The Unbelieveable with Dan Aykroyd (2023-…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Astonishing Bodies - full transcript

warning, what
you're about to see

Could be disturbing
to some viewers.

Imagine this, a chicken

That spends two years walking
around without a head.

- Turns out that you
don't need a whole brain

To run a chicken.

- Or a 10-year-old taller
than michael jordan.

- He's gigantic.

He never, ever, ever,
ever stops growing.

- What about a lake believed
to turn animals to stone?

- And they basically
become petrified.



It's like they looked at medusa.

- These are the
bodies so surprising,

They are truly unbelievable.

- It's 1918 and proud parents,
harold and addie wadlow,

Welcome a new baby boy to
their family, little robert.

At first, his size
is relatively normal,

But what happens when robert
starts growing and never stops?

- So when robert wadlow is born
in 1918 in alton, illinois,

By all appearances,
he's perfectly normal.

But very quickly, his parents
notice that something is off.

He begins to grow at
a phenomenal pace.

When he's eight years
old, he's 5 foot 11,

As tall as his father.

- By the time he's 10, he's
6 foot, 6 inches tall.



the wadlows try to give
their boy a typical childhood,

But it's soon clear
robert is anything but.

- The average male height
in america at this time

Is like, 5'9", and he's
not yet done growing.

- Even simple, basic things
like going to school

Present a huge challenge to him.

- When he goes to have
lunch with his friends,

He can't even sit
at the dining tables

Because he's gonna break
them when he sits down,

So he has to eat standing up.

He's gigantic compared

To all the other
students in his classes.

He can't even fit in the desks

That the regular
students sit in.

They try raising them on blocks.

And eventually, he has to
stand in the back of the class

Because there's nothing else
that can accommodate his height.

Life is a complete
challenge for the guy.

- But he joins the
basketball team.

He's approximately the same
size as michael jordan.

Can you imagine showing
up in alton, illinois

To play basketball and
there's this 6 foot 6 guy

On the team and he's
a legit fifth grader?

- I'm robert wadlow, seven
feet tall, 12 years old,

And weigh 240 pounds.

when he
reaches middle school,

Robert experiences
another growth spurt,

But his is extreme.

- At the age of 13, robert's
7 foot, 4 inches tall

And he's the world's
tallest boy scout,

Which of course makes the
merit badges real tiny

On his chest, I suppose.

- And when you say someone's
too big for their britches,

Well, he literally is.

the shoes, the
pants, the shirts, all of it

Has to be made from scratch.

- I wear the largest
pair of shoes ever made.

- Obviously, robert wadlow
is not gonna be walking

Into a shoe store and
asking for a size 37.

It's simply not gonna happen.

but what exactly is
making young robert so big?

- Robert wadlow has gigantism,
which is almost always caused

By the pituitary gland
constantly resupplying the body

With growth hormone.

- He never, ever, ever, ever,

Through his whole
life, stops growing.

by the time he's 22.

Robert reaches an astonishing
8 feet, 11 inches.

That's taller than andre the
giant by a foot and a half.

- The tallest players
ever to play in the nba

Are 7 foot 7,

So he dwarfs the tallest
persons ever to play in the nba.

now, that might sound
like every short person's dream,

But for robert, it's
sometimes a nightmare.

- This world isn't
built for robert.

Imagine nothing fitting.

Everything is just
too small for him.

- Wadlow hopes to have
a full-blown career

Like a lot of people
his age in that era,

But it's out of his
reach in many ways

Because he is so enormous.

- He wants to be a lawyer
and he never achieves that.

How many people in that era

Would've sought out an
almost-nine-foot lawyer?

- When robert wadlow would go
out in public, people stared.

but they even went beyond that.

They actually would walk up
to him and knock on his legs

Because he appeared to
be a person on stilts.

his size obviously makes
a desk job somewhat challenging.

- Robert wadlow and his family

Had spent pretty
much his entire life

Desperately avoiding
the show business angle.

then, ringling brothers
and barnum and bailey circus

Come knocking.

- And money's money.

But robert has conditions.

Robert is never pictured
in much of anything other

Than a three piece suit

And he will not be
presented as a freak.

He's presented as the tallest
human being in the world

And in recorded human history.

- Wadlow gets lots of attention

And he does his best to
deal with it gracefully.

In one radio interview, the
radio interviewer asks him,

"does it bother you that
people stare at you?"

And he chuckles and he says,
"I just overlook them."

- Eventually,
robert grew so tall

That it puts tremendous
stress on his body

And particularly on his
bones and on his leg muscles.

This causes him to need braces.

those braces ultimately
do more harm than good.

- In 1940, he's invited to
walk in a 4th of July parade.

The metal brackets on his
legs start to cut into him

And develop bruises and lesions.

the cuts on robert's
legs become infected

And he ends up in the hospital.

- After the parade,
he developed sepsis,

High fevers, low blood pressure.

- Robert's temperature
rises to 104 degrees.

July 15th, 1940,

The world's largest
human being passes away.

robert is just
22 when he passes,

But the strangeness that marked
his life continues in death.

- You can't just
have a normal coffin.

Robert needs an
extra large coffin

That requires 12 pallbearers

To carry him to his grave site.

even after his death,
the public remain oddly curious.

- So in the sorrow
of losing their son,

The family is informed
that they really need

To take some precautions
about his body being stolen.

- His parents start
to hear rumors

That curiosity seekers may
want to exhume his corpse

And put it on display.

the rumors
are credible enough

That robert's
parents take action.

- They pour thousands of
pounds of concrete on top

Of his grave so that
he can rest in peace.

these days, a life-sized
statue near robert's grave site

Causes visitors to do what
everyone did when he was alive:

Look up. Way, way up.

Record holders like robert
are indeed more than strange.

Our next story transports
us around the world

To uncover a different
kind of astonishing body.

- In a remote village 250
miles away from kathmandu,

A worker is just passing
through the village

And sees something
moving in the distance

Out of the corner of his eye.

It looks like a child,

But this is someone who's
walking much too quickly

And much too confidently
to be a child.

- This road worker really is
struggling to make sense of it.

This is in fact, a
72-year-old man.

chandra bahadur dangi
stands a mere 21 inches tall,

Or as he jokes, 21 inches short.

- The worker who discovered
him decides this is worthy

Of going to guinness.

This gentleman needs
a world's record.

calls are
made, emails are sent,

And the guinness world records
organization is contacted.

When officials see photos,
they have lots of questions,

Starting with, who is this guy?

- Chandra is born in 1939,
the seventh of eight children.

Some of his siblings
are normal size.

Some of his siblings have
dwarfism like he does.

The village builds ramps
for him and lower shelves

So that he can
live a normal life

In this extremely rural village.

- He himself often
tells people, jestingly,

"I am taller than the chickens,

But I am shorter
than the goats."

then in 2012,

Chandra's small world
gets much larger.

- At this point, to
validate his stature

And his position as the
tiniest human on record,

Guinness book of world records,
they invite him to kathmandu.

- Kathmandu is a bustling
metropolis for chandra compared

To the rural life that
he had lived prior.

- For someone who has never

Been out of their
village before,

This is a massive sea change.

He is suddenly in a big city.

He is seeing things he
never before imagined

In a world that really is not
set up to accommodate him,

But he seems pretty game
about the whole thing.

- The guinness book
of world records

Measure him multiple times
to make sure this is legit.

- He is verified, 21.49 inches.

It's official,
chandra bahadur dangi

Is the shortest man alive.

and just like that,

Chandra becomes an
international celebrity.

- And when he is exposed
to the world at large,

He lives this, like,
rockstar life.

- Chandra now finds himself
flying on jets to places,

He'd never been
on a plane before.

He's being limousined around,
he's staying in swanky hotels.

- He's going to london,
he's going to mumbai,

He's traveling to australia.

- Here at the age of 72,
chandra suddenly finds himself

A completely
different human being

In a completely different world.

- He gets to meet the
current tallest living person

In the world, he also gets
to meet the shortest woman

In the world.

eventually chandra's
new life takes a toll.

- While he's touring,
he catches pneumonia.

He's a diminutive individual

And that means that all
of his internal organs

Are really packed
into a tiny space.

- And one could speculate

That chandra can't bring enough
air into and out of his body

And it's a setup for infection.

on September 3rd,
2015, he passes away

At the lyndon b. Johnson
tropical medical center.

But it comes after packing
a lifetime of experience

Into his final years.

- And what a beautiful capstone

To finally getting
your dues at the end

And going out on a high note.

- Eating as much as you want
and still losing weight

Sounds great to some of us,
but the mysterious case

Of one young boy might
make you think twice.

- Isaac sprague is a, by all
accounts, normal 12-year-old.

In 1853, he goes swimming
in a local swimming hole,

But when he comes out,
he's not feeling well

And his condition
deteriorates very quickly.

He gets feverish,
achy, fatigued.

Over time, his parents notice,

Not only is he
looking quite poorly,

But he's also losing weight.

- He's losing weight so rapidly
that it scares his family.

Obviously, they're worried
about his wellbeing,

But it also scares
people around him.

People kind of withdraw

'cause they don't know if
he has something contagious.

even his
doctors are mystified.

- He goes from
80-odd-pound adolescent

To a 43-pound human skeleton.

- But his weight levels
off at that number.

He stays 43 pounds.

- When you see photos,
they are really shocking.

You almost feel like the
photograph is a fake.

You think, that's
really weird photoshop.

They are actual
photographs of him.

- As he gets older, he is
able to work a little bit

For his father,
who's a shoemaker,

And also for a local grocer.

But he's constantly
fatigued by this work

'cause he doesn't have any
real muscle mass to speak of.

- His parents support him,

But eventually his
parents pass away

And he has to earn a living.

so he asks himself,

Is there a way to turn
this condition into cash?

- In 1865, he gets an
offer from the circus.

It's unclear whether he wants
to do it, but he does it

Because it's really
his only option.

Sprague debuts as
the living skeleton.

- Isaac sprague eventually
catches the eye of p.T. Barnum

And barnum gets sprague
to join his company.

He's performing with
the four-legged woman,

The lion-faced man.

Zip the "what is it?", who
astounds the crown heads

Of europe when barnum
had him under contract.

- On the one hand,

He is kind of making
lemonade out of lemons,

But it's actually kind of
a grueling job to have.

sprague dazzles
the crowds, but at a cost.

- Isaac sprague has
neither fat nor muscle.

So for his body
to survive, he has

To be constantly
consuming caloric intake.

So he deals with that
by having a hip flask

Of sweetened milk,
which gives him fat,

Gives him some sugar
and keeps him going.

Of course, many sideshow
performers had flasks,

But they were
filled with alcohol.

- The great part of
his story, in my eyes,

Is that he does find love.

He meets a young woman

And he falls in love with
her and they get married.

They have three children,
completely healthy,

But that also means that he has

To keep performing
in the sideshow

Because he now has
to support a family.

- He feels the universe
owes him something

Because of his problem.

- He believes that a
stroke of good luck

Is right around the corner.

And so he develops a
problem with gambling.

And so all that great
money from the circus

Doesn't get funneled
to his family.

by late 1886,
sprague is too weak to travel

Or work, so he comes
up with a bizarre plan

To secure desperately
needed cash for his family.

- So he approaches harvard
medical school with an idea.

How about when I die,
you can get my body,

But you have to pay
my family $1,000?

just a few weeks
later, on January 6th, 1887,

Sprague dies.

It's not clear if harvard
ever claims sprague's body

Or pays his heirs,

But allegedly the guy had
another trick up his sleeve.

According to friends, he bet
someone that he wouldn't live

To the following Saturday.

In fitting fashion,
isaac sprague wins

The last bet of his life.

Let's consider another
unbelievable tale.

Meet gary turner,
the elastic man.

- Gary turner,
he's born in 1971

About 150 miles
outside of london.

He plays sports,
he goes to school,

He eats his breakfast
every morning.

He has a normal childhood.

but as gary gets older,
he discovers he can do something

That's anything but normal.

- He can pull the skin from
his neck up over his face.

He can pull his arm skin out.

how is it possible
that gary can do this?

- Gary turner has
ehlers-danlos syndrome.

The typical form is diagnosed
in one in every 5,000 births.

The more extreme examples
range in one in every 40,000.

Gary turner is the most
extreme of the most extreme.

- Gary turner's
an amazing example

Of what used to be called
the rubber skin man act.

- So we all have stretchy
skin to one degree or another,

But in this case, there is a
strange combination of collagen

And elastin in his
skin that allows it

To be extremely
plastic in nature,

Allowing him to stretch it
to an incredible degree.

- Gary's a natural performer.

He loves the spotlight and
nature gave him this gift.

He's on movies, he
does interviews.

- Have a try yourself?

that's amazing.

- Gary mesmerizes crowds by
stretching his abdominal skin

To 6.25 inches.

If you think you can
do that, go ahead, try.

- In 1999, he is declared

To have the world's
stretchiest skin.

And yes, that is
a real category.

- Unlike others who have
physical differences,

He doesn't have to worry
about being nine feet tall.

He doesn't have to worry
about being 21 inches tall.

He can throw on a
sweatshirt and be anybody.

and there's
an additional upside.

- As a silver lining,
he doesn't get wrinkles.

- Take a look at this picture.

At first glance, does it
seem in any way strange?

What if I told you
that a few years

Before this photo was taken,

That iron bar shot straight
through this man's head?

- Phineas gage is a 25-year-old
railroad worker in the town

Of cavendish, vermont.

- Phineas is a professional,
hardworking, brilliant citizen.

- His specialty is explosives

'cause they need to lay
down railroad track,

You have to blow
up a lot of rock.

And so he's the guy
that sets the charge.

- As part of phineas's job,

He has a 3.5 foot iron
bar that he uses

To tamp down the gunpowder.

- But it's very, very,
very dangerous work

Because it's black powder

And black powder can
go off, like that.

- He strikes the rock just so
with his rod, creates a spark.

- That tamping iron
essentially became a bullet.

it shoots upward

And it goes right
into his cheek,

Passes behind his left eye,

And then out the top of his head
through the frontal left lobe.

It flies 80 feet away
from the explosion.

- Everyone is absolutely
certain the man is dead.

To the shock of his crew
mates, he stands up,

Starts walking around,
asking what happened.

He doesn't seem
particularly alarmed.

Because the tapered end of
the bar exits his skull,

He is spared
greater brain damage

Than he otherwise
would've suffered.

doctors managed
to stop the bleeding,

But they wonder, what are
the long term consequences?

- Phineas was known
as an easygoing,

Likable guy before his injury.

The person who returns
to the railroad crew

Is argumentative, abrasive.

- He's irritable,
short-tempered, impulsive,

And he's kind of a jerk
to everybody around him.

- He's prone to
alcoholism and violence

And we could say definitively,
these are two different people.

- Gage becomes kind
of a medical curiosity

And people are wondering
how on earth he survives

And also what is it that
has changed his personality?

And it's really, in some ways,
the beginning of neuroscience.

- The way the rod goes through
his brain, it pierces an area

Of the brain that controls
emotional responses.

- The frontal lobes,

Frontal lobes are
really super important

For behavioral control.

When phineas severely
damages his frontal lobes,

It's like a brake
has been taken off

Of his behavioral regulator

And it is not
uncommon with patients

That have frontal lobe damage
that they act impulsively.

They can act aggressively.

- Prior to this, people
thought personality

Was sort of like an
extension of your soul.

It was some sort of
ethereal part of you

That, you know, you had to work
on all the time as opposed

To something that literally
came out of synapses

And cells and things
in your brain.

however, temper tantrums

Are just one possible side
effect of a brain injury.

- One of the consequences
of certain types

Of head injury is
pseudobulbar affect.

Essentially, that results
in inappropriate laughter

Or crying without any
sort of emotional context.

in hollywood,
we call this Tuesday,

But there's an even more
unusual medical condition

Brought on by a brain injury,
foreign accent syndrome.

- I woke up this morning, I
didn't do anything different.

Then all of a sudden I was
talking in an irish accent.

- A victim of brain trauma
in australia recovers,

Retains the ability of speech

But starts to speak
in an irish brogue.

- I can't shake it.

- It's a bizarre phenomenon

And just one of the many strange
secrets the curious case

Of phineas gage
begins to unlock.

- What I find fascinating
about the phineas gage case

Is that 175 years later,

Scientists are still
studying his case.

He is that important
in the history

Of our understanding
of the human brain.

what eventually
becomes of phineas gage?

- Because of the
change in character

That transpires in phineas,

He can no longer get
along on crew work

And he actually finds
work driving a stagecoach

In south america in
the nation of chile.

- Phineas gage's
skull and tamping iron

Are on display in the
countway library of medicine

At harvard university.

The relics serve as a reminder

Of how remarkably resilient
the human body can be,

But it's nothing compared to
the resilience of chickens.

1945, fruita, colorado.

Farmer lloyd olson
is ready for dinner.

The main course, a
chicken named mike.

- So olson walks out,
hatchet in hand.

He performs the act

That he has performed
countless times

With many other chickens.

- Something's different.

The chicken is still alive,

Still walking and
acting like a chicken,

But lloyd is holding
his head in his hand.

how is this possible?

The answer has a lot to do
with the unique attributes

Of the gallus
gallus domesticuss,

Also known as the
common chicken.

- Chickens are descended
from the dinosaurs

From a group called
the theropods,

Which include all of
those famous meat eaters

Like velociraptor and
tyrannosaurus rex.

- Chickens have over 30
different kinds of vocalizations

That they use to communicate
with other chickens.

They can remember up to a
hundred different faces,

Human or chicken or otherwise.

They actually
experience rem sleep

Because we can measure
their eye movements.

These are pretty smart birds.

unfortunately,
mike loses every one

Of these attributes once
lloyd olson brings the ax down

On his feathery neck.

- When farmer olson heads out

For the traditional
ax and stump routine

With mike the chicken, he ends
up conducting what amounts

To a complicated form
of brain surgery.

His ax cleaves the
skull in such a way

That it leaves the
stem of the brain.

If you have that brain stem,
the circulatory functions,

The respiratory functions, the
motor skills are left intact

And he is left with this living,
essentially headless chicken.

Turns out that you
don't need a whole brain

To run a chicken.

- Now, he has to feed
it very peculiarly.

- So mike, being
headless, has no mouth

And so can't eat in
the traditional way.

But after the beheading,
there's a little opening

To the esophagus
exposed right there.

Lloyd is able to keep mike
the headless chicken alive

By feeding food with an
eyedropper through that opening,

pretty soon,
farmer olson's chicken

Becomes the talk of the town.

- He starts to show it
around the neighbors, like,

"look, I've got a
headless chicken."

I would show it off.

- Lloyd olson realizes
pretty quickly

That a headless chicken
which is still alive

Is an amazing attraction

And he takes that
animal on the road.

So lloyd's doing everything
he can with mike.

He's featured in "life magazine"
and he plays a world's fair

And he's going to
carnivals and circuses.

They're staying in hotels,

And lloyd and mike
are living large,

And he's making the equivalent
of like, 60,000 bucks a month

Off this bird that's
headless, but still alive.

At long last though,
things do come to an end.

- After 18 months of
touring on the road,

Mike unfortunately chokes to
death on a kernel of corn.

but mike's short
life makes a lasting impact.

- Fruita, colorado
still does celebrate

Their most famous citizen,

Mike the headless chicken,
with an annual festival,

The catch line for which is,

"keeping an open
mind since 1945."

- Mike's unbelievable tale
raises an obvious question.

If a headless chicken can
survive, can a headless human?

- In 1905, a french doctor
is present at the guillotine.

He's waiting for the guillotine
to slice a criminal's head off

And after the head
has been decapitated,

The doctor calls out
the criminal's name

And apparently the criminal
looks at the doctor.

And then looks back,

And the doctor calls out the
name again and looks back,

And then the doctor calls out

The criminal's name a third
time and there's no response.

So based on that, this
french doctor estimates

That the human brain is able
to stay conscious and awake

And present for up to
30 seconds after death.

sometimes,
the line between life

And death isn't as
clear as we think.

- Not all astonishing
bodies are bodies

In the conventional sense.

Consider one mysterious
salt lake on the border

Of tanzania and kenya.

- As soon as you see
pictures of lake natron,

You know that something
strange is happening here.

It seems eerie, dead,
and otherworldly.

- It's 13 miles
away from a volcano.

The locals call it
the mountain of god

And it spits out
carbonatite lava.

And that stuff is
pretty extraordinary

Because it's calcium,
sodium, and carbon dioxide

And that's what makes
it so corrosive.

this is currently
the only place on earth

Spewing this particularly
nasty kind of lava

And much of it makes its
way into lake natron.

- So water is constantly
flowing into the lake,

Carrying with it minerals,

And then the water
evaporates off the surface

And it leaves behind
a high concentration

Of sodium carbonates.

These are molecules made
of sodium and carbon.

You are very familiar
with a certain kind

Of sodium carbonate, sodium
bicarbonate, aka baking soda.

This makes the lake
extremely alkaline.

It has similar ph
to straight ammonia.

- Alkaline is the
opposite of acidic,

But the effects that
it'll have on you

Are equally corrosive.

If you were to drink
some of that water,

You're gonna feel it
immediately on your lips

As it goes down your tongue
and into your esophagus,

All along the way, nothing
but horror and pain.

Even though most of
the animals avoid it,

Sometimes animals
do get in the lake

And they basically
become petrified.

It's like they looked at medusa.

- Creatures that
perish in lake natron

Don't actually turn to stone.

They become calcified, meaning,

They are encrusted in
these mineral salts

In such a way that
preserves their bodies.

- There are these pictures
of these birds that are dead.

They look like
they're still alive,

But alive like a
zombie is alive.

but not everything that
touches this strange lake dies.

- Perhaps most marvelous of all,

You have two and a half
million lesser flamingos

Who don't just
live at this lake,

But they actually nest there.

- The flamingos are specially
adapted to this environment.

They have thick scales on
their legs that allow them

To withstand this highly
corrosive environment.

And then, all the salts that
they're constantly ingesting,

They have special salt
glands near their beaks

That pull salt out of their
bloodstream and expel it.

the algae they
eat are also peculiar.

- There's a special
kind of algae

That thrives in these conditions

And occasionally
has seasonal blooms

That turn it a very red color,

Which actually
provides the pigment

That makes those flamingos pink.

it's astounding
that this body of water

Produces such visions
of beauty and horror.

- Because the lake
water is so clear,

You can't really tell
where the horizon is,

Where the lake stops
and the ground begins.

in 2007, a news
crew flying over lake natron

Experiences that firsthand.

- This lake is
very, very shallow,

No more than 10 feet deep,
and it's incredibly reflective

And so it's hard to tell
where the surface is.

And there was an accident.

- The helicopter
crashed into the lake.

What happens is, the
people have enough time,

They can survive long
enough to swim to the shore.

But the helicopter,
it's made of metals

And this thing immediately
begins to corrode.

despite
its lethal waters,

Lake natron is a paradise

Compared to our
next bizarre body.

Anyone who says,
"beam me up, scotty,"

To this place
probably shouldn't.

- Planet hd 189733b is
63 light years away,

Which in the cosmic scheme of
things, is relatively close.

- Now, this celestial
body, it is amazing.

We're talking about a planet

That is even bigger than our
jupiter in our solar system.

- It does look to be blue
and we kind of have this idea

That you know, we are
the pale blue dot.

So another pale blue dot

Is therefore going to be
the best place for us to go.

- No, this is a hell world.

- It's a little hot
and a little windy.

The temperature is
1,000 degrees fahrenheit

At the surface and the winds
blow at 5,400 miles per hour.

- If you were to go to this
planet, you would boil and burn

And then the wind would whip
you around like a leaf on fire.

Then there's the rain.

It is actually silicate
particles that are so hot,

It's kind of like
raining molten glass.

- So if you could imagine
being sand blasted, right,

You would be reduced to
a skeleton in minutes,

If not seconds, on this planet.

with
conditions like this,

It's doubtful we'll be visiting
hd189733b anytime soon.

- If you're asking me

Where to find the most
astonishing bodies,

I'm looking to the sky

And I'm looking out
into the universe.

This planet is not what
I would call hospitable,

But I want to know if there are
any other astonishing worlds

That we are gonna find in our
galaxy of 400 billion stars.

- We've all heard the phrase,
"two heads are better than one,"

But what about 2,000?

- The ancient city of abydos

Is one of the most
significant locations

Of all ancient egypt.

The first things we find in
abydos dates back to 3,500 bc,

That's over 5,500 years ago.

- It's a massive,
sprawling temple compound.

It is used in part for burial,

Including of first
dynasty rulers,

But there's all
kinds of symbology

That run through the complex

That we modern westerners
do not understand.

much of the
site remains a mystery

Until an unbelievable
discovery is made in 2023

By a team from new
york university.

- So this team is digging,
gingerly brushing away at sand,

And they find these pieces

Of what ends up becoming
the skull of a ram.

curiously, the ram
skull has been mummified

And deliberately
placed here for burial.

- This is very, very
promising, so they keep going,

Thinking, like, we could
find an intact ram.

- This team from nyu comes
across not one, not two,

Not 5, not 10, not 20.

- They find 2,000 ram heads,

All specifically stacked
next to each other.

- These are not just
skulls straight out

Of the butcher shop.

These are treated
like sacred objects.

- This is not a
cumulative scenario.

All of these skulls got
put there at the same time.

but why would
anyone mummify 2,000 rams?

- Ramses ii, or
ramses the great,

Is the pharaoh that's alive

When the abydos temple
complex is completed.

However, we also know that
these rams were placed

Into the skull room
2,000 years ago,

Which is 1,000 years
after ramses ii died.

The theory is that he's
still being worshiped

One millennium after he passes.

- Another question
raises itself.

What happened to the
rest of the bull?

It's only mummified heads of
the rams, not the whole body,

Which is significant

Because we have mummified
animals in ancient egypt

And the whole body is
mummified, not just the skull.

It's very likely that
that was done on purpose.

that part
is still a mystery

And certainly not the first
we encounter in egypt.

Over 150 years ago, an even
stranger collection of bodies,

Whole ones, is unearthed

By french archeologist
auguste mariette.

- In 1851, there is a
pretty interesting discovery

That you could say
is somewhat similar.

Auguste mariette has a
huge team out at saqqara.

- And he is
searching for a place

That local bedouin lore
says is a burial ground

That's a bit weird.

- It is about 10
miles to the south

Of the great pyramids of giza.

I have to also mention,
before mariette's discovery,

The bedouins of egypt name
this "the monsters' cage,"

The place that
keeps monsters in.

- Local bedouin
tribes tell the team

Of excavators something
unique exists in this area.

- They come upon a thing
that is startling.

- He finds this
boulevard of stairs.

- He takes his torch, he enters,

And as he walks through,
he finds one room

After the other of
massive sarcophagi.

- There's 24 and they're giant.

12 feet, by 6 feet, by 6
feet, 40,000 pound lids.

Why are these
coffins so massive?

What are they containing

And what are they trying
to keep contained?

- And you have to understand,

Mariette now thinks he's walking
into the cage for monsters.

The bedouins are very upset

Because they think mariette is
bringing those monsters out.

mariette
and his team manage

To remove one of these
giant lids and peer inside.

- They find a full
mummy of an apis bull.

We're talking a 1,300
pound bull, massive animal.

- Bulls are extremely important
to the ancient egyptians.

They are understood as
mediators between the individual

And the gods, in the same
way some westerners today

Understand saints as
mediators to the holy.

these apis bulls
are sacrificed starting

About 3,000 bce.

It's part of an elaborate
religious ritual that

Takes place at key astrological
times across centuries.

- Each of these sarcophagi
has a inscription on the side

That specifically reads, in
ancient egyptian hieroglyphs,

"this is where the
apis bull stays,"

Hence the bedouins calling
it the monsters' cage.

to mariette's surprise,

Not all the bulls are
left to rest in peace.

- Mariette finds one sarcophagus
that is broken through.

It's unclear, is it the
monster that broke out

Or someone broke in to steal
what's inside the sarcophagus?

It is another mystery.

So you dug yourself
into another mystery

While trying to
solve your first one.

That's the life of
an archeologist.

- Whether human, animal, or
literally out of this world,

These tales of
astonishing bodies

Leave us asking one simple
question, what else is out there

That could be even
more unbelievable?