Strange Evidence (2017–…): Season 5, Episode 2 - The Exorcist Effect - full transcript

[narrator] worldwide
36 billion cameras
are watching us.

On our streets, at work,
and in our homes.

They capture things
that seem impossible.

Science says
this shouldn't happen.

-[man] do you see that?
-[screams]

[narrator] experts carry out
forensic analysis
of these unusual events.

Wow, what a blast!

[woman screams]

this doesn't make sense.

There has to be
some sort of explanation.

What else is going on here?



[narrator] coming up...

Has this explosion

blown the lid on
a deadly military secret?

This highway has suddenly
turned into a war zone.

[narrator] the kid
who's a real pain in the neck.

I've only seen people
turn their heads
that far in horror movies.

Could this be some sort of
real life exorcism?

[narrator] and in a house
locals say is haunted...

Terror vision
as an unplugged tv
switches on by itself.

Could a television
be broadcasting a signal
from the afterlife?

[narrator]
bizarre phenomena...

Oh, my god. [gasps]

[narrator] mysteries
caught on camera.

[woman screams]



what's the truth behind
this strange evidence?

Wenling, southern china,

June 13, 2020.

4:45 pm.

Rush hour traffic
comes screeching to a halt

as flames lick up
from the highway ahead.

-Then, an apocalyptic blast.
-[explosion]

[ashanti] one second,
the sky is blue

and then the next,
it's covered in
an orange fireball.

It almost looks like napalm,
liquid fire just jetting
across the road.

[narrator]
but this is no war zone.

It's a suburb of a modern city
with over one million people.

It's some kind of
massive explosion

ripping through
a populated area.

[craig] if there's
such a thing as
a run-of-the-mill explosion,

this ain't it,
this explosion is massive.

This scene is terrifying.

[narrator] historian
craig gottlieb discovers
the incident occurs

as the secretive state
of china faces a crisis
on its highways.

Traffic in china
is not gentle,

the roads are very,
very crowded

and traffic
doesn't always play nice.

[narrator] and china's roads
are getting more chaotic
all the time.

Over 25 million new drivers
hit the streets each year.

The number of cars
on the road is increased

seven fold
over the past ten years.

[martin] that explosive pace
of expansion

has led to a lot of people
who are driving

who have
no business driving.

[narrator]
over 250 million cars
compete for space,

meaning accidents
are frequent,
and sometimes fatal.

One fifth of all road deaths
in the world happen in china.

That's an average of
700 dead every day.

They're killing each other
in large numbers

because of
their careless driving,

[narrator] while most
chinese drivers are careful,

-mad motorists
can cause deadly mayhem.
-[woman exclaiming in chinese]

[in english] eighteen people
die in a 30-car
pile-up fireball

in anhui in 2017.

But even that
horrific highway explosion

is dwarfed by this blast
in wenling.

-[loud explosion]
-[woman screaming]

this has to be more
than a car crash.

No car accident
produces a fire like that.

[narrator]
historian ashanti davis

reviews the footage
of this cataclysmic explosion

and notices a sinister object
travelling at enormous speed.

There's this large,
long object that just
flies through the sky

was that a missile?

The explosion is of
a character and a force

-that looks military.
-[man exclaims in chinese]

[in english] its scale,
its intensity
certainly suggests

that it could potentially be
a thermobaric bomb.

[narrator] thermobaric bombs
are a terrifying new weapon.

[amy] this bomb works
in two stages.

The first stage
detonates to spread fuel
in the surrounding area,

and the second stage
ignites that fuel
in a roaring inferno.

Thermobaric weapons burn
at very high temperatures.

And they achieve this
by sucking in

the oxygen from
the surrounding atmosphere.

[narrator] in 2017,
the united states

is the first to use
a thermobaric weapon
in combat.

Its target,
an isis stronghold
in afghanistan.

A us air force mc-130

drops moab,
the mother of all bombs.

This 29-foot-long monster
has a one mile blast radius.

Striking with the force
of 11 tons of tnt.

The reason
a thermobaric weapon
was used in this attack

was that this was
a cave system that isis
was holding out in.

Effectively, it sucked
the oxygen out of those caves,

killing about 90 people.

[amy] it's hard to tell
what would be worse,

being flash fried
or having the air

literally sucked out
of your lungs.

[narrator] two years later,

china demonstrates
its own thermobaric device.

Is it conceivable

that the chinese have
accidentally dropped one

on a heavily populated
civilian area?

-[loud explosion]
-[woman screaming]

[narrator] it wouldn't be
the first time

civilians have been caught
in the crossfire.

China has detonated
45 nuclear bombs

at lop nor in xinjiang
since 1964.

The fallout is thought
to have poisoned
over a million people,

causing cancer
and birth defects
in the local population.

So the question is,

is this one of
their military tests
gone badly wrong?

[narrator] former nypd
video analyst conor mccourt

slows down
the mystery projectile
captured in the footage.

[conor] what I'm seeing here
is what looks like

a huge piece of metal
being flung across the sky.

It clears four-story buildings

like it's a child's toy
being flung across the room.

This seems to be
a piece of a tanker
flying through the air,

leaving a chemical trail
behind it.

Could this be the source
of the explosion?

[narrator] a tanker suggests
this explosion is caused
by some sort of fuel.

But what fuel explodes
with the power of
a thermobaric bomb?

The chinese economy
is growing exponentially,

and in order
to maintain that

it needs a steady supply
of energy.

[narrator] china's factories
are choking cities
with thick smog,

causing a health crisis
that claims over
one million lives every year.

But the authorities
have now found a safe,
clean miracle fuel...

Liquified natural gas.

Lng is cryogenically stored

and transported
at 260 degrees below zero.

In this super cold
liquid form,

the energy
is highly concentrated,

and is also
supposedly super stable.

The chinese say
it shouldn't be able
to explode.

Matt kutcher is
a hollywood pyrotechnics
and ballistics expert

with over two decades
experience.

Even he is amazed
by this highway explosion.

[man speaking in chinese]

[matt in english] wow!
You can see
the actual truck come flying.

Imagine that. Just being
in traffic and something
like this explodes.

[woman speaking in chinese,
screams]

[in english] one thing
that's clear

is it's not just the size
of the actual explosion,

but the supersonic shock wave

that travels rapidly
through the frame here.

You have to have
a serious amount of
explosive energy

to get that kind of blast.

[narrator] transporting lng
is supposed to be
extremely safe.

Not only is it super cooled,

but trucks use
reinforced tanks
with double walls,

and the cavity is filled
with fireproof insulation.

But kutcher suspects
if both walls were punctured,

the escaping lng could trigger
a catastrophic explosion.

Let's put it to the test.
Can liquid gas create
an explosion powerful enough

to throw such heavy objects
through the air?

[narrator] matt's team
positions a small amount
of lng inside a canister,

and covers it with an oil drum
to mimic the double skin
of an lng tanker.

This will be like
the actual fuel truck.

That truck had, like,
7,000 gallons worth of fuel.

And, of course, this will have
one or two gallons
and less weight.

[narrator] matt places
small charges
inside the barrel

to represent the effect
of a vehicle hitting the tank,

which could allow the lng
to escape and explode.

And we'll see
if we can't get
the initial blast,

then the secondary blast,
that supersonic bang

will get this thrown
through the air.

[narrator] coming up...

Matt hits the gas.

All right, guys.
And here we go!

In three, two, one.
Hit it!

And in pakistan,

a real life exorcist child
makes heads spin.

This should not be possible.

This guy's neck
should be broken.

He should be dead.

[woman speaking in chinese,
screams]

[narrator] a massive blast
destroys a rush hour freeway.

The secretive
chinese authorities say

transporting
liquid natural gas is safe,

but pyrotechnics expert
matt kutcher
wants to see for himself.

He sets up an experiment
to mimic a car colliding with

a reinforced lng tank
like the ones used in china.

[matt] all right, guys.
And here we go!

Three, two, one.
Hit it!

Wow, that's a blast.

I mean, like,
holy smokes!

[camera rattles]

let's go check it out.
Come on.

-Well, matty, that went
pretty good, man.
-Yes, it did.

[matt] not bad.

Look at that barrel.
It's all distorted, you know.

Started off round,
and now look at it.

But hang on, hang on.

The camera
is already ejected.

[laughs] it's all fine.

[narrator] the experiment
proves that with enough force,

even a reinforced lng tanker
can rupture and explode.

The actual tanker in the video
went much farther,
no question.

But think about
how much fuel it had in it.

It was certainly
more powerful,

but our scaled down version
did prove that's what we saw.

These road tankers
are incredibly dangerous.

The potential energy
that's stored inside of them

could create
such a vast explosion.

And they're on
our roads every day,
right alongside of us.

We're driving a car,
and there they are.

[narrator] historian
craig gottlieb investigates
local news reports

and discovers the blast
was caused by an lng truck.

A catastrophic
traffic accident

caused both walls
of the tank to rupture.

The explosion
caused death and devastation.

It kills 19 people,
it injures 172 people,

and to make matters worse,
when the trailer goes flying
through the air,

it lands on a nearby factory.

Causing what?
A secondary explosion.

[narrator] but despite
the explosion,

chinese authorities set a goal

of having twice as many
lng trucks on the road
by 2025.

Carrying over 38 million tons
of potentially explosive
liquid death.

And the reality of this
is that china's roads

are littered with trucks
carrying tons
of hazardous materials.

[narrator] a tanker collision
with another vehicle

can turn rush hour
into a killing field.

You could be
on your way to work,
and then suddenly like that,

the road just explodes
underneath you.

[narrator] now,
karachi, pakistan,

November, 2017.

Crowds gather around a boy
with an abnormal ability.

[woman] oh, god!

He grabs his head
and turns it

all the way around
like some kind of puppet.

It really seems unnatural.

Oh, he does it again.

Ooh. Oh, yeah.
No, that's far.

You're not supposed to be
able to twist your head
back that much.

[narrator] this isn't
a trick or cgi.

The boy's head swivels
grotesquely round his neck

like his bones
are made of rubber.

This shouldn't be possible.

His neck should be broken.

This guy should be dead.

[narrator] biologist
carin bondar believes
this boy's ability

could be a strange
genetic throwback
to our animal ancestors.

They're only a few members
of the animal kingdom

that have the ability
to twist their necks around

by over 180 degrees.

-The owl twists its head
nearly all the way around.
-[hoots]

we also have sloths
that had similar ability

to rotate their head
360 degrees.

[narrator] for most animals,
humans included, this movement
would be suicide.

Neck bones would break,
and twisted arteries

would choke off
blood to the brain.

But owls and sloths
have evolved to allow
this head spinning superpower.

Could this boy be displaying
an ancestral trade to spin
your head around?

[narrator] human share 99%
of their genetic code

with some primates,
and one species
is a particular head turner.

The closest relative
that has something similar
would be the tarsier primate.

The tarsier has extremely
stretching neck muscles

that allow it to turn its head
and look in nearly
the opposite direction.

[narrator] there are
many cases of humans

regaining primitive traits
of our animal ancestors.

There's a boy in india
who was born
with a vestigial tail.

And now he's being worshipped
because they think

he's the reincarnation
of a hindu monkey god.

[narrator] but not
all children born with

animal like abnormalities
are so lucky.

Five percent of the population
is thought to have
an extra nipple.

But in 17th century europe,
an extra nipple was seen
as a sign of the devil

and could get you
burned at the stake
as a witch.

In pakistan, many believe
that spirits can possess
the body.

It's no surprise when a kid
spins his head 180 degrees,

that people explain that
with supernatural forces.

[narrator] coming up...

Has this boy had
sinister surgery

to create a superpower?

Modifying the neck could lead
to spinal cord injuries,

paralysis,
or even death.

[narrator] and a broadcast
from beyond the grave.

What's turning
the television on?

It doesn't even have a plug.

[narrator] in pakistan,
a boy is filmed
with an owl-like ability.

Experts consider
this sickening neck twist

could be a manmade marvel.

The boy seem
to manipulate his head

in a particular way
to get it to turn around.

[athena] it doesn't look
natural to me.

In fact, it looks unnatural,
almost artificial.

Is it possible that
the boy's neck
has been modified in some way

to allow for this
massive range of movement?

[narrator] body modification
appears to be on the rise,

especially in the us.

Americans are going
under the knife

to completely modify
their body,

to look like
something that's come
from another planet.

Model pixee fox has had
200 separate procedures

to create her dream body,

including having six ribs
surgically removed

to achieve a tiny
14-inch waist.

Sawing away six
of your ribs

is a major modification
to the body.

You're removing half
of your rib cage,

the thing that is
designed to protect
your internal organs.

[narrator] surgically altering
the human neck,
so it can twist fully around

could be the most
mind bending body mod yet.

The neck is made up
of a lot of tiny vertebrae,

which protect the spinal cord
and central nervous system.

Any modification
could easily lead to paralysis
or maybe even death.

[narrator] but biologist
roland kays believes

the boy might have
a dangerous medical condition

that has given him
this grisly skill.

What we're seeing here
is a genetic condition

that affects
his whole skeletal system.

I think he might have
joint hyper mobility syndrome.

[narrator] people with
hyper mobility can twist
and strain their joints

far beyond
the normal range of movement.

Having this kind of condition
is actually very dangerous

because there's potential
to tear or rip tissues
in the body

from moving them
simply too far.

[narrator] it's understandable
this owl boy wants to show off
his rare ability,

but the final twist
in his story could be
an untimely death.

The more he twists and turns,
the more damage
he's doing to himself.

If he went any further,
he might snap his neck.

[narrator] now,
kaohsiung city,
southern taiwan,

September 29th, 2019.

A man enters
a derelict building

after reports
of unusual noises.

[man speaking
in chinese]

[in english] he's walking
through, and it's clearly not
been occupied for a while.

Stuff's piled up,
place is trashed.

[narrator] he finds
the utilities
have been cut off.

No water, no power.

His flashlight illuminates
the rotten remains

of a person's life,
their furniture,
their pictures.

[man speaking in chinese]

but then...

All of a sudden,
the tv in the room
burst into life.

It's spooky.
It scared the guy filming.

You literally see him
jumping back.

[man speaking in chinese]

he goes and checks
the back of the tv,

and it doesn't even
have a plug.

How is it getting any power?

You would be wondering

whether there was
a supernatural explanation
for this.

[bleep]

the person then leaves
and apologizes to the ghost.

[man speaking chinese]

if the tv actually is
turning itself on and off,

we really need
to ask why and how.

[narrator] historian
karen bellinger discovers

that the derelict apartment
is said to be haunted

and belonged to a man
with a troubled past.

This building was custom-made

to accommodate
retired soldiers

who had fought
in the chinese civil war.

[machine gun firing]

[narrator] china's civil war,

a brutal struggle between
communists and nationalists

that left over
seven million people dead.

In 1949, defeated
by the communists,

1.5 million nationalists flee
to taiwan,

including soldiers
who have seen starvation,

rape and murder
on an industrial scale.

These were
troubled individuals

who were struggling
with the traumas of warfare

who lived out
these solitary, sad lives

until their ultimate demise.

The idea of ghosts being
around, of them

possessing people
and objects and places,

is really very common
in taiwan.

A building like this,
built to house refugees

of the chinese civil war would
really be seen

by today's taiwanese
as potentially full of ghosts.

It's not a far leap to say,
"well, why not a television?"

[narrator] coming up...
Is the ghost in this machine

a secret power source
the government is hiding
from the people?

Are they gonna
destroy my electronics,

my car, my house,
my brain cells?

And does coney island have
a brand new freak show?

It looked like a monster
to me.

[jayde] it's got legs,
but it also looks like a fish.

What is this creature?

[man speaking chinese]

[narrator] in an abandoned
taiwanese apartment,

-a tv appears
to turn itself on...
-[bleep]

without the aid
of electricity.

Science journalist john farrow
thinks that the design

of this 20th century
television holds a clue.

Old school tvs like this
are very different

from the flat screens
we have around now.

They're called
cathode-ray tube televisions

and they have tubes
in the back, which shoot

electrons up at the screen.

And the mechanism
in behind is sensitive

to electromagnetic radiation.

[narrator] a plug in a socket
might not be needed to make

an old tv like this work.

Electrical engineer
david wallace wants to know

if some kind
of electrical field could

turn on
the television remotely.

What I'm going to try
and do is actually induce

an electric field into this tv

using my one million volt
ac generator here,

and we will see
if it will induce a current

into it to give us an image.

[narrator] wallace
is going to create

an invisible electrical field
around the tv.

The cathode-ray tube
might react to the field

and fire electrons
at the screen,

creating a ghostly glow.

All right.
So, let's crank it up.

[soft rumbling]

okay, bring me
to a hundred thousand volts.

[loud thump]

all-righty, give me 200,000.

[loud thump]

[wallace] okay,
take me to three hundred.

Three hundred!

-[loud thump]
-all right. Up to four.

[loud thump]

[narrator] at 400,000 volts

an eerie image begins to form.

Okay, run it to five hundred.

So, this is incredible.
It actually worked.

I'm generating this massive,

500,000 volt
electromagnetic field here,

and it is inducing
enough energy into this tv

to light up the screen,

causing this little blue glow
that we're seeing.

[narrator] but outside
the lab,

what could be producing
such a field?

When we turn on the tv
and we see static,

we call that white noise,

that's essentially
background radiation

that we're receiving
from the area. For example,

microwave radiation coming
from cell towers.

[narrator] across taiwan,
a controversial development

in cellular communication is
currently being rolled out.

Taiwan are starting
to build 5g towers.

Is that what we're seeing?

5g signals being transmitted

and turning on the crt tvs.

[narrator] 5g is supposed
to revolutionize our lives,

promising
limitless connectivity,

unleashing ai
and smart machines.

The vast majority
of scientists claim

5g is safe for humans.

But in 2017, 180 scientists
from 36 countries write

to the european union

demanding that the 5g rollout
be stopped.

There are a lot
of fears regarding 5g

because it's
high energy waves,

um, and some believe
that those could have
harmful effects.

[narrator] in 2019,
a cell phone tower

near a school
in california is shut down

when four children
and three teachers
develop tumors.

In belgium, over a thousand
health workers sign a letter

raising concerns that 5g
will corrupt dna
and cause cancer.

To date, no direct link has
ever been established

between 5g and human illness.

But we're supposed
to just sit back and let

5g get completely rolled out,
exposing us to...

Something that we still
technically don't know

what it will do to us
in the long run.

[narrator] is this tv terror
evidence of the power of 5g,

an invisible energy force
secretly surging

through unplugged appliances

and any humans
who are in the way?

If there's enough energy
beaming through that room

to turn on a tv,

imagine what it could do
to the human body.

There must be some source
of energy for this tv.

And a lot of local people
in taiwan might

think that it's a ghost.

But maybe the government knows
something they don't.

[narrator] now, coney island,
14 miles from manhattan.

April 28, 2018.

Nataliia vorobok is
fishing with a friend

when she hooks
something horrifying.

[nataliia] what is it?

I've never seen
something like that.

It's so weird.

I was afraid to touch it.

And I was telling him
not to touch it

because it could be poisonous.

Or it could be like--
it could bite you.

Or it could have teeth.

It's like "I'm in some kind
of horror movie."

[narrator] this beast has
the slimy skin of a fish

but no visible fins.

It has a gaping mouth,
skewed to one side of its face

and weird tentacle-like legs.

Biologists are shocked
by its hideous appearance.

Ew!

Has some weird
science experiment backfired?

Wow, what is it
that we're looking at?

[dustin] I'm almost
half-expecting this thing

to stand up and walk away.

[narrator] anthropologist
dustin growick studies

the creature's bizarre body

and is reminded
of coney island's
sinister history.

This mysterious creature
was caught

off the coast of coney island,

a place that, historically,
has housed

many different freak shows,
both human and animal.

[narrator] local historian
adam rinn is familiar

with coney island's dark
and dismal past.

[adam] ladies and gentlemen,
step right up.

Come one, come all,
come big, come small,

right here
to coney island, usa,

and the coney island
circus sideshow,

where you will see
incredible acts,

and unusual feats
right before your very eyes.

That's right. Right now...

It's showtime.

[narrator] in the early 1900s,
dreamland amusement park is

the boardwalk's
star attraction,

featuring a degrading
and shocking series

of bizarre spectacles.

It housed the largest
permanent collection

of sideshow performers,

of "freaks"
in the entire world.

These were people who were
born unlike you or I.

They could have had
a parasitic twin
attached to them.

They could have had
excessive hair,

extra limbs, no limbs.

[narrator] they were displayed
to a gawking public.

Freak animals were
also put on display.

Cats with extra paws,

a two-headed goat.

Then, of course,
there were mutated fish,

animals from deep
within the sea.

[narrator] in 1911,
dreamland goes up in flames.

While the human exhibits flee,

only some of
the weird creatures
are rescued.

Many are never found.

Who knows what went
into the water

and what mutant creatures may
still be around.

[narrator] coming up...
Could this creepy catch

be a killer from the deep?

What we see on the tail is
actually a deadly weapon.

[narrator] and scientists fear
a visitor from venus.

Could this blue glow be
an alien life form

trying to colonize the planet?

[narrator] in new york,
a mysterious monster is pulled

from the murky waters
off coney island.

It seems to have legs
as well as fins.

Zoologist roland kays believes
this freaky fish might be

a strange product
of its environment.

From a pollution point
of view,

the waters around coney island
are in bad shape.

[narrator] new york produces
a staggering quantity
of garbage.

Its restaurants alone
churn out enough waste

to fill one hundred
subway cars every day.

Back in 1947, city planners
came up with a solution.

Fresh kills on staten island,
the largest landfill on earth.

[jayde] this place receives

everything that new york city
doesn't want.

All of the disgusting
offshoots of new york

end up here in fresh kills.

[narrator] the site closes
in late 2001,

but it's lethal legacy
still lives on today.

Fresh kills has been
leeching toxic waste

into the waters
of coney island for decades.

[narrator] and it gets worse,
coney island is

also surrounded
by heavy industry

that has helped
infect the water

with a foul-smelling sludge.

The fetid,
murky ooze nicknamed,

tastily, "black mayonnaise."

[narrator] it's not a mayo
you'd want to put

on your sandwich.

[roland] it's a thick,
black goo

made up of a combination
of industrial waste

and sewage

with dozens of chemicals
known to cause cancer.

[narrator] anything living
in it is likely to be riddled

with disfiguring tumors.

Are we maybe seeing
a creature that has evolved

to live amongst
this toxic black mayonnaise?

[narrator] worse still,
mutant fish could be

taking over the food chain.

[jayde] there's a species
of fish, the tomcod,

that used to get liver tumors

from all of the toxicity
in the water,

but they don't anymore.

So the concerning thing
from a biological perspective

is that the animals
are evolving to live

within this toxic waste.

The young tomcod are
eaten by sea bass.

The sea bass ingests
the same pollutants
the tomcod did,

and people like
to eat sea bass.

Well, you can do
the math there.

Those pollutants
will make their way
right up the food chain.

We are literally eating
the toxic waste that's being

pumped into
new york city's waterways.

[narrator]
but marine biologist
erik hovland studies

the creature's
two mutant limbs

and sees something that might
explain its origins.

[erik] what appears
as a pair of legs on the back

is a set of fins
called claspers,

and they're unique
to the males.

Their reproductive organs,
essentially a pair of penises

that help fertilize the eggs
of the female counterpart.

[narrator] hovland believes
this creature belongs

to a distinct group
of sea monsters called rays.

They can grow over
25 feet across

and weigh 5,000 pounds,

and all have
one recognizable feature.

A long, slender tail
with a venomous barb,

they can deliver
a toxic sting.

[narrator] these
venomous barbs can be

deadly to their
unfortunate victims,

causing cell death
and internal bleeding.

Nataliia vorobok
was right to be scared,

and not just
of the possibility

of a mutated ray
with a fatal sting.

[nataliia] after what I saw,

I would never go
and swim in here again.

[narrator]
these creatures feed

on other
bottom-dwelling organisms,

sucking up
coney island's pollution.

So it could be
only a matter of time

before this strange fish gets
even stranger.

Given enough industrial waste,

I hate to think what
this creature could become.

[narrator] now, madrid,
the capital city of Spain.

March 20th, 2020.

A young woman looks up
and sees

an unexplained blue,
pulsing light inside a cloud.

This blue glowing blob just
kind of magically appears.

[athena] it's kind of eerie
when you look at it

because there's nothing else
going on in the sky

except for this blue patch.

What is it?

What is going on?

[narrator] this isn't
a storm or an aircraft,

and it isn't city lights.

This is March, 2020.

There is
a national curfew in effect,

no clubs, no bars
and no events.

This normally vibrant city
is locked down.

So what company is going
to be spending thousands
of dollars for flood lights

to light up the sky
at this time of night

when nobody would be
looking at it?

[narrator] and it's not
just madrid that's affected.

This sinister blue light is

being seen
all over the planet.

I'm seeing reports that
this sort of sighting is
happening everywhere.

Europe, the uk and even all
the way back to pennsylvania.

It's rather shocking that
there's all these events

happening all over the world.

Whatever this is,
it's everywhere.

[narrator] coming up...
Could these lights be

first contact with beings
from another world?

We've been looking
for extraterrestrial life
for years,

and some people think
this could be it.

[narrator] an otherworldly
blue light appears

in the clouds over Spain.

Astrophysicist
athena brensberger believes

it could be a visitor
from our nearest
planetary neighbor.

There was a recent discovery
in venus' upper atmosphere

by american
and british scientists.

They discovered phosphine,
which is a indicator of life.

[narrator] on venus,
the idea of life was

once thought to be impossible.

Temperatures on the ground are
around 900 degrees,

enough to melt lead,

along with crushing
atmospheric pressure.

On earth, phosphine gas
is produced by
resilient microbes

that survive in extreme,
toxic environments.

Well, on venus, it turns out,
if you get up high enough

in the atmosphere,
the conditions are
very similar to earth.

Similar temperatures,
similar pressures.

[athena] it's in the clouds
of venus that some
astronomers say

they possibly found
signs of life.

[narrator] although venus'
upper atmosphere
may be temperate,

it's not somewhere
you'd want to be.

Its clouds are made
of deadly carbon dioxide

and sulfuric acid.

Anything living up there would
probably be

pretty hardcore and tough.

For all we know, it could be

a life form
that glows bright blue.

[narrator] it's
a terrifying idea,

but it's possible that life
from venus could get to earth

by hitching a ride
on a passing asteroid.

Who knows
what alien life forms might

do to our planet?

[narrator] the results could
be devastating

if the aggressive new visitor
takes hold of our skies,

choking off oxygen,
and perhaps producing

carbon dioxide
and sulfuric acid

to take its place.

Could this blue glow be
an alien life form

trying to colonize the planet?

These strange new animals
could conquer
the world's atmosphere.

[athena] they could adapt
to earth and completely
kill off the human race,

and then this would be
their new planet.

[narrator] but biologist
carin bondar sees

something in the glow
that reminds her

of exotic earthly creatures.

Life on earth is
astounding and diverse,

and there's even creatures

that can literally glow
in the dark.

This blue glow
is quite familiar, it looks

like the color I've seen
from bioluminescent algae.

[narrator] algal blooms
can stretch for miles
out at sea

and fluoresce after being
churned up by waves,

creating
brilliant light shows.

They may be beautiful,
but they can also be deadly.

[roland] when algal blooms
get really bad,

they release nasty chemicals
into the water.

And what's even worse is
the algae,

by growing so much,
end up sucking all the oxygen

out of the water,

leaving any other
marine animals to suffocate.

Could bioluminescent algae
have been

carried up into the clouds?

Is that
what we're seeing here?

[narrator] if the glowing
entity in our skies

is an atmospheric algae,

it would pose a mortal danger
to all life on earth.

Algae is certainly
small enough

to get whipped up by a storm,

and because they're so light

they might be able to stay
suspended in the cloud.

[narrator] if strong winds
can sweep algae up
into the sky,

atmospheric air currents could

help it spread
across the world.

Around 450 million years ago,

an algae apocalypse may
have wiped out

over 80% of life on earth.

The composition of earth's
atmosphere suddenly changes.

Temperatures plummet, plunging
the planet into an ice age.

An event known as
the late ordovician
extinction.

Who's to say that
this couldn't happen again?

[narrator] temperatures
could drop to -58 degrees,

turning our earth
into a frozen wasteland

devoid of life.

To think that
it couldn't happen again
is just naive.

[narrator] expeditions
are planned to investigate

the mysterious,
otherworldly lights

illuminating the clouds.

But the blue glows vanishes
quickly as they appear.

Despite scientific advances
of the 21st century,

we still don't understand
everything we see,

and this blue light
in the sky is one of them.