1 00:00:02,042 --> 00:00:03,167 WILLIAM SHATNER: A deadly pathogen 2 00:00:03,292 --> 00:00:05,833 delivered from outer space, 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,250 a mysterious illness 4 00:00:08,375 --> 00:00:11,500 brought on by an unidentified flying object 5 00:00:11,667 --> 00:00:14,250 and an alien affliction 6 00:00:14,417 --> 00:00:16,917 that creates strange fibers 7 00:00:17,042 --> 00:00:19,500 under the skin. 8 00:00:19,708 --> 00:00:22,125 Since the dawn of time, 9 00:00:22,292 --> 00:00:24,125 the human body has had to learn 10 00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:27,917 how to combat countless microorganisms 11 00:00:28,083 --> 00:00:31,250 that attack our muscles and organs and cells. 12 00:00:31,417 --> 00:00:33,917 And while modern science has stopped 13 00:00:34,083 --> 00:00:36,667 many dangerous earthborn viruses 14 00:00:36,833 --> 00:00:38,500 and bacteria from killing us, 15 00:00:38,667 --> 00:00:41,083 there's a growing concern that even deadlier strains 16 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:43,167 are on their way, 17 00:00:43,375 --> 00:00:46,250 traveling to us from the farthest reaches 18 00:00:46,417 --> 00:00:49,125 of outer space. 19 00:00:50,167 --> 00:00:52,000 Will Earth's next pandemic 20 00:00:52,167 --> 00:00:54,667 come not from here on this planet, 21 00:00:54,833 --> 00:00:58,167 but instead from another world? 22 00:00:58,333 --> 00:01:01,375 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 23 00:01:01,583 --> 00:01:03,542 ♪ ♪ 24 00:01:17,083 --> 00:01:19,542 SHATNER: Here in this former mining town, 25 00:01:19,708 --> 00:01:21,417 where people spent decades 26 00:01:21,542 --> 00:01:24,667 digging for precious metals below ground, 27 00:01:24,833 --> 00:01:27,208 researcher Robert Ward 28 00:01:27,375 --> 00:01:29,167 is the owner of a rock collection 29 00:01:29,333 --> 00:01:32,958 unlike anything else found on Earth. 30 00:01:33,125 --> 00:01:36,583 Because these pockmarked specimens, 31 00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:41,667 with their dazzling patterns and unusual compositions, 32 00:01:41,875 --> 00:01:45,333 originated in outer space. 33 00:01:45,542 --> 00:01:47,125 ROBERT WARD: Over the past 30 years, 34 00:01:47,333 --> 00:01:49,083 I've built one of the world's largest 35 00:01:49,292 --> 00:01:51,792 private meteorite collections. 36 00:01:51,958 --> 00:01:53,125 We have some of the finest samples 37 00:01:53,333 --> 00:01:55,083 of some of the most important 38 00:01:55,292 --> 00:01:57,875 meteorite classes on display. 39 00:01:58,042 --> 00:02:01,417 We have rocks from the Moon, Mars. 40 00:02:01,542 --> 00:02:04,083 We have a vast diversity of meteorites 41 00:02:04,250 --> 00:02:06,333 from all over the solar system. 42 00:02:06,458 --> 00:02:09,667 SHATNER: Despite the remarkable origins of Robert's collection, 43 00:02:09,875 --> 00:02:14,125 there is one meteorite that is quite extraordinary. 44 00:02:14,292 --> 00:02:16,667 It is known as a chondrite, 45 00:02:16,875 --> 00:02:19,042 which means that it formed 46 00:02:19,208 --> 00:02:21,875 in the earliest days of the solar system. 47 00:02:22,042 --> 00:02:25,292 And the reason Robert's meteorite is so special 48 00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:28,375 is that, unlike most other chondrites, 49 00:02:28,542 --> 00:02:31,667 which are so fragile that they typically break apart 50 00:02:31,792 --> 00:02:35,167 and explode as they enter Earth's atmosphere... 51 00:02:37,125 --> 00:02:40,042 ...this one remained intact 52 00:02:40,250 --> 00:02:42,208 even after it impacted on the ground 53 00:02:42,375 --> 00:02:45,917 at 28,000 miles per hour. 54 00:02:46,083 --> 00:02:49,000 WARD: So, this is an actual piece of the meteorite itself 55 00:02:49,167 --> 00:02:51,333 that I recovered essentially intact. 56 00:02:51,500 --> 00:02:53,375 And you can see, it's fairly soft, 57 00:02:53,542 --> 00:02:55,583 and it comes apart easily. 58 00:02:55,792 --> 00:02:58,500 And it's not a dense object like an iron meteorite, 59 00:02:58,708 --> 00:03:01,042 so when it enters the atmosphere, 60 00:03:01,208 --> 00:03:03,167 it's supposed to break apart according to physics, 61 00:03:03,333 --> 00:03:04,875 and this one didn't. 62 00:03:05,042 --> 00:03:06,833 SHATNER: Why didn't the meteorite 63 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,292 in Robert Ward's collection explode before it hit the Earth 64 00:03:10,458 --> 00:03:12,708 like other chondrites? 65 00:03:12,875 --> 00:03:14,417 Perhaps a clue may be found 66 00:03:14,583 --> 00:03:17,250 by examining the story of its impact 67 00:03:17,417 --> 00:03:19,917 and what happened in the aftermath. 68 00:03:26,375 --> 00:03:28,792 High in the Andes mountains, 69 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,667 residents of this tiny village are distressed by the presence 70 00:03:31,833 --> 00:03:35,042 of a mysterious light 71 00:03:35,208 --> 00:03:38,292 that appears suddenly in the noonday sky 72 00:03:38,417 --> 00:03:43,292 and begins racing towards them at an alarming speed. 73 00:03:43,417 --> 00:03:45,500 WARD: In the skies over this tiny village 74 00:03:45,708 --> 00:03:48,500 of Carancas in Peru, 75 00:03:48,625 --> 00:03:52,250 a small asteroid actually entered the atmosphere, 76 00:03:52,458 --> 00:03:54,292 and these people saw what they thought 77 00:03:54,417 --> 00:03:56,667 was a star in the sky falling. 78 00:03:56,833 --> 00:03:59,958 And the object tore through the atmosphere. 79 00:04:00,125 --> 00:04:01,500 And this is a pretty big thing, 80 00:04:01,667 --> 00:04:04,250 it was probably the size of a compact car, 81 00:04:04,417 --> 00:04:05,833 and it's penetrating the atmosphere 82 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:07,458 at 28,000 miles an hour. 83 00:04:08,708 --> 00:04:10,458 And then, bam, 84 00:04:10,583 --> 00:04:12,333 it impacts like a nuclear bomb 85 00:04:12,542 --> 00:04:15,333 pretty much right at the edge of their village. 86 00:04:16,417 --> 00:04:18,167 And they see this ejecta cloud 87 00:04:18,250 --> 00:04:20,250 go into the sky. 88 00:04:20,417 --> 00:04:24,083 There was a smoke trail in the sky. 89 00:04:24,250 --> 00:04:25,917 It terrified them. 90 00:04:26,042 --> 00:04:27,583 SHATNER: Despite their fear, 91 00:04:27,750 --> 00:04:31,458 curious locals begin to gather around the impact site. 92 00:04:31,583 --> 00:04:34,500 What they discover is a 20-foot-deep 93 00:04:34,625 --> 00:04:39,375 by 100-foot-wide crater that is flooded with water. 94 00:04:39,542 --> 00:04:44,625 And buried deep in the Earth is a 12-ton meteor. 95 00:04:46,625 --> 00:04:49,542 While the massive crater was a remarkable site to see, 96 00:04:49,708 --> 00:04:53,750 many local villagers found themselves overcome 97 00:04:53,958 --> 00:04:56,458 by a mysterious illness. 98 00:04:56,625 --> 00:04:58,333 HUGH NEWMAN: When this meteor strike happened, 99 00:04:58,542 --> 00:05:00,333 a lot of people were trying to get a glimpse of it, 100 00:05:00,542 --> 00:05:03,042 trying to get a sample of it, even. 101 00:05:03,208 --> 00:05:08,167 But what happened was there was a toxic reaction to it, 102 00:05:08,375 --> 00:05:11,417 and loads of people became incredibly sick. 103 00:05:12,458 --> 00:05:14,333 ANDREW COLLINS: They started to suffer 104 00:05:14,542 --> 00:05:16,708 from what might be described as radiation sickness. 105 00:05:16,875 --> 00:05:20,333 And in addition to this, their own animals 106 00:05:20,542 --> 00:05:23,000 started suffering in a similar way. 107 00:05:23,167 --> 00:05:25,500 So, what was going on here? 108 00:05:25,708 --> 00:05:29,458 Was this simply a meteorite that had landed at Carancas, 109 00:05:29,625 --> 00:05:31,417 or was there something more? 110 00:05:32,542 --> 00:05:34,083 SHATNER: More than 200 people 111 00:05:34,250 --> 00:05:35,667 were admitted to the hospital 112 00:05:35,875 --> 00:05:38,750 after being exposed to the Carancas meteor. 113 00:05:38,917 --> 00:05:42,292 According to reports, they suffered from symptoms 114 00:05:42,458 --> 00:05:45,167 ranging from severe headaches, dizziness, nausea, 115 00:05:45,375 --> 00:05:48,708 to skin rashes and respiratory problems. 116 00:05:48,875 --> 00:05:50,792 (speaking Spanish) 117 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:55,875 SHATNER: While many of the villagers believed their sickness 118 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,667 was a punishment from God... 119 00:05:58,875 --> 00:06:00,000 MAN: Señor Jesus... 120 00:06:00,208 --> 00:06:02,333 SHATNER: ...doctors began to suspect 121 00:06:02,458 --> 00:06:06,083 that the meteor had released a deadly toxin 122 00:06:06,292 --> 00:06:08,583 from deep underground. 123 00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:11,333 One of the theories about why people actually got sick 124 00:06:11,542 --> 00:06:13,667 is when the meteor hit the Earth, 125 00:06:13,833 --> 00:06:17,417 it created this 100-foot-wide crater. 126 00:06:17,583 --> 00:06:20,333 And so, people have now believed they may have got poison 127 00:06:20,417 --> 00:06:22,500 simply from what was coming from the Earth, 128 00:06:22,708 --> 00:06:25,708 and it being hit by this meteor. 129 00:06:27,708 --> 00:06:30,792 COLLINS: It is a fact that, in the area of Carancas, 130 00:06:30,958 --> 00:06:33,792 there is a high level of arsenic in the ground, 131 00:06:33,917 --> 00:06:38,250 and almost certainly, this was vaporized as well. 132 00:06:38,417 --> 00:06:40,500 And this was one of the things that was making 133 00:06:40,708 --> 00:06:44,208 both the people and the animals so sick. 134 00:06:44,375 --> 00:06:48,500 SHATNER: Is it possible that the impact of the Carancas meteor 135 00:06:48,667 --> 00:06:51,500 released arsenic into the environment, 136 00:06:51,583 --> 00:06:54,667 poisoning those who came into contact with it? 137 00:06:54,833 --> 00:06:59,292 Or did it deliver an unidentified contagion 138 00:06:59,417 --> 00:07:01,917 from outer space? 139 00:07:02,083 --> 00:07:04,667 WARD: There's always been questions within the scientific community 140 00:07:04,875 --> 00:07:08,625 about whether there could actually be biologics 141 00:07:08,833 --> 00:07:10,125 on a meteorite. 142 00:07:10,292 --> 00:07:12,375 So, you know, some kind of 143 00:07:12,583 --> 00:07:14,917 alien microbe or whatnot in a meteorite. 144 00:07:15,083 --> 00:07:19,625 Meteorites contain amino acids, sugars, water. 145 00:07:19,792 --> 00:07:23,167 All the building blocks for life are on these asteroids. 146 00:07:23,375 --> 00:07:25,917 So is it possible? Absolutely. 147 00:07:26,083 --> 00:07:28,583 GRAHAM LAU: This is an idea that has been around in science fiction 148 00:07:28,708 --> 00:07:31,042 for a very long time, this idea that there could be 149 00:07:31,208 --> 00:07:34,333 viruses or-or some kind of pathogenic bacterium or cell 150 00:07:34,542 --> 00:07:37,250 that could come from space and fall onto the planet, 151 00:07:37,375 --> 00:07:39,833 maybe coming down in a cometary impact 152 00:07:40,042 --> 00:07:41,250 or coming down with some of these grains 153 00:07:41,375 --> 00:07:43,042 of dust and material. 154 00:07:45,083 --> 00:07:48,250 SHATNER: Is there any evidence that toxic pathogens 155 00:07:48,375 --> 00:07:52,042 were delivered to Carancas from the cosmos? 156 00:07:52,208 --> 00:07:55,208 While Robert Ward and his team secured a small meteor sample 157 00:07:55,375 --> 00:07:57,000 from the impact site, 158 00:07:57,167 --> 00:08:00,292 the answer to just what biologics may have landed 159 00:08:00,500 --> 00:08:04,375 on Earth remains buried deep underground. 160 00:08:04,542 --> 00:08:06,458 WARD: Well, our ultimate goal was obviously to find 161 00:08:06,625 --> 00:08:09,500 this large meteorite 162 00:08:09,667 --> 00:08:12,125 that we presumed was in the bottom of the crater. 163 00:08:15,208 --> 00:08:19,000 We were literally standing on the crater rim, 164 00:08:19,208 --> 00:08:22,042 and the water's being pumped out and we are so close. 165 00:08:22,208 --> 00:08:25,917 We were literally within feet of uncovering this large, 166 00:08:26,083 --> 00:08:29,875 possibly multi-ton meteorite in the bottom of the crater 167 00:08:30,042 --> 00:08:33,375 when all work was brought to a stop by the mayor. 168 00:08:33,542 --> 00:08:35,458 The excavation wasn't gonna come to fruition, 169 00:08:35,667 --> 00:08:37,583 which was very disappointing. 170 00:08:37,708 --> 00:08:39,667 SHATNER: Could the Carancas meteor 171 00:08:39,833 --> 00:08:43,583 have actually contained evidence of alien germs? 172 00:08:43,750 --> 00:08:46,000 Perhaps we'll never know, 173 00:08:46,167 --> 00:08:50,875 but the sheer possibility is truly frightening. 174 00:08:51,042 --> 00:08:54,750 For me, the biggest fear is actually germs and diseases 175 00:08:54,917 --> 00:08:58,167 from outer space via an asteroid or something hitting the Earth. 176 00:08:58,333 --> 00:09:00,667 Once the virus is here, by definition, 177 00:09:00,833 --> 00:09:02,917 it looks like all our other viruses. 178 00:09:03,083 --> 00:09:05,333 Unless you catch a meteor in the act 179 00:09:05,500 --> 00:09:07,500 of delivering the virus, 180 00:09:07,708 --> 00:09:09,208 there's not gonna be a real signature 181 00:09:09,375 --> 00:09:10,958 that it came from space. 182 00:09:11,125 --> 00:09:14,292 Now, it's still fairly improbable. 183 00:09:14,417 --> 00:09:15,667 It's a little more likely 184 00:09:15,875 --> 00:09:17,625 that you just get viruses on the Earth, 185 00:09:17,792 --> 00:09:21,375 but the idea of a virus that's stuck 186 00:09:21,583 --> 00:09:24,583 in an asteroid and then lands on Earth, 187 00:09:24,750 --> 00:09:27,208 it's not as crazy as people think. 188 00:09:37,750 --> 00:09:39,833 SHATNER: Greek philosopher Anaxagoras 189 00:09:40,042 --> 00:09:42,833 is conducting astronomical observations 190 00:09:43,042 --> 00:09:47,417 when he spots a bright object approaching in the western sky. 191 00:09:47,583 --> 00:09:49,625 This fortuitous event is believed to be 192 00:09:49,792 --> 00:09:52,333 the first recorded sighting of Halley's Comet, 193 00:09:52,458 --> 00:09:55,125 and the inspiration for Anaxagoras 194 00:09:55,250 --> 00:09:57,333 to propose an idea so incredible 195 00:09:57,500 --> 00:10:01,083 that it shocked the ancient world. 196 00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:07,000 He suggested that life on Earth first originated in outer space. 197 00:10:07,208 --> 00:10:12,833 It is a fascinating theory known as panspermia. 198 00:10:12,958 --> 00:10:16,000 Panspermia is the basic idea that some key building blocks 199 00:10:16,167 --> 00:10:18,042 for life, chemical-wise, 200 00:10:18,250 --> 00:10:20,958 came from meteors or asteroids hitting the Earth. 201 00:10:22,917 --> 00:10:25,333 And then, once those hit Earth, they're dispersed, 202 00:10:25,542 --> 00:10:30,542 and that can be a key chemical step in the start of life. 203 00:10:30,708 --> 00:10:36,000 KAKU: At first, the panspermia theory was laughed at, but not anymore, 204 00:10:36,208 --> 00:10:38,125 because more and more evidence indicates 205 00:10:38,292 --> 00:10:40,958 that life started on the Earth relatively soon 206 00:10:41,125 --> 00:10:43,542 after the conditions were ripe enough 207 00:10:43,750 --> 00:10:46,958 to create germs that could survive on the planet Earth. 208 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,167 SHATNER: Is it possible that life on Earth 209 00:10:51,375 --> 00:10:54,708 sprung from germs that came from outer space? 210 00:10:54,875 --> 00:10:57,125 And if it did happen before, 211 00:10:57,333 --> 00:10:59,167 could it happen again? 212 00:11:00,708 --> 00:11:03,500 Well, at the dawn of the space age, 213 00:11:03,667 --> 00:11:06,292 NASA considered it such an alarming prospect 214 00:11:06,458 --> 00:11:08,042 that they took extreme precautions 215 00:11:08,208 --> 00:11:11,542 to protect humanity from accidental exposure 216 00:11:11,708 --> 00:11:14,792 to deadly alien microbes. 217 00:11:15,958 --> 00:11:18,500 ROD PYLE: As early as the Apollo program for Apollo 11, 218 00:11:18,708 --> 00:11:21,375 there were concerns in the scientific community 219 00:11:21,542 --> 00:11:23,208 about some potentially dangerous pathogen 220 00:11:23,375 --> 00:11:24,625 coming back from the Moon. 221 00:11:33,833 --> 00:11:35,708 PYLE: And they were concerned enough 222 00:11:35,875 --> 00:11:37,833 that when the astronauts came back, 223 00:11:38,042 --> 00:11:40,833 they had to go into quarantine for 21 days. 224 00:11:41,042 --> 00:11:43,000 Because we don't want germs to come out 225 00:11:43,208 --> 00:11:46,333 that could've interacted with something on planet Earth. 226 00:11:48,875 --> 00:11:53,458 SHATNER: Today, fears of alien contagions seem to be growing. 227 00:11:53,625 --> 00:11:55,875 In 2024, researchers 228 00:11:56,042 --> 00:11:59,000 at the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense 229 00:11:59,208 --> 00:12:03,083 have warned NASA that they must seriously enhance 230 00:12:03,250 --> 00:12:05,958 current safety protocols to defend our world 231 00:12:06,042 --> 00:12:09,333 against potential alien illnesses. 232 00:12:09,500 --> 00:12:12,583 And with more exploratory missions 233 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:15,000 deeper into our solar system, 234 00:12:15,167 --> 00:12:17,500 those precautions could mean the difference 235 00:12:17,667 --> 00:12:21,000 between life and death. 236 00:12:21,208 --> 00:12:24,167 DENNIN: I think one of the slightly scary things 237 00:12:24,375 --> 00:12:26,875 are germs coming in through the astronauts, 238 00:12:27,042 --> 00:12:31,000 because y-you don't know necessarily what the life cycle 239 00:12:31,208 --> 00:12:33,542 of either the virus or bacteria might be. 240 00:12:33,708 --> 00:12:36,625 That could mess up our ability to catch it, 241 00:12:36,792 --> 00:12:39,708 quarantine it or deal with it. 242 00:12:40,750 --> 00:12:42,833 Could astronauts unwittingly bring 243 00:12:42,958 --> 00:12:46,917 extraterrestrial viruses and bacteria back to Earth? 244 00:12:47,083 --> 00:12:50,917 Well, some believe a recent discovery suggests 245 00:12:51,042 --> 00:12:55,500 that it may be a very real possibility. 246 00:13:02,917 --> 00:13:05,375 Outside the crew's living module, 247 00:13:05,542 --> 00:13:08,417 cosmonaut Anton Sklaplerov 248 00:13:08,542 --> 00:13:11,000 makes a shocking discovery. 249 00:13:11,125 --> 00:13:14,042 There's a colony of unknown bacteria 250 00:13:14,208 --> 00:13:17,000 living on the outside surface of the spacecraft. 251 00:13:17,125 --> 00:13:20,500 DENNIN: He discovered basically a bacteria 252 00:13:20,708 --> 00:13:22,500 on the outside of the ISS 253 00:13:22,667 --> 00:13:24,625 that he felt pretty clearly 254 00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:26,167 must have come from outer space somehow, 255 00:13:26,375 --> 00:13:29,125 whether just debris or floating in the dust. 256 00:13:30,208 --> 00:13:32,417 And this obviously would be very, very important 257 00:13:32,625 --> 00:13:34,542 to know or understand whether or not 258 00:13:34,708 --> 00:13:37,000 it came from outside or from Earth. 259 00:13:37,167 --> 00:13:40,708 SHATNER: Even Russia's space agency Roscosmos 260 00:13:40,875 --> 00:13:44,958 concluded that the bacteria discovered on the ISS 261 00:13:45,125 --> 00:13:48,875 did originate from somewhere in outer space. 262 00:13:49,083 --> 00:13:51,500 While other scientists remain skeptical, 263 00:13:51,667 --> 00:13:54,333 the possibility does cause concern. 264 00:13:54,458 --> 00:13:56,167 Just what would happen 265 00:13:56,333 --> 00:13:59,542 if a dangerous bacteria of alien origin 266 00:13:59,708 --> 00:14:02,333 were to ever reach Earth? 267 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:07,333 It's possible that if an alien pathogen 268 00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:10,500 finds itself on the Earth, it would very quickly adapt 269 00:14:10,667 --> 00:14:12,333 and evolve to our local environment 270 00:14:12,542 --> 00:14:15,083 and start invading us, 271 00:14:15,250 --> 00:14:18,292 because it's just how life works. 272 00:14:19,333 --> 00:14:20,875 SHATNER: While the notion of an alien bacteria 273 00:14:21,042 --> 00:14:23,792 infecting life on Earth may sound far-fetched, 274 00:14:23,917 --> 00:14:27,125 some experts claim it's not only possible 275 00:14:27,292 --> 00:14:30,500 but that it's already happened. 276 00:14:35,458 --> 00:14:37,833 The normal daily activity of humans on Earth 277 00:14:38,042 --> 00:14:39,792 is stopped in its tracks. 278 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,083 Alarming numbers of people all around the world 279 00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:46,958 are sick and dying from a pandemic called COVID-19. 280 00:14:49,958 --> 00:14:53,667 Many scientists believe this contagious virus 281 00:14:53,833 --> 00:14:57,875 originated in diseased bats in Wuhan, China. 282 00:14:58,042 --> 00:15:02,333 But in July 2020, a scientific paper is published 283 00:15:02,542 --> 00:15:05,917 that proposes that the virus was carried on a meteor 284 00:15:06,083 --> 00:15:08,875 which flew over the city of Songyuan, China 285 00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:12,625 on October the 11th, 2019, 286 00:15:12,750 --> 00:15:16,875 sending viral debris down to Earth. 287 00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:20,333 KAKU: This article comes out of left field 288 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:23,125 saying that maybe these germs come out of space, 289 00:15:23,250 --> 00:15:25,292 people raised an eyebrow and said, 290 00:15:25,458 --> 00:15:27,000 this sounds like science fiction. 291 00:15:27,208 --> 00:15:30,000 It doesn't sound like real solid science. 292 00:15:30,167 --> 00:15:33,250 Well, let's be honest, you can't rule it out 293 00:15:33,417 --> 00:15:35,958 that certain organisms can actually exist and thrive 294 00:15:36,125 --> 00:15:38,125 in the vacuum of outer space. 295 00:15:39,208 --> 00:15:41,083 SHATNER: The idea that our next pandemic may arrive 296 00:15:41,250 --> 00:15:44,333 from outer space is profoundly disturbing. 297 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:46,833 But perhaps even more frightening 298 00:15:46,917 --> 00:15:48,750 is the fact that, according to some studies, 299 00:15:48,917 --> 00:15:52,167 bacteria that develop in outer space 300 00:15:52,375 --> 00:15:55,833 have the capacity to become supercharged. 301 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:57,958 One of the interesting experiments 302 00:15:58,167 --> 00:16:00,375 that scientists are doing aboard the ISS 303 00:16:00,542 --> 00:16:02,500 is to grow different types of bacteria 304 00:16:02,708 --> 00:16:04,000 and see how they grow in space. 305 00:16:04,167 --> 00:16:07,333 And shockingly, salmonella specifically 306 00:16:07,542 --> 00:16:09,958 have been shown to be more virulent 307 00:16:10,125 --> 00:16:13,292 and reproduce faster, grow faster. 308 00:16:13,458 --> 00:16:16,333 One of the slightly scary things is when bacteria, 309 00:16:16,542 --> 00:16:18,292 and particularly salmonella, was tested, 310 00:16:18,458 --> 00:16:20,875 it basically turns on a whole bunch of genes 311 00:16:21,042 --> 00:16:23,333 in the bacteria that are self-defense genes. 312 00:16:23,542 --> 00:16:26,875 And it becomes tougher. It can resist antibiotics. 313 00:16:27,042 --> 00:16:30,667 And what you get from space is a super bacteria. 314 00:16:30,875 --> 00:16:33,833 SHATNER: The possibility that outer space 315 00:16:34,042 --> 00:16:36,000 can cause bacteria to become supercharged 316 00:16:36,208 --> 00:16:38,333 is nothing short of terrifying. 317 00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:41,000 And if an astronaut did become infected 318 00:16:41,208 --> 00:16:44,000 with a strain of super bacteria, 319 00:16:44,167 --> 00:16:47,417 is there anything we could do about it? 320 00:16:47,583 --> 00:16:50,833 Any alien pathogen, if it's alive, 321 00:16:51,042 --> 00:16:53,542 it needs the same basic things 322 00:16:53,750 --> 00:16:55,625 that Earth-based life does. 323 00:16:56,875 --> 00:16:59,833 Our planet may have the wrong temperature, 324 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:01,875 the wrong pressure, 325 00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:04,583 the wrong mixture of gases in the atmosphere, 326 00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:06,500 the wrong chemicals in our soil. 327 00:17:06,667 --> 00:17:09,292 Any of that could be a threat to this pathogen 328 00:17:09,458 --> 00:17:12,000 and simply snuff it out the moment it arrives. 329 00:17:12,208 --> 00:17:14,000 But the honest truth is, 330 00:17:14,167 --> 00:17:17,000 we wouldn't know it until it's too late. 331 00:17:18,250 --> 00:17:20,833 While one can hope that Earth's atmosphere 332 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,042 would be inhospitable to alien germs, 333 00:17:23,208 --> 00:17:27,167 many experts believe that microorganisms from space 334 00:17:27,292 --> 00:17:30,000 can make themselves right at home here on our planet. 335 00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:33,333 In fact, there's one infectious pathogen 336 00:17:33,500 --> 00:17:37,000 that was contracted in a Canadian forest 337 00:17:37,125 --> 00:17:38,833 and is almost certain 338 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,167 to be of extraterrestrial origin. 339 00:17:50,208 --> 00:17:52,833 SHATNER: 51-year-old Stefan Michalak 340 00:17:52,917 --> 00:17:55,000 is prospecting for silver and quartz 341 00:17:55,125 --> 00:17:57,208 in a remote corner of Manitoba, 342 00:17:57,375 --> 00:18:01,042 when he suddenly witnesses an event so remarkable, 343 00:18:01,250 --> 00:18:04,417 that it is considered the best documented UFO case 344 00:18:04,583 --> 00:18:06,333 in Canadian history. 345 00:18:06,542 --> 00:18:11,375 It is called the Falcon Lake Incident. 346 00:18:11,542 --> 00:18:14,375 My dad, uh, going off to Falcon Lake that weekend, 347 00:18:14,542 --> 00:18:17,083 he was off on another one of his rock hunts. 348 00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:20,250 And the part where he was prospecting at Falcon Lake, 349 00:18:20,417 --> 00:18:22,792 there was several gold mines there. 350 00:18:22,958 --> 00:18:24,500 So, eventually he makes his way 351 00:18:24,667 --> 00:18:27,208 to a relatively high piece of ground 352 00:18:27,417 --> 00:18:29,375 and that's when he looks up, 353 00:18:29,542 --> 00:18:32,000 and coming out of the southwest sky 354 00:18:32,208 --> 00:18:33,750 are two objects, 355 00:18:33,875 --> 00:18:37,458 and they're a sort of an orangey, reddish color. 356 00:18:37,625 --> 00:18:39,167 They were giving off a lot of light. 357 00:18:39,375 --> 00:18:41,500 He's wearing goggles, 358 00:18:41,625 --> 00:18:44,833 they have welder's glass that flips down. 359 00:18:45,042 --> 00:18:46,667 The only reason he had them was so that when he's chipping rock 360 00:18:46,875 --> 00:18:49,667 he wouldn't hurt his eyes. Now, this will come in handy. 361 00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:52,792 The first UFO lands 362 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,125 about 140 feet away from Dad 363 00:18:56,250 --> 00:18:58,875 and it's making all kinds of clanking and spitting 364 00:18:59,042 --> 00:19:00,458 and hissing sounds. 365 00:19:00,625 --> 00:19:04,833 So, when Dad turns his attention to the one that landed, 366 00:19:05,042 --> 00:19:06,083 the next time he looks up, 367 00:19:06,250 --> 00:19:07,875 the other one's on its way up, and gone. 368 00:19:09,125 --> 00:19:10,583 SHATNER: At first Michalak thinks the UFO 369 00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:14,125 might be an experimental NASA or Soviet spacecraft, 370 00:19:14,292 --> 00:19:16,792 but the longer he observes it, 371 00:19:16,958 --> 00:19:19,042 the stranger it becomes. 372 00:19:19,208 --> 00:19:20,542 MICHALAK: Dad's looking at this craft 373 00:19:20,708 --> 00:19:22,750 and he doesn't know what to make of it. 374 00:19:22,875 --> 00:19:26,917 It's a mirror metal craft. 375 00:19:27,125 --> 00:19:28,375 There are no seams. 376 00:19:28,542 --> 00:19:30,917 There's no rivets, there are no screws. 377 00:19:31,125 --> 00:19:33,125 There's a sort of a dome on the top 378 00:19:33,292 --> 00:19:35,292 and it's got slits in it. 379 00:19:35,375 --> 00:19:38,833 So, he's wearing gauntlets, long gloves, 380 00:19:39,042 --> 00:19:43,167 and he reaches out to touch the craft, 381 00:19:43,375 --> 00:19:46,792 -and the fingertips all melt. -(exclaims) 382 00:19:48,208 --> 00:19:51,833 Now, suddenly... (imitates whoosh) 383 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,167 out comes this blast of something, 384 00:19:54,375 --> 00:19:58,208 lights his shirt on fire and sends him back. 385 00:19:58,375 --> 00:20:00,208 He falls to the ground, 386 00:20:00,417 --> 00:20:03,417 he's busily trying to put out this fire that's on his chest. 387 00:20:03,583 --> 00:20:07,375 He's wearing a strappy, uh, cotton undershirt. 388 00:20:07,542 --> 00:20:11,583 So he pulls that off and throws it to the ground. 389 00:20:13,375 --> 00:20:16,000 Meanwhile, this craft is continuing to rise and leave. 390 00:20:16,167 --> 00:20:18,083 And then... 391 00:20:18,250 --> 00:20:19,583 gone. 392 00:20:19,792 --> 00:20:22,333 Just right back in the direction it came. 393 00:20:22,458 --> 00:20:24,917 SHATNER: According to official documents, 394 00:20:25,083 --> 00:20:27,875 in the immediate aftermath of his distressing encounter 395 00:20:28,042 --> 00:20:30,000 with the unidentified craft, 396 00:20:30,167 --> 00:20:32,708 Michalak becomes disoriented, 397 00:20:32,875 --> 00:20:34,250 severely burned, 398 00:20:34,458 --> 00:20:37,375 and suddenly very ill. 399 00:20:37,542 --> 00:20:39,167 MICHALAK: He hasn't taken more than two steps 400 00:20:39,375 --> 00:20:41,708 and he's on his knees and he's throwing up. 401 00:20:42,792 --> 00:20:44,000 He's been burned. 402 00:20:44,167 --> 00:20:45,833 But that's just, you know, regular burns, 403 00:20:46,042 --> 00:20:47,458 thermal burns. 404 00:20:47,542 --> 00:20:50,292 But this is, this is doing something to him. 405 00:20:50,417 --> 00:20:52,125 Then he's sweating. 406 00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:54,708 Then he's-- his head starts to go, 407 00:20:54,875 --> 00:20:56,125 and now he's spinning. 408 00:20:56,292 --> 00:20:58,667 He realizes if he doesn't get out of here, 409 00:20:58,833 --> 00:21:00,000 he's gonna die here. 410 00:21:01,125 --> 00:21:04,292 SHATNER: By sheer force of will, Michalak somehow managed 411 00:21:04,458 --> 00:21:07,750 to stagger back to town, and eventually makes his way 412 00:21:07,875 --> 00:21:10,208 back to a hospital where he is immediately 413 00:21:10,375 --> 00:21:11,958 put under observation. 414 00:21:12,083 --> 00:21:13,667 Doctors discovered 415 00:21:13,875 --> 00:21:16,000 that Michalak's white blood cell count 416 00:21:16,208 --> 00:21:18,125 had dropped to very low levels. 417 00:21:18,292 --> 00:21:20,583 He was feverish and confused. 418 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:24,458 No one was sure what to make of his unusual symptoms. 419 00:21:25,458 --> 00:21:27,792 But what truly confused doctors on call 420 00:21:27,917 --> 00:21:30,250 were the strange burn marks 421 00:21:30,375 --> 00:21:32,792 found on Michalak's chest and abdomen. 422 00:21:34,625 --> 00:21:36,667 The examining doctors found 423 00:21:36,792 --> 00:21:40,750 a grid-like pattern of, uh, red burns. 424 00:21:40,875 --> 00:21:44,417 It was described as a checkerboard pattern, 425 00:21:44,583 --> 00:21:48,625 and these were somehow thermal burns, 426 00:21:48,750 --> 00:21:52,042 chemical burns, as if something in the gas 427 00:21:52,208 --> 00:21:54,167 from the UFO was very hot 428 00:21:54,375 --> 00:21:57,167 and conformed to the appearance 429 00:21:57,333 --> 00:21:59,958 of the grid with all these little dots on it. 430 00:22:00,125 --> 00:22:03,833 Whatever experience had occurred to him definitely happened. 431 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:09,292 It was real, and the evidence was on his own body. 432 00:22:10,375 --> 00:22:12,417 SHATNER: Despite numerous tests, 433 00:22:12,542 --> 00:22:15,417 no one could diagnose Michalak's mysterious ailment. 434 00:22:16,542 --> 00:22:20,042 In the official police report following his close encounter, 435 00:22:20,208 --> 00:22:23,167 officers noted that Michalak suffered from headaches, 436 00:22:23,292 --> 00:22:24,667 blackouts, 437 00:22:24,875 --> 00:22:26,500 and severe weight loss. 438 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:31,375 Could Stefan Michalak have caught some type of infection 439 00:22:31,542 --> 00:22:34,917 from his contact with the unidentified flying object? 440 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,833 Or might his symptoms be the result of being poisoned? 441 00:22:43,375 --> 00:22:44,708 Stan Michalak arrives 442 00:22:44,875 --> 00:22:47,375 at the University of Manitoba's Archives 443 00:22:47,542 --> 00:22:49,333 and Special Collections 444 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:52,208 to examine the surviving artifacts 445 00:22:52,375 --> 00:22:54,000 of the Falcon Lake Incident. 446 00:22:55,542 --> 00:22:57,083 It's been a while. 447 00:22:57,208 --> 00:22:58,458 Oh, my goodness. 448 00:23:00,542 --> 00:23:03,458 So this is the undershirt that he was wearing on the day. 449 00:23:03,625 --> 00:23:05,333 He did rip it off himself. 450 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:08,333 It was torn up quite a bit. 451 00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:10,833 You can still see... 452 00:23:10,958 --> 00:23:13,167 on the front of the shirt, 453 00:23:13,292 --> 00:23:16,500 the pattern left behind 454 00:23:16,708 --> 00:23:19,083 when the craft burnt his skin. 455 00:23:20,250 --> 00:23:23,125 I want to know what caused that burn. 456 00:23:24,542 --> 00:23:25,958 SHATNER: To this day, no one knows 457 00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:29,667 what mysterious substance burned Stefan Michalak 458 00:23:29,833 --> 00:23:31,667 or if some kind of alien germ 459 00:23:31,833 --> 00:23:33,917 triggered his sudden illness. 460 00:23:35,125 --> 00:23:36,500 But during an official examination 461 00:23:36,667 --> 00:23:38,500 of the alleged landing site, 462 00:23:38,625 --> 00:23:41,833 high levels of radiation were discovered in the area. 463 00:23:42,042 --> 00:23:44,833 And some suggest it could at least explain 464 00:23:45,042 --> 00:23:47,500 some of Michalak's symptoms. 465 00:23:50,792 --> 00:23:52,333 RUTKOWSKI: When the site was first examined 466 00:23:52,542 --> 00:23:55,458 by military and government investigators, 467 00:23:55,667 --> 00:23:58,333 the presence of high levels of radiation 468 00:23:58,500 --> 00:24:00,833 were of such significance that there was a concern 469 00:24:01,042 --> 00:24:03,375 that it might be a public health hazard. 470 00:24:03,583 --> 00:24:06,667 And yet everything that they found at the site, 471 00:24:06,833 --> 00:24:09,708 could not produce any satisfactory 472 00:24:09,875 --> 00:24:12,542 explanation for what caused this incident. 473 00:24:13,583 --> 00:24:16,000 The presence of radiation has suggested to 474 00:24:16,167 --> 00:24:19,458 some people that this craft was nuclear powered, 475 00:24:19,542 --> 00:24:23,167 uh, perhaps was leaking radiation when it landed. 476 00:24:23,375 --> 00:24:28,417 Perhaps this case has some clues as to the true nature of UFOs. 477 00:24:30,375 --> 00:24:32,000 PAIGE: You're putting yourself at risk 478 00:24:32,208 --> 00:24:34,500 if you try to approach these craft 479 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:36,958 because you don't know what kind of contamination 480 00:24:37,083 --> 00:24:38,875 is on these ships. 481 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,667 Whatever they're using for a means of propulsion 482 00:24:41,833 --> 00:24:44,792 could possibly be carrying some sort 483 00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:47,000 of radioactive material on board. 484 00:24:47,167 --> 00:24:50,667 Maybe they use that as part of their propulsion systems. 485 00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:53,000 But they also could be carrying bacteria 486 00:24:53,167 --> 00:24:54,583 and fungus and things like that 487 00:24:54,750 --> 00:24:57,708 that can harm us inadvertently. 488 00:24:59,875 --> 00:25:02,958 It's terrifying to think that a brief encounter 489 00:25:03,167 --> 00:25:04,708 with an extraterrestrial object 490 00:25:04,917 --> 00:25:06,833 could make someone dangerously ill. 491 00:25:08,208 --> 00:25:10,167 But perhaps more concerning 492 00:25:10,333 --> 00:25:13,167 is a bizarre ailment 493 00:25:13,333 --> 00:25:15,000 that some consider alien 494 00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:17,958 simply due to the fact that we have absolutely 495 00:25:18,125 --> 00:25:19,875 no clue where it came from. 496 00:25:28,542 --> 00:25:30,750 SHATNER: Founded in the late 1880s, 497 00:25:30,875 --> 00:25:33,458 the NIH has become one of the foremost 498 00:25:33,583 --> 00:25:35,708 medical research centers in the world. 499 00:25:36,833 --> 00:25:39,667 Here, experts study more than 10,000 rare diseases 500 00:25:39,833 --> 00:25:42,458 identified across the globe. 501 00:25:42,625 --> 00:25:44,458 And, in recent years, 502 00:25:44,625 --> 00:25:47,625 there is one emerging illness 503 00:25:47,792 --> 00:25:50,958 that has proven more confounding than the rest 504 00:25:51,125 --> 00:25:54,500 called Morgellons disease. 505 00:25:54,625 --> 00:25:56,875 Morgellons disease is an interesting disease 506 00:25:57,042 --> 00:25:59,292 that scientists don't know a lot about. 507 00:26:00,375 --> 00:26:02,875 But for a few hundred years, there have been cases of people 508 00:26:03,042 --> 00:26:06,208 reporting fibers growing inside open wounds. 509 00:26:07,750 --> 00:26:09,625 Red, blue, black fibers. 510 00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:11,792 What are the fibers? 511 00:26:13,083 --> 00:26:14,875 It's not entirely clear. 512 00:26:15,875 --> 00:26:18,417 PAIGE: When we look at a disease like Morgellons, 513 00:26:18,583 --> 00:26:19,833 we have to ask the question, 514 00:26:20,042 --> 00:26:21,667 where did this disease come from? 515 00:26:21,833 --> 00:26:23,792 We don't have explanations on how people 516 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:25,625 are getting infected by this. 517 00:26:26,708 --> 00:26:28,500 It could be on your face, on your torsos, 518 00:26:28,708 --> 00:26:30,333 anywhere on your body. 519 00:26:30,542 --> 00:26:33,500 And I couldn't even imagine having something like this. 520 00:26:33,667 --> 00:26:35,875 But they feel like there's something crawling 521 00:26:36,042 --> 00:26:37,583 under their skin. 522 00:26:37,708 --> 00:26:41,083 Bugs or worms or, I mean, can you even imagine? 523 00:26:41,208 --> 00:26:42,167 It's horrible. 524 00:26:43,375 --> 00:26:47,250 HERNANDEZ: I contracted Morgellons disease in 1999. 525 00:26:48,667 --> 00:26:51,750 You have a lot of sores and weird feelings 526 00:26:51,875 --> 00:26:53,833 where things are moving on your body. 527 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,375 I actually started with a little itch here and there. 528 00:26:57,542 --> 00:26:59,667 I kept going to the dermatology 529 00:26:59,750 --> 00:27:02,667 to actually get some cream for the itch. 530 00:27:02,875 --> 00:27:04,792 And then it got very bad. 531 00:27:04,917 --> 00:27:08,917 Bad enough that a couple of times 532 00:27:09,125 --> 00:27:11,792 I drove to the emergency room in the middle of the night 533 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,833 because I felt a huge blob moving up my back. 534 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000 And they told me, "No, no, no, no, it's nothing." 535 00:27:20,042 --> 00:27:22,667 I actually was bedridden a few times, 536 00:27:22,792 --> 00:27:25,333 and I actually couldn't even get up. 537 00:27:25,542 --> 00:27:27,000 Once it gets bad enough, 538 00:27:27,208 --> 00:27:29,250 it actually starts affecting your mind. 539 00:27:29,375 --> 00:27:30,875 You can't think. 540 00:27:31,042 --> 00:27:34,458 You're gonna have chills, headaches, 541 00:27:34,625 --> 00:27:36,208 itching like crazy, 542 00:27:36,417 --> 00:27:38,667 sores popping up everywhere. 543 00:27:38,833 --> 00:27:42,333 What it feels like is basically the fibers have 544 00:27:42,458 --> 00:27:44,750 grown throughout the whole body. 545 00:27:44,875 --> 00:27:47,625 It is a living organism that keeps multiplying. 546 00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:49,875 Those threads are alive. 547 00:27:51,375 --> 00:27:53,708 SHATNER: If you think a disease in which people's skin 548 00:27:53,875 --> 00:27:56,333 begins sprouting multicolored fibers 549 00:27:56,417 --> 00:27:58,167 sounds far-fetched, 550 00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:00,333 well, you're not alone. 551 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:02,792 And at first, Professor Randy Wymore 552 00:28:02,958 --> 00:28:05,042 of Oklahoma State University 553 00:28:05,208 --> 00:28:08,833 thought Morgellons disease was a figment of the imagination. 554 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,750 But after studying the strange condition 555 00:28:11,875 --> 00:28:14,000 for more than 15 years, 556 00:28:14,167 --> 00:28:18,792 he's come to the realization that it is very real. 557 00:28:21,833 --> 00:28:25,083 Morgellons disease is a very unusual condition. 558 00:28:25,250 --> 00:28:28,750 The population has, uh, lesions in their skin 559 00:28:28,917 --> 00:28:30,625 that are very slow to heal. 560 00:28:30,792 --> 00:28:33,125 They have fibers associated 561 00:28:33,292 --> 00:28:35,792 with those lesions emanating from their skin. 562 00:28:37,583 --> 00:28:40,458 So I went ahead and asked for some fibers to look at. 563 00:28:42,417 --> 00:28:47,083 And they didn't exactly look like textile fibers to me. 564 00:28:48,083 --> 00:28:51,167 So then I collected fiber samples from 565 00:28:51,333 --> 00:28:53,792 just everywhere I could think of to compare 566 00:28:53,875 --> 00:28:55,708 with the Morgellons fibers. 567 00:28:57,042 --> 00:28:59,167 Well, basically, the bottom line was, 568 00:28:59,375 --> 00:29:02,958 the Morgellons fibers don't look anything like cotton 569 00:29:03,083 --> 00:29:05,750 or nylon or anything like that. 570 00:29:05,875 --> 00:29:09,292 So I sort of was puzzled 571 00:29:09,458 --> 00:29:12,083 by that, being a scientist. 572 00:29:12,250 --> 00:29:14,000 So, in my own mind, 573 00:29:14,208 --> 00:29:17,167 I was convinced that there was a biological component to this, 574 00:29:17,375 --> 00:29:18,500 and not a delusion. 575 00:29:19,750 --> 00:29:23,250 My initial hypothesis was: there has to be 576 00:29:23,375 --> 00:29:25,167 a bacterial, fungal, 577 00:29:25,292 --> 00:29:28,000 some sort of agent that's triggering these, 578 00:29:28,125 --> 00:29:31,042 that could be producing the fibers. 579 00:29:32,083 --> 00:29:34,917 It actually looks now like whatever the microorganisms 580 00:29:35,042 --> 00:29:38,500 are that are causing Morgellons disease, 581 00:29:38,708 --> 00:29:41,167 they sort of cause the person's 582 00:29:41,375 --> 00:29:44,000 cells to actually produce these fibers. 583 00:29:47,042 --> 00:29:48,833 SHATNER: The Morgellons Research Foundation estimates 584 00:29:49,042 --> 00:29:52,292 that more than 14,000 people worldwide 585 00:29:52,458 --> 00:29:54,250 are afflicted with the disease. 586 00:29:55,667 --> 00:29:57,500 The bizarre condition made headlines 587 00:29:57,708 --> 00:29:59,625 when folk singer Joni Mitchell 588 00:29:59,792 --> 00:30:01,500 announced that she suffers 589 00:30:01,667 --> 00:30:04,042 from Morgellons' debilitating effects. 590 00:30:04,208 --> 00:30:06,875 And even suggests that it may have 591 00:30:07,042 --> 00:30:09,167 originated in outer space. 592 00:30:10,333 --> 00:30:14,083 We know from stories of alien abductions, 593 00:30:14,250 --> 00:30:16,917 from stories of alien contact, that there are 594 00:30:17,083 --> 00:30:19,667 effects that people are experiencing 595 00:30:19,833 --> 00:30:21,333 from those contacts. 596 00:30:21,458 --> 00:30:24,833 The question is whether there is a relationship 597 00:30:24,958 --> 00:30:27,042 between Morgellons disease 598 00:30:27,250 --> 00:30:30,458 and contact with aliens or an alien presence. 599 00:30:33,583 --> 00:30:35,625 SHATNER: While some have suggested that Morgellons disease 600 00:30:35,750 --> 00:30:37,833 has come from outer space, due to the fact 601 00:30:38,042 --> 00:30:40,417 that there's nothing else like it on Earth, 602 00:30:40,542 --> 00:30:42,458 the reality is 603 00:30:42,625 --> 00:30:44,333 no one really knows 604 00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:47,458 what causes the presence of these strange fibers 605 00:30:47,583 --> 00:30:51,208 or how the malady is transmitted. 606 00:30:51,375 --> 00:30:54,000 And for those afflicted with the agonizing condition, 607 00:30:54,083 --> 00:30:57,000 finding the origins of this disease 608 00:30:57,167 --> 00:31:00,833 isn't nearly as important as finding a cure. 609 00:31:00,958 --> 00:31:05,000 Too many people that I talked to, people are crying 610 00:31:05,167 --> 00:31:07,500 because they can't get help. 611 00:31:07,708 --> 00:31:10,417 The doctors tell them they're crazy. 612 00:31:10,542 --> 00:31:13,958 And it is a bad feeling to actually be told that. 613 00:31:14,167 --> 00:31:16,708 If you don't start treating it, 614 00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:19,333 it's gonna get worse for a lot of people. 615 00:31:19,500 --> 00:31:21,958 And this is not good. 616 00:31:23,167 --> 00:31:26,708 Whether Morgellons disease is caused by a fungus, 617 00:31:26,875 --> 00:31:29,375 something from outer space, or something 618 00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:31,167 yet to be determined, 619 00:31:31,333 --> 00:31:33,792 the idea of being infected with an alien organism 620 00:31:33,958 --> 00:31:37,333 is profoundly unnerving. 621 00:31:37,542 --> 00:31:42,417 But it's not as terrifying as another mysterious ailment 622 00:31:42,583 --> 00:31:45,875 that causes the body to act as if it is... 623 00:31:46,833 --> 00:31:48,875 ...possessed. 624 00:31:55,833 --> 00:31:59,917 SHATNER: Preeminent neuropsychiatrist Dr. Kurt Goldstein 625 00:32:00,125 --> 00:32:03,500 publishes a shocking report on the first known case 626 00:32:03,625 --> 00:32:06,500 of a truly bizarre disease. 627 00:32:07,708 --> 00:32:09,958 With this rare medical condition, 628 00:32:10,125 --> 00:32:13,125 patients lose complete control of one of their hands. 629 00:32:13,292 --> 00:32:16,875 The hand acts independently, 630 00:32:17,042 --> 00:32:20,167 as if possessed by an otherworldly force. 631 00:32:21,333 --> 00:32:25,417 It's known as alien hand syndrome. 632 00:32:27,042 --> 00:32:31,458 Alien hand syndrome was discovered as early as 1908, 633 00:32:31,625 --> 00:32:34,125 uh, by Dr. Kurt Goldstein, 634 00:32:34,333 --> 00:32:38,833 uh, when he was examining a 57-year-old woman. 635 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,250 And this was something that, up until that time, 636 00:32:41,417 --> 00:32:44,667 was probably put down to some kind of madness, 637 00:32:44,875 --> 00:32:49,500 and today, it is considered to be a very important subject 638 00:32:49,708 --> 00:32:52,292 to try and understand within the medical community. 639 00:32:52,458 --> 00:32:56,083 Alien hand syndrome is something where 640 00:32:56,208 --> 00:32:59,000 people's hands, generally the left hand, 641 00:32:59,083 --> 00:33:02,458 takes on a life of its own 642 00:33:02,667 --> 00:33:04,375 and can quite literally 643 00:33:04,583 --> 00:33:08,625 act independently to your conscious thoughts. 644 00:33:08,750 --> 00:33:12,667 One example would be, you go and turn on a light, 645 00:33:12,750 --> 00:33:16,792 but then your other hand reaches up and turns it off. 646 00:33:16,917 --> 00:33:20,000 But more disturbingly is the fact 647 00:33:20,125 --> 00:33:22,625 that these hands can also be quite malevolent. 648 00:33:25,458 --> 00:33:30,292 REUBEN: Sometimes, people are forced to have their hands restricted 649 00:33:30,458 --> 00:33:33,333 because, otherwise, that hand could 650 00:33:33,500 --> 00:33:36,917 start to strangle them or attack them in some way. 651 00:33:37,917 --> 00:33:41,125 Scientists still don't know what causes alien hand syndrome 652 00:33:41,250 --> 00:33:42,792 and whether there's anything that can be done 653 00:33:42,958 --> 00:33:44,292 as a cure for it. 654 00:33:44,458 --> 00:33:47,542 Alien hand syndrome is a very scary 655 00:33:47,708 --> 00:33:50,708 and, at this point, completely unexplained disease. 656 00:33:52,250 --> 00:33:54,292 SHATNER: Since it was first discovered over a century ago, 657 00:33:54,500 --> 00:33:59,708 there have been 424 published cases of alien hand syndrome. 658 00:33:59,875 --> 00:34:02,042 Patients report hands that seem to be 659 00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:05,375 under the control of an independent intelligence. 660 00:34:05,500 --> 00:34:08,333 In fact, it has led some patients 661 00:34:08,500 --> 00:34:11,625 to give their hand a name of its own. 662 00:34:12,542 --> 00:34:14,958 While a singular cause of this affliction 663 00:34:15,125 --> 00:34:16,917 has not been identified, 664 00:34:17,083 --> 00:34:19,583 most doctors believe a brain injury 665 00:34:19,792 --> 00:34:22,375 may trigger these bizarre symptoms. 666 00:34:23,708 --> 00:34:27,917 The human brain is composed of two hemispheres, 667 00:34:28,042 --> 00:34:29,542 left and a right. 668 00:34:29,708 --> 00:34:34,250 Usually, the logic part is on your left hemisphere. 669 00:34:34,458 --> 00:34:36,667 The artistic part is on your right hemisphere. 670 00:34:36,875 --> 00:34:41,667 The two hemispheres are connected by a bundle of tissues 671 00:34:41,792 --> 00:34:44,875 called the corpus callosum. 672 00:34:45,042 --> 00:34:47,792 We know that head injuries 673 00:34:47,958 --> 00:34:51,250 that damage the corpus callosum 674 00:34:51,417 --> 00:34:55,292 caused one part of the body to operate independently 675 00:34:55,417 --> 00:34:57,417 from another part of the body. 676 00:34:57,583 --> 00:35:01,250 There are medical examples of this dating back 677 00:35:01,417 --> 00:35:04,125 all the way from the beginning of the 20th century. 678 00:35:05,292 --> 00:35:07,667 SHATNER: The possibility of losing control of your body 679 00:35:07,833 --> 00:35:09,750 due to a problem inside the brain 680 00:35:09,917 --> 00:35:12,208 is undoubtedly terrifying. 681 00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:15,750 But some experts point out that a similar phenomenon 682 00:35:15,875 --> 00:35:18,042 also occurs in nature. 683 00:35:18,208 --> 00:35:22,500 It's a bizarre infection caused by an invasive fungus 684 00:35:22,625 --> 00:35:25,583 that takes over an organism's mind, 685 00:35:25,708 --> 00:35:29,750 transforming them into real-life zombies. 686 00:35:31,208 --> 00:35:34,125 There are strange accounts of insects, 687 00:35:34,250 --> 00:35:38,333 and ants specifically, who kind of get overtaken 688 00:35:38,542 --> 00:35:41,458 by this fungus called Ophiocordyceps. 689 00:35:42,458 --> 00:35:44,500 And it goes into their system and it drills 690 00:35:44,667 --> 00:35:46,292 through the exoskeleton. 691 00:35:46,458 --> 00:35:48,500 It kind of gets into their bloodstream, 692 00:35:48,708 --> 00:35:52,000 and it creates a kind of nerve toxin, 693 00:35:52,167 --> 00:35:54,250 and it eventually kind of controls the ants. 694 00:35:54,458 --> 00:35:56,833 Almost to the point where some of the ants 695 00:35:56,917 --> 00:35:58,333 will then go and kill themselves 696 00:35:58,542 --> 00:36:02,458 or climb up a tree and become completely useless. 697 00:36:02,625 --> 00:36:05,208 We don't really understand exactly how 698 00:36:05,375 --> 00:36:08,750 the fungus is manipulating the insects to want to do things 699 00:36:08,917 --> 00:36:10,458 that is not in their best interest, 700 00:36:10,625 --> 00:36:12,917 but it's clearly what's happening. 701 00:36:14,042 --> 00:36:18,333 Insects are relatively simple organisms compared to a human. 702 00:36:18,417 --> 00:36:20,708 And so, we can kind of write this off 703 00:36:20,875 --> 00:36:23,042 as "just something that happens in the insect world." 704 00:36:24,042 --> 00:36:27,708 But it does raise the question of, if a human was ever infected 705 00:36:27,875 --> 00:36:30,708 with something similar, what would that look like? 706 00:36:30,875 --> 00:36:33,292 There's an analogy that can kind of be drawn 707 00:36:33,417 --> 00:36:37,292 between zombie insects and alien hand syndrome. 708 00:36:38,667 --> 00:36:41,375 COLLINS: What's so worrying about alien hand syndrome 709 00:36:41,542 --> 00:36:44,292 is that the hand itself seems to be 710 00:36:44,458 --> 00:36:46,417 a separate personality 711 00:36:46,583 --> 00:36:49,458 and is working against the individual, 712 00:36:49,583 --> 00:36:52,000 almost as if it's possessed. 713 00:36:52,208 --> 00:36:55,917 And if it can be possessed, is it possible 714 00:36:56,083 --> 00:37:02,167 that this could be due to some kind of outside interference? 715 00:37:02,292 --> 00:37:04,458 Could we possibly be taken over 716 00:37:04,583 --> 00:37:06,958 by some kind of alien intelligence? 717 00:37:07,125 --> 00:37:09,542 PAUL HYNEK: There's an outside force 718 00:37:09,750 --> 00:37:12,875 controlling part of their biology, part of their body. 719 00:37:14,208 --> 00:37:16,750 This may seem very strange, 720 00:37:16,917 --> 00:37:19,542 but I'm inclined to believe that there are other forces 721 00:37:19,708 --> 00:37:22,833 that affect our behavior that we really haven't discovered yet. 722 00:37:23,958 --> 00:37:26,083 SHATNER: What will we learn about bizarre illnesses 723 00:37:26,250 --> 00:37:28,750 that continue to defy explanation? 724 00:37:28,875 --> 00:37:32,167 Some believe the answer has already been found. 725 00:37:32,333 --> 00:37:35,708 Because according to a recent report, organizations 726 00:37:35,875 --> 00:37:38,333 around the world appear to take the threat of potential 727 00:37:38,458 --> 00:37:42,083 alien contagions very seriously, 728 00:37:42,250 --> 00:37:46,208 including the United States government. 729 00:37:54,625 --> 00:37:56,458 SHATNER: Here you'll find the headquarters 730 00:37:56,625 --> 00:38:00,333 of the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON, 731 00:38:00,542 --> 00:38:05,375 the largest and oldest civilian UFO organization in the world. 732 00:38:05,542 --> 00:38:08,625 As part of its mission, MUFON has compiled 733 00:38:08,792 --> 00:38:11,500 thousands of reports on UFO sightings 734 00:38:11,667 --> 00:38:14,208 dating as far back as 1873. 735 00:38:14,375 --> 00:38:17,333 And according to MUFON's investigators, 736 00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:19,833 the data they've collected reveals 737 00:38:20,042 --> 00:38:22,417 something quite shocking. 738 00:38:22,583 --> 00:38:25,500 A significant number of people have reported 739 00:38:25,625 --> 00:38:27,708 becoming seriously ill 740 00:38:27,875 --> 00:38:32,458 immediately following a close encounter experience. 741 00:38:33,708 --> 00:38:36,167 PAIGE: Being an investigator with MUFON 742 00:38:36,333 --> 00:38:38,000 and talking with countless people 743 00:38:38,167 --> 00:38:39,667 and conducting a lot of interviews, 744 00:38:39,833 --> 00:38:42,792 there are some commonalities between these people 745 00:38:42,958 --> 00:38:47,125 dealing with anomalies, or if people have encounters. 746 00:38:47,333 --> 00:38:50,500 The obvious one is like the PTSD symptoms. 747 00:38:50,708 --> 00:38:53,000 Just the feeling of isolation. 748 00:38:53,167 --> 00:38:55,500 You'll often have a lot of symptoms 749 00:38:55,625 --> 00:38:58,375 that are, uh, attached to maybe a radiation burn, 750 00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:00,250 a radiation sickness. 751 00:39:00,375 --> 00:39:03,167 Headaches is a big one. Hair loss. 752 00:39:03,250 --> 00:39:04,667 Rashes. 753 00:39:04,875 --> 00:39:07,417 Vomiting. Um, not being able to sleep. 754 00:39:07,583 --> 00:39:09,583 Weight loss. These kind of things. 755 00:39:10,917 --> 00:39:13,167 SHATNER: While MUFON investigates the connection 756 00:39:13,292 --> 00:39:16,125 between UFO encounters and bizarre illnesses, 757 00:39:16,292 --> 00:39:17,958 they are not alone 758 00:39:18,042 --> 00:39:20,542 because this phenomenon 759 00:39:20,708 --> 00:39:24,875 has also caught the attention of the U.S. government. 760 00:39:26,083 --> 00:39:30,083 In 2022, a FOIA request revealed a shocking document 761 00:39:30,292 --> 00:39:32,875 from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency 762 00:39:33,083 --> 00:39:37,500 titled "Anomalous Acute and Subacute Field Effects 763 00:39:37,708 --> 00:39:40,792 on Human Biological Tissues." 764 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,500 And according to the report, the United States government 765 00:39:43,708 --> 00:39:47,792 is actively tracking mysterious illnesses 766 00:39:47,917 --> 00:39:52,083 in people who've encountered anomalous crafts. 767 00:39:52,250 --> 00:39:56,000 The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had this secret report 768 00:39:56,208 --> 00:39:59,792 that was released with some rather astonishing revelations. 769 00:39:59,958 --> 00:40:03,375 Revelations that people that have claimed to have 770 00:40:03,583 --> 00:40:06,542 come down with diseases and malfunctions of the body, 771 00:40:06,708 --> 00:40:09,833 have registered all sorts of illnesses 772 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,667 that seem to come out of encounters that people 773 00:40:12,833 --> 00:40:15,667 have claimed with aliens from outer space. 774 00:40:16,708 --> 00:40:19,833 REUBEN: This Defense Intelligence report is 1,500 pages long, 775 00:40:20,042 --> 00:40:22,625 and it described ailments like headaches, 776 00:40:22,792 --> 00:40:25,000 brain damage, nerve damage, 777 00:40:25,125 --> 00:40:28,833 and something that's described as an unexplained pregnancy. 778 00:40:28,958 --> 00:40:30,583 And so, 779 00:40:30,750 --> 00:40:32,500 it makes sense that the Defense Intelligence Agencies 780 00:40:32,667 --> 00:40:35,125 would want to know more about what could happen 781 00:40:35,250 --> 00:40:38,875 when humans interact with organisms from someplace else. 782 00:40:39,917 --> 00:40:42,708 PAIGE: I think it's important that this is studied 783 00:40:42,875 --> 00:40:45,000 and looked at and taken seriously because 784 00:40:45,208 --> 00:40:48,292 we're talking about the health of people here. 785 00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:52,667 Disease, sicknesses, mental health, physical health. 786 00:40:53,708 --> 00:40:56,000 And when you have this much evidence 787 00:40:56,208 --> 00:40:59,292 and body of people that are suffering these ill effects, 788 00:40:59,458 --> 00:41:02,500 then it needs to be taken very seriously. 789 00:41:02,708 --> 00:41:05,750 So, if you look at the idea of aliens coming, 790 00:41:05,958 --> 00:41:07,667 we have to imagine that the greatest threat 791 00:41:07,875 --> 00:41:09,667 would be a disease they bring. 792 00:41:09,875 --> 00:41:12,458 It could be a pathogen on their spaceship. 793 00:41:12,625 --> 00:41:15,167 It could be something else entirely 794 00:41:15,292 --> 00:41:16,500 that they were traveling with. 795 00:41:17,542 --> 00:41:20,750 Even if they're super friendly, if we don't notice that 796 00:41:20,917 --> 00:41:23,167 and take care of that, we could still be wiped out. 797 00:41:25,083 --> 00:41:27,458 Obviously, it's pretty disturbing to think 798 00:41:27,625 --> 00:41:30,167 that people are getting sick from interactions 799 00:41:30,375 --> 00:41:33,458 with unidentified aerial phenomena. 800 00:41:33,583 --> 00:41:35,667 And if it's true that the U.S. government 801 00:41:35,833 --> 00:41:38,500 is tracking alien illnesses among the population, 802 00:41:38,708 --> 00:41:41,417 let's think about the pressing question it raises, 803 00:41:41,542 --> 00:41:45,917 should we be comforted or concerned 804 00:41:46,125 --> 00:41:47,375 by what they've learned? 805 00:41:47,542 --> 00:41:49,917 Either way, it's a stark reminder that, 806 00:41:50,083 --> 00:41:52,000 even in the age of modern medicine, 807 00:41:52,167 --> 00:41:55,167 we are vulnerable to a variety of maladies that, 808 00:41:55,292 --> 00:41:58,125 for the time being, remain... 809 00:41:58,292 --> 00:41:59,958 unexplained. 810 00:42:00,083 --> 00:42:02,125 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS