Strange Evidence (2017–…): Season 7, Episode 10 - Black Sea Breaker - full transcript

[narrator] Worldwide,
45 billion cameras record
our daily lives.

In our hands, in our cars

-and in our homes.
-[cat shrieks]

-They capture things
that defy explanation.
-[explosion]

[woman screaming]

It really made me ask,
"What the heck's
going on here?"

Check this out.

[narrator] Experts carry ou
forensic analysis
of these unusual events.

Wow. Now that's a cracker.

[gasps]

[woman screaming]



This doesn't make any sense.

There has to be
another explanation.

So what could it be?

[narrator] Coming up...
Smashed...

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

[man] Oh my God!

It just broke in half.

[narrator]
...in the Black Sea's versio
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Is it some quirk
of the geography
or weather?

Or is there some other
factor at play here?

An unexplained blast
rocks Tennessee.

[explosion]

Is the Pentagon covering up
rogue soldiers?

All it takes is one nutjob
with a mine in his garage,
and well...



Boom!

[narrator] And in India,
locals believe

their monkey god has returne

as a very unusual boy.

I've no idea why
this kid would grow
a tail like that.

Crazy.

Bizarre phenomena.

[gasps] Oh my God.

Mysteries caught on camera.

This is just mind-boggling.

What's the truth behind
this Strange Evidence?

-Now, the Black Sea,
Eastern Europe.
-[ship horn honking]

January, 2021.

Cargo ship the Arvin
heads for Bulgaria
when suddenly...

-[metal crunching]
-[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

[man] Oh my God!

It just broke in half.

[Captain speaking
to crew indistinctly]

You can hear
that actually the captain's
yelling, "Mayday!"

You hear the people
on the ship panicking.

[metal crunching]

[narrator] The 3500-ton
rigid steel ship
snaps like a twig,

as though punched
by some force from below.

The middle of the ship
just buckles.

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!
My vessel broken!

This is a seriously
dangerous situation.

[Captain speaking
to crew indistinctly]

[George Kourounis]
"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!"

"My vessel is broken."

[narrator] The 374 feet lon
Arvin sinks in minutes.

Cargo ships like this
are designed to
withstand hurricanes.

What's going on?

[narrator] Explorer
George Kourounis

discovers that while
other ships nearby seem
completely unaffected,

The Arvin is yet anothe
mysterious sinking
in the Black Sea.

There are parts
of the Black Sea that are
literal ship graveyards.

[narrator] This
168,500 square mile sea

is one of the most perilous
places in the world.

Ancient Greeks called it
"Axinos," meaning
"unkind to strangers."

[Kourounis] What makes
this part of the Black Sea
so dangerous?

Why do so many ships
tend to sink here?

Is it some quirk
of the geography or weather?

Or is there some other
factor at play here?

[narrator] For centuries,
Turkish and Russian seafarer
spoke of white whirlpools

that suddenly
opened in the sea,
swallowing up ships.

Rumors persist today
of a Bermuda Triangle-like
mysterious force

that claims ships
and planes that
pass over it.

Mariners speak
of a graveyard in the middle
of the Black Sea

known as the Dead Zone.

[Nick Householder]
Is there something
at the bottom of the Dead Zo

that's capable of reaching up
and pulling down a ship
of this magnitude?

[narrator] Kourounis finds
reports of a
groundbreaking expedition

to explore
the Dead Zone in 2018.

Scientists using sonar
and remote operated vehicles

discovered a huge
graveyard of lost ships.

You're looking at a snapshot
of a moment in time.

Probably as long as
1000 years ago.

[Katie Nicolaou]
It wasn't just modern ships

We're talking ships
all the way back
to Alexander the Great.

One of the things
that's most unique about it

is that these ships
are very well preserved.

[Garbov] We're talking
entirely preserved shipwreck
from keel to gunnel.

We're talking about
still preserved ropes,

shipwrecks that literally
look as if they had
sunk yesterday.

It's extremely unusual
for ships to be preserved
like this under the ocean.

[narrator] Engineer
Brian Wolshon discovers

the Black Sea
has a unique property

unlike almost anywhere
else in the world.

The reason why they're
able to be preserved,

even though
they're underwater,

is this mix of salt
and freshwater that actually
makes up the Black Sea.

At the end
of the last ice age,
some 12,00 years ago,

the Black Sea
wasn't much of a sea.

It was a black lake.

[ice crumbling]

[narrator] As the glaciers
receded across
the entire world,

the massive rise in sea leve
in the Mediterranean

carved through the land

creating the Bosporus channe

Saltwater cascaded
into the freshwater
black lake.

This denser saltwater
sunk to the bottom

and created two distinct
layers known as
a meromictic basin.

The layers don't mix,
so the oxygen derived

from the atmosphere
and photosynthesis

remains restricted
to the top layer.

[Kourounis] With almost
no oxygen whatsoever,

the ships simply
don't have the opportunity
to decompose.

[narrator] But this strange
nonmixing of different
water layers

can't cause ships
to be destroyed
on the surface.

[Nicolaou] When you hear
the term Dead Zone,

you really think
you should stay
away from there.

But actually think of it
more as a tomb.

It doesn't cause
these ships to sink,

it just preserves them
if they do.

So it's more of
a bottom-of-the-sea problem.

Not a top-of-the-sea
problem. [chuckles]

[narrator] Wolshon studies
the Arvin's manifest

and wonders if the ship's
mysterious sinking

could've been
caused by its cargo.

One of the potential
explanations for what
we're seeing here

could actually
be an internal explosion

within the cargo hold
of the ship.

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

It was carrying
3000 tons of urea.

Urea is used
a fertilizer in farming,

but turned into
urea nitrate, it becomes

a common compound in
improvised explosive devices

Standby! Firing!

[explosion]

[narrator]
The World Trade Center
is remembered

for the attacks of 9/11

where two planes smashed
into the Twin Towers.

But in 1993, a truck bomb
loaded with 1300 pounds
of urea nitrate

detonated in
a parking garage under
the World Trade Center.

It was the first
terrorist attack on
the building.

-[sirens wailing]
-[horn honking]

The fertilizer-based explosi

with a detonation velocity
of about 10,000 miles per ho

opened up 100-foot wide hol
through four sublevels
of concrete.

Six people are killed
and over 1000 injured.

Is it possible that
the ship had some type
of fuel leak

that mixed with the urea car
it was carrying that trigger
some explosion below deck?

-[metal crunching]
-[Captain exclaiming]

[narrator] But with 3000 ton
of fertilizer on board,

the blast wave would've
blown the ship apart.

What's interesting with that
video is when you watch it,
you hear the crunch.

[metal crunching]

It's not so much an explosion.
It is a compression.

That metal being
pressed together as
it's bent backwards.

So that's more
of an indication
that it's not

so much an explosion
as it is just brute force.

[metal crunching]

[Nicolaou] What caused
the ship to buckle
like that?

[narrator] Coming up...
A titanic mistake?

Was it unfit to
be a seafaring vessel?

[narrator] And locals ask,

who's behind the
mysterious Tennessee blast?

Is the town under attack?

[narrator] On the Black Sea

a 3500 ton cargo ship
mysteriously breaks in half

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

The video shows
huge waves crashing
over the bow.

Clearly, there's
a significant storm.

We've got these
huge waves and the ship is

not handling this at all.

[narrator] But similar ship
are nearby and unaffected.

Waves this high
should not sink
a cargo ship like the Arvi.

What you see the ship
doing in the video

is actually what you're
supposed to do when you're
encountering big waves.

They went straight on.

You want to punch
the core of that wave.

You never want
to go parallel to these waves
because if it

crashes over your broadside

it could cause
your ship to flip over.

Was it unfit to
be a seafaring vessel?

[metal crunching]

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

It's recognized that
a substantial percentage

of cargo ships at sea
all over the world

actually do not meet
modern safety standards.

Every year, roughly
two dozen large ships

either sink or go missing
with their crew.

That's far more dangerous
than air travel.

[narrator] Everyday
there are over 50,000
cargo ships on the seas

carrying food, goods
and medicine.

The combined cargo weight
of these ships is over
two billion tons.

And some have been
sailing the oceans
for a long time.

In 2017, the 266,000 ton
cargo ship Stellar Daisy

sank off the coast of Urugua

22 of its crew were lost.

The subsequent
investigation into
the Stellar Daisy tragedy

revealed that
the sinking was not caused
by bad weather

but was actually caused
by a structural failure
within the ship.

[narrator] Kourounis finds
the Arvin is over 40 years

and poorly prepared
for the stormy Black Sea.

There is so much
pressure to keep
these ships running

with hundred percent uptime
that quite often

safety and mechanical
inspections and standards

are left by the wayside
in the interest of profit.

They're picking up
a lot of wear and tear.

The saltwater
can degrade the ship.

It can break down the metal
It can erode away your ship

And eventually could
lead to stress breaks or
catastrophic collapses

like we see on the ship
here in the video.

[metal crunching]

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

Investigators discover
that the Arvin was
structurally unsound

from poorly maintained hatches
to corrosion on the decks.

[metal crunching]

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!

[narrator] The Arvin join
the thousands of ships

in the graveyard
at the bottom
of the Black Sea.

Four of the 13 crew
onboard drowned.

It makes for
some disturbing viewing.

[Captain] Mayday! Mayday!
Mayday! Mayday!

The tragedy
of this incident
is really made clear

when we look
at the complete
sinking of this vessel.

But even more sad
is the loss of life,

including the captain
and several of the crew.

[narrator] Now,
Clarksville, Tennessee.

September 4th, 2021.

A normal Labor Day weekend.

This is somebody's
front porch security camera

and its recording a normal
evening late at night,

little bit of wind,
and then...

[explosion]

Did something explode?

-[explosion]
-Did two things
run into each other?

[narrator]
This isn't lightning.

-[explosion]
-And the sound it makes
isn't like thunder.

There's something
to this sound,
that it's...

It's not an ordinary sound
you would hear
in a quiet town.

The weird sound of this blas

is picked up
by another camera
across town.

[explosion]

Now we're hearing
this boom in another
part of town

which tells me that
this sound is quite loud
and that this boom is large.

[explosion]

[narrator] No meteor strike
were recorded in the area
on this day.

-This is no natural explosion.
-[explosion]

Is the town under attack?

[narrator] A huge boom
echoing around
Clarksville, Tennessee

leaves 911 operators
flooded with calls.

-[phone ringing]
-[woman on phone] We're in
the bed and all at once,

something sound like
a bomb went off.

[man on phone] It was like
a big blast of pressure
up against the house.

[woman on phone]
It sound just like a bomb,
it jarred the whole house.

[explosion]

[shockwave receding]

[narrator] Authorities race
to investigate, but only
uncover a mystery.

They can find no crater,
no epicenter,
no bomb damage.

There were no reports
of buildings being damaged
by the blast.

It has all of the components
of a deadly explosion

but none
of the actual consequences.

[narrator] Military historia
Craig Gottlieb believes
this could be

because the blast went off
in someone's backyard.

Think about
our recent wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"What happened
to that munition?
Well, we used it in combat.

No? [shushes]
It's in my backpack.

I'm taking it home
'cause I think it's cool."

This explosion happened
nearby the Fort Campbell
military base.

That base was known
to store munitions.

A significant number
of military explosives have
gone missing over the years.

Hundreds, maybe even
thousands of grenades,
plastic explosive landmines,

and even rockets
have disappeared
from military bases.

[narrator] At least
1900 firearms are confirmed
to have been lost or stolen

-from The US military
in the last ten years.
-[gunshots]

And the real figure
is thought to be
much higher.

The US Army and the Pentago
have been accused
by the associated press

of trying to cover up
the theft of weapons and
munitions from military base

Many of these weapons
were later used in
shootings and robberies,

-or found in the hands
of street gangs.
-[gunshots]

-And these deadly devices
can turn up anywhere.
-[police siren wailing]

Just last year,
in a Mississippi
recycling yard,

a couple of workers
were on a break,

having a drink of water,
and then suddenly...

Boom! There's
a huge explosion.

That's when chaos
broke loose, you know?

[Craig Gottlieb]
An artillery shell goes off

Uh, I can't
remember if I flew,

heard the explosion
while it was flying
and I hit the ground.

I looked back and blood
was just coming out
of his legs.

[groans]

Holding his colleague
with blood spurting
out of his leg,

he bleeds out, dies.

Really, I hope that
the military and whatnot,
they can get a grip on

missing weapons
and missing ammunition
and stuff 'cause

there's innocent people
out here dying for
no reason at all.

Two days later,
another shell was found
at the same scrapyard,

but luckily this one
didn't explode.

It was safely returned
back to the military.

[narrator] Cops believed
the deadly shells were
from a howitzer,

a long-range artillery weapo

And suspected
they'd been stolen
from Camp Shelby,

-an army national guard bas
in Mississippi.
-[mortar clicks]

[explosion]

Perhaps this
Tennessee boom was
a theft gone wrong.

All it takes is one nutjob
with a mine in his garage
and well...

Boom!

[narrator] Journalist
Amy Shira Teitel
finds a clue

that this was
no ordinary munition.

Local news reports
that there was a strange smell
in the air that night.

[narrator] Coming up...

One of the world's
most hideous killers.

Could we be looking at and
hearing the detonation of some
kind of chemical weapon?

[narrator] And in India...

Is an eight year old boy
a reincarnated
monkey god?

People have come from
far and wide across India
to see this boy and his tail.

[narrator]
In Clarksville, Tennessee,

-a mysterious blast
panics residents
-[explosion]

but leaves no crater
or obvious damage.

The only clue, a vile smell

Could we be looking at and
hearing the detonation of some
kind of chemical weapon?

[narrator] By 1990,
the US had a stockpile
of 31,500 tons

of chemical weapons
including mustard gas.

[explosion]

[explosion]

Mustard gas causes
blisters on the skin,
eyes and lungs,

and caused thousands
of people to die a slow and
painful death in World War I

In 1993,
The United States announced

the destruction of all
it's chemical weapon agents

But by March 2022,

there were still
715 tons left
to be destroyed.

There have been
countless military bases

that have been shut down
throughout The United States.

And it's quite possible,
in their haste to close
many of them,

that some chemical weapons
may have been left behind.

In Oklahoma in 2007,

a young boy scout
looking for crystals

accidentally strikes
some type of chemical vials

He was digging in the ground.
He smashed them

and it released
some kind of smoke.

He was coughing
and his eyes were watering
and he was sputtering.

[Tracy Walder]
The military came
to investigate.

In a few weeks,
they found more than 130
chemical vials in the area.

[narrator] The vials
did not contain chemicals
in deadly concentrations

and the boy suffered
no lasting damage.

What we see here is a history
of chemicals that were not
properly disposed of.

Is that what we're seeing
in Fort Campbell?

Chemicals that weren't
properly disposed causing
a large explosion?

[narrator] In Clarksville,
the cops could find no trac
of chemical weapons

as they comb
the city for clues.

So what was it?

[indistinct police
radio chatter]

[narrator] The authorities
refuse to investigate furthe

And Clarksville residents
still have no idea

what lit up Labor Day in thi
normally quiet neighborhood

No one has come forward.

There's been no further,
kind of investigations.

Something did happen,
though and I think we need
to find out more.

There might be a whole
disaster zone

out in the Tennessee
countryside just waiting
to be discovered.

[narrator] Now, Amritsar,
in India's Punjab region.

June 5th, 2017.

[narrator] A man films
what at first glance

looks like a normal boy.

But there's
a twist in the tale.

Oh! Oh, okay!

[narrator] Locals call him
the Monkey Boy.

That's a tail?

Huh.

[Leslie] Why does
he have that?

It's just really
a jarring sight

to see a tail popping
out of his back.

It's like a pigtail
but with strands of hair

growing out of his back.

I have no idea why this kid
would grow a tail like that.

Crazy!

[narrator] Historian
Karen Bellinger

discovers this boy's name
is Dulha Singh.

He is eight years old,
and he is worshipped as a go

India is a very deeply
religious nation
of a billion people.

And if even a small fraction
of those people believe

that this boy is
the incarnation of a deity,

well, that's going to draw
a lot of interest.

People believe him to be
the Hindu god Hanuman,

a child of a nymph
and the wind deity.

[narrator] There are more th
900 million Hindus in India

That's 80% of the country's
entire population.

Hanuman is one of their
most widely-worshipped gods

Hanuman is imbued
with these traits

of great physical prowess
and agility.

He is described as
jumping so high

he can practically
grab the sun.

And people have come
from far and wide across India

to see this boy and his tail.

It may sound implausible to us

that this could be
a reincarnated god

but India is a deeply
religious, spiritual place,

where anything is possible.

[narrator] Coming up,
is there more to this tail
than meets the eye?

I'm thinking this could be
connected to a health issue

that's really prevalent
in India.

[narrator] And mysterious or
plummet towards
a terrified crowd.

What are these things?
What are they doing?

[narrator] In India, a man
films an eight-year-old boy

who appears to have
a long tail.

Biologist Roland Kays wonder
if this appendage

could be a throwback
to the time when monkeys

really did rule the earth.

Humans are related to primates
and at some point of time,

we had an external
monkey tail.

But there was
a genetic mutation

and we lost our external tai

[narrator] In 2021,
geneticist Bo Xia

and his colleagues
at New York University

identified that a single
genetic mutation

25 million years ago
in the TBXT gene

is responsible for robbing
some primates of their tails

Including chimps, gorillas
and orangutans.

But a tiny memory of
our tail-past still remains

During the
developmental process,

each and every human
grows a tail.

[narrator] Short tails
temporarily emerge

around the sixth week
of gestation.

This tiny extension
of the spinal column

contains up to
a dozen vertebrae.

Within two weeks,
half of them are reabsorbed

with the other half
fusing to form
the coccyx or tail bone.

In some quite rare instances,

the tail is not entirely
resorbed into the body.

[narrator] When that happens

people are born
with a little stump,

which is actually a tail.

The longest vestigial tail
ever recorded
was seven inches.

But they are extremely rare

It's believed
that there have only been

40 cases ever recorded

[narrator] If we had kept
our ancestral tails,

they could have opened up
a whole new world for us.

Monkeys use their tails
in a number of ingenious way

From helping them
to climb trees,

freeing up their hands
to manipulate their food,

and even comfort each other

But on a human, tails are se
as an unfortunate deformity

Tails can have extremely
negative effects on health.

Imagine not being able to sit

or lie down on your back
for years

because it's too painful.

[narrator] Normally,
these tails are cut off
by surgeons.

But Dulha, whose extremity
makes him a deity,

shows no desire to lose his

Should this tail be removed
rather than revered?

[narrator] Historian
Tony McMahon looks closer

and believes this is
not the return of
an ancient appendage.

[Tony] If this was
a vestigial tail,

we'd be seeing bone
or flesh there

but all I am seeing is hair.

[Tony] So this is something
completely different.

[narrator] Biologist
Leslie Samuel

believes this may not be
a tail with a happy ending.

I'm thinking this could be
connected to a health issue

that's really prevalent
in India.

Spina bifida.

It's when a baby's spine
doesn't develop

quite the way it's supposed to
while in the womb.

Spina bifida is caused by
a folic acid deficiency

in the mother's diet
during pregnancy.

Approximately four in
one thousand babies in India

are born with this condition.

[narrator] Folic acid is fou
in dark, green,
leafy vegetables.

But in poor parts of India,

many people don't understan
the importance

of having these foods
in their diet.

Lack of folic acid,
one of the vitamin B group,

hinders DNA synthesis

and cell division
in fetal development.

Severe cases can lead to

an actual disruption
to the spine.

So that those suffering
from it have trouble walking

[narrator]
Spina bifida occulta

occurs when a vertebrae
on the spine is
not completely closed.

In a quirk of biology,
in this milder version,

often the only side effect
is a small dimple

or a tuft of hair
at the site of the defect.

The condition is common

and happens to about
one in ten people.

It is known as
hidden spina bifida

because many of these peopl
who have it don't know,

and end up living
completely normal lives.

But for Dulha in Punjab,

he is destined to be revered

It's a condition that
we recognize in the West

and which we know a lot about

because we can go online,
on the internet,
and read about it.

But in rural India,

it's less likely
that people will know
what this condition is.

And so they attribute it
to other causes.

[Leslie] Stories travel
by word of mouth

and with India being
a deeply religious country,

we can see how a boy
with a monkey-like tail

is gonna stir
some imaginations.

[narrator] Now,
Zhengzhou, China.

October 1st, 2021.

A man films as a swarm of
strange lights fill the sky

Oh my gosh!
That is unbelievable.
I got really scared.

It looks like a scene
from a science fiction movie.

[narrator] Bystanders
are nervous.

[man] I can hear
people screaming.

There's something serious
that's scaring these people.

[narrator] Then, the lights
plummet into the crowd.

I can hear panic coming from
the people on the ground.

[people screaming]

They're scared, they
don't know what's going on.

What are these things?
What are they doing?

[Sarah] Are people
on the ground being attacked

Is this something
which isn't friendly?

I mean, what are these lights
that we're seeing
in this video?

[narrator] Journalist
Sarah Cruddas

discovers the bizarre scene
in China happens

as sightings increase
of similar looking objects

that baffle governments
around the world.

Often, when we think of UFOs

or UAPs, unidentified
aerial phenomena,

we think of one unidentified
object in the sky.

But recently, there've been
reports of multiple,

of swarms of objects in the
sky that cannot be explained.

[narrator] In June 2021,

the US released a report
detailing 143 unexplainable
aerial sightings.

It suggests we may be facin

a more scientifically
advanced adversary.

They made it clear that
with our current technology,

none of this seems possible.

It doesn't follow the laws
of physics as we know it

and frankly,
they're very disturbed by it

these glowing orbs.

Just imagine
what they didn't show us.

[narrator] And it seems,

the Chinese are as puzzled
by these objects
as the Americans.

China has
a real interest in UAPs

because they, like us,
have seen a lot of activity.

Two Chinese fighter jets
were scrambled

to investigate the presence
of a mushroom-like
type of object.

When challenged
by these two jets,

the object automatically shot
up 60,000 feet in altitude

in a matter of seconds.

[narrator] So, what are they

Mathematician John von Neuma

hypothesized about swarms
of self-replicating
extraterrestrial robots.

The probes,
sent from an alien world,

explore the galaxy,
mining the resources,

consuming planets
like a hoard of locusts.

And increased sightings
of UAPs across China

has put their military
on high alert.

[Wise] The Chinese
military also feel that

the problem is beyond
their normal capabilities.

So they have trained AI

to, uh, look at this incoming
data and try to make sense
of what they're seeing.

[narrator] Coming up,

death by a thousand lights.

These could be the next
weapons of mass destruction.

This is something
the government's hiding.

[narrator] And in
the Netherlands,

seagulls behaving badly.

Maybe these birds were
on their way to joining
the Mile High club.

Or is this just one seagull
being really, really lazy?

[narrator] In central China

a swarm of strange lights
plummet from the sky.

Former FBI agent Rhonda Glov
believes the footage

may be evidence
of the Chinese authorities

using clandestine
unmanned aerial vehicles
on their own people.

In the last two years,
we've seen a huge increase
in the use of drones

in the military, whether it's
for reconnaissance purposes

or for military operations.

Would this explain why these
people seem so freaked out?

Do they think that
they're under attack?

The Chinese have
a vested interest

in developing advanced
weaponized drone technology.

This year, they acquired
an Italian drone maker

whose planes had combat
experience in Afghanistan

and other war zones
around the world.

[narrator] China is now
developing drone swarms,

where over 1,000 flying
devices are able to
coordinate autonomously

in synchronized
movements as a whole
to overwhelm adversaries.

Low-cost, intelligent
and inspired by
swarms of insects,

micro drones could change
the way wars are fought.

I think we're only starting
to really come to terms

with how devastatingly
effective drones can be

as a weapon, especially
used in a swarm.

You can imagine being
a defender of some kind
of military, uh, situation,

and having these objects
coming at you from
every direction.

From above.

From all around.

Um, you can't outrun them,
you can't shoot down
every single one.

They just overwhelm you.

And these could be the next
weapons of mass destruction.

[narrator] But when
engineer Tim Pickens
watches the footage,

he discovers the objects
aren't Chinese
military drones.

Whatever is seen in the sky,
it's glowing.

And we see them fall
to the ground,

but they don't explode.

It doesn't make you think
this is a weapon.

[Wise] I think most likely
what we're looking at

is a drone light show
gone wrong.

These drone swarms can
essentially create any kind of
image you want in the sky.

You can create an animal.

You can create
a picture of someone.

You can even do
writing in the sky.

Now the thing is,
they're preprogrammed
with directional coordinates.

So, they don't need a lot
of expensive sensors
on board to do this.

[Pickens] So, what
went wrong with these drones?

Why are there multiple
ones flying

and then dropping
out of the sky?

Back in 2020,

there was a light show
in which 17 drones crashed.

And it turned out
that the cause of that
mishap was that

a competitor had used
a radio frequency jammer

to disrupt communications
and actually cause these
things to go haywire.

Out of jealousy,
because they wish that
they had gotten the contract.

[narrator] Computer hackers
have found ways to take
control of drones.

You could assume that
this is what happened here.

That someone has hacked
into this drone show.

[narrator] The organizers
of the drone displays said
the flying light show faile

because of operational error

But no further details
were given.

No one was seriously injure
in this instance.

But next time, spectators
might not be so lucky.

Slightly scary, particularly
when more and more of them
are being used.

I mean, next time you go to
a drone display, you're gonna
have to wear a hard hat.

[narrator] Now, the coast
of the Netherlands,
northwest Europe.

April 2021.

A man getting some fresh ai
notices something strange
happening overhead.

And immediately starts
filming on his smartphone.

[Samuel] Huh, he's just
sitting on it.

I thought that was a weirdly
shaped bird to start off.

But it's two seagulls.

[Potvin] At first it sort of
seemed like my mind
was tricking me, like,

is it just two birds that
happened to look like they
were on top of each other

but they're actually far away?

No, it's genuinely
a bird on top of another bird.

[narrator] Then the bird
supplying the free ride
seems to have had enough.

And jabs its sharp beak
at its passenger.

This is not something
you see every day.

Uh, seagulls fly all
around with each other
all the time

but I've never seen
anything like this.

So, is this, like,
one catching a ride
from the other

or is this just one seagull
being really, really nice?

[narrator] Coming up,
is this evidence that
seagulls are getting smarter

Maybe what we have here
is actually a pioneer

of the future of
seagull transport.

[narrator] In the Netherland
a man films a seagull

as it hitches a free ride
through the sky.

Biologist Roland Kays
discovers

that even in the dog-eat-do
world of the animal kingdom

care and concern for others
appears in the most
unexpected of species.

One of the most famous cases
of altruism in animals

is the vampire bat.

Which people think
are creepy and yucky,

but actually,
they're amazingly
nice to their friends.

[narrator] Vampire bats
use razor-sharp incisor teet

to nip a chunk of flesh
on their victim.

Anti-coagulants in their
saliva keeps the blood flowi

so their friends
can feast as well.

Each bat needs two
tablespoons a night

and will die if it goes
without the red stuff
for more than a few days.

[Kays] If a bat
has failed to feed

and is hungry,

it will go to one of
its buddies and say,
"hey, I'm hungry."

And make its little noise
and ask for food.

And if that vampire had
gotten enough food,

it will turn

and puke up its bloodmeal

into the mouth
of the other bat,

giving him some food.

And maybe another night,
the tides have turned

and the second bat
got a meal and
the first one didn't

and it'll share back.

[Samuel] This is adorable.

That's a true
sign of friendship.

So, is this just a gull
helping out a mate
who's had a long day?

[narrator] There are
over a billion seagulls
on the planet.

Some have a reputation for
being particularly aggressiv

Especially when they are
on the hunt for food

or protecting their offsprin

News channels in Great Brita

have reported seagulls
attacking humans in a
ferocious and calculated way

And that they even prey
on people's pets.

In 2019,

a chihuahua playing
in a backyard was
snatched by a gull

and never seen again.

If gulls get really hungry,

they will even turn
to cannibalism.

Kelly Price studies
the footage.

Looking closely at the
positioning of the two birds

She thinks this could be
a case of avian amor.

There's all sorts of strange
animal behavior.

And a lot of it pertains
to mating.

Maybe these birds were
on their way to joining
the Mile High club.

There are many different
mating rituals.

That to our eyes
seem very strange.

Pufferfish carve beautiful
elaborate patterns

in the sand of the seafloor,
often several meters across.

These are
magnificent structures.

It almost looks like it was
made by an alien of some sor

And all to attract
the perfect lady puffer.

In the animal world, as in
the human world, there's
a lot riding on mating.

Often, the females will
evaluate a number
of different males.

And the males have
their own special ways
to try to impress them.

[honking]

Often that ends up with some
really incredible looking
dances and displays

and beautiful colors.

And probably the group
of birds that has taken
this to the extreme

are the birds of paradise.

Male birds of paradise
practice and refine their
moves throughout their life

for the big moment
when they perform
and attract that mate.

[narrator] If these
two gulls are lovers,

is this just a weird way
for the male to prove
he's tough enough

to carry the burden
of parenting a chick?

Could what we're
seeing here be

some kind of form
or variation on

a mating ritual that
seagulls have?

[narrator] Leslie Samuel
thinks there could be a muc
simpler explanation

for what's going on here.

[Samuel] Scientists do repor
that animals can be lazy.

It could of course be that
the seagull is simply
a very lazy bird.

Animals are always looking
for ways to be more
energy efficient.

They have a limited amount
of food every day

and they need to conserve th
energy while getting throug
their daily activities.

A good example
is the sloth, which,

you know, we take in English
to mean lazy.

But actually, sloths are just
conserving energy through
their slow movements.

[narrator] It takes smarts
to get others to take
the strain on your behalf.

And scientists at
Memorial University of
Newfoundland, Canada,

have found seagulls
are seriously clever.

They stamp their feet
to imitate rain and bring
earthworms to the surface.

They know how to smash open
seashells on rocks.

and they discovered how
to follow plows to grab grub
exposed in fresh furrows.

Maybe what we have here
is actually a pioneer

of the future of
seagull transport.

Maybe he's creating
Uber for gulls.

[narrator] Sadly, it'll
take more than this
demonstration of ingeniousness

to sway most people's
opinions of seagulls.

[Kays] What's actually
happened here,
I'll tell you my theory.

I spent enough time
around seagulls.

I've been, you know,
crapped on by seagulls.

I think seagulls
are just jerks.

And I think this is just
one seagull being
a jerk to the other.

[Price] To me, the bird on t
just looks like he's having
fun and going for a joyride

I've seen pigeons
taking the Tube,

but this takes the cake.