1 00:00:05,073 --> 00:00:07,375 Narrator: There are global phenomena 2 00:00:07,473 --> 00:00:09,775 that science cannot explain 3 00:00:09,775 --> 00:00:13,512 true stories that defy rational explanation. 4 00:00:13,512 --> 00:00:15,615 Pilot Fred valentich and his plane 5 00:00:15,615 --> 00:00:19,151 disappear from the bright blue skies of Southern Australia, 6 00:00:19,151 --> 00:00:21,087 his last communication 7 00:00:21,087 --> 00:00:25,124 seemingly an encounter with a menacing, unknown craft. 8 00:00:25,124 --> 00:00:27,326 It's hovering! I - it's not an aircraft! 9 00:00:27,326 --> 00:00:30,930 The ramblings of a disoriented pilot under stress? 10 00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:32,365 It's just vanished! 11 00:00:32,365 --> 00:00:35,034 Or could this be first contact? 12 00:00:35,034 --> 00:00:37,637 I think he encountered a ufo. 13 00:00:37,637 --> 00:00:39,872 Narrator: On the other side of the world, 14 00:00:39,872 --> 00:00:42,475 livestock in Texas are drained of their blood 15 00:00:42,475 --> 00:00:44,043 by an elusive predator. 16 00:00:44,043 --> 00:00:46,679 Carter: What is th oh, man! 17 00:00:46,679 --> 00:00:47,913 Narrator: Is the American Southwest 18 00:00:47,913 --> 00:00:50,683 harboring a dangerous new species? 19 00:00:50,683 --> 00:00:52,818 Hot damn! That thing is going fast! 20 00:00:52,818 --> 00:00:54,919 Riedel: It wasn't a coyote, and it wasn't a wolf. 21 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:56,222 I've never seen anything like it. 22 00:00:56,222 --> 00:00:59,625 Do you know what this is? Because I don't. 23 00:00:59,625 --> 00:01:01,093 [ Woman screams ] 24 00:01:01,093 --> 00:01:02,829 Narrator: New investigations question 25 00:01:02,829 --> 00:01:05,798 unexplained happenings and otherworldly events. 26 00:01:05,798 --> 00:01:07,700 Man: The eyes were gone. The tongue was gone. 27 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:09,669 Why is there no blood? 28 00:01:09,669 --> 00:01:10,937 Who's doing this? 29 00:01:10,937 --> 00:01:12,672 Narrator: Firsthand testimony and fresh evidence 30 00:01:12,672 --> 00:01:14,274 build new possibilities. 31 00:01:14,274 --> 00:01:16,209 Man: Never seen anything like that in my life. 32 00:01:16,209 --> 00:01:18,477 And it just disappeared into thin air. 33 00:01:18,477 --> 00:01:19,979 It wasn't from this planet. 34 00:01:19,979 --> 00:01:21,914 My arms were just on fire. 35 00:01:21,914 --> 00:01:24,751 Narrator: Rethink everything you think you know. 36 00:01:24,751 --> 00:01:27,753 Captions by vitac www.Vitac.Com 37 00:01:27,753 --> 00:01:30,057 Captions paid for by Discovery Communications, LLC. 38 00:01:30,057 --> 00:01:32,257 Sync & Corrected by iscol 39 00:01:32,258 --> 00:01:34,259 the southeast coast of Australia 40 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:37,596 is home to one of the great mysteries of aviation. 41 00:01:37,596 --> 00:01:40,567 Pilot Fred valentich and his aircraft disappear 42 00:01:40,567 --> 00:01:43,169 from the face of the earth, leaving no trace. 43 00:01:43,169 --> 00:01:45,438 What happened that day? 44 00:01:45,438 --> 00:01:47,840 How could an airplane simply vanish? 45 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,776 And what could explain Fred's terrifying final moments 46 00:01:50,776 --> 00:01:53,479 captured by the control tower? 47 00:01:53,479 --> 00:01:55,314 It's hovering! I-it's not an aircraft! 48 00:01:55,314 --> 00:01:58,217 [ Static ] 49 00:01:59,485 --> 00:02:02,755 I, every now and then, think about what could have happened, 50 00:02:02,755 --> 00:02:05,390 and I still draw to the same concl 51 00:02:05,391 --> 00:02:08,394 I just don't know. 52 00:02:08,394 --> 00:02:11,563 Narrator: Fred valentich is 20 years old 53 00:02:11,563 --> 00:02:15,900 and certified with a private pilot's license. 54 00:02:17,069 --> 00:02:20,572 Richard: That was his whole passion, flying. He loved it. 55 00:02:20,572 --> 00:02:24,076 The last years of his life, that's all he did. 56 00:02:24,076 --> 00:02:26,278 He dedicated everything to flying. 57 00:02:26,278 --> 00:02:29,415 Narrator: But could his relative lack of experience 58 00:02:29,415 --> 00:02:32,317 have contributed to what he sees that fateful day? 59 00:02:32,318 --> 00:02:35,588 October 21, 1978. 60 00:02:35,588 --> 00:02:37,790 It's 6:20 P.M. 61 00:02:37,790 --> 00:02:41,293 Fred climbs aboard a rented cessna 182 single-engine plane 62 00:02:41,294 --> 00:02:43,830 for a routine cargo flight. 63 00:02:45,365 --> 00:02:48,734 Today's task fly an hour away 64 00:02:48,734 --> 00:02:52,104 and pick up an order of crayfish along the coast. 65 00:02:52,104 --> 00:02:55,475 Conditions are good, visibility clear, 66 00:02:55,475 --> 00:02:59,811 and the plane recently serviced. 67 00:03:01,514 --> 00:03:04,316 His route will take him over the outskirts of Melbourne 68 00:03:04,316 --> 00:03:08,621 past cape otway to king island in the bass strait. 69 00:03:10,256 --> 00:03:12,424 It's a simple freight mission, 70 00:03:12,424 --> 00:03:14,860 one of many that Melbourne flight officer Steve robey 71 00:03:14,860 --> 00:03:16,862 will monitor that day. 72 00:03:16,862 --> 00:03:18,930 Well, he just made a standard position report 73 00:03:18,931 --> 00:03:22,502 over cape otway with an estimate for king island. 74 00:03:22,502 --> 00:03:26,639 I think he said he was operating below 5,000, and that was it. 75 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,074 Narrator: But 47 minutes into the flight, 76 00:03:29,074 --> 00:03:32,811 their conversation takes an unexpected turn. 77 00:03:32,811 --> 00:03:36,582 Frederick said, "Melbourne, this is delta Sierra Juliet. 78 00:03:36,582 --> 00:03:39,886 Is there any known traffic below 5,000?" 79 00:03:39,886 --> 00:03:41,220 I said... 80 00:03:41,220 --> 00:03:43,889 Delta Sierra Juliet, no known traffic. 81 00:03:43,889 --> 00:03:48,127 It seems to me there's a large aircraft below 5,000. 82 00:03:48,127 --> 00:03:51,831 I, uh, got him to describe the aircraft. 83 00:03:51,831 --> 00:03:56,067 "It has four bright it seems to me like landing lights." 84 00:03:56,068 --> 00:04:01,174 then he said, "The aircraft has just passed over me 85 00:04:01,174 --> 00:04:05,044 at least 1,000 feet above." 86 00:04:05,044 --> 00:04:08,281 he was describing it doing some fairly strange things. 87 00:04:09,248 --> 00:04:10,516 Fred: Delta Sierra Juliet. 88 00:04:10,516 --> 00:04:13,585 It seems to me that he's playing some sort of game. 89 00:04:13,586 --> 00:04:16,789 "He's flying over me two, three times 90 00:04:16,789 --> 00:04:19,024 at speeds I could not identify." 91 00:04:23,295 --> 00:04:24,797 Frederick then said... 92 00:04:24,797 --> 00:04:28,066 Delta Sierra Juliet. The engine is rough idling. 93 00:04:28,066 --> 00:04:33,072 I've got it set at 23-24, and it's just coughing. 94 00:04:33,072 --> 00:04:34,607 [ Engine sputters ] 95 00:04:34,607 --> 00:04:38,378 Narrator: Rough idling means the engine has mechanical problems, 96 00:04:38,378 --> 00:04:41,080 potentially fatal above the sea. 97 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:42,448 Just listening to him 98 00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:46,751 I can still remember it distinctly 99 00:04:46,752 --> 00:04:50,589 he definitely sounded as if he was under stress, 100 00:04:50,589 --> 00:04:54,694 and I could just picture him sort of in the aircraft 101 00:04:54,694 --> 00:04:59,866 looking around for this object in the sky. 102 00:05:02,068 --> 00:05:05,236 Narrator: Moments later, Fred stops talking 103 00:05:05,237 --> 00:05:09,275 and strange metallic noises crackle across the airwaves. 104 00:05:09,275 --> 00:05:12,210 [ Static crackling ] 105 00:05:12,211 --> 00:05:15,681 Before robey can ask Fred what they are, 106 00:05:15,681 --> 00:05:18,717 the line goes dead. 107 00:05:18,717 --> 00:05:22,288 Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne. Come in. Over. 108 00:05:24,790 --> 00:05:28,561 Narrator: Fred never arrives at king island. 109 00:05:28,561 --> 00:05:31,729 My mom come in, and she was crying, 110 00:05:31,730 --> 00:05:35,468 and she said, "Fred's been in an accident." 111 00:05:35,468 --> 00:05:38,671 narrator: A full-scale search-and-rescue mission 112 00:05:38,671 --> 00:05:40,906 is launched. 113 00:05:40,906 --> 00:05:44,510 Aircraft are deployed, authorities comb the shoreline, 114 00:05:44,510 --> 00:05:47,212 and vessels crisscross the ocean. 115 00:05:47,213 --> 00:05:50,282 Most of that day, I remember, the news reports 116 00:05:50,282 --> 00:05:52,818 saying that they were searching for a pilot 117 00:05:52,818 --> 00:05:54,820 that had ditched into the sea. 118 00:05:54,820 --> 00:05:56,288 Narrator: But after seven days, 119 00:05:56,288 --> 00:06:01,527 no trace of Fred or his plane is recovered. 120 00:06:01,527 --> 00:06:04,664 I cried for three days. I think I'd never stop crying. 121 00:06:04,664 --> 00:06:09,502 It really it really gutted me that he disappeared, you know? 122 00:06:09,502 --> 00:06:12,538 It was a big hole in my life. 123 00:06:12,538 --> 00:06:15,174 Narrator: The unsettling circumstances of Fred's disappearance 124 00:06:15,174 --> 00:06:16,808 shock his community, 125 00:06:16,809 --> 00:06:20,513 triggering questions that continue to reverberate. 126 00:06:20,513 --> 00:06:24,984 What caused the disappearance of the pilot and the aircraft? 127 00:06:24,984 --> 00:06:29,688 And why is no debris of the aircraft ever found? 128 00:06:31,924 --> 00:06:33,758 Investigator George Simpson 129 00:06:33,759 --> 00:06:36,395 has harbored a lifelong obsession with the event 130 00:06:36,395 --> 00:06:39,397 because of a chance sighting that day. 131 00:06:39,398 --> 00:06:41,534 I've always felt that I was one of the last people 132 00:06:41,534 --> 00:06:44,002 to see the plane in the air. 133 00:06:44,002 --> 00:06:47,639 I was waiting for my girlfriend, who was coming over for dinner, 134 00:06:47,639 --> 00:06:50,342 and it had just gone 6:00, and she was a little bit late, 135 00:06:50,342 --> 00:06:56,248 and I'd just come out here to the post here to wait for her. 136 00:06:56,249 --> 00:07:00,018 And I saw a plane flying over. It was a cessna. 137 00:07:00,018 --> 00:07:02,587 I remember the angle it was on exactly, 138 00:07:02,588 --> 00:07:05,291 and if you look at a map and you check that angle, 139 00:07:05,291 --> 00:07:08,761 that's directly to cape otway. 140 00:07:12,165 --> 00:07:16,803 I've thought for years that it's a mystery that needs solving. 141 00:07:19,004 --> 00:07:22,741 Narrator: George is baffled by the many unexplained details 142 00:07:22,741 --> 00:07:25,911 the odd noises, the absence of crash debris, 143 00:07:25,911 --> 00:07:31,450 and, in particular, the bright lights of another craft. 144 00:07:31,450 --> 00:07:32,918 Could these lights be the key 145 00:07:32,918 --> 00:07:34,954 to the mystery of the plane's disappearance? 146 00:07:36,355 --> 00:07:38,424 Four bright it seems to me like landing lights. 147 00:07:38,424 --> 00:07:40,392 Several newspapers at the time 148 00:07:40,392 --> 00:07:42,762 suggest that the lights Fred sees 149 00:07:42,762 --> 00:07:46,398 are the reflection of his own cessna aircraft in the water 150 00:07:46,398 --> 00:07:50,202 as he tumbles toward the sea upside down and disoriented. 151 00:07:50,202 --> 00:07:54,907 The crash, it is claimed, is due to pilot error. 152 00:07:58,644 --> 00:08:01,714 George has come to meet pilot Roger merridew. 153 00:08:01,714 --> 00:08:03,649 Well, this is a cessna 182. 154 00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:07,119 A veteran of the skies with more than 40 years of experience, 155 00:08:07,119 --> 00:08:08,621 Roger has closely studied 156 00:08:08,621 --> 00:08:11,789 the same type of airplane that Fred flew that day. 157 00:08:11,790 --> 00:08:13,191 So, there have been theories 158 00:08:13,191 --> 00:08:15,460 that have been put forward by various people 159 00:08:15,460 --> 00:08:18,464 that Frederick might have become disoriented 160 00:08:18,464 --> 00:08:22,201 and been flying upside down in the aircraft flying inverted. 161 00:08:22,201 --> 00:08:24,336 How would that affect the running of the aircraft? 162 00:08:24,336 --> 00:08:27,239 The tanks are up here in the wings just above our head. 163 00:08:27,239 --> 00:08:31,443 Then, the fuel, of course, drains down into the fuel system 164 00:08:31,443 --> 00:08:34,279 through pipes that run down the door frame. 165 00:08:34,279 --> 00:08:35,514 In the case of the cessna, 166 00:08:35,514 --> 00:08:37,950 if you go upside down, because of the gravity feed, 167 00:08:37,950 --> 00:08:40,786 fuel-tank system just won't run upside down. 168 00:08:40,885 --> 00:08:43,655 So the engine would stop within about 20 seconds. 169 00:08:43,655 --> 00:08:44,616 20 seconds it'd stop? 170 00:08:44,717 --> 00:08:45,623 Yeah. It would stop. 171 00:08:45,624 --> 00:08:47,994 How long could he stay in the air after that if that's happened? 172 00:08:47,994 --> 00:08:50,462 The airplane isn't a good glider upside down, 173 00:08:50,462 --> 00:08:54,000 so I would say three minutes or so before he's in the water. 174 00:08:56,635 --> 00:08:58,203 Narrator: The strange conversation 175 00:08:58,203 --> 00:09:01,640 between Fred and flight service operator Steve robey 176 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,442 takes place over seven minutes 177 00:09:04,442 --> 00:09:07,812 double the estimated time he could glide upside down 178 00:09:07,812 --> 00:09:09,915 before hitting the water. 179 00:09:09,915 --> 00:09:12,584 There's no way that he could have been flying inverted, 180 00:09:12,584 --> 00:09:14,486 'cause the engine would have stopped, 181 00:09:14,486 --> 00:09:16,521 the plane would have fallen out of the sky. 182 00:09:16,522 --> 00:09:18,991 I don't even know if he ever hit the water. 183 00:09:18,991 --> 00:09:20,960 So it's very difficult to get your head around it 184 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,061 other than he reported this unusual object 185 00:09:23,061 --> 00:09:25,331 flying around him, and that was it. 186 00:09:27,666 --> 00:09:29,635 He and his aircraft vanished without a trace. 187 00:09:31,136 --> 00:09:32,538 Narrator: If not pilot error, 188 00:09:32,538 --> 00:09:34,506 then what caused the bright lights 189 00:09:34,506 --> 00:09:36,975 that led to Fred's disappearance? 190 00:09:38,076 --> 00:09:41,013 The answer may lie in the unidentifiable sound 191 00:09:41,013 --> 00:09:43,048 that pervades Fred's final moments. 192 00:09:43,048 --> 00:09:45,984 Come in. Over. Delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne. 193 00:09:45,984 --> 00:09:47,787 [ Static crackling ] 194 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,436 Narrator: Investigator George Simpson 195 00:09:54,436 --> 00:09:58,206 has spent 20 years analyzing the strange circumstances 196 00:09:58,207 --> 00:10:02,244 surrounding the disappearance of Fred valentich. 197 00:10:02,244 --> 00:10:06,282 It's certainly a great mystery in Australian aviation. 198 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,470 Narrator: George has ruled out pilot error 199 00:10:10,470 --> 00:10:14,007 and turns to the next logical explanation. 200 00:10:14,007 --> 00:10:18,178 Could Fred have orchestrated his disappearance deliberately? 201 00:10:18,178 --> 00:10:19,546 Jones: G'day, George. How are you? 202 00:10:19,546 --> 00:10:21,281 Pleased to meet you. Looking well. 203 00:10:21,281 --> 00:10:23,283 Let's go for a walk. Let's go for a walk. 204 00:10:23,283 --> 00:10:25,818 Brian Jones was the flight service officer 205 00:10:25,818 --> 00:10:28,054 responsible for the airstrip on king island, 206 00:10:28,054 --> 00:10:29,688 Fred's destination. 207 00:10:29,689 --> 00:10:33,559 Several aspects of Fred's flight plan have long troubled Brian. 208 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:35,728 Well, it's very interesting, really, because I remember this 209 00:10:35,728 --> 00:10:37,430 as though it happened yesterday. 210 00:10:37,430 --> 00:10:41,201 And the whole flight 211 00:10:41,201 --> 00:10:44,804 has got quite a few errors in it, for a start. 212 00:10:44,804 --> 00:10:46,905 And you made a mention that he was going over 213 00:10:46,906 --> 00:10:48,474 to get a bag or two of crayfish. 214 00:10:48,474 --> 00:10:50,142 Well, he hadn't rung anybody 215 00:10:50,142 --> 00:10:52,178 to see if there was any crayfish available. 216 00:10:52,178 --> 00:10:54,047 Now, there was none available that day, 217 00:10:54,047 --> 00:10:56,615 'cause I rang a few crayfishermen that said, 218 00:10:56,615 --> 00:10:58,551 "Oh, we sold out this morning." 219 00:10:58,551 --> 00:11:03,189 why did he decide to plan the king island flight 220 00:11:03,189 --> 00:11:05,392 in such a shoddy manner? 221 00:11:07,593 --> 00:11:09,795 He was going to land after dark. 222 00:11:09,795 --> 00:11:11,030 Yep. 223 00:11:11,030 --> 00:11:14,166 And he did not contact or let anybody know 224 00:11:14,167 --> 00:11:18,037 that he wanted the runway lights on at king island airport. 225 00:11:18,037 --> 00:11:21,240 I feel... 226 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,443 That he was possibly 227 00:11:23,443 --> 00:11:26,645 on a spectacular type of suicide mission. 228 00:11:26,645 --> 00:11:28,881 All the aspects point 229 00:11:28,881 --> 00:11:31,518 that something like that could have happened. 230 00:11:33,319 --> 00:11:36,356 Narrator: George meets with Fred's younger brother, Richard, 231 00:11:36,356 --> 00:11:38,692 to present this possibility. 232 00:11:40,059 --> 00:11:42,929 100%, there could not be a truth in that story. 233 00:11:42,929 --> 00:11:46,265 It just doesn't jell, for him just to disappear that way. 234 00:11:46,265 --> 00:11:48,034 There's easier ways to disappear 235 00:11:48,034 --> 00:11:50,736 if you want to leave this and your family. 236 00:11:50,737 --> 00:11:52,238 Because he had a girlfriend 237 00:11:52,238 --> 00:11:54,074 that he loved and he wanted to be with. 238 00:11:54,074 --> 00:11:56,842 I mean, my sisters were only 4 years old, 239 00:11:56,842 --> 00:11:58,311 and he loved me sisters. 240 00:11:58,311 --> 00:12:00,480 You know, he used to protect them fiercely. 241 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:02,682 So there's no truth at all in that theory. 242 00:12:02,682 --> 00:12:04,049 Not to go that way. 243 00:12:04,049 --> 00:12:06,218 Mm. 244 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,057 Narrator: George agrees the theory is weak. 245 00:12:12,224 --> 00:12:14,593 Fred valentich had no history of depression 246 00:12:14,593 --> 00:12:16,663 and left no suicide note. 247 00:12:18,431 --> 00:12:21,100 He didn't have a life-insurance policy. 248 00:12:21,100 --> 00:12:24,804 No one would gain financially from his death. 249 00:12:26,005 --> 00:12:29,575 If Fred had deliberately crashed into the sea... 250 00:12:29,575 --> 00:12:31,010 If you fly into the sea 251 00:12:31,010 --> 00:12:33,044 at a high speed and high rate of descent, 252 00:12:33,045 --> 00:12:35,415 I would say the impact would wreck it. 253 00:12:35,415 --> 00:12:37,917 What sort of things might float to the surface? 254 00:12:37,917 --> 00:12:42,021 Wing tips. Perhaps the rudder or the elevators. 255 00:12:42,021 --> 00:12:43,690 They'd be fairly buoyant, I guess. 256 00:12:43,690 --> 00:12:45,858 Well, they're quite large. They're very large. 257 00:12:45,858 --> 00:12:49,529 And while there's air in them, they'll float. 258 00:12:49,529 --> 00:12:51,364 Narrator: An aircraft of this model 259 00:12:51,364 --> 00:12:53,165 would be expected to leave debris, 260 00:12:53,165 --> 00:12:56,836 but the absence of wreckage continues to be unexplained. 261 00:13:00,673 --> 00:13:03,710 With no leads to go on, George turns his attention 262 00:13:03,710 --> 00:13:05,978 toward a different line of inquiry. 263 00:13:05,978 --> 00:13:10,382 Did anyone actually see the aircraft crash that day? 264 00:13:10,382 --> 00:13:13,553 His search leads him to an amateur photographer 265 00:13:13,553 --> 00:13:15,254 on the outskirts of Melbourne. 266 00:13:15,254 --> 00:13:18,758 On the evening that Fred made his final call, 267 00:13:18,758 --> 00:13:22,428 Roy manifold was shooting photos of the sunset at cape otway, 268 00:13:22,428 --> 00:13:24,496 Fred's last reported position. 269 00:13:26,299 --> 00:13:28,001 When he developed the photographs, 270 00:13:28,001 --> 00:13:30,502 he noticed something odd 271 00:13:30,503 --> 00:13:34,407 an unidentified object in the upper right-hand corner. 272 00:13:34,407 --> 00:13:37,243 I noticed this object which looked, to me, 273 00:13:37,243 --> 00:13:40,079 as though it could have been a moth or an emulsion error. 274 00:13:40,079 --> 00:13:42,482 Those are the first things that entered me head. 275 00:13:42,482 --> 00:13:45,819 Was only until a month or so later I said, 276 00:13:45,819 --> 00:13:48,655 "Hang on. I heard that plane that night. 277 00:13:48,655 --> 00:13:51,289 This is a strange coincidence here." 278 00:13:51,290 --> 00:13:53,459 it's probably the most mysterious photograph 279 00:13:53,459 --> 00:13:55,461 that I've ever seen. 280 00:13:55,461 --> 00:13:56,629 Yeah. It is. 281 00:13:56,629 --> 00:13:58,697 'Cause it's something that's not later 282 00:13:58,697 --> 00:14:00,866 it's not bilaterally symmetrical. 283 00:14:00,867 --> 00:14:02,368 That's right. It's an unusual thing. 284 00:14:02,368 --> 00:14:05,871 And it's just at the time when the pilot reported 285 00:14:05,871 --> 00:14:07,973 that there was something chasing him. 286 00:14:11,877 --> 00:14:13,479 I was standing, looking out, 287 00:14:13,479 --> 00:14:17,082 and the plane went over, and that was a cessna. 288 00:14:17,082 --> 00:14:20,818 There's no question, to my mind, that that was him. 289 00:14:20,819 --> 00:14:23,289 That was the plane, yeah. 290 00:14:23,289 --> 00:14:25,024 Narrator: When Roy realized 291 00:14:25,024 --> 00:14:29,260 his photo was taken on the same day of Fred's encounter, 292 00:14:29,261 --> 00:14:31,731 he sent it to ground saucer watch, 293 00:14:31,731 --> 00:14:35,234 an Arizona-based group of scientists and laymen. 294 00:14:35,234 --> 00:14:38,203 They examined the photograph using edge enhancement, 295 00:14:38,203 --> 00:14:43,842 color contouring, digitizing, and filtering technology. 296 00:14:43,843 --> 00:14:46,312 Their conclusion was that 297 00:14:46,312 --> 00:14:47,413 with their examinations, 298 00:14:47,413 --> 00:14:49,215 and they showed me what they had done, 299 00:14:49,215 --> 00:14:52,085 and they proved that it was a solid object. 300 00:14:57,356 --> 00:14:58,957 They said it was a solid object? 301 00:14:58,958 --> 00:15:04,096 A solid object of unknown materials or whatever. Yeah. 302 00:15:04,096 --> 00:15:06,432 And so what are you left now with thinking? 303 00:15:06,432 --> 00:15:09,536 Well, yes, I have to believe now 304 00:15:09,536 --> 00:15:12,505 if you're a nonbeliever or a believer 305 00:15:12,505 --> 00:15:16,808 I believe that, yes, it's a ufo. 306 00:15:16,809 --> 00:15:19,278 Narrator: 99% of ufo sightings 307 00:15:19,278 --> 00:15:22,614 turn out to be hoaxes, classified military maneuvers, 308 00:15:22,614 --> 00:15:24,584 or natural phenomena. 309 00:15:24,584 --> 00:15:29,521 Around 1% remain unexplained. 310 00:15:29,521 --> 00:15:31,957 Is it possible that the mysterious object 311 00:15:31,957 --> 00:15:34,226 described in Fred's last conversation 312 00:15:34,226 --> 00:15:36,862 is a part of this 1%? 313 00:15:38,030 --> 00:15:39,999 Flight service office Steve robey 314 00:15:39,999 --> 00:15:43,569 has no idea what Fred actually saw that day, 315 00:15:43,569 --> 00:15:48,308 but he's convinced it was no standard airplane. 316 00:15:52,077 --> 00:15:56,149 "As it's flying past, it's a long shape. 317 00:15:56,149 --> 00:15:58,451 "Cannot identify more than that. 318 00:15:58,451 --> 00:16:00,753 It has such speed." 319 00:16:04,023 --> 00:16:06,659 "It seems like it's stationary. 320 00:16:06,659 --> 00:16:08,626 "What I'm doing right now is orbiting, 321 00:16:08,627 --> 00:16:11,597 and the thing is just orbiting on top of me." 322 00:16:11,597 --> 00:16:15,333 delta Sierra Juliet, Melbourne. Can you describe the aircraft? 323 00:16:15,334 --> 00:16:18,371 Fred: It's got a green light, and it's sort of metallic-like 324 00:16:18,371 --> 00:16:20,773 and all shiny on the outside. 325 00:16:20,773 --> 00:16:23,609 He was definitely under stress. 326 00:16:23,609 --> 00:16:26,713 Delta Sierra Juliet. It's just vanished! 327 00:16:28,848 --> 00:16:31,517 Robey: Frederick then said, so, it had reappeared. 328 00:16:33,352 --> 00:16:37,789 "That strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again." 329 00:16:39,458 --> 00:16:42,362 it's hovering! I-it's not an aircraft! 330 00:16:46,265 --> 00:16:48,601 He didn't finish that communication. 331 00:16:48,601 --> 00:16:52,337 There was, all of a sudden, a clicking sound... 332 00:16:52,338 --> 00:16:54,841 [ Static crackling ] 333 00:16:56,876 --> 00:17:00,313 Pulsing, sort of electronic. 334 00:17:05,884 --> 00:17:07,987 After the clicking sound, 335 00:17:07,987 --> 00:17:12,025 I called him numerous times and got no response. 336 00:17:12,025 --> 00:17:14,160 Yeah. 337 00:17:16,696 --> 00:17:19,766 Narrator: Is it possible Fred imagined the object? 338 00:17:21,467 --> 00:17:24,270 As curious as Roy manifold's photo may be, 339 00:17:24,270 --> 00:17:27,240 it doesn't match the description of the craft Fred described. 340 00:17:31,343 --> 00:17:36,515 But in 1993, another witness stepped forward. 341 00:17:36,515 --> 00:17:39,118 Conscious, however, of the stigma 342 00:17:39,118 --> 00:17:41,354 surrounding what he saw that day, 343 00:17:41,354 --> 00:17:44,390 he insisted his identity be kept secret. 344 00:17:45,558 --> 00:17:48,795 Man: I looked up, and I saw this lime-green light 345 00:17:48,795 --> 00:17:52,598 about 1,000 or 2,000 feet above the aircraft, 346 00:17:52,598 --> 00:17:55,768 so we sat there and watched it for a few seconds, 347 00:17:55,768 --> 00:17:59,639 and the green light got closer to the plane. 348 00:17:59,639 --> 00:18:02,942 I said, "That plane is coming down pretty steep, 349 00:18:02,942 --> 00:18:06,012 almost on a 45-degree angle." 350 00:18:08,948 --> 00:18:11,050 narrator: An event this dramatic 351 00:18:11,050 --> 00:18:13,351 over the suburban skies of Melbourne 352 00:18:13,352 --> 00:18:16,555 would likely have been seen by multiple people. 353 00:18:16,555 --> 00:18:18,324 George sets out to find a witness 354 00:18:18,324 --> 00:18:21,526 willing to speak freely on camera. 355 00:18:21,526 --> 00:18:26,732 Newspaper reports lead Simpson to contractor mark laney. 356 00:18:26,732 --> 00:18:30,168 Will his story support Fred's sighting? 357 00:18:30,169 --> 00:18:32,138 This is where we were playing at the time. 358 00:18:32,138 --> 00:18:33,805 We were down this end of the court. 359 00:18:33,806 --> 00:18:35,874 I spotted it over in that direction 360 00:18:35,874 --> 00:18:37,676 out of the southwest there. Just over there, yeah? 361 00:18:37,676 --> 00:18:40,012 And it went very slowly from the southwest 362 00:18:40,012 --> 00:18:41,813 right across to the northeast. 363 00:18:41,814 --> 00:18:44,283 So, you've got a good, clear view of the sky here. 364 00:18:44,283 --> 00:18:45,918 Yeah. It was a clear blue sky. 365 00:18:45,918 --> 00:18:47,920 There was two tubular objects, 366 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,223 and it was parallel to each other 367 00:18:51,223 --> 00:18:53,792 and joined together by two smaller tubes. 368 00:18:53,793 --> 00:18:55,661 For a start, I thought it might have been 369 00:18:55,661 --> 00:18:57,863 two planes flying close together. 370 00:18:57,863 --> 00:19:00,132 Yeah, but it was on a slight angle 371 00:19:00,132 --> 00:19:02,368 that you could see it was joined. 372 00:19:02,368 --> 00:19:04,035 We stood there for a couple of minutes, 373 00:19:04,036 --> 00:19:06,072 and people in the other end of the court did, too, 374 00:19:06,072 --> 00:19:09,575 and it was like nothing we've seen before. 375 00:19:09,575 --> 00:19:12,678 Sounds very much like what was described by the pilot, 376 00:19:12,678 --> 00:19:14,680 seeing basically what you saw, 377 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,383 and then he disappeared without a trace. 378 00:19:17,383 --> 00:19:19,117 Narrator: Steve robey also believes 379 00:19:19,117 --> 00:19:22,488 that what Fred saw was not a typical aircraft. 380 00:19:22,488 --> 00:19:25,858 It was not an airplane. It was some object. 381 00:19:27,226 --> 00:19:29,494 Narrator: But what was this object? 382 00:19:29,494 --> 00:19:31,496 And how would it have caused Fred 383 00:19:31,496 --> 00:19:35,935 to completely disappear from the face of the earth? 384 00:19:41,807 --> 00:19:44,476 Narrator: Pilot Fred valentich and his plane 385 00:19:44,476 --> 00:19:47,746 mysterious disappear off the Australian coast 386 00:19:47,746 --> 00:19:52,852 after he describes an encounter with an unidentified craft. 387 00:19:52,852 --> 00:19:55,922 It's hovering! I-it's not an aircraft! 388 00:19:59,158 --> 00:20:02,094 Investigator George Simpson is trying to determine 389 00:20:02,094 --> 00:20:05,697 is there's any truth to Fred's claim. 390 00:20:05,697 --> 00:20:08,934 Simpson: It's been said that Fred crashed into the sea, 391 00:20:08,934 --> 00:20:11,137 but with the evidence that I've seen, 392 00:20:11,137 --> 00:20:14,473 I think this case is stranger than that. 393 00:20:14,473 --> 00:20:18,210 This is one of the best cases 394 00:20:18,210 --> 00:20:20,880 that I've ever seen for a ufo encounter. 395 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,217 It does sound crazy, but it's pretty compelling. 396 00:20:26,418 --> 00:20:30,322 Narrator: Even if you believe Fred stumbled across an alien craft, 397 00:20:30,322 --> 00:20:32,991 one great mystery remains. 398 00:20:32,991 --> 00:20:36,028 What happened to him then? 399 00:20:37,763 --> 00:20:40,064 Richard Haines is an ex-NASA scientist 400 00:20:40,065 --> 00:20:42,335 who worked with Apollo astronauts. 401 00:20:42,335 --> 00:20:44,870 He now heads an organization called narcap 402 00:20:44,870 --> 00:20:48,674 that studies unidentified aerial phenomena, or uaps, 403 00:20:48,674 --> 00:20:52,478 reported by pilots. 404 00:20:52,478 --> 00:20:57,283 I've been collecting uap reports from pilots 405 00:20:57,283 --> 00:21:01,386 for, oh, over 25 years now from around the world 406 00:21:01,386 --> 00:21:03,489 from the beginning of aviation. 407 00:21:03,489 --> 00:21:06,926 And what makes the valentich case so interesting 408 00:21:06,926 --> 00:21:11,163 is the multiple eyewitnesses along the coastline that night. 409 00:21:11,163 --> 00:21:14,032 You add that he never came back, 410 00:21:14,032 --> 00:21:18,003 and that makes it a pretty interesting case. 411 00:21:18,003 --> 00:21:21,840 Narrator: Haines has researched thousands of uap sightings. 412 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,077 For him, the recording of Fred's final moments 413 00:21:25,077 --> 00:21:28,347 is the key to the mystery. 414 00:21:28,347 --> 00:21:31,384 The tape recording ends 415 00:21:31,384 --> 00:21:36,154 with a very strange metallic sound. 416 00:21:36,154 --> 00:21:38,724 [ Scraping, static crackling ] 417 00:21:52,171 --> 00:21:54,706 So, the noises on the back of this tape 418 00:21:54,706 --> 00:21:56,475 the metallic sounds 419 00:21:56,475 --> 00:22:02,281 might possibly be the contact of a disk, let's say, 420 00:22:02,281 --> 00:22:05,149 or a vehicle of some kind on his airplane. 421 00:22:05,150 --> 00:22:07,420 [ Scraping ] 422 00:22:09,021 --> 00:22:10,856 It's rather farfetched, 423 00:22:10,856 --> 00:22:13,359 but we have to consider it as a possibility 424 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:18,664 that he was abducted by some other intelligence, 425 00:22:18,664 --> 00:22:22,234 some race or species 426 00:22:22,234 --> 00:22:24,503 that's capable of doing this sort of a thing. 427 00:22:27,105 --> 00:22:28,941 Narrator: Fred's father also believed 428 00:22:28,941 --> 00:22:31,743 this was a distinct possibility. 429 00:22:31,743 --> 00:22:33,512 Richard: He probably never let go 430 00:22:33,512 --> 00:22:37,148 of the theory that he could have been taken, 431 00:22:37,149 --> 00:22:41,420 that maybe an outside influence like a spacecraft 432 00:22:41,420 --> 00:22:43,822 come along and took him. 433 00:22:43,822 --> 00:22:47,393 Like, he never he wouldn't say that specifically, 434 00:22:47,393 --> 00:22:50,362 but I know that maybe, in the back of his mind, 435 00:22:50,362 --> 00:22:54,032 he probably thought there could be a possibility. 436 00:22:54,032 --> 00:22:57,636 Well, I only can think 437 00:22:57,636 --> 00:23:03,709 that if it really being a ufo or whatever flying over, 438 00:23:03,709 --> 00:23:08,780 that these people or whatever creature they are 439 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:11,016 are much more advanced than us, 440 00:23:11,016 --> 00:23:15,621 and I could not possibly think they would destroy him. 441 00:23:16,722 --> 00:23:18,991 Narrator: Guido valentich died in may 2000 442 00:23:18,991 --> 00:23:21,627 without knowing what happened to his son. 443 00:23:21,627 --> 00:23:23,995 Until the end, he clung to the dim hope 444 00:23:23,996 --> 00:23:25,864 that if Fred was abducted, 445 00:23:25,864 --> 00:23:28,467 he might still be alive somewhere. 446 00:23:31,070 --> 00:23:32,504 After assessing the evidence, 447 00:23:32,505 --> 00:23:35,741 George Simpson believes this is plausible. 448 00:23:36,875 --> 00:23:38,777 It might be possible that he ended up 449 00:23:38,777 --> 00:23:42,314 on board this strange craft that he was describing. 450 00:23:42,314 --> 00:23:44,116 It could explain 451 00:23:44,116 --> 00:23:48,454 why he and the plane disappeared without a trace. 452 00:23:50,189 --> 00:23:53,225 Delta Sierra Juliet, come in. Over. 453 00:23:53,225 --> 00:23:55,293 Narrator: Flight service officer Steve robey, 454 00:23:55,293 --> 00:23:58,698 the last person to speak with Fred valentich, 455 00:23:58,698 --> 00:24:00,766 is convinced that Fred did encounter 456 00:24:00,766 --> 00:24:04,069 something extraordinary that evening. 457 00:24:04,069 --> 00:24:08,572 Well, it wasn't another airplane. 458 00:24:08,573 --> 00:24:12,711 Another airplane wouldn't have traveled 459 00:24:12,711 --> 00:24:15,180 through the air like this thing did 460 00:24:15,180 --> 00:24:18,350 at speed and changing direction so rapidly, 461 00:24:18,350 --> 00:24:19,918 disappearing at one point, 462 00:24:19,918 --> 00:24:24,323 orbiting on top of him while he was also orbiting. 463 00:24:24,323 --> 00:24:26,692 Um... 464 00:24:28,393 --> 00:24:31,097 I think he encountered a ufo. 465 00:24:31,097 --> 00:24:34,333 Narrator: Australian air-crash investigators still consider 466 00:24:34,333 --> 00:24:38,103 the cause of Fred's disappearance not determined. 467 00:24:38,103 --> 00:24:41,974 They do not explain his final radio transmission. 468 00:24:41,974 --> 00:24:46,176 And the mystery of Fred's disappearance endures. 469 00:24:46,177 --> 00:24:48,880 Richard: To me, I just wanted me brother back. 470 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,051 We all lived in hope that maybe, one day, we can find him, 471 00:24:52,051 --> 00:24:55,253 but as time goes past, you start to realize 472 00:24:55,253 --> 00:24:58,323 that he's probably never gonna come back. 473 00:25:06,031 --> 00:25:08,767 Narrator: Across our planet, extraordinary happenings 474 00:25:08,767 --> 00:25:12,872 tease the boundary of what we believe to be possible. 475 00:25:14,139 --> 00:25:18,009 9,000 Miles away in Cuero, Texas.... 476 00:25:18,009 --> 00:25:22,280 Carter: What is th oh, man! 477 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,251 Narrator: ...Mutilated animals drained of their blood 478 00:25:25,251 --> 00:25:27,886 are found across the state. 479 00:25:27,886 --> 00:25:31,522 And then this new predator turns up dead. 480 00:25:31,523 --> 00:25:34,493 Do you know what this is? Because I don't. 481 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,070 Narrator: On a sprawling ranch in a small Texas town, 482 00:25:43,071 --> 00:25:46,674 Dr. Phylis Canion wakes up to find a brood of her chickens 483 00:25:46,674 --> 00:25:49,810 has been mutilated and drained of their blood. 484 00:25:49,810 --> 00:25:53,481 It is unclear who or what is behind the attacks. 485 00:25:53,481 --> 00:25:57,183 Why would the birds be destroyed in such an unconventional way? 486 00:25:57,184 --> 00:25:58,753 Canion: What was the most unusual 487 00:25:58,753 --> 00:26:00,621 is that each time we found a chicken dead, 488 00:26:00,621 --> 00:26:04,859 it was opened up anywhere in this throat area 489 00:26:04,859 --> 00:26:07,262 and it appeared that all the blood was out of it. 490 00:26:08,529 --> 00:26:10,931 I actually lost 28, 491 00:26:10,931 --> 00:26:16,037 all of them killed over months in the exact same fashion. 492 00:26:16,037 --> 00:26:19,641 I just did not know what it was. I had no clue. 493 00:26:21,308 --> 00:26:23,344 Narrator: From her years as a rancher and hunter, 494 00:26:23,344 --> 00:26:26,847 she knows this was not the work of a common Texas predator. 495 00:26:26,848 --> 00:26:28,950 Canion: I had told all the neighbors, 496 00:26:28,950 --> 00:26:31,117 "You know, if you ever see this animal, 497 00:26:31,118 --> 00:26:33,554 "Call me and let me know, because I want to see it. 498 00:26:33,554 --> 00:26:34,822 "I don't want to shoot it. 499 00:26:34,822 --> 00:26:36,991 We just really want to find out what it is." 500 00:26:36,991 --> 00:26:39,894 narrator: Three years pass before the animal is seen again. 501 00:26:39,894 --> 00:26:41,260 25 Miles away, 502 00:26:41,261 --> 00:26:43,965 deputy sheriff Brandon riedel and his partner 503 00:26:43,965 --> 00:26:47,468 are on a routine patrol near the ranchlands. 504 00:26:47,468 --> 00:26:49,570 Riedel: We come down here, and we turn a corner, 505 00:26:49,570 --> 00:26:51,505 and as soon as we turn this corner 506 00:26:51,505 --> 00:26:54,409 looking for the downed fence, we see something over here 507 00:26:54,409 --> 00:26:56,778 just standing in the middle of the road 508 00:26:56,778 --> 00:26:58,546 and just didn't know what it was. 509 00:26:58,546 --> 00:27:02,249 The lady that I was training, 510 00:27:02,249 --> 00:27:05,587 she just goes, "Oh, my God. What is that? What is that?" 511 00:27:09,456 --> 00:27:13,161 Carter: What is th oh, man! 512 00:27:15,329 --> 00:27:17,765 Riedel: We're just sitting there watching it just run, run, run. 513 00:27:17,765 --> 00:27:19,033 And it was just the strangest thing. 514 00:27:19,033 --> 00:27:20,934 He looks up and looks back at us. 515 00:27:20,934 --> 00:27:24,204 Narrator: The creature had an unusually large muzzle, 516 00:27:24,204 --> 00:27:29,043 long, protruding canine teeth, and bright blue eyes. 517 00:27:29,043 --> 00:27:31,145 Riedel: We started to come up this hill here, 518 00:27:31,145 --> 00:27:33,214 and it just takes off and then came back up, 519 00:27:33,214 --> 00:27:34,848 and it ran up the road. 520 00:27:34,848 --> 00:27:37,851 It was just strange. It was just weird-looking. 521 00:27:37,851 --> 00:27:39,621 Carter: How crazy is that? 522 00:27:42,289 --> 00:27:43,791 Riedel: I've patrolled these back roads 523 00:27:43,791 --> 00:27:47,227 here in DeWitt county for about 8 1/2 years, 524 00:27:47,227 --> 00:27:48,429 and that's the first time 525 00:27:48,429 --> 00:27:51,165 I ever seen anything that looked like that. 526 00:27:51,165 --> 00:27:55,169 Narrator: It's uncertain what the odd-looking animal is. 527 00:27:55,169 --> 00:27:58,573 Could it simply be a deformed dog or a coyote 528 00:27:58,573 --> 00:28:02,510 a lone mutant that poses little risk? 529 00:28:03,677 --> 00:28:05,046 Is it the same animal 530 00:28:05,046 --> 00:28:08,148 that killed the fowl on phylis Canion's ranch? 531 00:28:08,148 --> 00:28:11,352 And are there others? 532 00:28:11,352 --> 00:28:14,588 Then a neighbor calls with some news. 533 00:28:14,588 --> 00:28:16,591 Something strange has been found dead 534 00:28:16,591 --> 00:28:19,359 along the road a few Miles away. 535 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:20,795 Canion: As I was driving, 536 00:28:20,795 --> 00:28:23,931 I could see a carcass laying in the center of the highway, 537 00:28:23,931 --> 00:28:25,766 so I just pulled off to the side 538 00:28:25,766 --> 00:28:29,504 and walked over and looked at it. 539 00:28:29,504 --> 00:28:31,405 I was a little apprehensive, 540 00:28:31,405 --> 00:28:33,441 because I had never seen anything that looked like that. 541 00:28:35,276 --> 00:28:37,845 This animal had brilliant blue eyes. 542 00:28:37,845 --> 00:28:40,381 The hide looked like elephant hide. 543 00:28:40,381 --> 00:28:44,184 There is an enormous amount of excess skin 544 00:28:44,184 --> 00:28:46,320 that was between the ears. 545 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,990 Like, enough that I could pull it up with my hand 546 00:28:48,990 --> 00:28:52,092 and pull up about two inches of just skin. 547 00:28:52,092 --> 00:28:55,362 It was a very ugly animal. 548 00:28:55,362 --> 00:28:59,067 Narrator: Phylis calls the Texas parks & Wildlife department 549 00:28:59,067 --> 00:29:00,834 and finds that other people have reported 550 00:29:00,834 --> 00:29:02,870 seeing similar creatures. 551 00:29:02,870 --> 00:29:04,571 Agency officials, however, 552 00:29:04,571 --> 00:29:08,376 don't share Canion's belief that this is a new species. 553 00:29:08,376 --> 00:29:11,946 Cox: Every time someone has some unidentified animal, 554 00:29:11,946 --> 00:29:14,582 the postmortem analysis of it has proven to be 555 00:29:14,582 --> 00:29:19,787 it's a mangy coyote or sometimes a mangy fox. 556 00:29:19,787 --> 00:29:22,756 Man: Whoa. Look at him! Oh, wow! 557 00:29:22,756 --> 00:29:25,525 Narrator: Mange is caused by a debilitating parasite 558 00:29:25,525 --> 00:29:27,228 and is common in canines. 559 00:29:27,228 --> 00:29:28,663 As the animal grows sicker, 560 00:29:28,663 --> 00:29:32,532 it can lose almost all of its hair and break out in sores. 561 00:29:32,533 --> 00:29:34,735 Man: Geez. He looks, uh, sickly. 562 00:29:34,735 --> 00:29:39,240 Narrator: Untreated, paralysis and death swiftly follow. 563 00:29:42,209 --> 00:29:44,044 Texan rancher Harvey Hayek 564 00:29:44,044 --> 00:29:48,115 has seen many mangy coyotes in his time. 565 00:29:48,115 --> 00:29:49,717 When they're mangy, 566 00:29:49,717 --> 00:29:52,820 they're all just kind of slow-poking around, 567 00:29:52,820 --> 00:29:56,256 and you could see where they were scratching that mange, 568 00:29:56,256 --> 00:29:59,260 and there would be blood exposed and raw skin 569 00:29:59,260 --> 00:30:01,128 anywhere they could get with their claw, 570 00:30:01,129 --> 00:30:02,863 even where they would bite. 571 00:30:02,863 --> 00:30:06,967 Narrator: Hayek also saw the dead animal that Dr. Canion found. 572 00:30:06,967 --> 00:30:09,937 He believes it is not a victim of mange. 573 00:30:09,937 --> 00:30:12,039 It looks similar to a hairless creature 574 00:30:12,039 --> 00:30:14,474 he and his son encounter on their own. 575 00:30:14,474 --> 00:30:15,943 Deric: We spotted him. 576 00:30:15,943 --> 00:30:18,745 We have a big hog hunt so we can kind of control the population, 577 00:30:18,745 --> 00:30:20,381 and that's when I saw it. 578 00:30:20,381 --> 00:30:22,917 Narrator: Deric and his friends 579 00:30:22,917 --> 00:30:25,052 take up shooting positions around the creek 580 00:30:25,052 --> 00:30:28,690 and wait for the hogs to come through. 581 00:30:35,930 --> 00:30:39,333 Suddenly, something bursts from the bush. 582 00:30:39,333 --> 00:30:42,536 It's not a hog, but something they've never seen before. 583 00:30:42,536 --> 00:30:45,506 It was pretty close. I mean, I had him right in front of me. 584 00:30:45,506 --> 00:30:48,276 Told the guys on the walkie-talkie, "Don't shoot him." 585 00:30:48,276 --> 00:30:51,412 and we started chasing him. 586 00:30:51,412 --> 00:30:53,246 He got down in our creek bottom. 587 00:30:53,246 --> 00:30:56,250 And he's running through the trees, 588 00:30:56,250 --> 00:30:59,886 and then he came up the hill into an open field. 589 00:30:59,887 --> 00:31:02,790 So I just floored it to possibly try to catch him. 590 00:31:02,790 --> 00:31:04,559 I mean, that's really what we were trying to do. 591 00:31:06,928 --> 00:31:09,030 Hot damn! That thing is going fast! 592 00:31:16,503 --> 00:31:19,806 Narrator: In 2008, sheriffs on patrol in the Texas backwoods 593 00:31:19,806 --> 00:31:23,943 capture a strange animal on their dashboard camera. 594 00:31:23,944 --> 00:31:27,548 Carter: What is th oh, man! 595 00:31:27,548 --> 00:31:31,852 Narrator: The creature is suspected of multiple attacks on livestock. 596 00:31:31,852 --> 00:31:34,789 Canion: Something is killing my chickens but not eating them. 597 00:31:34,789 --> 00:31:36,590 Narrator: Local wildlife authorities 598 00:31:36,590 --> 00:31:38,292 suspect it's a coyote with mange, 599 00:31:38,292 --> 00:31:40,194 but rancher deric Hayek's encounter 600 00:31:40,194 --> 00:31:41,695 challenges that theory. 601 00:31:41,695 --> 00:31:44,464 How could a sick and dying animal 602 00:31:44,464 --> 00:31:47,168 outrun a speeding pickup truck? 603 00:31:47,168 --> 00:31:48,903 Harvey: The animal's loping along there, 604 00:31:48,903 --> 00:31:51,105 and deric gaining on it a little bit, 605 00:31:51,105 --> 00:31:53,473 but it always keeps staying ahead of him. 606 00:31:53,474 --> 00:31:57,245 And that animal just left him like he never stood a chance. 607 00:31:57,245 --> 00:31:59,913 Hot damn! That thing is going fast! 608 00:31:59,913 --> 00:32:04,085 Narrator: The creature hits speeds of over 45 Miles an hour. 609 00:32:04,085 --> 00:32:07,354 That's faster than a coyote in its prime. 610 00:32:07,354 --> 00:32:08,822 We were scared to death 611 00:32:08,822 --> 00:32:11,726 driving as fast as we were through this open field. 612 00:32:12,894 --> 00:32:16,296 And there's hog roots and armadillo holes and tree holes. 613 00:32:16,296 --> 00:32:18,699 If we would've hit one of them, we would've killed ourselves. 614 00:32:18,699 --> 00:32:20,968 Couldn't get any closer. He wouldn't let us. 615 00:32:20,968 --> 00:32:22,536 Narrator: The animal escapes into the woods. 616 00:32:22,536 --> 00:32:25,072 Multiple firsthand witnesses of the creature 617 00:32:25,072 --> 00:32:27,808 attest that this is not a dog with mange. 618 00:32:27,808 --> 00:32:30,644 The mystery intensifies. What could this be? 619 00:32:32,079 --> 00:32:33,814 In nearby DeWitt county, 620 00:32:33,814 --> 00:32:36,583 deputy sheriff riedel and officer Ellie Carter 621 00:32:36,583 --> 00:32:39,286 have screened their dashboard footage for a better look. 622 00:32:39,286 --> 00:32:41,087 Carter: I'm seeing it, but I don't believe it. 623 00:32:41,088 --> 00:32:42,689 It's in the daytime. 624 00:32:42,689 --> 00:32:44,358 Narrator: Originally from central America, 625 00:32:44,358 --> 00:32:45,926 officer Carter believes she is looking 626 00:32:45,926 --> 00:32:48,428 at a mythical creature the chupacabra. 627 00:32:48,428 --> 00:32:50,898 All of a sudden, she goes, "Oh, my God. It's the chupacabra." 628 00:32:50,898 --> 00:32:53,618 and I'm like, "Oh, no. This is 629 00:32:53,719 --> 00:32:56,437 this ain't this isn't happening. No way". 630 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,570 Narrator: Chupacabras were first reported in Puerto Rico in 1995. 631 00:33:02,571 --> 00:33:04,507 Since then, unconfirmed sightings 632 00:33:04,507 --> 00:33:07,876 have spread all over Latin America. 633 00:33:09,044 --> 00:33:11,214 [ Speaking Spanish ] 634 00:33:16,819 --> 00:33:19,387 Narrator: Not much is known about the origins 635 00:33:19,388 --> 00:33:22,892 of these feral animals not even its name. 636 00:33:22,892 --> 00:33:25,828 Because they feed almost solely on blood, 637 00:33:25,828 --> 00:33:28,163 they were christened "Chupacabra," 638 00:33:28,163 --> 00:33:31,200 Spanish for "Goat sucker." 639 00:33:33,969 --> 00:33:35,904 could this be the same animal 640 00:33:35,904 --> 00:33:39,040 that has been spotted thousands of Miles north in Texas? 641 00:33:41,076 --> 00:33:42,544 Jorge ayala and his family 642 00:33:42,544 --> 00:33:45,747 live on the same block this home video was shot. 643 00:33:45,747 --> 00:33:47,215 He comes from El Salvador, 644 00:33:47,215 --> 00:33:51,387 where the chupacabra has a sinister reputation. 645 00:33:51,387 --> 00:33:54,023 Ayala: [ Speaking Spanish ] 646 00:34:10,673 --> 00:34:12,908 Narrator: Eyewitness accounts mount, 647 00:34:12,908 --> 00:34:14,810 but none can solve the riddle. 648 00:34:14,810 --> 00:34:17,913 Has this myth become a reality, and should it be feared? 649 00:34:17,913 --> 00:34:20,615 Texas authorities retain a tempered reaction. 650 00:34:20,714 --> 00:34:23,251 Texas has 180 mammals, 651 00:34:23,252 --> 00:34:25,655 but not one of them is a chupacabra. 652 00:34:28,957 --> 00:34:32,562 Narrator: If not a mange-ridden coyote, then what is it? 653 00:34:35,731 --> 00:34:37,466 Dr. Canion remains convinced 654 00:34:37,466 --> 00:34:39,938 the animal is a new and invasive species. 655 00:34:43,437 --> 00:34:47,175 She sends out a specimen for analysis. 656 00:34:48,344 --> 00:34:51,914 Canion: They wanted to actually take the animal to Austin 657 00:34:51,914 --> 00:34:54,383 and do their own research on it, 658 00:34:54,383 --> 00:34:57,686 and I'm like, "Well, you really don't need the entire animal," 659 00:34:57,686 --> 00:34:59,321 because there are other people 660 00:34:59,321 --> 00:35:02,124 that had an animal similar to mine and had given it to them, 661 00:35:02,124 --> 00:35:03,726 and they never got it back. 662 00:35:03,726 --> 00:35:07,061 Narrator: Canion reaches out to her own professional connections. 663 00:35:07,062 --> 00:35:09,465 When she gets DNA results back, 664 00:35:09,465 --> 00:35:13,434 instead of clearing up the mystery, it deepens it. 665 00:35:13,435 --> 00:35:15,904 The DNA doesn't match any known species. 666 00:35:15,904 --> 00:35:18,207 Canion: They said, "We're telling you 667 00:35:18,207 --> 00:35:20,676 the DNA does not match anything." 668 00:35:20,676 --> 00:35:23,646 I was thrilled. The results were black-and-white. 669 00:35:23,646 --> 00:35:25,848 It was phenomenal. 670 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,036 Narrator: A strange, new predator has been stalking Texas. 671 00:35:34,036 --> 00:35:38,139 In 2005, Dr. Phylis Canion finds one dead by the highway. 672 00:35:38,140 --> 00:35:40,543 She takes the carcass home and sends out a specimen 673 00:35:40,543 --> 00:35:42,945 for analysis with two goals in mind 674 00:35:42,945 --> 00:35:46,482 is the animal a known breed, and where did it come from? 675 00:35:46,482 --> 00:35:48,485 Canion: The DNA actually surprised us, 676 00:35:48,485 --> 00:35:50,553 because when they contacted us and said, 677 00:35:50,553 --> 00:35:53,022 "We have the DNA on your species," 678 00:35:53,022 --> 00:35:54,724 they actually called and said, 679 00:35:54,724 --> 00:35:56,292 "We just wanted to share with you, 680 00:35:56,292 --> 00:35:57,660 'cause it's pretty bizarre." 681 00:35:57,660 --> 00:36:00,563 I've got the DNA here. 682 00:36:01,931 --> 00:36:04,833 Narrator: The DNA doesn't match any known species. 683 00:36:04,834 --> 00:36:09,539 The closest is a Mexican wolf mixed with a coyote, 684 00:36:09,539 --> 00:36:12,642 but these animals are not known to mate. 685 00:36:12,642 --> 00:36:14,744 The puzzle is compounded by the knowledge 686 00:36:14,744 --> 00:36:17,213 that most mutant strains are sterile, 687 00:36:17,213 --> 00:36:20,316 so why are these half-breeds not dying out? 688 00:36:22,418 --> 00:36:25,688 By 2013, there are over 100 sightings 689 00:36:25,688 --> 00:36:29,192 in a sprawling 160,000-square-mile area 690 00:36:29,192 --> 00:36:30,626 of east Texas, 691 00:36:30,626 --> 00:36:35,031 and the animals have become more dangerous. 692 00:36:38,134 --> 00:36:41,170 Gerhard: In 2010, a woman near Dallas, Texas, 693 00:36:41,170 --> 00:36:44,039 was actually bitten by one of these creatures when she approached it. 694 00:36:44,039 --> 00:36:46,910 In my mind, it's very important 695 00:36:46,910 --> 00:36:49,746 that we find out exactly what these things are. 696 00:36:49,746 --> 00:36:53,683 I mean, particularly if they're being seen close to urban areas 697 00:36:53,683 --> 00:36:56,219 and they're being accused of attacking people, 698 00:36:56,219 --> 00:36:59,222 we need to figure out exactly what we're dealing with here. 699 00:36:59,222 --> 00:37:02,224 Narrator: After nearly 10 years of isolated sightings, 700 00:37:02,224 --> 00:37:04,894 cryptozoologist Ken gerhard is investigating 701 00:37:04,894 --> 00:37:07,663 an eyewitness report that may answer the question 702 00:37:07,663 --> 00:37:09,865 "Are these animals breeding?" 703 00:37:09,865 --> 00:37:14,370 deric: This is a photo that I got. 704 00:37:14,370 --> 00:37:16,172 Gerhard: When was this taken? 705 00:37:16,172 --> 00:37:18,039 It was the latter part of deer season 706 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,043 end of December. Yeah. 707 00:37:20,043 --> 00:37:22,045 Narrator: Deric and his father, Harvey, 708 00:37:22,045 --> 00:37:24,480 believe they have evidence that a breeding female 709 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:26,815 could be living on their land. 710 00:37:26,815 --> 00:37:29,284 I saw a mama with two babies. 711 00:37:29,284 --> 00:37:30,486 Wow. 712 00:37:30,486 --> 00:37:34,157 I mean, I sat there for a good 20 minutes or so, 713 00:37:34,157 --> 00:37:36,859 and then she and those pups walked on off. 714 00:37:36,859 --> 00:37:38,528 But you thought there might be more. 715 00:37:38,528 --> 00:37:40,596 I thought there might have been more in there. 716 00:37:40,596 --> 00:37:43,898 Finding a mother and her litter may help reveal 717 00:37:43,899 --> 00:37:48,104 if these animals are growing in numbers and how quickly. 718 00:37:49,605 --> 00:37:50,838 All right, deric. 719 00:37:50,839 --> 00:37:52,474 This is the spot, huh? Yeah. 720 00:37:52,474 --> 00:37:54,143 Show me what you found, man. 721 00:37:54,143 --> 00:37:57,579 Yeah, it's over on this left bank. 722 00:37:57,580 --> 00:37:59,348 See the dirt? See the green bushes right there? 723 00:37:59,348 --> 00:38:00,917 That kind of orange-ish dirt right there? 724 00:38:00,917 --> 00:38:02,351 That little orange patch over there? 725 00:38:02,351 --> 00:38:04,454 That's, like, fresh dirt that's been kind of dug out, huh? 726 00:38:04,454 --> 00:38:05,409 Yeah. 727 00:38:05,510 --> 00:38:06,556 Wow. 728 00:38:06,556 --> 00:38:08,124 Narrator: Harvey and deric suspect 729 00:38:08,124 --> 00:38:12,561 the mother and pups are living right here under their feet. 730 00:38:12,561 --> 00:38:16,466 Ken plans to send a snorkel camera deep into the burrow. 731 00:38:19,935 --> 00:38:22,338 The light is on on the camera. 732 00:38:22,338 --> 00:38:23,673 Do what you have to do. 733 00:38:23,673 --> 00:38:26,242 Okay. Here we go. 734 00:38:30,980 --> 00:38:33,048 Looks like whatever dug this hole 735 00:38:33,048 --> 00:38:37,386 has figured out how to maneuver right, left, right 736 00:38:37,386 --> 00:38:40,022 so that it's harder for anything else to get in there. 737 00:38:40,022 --> 00:38:41,423 We're caving it in a little bit. 738 00:38:41,423 --> 00:38:42,341 Yeah. 739 00:38:42,442 --> 00:38:43,626 Geez. 740 00:38:43,626 --> 00:38:46,262 If there's anything in the hole, we're definitely making it mad. 741 00:38:46,262 --> 00:38:49,298 I'm telling you, we've already made the hard turn, 742 00:38:49,298 --> 00:38:50,500 but there's some more. 743 00:38:52,335 --> 00:38:53,903 Gerhard: I would say that we're probably 744 00:38:53,903 --> 00:38:56,973 about seven or eight feet down into this burrow, 745 00:38:56,973 --> 00:39:00,342 but it is just it's so winding. 746 00:39:00,342 --> 00:39:02,010 I mean, it's got a kind of there's a left turn, 747 00:39:02,011 --> 00:39:03,446 there's s right turn, there's a down turn. 748 00:39:03,446 --> 00:39:06,449 Whatever dug this hole is actually being very strategic 749 00:39:06,449 --> 00:39:08,584 in terms of making it very difficult 750 00:39:08,584 --> 00:39:10,920 for us to get down here. 751 00:39:13,055 --> 00:39:16,092 Oh, come on. Get in there. 752 00:39:17,493 --> 00:39:20,029 Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What was that? 753 00:39:20,029 --> 00:39:21,262 You see something? 754 00:39:21,263 --> 00:39:22,931 I thought so. 755 00:39:22,931 --> 00:39:25,634 What is that? 756 00:39:25,634 --> 00:39:27,603 Ah, something moved in there. I saw it. 757 00:39:27,603 --> 00:39:28,204 Really? 758 00:39:28,305 --> 00:39:29,405 [Chuckling ] Yeah. 759 00:39:29,405 --> 00:39:30,767 Did you see it crawling? 760 00:39:30,868 --> 00:39:31,107 No. 761 00:39:31,107 --> 00:39:33,242 It was crawling right here. 762 00:39:33,242 --> 00:39:33,886 You're right. 763 00:39:33,987 --> 00:39:34,777 Look, look, look. 764 00:39:34,777 --> 00:39:36,779 There it is. There's something in there. 765 00:39:36,779 --> 00:39:38,614 There's a baby something in there. 766 00:39:39,248 --> 00:39:40,883 There's a baby something in there. 767 00:39:40,883 --> 00:39:42,985 Did you see that little thing? 768 00:39:42,985 --> 00:39:44,353 It went right down in this hole, 769 00:39:44,353 --> 00:39:45,788 and it bends down again right here, 770 00:39:45,788 --> 00:39:47,523 and he went straight down in there. 771 00:39:47,523 --> 00:39:49,391 Narrator: Whatever the creature is, 772 00:39:49,391 --> 00:39:52,895 it disappears too quickly for a positive identification. 773 00:39:52,895 --> 00:39:55,197 As they try to follow, 774 00:39:55,198 --> 00:39:58,667 the camera starts to collapse the tunnel wall. 775 00:39:58,667 --> 00:40:00,370 You don't think we're gonna cave it in on him, do you? 776 00:40:00,370 --> 00:40:02,638 I hope not. 777 00:40:02,638 --> 00:40:06,476 Man, we're just not gonna get to go any further. 778 00:40:07,944 --> 00:40:11,614 Deric is certain a mother and pups are down there. 779 00:40:11,614 --> 00:40:15,717 But is it a breed unknown to science? 780 00:40:17,220 --> 00:40:20,990 The Texas parks & Wildlife department remains unconvinced. 781 00:40:20,990 --> 00:40:22,724 Cox: Most texans like a good story, 782 00:40:22,724 --> 00:40:26,195 and the chupacabra is the one we get the most calls on. 783 00:40:26,195 --> 00:40:29,097 We also get calls about bigfoot in east Texas. 784 00:40:29,098 --> 00:40:30,432 I don't believe in them. 785 00:40:30,432 --> 00:40:34,304 They exist only in the imagination of fertile minds. 786 00:40:37,473 --> 00:40:40,676 Narrator: Dr. Canion maintains that this is a new species, 787 00:40:40,676 --> 00:40:45,214 and she's just waiting for the authorities to catch up. 788 00:40:45,214 --> 00:40:48,017 Canion: This is the animal. It's bizarre. 789 00:40:48,017 --> 00:40:49,319 We've been all over the world 790 00:40:49,319 --> 00:40:51,187 and seen animals for all over the world. 791 00:40:51,187 --> 00:40:52,521 Never seen anything like this. 792 00:40:52,521 --> 00:40:55,190 You know, it doesn't have any hair on it, 793 00:40:55,190 --> 00:40:58,895 but the whole body is covered with this slight layer of fuzz. 794 00:40:58,895 --> 00:41:00,762 And two nipples. 795 00:41:00,763 --> 00:41:03,899 Most canines have four nipples. 796 00:41:03,899 --> 00:41:07,436 And, of course, what amazed us absolutely the most 797 00:41:07,436 --> 00:41:09,638 are these nodules. 798 00:41:09,638 --> 00:41:12,408 These are not indigenous to either species 799 00:41:12,408 --> 00:41:14,810 either a coyote or a wolf. 800 00:41:14,810 --> 00:41:19,448 And they say, "There's no such thing. It doesn't exist." 801 00:41:19,448 --> 00:41:22,518 and it's right here. 802 00:41:22,518 --> 00:41:25,654 Narrator: What this creature is remains unknown, 803 00:41:25,654 --> 00:41:29,824 but Dr. Canion is convinced they will only grow in numbers. 804 00:41:29,825 --> 00:41:31,961 Canion: Is this the end? Now way. 805 00:41:31,961 --> 00:41:33,830 This is only the start. 806 00:41:37,166 --> 00:41:39,568 Child: I got him on zoom. 807 00:41:39,568 --> 00:41:40,957 Woman: What is it? 808 00:41:41,058 --> 00:41:42,138 I don't know! 809 00:41:45,174 --> 00:41:47,442 It looked straight at us. It's weird-looking. 810 00:41:47,443 --> 00:41:49,345 Woman: What is it?