1 00:00:03,568 --> 00:00:06,310 WILLIAM SHATNER: Deadly forests. 2 00:00:06,354 --> 00:00:08,356 Haunted houses. 3 00:00:08,399 --> 00:00:10,575 [children laughing] 4 00:00:10,619 --> 00:00:13,056 Mountains where visitors 5 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:15,493 never return alive. 6 00:00:17,713 --> 00:00:22,283 Are there such things as evil places? 7 00:00:22,326 --> 00:00:26,765 Places that are really born bad? 8 00:00:26,809 --> 00:00:28,550 There are those who believe 9 00:00:28,593 --> 00:00:32,293 that not only is such an incredible notion possible, 10 00:00:32,336 --> 00:00:36,079 but that there are literally thousands of these places 11 00:00:36,123 --> 00:00:38,995 all around us. 12 00:00:39,039 --> 00:00:41,606 But how could a seemingly harmless destination 13 00:00:41,650 --> 00:00:44,348 like an amusement park 14 00:00:44,392 --> 00:00:48,178 really be thought of as cursed? 15 00:00:48,222 --> 00:00:50,441 [chuckling]: Well... 16 00:00:50,485 --> 00:00:53,140 that is what we'll try and find out. 17 00:00:53,183 --> 00:00:55,098 ♪ 18 00:01:08,155 --> 00:01:10,113 SHATNER: In central Japan, 19 00:01:10,157 --> 00:01:12,463 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, 20 00:01:12,507 --> 00:01:15,510 lies the Aokigahara forest. 21 00:01:15,553 --> 00:01:18,208 Located at the base of Mount Fuji, 22 00:01:18,252 --> 00:01:21,864 it is considered by the Japanese to be sacred. 23 00:01:21,907 --> 00:01:24,432 Although, in recent years, many believe 24 00:01:24,475 --> 00:01:27,696 that these woods have become not a holy place, 25 00:01:27,739 --> 00:01:29,132 but a place of evil. 26 00:01:30,873 --> 00:01:32,875 Each year, shockingly high numbers 27 00:01:32,918 --> 00:01:37,009 of people come here to end their own lives. 28 00:01:37,053 --> 00:01:39,360 So many, in fact, that the place has become known 29 00:01:39,403 --> 00:01:42,058 as the Suicide Forest. 30 00:01:42,102 --> 00:01:45,105 If you ever walk through any other woods or forests, 31 00:01:45,148 --> 00:01:47,281 you always hear the birds, and you hear rustling, 32 00:01:47,324 --> 00:01:49,500 and you hear all sorts of things, 33 00:01:49,544 --> 00:01:51,154 but not in Suicide Forest. 34 00:01:51,198 --> 00:01:52,764 In Suicide Forest, 35 00:01:52,808 --> 00:01:55,593 it's just completely and absolutely silent. 36 00:01:55,637 --> 00:01:57,552 [silence] 37 00:02:00,859 --> 00:02:03,166 I didn't see a living thing other than those plants, 38 00:02:03,210 --> 00:02:05,995 and I certainly didn't hear anything. 39 00:02:06,038 --> 00:02:09,259 So, it's the silence that really hits you at first. 40 00:02:09,303 --> 00:02:11,261 It definitely had a different feel to it, 41 00:02:11,305 --> 00:02:13,350 and that kind of raises the anxiety. 42 00:02:14,569 --> 00:02:16,701 A lot of locals will tell you 43 00:02:16,745 --> 00:02:18,877 that as they grew up near the forest, 44 00:02:18,921 --> 00:02:20,531 they were told never to go there. 45 00:02:20,575 --> 00:02:22,185 It's a dark, scary place. 46 00:02:22,229 --> 00:02:23,665 It's not a place for you. 47 00:02:23,708 --> 00:02:24,883 Stay away from it. 48 00:02:27,234 --> 00:02:29,192 DOMINIC STEAVU: Aokigahara literally translates 49 00:02:29,236 --> 00:02:31,455 as "the field of green trees." 50 00:02:31,499 --> 00:02:33,370 This forest is also known as the Jukai, 51 00:02:33,414 --> 00:02:35,111 "the sea of trees." 52 00:02:35,155 --> 00:02:38,897 Many people go and commit suicide, 53 00:02:38,941 --> 00:02:43,511 typically by hanging, or also by prescription drug overdose. 54 00:02:43,554 --> 00:02:46,688 Officials have stopped publicizing the numbers 55 00:02:46,731 --> 00:02:49,343 so as to not encourage more people to go there, 56 00:02:49,386 --> 00:02:52,302 but it really has become a magnet for suicides. 57 00:02:58,830 --> 00:03:01,572 SHATNER: At the entrance to the park, signs are posted 58 00:03:01,616 --> 00:03:04,401 advising those who enter the forest with suicidal thoughts 59 00:03:04,445 --> 00:03:07,317 to stop and turn back. 60 00:03:07,361 --> 00:03:10,059 It is a warning meant to prevent people 61 00:03:10,102 --> 00:03:14,498 from being swallowed up by the darkness of this place, 62 00:03:14,542 --> 00:03:19,199 a darkness from which there is no return. 63 00:03:20,330 --> 00:03:22,071 These signs tell people, 64 00:03:22,114 --> 00:03:23,638 please don't commit suicide. 65 00:03:23,681 --> 00:03:25,248 Think of your parents. Think of your family. 66 00:03:25,292 --> 00:03:26,945 They give you information on who to call 67 00:03:26,989 --> 00:03:28,599 if you need some help. 68 00:03:28,643 --> 00:03:32,777 It's very clear that this is a concern of theirs. 69 00:03:32,821 --> 00:03:34,692 They know it's a problem, 70 00:03:34,736 --> 00:03:39,262 and they ask you, "Please don't do this." 71 00:03:39,306 --> 00:03:41,308 And you'll see those signs everywhere, 72 00:03:41,351 --> 00:03:44,702 which remind you of how prevalent the problem is. 73 00:03:46,661 --> 00:03:50,055 STEAVU: Aokigahara is also a non-camping forest. 74 00:03:50,099 --> 00:03:52,275 So camping is strictly forbidden, 75 00:03:52,319 --> 00:03:54,799 yet people who contemplate suicide 76 00:03:54,843 --> 00:03:58,020 sometimes bring their tents. 77 00:03:58,063 --> 00:04:01,458 We do have lots of these traces of the departed 78 00:04:01,502 --> 00:04:04,635 that remain in the forest, from personal effects 79 00:04:04,679 --> 00:04:07,377 to thread marking the paths. 80 00:04:07,421 --> 00:04:10,075 ONO: Part of the mystique of Suicide Forest is 81 00:04:10,119 --> 00:04:11,947 quite often people who want to commit suicide 82 00:04:11,990 --> 00:04:14,428 will bring these ribbons because they haven't figured out 83 00:04:14,471 --> 00:04:16,778 whether they really want to do it or not. 84 00:04:16,821 --> 00:04:19,259 So they'll tie the ribbon, and if they change their mind, 85 00:04:19,302 --> 00:04:20,999 they could find their way out. 86 00:04:21,043 --> 00:04:24,089 But if they don't change their mind, 87 00:04:24,133 --> 00:04:26,309 at the end of that ribbon, you may find a body. 88 00:04:28,529 --> 00:04:30,531 SHATNER: The Suicide Forest 89 00:04:30,574 --> 00:04:32,141 has one of the highest suicide rates 90 00:04:32,184 --> 00:04:33,925 of anywhere in the world. 91 00:04:33,969 --> 00:04:37,233 But unlike other such places, 92 00:04:37,277 --> 00:04:39,801 like the Golden Gate Bridge 93 00:04:39,844 --> 00:04:41,890 or Niagara Falls, 94 00:04:41,933 --> 00:04:44,196 where people jump to their deaths, 95 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,416 here they come to experience 96 00:04:46,460 --> 00:04:50,681 a different and arguably more disturbing 97 00:04:50,725 --> 00:04:53,205 method of release. 98 00:04:53,249 --> 00:04:57,427 In Japanese belief, any person who dies 99 00:04:57,471 --> 00:05:01,475 has to receive a proper, um, ritual treatment 100 00:05:01,518 --> 00:05:05,783 in order to transition to the world of the dead. 101 00:05:07,481 --> 00:05:10,353 If they don't receive these very specific-- 102 00:05:10,397 --> 00:05:12,312 generally Buddhist-- rites, 103 00:05:12,355 --> 00:05:16,490 there's a belief that the soul of the deceased person 104 00:05:16,533 --> 00:05:20,320 will linger in the physical plane of existence. 105 00:05:23,018 --> 00:05:25,586 If someone commits suicide in the spot, it's believed 106 00:05:25,629 --> 00:05:29,546 that the yurei,the ghost, will be hanging around that spot 107 00:05:29,590 --> 00:05:32,375 where they committedcide-- they're tied to it there. 108 00:05:32,419 --> 00:05:35,813 So it becomes a potential danger spot 109 00:05:35,857 --> 00:05:38,120 if other people are just walking through it. 110 00:05:39,382 --> 00:05:41,906 They can get lured by the yurei, 111 00:05:41,950 --> 00:05:44,082 who's gonna influence them somehow 112 00:05:44,126 --> 00:05:45,780 to commit suicide themselves. 113 00:05:49,566 --> 00:05:52,047 Aokigahara becoming a suicide spot 114 00:05:52,090 --> 00:05:53,614 is a relatively recent phenomenon 115 00:05:53,657 --> 00:05:56,268 that started in the 1960s. 116 00:05:56,312 --> 00:05:59,663 It can be traced back to a novel called The Tower of Waves, 117 00:05:59,707 --> 00:06:02,449 in which two of the main protagonists 118 00:06:02,492 --> 00:06:04,973 could not live out their love, 119 00:06:05,016 --> 00:06:06,757 and then decided to commit suicide 120 00:06:09,107 --> 00:06:11,936 This is one of the reasons towhy the forest became. 121 00:06:11,980 --> 00:06:13,938 a very famous suicide spot. 122 00:06:17,115 --> 00:06:19,553 DAVID WHITEHEAD: It's rather strange that they say 123 00:06:19,596 --> 00:06:23,818 around a hundred bodies a year are found in that place. 124 00:06:23,861 --> 00:06:25,472 And it begs the question, is there something 125 00:06:25,515 --> 00:06:27,299 about the place itself 126 00:06:27,343 --> 00:06:29,867 that attracts people to go there to commit suicide? 127 00:06:31,434 --> 00:06:32,696 GEORGE NOORY: It probably started off 128 00:06:32,740 --> 00:06:34,611 as just a dense forest, 129 00:06:34,655 --> 00:06:38,441 but as more and more people killed themselves in this place, 130 00:06:38,485 --> 00:06:41,052 I think the evil permeates all over the place, 131 00:06:41,096 --> 00:06:43,968 and it's probably affecting people who go in there. 132 00:06:45,448 --> 00:06:47,624 SHATNER: Evil... 133 00:06:47,668 --> 00:06:49,931 permeating the atmosphere? 134 00:06:49,974 --> 00:06:52,455 Could such an extraordinary 135 00:06:52,499 --> 00:06:56,981 and frightening notion be true? 136 00:06:57,025 --> 00:06:59,157 I think everybody has gone to a certain spot 137 00:06:59,201 --> 00:07:01,159 and they feel uncomfortable with it. 138 00:07:01,203 --> 00:07:04,554 They just don't know exactly why, 139 00:07:04,598 --> 00:07:06,861 but they just don't feel right. 140 00:07:06,904 --> 00:07:09,472 They feel like, "Something's wrong here." 141 00:07:09,516 --> 00:07:11,474 "This doesn't feel good to me." 142 00:07:11,518 --> 00:07:13,607 "It's kind of evil." 143 00:07:13,650 --> 00:07:15,478 There are certain regions 144 00:07:15,522 --> 00:07:18,394 that have had bad things happen to it. 145 00:07:18,438 --> 00:07:21,484 And you can feel it. 146 00:07:21,528 --> 00:07:23,617 We have to realize that the human body 147 00:07:23,660 --> 00:07:26,794 is one of the most ultimate pieces of scientific equipment. 148 00:07:26,837 --> 00:07:29,840 You have so many different types of sensors on your body. 149 00:07:29,884 --> 00:07:32,756 You can see, smell, hear, taste, feel. 150 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,803 And all that information that you're receiving 151 00:07:35,846 --> 00:07:39,850 from your environment causes you to feel the way you do 152 00:07:39,894 --> 00:07:41,939 at any given second. 153 00:07:41,983 --> 00:07:44,942 So, if your body is not feeling right 154 00:07:44,986 --> 00:07:47,510 and your brain is telling you something's not right here, 155 00:07:47,554 --> 00:07:51,296 it is possible that it's an evil location, right? 156 00:07:53,908 --> 00:07:55,910 SHATNER: In recent years, 157 00:07:55,953 --> 00:07:58,956 scientists studying the morbid phenomenon 158 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,482 of Japan's so-called Suicide Forest have suggested 159 00:08:02,525 --> 00:08:05,441 that the answer to the mystery might be 160 00:08:05,485 --> 00:08:09,401 not a paranormal one, but geological. 161 00:08:09,445 --> 00:08:11,926 One of the really interesting things about Suicide Forest 162 00:08:11,969 --> 00:08:15,146 is it didn't exist, uh, until 163 00:08:15,190 --> 00:08:18,889 the last massive eruption of Mount Fuji, 164 00:08:18,933 --> 00:08:20,848 which was more than a thousand years ago, 165 00:08:20,891 --> 00:08:24,547 and that's what laid out this enormous bed of lava 166 00:08:24,591 --> 00:08:27,158 that eventually hardened. 167 00:08:27,202 --> 00:08:30,640 There are chambers within the ground. 168 00:08:30,684 --> 00:08:34,035 And in these chambers is where people will go into 169 00:08:34,078 --> 00:08:35,863 and commit suicide. 170 00:08:35,906 --> 00:08:37,908 Some of them will just take pills and lie down, 171 00:08:37,952 --> 00:08:39,910 and eventually, you'll find a body 172 00:08:39,954 --> 00:08:41,999 inside one of these chambers. 173 00:08:42,043 --> 00:08:45,655 There's a possibility that the volcanic region-- 174 00:08:45,699 --> 00:08:48,353 the rocks, the basalt-- might have some sort 175 00:08:48,397 --> 00:08:51,748 of piezoelectric-type material within them 176 00:08:51,792 --> 00:08:55,099 that could generate electric and magnetic fields. 177 00:08:55,143 --> 00:08:57,972 And it's also known that electromagnetic fields 178 00:08:58,015 --> 00:09:00,714 do impact the brain activity. 179 00:09:00,757 --> 00:09:02,890 I would think, from the evidence, 180 00:09:02,933 --> 00:09:04,544 that this geomagnetic field 181 00:09:04,587 --> 00:09:08,460 is having some impact on mass depression. 182 00:09:08,504 --> 00:09:10,419 The connection between magnetic anomalies 183 00:09:10,462 --> 00:09:12,856 and chemical reactions in the brain could lead 184 00:09:12,900 --> 00:09:15,380 to a type of depression that would enhance suicide. 185 00:09:16,817 --> 00:09:19,036 You can imagine a person who is suicidal 186 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,734 or thinking about suicide, 187 00:09:20,777 --> 00:09:23,214 but is fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea, 188 00:09:23,258 --> 00:09:25,608 moving into one of these areas. 189 00:09:25,652 --> 00:09:28,655 And this interaction makes them just comfortable enough 190 00:09:28,698 --> 00:09:31,222 that now they will carry through on the suicide. 191 00:09:35,270 --> 00:09:37,838 SHATNER: Could hundreds of ritual suicides 192 00:09:37,881 --> 00:09:42,582 really be the result of magnetic anomalies in the brain 193 00:09:42,625 --> 00:09:47,369 caused by the unique properties of volcanic rock? 194 00:09:47,412 --> 00:09:50,894 Or, as many Japanese themselves believe, 195 00:09:50,938 --> 00:09:55,507 could the cause be something even more incredible? 196 00:09:58,685 --> 00:10:00,121 There's an old saying that says 197 00:10:00,164 --> 00:10:02,602 what we do in life echoes in eternity. 198 00:10:02,645 --> 00:10:05,213 And if we have a forest where hundreds of people 199 00:10:05,256 --> 00:10:07,607 have gone to that forest to commit suicide 200 00:10:07,650 --> 00:10:09,391 for over 60 years, 201 00:10:09,434 --> 00:10:12,786 could the dark energy of all of the departed souls 202 00:10:12,829 --> 00:10:14,483 be lurking there? 203 00:10:14,526 --> 00:10:16,485 Could that energy 204 00:10:16,528 --> 00:10:20,402 be what is attracting people to come to the forest? 205 00:10:22,273 --> 00:10:24,232 SHATNER: Tragic souls of the departed 206 00:10:24,275 --> 00:10:27,888 luring others in... to join them. 207 00:10:27,931 --> 00:10:30,455 A far-fetched notion, perhaps. 208 00:10:30,499 --> 00:10:33,415 But no more bizarre than what has been happening 209 00:10:33,458 --> 00:10:37,332 at the Aokigahara forest for the past six decades. 210 00:10:38,594 --> 00:10:40,291 And no less disturbing 211 00:10:40,335 --> 00:10:42,554 than what happened to a group of hikers 212 00:10:42,598 --> 00:10:46,297 on a mountaintop nearly 4,000 miles away. 213 00:10:46,341 --> 00:10:49,126 A mountain that the locals have named... 214 00:10:49,170 --> 00:10:51,476 "Don't Go There." 215 00:10:58,788 --> 00:11:01,008 SHATNER: January 1959. 216 00:11:03,053 --> 00:11:06,404 Nine mountaineers from the Ural Polytechnic Institute 217 00:11:06,448 --> 00:11:10,670 embark on a perilous journey through Russia's Ural Mountains. 218 00:11:10,713 --> 00:11:12,715 Their destination: 219 00:11:12,759 --> 00:11:16,327 a remote mountain peak known as Otorten, 220 00:11:16,371 --> 00:11:18,982 which in the local Mansi language means: 221 00:11:19,026 --> 00:11:20,244 "Don't Go There." 222 00:11:22,682 --> 00:11:27,121 STONEHILL: They went out on this very strenuous trek, or mission, 223 00:11:27,164 --> 00:11:29,601 to show that the mountain could be conquered. 224 00:11:29,645 --> 00:11:32,387 As far as we know, they were all experienced. 225 00:11:32,430 --> 00:11:34,868 Igor Dyatlov, who was in charge of the group, 226 00:11:34,911 --> 00:11:37,044 had about seven missions to his name. 227 00:11:37,087 --> 00:11:38,741 Similar missions. 228 00:11:38,785 --> 00:11:41,396 They were supposed just to study the mountain, 229 00:11:41,439 --> 00:11:44,834 to show that they can withstand the incredible cold 230 00:11:44,878 --> 00:11:46,793 in this desolate place, and come back. 231 00:11:50,710 --> 00:11:52,842 SHATNER: A few days into their trek, 232 00:11:52,886 --> 00:11:55,758 the hikers move through a mountain pass with high winds 233 00:11:55,802 --> 00:11:57,934 and poor visibility, 234 00:11:57,978 --> 00:12:01,546 causing them to veer miles off course. 235 00:12:01,590 --> 00:12:04,593 Realizing their mistake, and faced with the bitter cold 236 00:12:04,636 --> 00:12:08,031 of the coming night, they choose to stop and camp 237 00:12:08,075 --> 00:12:10,555 on a slope called Kholat Syakhl, 238 00:12:10,599 --> 00:12:14,821 which in Mansi translates to "The Mountain of the Dead." 239 00:12:14,864 --> 00:12:17,127 [wind whistling] 240 00:12:17,171 --> 00:12:19,434 STONEHILL: It's a really windy area. 241 00:12:19,477 --> 00:12:21,741 When I say "windy," the winds are horrible. 242 00:12:21,784 --> 00:12:24,918 And they should not have put the tent on that slope. 243 00:12:24,961 --> 00:12:26,615 They could have done it easily, 244 00:12:26,658 --> 00:12:29,096 what, 100 meters away, in the forest. 245 00:12:29,139 --> 00:12:31,620 They went against all the knowledge 246 00:12:31,663 --> 00:12:33,361 that experienced trackers should have. 247 00:12:33,404 --> 00:12:35,842 So, why would they put it out there? 248 00:12:37,408 --> 00:12:39,149 What drove them? Nobody knows for sure. 249 00:12:39,193 --> 00:12:40,760 [wind whistling] 250 00:12:40,803 --> 00:12:42,587 SHATNER: Weeks later, when it becomes clear 251 00:12:42,631 --> 00:12:44,894 that the group has failed to return from its expedition, 252 00:12:44,938 --> 00:12:49,116 a military search and rescue operation is launched. 253 00:12:49,159 --> 00:12:52,336 They find the campsite abandoned 254 00:12:52,380 --> 00:12:55,600 and a tent that has been torn to pieces. 255 00:12:55,644 --> 00:12:58,299 Curiously, the investigators determined that the tent 256 00:12:58,342 --> 00:13:00,692 was cut and ripped open from the inside, 257 00:13:00,736 --> 00:13:04,827 and the hikers appear to have fled in socks, or barefoot. 258 00:13:04,871 --> 00:13:08,744 We're dealing with a group of experienced hikers 259 00:13:08,788 --> 00:13:10,833 who escaped their tent in the middle of the night 260 00:13:10,877 --> 00:13:12,400 without any reason, 261 00:13:12,443 --> 00:13:14,228 unless something happened to their minds. 262 00:13:15,707 --> 00:13:16,926 SHATNER: In search of the hikers, 263 00:13:16,970 --> 00:13:18,841 the investigators move to the edge 264 00:13:18,885 --> 00:13:20,712 of a nearby forest. 265 00:13:20,756 --> 00:13:22,627 What they eventually find 266 00:13:22,671 --> 00:13:26,936 has defied explanation for more than 50 years. 267 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:28,851 STONEHILL: Four of them were discovered initially, 268 00:13:28,895 --> 00:13:30,722 and five of them were found later. 269 00:13:30,766 --> 00:13:33,116 And they all died differently. 270 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,772 Some of the bodies died from exposure, and were intact. 271 00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:40,471 Some of them were dressed completely. 272 00:13:40,515 --> 00:13:43,431 Most of them were naked, so to say. 273 00:13:43,474 --> 00:13:46,129 Others had horrible wounds on them. 274 00:13:46,173 --> 00:13:48,566 Their bones were crushed inside their bodies. 275 00:13:48,610 --> 00:13:51,831 Others, their skull was crushed. 276 00:13:51,874 --> 00:13:56,270 One woman lost her tongue and parts of her face. 277 00:13:56,313 --> 00:13:58,359 Others were burned, 278 00:13:58,402 --> 00:14:00,230 like somebody put their feet in the fire 279 00:14:00,274 --> 00:14:01,405 or they put it themselves. 280 00:14:01,449 --> 00:14:03,755 [alarmed shouting] 281 00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:07,672 They escaped like some force, something scared them. 282 00:14:11,372 --> 00:14:13,940 SHATNER: The official causes of death for the hikers 283 00:14:13,983 --> 00:14:16,551 claimed that six had died from hypothermia, 284 00:14:16,594 --> 00:14:19,119 and the other three from fatal injuries 285 00:14:19,162 --> 00:14:23,601 caused by an unknown compelling force. 286 00:14:23,645 --> 00:14:26,343 But the inquiry was forced to an abrupt end 287 00:14:26,387 --> 00:14:27,910 by the Soviet government, 288 00:14:27,954 --> 00:14:31,087 and the chief investigator refused to sign off 289 00:14:31,131 --> 00:14:33,046 on the final report. 290 00:14:33,089 --> 00:14:35,787 STONEHILL: There were two investigators, initially, 291 00:14:35,831 --> 00:14:38,573 and they were told to shut up and close the case 292 00:14:38,616 --> 00:14:41,619 with the determination that the cause of death 293 00:14:41,663 --> 00:14:46,015 was an invisible force of nature that killed them. 294 00:14:46,059 --> 00:14:48,496 NOORY: In some cases, the fact that some of them died 295 00:14:48,539 --> 00:14:51,455 from the bitter cold, okay, that makes sense. 296 00:14:51,499 --> 00:14:53,414 They're in a region that's freezing. 297 00:14:53,457 --> 00:14:55,155 But what about the other people? 298 00:14:55,198 --> 00:14:57,853 Fractured skulls, crushed lungs. 299 00:14:57,897 --> 00:14:59,811 There's something weird here. 300 00:15:02,249 --> 00:15:05,034 SHATNER: What was the "compelling force" 301 00:15:05,078 --> 00:15:08,559 that inflicted such brutal and grotesque harm 302 00:15:08,603 --> 00:15:10,605 on these victims? 303 00:15:10,648 --> 00:15:13,825 While some have speculated that it could have been an avalanche 304 00:15:13,869 --> 00:15:16,567 or even an attack by Mansi tribes, 305 00:15:16,611 --> 00:15:20,267 there was virtually no evidence to support these claims. 306 00:15:20,310 --> 00:15:24,880 Others point to local legends of some kind of monster. 307 00:15:24,924 --> 00:15:27,578 A creature capable of tearing people apart 308 00:15:27,622 --> 00:15:30,190 with its voice. 309 00:15:30,233 --> 00:15:32,932 There are descriptions of Mansi warning people 310 00:15:32,975 --> 00:15:36,718 not to go to this mountain, not to go to this area, 311 00:15:36,761 --> 00:15:40,635 because the sounds that come from there can kill you. 312 00:15:40,678 --> 00:15:43,681 The entity that lives in that mountain 313 00:15:43,725 --> 00:15:46,554 emits horrible shrieking sounds... 314 00:15:46,597 --> 00:15:49,383 [shrieking] 315 00:15:49,426 --> 00:15:52,212 ...that can destroy human beings. 316 00:15:52,255 --> 00:15:53,691 [shrieking] 317 00:15:56,607 --> 00:15:59,915 SHATNER: Recently, a new theory has surfaced. 318 00:15:59,959 --> 00:16:02,439 One that suggests this mountain pass 319 00:16:02,483 --> 00:16:06,052 may be just as deadly as the Mansi name for it implies. 320 00:16:06,095 --> 00:16:09,229 Not because of some supernatural monster... 321 00:16:09,272 --> 00:16:11,013 [wind whistling] 322 00:16:11,057 --> 00:16:13,842 ...but for a surprisingly scientific reason. 323 00:16:17,150 --> 00:16:19,630 So, this is a very windy pass in the Ural Mountains. 324 00:16:19,674 --> 00:16:21,806 Uh, in 2014, there was some study that was done 325 00:16:21,850 --> 00:16:23,895 that showed that the wind kind of whipping through 326 00:16:23,939 --> 00:16:25,680 because of the topography 327 00:16:25,723 --> 00:16:28,378 caused low-frequency sound-- kind of a hum. 328 00:16:31,294 --> 00:16:34,471 And low-frequency sound can cause the eyeball to vibrate. 329 00:16:34,515 --> 00:16:35,951 It can cause people to see shadows 330 00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:37,474 out of the corner of their eyes. 331 00:16:37,518 --> 00:16:39,041 Especially if you're in an environment 332 00:16:39,085 --> 00:16:43,045 that is desolate, which is what that was to begin with. 333 00:16:46,092 --> 00:16:48,790 DENNIN: The dimensions and the physics of the actual pass 334 00:16:48,833 --> 00:16:50,835 are likely to lead to very low frequencies, 335 00:16:50,879 --> 00:16:52,533 which is exactly what infrasound is. 336 00:16:52,576 --> 00:16:55,101 Infrasound is just referring to any sound 337 00:16:55,144 --> 00:16:56,972 that's below our normal hearing. 338 00:16:57,016 --> 00:16:59,801 But sound itself is just pressure waves 339 00:16:59,844 --> 00:17:01,324 and vibration of the air. 340 00:17:01,368 --> 00:17:05,285 So your body is still detecting it, 341 00:17:05,328 --> 00:17:07,417 your ears are still reacting to it, 342 00:17:07,461 --> 00:17:09,724 your eardrums are moving, and that's still generating 343 00:17:09,767 --> 00:17:11,682 electrical signals in your brain. 344 00:17:11,726 --> 00:17:13,684 So there's an impact of the infrasound 345 00:17:13,728 --> 00:17:16,296 that we don't fully understand yet. 346 00:17:17,732 --> 00:17:19,864 TAYLOR: Being exposed to this sound, 347 00:17:19,908 --> 00:17:21,518 it's fatiguing your body. 348 00:17:21,562 --> 00:17:24,086 Any type of fatigue that's long-term 349 00:17:24,130 --> 00:17:26,828 can cause significant psychosis. 350 00:17:26,871 --> 00:17:29,265 In fact, there were several cases 351 00:17:29,309 --> 00:17:32,790 on the Mirspace station where the Russian cosmonauts 352 00:17:32,834 --> 00:17:35,750 were exposed to various vibrations, 353 00:17:35,793 --> 00:17:38,448 and it caused them to actually have psychosis. 354 00:17:38,492 --> 00:17:41,799 I have a friend who worked on consoles for Mir, 355 00:17:41,843 --> 00:17:44,193 and he said that once, one of the cosmonauts 356 00:17:44,237 --> 00:17:46,587 actually pulled a knife on one of the other cosmonauts 357 00:17:46,630 --> 00:17:48,676 because of this type of exposure. 358 00:17:48,719 --> 00:17:51,200 STONEHILL: It's not like, uh, a rock 359 00:17:51,244 --> 00:17:52,941 falling on somebody's head. 360 00:17:52,984 --> 00:17:54,595 It's happening inside their minds. 361 00:17:54,638 --> 00:17:57,380 And infrasound is a powerful weapon. 362 00:17:57,424 --> 00:17:59,948 And, apparently, it's affecting those 363 00:17:59,991 --> 00:18:01,558 who are coming to the mountain. 364 00:18:01,602 --> 00:18:03,995 That's why it is a hypothesis now 365 00:18:04,039 --> 00:18:06,346 that is being explored more and more in Russia 366 00:18:06,389 --> 00:18:10,306 as to the cause of death of the Dyatlov tourists. 367 00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:13,744 I don't subscribe to the theory that heavy winds 368 00:18:13,788 --> 00:18:17,444 created an atmosphere where these people went nuts. 369 00:18:17,487 --> 00:18:19,837 I think there was something else afoot, 370 00:18:19,881 --> 00:18:22,013 something very evil and strange 371 00:18:22,057 --> 00:18:23,841 that happened to these nine hikers. 372 00:18:23,885 --> 00:18:25,887 And I hope we get the answers to it. 373 00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:28,716 But again, maybe we don't want the answer. 374 00:18:28,759 --> 00:18:31,632 Maybe because it's so hideous and so evil, 375 00:18:31,675 --> 00:18:33,590 we don't want to know it. 376 00:18:40,597 --> 00:18:44,123 Did the harsh windsof the Dyatlov Pass 377 00:18:44,166 --> 00:18:46,429 really create a low-frequency noise 378 00:18:46,473 --> 00:18:49,171 that caused the hikers to lose their minds 379 00:18:49,215 --> 00:18:51,478 and brutally kill each other? 380 00:18:51,521 --> 00:18:54,437 Or could it be that a mysterious, unknown monster 381 00:18:54,481 --> 00:18:57,310 was responsible for the hikers' deaths? 382 00:18:57,353 --> 00:19:00,226 For the nine men and women whose bodies were found 383 00:19:00,269 --> 00:19:02,706 horribly mutilated, the question is academic. 384 00:19:02,750 --> 00:19:05,361 As far as they were concerned, 385 00:19:05,405 --> 00:19:09,235 evil... happened here. 386 00:19:09,278 --> 00:19:11,280 And it's an evil that isn't only found 387 00:19:11,324 --> 00:19:15,806 on remote mountaintops, but right next door. 388 00:19:15,850 --> 00:19:19,854 And often in the unlikeliest of places. 389 00:19:23,814 --> 00:19:25,686 Mercer County, West Virginia. 390 00:19:28,906 --> 00:19:33,607 Here on the bank of Lake Shawnee stands the abandoned remnants 391 00:19:33,650 --> 00:19:38,568 of what was once a simple, wholesome family amusement park. 392 00:19:38,612 --> 00:19:41,005 [carnival music playing] 393 00:19:41,049 --> 00:19:45,227 Opened in 1926, the park thrived for decades, 394 00:19:45,271 --> 00:19:49,536 until it was abruptly closed in 1966. 395 00:19:49,579 --> 00:19:53,322 According to local historians, the reason for the closure 396 00:19:53,366 --> 00:19:56,107 was that what started as a playground for children... 397 00:19:56,151 --> 00:19:57,631 [children's laughter echoing] 398 00:19:57,674 --> 00:20:00,329 ...became the site of numerous tragic 399 00:20:00,373 --> 00:20:02,288 and disturbing incidents. 400 00:20:02,331 --> 00:20:04,986 [children's laughter echoing] 401 00:20:05,029 --> 00:20:09,295 In the 1940s, a little girl was riding the swings, 402 00:20:11,775 --> 00:20:13,168 to the concession stand.k delivered soda 403 00:20:13,212 --> 00:20:15,997 [children's laughter] 404 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:17,955 And whenever he did, he backed up 405 00:20:17,999 --> 00:20:20,915 into the path of the swing, and it killed the little girl. 406 00:20:20,958 --> 00:20:23,265 SMITH: They tried to play it down 407 00:20:23,309 --> 00:20:26,703 because it was a child getting killed. 408 00:20:26,747 --> 00:20:29,358 She wasn't the only child killed here. 409 00:20:29,402 --> 00:20:31,752 There were several kids that drowned. 410 00:20:31,795 --> 00:20:34,276 One was a really sad story, and I would hope 411 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:35,495 it wouldn't happen nowadays. 412 00:20:35,538 --> 00:20:37,540 [splashing, children's laughter] 413 00:20:37,584 --> 00:20:40,761 A mother brought her nine-year-old here 414 00:20:40,804 --> 00:20:43,067 and dropped him off to go swimming. 415 00:20:43,111 --> 00:20:44,852 And she went on her merry way. 416 00:20:44,895 --> 00:20:47,811 She came back when the park was closing, 417 00:20:47,855 --> 00:20:50,379 and she couldn't find her son. 418 00:20:50,423 --> 00:20:53,687 And they looked for the son until 10:00 at night, 419 00:20:53,730 --> 00:20:54,905 when they found him. 420 00:20:54,949 --> 00:20:56,559 His arm was stuck 421 00:20:56,603 --> 00:20:58,822 in the drain of the swimming pool, 422 00:20:58,866 --> 00:21:01,521 and it had sucked him in, and he couldn't get out, 423 00:21:01,564 --> 00:21:04,785 and he had just drowned. 424 00:21:04,828 --> 00:21:06,352 There was another incident 425 00:21:06,395 --> 00:21:09,006 where there was a family out on an outing. 426 00:21:09,050 --> 00:21:11,531 They was riding a canoe in the lake. 427 00:21:11,574 --> 00:21:14,011 -The canoe overturned... -[boy screaming] 428 00:21:14,055 --> 00:21:15,970 and a little boy drowned in the lake. 429 00:21:18,886 --> 00:21:21,497 SHATNER: Before its doors were closed, 430 00:21:21,541 --> 00:21:24,718 six children had died in the park. 431 00:21:24,761 --> 00:21:27,111 And that might have been reason enough for the park 432 00:21:27,155 --> 00:21:29,940 to remain closed... but it didn't. 433 00:21:29,984 --> 00:21:34,336 In 1985, local resident Gaylord White 434 00:21:34,380 --> 00:21:37,557 purchased the property with hopes of reopening it. 435 00:21:40,037 --> 00:21:42,953 JEWELL WHITE: In the 1950s, Gaylord, my husband, 436 00:21:42,997 --> 00:21:45,521 worked here when he was in high school. 437 00:21:45,565 --> 00:21:47,828 He fell in love with it. 438 00:21:47,871 --> 00:21:49,743 So that was his wish, 439 00:21:49,786 --> 00:21:52,180 that someday he would own the park. 440 00:21:52,223 --> 00:21:55,096 And somebody had sent us word 441 00:21:55,139 --> 00:21:57,054 that the heirs d finally decided 442 00:21:57,098 --> 00:21:58,665 they were going to sell it. 443 00:21:58,708 --> 00:22:01,145 That's how we bought it. 444 00:22:01,189 --> 00:22:05,062 We wanted to have a children's ride park. 445 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,679 SHATNER: For years, locals believed that the park was haunted. 446 00:22:12,722 --> 00:22:15,595 Maybe even cursed. 447 00:22:15,638 --> 00:22:17,988 Then, in the late 1980s, 448 00:22:18,032 --> 00:22:21,078 the White family made some curious discoveries. 449 00:22:23,211 --> 00:22:25,344 CHRIS: We started finding a lot of pottery 450 00:22:25,387 --> 00:22:30,305 and Native American tools and arrowheads, stuff like that. 451 00:22:30,349 --> 00:22:33,917 So we stopped doing the bulldozing. 452 00:22:33,961 --> 00:22:36,006 We called Marshall University. 453 00:22:36,050 --> 00:22:38,269 They put together an archaeological team 454 00:22:38,313 --> 00:22:40,446 that would come down to the park. 455 00:22:40,489 --> 00:22:43,144 They started uncovering bodies. 456 00:22:43,187 --> 00:22:46,408 So that's when we knew we had a Native American burial ground 457 00:22:46,452 --> 00:22:47,888 on the property. 458 00:22:50,107 --> 00:22:52,414 I know that one of the burial sites 459 00:22:52,458 --> 00:22:55,765 was a Native American 14-year-old girl, 460 00:22:55,809 --> 00:22:59,726 and the belief is that she died from giving childbirth 461 00:22:59,769 --> 00:23:02,468 because the child was buried next to her. 462 00:23:06,297 --> 00:23:08,735 SHATNER: A series of tragic deaths 463 00:23:08,778 --> 00:23:11,651 at an amusement park built on the site 464 00:23:11,694 --> 00:23:14,175 of a Native American burial ground? 465 00:23:14,218 --> 00:23:16,917 -A coincidence? -[children's laughter echoing] 466 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,747 As far as paranormal investigators are concerned... 467 00:23:20,790 --> 00:23:23,489 not a chance. 468 00:23:23,532 --> 00:23:27,449 SPINKS: The first time I stepped foot on Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, 469 00:23:27,493 --> 00:23:30,191 I felt like I was being watched. 470 00:23:30,234 --> 00:23:34,674 It was an ominous, just negative feeling. 471 00:23:38,286 --> 00:23:41,681 I don't necessarily believe that places are born bad. 472 00:23:43,334 --> 00:23:46,425 I believe that things have to occur 473 00:23:46,468 --> 00:23:50,211 for a place to become negative in nature. 474 00:23:50,254 --> 00:23:53,388 CHRIS: People said whenever they come to the park 475 00:23:53,432 --> 00:23:56,696 that they see the swings move on their own, 476 00:23:56,739 --> 00:23:58,741 or maybe they see an image of the little girl 477 00:23:58,785 --> 00:24:00,003 that's riding the swings. 478 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,401 SMITH: Seeing only one swing move when I look at it, 479 00:24:06,445 --> 00:24:08,185 and no one else sees it, 480 00:24:08,229 --> 00:24:10,492 or it stops as soon as someone else is looking, 481 00:24:10,536 --> 00:24:12,059 that's pretty scary. 482 00:24:12,102 --> 00:24:14,888 More than scary, it's unexplained. 483 00:24:16,803 --> 00:24:19,501 We tend to be scientists now, all of us. 484 00:24:19,545 --> 00:24:21,329 We know everything that's going on. 485 00:24:21,372 --> 00:24:24,027 And when you see something that you don't understand, 486 00:24:24,071 --> 00:24:26,334 it gets to be creepy. 487 00:24:26,377 --> 00:24:28,945 AUERBACH: Millions of people have had these experiences. 488 00:24:28,989 --> 00:24:31,426 Not just hauntings, but also of ESP experiences 489 00:24:31,470 --> 00:24:33,167 and-and related experiences. 490 00:24:33,210 --> 00:24:35,952 These are questions that science should be looking at 491 00:24:35,996 --> 00:24:37,693 very carefully and closely. 492 00:24:37,737 --> 00:24:39,521 And to say, oh, it's mass hallucination 493 00:24:39,565 --> 00:24:41,741 or it's this kind of explanation 494 00:24:41,784 --> 00:24:43,743 without looking into the experience itself, 495 00:24:43,786 --> 00:24:45,440 either the singular or the general patterns, 496 00:24:45,484 --> 00:24:47,224 is not scientific. 497 00:24:47,268 --> 00:24:48,704 It's highly unscientific. 498 00:24:50,271 --> 00:24:52,055 SHATNER: Is the dark history 499 00:24:52,099 --> 00:24:53,927 of the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park 500 00:24:53,970 --> 00:24:56,973 the result of a curse placed upon anyone 501 00:24:57,017 --> 00:24:59,672 who dares to desecrate this sacred ground? 502 00:24:59,715 --> 00:25:04,590 Or was the area always a place of evil? 503 00:25:04,633 --> 00:25:07,767 A place where bad things will always happen, 504 00:25:07,810 --> 00:25:10,204 regardless of what is built there? 505 00:25:10,247 --> 00:25:13,512 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining a place 506 00:25:13,555 --> 00:25:16,558 where some people believe evil not only happens 507 00:25:16,602 --> 00:25:19,300 but can actually be measured. 508 00:25:19,343 --> 00:25:23,043 Not only in fear and suffering, but scientifically. 509 00:25:23,086 --> 00:25:25,567 And can be proven to be as tangible 510 00:25:25,611 --> 00:25:28,265 as flesh and blood. 511 00:25:36,230 --> 00:25:38,232 SHATNER: Cayuga, Indiana. 512 00:25:38,275 --> 00:25:42,018 February 16, 2019. 513 00:25:42,062 --> 00:25:45,326 Paranormal investigator Dave Spinks 514 00:25:45,369 --> 00:25:47,850 and his associate Haley Sharp 515 00:25:47,894 --> 00:25:50,940 have traveled here to this small town 516 00:25:50,984 --> 00:25:53,464 to investigate a house that many consider 517 00:25:53,508 --> 00:25:56,946 to be the most evil place in North America. 518 00:25:58,469 --> 00:26:00,515 Referred to as Willows Weep, 519 00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:03,866 it has been the site of a series of gruesome deaths 520 00:26:03,910 --> 00:26:06,913 since it was built in the 19th century. 521 00:26:15,791 --> 00:26:17,793 Brenda Johnson owns Willows Weep. 522 00:26:17,837 --> 00:26:19,708 -Hi, Brenda. -Hi, Dave. 523 00:26:19,752 --> 00:26:20,970 SHATNER: She dismissed the rumors 524 00:26:21,014 --> 00:26:22,842 about it being an evil place 525 00:26:22,885 --> 00:26:25,584 and purchased it only a few years ago, 526 00:26:25,627 --> 00:26:27,281 with plans to renovate it. 527 00:26:27,324 --> 00:26:28,499 -This is my assistant, Haley. -Hi. 528 00:26:28,543 --> 00:26:29,675 -Hi. -It's nice to meet you. 529 00:26:29,718 --> 00:26:31,198 SHATNER: But recent events 530 00:26:31,241 --> 00:26:33,200 have convinced her that she may have made 531 00:26:33,243 --> 00:26:35,289 a terrible mistake. 532 00:26:35,332 --> 00:26:38,205 To this end, she's invited Dave and Haley 533 00:26:38,248 --> 00:26:40,250 to come and investigate the house, 534 00:26:40,294 --> 00:26:43,993 and see if her strange experiences can be verified. 535 00:26:44,037 --> 00:26:46,822 SPINKS: So... how are you doing? 536 00:26:46,866 --> 00:26:48,171 [chuckling]: Not good standing here. 537 00:26:48,215 --> 00:26:50,913 All night last night, I was sick 538 00:26:50,957 --> 00:26:53,829 thinking about coming over here around this house. 539 00:26:53,873 --> 00:26:55,135 So tell us a little bit about the house, 540 00:26:55,178 --> 00:26:56,179 some of your experiences here. 541 00:26:56,223 --> 00:26:58,442 Well, when I bought the house, 542 00:26:58,486 --> 00:27:00,444 we started working on it, 543 00:27:00,488 --> 00:27:02,490 and then my son was working on the ceiling, 544 00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:06,363 the boards come flying off at him and hurt him, and... 545 00:27:06,407 --> 00:27:08,017 I've been scratched in there. 546 00:27:08,061 --> 00:27:10,063 Six claw marks down my back. 547 00:27:10,106 --> 00:27:13,501 Doors slamming on you, banging underneath the floors. 548 00:27:13,544 --> 00:27:15,764 SPINKS: I understand there's been deaths in this house. 549 00:27:15,808 --> 00:27:17,592 Can you kind of go through those a little bit? 550 00:27:17,636 --> 00:27:18,680 Yeah. 551 00:27:20,639 --> 00:27:24,643 The man that built the house, he died in the bathtub. 552 00:27:24,686 --> 00:27:28,908 There was two suicides, and then another hanging. 553 00:27:28,951 --> 00:27:34,217 And I heard that three men had been poisoned. 554 00:27:34,261 --> 00:27:37,220 About six months prior before I bought it, 555 00:27:37,264 --> 00:27:40,267 there was a man that, he committed suicide in there. 556 00:27:40,310 --> 00:27:42,095 He fell into the chair and... 557 00:27:42,138 --> 00:27:43,836 SPINKS: That's where they found him? 558 00:27:43,879 --> 00:27:45,794 They found him, what, a couple days later, right? 559 00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:48,754 -JOHNSON: A week. -SPINKS: A week? Week later. Okay. 560 00:27:50,756 --> 00:27:52,801 Do you think what's in that house is evil? 561 00:27:52,845 --> 00:27:54,498 Yes, I do. 562 00:27:54,542 --> 00:27:57,023 -Without a doubt? -Yes, I do, without a doubt. 563 00:27:57,066 --> 00:27:59,503 If it wasn't evil, it wouldn't be hurting people. 564 00:27:59,547 --> 00:28:01,897 I don't think there's nothing good in there. 565 00:28:01,941 --> 00:28:05,205 -The house was built in the late 1800s, correct? -1890. 566 00:28:05,248 --> 00:28:08,425 -Yes. -SPINKS: So, regarding the shape of the house, 567 00:28:08,469 --> 00:28:10,253 it's in the shape of a-a cross. 568 00:28:10,297 --> 00:28:11,602 Upside-down cross. 569 00:28:11,646 --> 00:28:14,605 -SPINKS: Strange. -JOHNSON: Yes. 570 00:28:14,649 --> 00:28:17,391 [chuckling]: Very strange. 571 00:28:17,434 --> 00:28:19,915 SPINKS: Do you think the guy was into some weird stuff, 572 00:28:19,959 --> 00:28:22,352 like occult stuff, that built it? 573 00:28:22,396 --> 00:28:24,137 Why would you build a house like that 574 00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:25,268 if you wasn't into something? 575 00:28:25,312 --> 00:28:26,835 SPINKS: Absolutely. 576 00:28:26,879 --> 00:28:28,750 So we're getting ready to go into this house 577 00:28:28,794 --> 00:28:30,926 and investigate it. Would you like to join us? 578 00:28:30,970 --> 00:28:33,059 No. No way. Never go back in there again. 579 00:28:33,102 --> 00:28:35,017 -Ever. -All right. We're gonna 580 00:28:35,061 --> 00:28:37,280 -get in there and investigate. -All right. 581 00:28:40,762 --> 00:28:42,633 -SPINKS: Here we go. -SHARP: All right. 582 00:28:45,245 --> 00:28:47,856 Pretty heavy in here. 583 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:49,031 SHARP: Definitely. 584 00:28:51,338 --> 00:28:53,296 Well, where do you want to get set up? 585 00:28:53,340 --> 00:28:55,298 -Right here. -Okay. 586 00:28:55,342 --> 00:28:58,824 SHATNER: To see if the house might contain strange anomalies, 587 00:28:58,867 --> 00:29:01,957 Dave and Haley will use a temperature sensor, 588 00:29:02,001 --> 00:29:04,394 which can detect fluctuations in both temperature 589 00:29:04,438 --> 00:29:07,484 and electromagnetic fields. 590 00:29:07,528 --> 00:29:10,705 All right, 41, 40 degrees, and it's going down. 591 00:29:18,191 --> 00:29:20,062 SHARP: It really likes this area. 592 00:29:20,106 --> 00:29:24,806 SPINKS: Yeah. It's going nuts. 593 00:29:24,850 --> 00:29:26,982 SHATNER: The temperature sensor has been dropping steadily, 594 00:29:27,026 --> 00:29:29,289 by as much as nine degrees. 595 00:29:29,332 --> 00:29:31,813 But why? 596 00:29:31,857 --> 00:29:33,684 So, this room is appearing to be 597 00:29:33,728 --> 00:29:35,599 -pretty active so far. -Yeah. 598 00:29:35,643 --> 00:29:37,645 I mean, the whole house really is. 599 00:29:37,688 --> 00:29:42,084 But we've got a lot of hits right here, uh, on this device. 600 00:29:42,128 --> 00:29:44,826 SHARP: This is the chair that Brenda was talking about. 601 00:29:44,870 --> 00:29:46,828 SPINKS: Yeah, look at the blood on it. 602 00:29:46,872 --> 00:29:50,092 It's a really sad, heavy feeling right here, too, 603 00:29:50,136 --> 00:29:52,486 in the pit of my stomach. 604 00:29:52,529 --> 00:29:56,185 Almost immediately, the device started going off in the chair, 605 00:29:56,229 --> 00:30:00,581 where a man who killed himself in the house several years ago 606 00:30:00,624 --> 00:30:03,323 -was found in. -SHARP: Something there. 607 00:30:03,366 --> 00:30:05,020 SHATNER: Could the strange changes 608 00:30:05,064 --> 00:30:06,587 in the temperature of the house 609 00:30:06,630 --> 00:30:09,242 be caused by some explainable force? 610 00:30:09,285 --> 00:30:11,635 A sudden drop in barometric pressure 611 00:30:11,679 --> 00:30:15,770 caused by the presence of a deep underground well, perhaps? 612 00:30:17,467 --> 00:30:21,384 Or could it be caused by... something else? 613 00:30:21,428 --> 00:30:24,605 Something that can't yet be explained? 614 00:30:24,648 --> 00:30:27,651 I'm getting the sickness, the headache. 615 00:30:27,695 --> 00:30:31,481 Definitely something negative in here, in my opinion. 616 00:30:31,525 --> 00:30:33,657 -I agree. -All right, so let's get out of here. 617 00:30:33,701 --> 00:30:34,920 -Let's go. -All right. 618 00:30:34,963 --> 00:30:37,487 SHATNER: Dave and Haley are beginning 619 00:30:37,531 --> 00:30:39,272 to suspect that the stories 620 00:30:39,315 --> 00:30:42,057 of Willows Weep being an evil place 621 00:30:42,101 --> 00:30:45,887 might be based on more than fear and superstition. 622 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,064 SHARP: The house is scary. 623 00:30:49,108 --> 00:30:51,632 I wouldn't want to be in this house alone. 624 00:30:51,675 --> 00:30:53,808 I'd say this house does have some evil in it. 625 00:30:53,852 --> 00:30:55,941 It does not give you a good feeling. 626 00:30:55,984 --> 00:30:58,334 It wants to suck the life out of you. 627 00:31:00,989 --> 00:31:02,991 SPINKS: I've been to many locations, 628 00:31:03,035 --> 00:31:05,864 and this one stands out above all of them so far. 629 00:31:05,907 --> 00:31:09,389 In my personal opinion, there are many spirits 630 00:31:09,432 --> 00:31:11,565 and entities in this house. 631 00:31:11,608 --> 00:31:14,785 There are human spirits and possibly demonic spirits 632 00:31:14,829 --> 00:31:18,267 that influenced the humans that have lived in this house 633 00:31:18,311 --> 00:31:22,402 and quite possibly have caused them to harm themselves. 634 00:31:24,795 --> 00:31:27,711 SHATNER: Once outside, Dave and Haley give owner Brenda Johnson 635 00:31:27,755 --> 00:31:31,019 a report on their findings, but not before 636 00:31:31,063 --> 00:31:34,718 Dave makes Brenda a rather surprising offer. 637 00:31:34,762 --> 00:31:36,503 I know you really don't like this place. 638 00:31:36,546 --> 00:31:39,201 -No. -And I know that you want to get rid of it. 639 00:31:39,245 --> 00:31:42,422 -Yeah. -Because I'd like to purchase the house from you. 640 00:31:42,465 --> 00:31:43,945 [laughs] 641 00:31:43,989 --> 00:31:45,729 -Mm-hmm. -Okay. 642 00:31:45,773 --> 00:31:47,470 -Yes. -SHATNER: Dave is willing to be 643 00:31:47,514 --> 00:31:49,472 -the next owner of Willows Weep. -All right. 644 00:31:49,516 --> 00:31:51,170 -All right. Thank you. -Thank you, hon. 645 00:31:51,213 --> 00:31:53,694 SPINKS: I told Brenda, if I owned this house, 646 00:31:53,737 --> 00:31:56,262 I could investigate it much further 647 00:31:56,305 --> 00:31:58,568 and much more in-depth, 648 00:31:58,612 --> 00:32:01,528 and possibly come to a conclusion 649 00:32:01,571 --> 00:32:05,140 as to what's causing the evil that lurks within its walls. 650 00:32:05,184 --> 00:32:07,621 That is, if something doesn't happen to me first. 651 00:32:07,664 --> 00:32:08,970 JOHNSON: You, too. 652 00:32:09,014 --> 00:32:10,363 SPINKS: Luckily for me, she agreed. 653 00:32:10,406 --> 00:32:12,800 She really couldn't wait to sell the place. 654 00:32:15,063 --> 00:32:18,937 Was Willows Weep really built to attract evil spirits? 655 00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:22,331 For Brenda Johnson, Dave Spinks and Haley Sharp, 656 00:32:22,375 --> 00:32:26,596 the answer is a very disturbing yes. 657 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,208 But why would someone 658 00:32:29,251 --> 00:32:32,646 deliberately want to construct an evil place? 659 00:32:32,689 --> 00:32:37,303 Unless, perhaps, it wasn't meant to attract demonic spirits, 660 00:32:37,346 --> 00:32:39,914 but to entrap them, 661 00:32:39,958 --> 00:32:43,004 in an effort to create a deadly warning 662 00:32:43,048 --> 00:32:46,529 that demons are real. 663 00:32:52,448 --> 00:32:56,191 SHATNER: Honduras, February 2015. 664 00:32:56,235 --> 00:32:57,410 [birds chirping, insects trilling] 665 00:32:57,453 --> 00:32:59,499 Deep in the heart of the jungle, 666 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:03,372 a team of American explorers, journalists and archaeologists 667 00:33:03,416 --> 00:33:05,548 make a dramatic discovery: 668 00:33:05,592 --> 00:33:07,246 evidence of an ancient city 669 00:33:07,289 --> 00:33:11,815 that has been lost for more than 500 years. 670 00:33:11,859 --> 00:33:14,688 We were standing there on the banks of this river, 671 00:33:14,731 --> 00:33:17,647 and the archaeologist was pointing to this wall of jungle 672 00:33:17,691 --> 00:33:19,345 and saying, across the river, 673 00:33:19,388 --> 00:33:22,130 "That's the beginning of the lost city." 674 00:33:24,393 --> 00:33:26,743 So we crossed the river 675 00:33:26,787 --> 00:33:29,790 with the soldiers with machetes cutting a path for us. 676 00:33:32,227 --> 00:33:35,404 And all of a sudden, there it is rising up out of the jungle. 677 00:33:35,448 --> 00:33:37,232 Just straight up, practically. 678 00:33:37,276 --> 00:33:39,539 It was the most amazing thing. 679 00:33:42,716 --> 00:33:46,676 And then what we saw was a cache of sacred objects 680 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,549 carved out of stone that had been left 681 00:33:49,592 --> 00:33:52,291 at the time the city was abandoned, 682 00:33:52,334 --> 00:33:55,990 and this was a gigantic mystery. 683 00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:58,993 Why did these people leave all of a sudden? 684 00:34:01,952 --> 00:34:04,390 SHATNER: The expedition announced 685 00:34:04,433 --> 00:34:07,088 that they had uncovered the top level of a vast city 686 00:34:07,132 --> 00:34:10,744 which has been buried under centuries of jungle vegetation. 687 00:34:10,787 --> 00:34:13,660 Soon afterwards, many began to speculate 688 00:34:13,703 --> 00:34:17,055 as to whether the ruins were those of a legendary place 689 00:34:17,098 --> 00:34:19,927 known to Hondurans as Ciudad Blanca, 690 00:34:19,970 --> 00:34:22,625 or the White City, 691 00:34:22,669 --> 00:34:26,368 a place that was believed to have been deserted centuries ago 692 00:34:26,412 --> 00:34:29,806 because of a deadly curse. 693 00:34:29,850 --> 00:34:33,462 When we went to do our ground expedition in 2015, 694 00:34:33,506 --> 00:34:37,597 many of the local Hondurans and the Honduran Air Force people 695 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,034 that were with us and the special forces people 696 00:34:40,078 --> 00:34:42,036 said, "Oh, yeah, my grandmother or my grandfather told me 697 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:44,038 "all about the lost city when we were kids, 698 00:34:44,082 --> 00:34:46,040 and they said it's cursed." 699 00:34:46,084 --> 00:34:50,827 They said, "If you go there and you pick any of the flowers, 700 00:34:50,871 --> 00:34:53,395 you will die, you will never come back." 701 00:34:57,182 --> 00:34:59,401 TOK THOMPSON: In the case of the White City, 702 00:34:59,445 --> 00:35:03,013 there is a very interesting tradition of a Tawahka Indian 703 00:35:03,057 --> 00:35:05,407 who came to live there with them, 704 00:35:05,451 --> 00:35:08,584 uh, and they refused him shelter, chased him out. 705 00:35:08,628 --> 00:35:11,370 And in turn, he cursed the city, 706 00:35:11,413 --> 00:35:14,721 -and he cursed that area... -[man screaming] 707 00:35:14,764 --> 00:35:18,942 so that it became, basically, a poisonous area to live in 708 00:35:18,986 --> 00:35:21,162 and the people had to abandon their city and leave. 709 00:35:24,818 --> 00:35:26,907 PRESTON: You know, we heard these stories, 710 00:35:26,950 --> 00:35:29,039 but, you know, we're scientists. 711 00:35:29,083 --> 00:35:33,522 We're anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnobotanists. 712 00:35:33,566 --> 00:35:35,829 You know, we don't believe in curses. 713 00:35:35,872 --> 00:35:37,961 Or so we thought. 714 00:35:38,005 --> 00:35:42,444 But, you know, sometimes curses are based on the truth. 715 00:35:43,837 --> 00:35:46,448 ♪ 716 00:35:46,492 --> 00:35:49,843 ELKINS: After we completed our first ground expedition, 717 00:35:49,886 --> 00:35:52,454 everybody came back alive, nobody got injured. 718 00:35:52,498 --> 00:35:54,195 We're shaking hands, 719 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,719 tipping a beer and going, "Great, we made it." 720 00:35:56,763 --> 00:35:58,417 You know, everyone survived. 721 00:35:58,460 --> 00:36:00,158 We all had hundreds of bug bites. 722 00:36:02,247 --> 00:36:06,251 Didn't think anything of them until about a month later. 723 00:36:06,294 --> 00:36:11,821 And 60% of our crew, including the Hondurans, 724 00:36:11,865 --> 00:36:14,041 they had a bug bite that didn't go away. 725 00:36:14,084 --> 00:36:16,348 It got bigger. 726 00:36:16,391 --> 00:36:21,831 Eventually, it became a big open wound, a big open ulcer. 727 00:36:21,875 --> 00:36:23,964 A couple other people became very, very ill. 728 00:36:24,007 --> 00:36:26,575 Two of them almost died. 729 00:36:26,619 --> 00:36:29,926 And then we had them diagnose it at NIH, and they said, yes, 730 00:36:29,970 --> 00:36:32,799 you have leishmaniasis, but not even just regular leishmaniasis. 731 00:36:32,842 --> 00:36:34,627 This is an entirely new one. 732 00:36:34,670 --> 00:36:36,977 We just did a genetic sequence, 733 00:36:37,020 --> 00:36:39,806 and it's a really virulent one we've never seen before. 734 00:36:42,156 --> 00:36:45,594 SHATNER: More commonly known as "flesh-eating disease," 735 00:36:45,638 --> 00:36:48,815 leishmaniasis is a rare parasitic disease 736 00:36:48,858 --> 00:36:51,818 that is spread by the bites of certain sandflies. 737 00:36:51,861 --> 00:36:54,299 The affliction eats away at the skin 738 00:36:54,342 --> 00:36:57,258 of the limbs, nose and mouth. 739 00:36:57,302 --> 00:36:58,999 The new strain that infected the explorers 740 00:36:59,042 --> 00:37:00,914 is particularly aggressive 741 00:37:00,957 --> 00:37:04,004 and, if not treated properly, fatal. 742 00:37:05,614 --> 00:37:08,748 But even so, a parasitic disease 743 00:37:08,791 --> 00:37:11,751 is hardly proof of an ancient curse. 744 00:37:11,794 --> 00:37:14,536 Or is it? 745 00:37:14,580 --> 00:37:17,278 WHITEHEAD: What's interesting about the legend of this curse 746 00:37:17,322 --> 00:37:19,541 is that it actually does appear to be true. 747 00:37:19,585 --> 00:37:22,501 How can we explain that hundreds of years ago, 748 00:37:22,544 --> 00:37:25,286 a man left a curse saying that, forevermore, 749 00:37:25,330 --> 00:37:28,550 people will be ravaged by disease and all of these things, 750 00:37:28,594 --> 00:37:30,726 and then we actually see it happen? 751 00:37:32,293 --> 00:37:34,252 SHATNER: Was it merely a coincidence 752 00:37:34,295 --> 00:37:36,645 that the American team happened to contract 753 00:37:36,689 --> 00:37:39,387 a deadly and previously unknown disease 754 00:37:39,431 --> 00:37:41,259 at a site believed to be cursed? 755 00:37:43,261 --> 00:37:47,047 Or could the curse have been real? 756 00:37:47,090 --> 00:37:48,918 As far as journalist Doug Preston is concerned, 757 00:37:48,962 --> 00:37:51,138 the answer is obvious. 758 00:37:51,181 --> 00:37:53,575 PRESTON: I used to think that curses were just kind of silly, 759 00:37:53,619 --> 00:37:55,577 but not anymore. 760 00:37:55,621 --> 00:37:59,146 Next time I go somewhere and I'm told that it's cursed, 761 00:37:59,189 --> 00:38:01,148 I'm really gonna think twice about it. 762 00:38:02,584 --> 00:38:06,066 SHATNER: If evil places really do exist, 763 00:38:06,109 --> 00:38:08,286 is it possible to cure them? 764 00:38:08,329 --> 00:38:10,288 To rid them of the pestilence 765 00:38:10,331 --> 00:38:13,334 that infects anyone who gets too close? 766 00:38:13,378 --> 00:38:17,077 There are those who believe the answer is a profound yes. 767 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:19,775 And it involves fighting fire... 768 00:38:19,819 --> 00:38:21,168 [man screaming] 769 00:38:21,211 --> 00:38:23,083 ...with fire. 770 00:38:32,745 --> 00:38:37,315 SHATNER: Dogotuki Village, Fiji, July 2018. 771 00:38:37,358 --> 00:38:40,666 Members of a church group set two houses on fire 772 00:38:40,709 --> 00:38:42,581 and burn them to the ground. 773 00:38:42,624 --> 00:38:45,148 The blaze is intended to purge the village 774 00:38:45,192 --> 00:38:47,716 of evil spirits believed to have been responsible 775 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:49,849 for the recent deaths of 20 people. 776 00:38:54,070 --> 00:38:56,551 These houses were older houses, but they had been 777 00:38:56,595 --> 00:39:00,207 traditionally associated with magical practices 778 00:39:00,250 --> 00:39:03,863 and the reports of witchcraft being practiced. 779 00:39:03,906 --> 00:39:06,822 WHITEHEAD: And as they burnt the places down to the ground, 780 00:39:06,866 --> 00:39:08,520 some of the villagers reported seeing a demon 781 00:39:08,563 --> 00:39:11,131 come out of the ashes. 782 00:39:11,174 --> 00:39:14,134 And they've reported all kinds of really creepy things 783 00:39:14,177 --> 00:39:16,963 that happened once they tried to burn down those houses. 784 00:39:17,006 --> 00:39:20,183 So the question is: Were they successful 785 00:39:20,227 --> 00:39:22,316 in getting rid of evil in that place? 786 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:26,233 Or did they actually just aggravate it more 787 00:39:26,276 --> 00:39:28,366 by burning those houses to the ground? 788 00:39:30,193 --> 00:39:32,718 THOMPSON: Fire is a very common means 789 00:39:32,761 --> 00:39:35,416 of spiritual purification. 790 00:39:35,460 --> 00:39:40,378 And so many different traditions incorporate fire in some sense, 791 00:39:40,421 --> 00:39:44,773 very often for its destructive properties, 792 00:39:44,817 --> 00:39:48,429 and yet at the same time, cleansing properties. 793 00:39:48,473 --> 00:39:51,824 I've had a lot of people on my radio show who have apparently 794 00:39:51,867 --> 00:39:55,393 cleansed haunted houses and haunted areas. 795 00:39:55,436 --> 00:39:57,960 They talk about putting sage 796 00:39:58,004 --> 00:40:00,615 around the perimeter of the house 797 00:40:00,659 --> 00:40:04,271 and things like that that chase away the evil spirits. 798 00:40:04,314 --> 00:40:08,101 But by and large, I'm not sure that works. 799 00:40:08,144 --> 00:40:11,496 I think once a place is haunted, it's gonna haunt, 800 00:40:11,539 --> 00:40:13,889 it's gonna do what it does. 801 00:40:13,933 --> 00:40:17,937 ONO: I think there are energies in life that we don't understand. 802 00:40:17,980 --> 00:40:20,418 Either created through our own minds 803 00:40:20,461 --> 00:40:22,376 in our own physical energy, 804 00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:26,206 or perhaps the physical energy of a place. 805 00:40:26,249 --> 00:40:30,384 There are places where people have died either violently 806 00:40:30,428 --> 00:40:34,432 or tragically, and that creates this dark energy. 807 00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:38,871 There might be some negative spirits, some ghosts. 808 00:40:38,914 --> 00:40:40,960 And that force that's happening within it 809 00:40:41,003 --> 00:40:42,918 could also affect people. 810 00:40:42,962 --> 00:40:47,488 SPINKS: I've been to some of the most evil and nasty locations 811 00:40:47,532 --> 00:40:51,361 one could imagine, and I've seen people's lives ruined 812 00:40:51,405 --> 00:40:54,321 by these negative evil forces. 813 00:40:54,364 --> 00:40:58,412 And in my opinion, some of these locations are stained forever 814 00:40:58,456 --> 00:41:03,504 with the blood and the energy of these tragic events. 815 00:41:03,548 --> 00:41:07,247 These murders, these suicides. 816 00:41:07,290 --> 00:41:09,728 And to me, that can never go away. 817 00:41:15,516 --> 00:41:18,519 Fire, 818 00:41:18,563 --> 00:41:22,480 cleansing the evil that infects certain cursed places. 819 00:41:22,523 --> 00:41:23,872 Nonsense, right? 820 00:41:23,916 --> 00:41:25,395 As far as you're concerned, 821 00:41:25,439 --> 00:41:27,006 there's no such thing as evil places. 822 00:41:27,049 --> 00:41:30,400 Well, then maybe you'd like to spend the night 823 00:41:30,444 --> 00:41:33,665 at Willows Weep, hmm? 824 00:41:33,708 --> 00:41:38,147 Or ride the swing set at Lake Shawnee Amusement Park. 825 00:41:38,191 --> 00:41:42,238 Or perhaps you'd like to have a picnic lunch 826 00:41:42,282 --> 00:41:44,806 at Japan's Suicide Forest. 827 00:41:44,850 --> 00:41:47,374 No? 828 00:41:47,417 --> 00:41:49,942 What's the matter, are you frightened? 829 00:41:49,985 --> 00:41:53,162 Or are you just too smart 830 00:41:53,206 --> 00:41:55,948 to tamper with things in the world 831 00:41:55,991 --> 00:41:59,865 that are The UnXplained?