HARVEY HOWELL
OWNS THE DRILLING RIGHTS TO THE LAND.
HE THINKS THE ANSWER
MIGHT BE BURIED IN THE DIRT.
THE AREA WHERE WE NOW KNOW
THE LIGHTS TO HAVE OCCURRED
IS GEOLOGICALLY VERY INTERESTING.
I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE LIGHTS
WERE SOMEHOW RELATED TO THE TERRAIN.
♪♪
Narrator: HOWELL CONDUCTS A
DETAILED SURVEY OF THE LAND.
HE TRIES TO CHART THE LOCATION
OF CONFIRMED VIDEO
RECORDINGS OF THE LIGHTS.
HE BELIEVES THE LOCATIONS MIGHT CORRELATE
WITH POCKETS OF NATURAL GAS.
Howell: WE HAVE LIGHT GAS
...LIGHT HYDROCARBON GAS:
METHANES, ETHANES, SOME
BUTANES, SOME PROPANES,
THAT WE CAN MEASURE THAT
ARE SEEPING UP IN THE AREA
WHERE THE LIGHTS HAVE BEEN MAPPED.
THEY GOTTA BE RELATED.
Narrator: HYDROCARBONS ARE USUALLY TRAPPED
DEEP UNDERGROUND,
BUT SEEP OUT OF THE EARTH
NATURALLY AT A HANDFUL
OF LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE.
DEPENDING ON OXYGEN SUPPLY
AND THE PRESENCE OF OTHER CHEMICALS,
THEY CAN BURN BLUE, ORANGE, AND EVEN GREEN.
HOWELL BELIEVES BURNING CHEMICALS
LIE BEHIND THE LEGEND OF THE MARFA LIGHTS.
BUT HOWELL ADMITS THERE'S
A PROBLEM WITH THIS THEORY.
HOW THEY IGNITE, WHAT ACTUALLY ILLUMINATES,
THAT I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS AGREE
THERE IS NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION
FOR THE MYSTERIOUS MARFA LIGHTS.
UNTIL WE GET MORE INFORMATION,
THIS MYSTERY IS GONNA GO UNSOLVED.
♪♪
Narrator: NOW, IN RUSSIA'S AREA 51,
A DRONE CAPTURES WHAT MAY BE
SOME KIND OF EXPERIMENT OR TEST.
I WONDER IF WE STUMBLED
ON SOMETHING COVERT.
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS FEAR
SOME NEW CHEMICAL WEAPON.
Woman: WHAT IF THERE WERE
SOME KIND OF TOXIC ELEMENT THERE?
THE POSSIBILITIES CAN BE
REALLY, REALLY TERRIFYING.
♪♪
Narrator: THE WILDERNESS
OF CENTRAL RUSSIA...
OVER THREE MILLION
SQUARE MILES OF WOODLAND,
NEARLY AS LARGE AS
THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES.
BUT HIDING WITHIN THESE IMPENETRABLE WOODS,
NUMEROUS TOP-SECRET MILITARY BASES
AND WEAPON-DEVELOPMENT
LABS... HOME TO RUSSIA'S AREA 51.
♪♪
SEPTEMBER 2017, AN AMATEUR DRONE OPERATOR
ACCIDENTALLY CAPTURES THIS
MENACING, MANMADE CLOUD.
IT JUST KEEPS GETTING
BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER.
Man: I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
GENERATE FOG LIKE THIS.
I WONDER IF WE STUMBLED
ON SOMETHING COVERT.
Narrator: WHEN INVESTIGATORS
OBSERVE HOW DENSE
AND LONG-LASTING IT IS,
THEY FEAR IT'S SOMETHING DANGEROUS.
Hari: THIS ISN'T ACTING LIKE SMOKE.
IT'S NOT SORT OF DYNAMICALLY
MOVING THROUGH THE AIR,
RISING QUICKLY.
Man: WHAT WE COULD BE SEEING IN THIS VIDEO
IS A CHEMICAL-WEAPONS TEST GONE AWRY.
♪♪
Narrator: JUST 500 MILES FROM HERE,
THE CITY SVERDLOVSK OF
SUFFERED AN ACCIDENT SO LETHAL,
IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE CHEMICAL CHERNOBYL.
♪♪
IN 1979, THE SOVIETS ILLEGALLY DEVELOPED
THEIR MOST DEADLY STRAIN
OF THE INFECTION ANTHRAX.
ACCORDING TO U.S. INTELLIGENCE,
THEY PLANNED TO ARM WARHEADS
WITH THIS LETHAL BACTERIA
AND FIRE THE MISSILES AT U.S. CITIES,
CAUSING CHEMICAL ARMAGEDDON.
BUT ANTHRAX LEAKED FROM THE PLANT,
KILLING AT LEAST 60 PEOPLE.
THIS COULD BE THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE
OF SOME SORT OF CHEMICAL AGENT,
WHICH FORCED THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY TO RESPOND.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP,
FREAK WEATHER IN THE TENNESSEE SUMMER...
IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW, BUT IN REVERSE.
Narrator: AND HAVE INVESTIGATORS
UNMASKED THE RUSSIAN
WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION?
THIS DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE IT
COULD BE A CHEMICAL WEAPON.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY'S AREA 51,
A MENACING FOG FILLS THE SKY.
EX-CIA AGENT LINDSAY
MORAN OPERATED UNDERCOVER
FOR THREE YEARS IN EASTERN EUROPE,
SPYING ON THEIR BLACK OPS.
WHEN SHE SEES HOW THE
SMOKE HUGS THE TERRAIN,
SHE FEARS THE RUSSIANS ARE
PREPARING FOR SOMETHING OMINOUS.
SEEING SOMETHING LIKE THIS
INTENTIONALLY CREATING SMOKE,
SOME KIND OF HORRIFIC
THOUGHTS JUMP TO MIND.
WHAT IF THERE SOME KIND OF
TOXIC OR CHEMICAL ELEMENT THERE,
AND WHAT'S ACTUALLY BEING TESTED
IS A METHOD TO DEPLOY IT?
Narrator: THE GENEVA CONVENTION
BANS THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
DESPITE THIS, U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
ACCUSE RUSSIA OF RESPONSIBILITY
FOR CHEMICAL ATTACKS IN SYRIA.
MILITARY ANALYST CARLO
MUñOZ USES HIS CONTACTS
TO SOURCE ANOTHER COPY
OF THE DRONE FOOTAGE,
AND THIS ONE CAPTURES THE START.
WHEN HE ZOOMS IN, HE SPOTS
A DETAIL THAT CASTS DOUBT
ON THE CHEMICAL-WEAPON THEORY.
Muñoz: LOOKING AT THE VIDEO AND RECOGNIZING
WHAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE
IN THEIR MILITARY ARSENAL,
TO ME, THIS LOOKS LIKE A RUSSIAN TDA-3.
Narrator: THE TDA-3 IS A
RUSSIAN ARMY VEHICLE,
THE OFFICIAL PURPOSE OF
WHICH IS TO GENERATE SMOKE
TO OBSCURE VARIOUS MILITARY ACTIVITIES
FROM THE PRYING EYES OF FOREIGN POWERS.
EVEN SOME INFRARED CAMERAS
CANNOT PENETRATE THE CLOUD.
MILITARY SMOKESCREENS ARE NOT
CLASSIFIED AS A CHEMICAL WEAPON.
HOWEVER, WHAT MILITARY
ANALYSTS CALL COMBINATION SMOKE
IS USED TO CARRY OTHER CHEMICAL
AGENTS FROM TEAR GAS UPWARDS.
THE TDA-3 IS A POTENTIALLY
TERRIFYING WEAPON
OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
MUñOZ SUSPECTS THE FUNCTION OF THIS THICK,
HEAVY SMOKE COULD ALSO BE
CONNECTED TO THE UNITED STATES'
LATEST MILITARY DEVELOPMENT...
DEATH LASERS, KNOWN AS
DIRECTED-ENERGY WEAPONS.
Muñoz: THE BENEFITS OF
DIRECT-ENERGY WEAPONS
ARE TWOFOLD... ONE, YOU
DON'T RUN OUT OF BULLETS
WITH A DIRECTED-ENERGY WEAPON.
TWO, THEY'RE VERY EASILY HIDDEN.
THEY CAN BE FIRED FROM MILES AWAY,
TOWARDS AN ENEMY WHO
WILL NEVER SEE IT COMING
AND NEVER KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM.
Narrator: BUT MUñOZ BELIEVES
THE TDA-3'S CLOAK OF SMOKE
COULD TURN THE TABLES ON A LASER ATTACK.
Muñoz: SMOKESCREENS CAN BE
USED TO IDENTIFY THE LOCATION
OF WHERE THE LASER IS COMING FROM.
WHILE NORMALLY INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE,
ONCE YOU APPLY A HEAVY SCREEN OF SMOKE,
YOU CAN VERY EASILY TRACK
BACK THE SOURCE OF THE DIRECTED-ENERGY SHOT
AND HOPEFULLY, TAKE OUT THE WEAPON ITSELF.
Narrator: RUSSIA HAS MADE
NO COMMENT ON THIS FOOTAGE,
LEADING SOME EXPERTS TO
BELIEVE WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE SEEN
THIS DEFENSIVE SMOKESCREEN
IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO MAYBE WE'VE STUMBLED ON A VIDEO
THAT WE'RE NOT MEANT TO SEE.
♪♪
Narrator: NOW, UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS,
SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
EVIDENCE OF NATURE GONE WRONG.
I CAN'T ACTUALLY COMPUTE THIS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SNOWING UPWARDS.
Narrator: DID A BLIZZARD HIT TENNESSEE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER?
I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW, BUT
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
♪♪
Narrator: TENNESSEE...
HOME OF COUNTRY MUSIC, DOLLYWOOD,
AND WORLD-CLASS BOURBON.
IN RURAL TENNESSEE, AWAY FROM THE GLITZ,
LOCALS VALUE THEIR PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
Man: WE'VE INSTALLED
PROBABLY 14 DIFFERENT CAMERAS
ALL OVER THIS... THIS PROPERTY.
NORMALLY, WE SEE DIFFERENT
CRITTERS RUNNING AROUND:
RABBITS, BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES,
YOU KNOW, NOTHING OUT OF
THE ORDINARY OR UNUSUAL.
Narrator: JULY 2, 2013,
PEYTON INSTALLS CLOSED-CIRCUIT CAMERAS
AT THE GATES OF A PROPERTY.
NEXT DAY, HE CHECKS THE FEED.
Peyton: I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT SEEMS TO BE SNOWING UPWARDS.
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
♪♪
Narrator: DURING THE
RED-HOT TENNESSEE SUMMER,
A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA
CAPTURES THE IMPOSSIBLE.
Peyton: I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT SEEMS TO BE SNOWING UPWARDS.
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Narrator: THE FOOTAGE REACHES
VIDEO ANALYST CONOR McCOURT.
HE WANTS TO FIGURE OUT
WHY THE SNOW IS RISING UP
RATHER THAN FALLING DOWN.
HE SPOTS A CLUE IN THE
LOCATION OF THE CAMERA,
AT THE TOP OF A CURVED WALL.
Man: WHAT'S VERY LIKELY HAPPENING HERE
IS WE'RE GETTING UPWARD WIND CURRENT
THAT'S KICKING THOSE PARTICLES UP.
AND THAT LOOKS VERY STRANGE.
AND THAT MAY BE THE
EXPLANATION OF THE SNOW GOING UP
IN THE AIR THE WHOLE TIME.
Narrator: WHAT McCOURT DOESN'T KNOW
IS THE FOOTAGE WAS RECORDED IN JULY.
NO ONE ALIVE RECALLS SNOW
FALLING DURING THE STICKY
TENNESSEE SUMMER.
Peyton: IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW.
I MEAN, IT DID.
I SHOWED IT TO SOME OTHER PEOPLE,
AND THEY SAID IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW.
BUT IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY.
Narrator: METEOROLOGIST KAREN KOSIBA
BELIEVES THE SNOW THEORY
ISN'T AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS.
SHE POINTS TO A GEOLOGICAL EVENT
THAT CAN DRAMATICALLY ALTER WEATHER.
Woman: SOMETHING LIKE AN
EXTREME VOLCANIC ERUPTION,
WHICH PUTS A LOT OF SOOT IN THE ATMOSPHERE,
COULD IMPACT GLOBAL TEMPERATURES
BY IMPACTING THE AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT, UM,
THAT GETS INTO THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.
Narrator: HISTORY SHOWS
HOW A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
CAN CAUSE SPECTACULAR GLOBAL COOLING.
MOUNT TAMBORA IN INDONESIA
BLASTED 36 CUBIC-MILES OF ASH
INTO THE ATMOSPHERE IN 1815.
THE CLOUD TRAVELLED 9,000
MILES TO CLOAK NORTH AMERICA
IN A DRY, RED FOG FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
AND JUST LIKE IN PEYTON'S FOOTAGE,
SNOW FELL IN TENNESSEE IN JULY.
Kosiba: THERE HAVE BEEN EXAMPLES
GLOBALLY OF FREAK EVENTS
THAT OCCUR, THINGS THAT WE
REFER TO AS THE LITTLE ICE AGE.
♪♪
Narrator: BUT JEFF WISE BELIEVES
THAT IF A MINI ICE AGE FROZE TENNESSEE,
HE'D HAVE HEARD ABOUT IT.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ANY
WEATHER THAT INVOLVES FREAK SNOW
IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD
AT THAT TIME OF YEAR,
SO IT'S DEFINITELY NOT SNOW.
♪♪
Narrator: THE BIZARRE FOOTAGE
REACHES BIOLOGIST SCOTT BUNDY.
HE SUSPECTS THAT THE PARTICLES
IN THE FOOTAGE ARE ALIVE.
Man: IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS A WOODED AREA.
THERE'S LOTS OF VEGETATION
AROUND, WHICH IS GREAT HABITAT.
THE MOVEMENT IS, UM... IT'S A BIT RANDOM,
BUT THAT'S KIND OF HOW SOME
OF THESE INSECT SWARMS HAPPEN.
Narrator: INSECT SWARMS
CAN NUMBER IN THE TRILLIONS
AND DEVOUR EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH.
IN 1874, A SWARM OF LOCUSTS
ESTIMATED TO WEIGH 27 MILLION TONS
OBLITERATED CROPS ACROSS THE U.S.
AND EVEN ATE THE CLOTHES ON PEOPLE'S BACKS.
THOUSANDS STARVED TO DEATH
AS A RESULT OF THE DEVASTATION.
IF A GREAT PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
IS LOOSE IN THESE FARMLANDS,
THE RESULTS COULD BE DEVASTATING,
AND NOT JUST FOR CROPS.
Bundy: IF THEY SWARM AT THE
WRONG PLACE IN THE WRONG TIME,
THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL TO KILL PEOPLE
BECAUSE THERE'S, YOU KNOW,
SO MANY OF THEM AROUND.
Narrator: BUT PLANT EXPERT JEFFREY DEAN
BELIEVES A SWARM OF LOCUSTS
WOULD'VE LEFT THEIR MARK ON THE LAND.
THE SNOWY STORM REMINDS HIM OF ANOTHER TYPE
OF DEADLY CRITTER.
Man: THE ONE TYPE OF INSECT
THAT I CAN COME UP WITH
THAT MIGHT FULFILL ALL
OF THE CRITERIA WE SEE IN
THAT VIDEO IS A VERY TINY, WEAK FLYER
THAT'S CALLED THE ASIAN
HACKBERRY WOOLY ADELGID.
Narrator: THE WOOLY ADELGID PARASITE
INVADED FROM JAPAN IN THE 1950s,
AND NOW LOOKS SET TO WIPE
OUT AN ENTIRE U.S. TREE SPECIES.
THEY ATTACK HEMLOCK TREES
FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA,
AND THEIR MARCH APPEARS UNSTOPPABLE.
A FEMALE ADELGID CAN GENERATE
90,000 CLONES OF HERSELF EACH YEAR
WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A MALE.
Man: IT'S ABLE TO REPRODUCE
INTO HUGE NUMBERS OF INSECTS.
THEY CAN EXHAUST THE
FOOD IN A PARTICULAR AREA
AND, UM, WHEN THAT OCCURS,
THEY START LOOKING FOR
SOME PLACE NEW TO TRAVEL TO.
Narrator: BUT DEAN EXPECTS
THEM TO STICK AROUND
BECAUSE OF THEIR POOR FLYING ABILITY.
HOURS AFTER THE PLAGUE ARRIVES,
PEYTON RETURNS TO THE SCENE.
I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT THE
NUMBER OF PARTICLES WE SEEN,
IF IT'D BEEN INSECTS, I THINK
WE WOULD'VE SEEN THOSE.
'CAUSE WE WERE OUT HERE, LIKE,
THE NEXT FEW DAYS AFTER THAT,
AND I SEEN NO EVIDENCE OF IT.
Narrator: AND SO THE SUMMERTIME
BLIZZARD THAT BLITZED TENNESSEE
REMAINS A BEWILDERING MYSTERY.
CAMERAS ARE WATCHING US...
ON OUR STREETS, AT WORK, AND IN OUR HOMES.
THEY CAPTURE THINGS THAT SEEM IMPOSSIBLE.
IT DEFIES THE LAWS OF PHYSICS.
Man: OH, THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE, MAN.
Narrator: EXPERTS CARRY
OUT FORENSIC ANALYSIS
OF THESE UNUSUAL EVENTS.
Man: THERE'S GOT TO BE SOME
EXPLANATION FOR WHAT'S GOING ON.
Narrator: COMING UP, WHAT'S
GOT ITS CLAWS INTO JAWS?
Woman: I THOUGHT SHARKS
WERE THE KING OF THE OCEAN.
WHAT COULD EAT A SHARK?
Narrator: IS A DEMONIC CHILD-SNATCHER
USING THESE LIGHTS AS A LURE?
THIS LADY WOULD COME IN
AND GET AHOLD OF CHILDREN.
Narrator: AND, COULD A LOCAL
DEITY BE VENTING ITS ANGER
ON A GOLF COURSE LAKE?
♪♪
BIZARRE PHENOMENA...
MYSTERIES CAUGHT ON SURVEILLANCE...
WHAT'S THE TRUTH BEHIND
THIS STRANGE EVIDENCE?
Narrator: NOW, IF YOU'RE AFRAID OF JAWS...
HOW SCARED SHOULD YOU BE
OF THE BEAST THAT EATS JAWS?
Man: THIS IS A SHARK HAVING
ITS FACE EATEN BY A MONSTER.
Narrator: THE SHARK IS SUPPOSED TO BE
AT THE TOP OF THE OCEAN FOOD CHAIN.
BUT HERE IT IS, BEING ATTACKED
BY SOME STRANGELY SHAPED,
UNKNOWN BEAST.
THIS FOOTAGE IS SO RARE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD BE EATING A SHARK?
♪♪
Narrator: THE SHIMMERING WATERS
OFF THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA...
IT COULD BE THE SETTING
FOR ANOTHER "JAWS" MOVIE.
THESE WATERS ARE TEEMING
WITH OVER 50 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF SHARK,
INCLUDING DEADLY BULL
SHARKS AND HAMMERHEADS.
EVEN THE GREAT WHITE SHARK,
STAR OF THE "JAWS" MOVIE,
HAS BEEN SPOTTED
PATROLLING THE WATERS HERE.
EACH YEAR, SHARKS ATTACK ABOUT 80 PEOPLE,
KILLING SIX.
APRIL 2015...
MARINE BIOLOGIST AND SHARK
EXPERT BRENDAN TALWAR
IS RELEASING TWO CAPTIVE
SHARKS BACK INTO THE WILD.
THE UNDERWATER SHARK CAGE
OPENS TO LET THE PREDATORS OUT.
Man: THERE WERE TWO SHARKS IN THE CAGE.
THEY WERE BOTH IN REALLY GOOD CONDITION,
SO I WOULD EXPECT THEM
TO SWIM OUT OF THE CAGE
WHEN THE DOOR OPENS.
Narrator: BUT INSTEAD OF
THE SHARKS SWIMMING OUT,
SOMETHING ELSE SWIMS IN TO JOIN THEM...
SOMETHING THAT MARINE
BIOLOGISTS HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
WE SEE THE SHARKS SWIMMING AROUND.
AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN...
THIS CREATURE ATTACHES ITSELF TO THE SHARK.
AND THE SHARK STARTS THRASHING AROUND,
BUT WE CAN'T TELL WHAT EXACTLY IT IS.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS REALIZE
THEY'RE WITNESSING A TYPE OF AGGRESSION
THAT'S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
YOU CAN SEE THIS CREATURE
LATCH ON TO THE SHARK...
TO THE FACE OF THE SHARK.
IT IS NOT ANOTHER SHARK.
IT LOOKS LIKE A PREHISTORIC
CREATURE WITH A GIANT MOUTH,
AND IT'S BITING OFF THE SHARK'S HEAD.
WHAT IS THIS THING THAT IS
TAKING ON A SHARK, HEAD-ON?
♪♪
Narrator: DANNI WASHINGTON BEGAN
HER CAREER IN MARINE BIOLOGY
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI.
SHE KNOWS THESE WATERS WELL.
NOW SHE'S ON THE TRAIL
OF THIS MYSTERIOUS SHARK-MUNCHING MONSTER.
CLOSELY EXAMINING THIS FOOTAGE,
I CAN SEE THAT THE PREDATOR
HAS SOME TYPE OF EXOSKELETON,
RIGHT, A COMPRESSED, ALMOST, LIKE, SHELL.
AND THAT LEADS ME TO THINK
THAT THIS COULD BE A PART
OF PHYLUM ARTHROPODA, OR THE ARTHROPODS.
Narrator: CREATURES WITH EXOSKELETONS...
WITH THEIR SKELETONS ON THE OUTSIDE...
DATE BACK OVER 500 MILLION
YEARS IN EARTH'S HISTORY.
Man: WE HAVE LOTS OF FOSSILS OF THEM,
BECAUSE THEIR HARD EXOSKELETONS...
THAT ARMOR... THAT CAN
TURN TO FOSSILS REALLY EASILY.
Narrator: BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM.
ARTHROPODS ARE SMALL CREATURES,
LIKE COCKROACHES AND SCORPIONS.
THE ONLY LARGE ONES WE KNOW OF DIED OUT
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO,
WAY BEFORE EVEN THE DINOSAURS.
THERE ARE ARTHROPODS CALLED EURYPTERIDS,
OR SEA SCORPIONS, THAT GOT
BETWEEN EIGHT TO TEN FEET LONG.
AND THEY HAD HUGE CLAWS.
THEY WERE THE TOP PREDATORS IN THE OCEANS
ABOUT 500 MILLION YEARS AGO.
Narrator: AS A RESULT OF
THIS INCREDIBLE FOOTAGE,
SCIENTISTS ARE BEGINNING
TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE.
IT MAKES ME WONDER IF ANCIENT ARTHROPODS
STILL EXIST IN THE DEEP OCEAN,
AND IS IT THE THING
THAT'S ATTACKING A SHARK?
♪♪
Narrator: AT TOLEDO ZOO, CURATOR JAY HEMDAL
STUDIES THE FOOTAGE CAREFULLY.
FOR HEMDAL, THE CREATURE'S HARD-LOOKING,
SPHERICAL BODY SHAPE
MAKES HIM WONDER IF
THERE MIGHT BE SOME DISTANT
GENETIC LINK TO CREATURES KNOWN AS ISOPODS.
HE HAS SUCH A CREATURE IN ONE OF HIS TANKS.
TO MY EYE, THIS IS...
THIS IS THE SAME ANIMAL
THAT WAS IN THE VIDEO.
BUT ISOPOD CRUSTACEANS TEND TO BE SMALL,
AND THEY DEFINITELY DON'T ATTACK SHARKS.
IN FACT, THEY DON'T ATTACK ANYTHING.
Man: THEY'RE SCAVENGERS.
THEY WAIT FOR FOOD, LIKE
A FISH FROM ABOVE TO DIE
OR PIECES OF A FISH, TO FALL TO THE BOTTOM.
AND THEN THEY MOVE TO THAT AND CONSUME IT.
WE SEE ISOPODS IN CAPTIVITY
THAT GO MONTHS WITHOUT FOOD,
AND TO HAVE SOMETHING BE
SO REACTIVE TO A FOOD ITEM
LIKE THAT IN THE WILD
WAS JUST AMAZING TO SEE.
♪♪
Narrator: TO MARINE
BIOLOGIST DANNI WASHINGTON,
THIS SOUNDS LIKE SOME SORT
OF B-MOVIE MUTANT MONSTER.
SHE WONDERS IF SOMETHING IN THE WATER
IS TRANSFORMING TINY, DOCILE
CRUSTACEANS INTO MAMMOTH,
ANGRY SHARK-MUNCHERS.
IN APRIL 2010, THE DEEPWATER
HORIZON OIL PLATFORM
COLLAPSED INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO
AFTER A CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSION.
AN ESTIMATED FIVE MILLION
BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL
SPILLED INTO THE WATERS,
CREATING AN OIL SLICK
THE SIZE OF WEST VIRGINIA.
Washington: IT WAS BAD ENOUGH
THAT OVER FIVE MILLION BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL
ESCAPED INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO.
BUT WHAT'S WORSE WERE
THE CHEMICAL DISPERSANTS
USED TO CLEAR THE OIL AFTERWARD.
Narrator: TWO MILLION GALLONS
OF CHEMICAL DISPERSANT
WERE USED TO CLEAN UP THE SPILL.
DISPERSANTS BREAK UP THE SURFACE OIL
INTO SMALLER DROPLETS
THAT MIX WITH THE WATER,
SO THAT THE OIL SINKS DEEPER INTO THE SEA.
LOCAL FISHERMEN REPORT
DEVASTATING SIDE EFFECTS
ON THE FISH POPULATION.
FRANKENSTEIN MUTATIONS
INCLUDE SHRIMP BORN WITH NO EYES,
CRABS WITH EXTRA CLAWS,
AND FISH WITH VISIBLE TUMORS.
EVEN DEEP SEA CREATURES LIKE ISOPODS
MAY NOT HAVE ESCAPED THE CHEMICAL FALLOUT.
Washington: THE BODIES OF THOSE ANIMALS
WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM,
AND SCAVENGERS LIKE THE ISOPOD
WILL FEED OFF OF THE CARCASSES.
BUT WHAT THAT MEANS IS,
THE ISOPOD WILL ALSO INGEST THOSE CHEMICALS
AND THE OIL, ACCUMULATING THE TOXINS.
Narrator: DID A MUTATION TURN THE ISOPOD
INTO AN UNDERWATER X-BEAST MONSTER?
Washington: IS IT POSSIBLE
THAT A PASSIVE SCAVENGER LIKE
THE ISOPOD COULD MUTATE ITS BEHAVIOR
DUE TO EXPOSURE TO THE CHEMICALS,
AND TRANSFORM INTO AN ACTIVE PREDATOR?
Narrator: THE FIGHT TO THE DEATH
CONTINUES OUTSIDE THE CAGE,
WITH THE SHARK APPEARING TO BE FINISHED.
THE HUNTERS ARE NOW THE HUNTED.
Man: YEAH, IT'S A BIT FRIGHTENING.
I MEAN, THESE THINGS, THEY
RESEMBLE STORM TROOPERS.
THEY'RE REALLY PRETTY INCREDIBLE
ANIMALS, PRETTY TERRIFYING.
Narrator: EXPERTS CAN'T BE SURE
IF THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS GIANT ISOPOD
IS A ONE-TIME EVENT,
OR IF SHARKS FACE A GENUINE CHALLENGE
TO THEIR UNDERWATER SUPREMACY.
♪♪
NOW, DEVELOPERS AGREE TO BUILD
A GOLF COURSE ON CHIPPEWA LAND.
THEN, WEIRD THINGS START TO HAPPEN.
WHEN WE GOT OUT HERE,
YOU COULD FEEL THE GROUND MOVING.
Narrator: A TOWN UNDER THREAT
FROM A REAL UNDERGROUND MONSTER.
Man: I DON'T THINK THE
GUY WHO SHOT THIS VIDEO
FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE PERIL THAT HE WAS IN.
♪♪
Narrator: LAKE HURON SITS
BETWEEN MICHIGAN AND ONTARIO.
ON ITS BANKS, FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS,
THE CHIPPEWA OCCUPIED
AND WORSHIPPED THE LAND,
ITS ROCKS, RIVERS, AND HILLS.
DEVELOPERS BUILD A GULF
CLUB CALLED INDIAN HILLS
ON ANCIENT CHIPPEWA LAND.
ON JUNE 17, 2015,
A CAMERA CAPTURES STRANGE
THINGS STARTING TO HAPPEN HERE.
STRANGE SOUNDS, STRANGE RUMBLINGS...
THEN THIS.
♪♪
Man: I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE IT,
BUT IF YOU LOOK RIGHT
ACROSS RIGHT ABOVE THE GREEN,
THERE'S THIS HAZE.
Narrator: A WATER HAZARD ON THE GOLF COURSE
TURNS INTO A BUBBLING CAULDRON.
AND WHATEVER IT IS,
IT'S AFFECTING THE WILDLIFE AROUND IT.
Man: THE QUESTION IS, COULD IT
POTENTIALLY, ACTUALLY BE TOXIC?
Man: THE GUY THAT'S SHOOTING THIS VIDEO
PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE STANDING SO CLOSE.
Narrator: COMING UP...
ARE LIGHTS FROM THE HEAVENS
LURING CHILDREN TO THEIR DEATH?
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, WE'D GET SCARED
BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA COME AFTER US.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE FORESTS OF RUSSIA,
A SINISTER CLOUD RISES
FROM A MYSTERIOUS MACHINE.
Man: MAYBE WE'VE STUMBLED ON A VIDEO
THAT WE'RE NOT MEANT TO SEE.
Narrator: AND, IS THE EXPLODING
LAKE A CHILLING WARNING
FROM THE OTHER SIDE?
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: A GOLF COURSE
VIOLENTLY ERUPTS IN CANADA,
SPREADING MUD, PANIC, AND CONFUSION.
♪♪
AUTHORITIES MOVE TO WARN RESIDENTS
OF THE NEIGHBORING TOWN OF RAVENSWOOD.
Man: AT THAT POINT, THE
OFFICE OF THE FIRE MARSHALL
DECLARED IT A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
THE ENTIRE VALLEY WAS A
MASSIVE QUARANTINED AREA.
Narrator: RAVENSWOOD BECOMES A GHOST TOWN
AS LOCALS FLEE FROM THE MYSTERIOUS THREAT.
Narrator: TO THE NORTH LIES THE
KETTLE POINT INDIAN RESERVE.
THE LAND HERE STILL BELONGS
TO THE CHIPPEWA FIRST NATION,
WHO BELIEVE THEY KNOW WHAT'S
BEHIND THESE STRANGE EVENTS.
THE ELDERS FROM KETTLE AND STONY POINT
THINK THE THUNDERBIRD WAS UNHAPPY
AND HAD A HAND IN CAUSING THIS TO HAPPEN.
[ SCREECHING ]
Narrator: IN CHIPPEWA CULTURE,
THE THUNDERBIRD SPIRIT CONTROLS THE WORLD
WITH HIS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.
TOM BRESSETTE, CHIEF OF THE LOCAL TRIBE,
SPECULATES THAT MODERN
OCCUPATION AND USE OF THE LAND
IS THE REASON FOR THUNDERBIRD'S RAGE.
♪♪
Narrator: AS THE LAKE CONTINUES
TO EXPLODE THROUGHOUT THE DAY,
THE FOOTAGE REACHES GEORGE KOUROUNIS,
WHO SPECIALIZES IN ANALYZING DISASTERS.
Man: THIS IS BIZARRE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS.
THERE SEEMS TO BE A GEYSER OF MUD
AND WATER COMING OUT OF THIS.
Narrator: KOUROUNIS BELIEVES
THIS FOOTAGE MAY SHOW
A LITTLE-KNOWN BUT DEADLY PHENOMENON.
Kourounis: THERE ARE
PLACES AROUND THE WORLD
THAT EXPERIENCE MUD VOLCANOES.
COULD THAT BE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A BRAND-NEW MUD VOLCANO
IS RISING UP IN THIS GOLF COURSE IN CANADA?
♪♪
Narrator: DEADLY MUD VOLCANOES ERUPT
WHEN WATER IS SUPER-HEATED INTO STEAM
BY TECTONIC ACTIVITY DEEP UNDERGROUND.
AND THAT STEAM HAS TO
BE RELEASED SOMEWHERE.
WHEN IT PASSES THROUGH AN
AREA OF VOLCANIC ASH OR MUD,
YOU CAN GET AN ERUPTION
THAT CAN BE TREMENDOUS IN SIZE,
CAUSING WIDESPREAD DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION.
Narrator: MUD VOLCANOES
CAN BE TRULY TERRIFYING.
MAY 2006, MUD STARTS ERUPTING
IN SIDOARJO IN INDONESIA,
DESTROYING VILLAGES ALL AROUND.
INCREDIBLY, 12 YEARS LATER,
IT IS STILL GUSHING MUD.
♪♪
IF THIS IS THE EARLY SIGN
OF ANOTHER SUCH VOLCANIC MUD ERUPTION,
THE TOWNS ON THE SHORE OF
THIS GREAT LAKE FACE OBLITERATION.
♪♪
GEOSCIENTIST SIAN PROCTOR
STUDIES THE FOOTAGE,
AND FINDS OMINOUS SIGNS
OF SOMETHING ELSE DEADLY
COMING UP WITH THE MUD.
THE CLUE LIES IN THE TERRIFIED
REACTION OF THE GOLFERS.
Man: IT SMELLS LIKE PROPANE.
Woman: IN THE VIDEO, YOU
CAN HEAR SOMEBODY SAYING
THAT THEY CAN SMELL PROPANE,
OR SOME KIND OF GAS.
SOMETHING IS BEING
RELEASED FROM UNDERGROUND.
MOST LIKELY, THAT'S NATURAL GAS.
Narrator: PROCTOR BELIEVES
DEADLY NATURAL GAS,
RATHER THAN STEAM, COULD
BE POWERING THE ERUPTION.
IF SHE'S RIGHT, THEN THE
RESIDENTS OF RAVENSWOOD
COULD BE SITTING NOT
ON TOP OF A MUD VOLCANO,
BUT A VAST EXPLOSIVE
RESERVOIR OF FLAMMABLE GAS.
♪♪
THE WEIRDNESS IS JUST
THE NARROWNESS OF THESE FOUNTAINS, RIGHT?
COMING OUT OF THE LAKE.
I MEAN, IT REALLY IS QUITE EXTRAORDINARY.
I THINK MOST OF US MIGHT
EXPECT KIND OF BIG "BLUH,"
WHICH STOPS QUITE QUICKLY,
RATHER THAN THIS CONTINUING
JET FROM DOWN BELOW.
Narrator: TO TEST HER THEORY
THAT SOME FORM OF NATURAL GAS
IS CAUSING THESE VIOLENT
JETS OF MUDDY WATER,
PROCTOR CREATES AN EXPERIMENT.
THE GOLF COURSE LAKE
SITS ABOVE 60 FEET OF CLAY,
SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET OF SHALE
ROCK, AND MORE ANCIENT BEDROCK.
SHE CREATES THIS GEOLOGICAL
MODEL TO SEE HOW IT REACTS
TO AN OUTBREAK OF NATURAL GAS.
WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS RELEASE SOME GAS
INTO THIS CHAMBER AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
Narrator: IF THE EXPERIMENT
MIMICS WHAT IS HAPPENING
IN REAL LIFE, THEN PROCTOR HAS EVIDENCE
TO SUPPORT HER NATURAL-GAS THEORY.
WHOA!
[ SPUTTERING ]
Narrator: THE EXPERIMENT
CREATES NARROW JETS OF GAS
BLASTING UP THROUGH THE WATER,
JUST LIKE THOSE IN THE FOOTAGE.
Proctor: OUR GAS CAME UP THROUGH
THE ROCK AND THE SEDIMENT
TO THE SURFACE OF THE POND,
CAUSING ALL OF OUR POND WATER TO CHURN.
♪♪
THIS IS WHAT I THINK IS HAPPENING.
WE'VE GOT A NATURAL GAS LEAK
OF SOME SORT IN THAT VIDEO.
Man: IT SMELLS LIKE PROPANE.
I DON'T THINK THE GUY WHO SHOT
THIS VIDEO FULLY UNDERSTANDS
THE PERIL THAT HE WAS IN.
IF HE HAD BEEN SMOKING
OR HAD LIT A MATCH, KABOOM.
♪♪
Narrator: THE EXPLOSIVE GAS
LAKE BENEATH RAVENSWOOD
GETS FIERCER AND ANGRIER
AS THE HOURS TICK BY.
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS
RACE TO ONTARIO IN AN EFFORT
TO AVERT A FULL-SCALE DISASTER.
Woman: WHEN WE GOT OUT HERE,
YOU COULD FEEL THE GROUND MOVING.
THERE WAS A DISTINCT RUMBLE,
AND CRACKS HAD OPENED UP ON THE SLOPES.
Narrator: THE FIRST THING THEY SPOT
ARE FRESH CRATERS ON THE FAIRWAY.
THE EXPLOSIVE GAS IS MOVING
FAST TOWARDS THE TOWN.
WHEN THEY DISCOVER IT'S
HIGHLY FLAMMABLE METHANE,
THEY NEED TO ACT IMMEDIATELY.
THEY DRILL DOWN INTO THE
RESERVOIR OF LETHAL GAS
IN AN EFFORT TO RELIEVE THE PRESSURE.
BUT ONE WRONG MOVE, AND ALL OF
RAVENSWOOD COULD GO UP IN SMOKE.
SO WE WERE DRILLING FAIRLY SLOWLY
THROUGH THE VARIOUS LAYERS.
THE FLOOR WAS SHAKING.
I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT
WAS HAPPENING, AND BOOM.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP, IN TENNESSEE,
SNOW IS CAPTURED DEFYING GRAVITY,
RISING UP INTO THE SKY.
Woman: I CAN'T ACTUALLY COMPUTE THIS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SNOWING UPWARDS.
Narrator: HAS A DRONE
UNCOVERED A DARK SECRET
IN RUSSIA'S AREA 51?
Man: WHAT WE COULD BE SEEING IN THIS VIDEO
IS A CHEMICAL WEAPONS TEST GONE AWRY.
Narrator: AND, DISASTER THREATENS TOWNS
BY THE GREAT LAKES.
Man: OBVIOUSLY, A FLAMMABLE GAS
COULD CAUSE AN ENORMOUS DANGER
TO PEOPLE IN THAT NEARBY VICINITY.
♪♪
Narrator: A GOLF COURSE VIOLENTLY ERUPTS.
AND THE EXPLOSIONS SPREAD,
THREATENING TO DESTROY A NEARBY TOWN.
A TEAM IS SENT IN TO RELEASE PRESSURE
FROM A GIANT NATURAL
UNDERGROUND RESERVOIR OF GAS.
Man: OBVIOUSLY, A FLAMMABLE GAS
COULD CAUSE AN ENORMOUS DANGER
TO PEOPLE IN THAT NEARBY VICINITY.
IF SOMEBODY WAS SMOKING
OR IF THERE WAS ANOTHER IGNITION SOURCE,
THAT COULD REALLY CAUSE
AN ENORMOUS EXPLOSION.
AND PEOPLE COULD GET KILLED.
♪♪
Woman: ONCE WE DID
FINALLY PUNCH INTO THE GAS,
THE GAS CAME OUT WITH SUCH FORCE
THAT IT ACTUALLY SHOOK THE WHOLE RIG.
THE GAS CAME OUT AND RELIEVED
THE PRESSURE IN THAT BEDROCK.
Narrator: WITH THE PRESSURE RELEASED,
THE ERUPTION BEGINS TO SUBSIDE.
THE IMMEDIATE THREAT PASSES,
BUT RAVENSWOOD RESIDENTS
NOW REALIZE THAT JUST A FEW FEET
BENEATH THEIR HOMES SITS A VAST,
EXPLOSIVE GAS RESERVOIR.
IS THIS A TICKING TIME
BOMB? WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
♪♪
Man: AFTER SOMETHING LIKE
THIS HAPPENS, YOU'RE SHOCKED
'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT REALLY
SURE WHAT'S UNDER YOUR FEET.
Narrator: THE FIRST NATION
ELDERS WARN THAT THIS ERUPTION
IS A JUDGMENT OF THE ANGRY EARTH GODS.
♪♪
NOW, A FEARFUL TEXAS TOWN UNDER SIEGE...
FROM SINISTER, HYPNOTIC LIGHTS.
Woman: LIGHTS JUST DON'T
APPEAR FROM NOWHERE.
THAT'S NOT HOW PHYSICS WORKS.
Narrator: LOCALS FEAR THEY'RE THE WORK
OF A DEMONIC CHILD-SNATCHER.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, WE'D GET SCARED
BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA COME AFTER US.
WE'RE SEEING MALIGNANT SPIRITS
THAT LEAD CHILDREN OFF TO THEIR DEATH.
♪♪
[ SCREAMING ]
[ TRAIN BLOWING HORN ]
Narrator: MARFA, FAR WEST TEXAS...
AN OLD FRONTIER TOWN
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRANS-PECOS DESERT.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKER
MINERVA LOPEZ REMEMBERS
SHE FIRST SAW THESE STRANGE LIGHTS
WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL.
THEY'RE SO MYSTERIOUS.
THAT'S WHY FOR US TO SIT HERE
AND WATCH AND STARE AT THEM.
I'VE SEEN THE LIGHTS MAYBE
HUNDREDS OF TIMES, MAYBE MORE.
I LOST COUNT.
THEY CAN BE THERE FOR
FIVE MINUTES, TWO MINUTES.
THEY'RE USUALLY UNPREDICTABLE.
I'VE SEEN THEM ZIG-ZAG, AND THEN
ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY'RE GONE.
IT'S A MYSTERY.
♪♪
Narrator: AS A GIRL, LOPEZ HEARD
THE OLD TALES ABOUT THE LIGHTS
AND THE WARNINGS TO STEER CLEAR OF THEM.
♪♪
Lopez: THEY TALKED ABOUT
GHOSTS A LOT AROUND THAT AREA.
THERE USED TO BE A TALE
ABOUT THE GHOST OF THIS LADY
THAT WOULD COME IN AND AHOLD OF CHILDREN.
Narrator: CHILD SNATCHERS,
REAL AND SUPERNATURAL,
ARE THE NIGHTMARE OF EVERY PARENT.
♪♪
LOPEZ SENDS HER CLIPS TO AN EXPERT,
METEOROLOGIST ANGELA FRITZ.
Woman: THE FIRST THING I WANT TO KNOW IS,
WHERE IS THIS TAKING PLACE?
THEN I START TO GET AN IDEA
OF WHAT COULD BE GOING ON,
IF IT HAS A NATURAL EXPLANATION.
Narrator: THE FIRST
THEORY IS AN OBVIOUS ONE.
COULDN'T THESE JUST BE
LIGHTS FROM CARS ON A HIGHWAY?
WHAT I THINK IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING HERE
IS WE'RE SEEING HEADLIGHTS.
Narrator: THIS SEEMS UNLIKELY,
SINCE THE LIGHTS FILMED BY LOPEZ
DON'T APPEAR AT GROUND LEVEL.
THEY FORM IN THE SKY.
BUT FRITZ THINKS THE CAR-LIGHT
EXPLANATION COULD STILL WORK.
Fritz: MARFA IS A VERY SPECIAL PLACE
BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE VERY,
VARY FAR OFF INTO THE HORIZON.
TEXAS IS ALSO VERY HOT,
UNTIL THE SUN GOES DOWN.
AND AT THAT POINT, YOU GET
THE TEMPERATURE INVERSION.
Narrator: A TEMPERATURE INVERSION OCCURS
WHEN THE COOLING EARTH
CHILLS THE AIR ABOVE IT,
TRAPPING COLD AIR BENEATH A
LAYER OF WARMER, THINNER AIR.
THE LESS DENSE, WARMER
AIR NOW ACTS LIKE A MIRROR,
DEFLECTING CAR HEADLIGHTS
BACK DOWN TO EARTH
AND INTO THE EYELINE OF ANY OBSERVERS.
WHAT I THINK IS HAPPENING
IS, WE'RE SEEING HEADLIGHTS
THAT ARE BEING ANGLED ABOVE
THE HORIZON INTO OUR EYESIGHT.
THAT'S ACTUALLY THE EFFECT
OF A TEMPERATURE INVERSION.
♪♪
Narrator: BUT THE CAR-LIGHT
THEORY CAN'T EXPLAIN
HISTORICAL RECORDS THAT DATE BACK
BEFORE THE INVENTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE.
FOLKLORIST DEBORAH HYDE
HAS STUDIED THIS PHENOMENON
THAT HAS BECOME KNOWN
AS THE MARFA GHOST LIGHTS.
Woman: THESE LIGHTS WERE FIRST SEEN
IN 1883 BY A COWBOY
CALLED ROBERT REED ELLISON.
HE THOUGHT THAT THE LIGHTS
MAY HAVE BEEN MADE BY APACHES.
THE APACHES THEMSELVES WERE SAID TO BELIEVE
THAT THEY WERE STARS
COMING DOWN FROM THE SKY.
AND OTHERS WERE SAID TO BELIEVE
THAT IT WAS MALIGNANT SPIRITS
THAT LEAD CHILDREN OFF TO THEIR DEATH.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP, IS THIS
MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN MACHINE
PUMPING OUT A DEADLY CHEMICAL?
THE POSSIBILITIES CAN BE
REALLY, REALLY TERRIFYING.
Narrator: THE WORLD IS TURNED
UPSIDE-DOWN IN TENNESSEE.
Man: THESE LITTLE PARTICLES
SEEM TO BE RISING UPWARD
FROM THE GROUND, LIKE REVERSE GRAVITY.
Narrator: AND THE MARFA
LIGHTS GET EVEN WEIRDER.
Man: WHAT WAS FASCINATING WAS,
THE ORIENTATION OF THE LIGHTS,
THEY MOVE.
♪♪
Narrator: HYPNOTIC LIGHTS
APPEAR FREQUENTLY IN THEY SKY
OUTSIDE A SMALL TEXAS TOWN.
ACCORDING TO LOCAL STORIES,
THERE APPEARANCE HAS,
IN THE PAST, COINCIDED WITH
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CHILDREN.
♪♪
NOW TEXANS KEEP VIGIL
ON THESE CREEPY APPARITIONS.
Woman: I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS.
THERE WERE LITTLE DOTS OF LIGHT.
AND THEY WERE MORE WHITE OR YELLOWISH.
I'VE HEARD OTHER PEOPLE
TALK ABOUT SEEING THEM,
THEY WERE ORANGE AND GREEN.
BUT I THINK IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERYBODY.
♪♪
Narrator: THIRD-GENERATION
OILMAN HARVEY HOWELL
OWNS THE DRILLING RIGHTS TO THE LAND.
HE THINKS THE ANSWER
MIGHT BE BURIED IN THE DIRT.
THE AREA WHERE WE NOW KNOW
THE LIGHTS TO HAVE OCCURRED
IS GEOLOGICALLY VERY INTERESTING.
I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE LIGHTS
WERE SOMEHOW RELATED TO THE TERRAIN.
♪♪
Narrator: HOWELL CONDUCTS A
DETAILED SURVEY OF THE LAND.
HE TRIES TO CHART THE LOCATION
OF CONFIRMED VIDEO
RECORDINGS OF THE LIGHTS.
HE BELIEVES THE LOCATIONS MIGHT CORRELATE
WITH POCKETS OF NATURAL GAS.
Howell: WE HAVE LIGHT GAS
...LIGHT HYDROCARBON GAS:
METHANES, ETHANES, SOME
BUTANES, SOME PROPANES,
THAT WE CAN MEASURE THAT
ARE SEEPING UP IN THE AREA
WHERE THE LIGHTS HAVE BEEN MAPPED.
THEY GOTTA BE RELATED.
Narrator: HYDROCARBONS ARE USUALLY TRAPPED
DEEP UNDERGROUND,
BUT SEEP OUT OF THE EARTH
NATURALLY AT A HANDFUL
OF LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE.
DEPENDING ON OXYGEN SUPPLY
AND THE PRESENCE OF OTHER CHEMICALS,
THEY CAN BURN BLUE, ORANGE, AND EVEN GREEN.
HOWELL BELIEVES BURNING CHEMICALS
LIE BEHIND THE LEGEND OF THE MARFA LIGHTS.
BUT HOWELL ADMITS THERE'S
A PROBLEM WITH THIS THEORY.
HOW THEY IGNITE, WHAT ACTUALLY ILLUMINATES,
THAT I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator: SCIENTISTS AGREE
THERE IS NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION
FOR THE MYSTERIOUS MARFA LIGHTS.
UNTIL WE GET MORE INFORMATION,
THIS MYSTERY IS GONNA GO UNSOLVED.
♪♪
Narrator: NOW, IN RUSSIA'S AREA 51,
A DRONE CAPTURES WHAT MAY BE
SOME KIND OF EXPERIMENT OR TEST.
I WONDER IF WE STUMBLED
ON SOMETHING COVERT.
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS FEAR
SOME NEW CHEMICAL WEAPON.
Woman: WHAT IF THERE WERE
SOME KIND OF TOXIC ELEMENT THERE?
THE POSSIBILITIES CAN BE
REALLY, REALLY TERRIFYING.
♪♪
Narrator: THE WILDERNESS
OF CENTRAL RUSSIA...
OVER THREE MILLION
SQUARE MILES OF WOODLAND,
NEARLY AS LARGE AS
THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES.
BUT HIDING WITHIN THESE IMPENETRABLE WOODS,
NUMEROUS TOP-SECRET MILITARY BASES
AND WEAPON-DEVELOPMENT
LABS... HOME TO RUSSIA'S AREA 51.
♪♪
SEPTEMBER 2017, AN AMATEUR DRONE OPERATOR
ACCIDENTALLY CAPTURES THIS
MENACING, MANMADE CLOUD.
IT JUST KEEPS GETTING
BIGGER AND BIGGER AND BIGGER.
Man: I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
GENERATE FOG LIKE THIS.
I WONDER IF WE STUMBLED
ON SOMETHING COVERT.
Narrator: WHEN INVESTIGATORS
OBSERVE HOW DENSE
AND LONG-LASTING IT IS,
THEY FEAR IT'S SOMETHING DANGEROUS.
Hari: THIS ISN'T ACTING LIKE SMOKE.
IT'S NOT SORT OF DYNAMICALLY
MOVING THROUGH THE AIR,
RISING QUICKLY.
Man: WHAT WE COULD BE SEEING IN THIS VIDEO
IS A CHEMICAL-WEAPONS TEST GONE AWRY.
♪♪
Narrator: JUST 500 MILES FROM HERE,
THE CITY SVERDLOVSK OF
SUFFERED AN ACCIDENT SO LETHAL,
IT BECAME KNOWN AS THE CHEMICAL CHERNOBYL.
♪♪
IN 1979, THE SOVIETS ILLEGALLY DEVELOPED
THEIR MOST DEADLY STRAIN
OF THE INFECTION ANTHRAX.
ACCORDING TO U.S. INTELLIGENCE,
THEY PLANNED TO ARM WARHEADS
WITH THIS LETHAL BACTERIA
AND FIRE THE MISSILES AT U.S. CITIES,
CAUSING CHEMICAL ARMAGEDDON.
BUT ANTHRAX LEAKED FROM THE PLANT,
KILLING AT LEAST 60 PEOPLE.
THIS COULD BE THE UNINTENTIONAL RELEASE
OF SOME SORT OF CHEMICAL AGENT,
WHICH FORCED THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY TO RESPOND.
♪♪
Narrator: COMING UP,
FREAK WEATHER IN THE TENNESSEE SUMMER...
IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW, BUT IN REVERSE.
Narrator: AND HAVE INVESTIGATORS
UNMASKED THE RUSSIAN
WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION?
THIS DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE IT
COULD BE A CHEMICAL WEAPON.
♪♪
Narrator: IN THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY'S AREA 51,
A MENACING FOG FILLS THE SKY.
EX-CIA AGENT LINDSAY
MORAN OPERATED UNDERCOVER
FOR THREE YEARS IN EASTERN EUROPE,
SPYING ON THEIR BLACK OPS.
WHEN SHE SEES HOW THE
SMOKE HUGS THE TERRAIN,
SHE FEARS THE RUSSIANS ARE
PREPARING FOR SOMETHING OMINOUS.
SEEING SOMETHING LIKE THIS
INTENTIONALLY CREATING SMOKE,
SOME KIND OF HORRIFIC
THOUGHTS JUMP TO MIND.
WHAT IF THERE SOME KIND OF
TOXIC OR CHEMICAL ELEMENT THERE,
AND WHAT'S ACTUALLY BEING TESTED
IS A METHOD TO DEPLOY IT?
Narrator: THE GENEVA CONVENTION
BANS THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
DESPITE THIS, U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
ACCUSE RUSSIA OF RESPONSIBILITY
FOR CHEMICAL ATTACKS IN SYRIA.
MILITARY ANALYST CARLO
MUñOZ USES HIS CONTACTS
TO SOURCE ANOTHER COPY
OF THE DRONE FOOTAGE,
AND THIS ONE CAPTURES THE START.
WHEN HE ZOOMS IN, HE SPOTS
A DETAIL THAT CASTS DOUBT
ON THE CHEMICAL-WEAPON THEORY.
Muñoz: LOOKING AT THE VIDEO AND RECOGNIZING
WHAT THE RUSSIANS HAVE
IN THEIR MILITARY ARSENAL,
TO ME, THIS LOOKS LIKE A RUSSIAN TDA-3.
Narrator: THE TDA-3 IS A
RUSSIAN ARMY VEHICLE,
THE OFFICIAL PURPOSE OF
WHICH IS TO GENERATE SMOKE
TO OBSCURE VARIOUS MILITARY ACTIVITIES
FROM THE PRYING EYES OF FOREIGN POWERS.
EVEN SOME INFRARED CAMERAS
CANNOT PENETRATE THE CLOUD.
MILITARY SMOKESCREENS ARE NOT
CLASSIFIED AS A CHEMICAL WEAPON.
HOWEVER, WHAT MILITARY
ANALYSTS CALL COMBINATION SMOKE
IS USED TO CARRY OTHER CHEMICAL
AGENTS FROM TEAR GAS UPWARDS.
THE TDA-3 IS A POTENTIALLY
TERRIFYING WEAPON
OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
MUñOZ SUSPECTS THE FUNCTION OF THIS THICK,
HEAVY SMOKE COULD ALSO BE
CONNECTED TO THE UNITED STATES'
LATEST MILITARY DEVELOPMENT...
DEATH LASERS, KNOWN AS
DIRECTED-ENERGY WEAPONS.
Muñoz: THE BENEFITS OF
DIRECT-ENERGY WEAPONS
ARE TWOFOLD... ONE, YOU
DON'T RUN OUT OF BULLETS
WITH A DIRECTED-ENERGY WEAPON.
TWO, THEY'RE VERY EASILY HIDDEN.
THEY CAN BE FIRED FROM MILES AWAY,
TOWARDS AN ENEMY WHO
WILL NEVER SEE IT COMING
AND NEVER KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM.
Narrator: BUT MUñOZ BELIEVES
THE TDA-3'S CLOAK OF SMOKE
COULD TURN THE TABLES ON A LASER ATTACK.
Muñoz: SMOKESCREENS CAN BE
USED TO IDENTIFY THE LOCATION
OF WHERE THE LASER IS COMING FROM.
WHILE NORMALLY INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE,
ONCE YOU APPLY A HEAVY SCREEN OF SMOKE,
YOU CAN VERY EASILY TRACK
BACK THE SOURCE OF THE DIRECTED-ENERGY SHOT
AND HOPEFULLY, TAKE OUT THE WEAPON ITSELF.
Narrator: RUSSIA HAS MADE
NO COMMENT ON THIS FOOTAGE,
LEADING SOME EXPERTS TO
BELIEVE WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE SEEN
THIS DEFENSIVE SMOKESCREEN
IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO MAYBE WE'VE STUMBLED ON A VIDEO
THAT WE'RE NOT MEANT TO SEE.
♪♪
Narrator: NOW, UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS,
SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
EVIDENCE OF NATURE GONE WRONG.
I CAN'T ACTUALLY COMPUTE THIS.
IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SNOWING UPWARDS.
Narrator: DID A BLIZZARD HIT TENNESSEE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER?
I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW, BUT
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
♪♪
Narrator: TENNESSEE...
HOME OF COUNTRY MUSIC, DOLLYWOOD,
AND WORLD-CLASS BOURBON.
IN RURAL TENNESSEE, AWAY FROM THE GLITZ,
LOCALS VALUE THEIR PRIVACY AND SECURITY.
Man: WE'VE INSTALLED
PROBABLY 14 DIFFERENT CAMERAS
ALL OVER THIS... THIS PROPERTY.
NORMALLY, WE SEE DIFFERENT
CRITTERS RUNNING AROUND:
RABBITS, BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES,
YOU KNOW, NOTHING OUT OF
THE ORDINARY OR UNUSUAL.
Narrator: JULY 2, 2013,
PEYTON INSTALLS CLOSED-CIRCUIT CAMERAS
AT THE GATES OF A PROPERTY.
NEXT DAY, HE CHECKS THE FEED.
Peyton: I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT SEEMS TO BE SNOWING UPWARDS.
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
♪♪
Narrator: DURING THE
RED-HOT TENNESSEE SUMMER,
A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA
CAPTURES THE IMPOSSIBLE.
Peyton: I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.
IT SEEMS TO BE SNOWING UPWARDS.
THAT DON'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Narrator: THE FOOTAGE REACHES
VIDEO ANALYST CONOR McCOURT.
HE WANTS TO FIGURE OUT
WHY THE SNOW IS RISING UP
RATHER THAN FALLING DOWN.
HE SPOTS A CLUE IN THE
LOCATION OF THE CAMERA,
AT THE TOP OF A CURVED WALL.
Man: WHAT'S VERY LIKELY HAPPENING HERE
IS WE'RE GETTING UPWARD WIND CURRENT
THAT'S KICKING THOSE PARTICLES UP.
AND THAT LOOKS VERY STRANGE.
AND THAT MAY BE THE
EXPLANATION OF THE SNOW GOING UP
IN THE AIR THE WHOLE TIME.
Narrator: WHAT McCOURT DOESN'T KNOW
IS THE FOOTAGE WAS RECORDED IN JULY.
NO ONE ALIVE RECALLS SNOW
FALLING DURING THE STICKY
TENNESSEE SUMMER.
Peyton: IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW.
I MEAN, IT DID.
I SHOWED IT TO SOME OTHER PEOPLE,
AND THEY SAID IT LOOKED LIKE SNOW.
BUT IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY.
Narrator: METEOROLOGIST KAREN KOSIBA
BELIEVES THE SNOW THEORY
ISN'T AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDS.
SHE POINTS TO A GEOLOGICAL EVENT
THAT CAN DRAMATICALLY ALTER WEATHER.
Woman: SOMETHING LIKE AN
EXTREME VOLCANIC ERUPTION,
WHICH PUTS A LOT OF SOOT IN THE ATMOSPHERE,
COULD IMPACT GLOBAL TEMPERATURES
BY IMPACTING THE AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT, UM,
THAT GETS INTO THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.
Narrator: HISTORY SHOWS
HOW A VOLCANIC ERUPTION
CAN CAUSE SPECTACULAR GLOBAL COOLING.
MOUNT TAMBORA IN INDONESIA
BLASTED 36 CUBIC-MILES OF ASH
INTO THE ATMOSPHERE IN 1815.
THE CLOUD TRAVELLED 9,000
MILES TO CLOAK NORTH AMERICA
IN A DRY, RED FOG FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
AND JUST LIKE IN PEYTON'S FOOTAGE,
SNOW FELL IN TENNESSEE IN JULY.
Kosiba: THERE HAVE BEEN EXAMPLES
GLOBALLY OF FREAK EVENTS
THAT OCCUR, THINGS THAT WE
REFER TO AS THE LITTLE ICE AGE.
♪♪
Narrator: BUT JEFF WISE BELIEVES
THAT IF A MINI ICE AGE FROZE TENNESSEE,
HE'D HAVE HEARD ABOUT IT.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ANY
WEATHER THAT INVOLVES FREAK SNOW
IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD
AT THAT TIME OF YEAR,
SO IT'S DEFINITELY NOT SNOW.
♪♪
Narrator: THE BIZARRE FOOTAGE
REACHES BIOLOGIST SCOTT BUNDY.
HE SUSPECTS THAT THE PARTICLES
IN THE FOOTAGE ARE ALIVE.
Man: IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS A WOODED AREA.
THERE'S LOTS OF VEGETATION
AROUND, WHICH IS GREAT HABITAT.
THE MOVEMENT IS, UM... IT'S A BIT RANDOM,
BUT THAT'S KIND OF HOW SOME
OF THESE INSECT SWARMS HAPPEN.
Narrator: INSECT SWARMS
CAN NUMBER IN THE TRILLIONS
AND DEVOUR EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH.
IN 1874, A SWARM OF LOCUSTS
ESTIMATED TO WEIGH 27 MILLION TONS
OBLITERATED CROPS ACROSS THE U.S.
AND EVEN ATE THE CLOTHES ON PEOPLE'S BACKS.
THOUSANDS STARVED TO DEATH
AS A RESULT OF THE DEVASTATION.
IF A GREAT PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
IS LOOSE IN THESE FARMLANDS,
THE RESULTS COULD BE DEVASTATING,
AND NOT JUST FOR CROPS.
Bundy: IF THEY SWARM AT THE
WRONG PLACE IN THE WRONG TIME,
THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL TO KILL PEOPLE
BECAUSE THERE'S, YOU KNOW,
SO MANY OF THEM AROUND.
Narrator: BUT PLANT EXPERT JEFFREY DEAN
BELIEVES A SWARM OF LOCUSTS
WOULD'VE LEFT THEIR MARK ON THE LAND.
THE SNOWY STORM REMINDS HIM OF ANOTHER TYPE
OF DEADLY CRITTER.
Man: THE ONE TYPE OF INSECT
THAT I CAN COME UP WITH
THAT MIGHT FULFILL ALL
OF THE CRITERIA WE SEE IN
THAT VIDEO IS A VERY TINY, WEAK FLYER
THAT'S CALLED THE ASIAN
HACKBERRY WOOLY ADELGID.
Narrator: THE WOOLY ADELGID PARASITE
INVADED FROM JAPAN IN THE 1950s,
AND NOW LOOKS SET TO WIPE
OUT AN ENTIRE U.S. TREE SPECIES.
THEY ATTACK HEMLOCK TREES
FROM NEW ENGLAND TO GEORGIA,
AND THEIR MARCH APPEARS UNSTOPPABLE.
A FEMALE ADELGID CAN GENERATE
90,000 CLONES OF HERSELF EACH YEAR
WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A MALE.
Man: IT'S ABLE TO REPRODUCE
INTO HUGE NUMBERS OF INSECTS.
THEY CAN EXHAUST THE
FOOD IN A PARTICULAR AREA
AND, UM, WHEN THAT OCCURS,
THEY START LOOKING FOR
SOME PLACE NEW TO TRAVEL TO.
Narrator: BUT DEAN EXPECTS
THEM TO STICK AROUND
BECAUSE OF THEIR POOR FLYING ABILITY.
HOURS AFTER THE PLAGUE ARRIVES,
PEYTON RETURNS TO THE SCENE.
I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT THE
NUMBER OF PARTICLES WE SEEN,
IF IT'D BEEN INSECTS, I THINK
WE WOULD'VE SEEN THOSE.
'CAUSE WE WERE OUT HERE, LIKE,
THE NEXT FEW DAYS AFTER THAT,
AND I SEEN NO EVIDENCE OF IT.
Narrator: AND SO THE SUMMERTIME
BLIZZARD THAT BLITZED TENNESSEE
REMAINS A BEWILDERING MYSTERY.