1 00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:10,458 NARRATOR: A military base that was targeted by a UFO. 2 00:00:10,667 --> 00:00:15,667 A plane that was hijacked by an otherworldly technology. 3 00:00:15,833 --> 00:00:18,000 And an encounter in rural Texas 4 00:00:18,208 --> 00:00:20,833 that defies explanation. 5 00:00:20,917 --> 00:00:24,417 On Ancient Aliens, we've examined dozens 6 00:00:24,542 --> 00:00:27,083 of unexplained encounters that have left witnesses 7 00:00:27,292 --> 00:00:30,667 not only astonished, but terrified. 8 00:00:32,208 --> 00:00:34,292 Now, we're counting down 9 00:00:34,417 --> 00:00:37,875 the ten most frightening encounters ever reported. 10 00:00:38,083 --> 00:00:41,042 Encounters that add to the growing body of evidence 11 00:00:41,208 --> 00:00:46,375 that Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials. 12 00:00:46,542 --> 00:00:48,458 ♪ ♪ 13 00:00:54,750 --> 00:00:58,542 Every year, thousands of UFO sightings are reported, 14 00:00:58,708 --> 00:01:01,667 and experiencers are often left wondering 15 00:01:01,875 --> 00:01:04,083 what they actually saw. 16 00:01:04,250 --> 00:01:08,667 But some incidents are so intense and so terrifying 17 00:01:08,833 --> 00:01:10,500 that the witnesses are certain 18 00:01:10,625 --> 00:01:14,208 that what they encountered is not of this world. 19 00:01:14,375 --> 00:01:16,375 On this countdown, we're featuring 20 00:01:16,542 --> 00:01:19,167 some of the most frightening contact events 21 00:01:19,375 --> 00:01:22,292 we've ever examined on Ancient Aliens. 22 00:01:22,458 --> 00:01:26,458 And this first one was certainly a heart-stopping incident. 23 00:01:27,500 --> 00:01:33,125 At number ten on our list of the top ten scariest encounters: 24 00:01:33,208 --> 00:01:36,125 The UFO Hijacking. 25 00:01:38,167 --> 00:01:42,458 NARRATOR: Some of the most compelling and harrowing UFO accounts 26 00:01:42,625 --> 00:01:46,667 are those reported by pilots who witness strange craft 27 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:50,375 while flying thousands of feet above the Earth. 28 00:01:50,542 --> 00:01:55,625 Instead of seeing a small disk or light way up in the sky, 29 00:01:55,792 --> 00:02:00,292 pilots often encounter UFOs at close range. 30 00:02:00,458 --> 00:02:03,000 And they have the experience to know 31 00:02:03,167 --> 00:02:05,167 if they're looking at man-made craft 32 00:02:05,333 --> 00:02:06,875 or something else. 33 00:02:08,042 --> 00:02:12,875 TSOUKALOS: You have countless commercial and private airline pilots 34 00:02:13,042 --> 00:02:17,333 who spend an exorbitant amount of time up in the sky. 35 00:02:17,500 --> 00:02:20,917 And, in my opinion, I think they're the best people 36 00:02:21,042 --> 00:02:25,375 to discern what is natural and what is not. 37 00:02:26,708 --> 00:02:30,125 NARRATOR: According to some pilots, not only is there 38 00:02:30,292 --> 00:02:32,958 an extraterrestrial presence in our skies, 39 00:02:33,125 --> 00:02:36,375 but they present a serious danger. 40 00:02:37,542 --> 00:02:42,375 Zihuantanejo, Mexico. May 3, 1975. 41 00:02:43,708 --> 00:02:46,500 Pilot Carlos de Los Santos takes off 42 00:02:46,708 --> 00:02:48,000 from the local airfield 43 00:02:48,208 --> 00:02:51,375 on a routine flight to Mexico City. 44 00:02:51,542 --> 00:02:56,417 One hour into his journey, he witnesses something unusual: 45 00:02:56,542 --> 00:03:01,125 a gray, wingless object off the right side of his plane. 46 00:03:01,250 --> 00:03:04,333 RICHARD DOLAN: As he approaches Mexico City, he notices, 47 00:03:04,458 --> 00:03:07,250 basically, a small flying saucer just above his left wing. 48 00:03:07,458 --> 00:03:09,167 It's not as large as his aircraft. 49 00:03:09,375 --> 00:03:11,875 He's flying a fairly small aircraft. 50 00:03:12,042 --> 00:03:13,500 And he's like, what is this? 51 00:03:13,667 --> 00:03:15,292 And then he looks over to his right 52 00:03:15,458 --> 00:03:16,667 and he sees another one. 53 00:03:17,958 --> 00:03:20,667 And then he looks ahead of them, and there's one coming at him. 54 00:03:20,833 --> 00:03:22,917 It goes below his aircraft. 55 00:03:23,083 --> 00:03:26,417 And he feels a bump under his aircraft. 56 00:03:27,375 --> 00:03:30,542 And he's scared out of his mind. 57 00:03:30,708 --> 00:03:31,625 Anyone would be. 58 00:03:33,458 --> 00:03:35,833 He then realizes that he's not 59 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,042 really in control of his aircraft. 60 00:03:39,083 --> 00:03:41,667 BILL BIRNES: The theory is that the UFO that came 61 00:03:41,833 --> 00:03:43,625 under the plane 62 00:03:43,792 --> 00:03:47,042 took control of his plane. 63 00:03:47,208 --> 00:03:50,083 And the UFO's own magnetic envelope 64 00:03:50,250 --> 00:03:54,042 is lifting the plane higher and higher and higher. 65 00:03:54,208 --> 00:03:56,167 De Los Santos is in a panic. 66 00:03:56,375 --> 00:03:58,583 He's giving Mayday calls. 67 00:04:08,167 --> 00:04:12,292 NARRATOR: As the small aircraft races towards a mountainous area, 68 00:04:12,417 --> 00:04:15,375 the three UAPs disengage and veer off 69 00:04:15,542 --> 00:04:19,542 toward the Mount Popocatépetl volcano at lightning speed. 70 00:04:21,167 --> 00:04:24,167 As the objects disappear from sight, 71 00:04:24,333 --> 00:04:26,708 Carlos regains control of the plane. 72 00:04:26,875 --> 00:04:30,500 So he lands his aircraft, and the story doesn't end here. 73 00:04:30,667 --> 00:04:32,667 Now, he would've had his whole career, 74 00:04:32,833 --> 00:04:35,000 reputation ruined, probably, with this, 75 00:04:35,167 --> 00:04:37,000 except for the fact that 76 00:04:37,125 --> 00:04:41,500 Mexican air traffic control tracked these objects also. 77 00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:44,542 And this came out to support him. 78 00:04:44,667 --> 00:04:47,792 This story became a huge news story in Mexico. 79 00:04:47,958 --> 00:04:52,000 It's just one of the most incredible aviation UAP stories 80 00:04:52,167 --> 00:04:54,250 that you're ever gonna hear. 81 00:04:56,042 --> 00:05:00,250 To me, pilots are some of the best UFO witnesses out there, 82 00:05:00,417 --> 00:05:02,500 because they are trained to discern 83 00:05:02,708 --> 00:05:05,833 between different objects flying through the sky. 84 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,542 Which is what makes our next encounter even more frightening. 85 00:05:09,708 --> 00:05:12,500 It involved a cargo plane that reported 86 00:05:12,625 --> 00:05:16,667 an alien craft of enormous proportions. 87 00:05:16,875 --> 00:05:18,917 Number nine on our list: 88 00:05:19,083 --> 00:05:22,917 Japan Airlines Flight 1628. 89 00:05:25,250 --> 00:05:29,417 NARRATOR: Alaska. November 17, 1986. 90 00:05:30,417 --> 00:05:33,458 Japan Airlines Flight 1628 91 00:05:33,625 --> 00:05:36,167 is carrying cargo from Paris, France, 92 00:05:36,375 --> 00:05:39,625 to Narita International Airport near Tokyo. 93 00:05:39,750 --> 00:05:44,042 The three-person crew is led by Captain Kenju Terauchi, 94 00:05:44,167 --> 00:05:48,833 an ex-fighter pilot with over 10,000 hours of flight time. 95 00:05:50,250 --> 00:05:52,458 As the 747 approaches Anchorage, 96 00:05:52,625 --> 00:05:56,292 Captain Terauchi notices two strange lights 97 00:05:56,458 --> 00:05:58,542 out of his cockpit window. 98 00:05:59,583 --> 00:06:02,583 It's dark. It's, uh, very early morning before sunrise. 99 00:06:05,833 --> 00:06:08,500 These lights are clearly maneuvering. 100 00:06:08,625 --> 00:06:11,875 And they move directly in front of his aircraft. 101 00:06:13,417 --> 00:06:16,333 Now, he's flying at about 500 miles per hour. 102 00:06:17,958 --> 00:06:19,542 These things are pacing him. 103 00:06:20,583 --> 00:06:24,208 Captain Terauchi radios Anchorage air traffic control 104 00:06:24,375 --> 00:06:26,417 and reports the lights are strange, 105 00:06:26,542 --> 00:06:28,917 oval-shaped flying objects, 106 00:06:29,042 --> 00:06:32,833 and they are getting dangerously close to his aircraft. 107 00:06:33,875 --> 00:06:36,542 As the pilot attempts a series of evasive maneuvers 108 00:06:36,708 --> 00:06:38,667 to avoid a potential collision, 109 00:06:38,792 --> 00:06:43,000 the two UFOs suddenly disappear. 110 00:06:43,208 --> 00:06:45,917 In their place is another object. 111 00:06:47,708 --> 00:06:51,625 One so large it dwarfs the 747. 112 00:06:53,042 --> 00:06:58,458 DOLAN: His words for describing it were "gigantic spaceship." 113 00:06:58,625 --> 00:07:02,458 The size of maybe two aircraft carriers. Just immense. 114 00:07:02,625 --> 00:07:07,083 Terauchi sees this massive thing in the sky, 115 00:07:07,208 --> 00:07:08,833 and he's scared. 116 00:07:09,875 --> 00:07:12,167 NARRATOR: On the ground, radar specialists 117 00:07:12,333 --> 00:07:14,500 confirm a mysterious object 118 00:07:14,708 --> 00:07:18,708 is in fact in the sky near Captain Terauchi's plane. 119 00:07:18,875 --> 00:07:20,583 DAVID CHILDRESS: This incident is more than just 120 00:07:20,750 --> 00:07:23,208 the witnesses on the plane. 121 00:07:23,417 --> 00:07:26,458 We have radar spotting the craft. 122 00:07:26,625 --> 00:07:30,458 We have discussions between air traffic control 123 00:07:30,625 --> 00:07:33,375 and the pilots, and them describing this. 124 00:07:33,542 --> 00:07:35,500 So, we have other people also on the ground 125 00:07:35,708 --> 00:07:37,708 who can back up this sighting. 126 00:07:37,917 --> 00:07:40,458 We don't know, really, what it was. 127 00:07:40,625 --> 00:07:45,042 But it may well have been an extraterrestrial craft 128 00:07:45,208 --> 00:07:47,542 flying right over Alaska. 129 00:07:49,792 --> 00:07:52,833 There is no doubt that Alaskan pilots 130 00:07:52,958 --> 00:07:55,833 are some of the bravest aviators around. 131 00:07:55,958 --> 00:07:59,500 They can adapt to sudden storms and dangerous conditions 132 00:07:59,667 --> 00:08:01,375 on a moment's notice. 133 00:08:01,542 --> 00:08:03,833 But even a pilot like Theo Chesley, 134 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,583 who's been flying over Alaska for nearly four decades, 135 00:08:07,750 --> 00:08:11,625 found his heart racing when he encountered multiple objects 136 00:08:11,708 --> 00:08:15,917 in the sky that resembled no aircraft he'd ever seen before. 137 00:08:16,542 --> 00:08:18,833 Number eight on our countdown 138 00:08:19,042 --> 00:08:21,500 of the top ten scariest encounters: 139 00:08:21,708 --> 00:08:23,708 The Mount Shishaldin Incident. 140 00:08:26,917 --> 00:08:28,333 NARRATOR: Anchorage, Alaska, 141 00:08:28,500 --> 00:08:31,833 October 19, 2022. 142 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,667 Author and researcher David Childress has traveled 143 00:08:35,792 --> 00:08:39,792 to a local airfield to meet with pilot Theo Chesley. 144 00:08:39,917 --> 00:08:44,792 In 2019, Chesley encountered a UFO 145 00:08:44,958 --> 00:08:47,667 while flying near Mount Shishaldin, 146 00:08:47,792 --> 00:08:51,667 an active volcano on Unimak Island in the Aleutians. 147 00:08:51,875 --> 00:08:53,833 While the event left him shaken, 148 00:08:53,958 --> 00:08:57,083 Chesley took several photographs. 149 00:08:58,125 --> 00:09:00,208 CHILDRESS: So, when was this occurrence? 150 00:09:00,375 --> 00:09:04,375 Well, uh, we had a flight back in October of 2019. 151 00:09:04,542 --> 00:09:07,000 We were northeast of the mountain. 152 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,542 Ah, we were probably 30 miles from the mountain. 153 00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:13,333 We spotted something in the sky. 154 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:15,667 And this is what we saw. 155 00:09:17,875 --> 00:09:20,375 CHILDRESS: Did it seem to have a cloud around it, or no? 156 00:09:20,542 --> 00:09:22,417 CHESLEY: It had, like, a tail on it, 157 00:09:22,625 --> 00:09:24,000 a little bit of a wisp coming out of the back. 158 00:09:24,208 --> 00:09:27,875 So I'm looking at it, going, okay, what is that? 159 00:09:28,875 --> 00:09:32,458 As we started to come towards the mountain and fly by it, 160 00:09:32,625 --> 00:09:36,875 this horizontal disk turned vertical 161 00:09:37,042 --> 00:09:40,333 and came over and sort of parked by the mountain, 162 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:41,833 and held its shape. 163 00:09:42,042 --> 00:09:44,292 So, it had been moving, and then it stopped? 164 00:09:44,458 --> 00:09:45,958 CHESLEY: It stopped by the volcano. 165 00:09:47,292 --> 00:09:50,542 Then we had something fly out of the mountain. 166 00:09:50,708 --> 00:09:53,667 -Now, the mountain-- -A second object? 167 00:09:53,833 --> 00:09:54,958 CHESLEY: A second object. 168 00:09:56,083 --> 00:09:58,625 So, this object flies out of the mountain. 169 00:09:58,833 --> 00:10:01,167 And at the same time, we're still watching the sphere 170 00:10:01,375 --> 00:10:03,000 that's vertically parked. 171 00:10:03,208 --> 00:10:04,750 And we, like, looked at that, and I said, 172 00:10:04,875 --> 00:10:06,333 "No, we're done here. 173 00:10:06,458 --> 00:10:08,250 We're... we are leaving the scene here." 174 00:10:08,458 --> 00:10:10,833 And to be honest, you know, 175 00:10:11,042 --> 00:10:14,375 my concern level was going about through the roof at that point. 176 00:10:14,542 --> 00:10:16,833 Wow, that's fascinating. 177 00:10:16,958 --> 00:10:20,625 NARRATOR: As an experienced pilot, Theo Chesley cannot explain 178 00:10:20,792 --> 00:10:23,292 the two events he experienced. 179 00:10:23,458 --> 00:10:24,583 I've seen a lot of things. 180 00:10:24,750 --> 00:10:28,083 I've been through a lot of storms. 181 00:10:28,250 --> 00:10:31,542 Some great flights, some not-so-great flights. 182 00:10:31,708 --> 00:10:34,042 But I'm one of those kind of guys 183 00:10:34,208 --> 00:10:35,917 that have to see something 184 00:10:36,083 --> 00:10:38,375 that's extraordinary to believe it. 185 00:10:39,625 --> 00:10:42,208 And what I saw was just not 186 00:10:42,375 --> 00:10:45,667 anything ordinary at all. 187 00:10:51,125 --> 00:10:54,833 a disturbing phenomenon , 188 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,625 has been reported across the country. 189 00:10:57,792 --> 00:11:01,167 Ranchers have discovered livestock dead in their fields 190 00:11:01,292 --> 00:11:04,542 that appear to have been killed by a mysterious 191 00:11:04,708 --> 00:11:07,625 and possibly extraterrestrial force. 192 00:11:07,750 --> 00:11:10,500 Number seven on our countdown 193 00:11:10,583 --> 00:11:13,458 of the top ten scariest encounters: 194 00:11:13,625 --> 00:11:16,083 Animal Mutilations. 195 00:11:19,125 --> 00:11:21,792 NARRATOR: San Luis Valley, Colorado. 196 00:11:23,417 --> 00:11:25,292 1967. 197 00:11:26,542 --> 00:11:28,167 On the King family ranch, 198 00:11:28,333 --> 00:11:30,250 a horse named Lady 199 00:11:30,417 --> 00:11:33,083 is found dead in a pasture. 200 00:11:33,250 --> 00:11:36,375 The skull is stripped so clean of flesh 201 00:11:36,542 --> 00:11:39,542 that it appears to have been exposed to the elements 202 00:11:39,708 --> 00:11:41,083 for weeks. 203 00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:44,292 Yet the King family had seen Lady alive 204 00:11:44,458 --> 00:11:45,917 just two days earlier. 205 00:11:46,083 --> 00:11:47,542 Even stranger, 206 00:11:47,708 --> 00:11:50,708 no blood or animal tracks of any kind 207 00:11:50,875 --> 00:11:53,458 are found near the corpse. 208 00:11:53,625 --> 00:11:56,792 Authorities are shaken and perplexed. 209 00:11:58,250 --> 00:12:01,208 The skeleton was completely clean and white. 210 00:12:01,333 --> 00:12:03,083 Even brain tissue was gone. 211 00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:06,375 But the rest of the horse 212 00:12:06,542 --> 00:12:09,792 looked as if it should get up and walk. 213 00:12:09,958 --> 00:12:11,542 It was that fresh. 214 00:12:11,708 --> 00:12:16,167 NARRATOR: The incident likely would have been lost to history, 215 00:12:16,333 --> 00:12:19,750 were it not for the fact that near-identical slaughters 216 00:12:19,875 --> 00:12:23,750 soon became commonplace across the American heartland. 217 00:12:23,917 --> 00:12:27,167 You had farmers and ranchers getting up in the morning 218 00:12:27,292 --> 00:12:30,375 and finding their animals dead in the fields. 219 00:12:30,542 --> 00:12:35,708 And these were clearly not attacks by mountain lions 220 00:12:35,917 --> 00:12:38,667 or coyotes or anything like that. 221 00:12:38,875 --> 00:12:40,875 The farmers actually reported 222 00:12:41,042 --> 00:12:44,125 how blood was drained from the animals, 223 00:12:44,250 --> 00:12:45,917 organs were removed, 224 00:12:46,042 --> 00:12:50,208 and it seemed as if the bodies of the cattle had been opened up 225 00:12:50,375 --> 00:12:54,167 by some sort of high-heat weapon or device. 226 00:12:55,167 --> 00:12:59,667 NARRATOR: While mainstream medical professionals are unsure who 227 00:12:59,875 --> 00:13:03,667 or what could be responsible for these attacks, 228 00:13:03,875 --> 00:13:06,000 ancient astronaut theorists suggest 229 00:13:06,167 --> 00:13:09,917 the answer may be found by examining strange findings 230 00:13:10,125 --> 00:13:12,708 reported at other mutilation sites. 231 00:13:12,875 --> 00:13:14,833 Sometimes, the animals 232 00:13:15,042 --> 00:13:18,417 are lying on top of charred patches of ground. 233 00:13:18,583 --> 00:13:20,167 Sometimes those charred patches 234 00:13:20,292 --> 00:13:22,333 are exactly the same size and shape 235 00:13:22,542 --> 00:13:24,167 as the animals themselves. 236 00:13:24,333 --> 00:13:27,917 And very often, there have been reports of strange lights 237 00:13:28,042 --> 00:13:30,875 in the sky or on the ground in and around the time 238 00:13:31,042 --> 00:13:33,833 where the mutilations are taking place. 239 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,833 HOWE: The deeper you get, and the more people you interview-- 240 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,833 and I have literally interviewed thousands now-- 241 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,792 you hear, "I saw this kind of light. 242 00:13:44,958 --> 00:13:47,542 "I saw this beam lowering an animal 243 00:13:47,708 --> 00:13:49,250 to the pasture, and it was mutilated." 244 00:13:49,417 --> 00:13:52,000 Somebody else, "I saw this animal coming up 245 00:13:52,208 --> 00:13:56,125 in a beam of light, and later, it was found mutilated." 246 00:13:56,292 --> 00:13:59,500 It was my work investigating animal mutilations 247 00:13:59,708 --> 00:14:02,917 that took me to the conclusion 248 00:14:03,083 --> 00:14:05,583 that the phenomena that is behind 249 00:14:05,792 --> 00:14:07,917 the global animal mutilations 250 00:14:08,042 --> 00:14:11,208 of the last... at least a hundred years, 251 00:14:11,375 --> 00:14:15,833 are extraterrestrial biological entities. 252 00:14:17,667 --> 00:14:21,333 When it comes to encounters that defy explanation, 253 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:24,542 there are none more confounding than what happened 254 00:14:24,708 --> 00:14:28,000 in the mountains of Russia in 1959. 255 00:14:28,208 --> 00:14:31,250 A group of nine hikers ascended a mountain 256 00:14:31,417 --> 00:14:35,125 that is actually named "Do Not Go There." 257 00:14:35,292 --> 00:14:37,833 And what happened to them was so shocking, 258 00:14:38,042 --> 00:14:42,417 researchers are still trying to solve the mystery to this day. 259 00:14:42,542 --> 00:14:45,208 Number six on our list: 260 00:14:45,333 --> 00:14:47,958 The Ural Mountains Encounter. 261 00:14:53,875 --> 00:14:55,500 NARRATOR: A group of nine mountaineers 262 00:14:55,667 --> 00:15:00,000 embark on a winter trek into Russia's Ural Mountains. 263 00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:02,542 Their destination, 264 00:15:02,708 --> 00:15:05,167 a mountain called Otorten, 265 00:15:05,375 --> 00:15:08,167 which, in the local Mansi language, means, 266 00:15:08,375 --> 00:15:10,333 "Do Not Go There." 267 00:15:11,292 --> 00:15:12,792 PAUL STONEHILL: Among them were three 268 00:15:12,958 --> 00:15:14,833 experienced engineers, the rest were students. 269 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:16,292 They were all young, though I think the oldest 270 00:15:16,458 --> 00:15:17,833 was, like, 37 years old. 271 00:15:18,042 --> 00:15:22,833 They had conducted other hard treks to the area, 272 00:15:23,042 --> 00:15:24,875 they were all experienced, strong-willed, 273 00:15:25,042 --> 00:15:26,958 determined people. 274 00:15:27,125 --> 00:15:28,625 NARRATOR: On their fourth night out, 275 00:15:28,792 --> 00:15:30,792 bad weather forced the hikers 276 00:15:30,958 --> 00:15:34,458 to camp atop an area called Kholat Syakhl, 277 00:15:34,667 --> 00:15:39,167 which, in Mansi, translates to "the mountain of the dead." 278 00:15:39,333 --> 00:15:42,125 STONEHILL: It was a very inhospitable, 279 00:15:42,250 --> 00:15:46,583 very strange, very, very hard place to be. 280 00:15:46,750 --> 00:15:50,292 Snow, cold, freezing winds 281 00:15:50,458 --> 00:15:53,625 and very few living things around. 282 00:15:53,792 --> 00:15:57,667 NARRATOR: Ten days later, when the nine adventurers 283 00:15:57,875 --> 00:16:00,208 failed to show up at their destination, 284 00:16:00,375 --> 00:16:03,750 military rescue teams searched the area. 285 00:16:03,958 --> 00:16:06,125 They found the campsite abandoned 286 00:16:06,292 --> 00:16:09,750 and a tent that had been torn to pieces. 287 00:16:09,958 --> 00:16:12,375 Curiously, the investigators determined 288 00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:16,542 that the tent was cut and ripped open from the inside, 289 00:16:16,708 --> 00:16:21,000 and the hikers appeared to have fled in socks 290 00:16:21,167 --> 00:16:23,000 and with bare feet. 291 00:16:23,208 --> 00:16:25,167 STONEHILL: Something was pushing them 292 00:16:25,333 --> 00:16:28,167 to run away without taking any clothing with them, 293 00:16:28,375 --> 00:16:30,542 without taking any supplies. 294 00:16:30,708 --> 00:16:34,250 They were behaving like they were in a daze, confused. 295 00:16:34,417 --> 00:16:37,458 NARRATOR: The investigators followed the trail 296 00:16:37,583 --> 00:16:39,833 to the edge of the forest. 297 00:16:39,958 --> 00:16:41,625 But what they eventually found... 298 00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:46,667 ...was beyond belief. 299 00:16:46,833 --> 00:16:49,458 BIRNES: All nine hikers died. 300 00:16:49,625 --> 00:16:51,833 They were discovered by Soviet troops 301 00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:54,833 in various stages of what can only be described 302 00:16:55,042 --> 00:16:56,417 as being mutilated. 303 00:16:56,583 --> 00:16:58,375 Their bodies were burned, 304 00:16:58,583 --> 00:17:01,083 some suffered radiation poisoning. 305 00:17:01,208 --> 00:17:03,792 In one case, a hiker's tongue was missing. 306 00:17:03,958 --> 00:17:06,917 They had prematurely aged, 307 00:17:07,083 --> 00:17:10,542 their skin was orange, their hair had turned grey. 308 00:17:10,708 --> 00:17:12,125 What could've explained this? 309 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:14,667 STONEHILL: Three of them had injuries 310 00:17:14,833 --> 00:17:17,333 that could be sustained 311 00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:21,167 when somebody is hit by a speeding car, 312 00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:23,458 except the injuries were inside. 313 00:17:23,625 --> 00:17:26,417 Their ribs were crushed like eggshells. 314 00:17:28,083 --> 00:17:31,417 But there was no effect on their skin. 315 00:17:32,375 --> 00:17:34,167 NARRATOR: The official explanation 316 00:17:34,292 --> 00:17:37,333 was that the nine hikers died from hypothermia. 317 00:17:37,458 --> 00:17:42,500 But years later, members of the search party spoke out. 318 00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:46,625 According to their testimony, at the time of the incident, 319 00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:51,042 a mysterious ball of light was seen floating in the sky. 320 00:17:52,125 --> 00:17:53,583 BIRNES: This wasn't a craft 321 00:17:53,708 --> 00:17:56,333 like a plane, it wasn't a craft like a rocket. 322 00:17:56,542 --> 00:18:00,917 It was a glowing, bright ball of light. 323 00:18:01,083 --> 00:18:06,042 One theory is that orbs, they're like cameras. 324 00:18:06,208 --> 00:18:08,500 They travel around, they surveil the area-- 325 00:18:08,667 --> 00:18:10,375 as if they're surveilling our dimension 326 00:18:10,542 --> 00:18:13,583 from another dimension-- and then they disappear. 327 00:18:13,792 --> 00:18:16,500 NARRATOR: Is it possible that the strange orb 328 00:18:16,667 --> 00:18:20,792 seen in the Ural Mountains was not of this world? 329 00:18:20,958 --> 00:18:24,250 And if so, could there be a connection 330 00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:28,833 between it and the mysterious deaths of the Russian hikers? 331 00:18:29,042 --> 00:18:32,292 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, 332 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:36,375 and suggest further evidence of extraterrestrial visitation 333 00:18:36,542 --> 00:18:39,792 can be found in a close encounter 334 00:18:39,958 --> 00:18:43,500 that left physical evidence. 335 00:18:47,375 --> 00:18:49,250 e 336 00:18:49,417 --> 00:18:51,333 of extraterrestrial contact 337 00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:54,167 comes from the most harrowing events. 338 00:18:54,333 --> 00:18:56,250 Like in the case of three people 339 00:18:56,375 --> 00:18:58,667 whose dramatic encounter with a UFO 340 00:18:58,792 --> 00:19:01,000 left them not only traumatized, 341 00:19:01,208 --> 00:19:03,792 but with lasting physical injuries. 342 00:19:03,958 --> 00:19:05,917 Number five on our list 343 00:19:06,083 --> 00:19:09,000 of the top ten scariest encounters: 344 00:19:09,125 --> 00:19:11,583 The Cash-Landrum Incident. 345 00:19:14,875 --> 00:19:15,833 NARRATOR: Dayton, Texas. 346 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,125 December 29, 1980. 347 00:19:21,125 --> 00:19:23,333 Seven-year-old Colby Landrum 348 00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:25,542 is with his grandmother and her friend 349 00:19:25,708 --> 00:19:29,292 driving along a desolate two-lane road 350 00:19:29,458 --> 00:19:31,667 when they have a life-changing experience. 351 00:19:34,667 --> 00:19:38,250 Betty Cash, my grandmother Vickie Landrum, and myself 352 00:19:38,375 --> 00:19:41,167 headed back home towards Dayton. 353 00:19:41,333 --> 00:19:44,750 It was real late at night, nobody else on the road, 354 00:19:44,917 --> 00:19:47,583 and we encountered a bright object. 355 00:19:47,750 --> 00:19:51,625 It actually was, like, about the size of a water tower. 356 00:19:51,792 --> 00:19:56,333 100 foot across, 100 foot tall, but in a diamond shape. 357 00:19:56,542 --> 00:19:59,083 I just panicked. I got on the floorboard. 358 00:19:59,250 --> 00:20:02,875 VICKIE: This is Vickie Landrum from Dayton, Texas. 359 00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:26,167 JAMES: Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum 360 00:20:26,292 --> 00:20:28,500 stopped the car to investigate, 361 00:20:28,708 --> 00:20:31,542 and the local environment is actually being heated 362 00:20:31,708 --> 00:20:33,583 by this object to the point where they try to touch 363 00:20:33,750 --> 00:20:36,083 their car and it's hot to the touch. 364 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:38,792 LANDRUM: You could feel the heat off of it. 365 00:20:38,958 --> 00:20:41,125 The heat was very intense. 366 00:20:41,292 --> 00:20:42,917 It was hot enough for-- When she grabbed 367 00:20:43,083 --> 00:20:44,708 the dash when we stopped, 368 00:20:44,875 --> 00:20:47,917 I mean, it was an indention of where her hand was sitting. 369 00:20:48,083 --> 00:20:51,875 JAMES: Now, what makes this unique is that, when they get home, 370 00:20:52,083 --> 00:20:54,667 after a couple of days, they start to show symptoms 371 00:20:54,875 --> 00:20:57,417 of being exposed to ionized radiation. 372 00:20:58,458 --> 00:21:00,958 NARRATOR: After the incident, all three witnesses 373 00:21:01,125 --> 00:21:03,750 were treated for radiation exposure. 374 00:21:05,208 --> 00:21:07,292 LANDRUM: I got nauseous and sick. 375 00:21:07,458 --> 00:21:10,500 It probably lasted two or three days with me. 376 00:21:10,708 --> 00:21:14,667 My grandmother, she had the same symptoms, 377 00:21:14,833 --> 00:21:17,708 but she also had blisters on her skin. 378 00:21:17,875 --> 00:21:20,500 They would bust open, and she'd have sores 379 00:21:20,625 --> 00:21:22,250 for several years after that. 380 00:21:22,458 --> 00:21:26,667 Betty Cash suffered the most severe part of it. 381 00:21:26,750 --> 00:21:29,792 She was out of the car the longest. 382 00:21:29,958 --> 00:21:34,583 According to the doctors, she had the most exposure to it. 383 00:21:35,708 --> 00:21:39,583 CHILDRESS: The women blamed the U.S. government for this. 384 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:43,958 And this then became a very well-known court case, 385 00:21:44,125 --> 00:21:45,875 where they were suing 386 00:21:46,042 --> 00:21:47,917 the U.S. government, essentially. 387 00:21:48,083 --> 00:21:52,000 NARRATOR: For help with their case, Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum 388 00:21:52,167 --> 00:21:56,708 turned to investigators with MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network. 389 00:21:56,875 --> 00:22:00,417 NICK POPE: MUFON investigators got the witness statements, 390 00:22:00,625 --> 00:22:03,458 gathered the evidence, including things like medical records, 391 00:22:03,625 --> 00:22:06,875 which were central to the legal case. 392 00:22:07,042 --> 00:22:09,875 And, although the witnesses didn't win their case, 393 00:22:10,042 --> 00:22:13,875 what's important was that that gets it on the record. 394 00:22:14,917 --> 00:22:19,167 NARRATOR: Today, the Cash-Landrum incident is one of the most famous, 395 00:22:19,375 --> 00:22:23,000 and harrowing, UFO encounters in recent history. 396 00:22:24,042 --> 00:22:27,042 LANDRUM: I remember being there, and I know what happened. 397 00:22:27,208 --> 00:22:30,000 I want somebody to come forward and actually, you know, 398 00:22:30,167 --> 00:22:32,500 admit that something happened there. 399 00:22:34,125 --> 00:22:36,458 I just want to know the truth. 400 00:22:38,625 --> 00:22:41,583 To me, the most intriguing UFO encounters 401 00:22:41,750 --> 00:22:44,125 are those that can be corroborated 402 00:22:44,292 --> 00:22:46,250 by multiple witnesses. 403 00:22:46,458 --> 00:22:49,667 One mass sighting that I find particularly compelling 404 00:22:49,792 --> 00:22:52,125 happened to a group of school children 405 00:22:52,333 --> 00:22:54,208 in rural Oklahoma, 406 00:22:54,375 --> 00:22:56,708 and the experience was so intense, 407 00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:59,708 it left them fearing for their lives. 408 00:22:59,875 --> 00:23:03,875 At number four: The Miracle Mountains Incident. 409 00:23:09,750 --> 00:23:13,833 NARRATOR: Hartshorne, Oklahoma. 1975. 410 00:23:15,292 --> 00:23:18,125 Randy Young is a ten-year-old student 411 00:23:18,250 --> 00:23:20,125 at the Miracle Mountains Boarding School. 412 00:23:20,292 --> 00:23:23,542 One day, his normal routine 413 00:23:23,708 --> 00:23:26,125 is shattered by a terrifying event. 414 00:23:27,208 --> 00:23:30,000 RANDY YOUNG: My brother and I, we were out in the sandbox, 415 00:23:30,208 --> 00:23:34,125 and we saw this circular, uh, shining light that was 416 00:23:34,333 --> 00:23:36,750 probably 2,000 or so feet up in the air. 417 00:23:38,875 --> 00:23:41,083 And it didn't have the movements of an airplane. 418 00:23:41,250 --> 00:23:42,917 Um, it was just hovering. 419 00:23:43,042 --> 00:23:47,292 And, as it got darker, this craft got closer. 420 00:23:47,417 --> 00:23:49,167 It had lights that went through the midsection, 421 00:23:49,333 --> 00:23:50,958 all the way around, 422 00:23:51,125 --> 00:23:53,542 and it had this classic, um, saucer-type shape. 423 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000 We called the adults out. 424 00:23:57,125 --> 00:23:59,958 There were a few children that were frightened to death 425 00:24:00,083 --> 00:24:01,292 of the thing. 426 00:24:01,458 --> 00:24:04,875 And we heard one of the girls scream. 427 00:24:07,292 --> 00:24:08,875 Seems to have been a landing. 428 00:24:09,042 --> 00:24:11,542 Some people say there are entities there. 429 00:24:11,708 --> 00:24:14,125 At one point, one of the older children 430 00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:16,125 got onto the roof with a-a gun 431 00:24:16,292 --> 00:24:21,667 because they were that concerned about what was happening. 432 00:24:21,875 --> 00:24:26,333 It was a rifle, and that was the end of the story for us 433 00:24:26,542 --> 00:24:29,250 'cause it took off, and we never saw it again. 434 00:24:29,417 --> 00:24:33,625 NARRATOR: Almost 50 years later, several people who attended 435 00:24:33,833 --> 00:24:35,875 the Miracle Mountains Boarding School 436 00:24:36,042 --> 00:24:39,833 shared their story with MUFON in chilling detail. 437 00:24:40,042 --> 00:24:43,333 I first reached out to Randy and interviewed him. 438 00:24:43,542 --> 00:24:46,833 The next person I spoke to was Philip Buchanan. 439 00:24:46,958 --> 00:24:49,167 Philip was one of the older children 440 00:24:49,375 --> 00:24:51,042 at the school at the time. 441 00:24:51,208 --> 00:24:55,000 And then I spoke with the teacher via e-mail. 442 00:24:56,583 --> 00:24:59,292 And the teacher described that some of the kids 443 00:24:59,458 --> 00:25:00,583 were hiding under the beds 444 00:25:00,708 --> 00:25:02,667 because they were very terrified, 445 00:25:02,792 --> 00:25:06,583 and some of the kids were looking out the window. 446 00:25:06,750 --> 00:25:08,667 They reported to see 447 00:25:08,792 --> 00:25:11,208 shapeshifting entities out there. 448 00:25:11,333 --> 00:25:15,542 What Mindy found out, after doing all that work, 449 00:25:15,708 --> 00:25:18,625 is that these kids were recalling the exact same thing. 450 00:25:19,875 --> 00:25:22,750 As these witnesses were telling their stories years later, 451 00:25:22,917 --> 00:25:24,917 one of the things Mindy asked them to do 452 00:25:25,042 --> 00:25:28,125 was to actually draw the UFO that they'd seen. 453 00:25:29,333 --> 00:25:30,833 And the consistency is amazing. 454 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,500 And not only are they telling the same story, 455 00:25:33,667 --> 00:25:36,208 but they're describing the same craft. 456 00:25:37,167 --> 00:25:41,167 TSOUKALOS: This cold case is one of the most fascinating cases, 457 00:25:41,333 --> 00:25:46,375 because students, they had not spoken to each other since 1975, 458 00:25:46,542 --> 00:25:51,167 and they all replied with the same answers, 459 00:25:51,375 --> 00:25:53,833 which indicates that something happened, 460 00:25:53,958 --> 00:25:57,167 and everybody saw the same thing. 461 00:25:58,458 --> 00:26:02,083 YOUNG: It was something that will always be a memory for us. 462 00:26:02,208 --> 00:26:04,958 And I've never seen anything like that ever again. 463 00:26:05,125 --> 00:26:08,167 I almost wish that it would never have happened. 464 00:26:12,750 --> 00:26:15,667 ll-documes 465 00:26:15,792 --> 00:26:19,667 in history was reported by members of the armed forces. 466 00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:21,708 Over the course of two nights, 467 00:26:21,875 --> 00:26:24,917 multiple servicemen not only saw a mysterious craft, 468 00:26:25,125 --> 00:26:27,667 but some claimed to have had an experience 469 00:26:27,833 --> 00:26:30,042 that haunts them to this very day. 470 00:26:30,250 --> 00:26:32,667 Number three on our countdown: 471 00:26:32,875 --> 00:26:35,917 The Rendlesham Forest Incident. 472 00:26:38,542 --> 00:26:40,125 NARRATOR: In Suffolk County, England, 473 00:26:40,208 --> 00:26:43,833 there is a remote forest in the village of Rendlesham 474 00:26:44,042 --> 00:26:45,958 that has become famous for being the site 475 00:26:46,083 --> 00:26:50,167 of one of the most extraordinary and frightening 476 00:26:50,333 --> 00:26:52,333 UFO encounters ever reported. 477 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:57,792 The event occurred on December 26, 1980. 478 00:26:57,917 --> 00:27:00,333 Airman John Burroughs was performing 479 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:01,708 a routine security check 480 00:27:01,875 --> 00:27:05,000 at a U.S. Air Force Base when he received orders 481 00:27:05,208 --> 00:27:08,500 to investigate a possible downed aircraft. 482 00:27:08,708 --> 00:27:11,167 JOHN BURROUGHS: My supervisor called me on the radio and asked me 483 00:27:11,333 --> 00:27:13,583 to meet up with him so we could check the east gate. 484 00:27:13,708 --> 00:27:15,667 We're driving down the road leading to the east gate 485 00:27:15,833 --> 00:27:18,000 to check on it when, all of a sudden, 486 00:27:18,208 --> 00:27:19,958 he saw some strange lights in the forest. 487 00:27:21,083 --> 00:27:23,292 So I decided to call it in and let them know 488 00:27:23,458 --> 00:27:25,042 something strange was going on. 489 00:27:25,208 --> 00:27:28,292 They decided to send one of the security units down, 490 00:27:28,458 --> 00:27:30,542 which was Sergeant Penniston. 491 00:27:30,750 --> 00:27:32,667 He got down there and he saw the same strange lights 492 00:27:32,875 --> 00:27:34,833 that we were seeing. 493 00:27:35,042 --> 00:27:36,708 PENNISTON: I could see all these multiple color lights 494 00:27:36,875 --> 00:27:38,667 and things like that, 495 00:27:38,833 --> 00:27:40,833 and the air felt different. 496 00:27:40,958 --> 00:27:44,417 I don't know how to... really explain that, 497 00:27:44,583 --> 00:27:47,458 but it did feel like there was electricity 498 00:27:47,583 --> 00:27:49,417 on our skin and hair and stuff, 499 00:27:49,583 --> 00:27:52,208 but that progressively got worse the closer 500 00:27:52,375 --> 00:27:55,083 we got to the tree line, and it got more intense. 501 00:27:56,417 --> 00:27:59,750 NARRATOR: As the servicemen approached the strange lights, 502 00:27:59,958 --> 00:28:03,458 Sergeant Penniston reportedly saw a large craft 503 00:28:03,625 --> 00:28:05,917 just beyond the tree line. 504 00:28:06,083 --> 00:28:08,167 PENNISTON: The craft was triangular in shape, 505 00:28:08,333 --> 00:28:12,500 measuring about six to seven feet high, black in color. 506 00:28:12,708 --> 00:28:15,125 I'd come around to the far side of the craft, 507 00:28:15,292 --> 00:28:16,917 and that's when I noticed that there was, you know, 508 00:28:17,083 --> 00:28:18,500 an inscription on the side. 509 00:28:18,708 --> 00:28:20,167 You know, it is about three feet long, 510 00:28:20,375 --> 00:28:22,042 maybe six inches high. 511 00:28:23,958 --> 00:28:25,542 Instead of something familiar, 512 00:28:25,708 --> 00:28:28,292 I see these pictorial-type glyphs. 513 00:28:28,458 --> 00:28:31,208 And got running my hand over the side of the craft. 514 00:28:32,458 --> 00:28:34,167 I don't know how to explain this. 515 00:28:34,333 --> 00:28:36,042 It's like someone was holding a picture up, okay? 516 00:28:36,208 --> 00:28:38,458 There was this feeling of being drawn into it, 517 00:28:38,542 --> 00:28:40,167 or being pulled into it. 518 00:28:40,375 --> 00:28:43,083 Like someone was holding a picture up of zeroes and ones 519 00:28:43,250 --> 00:28:44,833 in my mind's eye. 520 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,167 NARRATOR: The strange visions 521 00:28:46,333 --> 00:28:49,167 Sergeant Penniston had upon touching the craft, 522 00:28:49,292 --> 00:28:54,833 has made this one of Britain's most famous UFO encounters. 523 00:28:55,042 --> 00:28:58,167 But ancient astronaut theorists suggest 524 00:28:58,375 --> 00:29:01,667 that even more compelling is what happened after. 525 00:29:01,875 --> 00:29:04,792 Over the following two evenings, 526 00:29:04,917 --> 00:29:07,583 U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles Halt 527 00:29:07,750 --> 00:29:10,333 reported further strange sightings. 528 00:29:10,458 --> 00:29:15,167 He led his own search party to put an end to the confusion. 529 00:29:15,333 --> 00:29:18,750 But instead of finding a logical explanation, 530 00:29:18,917 --> 00:29:22,042 they discovered high levels of radioactivity 531 00:29:22,208 --> 00:29:24,375 where Burroughs and Penniston had previously 532 00:29:24,542 --> 00:29:27,000 seen the strange craft. 533 00:29:27,125 --> 00:29:30,125 They then spotted a light in a nearby field 534 00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:34,417 that suddenly came towards them through the trees at high speed. 535 00:29:35,542 --> 00:29:37,500 CHARLES HALT: While we're walking around, we also notice 536 00:29:37,708 --> 00:29:39,250 four or five objects in the sky. 537 00:29:39,417 --> 00:29:42,875 Then one came at high speed, stopped directly overhead-- 538 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,958 3,000, 4,000, maybe 5,000 feet-- 539 00:29:45,125 --> 00:29:46,917 and sent down a concentrated beam 540 00:29:47,083 --> 00:29:48,792 about eight or ten feet from us. 541 00:29:49,750 --> 00:29:51,833 I was really concerned then. 542 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:53,500 At that point, I was thinking, 543 00:29:53,708 --> 00:29:55,292 "Why did I ever get involved in this? 544 00:29:55,458 --> 00:29:56,833 How will I ever explain this?" 545 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,625 POPE: Now, I did a cold case review 546 00:29:59,792 --> 00:30:01,250 for the Ministry of Defense. 547 00:30:01,417 --> 00:30:04,833 I am still subject to the Official Secrets Act, 548 00:30:05,042 --> 00:30:09,542 but I can tell you, chances are these craft were real. 549 00:30:09,750 --> 00:30:14,833 And if they're real, they might actually be extraterrestrial. 550 00:30:16,458 --> 00:30:20,250 NARRATOR: Today, the frightening encounter in Rendlesham Forest 551 00:30:20,417 --> 00:30:24,042 is known in the UFO community as Britain's Roswell. 552 00:30:25,708 --> 00:30:28,792 For Airman Burroughs and Sergeant Penniston, 553 00:30:28,958 --> 00:30:32,167 the event wasn't easy to leave behind. 554 00:30:33,125 --> 00:30:37,125 Both men had lasting physical and psychological effects 555 00:30:37,333 --> 00:30:39,125 from the encounter. 556 00:30:40,042 --> 00:30:44,125 After the incident, I started having throat and eye problems. 557 00:30:44,292 --> 00:30:46,750 At one point, my gums turned white. 558 00:30:46,917 --> 00:30:49,000 I also had vision problems, and when I went 559 00:30:49,167 --> 00:30:51,375 and saw the doctor, one of his first questions 560 00:30:51,542 --> 00:30:54,167 was had I been ever exposed to radiation. 561 00:30:55,125 --> 00:30:58,083 I've definitely had dreams about it, 562 00:30:58,208 --> 00:31:01,542 and I still have feelings about what happened. 563 00:31:01,708 --> 00:31:04,000 Prior to the incident, 564 00:31:04,125 --> 00:31:06,167 uh... 565 00:31:06,375 --> 00:31:09,833 my views on any kind of phenomena like UFOs, 566 00:31:09,958 --> 00:31:12,000 things like that-- they didn't exist. 567 00:31:12,167 --> 00:31:14,333 I never believed that kind of stuff. 568 00:31:14,542 --> 00:31:17,792 But after the life-changing event of December 1980, 569 00:31:17,958 --> 00:31:18,917 my views were different. 570 00:31:19,125 --> 00:31:21,792 It opened up the possibility 571 00:31:21,958 --> 00:31:24,125 that we're not alone. 572 00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:32,042 scaris 573 00:31:32,208 --> 00:31:34,500 we've investigated on Ancient Aliens 574 00:31:34,667 --> 00:31:36,458 are abduction events. 575 00:31:36,625 --> 00:31:40,042 And one of the most famous involved multiple witnesses 576 00:31:40,208 --> 00:31:42,958 who watched in terror as their friend 577 00:31:43,042 --> 00:31:45,958 was abducted right before their eyes. 578 00:31:46,875 --> 00:31:48,958 Number two on our countdown: 579 00:31:49,083 --> 00:31:51,542 The Travis Walton Abduction. 580 00:31:54,375 --> 00:31:57,125 NARRATOR: The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, 581 00:31:57,292 --> 00:31:59,542 Arizona. 582 00:31:59,708 --> 00:32:02,917 November 5, 1975. 583 00:32:03,083 --> 00:32:06,833 22-year-old forestry worker Travis Walton 584 00:32:07,042 --> 00:32:08,625 and a group of co-workers 585 00:32:08,792 --> 00:32:11,333 are driving home after sundown 586 00:32:11,542 --> 00:32:15,333 when suddenly a strange light appears in the sky. 587 00:32:16,125 --> 00:32:17,833 I noticed, uh, some little glimmers 588 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,417 of light coming through the trees. 589 00:32:19,542 --> 00:32:22,875 And the light seemed to be coming from higher 590 00:32:23,042 --> 00:32:24,917 than where ground level would be. 591 00:32:25,083 --> 00:32:28,083 It was only when we got to where this light 592 00:32:28,250 --> 00:32:30,208 was crossing the road that we had 593 00:32:30,417 --> 00:32:32,958 an unobstructed view of the craft. 594 00:32:34,042 --> 00:32:36,833 It was a clearly visible, 595 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,833 clearly defined metallic object. 596 00:32:40,042 --> 00:32:43,542 A disc hovering there, outlined against the sky. 597 00:32:43,708 --> 00:32:45,958 I threw open the door, 598 00:32:46,167 --> 00:32:48,542 thinking I'd get a closer look before it took off. 599 00:32:49,792 --> 00:32:51,917 That's when this energy hit me. 600 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,625 I felt, like, a physical blow, 601 00:32:55,792 --> 00:32:58,208 but with a sort of a tingling sort of 602 00:32:58,375 --> 00:33:00,375 an electric shock sort of feeling 603 00:33:00,542 --> 00:33:02,167 at the same time. 604 00:33:02,333 --> 00:33:04,833 REDFERN: Walton basically got zapped 605 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,167 by this blinding light. 606 00:33:07,375 --> 00:33:10,292 The crew just hot-footed it out of the area quickly, 607 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:13,167 uh, then thought, "Well, we've got to go back. 608 00:33:13,375 --> 00:33:15,333 You know, we've got to get Travis." 609 00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:18,542 Went back, whatever this object was, was gone. 610 00:33:18,708 --> 00:33:20,542 And he was gone as well. 611 00:33:21,500 --> 00:33:23,458 NARRATOR: According to Travis Walton, 612 00:33:23,625 --> 00:33:27,583 the mysterious beam of light rendered him unconscious. 613 00:33:29,208 --> 00:33:31,750 And when he awoke, he found himself in a room 614 00:33:31,917 --> 00:33:34,875 surrounded by strange beings. 615 00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:38,500 I was looking straight into the, the face of this creature. 616 00:33:40,917 --> 00:33:44,500 These, uh, small beings were humanoid. 617 00:33:44,708 --> 00:33:47,958 But so unhuman. 618 00:33:48,042 --> 00:33:49,667 It was just terrifying. 619 00:33:49,792 --> 00:33:51,000 And I just flipped out. 620 00:33:51,167 --> 00:33:52,875 It was just horrible. 621 00:33:53,042 --> 00:33:56,167 It was like they were looking right into me. 622 00:33:56,375 --> 00:34:00,833 POPE: He saw these hideous entities that scared him. 623 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,750 Maybe quite similar to the modern idea 624 00:34:04,917 --> 00:34:07,833 of the so-called "alien Greys." 625 00:34:08,042 --> 00:34:10,875 And then these aliens seem to go away. 626 00:34:11,083 --> 00:34:13,333 And then their place was taken 627 00:34:13,458 --> 00:34:16,667 by much more human-like aliens. 628 00:34:16,833 --> 00:34:18,500 And he calmed down. 629 00:34:19,542 --> 00:34:22,000 WALTON: In the case of the human-looking ones, 630 00:34:22,167 --> 00:34:24,375 I started to have serious misgivings 631 00:34:24,542 --> 00:34:25,750 that this was a rescue. 632 00:34:25,917 --> 00:34:27,667 And that's when they put this mask 633 00:34:27,875 --> 00:34:29,167 over my face. 634 00:34:29,375 --> 00:34:31,417 And I just blacked out real quickly. 635 00:34:33,583 --> 00:34:36,792 POPE: Now the suspicion here was that actually these 636 00:34:36,875 --> 00:34:39,208 weren't different aliens, these were the same aliens, 637 00:34:39,417 --> 00:34:42,667 but they were capable of shape-shifting 638 00:34:42,833 --> 00:34:47,042 into something else specifically to calm him down. 639 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,167 NARRATOR: Crews searched everywhere for the missing forest worker, 640 00:34:53,375 --> 00:34:56,042 but it wasn't until five days later 641 00:34:56,208 --> 00:35:00,042 that Walton reappeared outside of a nearby town. 642 00:35:00,208 --> 00:35:03,667 When I woke up, I was lying face down 643 00:35:03,875 --> 00:35:06,250 outside in the dark, in the cold. 644 00:35:07,375 --> 00:35:09,917 I was on a highway in the middle of the woods. 645 00:35:10,083 --> 00:35:12,042 I looked around, I recognized the lights 646 00:35:12,208 --> 00:35:13,958 of the town down below. 647 00:35:14,083 --> 00:35:17,167 And I ran down into the town 648 00:35:17,292 --> 00:35:21,083 and, uh, found a telephone and called my family for help. 649 00:35:22,250 --> 00:35:24,667 NARRATOR: Travis Walton's story has become 650 00:35:24,875 --> 00:35:29,000 one of the most famous alien abduction cases ever reported, 651 00:35:29,208 --> 00:35:33,667 and was even adapted into a movie in 1993. 652 00:35:33,875 --> 00:35:37,500 While some dismiss his account as a hallucination, 653 00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:40,167 Travis has no doubt 654 00:35:40,333 --> 00:35:44,417 that he experienced a genuine extraterrestrial encounter. 655 00:35:45,417 --> 00:35:46,667 WALTON: What no one asked 656 00:35:46,875 --> 00:35:49,417 was, you know, what about the rest of the crew? 657 00:35:49,583 --> 00:35:52,375 How do seven people have an identical hallucination? 658 00:35:52,583 --> 00:35:55,000 And besides that, they were given 659 00:35:55,208 --> 00:35:57,042 lie detector tests by state police, 660 00:35:57,208 --> 00:35:59,333 which they passed. 661 00:35:59,542 --> 00:36:02,208 There's real life things that occur out there 662 00:36:02,417 --> 00:36:03,833 that need to be understood. 663 00:36:03,958 --> 00:36:07,458 So, take a look at the facts, a-and then judge. 664 00:36:07,625 --> 00:36:11,250 I don't know the purpose that they had. 665 00:36:11,417 --> 00:36:13,667 All I know is what happened to me. 666 00:36:13,833 --> 00:36:16,250 This was unmistakable. 667 00:36:18,458 --> 00:36:20,875 We're just moments away from revealing 668 00:36:21,083 --> 00:36:22,958 number one on our countdown. 669 00:36:23,125 --> 00:36:27,208 And as far as I'm concerned, it is one of the most incredible 670 00:36:27,375 --> 00:36:29,875 close encounters ever reported. 671 00:36:33,708 --> 00:36:36,000 t Aliensd 672 00:36:36,167 --> 00:36:38,833 some of the most terrifying alien encounters 673 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,208 ever reported, 674 00:36:40,375 --> 00:36:43,333 but this one truly gives me chills. 675 00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:46,333 It's one of the most vivid abduction accounts on record. 676 00:36:46,542 --> 00:36:48,875 And the experience didn't end 677 00:36:49,042 --> 00:36:50,875 after just one incident, 678 00:36:51,042 --> 00:36:54,333 but has persisted for nearly 40 years. 679 00:36:54,500 --> 00:36:57,375 Number one on our countdown 680 00:36:57,542 --> 00:37:00,458 of the top ten scariest encounters: 681 00:37:00,542 --> 00:37:03,583 The Abduction of Whitley Streiber. 682 00:37:06,333 --> 00:37:08,500 NARRATOR: Ulster County, New York. 683 00:37:09,792 --> 00:37:14,208 December 26, 1985. 684 00:37:15,250 --> 00:37:17,125 Best-selling author Whitley Strieber 685 00:37:17,292 --> 00:37:19,250 is celebrating Christmas 686 00:37:19,417 --> 00:37:22,000 with his wife and young son at their cabin. 687 00:37:22,125 --> 00:37:24,208 In the middle of the night, 688 00:37:24,375 --> 00:37:28,042 he is awoken by a disturbing feeling. 689 00:37:28,208 --> 00:37:31,000 I felt that there was something around me. 690 00:37:31,167 --> 00:37:32,083 In other words, there was movement 691 00:37:32,250 --> 00:37:33,708 that shouldn't have been there. 692 00:37:33,833 --> 00:37:35,667 And I opened my eyes 693 00:37:35,875 --> 00:37:37,958 and I saw these big, 694 00:37:38,125 --> 00:37:39,875 black eyes staring at me. 695 00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:45,875 And I had no idea where I was. 696 00:37:46,083 --> 00:37:47,875 It was a little round room. 697 00:37:49,042 --> 00:37:51,458 And I began to scream. 698 00:37:51,625 --> 00:37:55,542 This automatic voice turned on, saying, 699 00:37:55,750 --> 00:37:57,917 "What can we do to help you stop screaming?" 700 00:37:59,167 --> 00:38:00,333 There were these other figures, 701 00:38:00,500 --> 00:38:03,042 dark blue little figures darting around, 702 00:38:03,208 --> 00:38:05,417 and they assaulted me, basically. 703 00:38:05,625 --> 00:38:08,625 It was not easy. It was a very terrifying experience. 704 00:38:09,667 --> 00:38:12,500 NARRATOR: To process the traumatic event, 705 00:38:12,667 --> 00:38:14,833 Whitley wrote about his close encounter, 706 00:38:15,042 --> 00:38:18,167 which became the basis of his best-selling memoir, 707 00:38:18,333 --> 00:38:19,583 Communion. 708 00:38:19,750 --> 00:38:22,667 He hoped the experience was behind him, 709 00:38:22,875 --> 00:38:25,000 but in May of 1989, 710 00:38:25,125 --> 00:38:28,542 Whitley had another strange nocturnal encounter. 711 00:38:28,708 --> 00:38:32,917 I'm on my side, on my right side. 712 00:38:33,083 --> 00:38:37,625 And there's a hand pressing down on my left... temple, 713 00:38:37,750 --> 00:38:40,833 pressing it into the pillow in, like, waves, like this. 714 00:38:41,042 --> 00:38:43,417 And I can't struggle. 715 00:38:43,625 --> 00:38:45,875 I can't move a muscle. I can't see anything. 716 00:38:46,042 --> 00:38:48,958 I am completely immobilized. 717 00:38:50,625 --> 00:38:53,500 After a few seconds, that ends. 718 00:38:53,667 --> 00:38:55,833 And I think, "Was it a dream?" 719 00:38:57,667 --> 00:38:59,333 Then the next day or the day after, 720 00:38:59,542 --> 00:39:01,500 my ear started hurting. 721 00:39:01,625 --> 00:39:04,667 I reach up and I feel this bump here on my ear. 722 00:39:05,667 --> 00:39:08,583 And I thought, "Oh, my God, it's an implant." 723 00:39:09,667 --> 00:39:11,500 WOMAN: Oh! Look at that white thing. 724 00:39:11,667 --> 00:39:14,375 STRIEBER: There was an attempt to remove it. 725 00:39:17,833 --> 00:39:19,500 STRIEBER: It failed because the implant 726 00:39:19,708 --> 00:39:22,083 went from here, right down into here 727 00:39:22,208 --> 00:39:24,000 on its own. 728 00:39:26,250 --> 00:39:28,167 STRIEBER: And the doctor pulled out. 729 00:39:28,333 --> 00:39:30,708 Two days later, it went from my ear lobe 730 00:39:30,875 --> 00:39:33,000 back up to where it is to this day. 731 00:39:34,208 --> 00:39:36,167 NARRATOR: Could extraterrestrials really 732 00:39:36,292 --> 00:39:38,000 have implanted some kind of device 733 00:39:38,167 --> 00:39:40,750 inside Whitley Strieber's ear? 734 00:39:40,875 --> 00:39:43,375 And if so, why? 735 00:39:43,542 --> 00:39:45,250 According to Whitley, 736 00:39:45,375 --> 00:39:47,333 whatever the implant is, 737 00:39:47,500 --> 00:39:50,458 it has had a profound effect on him. 738 00:39:50,625 --> 00:39:53,583 In 2015, I noticed a slit 739 00:39:53,750 --> 00:39:55,542 opened up in my right eye. 740 00:39:55,708 --> 00:39:58,542 And you could see words racing through it. 741 00:39:58,708 --> 00:40:02,292 But they were like someone was typing very quickly and racing. 742 00:40:02,458 --> 00:40:05,708 And it had something to do with my writing. 743 00:40:05,875 --> 00:40:10,125 Because at the same time, my ability to do research 744 00:40:10,292 --> 00:40:13,750 changed dramatically and weirdly. 745 00:40:13,917 --> 00:40:17,583 I found that if I just thought about something I needed, 746 00:40:17,708 --> 00:40:21,042 no matter how obscure, one way or another, it would come to me. 747 00:40:22,375 --> 00:40:24,000 NARRATOR: Since receiving the alleged implant, 748 00:40:24,167 --> 00:40:25,958 Strieber claims to have had 749 00:40:26,167 --> 00:40:29,875 regular interaction with otherworldly beings. 750 00:40:30,083 --> 00:40:32,333 STRIBETER: The visitors are a part of my life now. 751 00:40:32,417 --> 00:40:34,000 Very much so. 752 00:40:34,167 --> 00:40:36,250 Uh, I don't think 753 00:40:36,417 --> 00:40:38,417 I would be comfortable working 754 00:40:38,583 --> 00:40:41,083 without knowing that there was-- 755 00:40:41,208 --> 00:40:44,167 using the implant, that there was a connection. 756 00:40:44,292 --> 00:40:47,833 Now, what do they want from us? 757 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,792 That is a very big unanswered question. 758 00:40:54,042 --> 00:40:56,833 Much like Whitley Strieber, we are all left 759 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,917 with unanswered questions by these incredible incidents. 760 00:41:01,042 --> 00:41:04,333 As far as I'm concerned, there is no doubt 761 00:41:04,500 --> 00:41:07,417 that extraterrestrials are visiting our planet. 762 00:41:08,458 --> 00:41:10,500 But what do they want? 763 00:41:10,625 --> 00:41:13,667 Perhaps only through the careful study of these 764 00:41:13,833 --> 00:41:16,208 and other extraordinary accounts, 765 00:41:16,375 --> 00:41:18,583 whether they are mass UFO sightings, 766 00:41:18,750 --> 00:41:20,333 animal mutilations, 767 00:41:20,542 --> 00:41:23,375 or even frightening abductions, 768 00:41:23,542 --> 00:41:25,708 the truth may finally be revealed 769 00:41:25,875 --> 00:41:30,167 about Earth's extraterrestrial visitors. 770 00:41:30,292 --> 00:41:33,000 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS