1 00:00:04,129 --> 00:00:07,132 An ordinary day the most dangerous of the year. 2 00:00:07,216 --> 00:00:08,842 A lake that swallows people... 3 00:00:08,926 --> 00:00:10,636 (muffled yelling) 4 00:00:10,677 --> 00:00:12,888 ...into a bottomless abyss. 5 00:00:12,971 --> 00:00:14,973 And a priceless diamond 6 00:00:15,057 --> 00:00:17,976 that brings death 7 00:00:18,018 --> 00:00:20,187 to every man that touches it. 8 00:00:23,857 --> 00:00:25,943 Can places, things, 9 00:00:26,026 --> 00:00:28,737 or even people 10 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:32,282 actually be cursed? 11 00:00:32,366 --> 00:00:34,284 There are those who insist 12 00:00:34,368 --> 00:00:37,204 that not only do curses exist, but 13 00:00:37,287 --> 00:00:42,209 that these dark forces are actually lurking all around us. 14 00:00:43,835 --> 00:00:45,796 So, how do we get rid of them? 15 00:00:45,879 --> 00:00:47,839 Well... 16 00:00:47,923 --> 00:00:50,467 that is what we'll try and find out. 17 00:00:50,551 --> 00:00:52,511 ♪ ♪ 18 00:01:07,401 --> 00:01:09,695 SHATNER: Hunterdon County, New Jersey. 19 00:01:11,363 --> 00:01:14,825 Nestled beside the sleepy suburbs of Clinton Township 20 00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:18,120 lies Round Valley Reservoir. 21 00:01:19,538 --> 00:01:22,374 First formed in 1960 as a primary water source, 22 00:01:22,457 --> 00:01:25,210 this man‐made lake is beloved by locals 23 00:01:25,294 --> 00:01:28,463 for its great fishing and scenic views. 24 00:01:28,505 --> 00:01:30,549 But many believe 25 00:01:30,632 --> 00:01:32,926 this idyllic watering hole 26 00:01:33,010 --> 00:01:36,680 conceals a deadly secret. 27 00:01:39,850 --> 00:01:41,643 For more than 40 years, 28 00:01:41,685 --> 00:01:45,981 people have been disappearing in Round Valley Reservoir. 29 00:01:46,064 --> 00:01:49,443 And not just a few. 30 00:01:50,527 --> 00:01:52,863 More than two dozen men have been lost 31 00:01:52,946 --> 00:01:55,073 beneath these placid waters, 32 00:01:55,157 --> 00:01:57,200 never to be seen again. 33 00:01:57,284 --> 00:02:00,662 Locals do believe that this lake is cursed, 34 00:02:00,746 --> 00:02:04,249 and it's easy to understand why, with so many tragic deaths 35 00:02:04,333 --> 00:02:06,793 surrounding it in just about 40 years. 36 00:02:08,587 --> 00:02:11,298 And while I can't be sure if it's cursed, 37 00:02:11,340 --> 00:02:14,217 there's always one thing that's given me the chills. 38 00:02:14,301 --> 00:02:18,263 I heard someone say that when one body is found 39 00:02:18,347 --> 00:02:20,307 at Round Valley Reservoir, 40 00:02:20,349 --> 00:02:23,894 another quickly replaces it. 41 00:02:23,977 --> 00:02:26,980 We don't even know for sure how many bodies there really are. 42 00:02:27,022 --> 00:02:29,191 (indistinct radio chatter) 43 00:02:30,942 --> 00:02:33,028 When I worked in news, 44 00:02:33,111 --> 00:02:36,031 I would hear the police scanner crackle to life 45 00:02:36,114 --> 00:02:38,283 with "Round Valley," 46 00:02:38,367 --> 00:02:41,036 "fishermen," "trouble," "boat," or 47 00:02:41,119 --> 00:02:42,871 ‐"Somebody has gone under the water." ‐(muffled yelling) 48 00:02:42,954 --> 00:02:45,957 It's a creepy, horrible feeling when you hear this, 49 00:02:46,041 --> 00:02:48,251 because you know that 50 00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:51,630 90% of the time, this is not going to end well. 51 00:02:54,591 --> 00:02:56,385 I can't explain 52 00:02:56,468 --> 00:03:00,138 why these people at the bottom of the lake haven't been found, 53 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:02,808 especially after searching for them 54 00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:05,352 with such a degree of intensity. 55 00:03:05,435 --> 00:03:09,231 Even after bringing in cadaver‐sniffing dogs, 56 00:03:09,314 --> 00:03:11,525 using sonar technology 57 00:03:11,608 --> 00:03:15,404 and submarines to crawl the lake, there was no sign. 58 00:03:15,487 --> 00:03:17,864 It's almost as if some of these people disappeared 59 00:03:17,948 --> 00:03:19,783 without a trace. 60 00:03:19,866 --> 00:03:21,535 And an interesting thing, 61 00:03:21,618 --> 00:03:23,995 if you're looking for bones in Round Valley, 62 00:03:24,037 --> 00:03:27,833 is that you aren't necessarily going to find a fisherman 63 00:03:27,916 --> 00:03:30,252 who disappeared 13 years ago. 64 00:03:30,335 --> 00:03:33,422 You may find a bone that was in the ground 65 00:03:33,505 --> 00:03:36,550 long before Round Valley became a reservoir. 66 00:03:38,343 --> 00:03:43,932 SHATNER: Bones from a time before Round Valley became a reservoir? 67 00:03:44,015 --> 00:03:45,809 There are some who believe 68 00:03:45,851 --> 00:03:48,311 that these bones may have been the very reason 69 00:03:48,395 --> 00:03:51,898 the bodies of those who have disappeared here 70 00:03:51,982 --> 00:03:53,859 have never been found, 71 00:03:53,942 --> 00:03:59,322 and that the lake's refusal to give up its victims 72 00:03:59,406 --> 00:04:02,576 is actually an act of revenge. 73 00:04:04,828 --> 00:04:06,830 There was a town here once. 74 00:04:06,913 --> 00:04:11,460 For centuries, people put down roots in this valley. 75 00:04:11,543 --> 00:04:14,004 It was very fertile and rich farmland. 76 00:04:14,087 --> 00:04:15,797 There were thousands of acres. 77 00:04:15,839 --> 00:04:17,799 And people grew their own food. 78 00:04:17,883 --> 00:04:19,301 They raised their animals. 79 00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:23,597 Then, in the 1950s, there was a drought in New Jersey. 80 00:04:25,348 --> 00:04:28,477 And they needed a source of water for, predominantly, Newark 81 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:30,687 but the surrounding area as well. 82 00:04:30,771 --> 00:04:33,482 And so, they had to fill in somewhere, 83 00:04:33,523 --> 00:04:36,318 and Round Valley, they believed, was the best choice. 84 00:04:36,359 --> 00:04:39,571 People were opposed to the reservoir being built. 85 00:04:39,654 --> 00:04:42,657 It was a small farming community, very close‐knit, 86 00:04:42,699 --> 00:04:45,911 and no one wanted to leave their homes. 87 00:04:45,994 --> 00:04:49,915 Most of the homes were eventually erased or moved. 88 00:04:49,998 --> 00:04:52,459 KIRILUK‐HILL: Their homes were either torn down 89 00:04:52,501 --> 00:04:54,920 or they were put on flatbeds and taken out of the valley. 90 00:04:55,003 --> 00:04:58,632 And that construction started on the reservoir. 91 00:04:58,715 --> 00:05:02,594 In the 1960s, they started filling it. 92 00:05:02,677 --> 00:05:06,431 There was a lot of bad feeling here when, 93 00:05:06,515 --> 00:05:09,643 when the‐the landowners were pushed out of their valley. 94 00:05:10,811 --> 00:05:13,647 Did these ill feelings carry over? 95 00:05:13,730 --> 00:05:16,983 There are people who will say, "Yes, they did." 96 00:05:17,067 --> 00:05:18,318 There are people who come here 97 00:05:18,401 --> 00:05:19,820 who think the town is still here. 98 00:05:19,903 --> 00:05:22,572 They still think they see that church steeple 99 00:05:22,656 --> 00:05:25,325 and that barn silo underneath the water. 100 00:05:25,367 --> 00:05:27,327 Are they seeing it? 101 00:05:27,410 --> 00:05:28,995 Not really. 102 00:05:29,037 --> 00:05:30,372 They were torn down. 103 00:05:30,455 --> 00:05:32,457 But the foundations were left in place. 104 00:05:32,541 --> 00:05:34,417 Of course, there were fence posts. 105 00:05:34,501 --> 00:05:38,421 There were some things left below. 106 00:05:38,505 --> 00:05:41,466 When you're at Round Valley, you feel 107 00:05:41,550 --> 00:05:45,512 the spirit of the people who came before you. 108 00:05:45,595 --> 00:05:47,639 There is a presence here 109 00:05:47,722 --> 00:05:50,934 that can make you feel a little disconcerting. 110 00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:54,688 Some local people call Round Valley 111 00:05:54,771 --> 00:05:58,984 "the Bermuda Triangle of New Jersey," 112 00:05:59,067 --> 00:06:01,319 because as much as this is a place 113 00:06:01,361 --> 00:06:06,157 of great beauty and great enjoyment, 114 00:06:06,199 --> 00:06:08,326 it‐it's also a place 115 00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:11,621 where death happens 116 00:06:11,705 --> 00:06:13,665 really more than it should. 117 00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:16,793 SHATNER: The idea that any body of water, 118 00:06:16,835 --> 00:06:19,296 let alone a man‐made one less than a century old, 119 00:06:19,337 --> 00:06:22,799 could somehow be imbued with a deadly curse 120 00:06:22,883 --> 00:06:25,260 seems far‐fetched, to say the least. 121 00:06:25,343 --> 00:06:27,804 And yet outlandish 122 00:06:27,888 --> 00:06:31,933 and presumably irrational notions such as these 123 00:06:32,017 --> 00:06:35,979 have been held by nearly every culture throughout history. 124 00:06:36,062 --> 00:06:38,148 But why? 125 00:06:38,231 --> 00:06:39,983 We all are afraid of things, 126 00:06:40,066 --> 00:06:42,569 and we would like to be able to understand them, 127 00:06:42,652 --> 00:06:45,697 if only to give a little mental illusion of control 128 00:06:45,780 --> 00:06:48,533 over things that go bump in the night. 129 00:06:48,617 --> 00:06:53,246 And so, we come up with stories, and they help. 130 00:06:53,330 --> 00:06:56,124 They're entertaining and maybe they're true. 131 00:06:56,207 --> 00:06:58,668 And then they get passed down to children and grandchildren, 132 00:06:58,752 --> 00:07:01,880 and they gain authority through time. 133 00:07:01,963 --> 00:07:05,342 A curse has to be believed in order for it to have power. 134 00:07:05,425 --> 00:07:06,760 It's kind of like hypnosis. 135 00:07:06,843 --> 00:07:08,720 You have to be willing to go under hypnosis 136 00:07:08,803 --> 00:07:10,597 in order for it to actually be effective. 137 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,808 So maybe these curses are created by us, 138 00:07:13,850 --> 00:07:15,060 by our imagination, 139 00:07:15,143 --> 00:07:17,437 by us trying to deal with the mystery of nature. 140 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,147 It's just a game that we're playing, 141 00:07:19,230 --> 00:07:20,690 but we ascribe meaning to it. 142 00:07:20,774 --> 00:07:23,735 So, if we ascribe meaning to a curse, 143 00:07:23,818 --> 00:07:26,029 could that actually make the curse real? 144 00:07:27,572 --> 00:07:29,532 SHATNER: Although it may be human nature 145 00:07:29,616 --> 00:07:34,412 to blame inexplicable tragedies on some sort of dark force, 146 00:07:34,496 --> 00:07:36,581 according to skeptics, there's nothing supernatural 147 00:07:36,665 --> 00:07:40,543 about the disappearances at Round Valley Reservoir. 148 00:07:40,627 --> 00:07:43,797 They claim that these strange occurrences 149 00:07:43,838 --> 00:07:46,967 must have a perfectly rational explanation. 150 00:07:47,050 --> 00:07:48,593 KIRILUK‐HILL: Some people 151 00:07:48,677 --> 00:07:51,054 who live around here think it's more a matter 152 00:07:51,137 --> 00:07:53,223 of respecting your environment. 153 00:07:53,306 --> 00:07:55,058 And when the wind swirls, 154 00:07:55,141 --> 00:07:59,813 you can get waves up to three feet tall on this reservoir. 155 00:07:59,896 --> 00:08:02,983 And that's where people get in trouble. 156 00:08:03,024 --> 00:08:05,568 They're not expecting it. 157 00:08:05,652 --> 00:08:08,530 In my career I've handled anything from, um, 158 00:08:08,613 --> 00:08:11,533 plane crashes, homicides, suicides, 159 00:08:11,616 --> 00:08:13,827 um, you know, lost children. 160 00:08:15,370 --> 00:08:18,665 But, uh, when you're out there in a small boat 161 00:08:18,707 --> 00:08:20,834 and there's fog coming across the lake, 162 00:08:20,875 --> 00:08:22,794 it can be very eerie at times. 163 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:25,005 You have these 40‐mile‐per‐hour winds 164 00:08:25,088 --> 00:08:27,298 that come up out of no place. 165 00:08:27,382 --> 00:08:29,384 They only allow small boats. 166 00:08:29,467 --> 00:08:31,636 You have excessively cold water, 167 00:08:31,678 --> 00:08:33,638 which leads to hypothermia. 168 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:35,974 I can guarantee, probably nine out of ten people 169 00:08:36,057 --> 00:08:38,852 that are out on this lake don't wear their life preservers. 170 00:08:38,935 --> 00:08:41,896 I think it's because of those factors. 171 00:08:41,980 --> 00:08:45,984 And you know what? Just plain bad luck. Period. 172 00:08:47,777 --> 00:08:50,155 SHATNER: So, where did the bodies of the lost men 173 00:08:50,238 --> 00:08:52,073 of Round Valley Reservoir go? 174 00:08:52,157 --> 00:08:54,826 Could it be that they're merely trapped 175 00:08:54,909 --> 00:08:57,370 somewhere deep beneath the lake's surface, 176 00:08:57,454 --> 00:09:00,623 in a place searchers haven't yet looked? 177 00:09:01,666 --> 00:09:05,879 Or are they really victims of a deadly curse? 178 00:09:05,962 --> 00:09:09,174 Either way, the very notion that such a malevolent force 179 00:09:09,257 --> 00:09:14,637 could corrupt an entire lake is a chilling proposition. 180 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,432 Not unlike the notion that a curse 181 00:09:17,515 --> 00:09:20,518 could be contained in something so small 182 00:09:20,602 --> 00:09:24,022 that it could fit in the palm of your hand. 183 00:09:31,529 --> 00:09:33,656 JOSEPH McLEAN GREGORY: The Hope Diamond makes people want to "ah" 184 00:09:33,740 --> 00:09:37,744 of the most beguiling and infamous diamonds in existence. 185 00:09:37,869 --> 00:09:41,664 Set in a pendant surrounded by 16 white diamonds, 186 00:09:41,748 --> 00:09:44,167 this dazzling gray‐blue stone 187 00:09:44,250 --> 00:09:49,214 weighs a colossal 45.54 carats. 188 00:09:49,297 --> 00:09:50,965 Although throughout its history 189 00:09:51,049 --> 00:09:53,968 the massive diamond has been known variously 190 00:09:54,010 --> 00:09:58,640 as the Tavernier Blue and Le Bleu de France, 191 00:09:58,723 --> 00:10:03,978 today it is simply known as the Hope Diamond. 192 00:10:04,062 --> 00:10:06,064 GREGORY: What makes the Hope Diamond 193 00:10:06,147 --> 00:10:09,109 so mesmerizing is the whole presentation 194 00:10:09,192 --> 00:10:11,986 of the diamond itself, and 195 00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:14,239 I think that's what brings out the beauty of the diamond. 196 00:10:14,322 --> 00:10:15,990 It highlights the blue stone. 197 00:10:16,032 --> 00:10:19,661 KURIN: This is a piece of rock that's the size of a walnut! 198 00:10:19,786 --> 00:10:21,329 It almost looks sapphire‐like. 199 00:10:21,371 --> 00:10:24,374 And yet, because people feel it has this amazing story 200 00:10:24,457 --> 00:10:26,918 about curse and misfortune, 201 00:10:27,001 --> 00:10:29,754 they regard it specially, so when you go to the Smithsonian 202 00:10:29,838 --> 00:10:31,756 and you go in that Winston Gallery, 203 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:33,174 you can't get close to it. 204 00:10:33,258 --> 00:10:35,343 There's always mobs of people around it. 205 00:10:35,426 --> 00:10:37,303 Everybody's taking pictures around it. 206 00:10:37,345 --> 00:10:40,181 Everybody's whispering and trying to figure out things, 207 00:10:40,306 --> 00:10:43,351 and they feel it's almost like they're around a celebrity. 208 00:10:43,476 --> 00:10:46,521 SHATNER: Although renowned for its breathtaking beauty, 209 00:10:46,604 --> 00:10:48,648 the Hope Diamond has also become known 210 00:10:48,731 --> 00:10:51,651 for a far different type of facet, 211 00:10:51,734 --> 00:10:55,613 one that many regard to be deadly. 212 00:10:56,531 --> 00:10:58,408 In 1908, 213 00:10:58,491 --> 00:11:02,036 The Washington Post did a story noting all the people 214 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,747 that owned this diamond and suffered misfortune. 215 00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:10,587 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette faced the guillotine. 216 00:11:10,670 --> 00:11:12,964 The Hope family went bankrupt. 217 00:11:13,047 --> 00:11:15,842 All sorts of peoples whose throat were slit, 218 00:11:15,925 --> 00:11:17,969 and people who went off cliffs, 219 00:11:18,094 --> 00:11:20,221 and everybody who was associated with it died. 220 00:11:20,305 --> 00:11:24,058 And so that became kind of a theme story about it 221 00:11:24,142 --> 00:11:27,187 and‐and really led to the diamond's notoriety. 222 00:11:27,270 --> 00:11:29,147 SHATNER: Could it be that one 223 00:11:29,272 --> 00:11:32,400 of the most recognizable gemstones in existence, 224 00:11:32,525 --> 00:11:37,238 admired by thousands of people on a daily basis from afar, 225 00:11:37,322 --> 00:11:40,200 is also cursed? 226 00:11:40,283 --> 00:11:42,785 But if so, how? 227 00:11:44,204 --> 00:11:46,623 Putting together the story of the Hope Diamond 228 00:11:46,706 --> 00:11:48,208 is like a detective story. 229 00:11:48,291 --> 00:11:49,667 It really is a puzzle. 230 00:11:49,751 --> 00:11:51,169 It started out in India. 231 00:11:51,294 --> 00:11:53,755 The diamond, a big blue diamond, is basically acquired 232 00:11:53,838 --> 00:11:57,008 by this guy Jean‐Baptiste Tavernier. 233 00:11:57,133 --> 00:12:01,638 He is a, uh, Belgian‐French diamond trader. 234 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,265 He's fascinated by diamonds. 235 00:12:04,349 --> 00:12:08,144 And he's really the first one that goes to India 236 00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:11,856 to find out where diamonds really come from. 237 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:15,485 The rumor about the Hope Diamond is that it was actually stolen 238 00:12:15,526 --> 00:12:18,446 from the statue of a Hindu god. 239 00:12:18,529 --> 00:12:23,409 KURIN: Tavernier does report on a story from India. 240 00:12:23,534 --> 00:12:25,286 Somebody climbed up on the statue, 241 00:12:25,370 --> 00:12:27,247 stole that large diamond, 242 00:12:27,330 --> 00:12:30,833 secreted it, and then tried to get it out. 243 00:12:30,959 --> 00:12:33,628 The next morning, they opened the temple, 244 00:12:33,711 --> 00:12:37,799 and they found him dead, holding the diamond. 245 00:12:37,882 --> 00:12:42,679 And so, from that day forward, apparently, the legend goes 246 00:12:42,804 --> 00:12:46,891 that the god cursed anyone who would bear this stone. 247 00:12:46,975 --> 00:12:49,769 It seems to be that we have many cases where people 248 00:12:49,852 --> 00:12:53,147 have had heart attacks after putting on the stone. 249 00:12:53,189 --> 00:12:55,817 Uh, you know, people have committed suicide. 250 00:12:55,858 --> 00:12:58,194 There's been tragedy that has surrounded this stone 251 00:12:58,278 --> 00:12:59,737 from day one. 252 00:12:59,821 --> 00:13:02,865 SHATNER: Is it possible that the fantastic stories 253 00:13:02,991 --> 00:13:05,076 about a Hope Diamond curse 254 00:13:05,159 --> 00:13:09,122 are based on nothing more than morbid fantasies? 255 00:13:09,205 --> 00:13:11,582 According to Evalyn Walsh McLean, 256 00:13:11,666 --> 00:13:16,462 a wealthy mining heiress who died in 1947, 257 00:13:16,504 --> 00:13:20,466 the curse is, in fact, very real. 258 00:13:20,508 --> 00:13:22,093 And she would have known, 259 00:13:22,176 --> 00:13:27,849 because she owned the Hope Diamond for 36 years. 260 00:13:27,932 --> 00:13:30,184 Evalyn Walsh McLean was my great‐grandmother, 261 00:13:30,268 --> 00:13:32,478 and she was the last and longest owner 262 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:33,813 of the infamous Hope Diamond. 263 00:13:33,896 --> 00:13:35,648 KURIN: Evalyn Walsh McLean 264 00:13:35,732 --> 00:13:39,235 was definitely iconoclastic and rebellious. 265 00:13:39,319 --> 00:13:41,112 And I think when she bought the diamond 266 00:13:41,195 --> 00:13:46,743 from the jeweler Pierre Cartier, she liked the idea of the curse 267 00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:48,745 because‐‐ she actually wrote about it‐‐ 268 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:51,205 she said, "I'm not a queen. I wasn't born rich. 269 00:13:51,331 --> 00:13:55,543 "So maybe I'm not subject to the same kind of forces 270 00:13:55,626 --> 00:13:57,795 "that these other people have been 271 00:13:57,837 --> 00:14:00,173 that came from a different station in life." 272 00:14:00,256 --> 00:14:06,137 But the Hope Diamond had tragic consequences for her family. 273 00:14:06,179 --> 00:14:09,265 GREGORY: Her mother‐in‐law did not want her to buy the diamond, 274 00:14:09,349 --> 00:14:12,894 because it had a curse that she had heard about. 275 00:14:13,019 --> 00:14:15,938 So, Evalyn went down to a local church, 276 00:14:16,022 --> 00:14:19,108 met with a priest to get the diamond blessed. 277 00:14:19,192 --> 00:14:21,652 The priest placed it on a velvet pouch. 278 00:14:21,736 --> 00:14:24,155 That night, there was no storm in the air, 279 00:14:24,238 --> 00:14:26,616 but lightning and thunder came in. 280 00:14:26,699 --> 00:14:29,577 Lightning hit a tree across the street. 281 00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:32,830 So, Evalyn got a little scared of it. 282 00:14:32,914 --> 00:14:36,292 Evalyn's mother‐in‐law and her friend 283 00:14:36,376 --> 00:14:38,044 passed away within a year. 284 00:14:38,127 --> 00:14:40,922 And next, Evalyn's youngest son Vinson, 285 00:14:41,005 --> 00:14:42,632 was hit by an automobile. 286 00:14:42,715 --> 00:14:46,803 On top of that, my grandmother Evie McLean, 287 00:14:46,844 --> 00:14:48,638 she commits suicide. 288 00:14:48,721 --> 00:14:50,640 And then Evalyn's husband Ned McLean 289 00:14:50,765 --> 00:14:53,393 commits suicide in a, in a mental hospital. 290 00:14:53,476 --> 00:14:56,813 So, then she started thinking that, yes, it could be cursed, 291 00:14:56,938 --> 00:14:59,107 but she still wanted to keep the diamond. 292 00:14:59,190 --> 00:15:02,652 It was just a piece of her life. 293 00:15:02,735 --> 00:15:04,153 It was a soul to her. 294 00:15:04,195 --> 00:15:08,324 SHATNER: But was the Hope Diamond really cursed? 295 00:15:08,366 --> 00:15:10,701 As far as Evalyn Walsh McLean was concerned, 296 00:15:10,785 --> 00:15:13,454 the priceless stone's beauty was so great 297 00:15:13,538 --> 00:15:16,833 that she was willing to ignore the risk. 298 00:15:16,916 --> 00:15:18,126 But there are others, 299 00:15:18,209 --> 00:15:21,337 including some in the scientific community, 300 00:15:21,421 --> 00:15:25,216 who believe that the Hope Diamond curse is not only real 301 00:15:25,299 --> 00:15:27,427 but that, under certain conditions, 302 00:15:27,510 --> 00:15:33,850 its evil properties can actually be seen with the naked eye. 303 00:15:36,018 --> 00:15:37,979 So, with the Hope Diamond, uh, it does have 304 00:15:38,062 --> 00:15:41,399 this amazing property, and that is, if you, um, 305 00:15:41,482 --> 00:15:44,277 expose it to, uh, ultraviolet light 306 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,279 and then turn off the lights in the room, 307 00:15:46,362 --> 00:15:50,825 the diamond will glow a deep, dark red. 308 00:15:50,908 --> 00:15:53,828 Intense. And that may last for several minutes. 309 00:15:53,911 --> 00:15:55,997 We've done a number of experiments 310 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,499 with other blue diamonds, and many blue diamonds 311 00:15:58,624 --> 00:16:01,002 will glow blue, blue‐green, 312 00:16:01,127 --> 00:16:05,465 but nothing glows as intensely and as sharply 313 00:16:05,548 --> 00:16:08,342 and for the length of time as the Hope Diamond. 314 00:16:08,426 --> 00:16:11,304 Physicists that have explained this have talked about, "Well, 315 00:16:11,345 --> 00:16:13,973 "the exposure to ultraviolet energy 316 00:16:14,056 --> 00:16:17,351 excites the electrons in the gem." 317 00:16:17,435 --> 00:16:19,479 Other people think there's something else afoot. 318 00:16:19,562 --> 00:16:20,938 (laughs) 319 00:16:21,856 --> 00:16:23,649 They think about other forces 320 00:16:23,691 --> 00:16:25,443 that are locked inside the diamond 321 00:16:25,526 --> 00:16:29,405 that have this mysterious power that can affect them. 322 00:16:29,489 --> 00:16:32,575 It's very much of a majestic diamond. 323 00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:34,285 And what we do know 324 00:16:34,368 --> 00:16:37,205 is that it attracts people who want to touch it. 325 00:16:37,330 --> 00:16:40,500 It makes people want to "ah" and "ooh" over it. 326 00:16:40,625 --> 00:16:41,959 It's beautiful. 327 00:16:42,001 --> 00:16:45,213 It's a color of its own, it's a piece of its own, 328 00:16:45,296 --> 00:16:49,217 and my true feeling is, everyone has tragic events in their life. 329 00:16:49,300 --> 00:16:52,428 So, with my great‐grandmother having tragic events, 330 00:16:52,512 --> 00:16:54,805 I feel like, with or without the diamond, 331 00:16:54,889 --> 00:16:57,642 they were gonna occur anyway. 332 00:16:57,683 --> 00:17:00,144 What's harder to believe? 333 00:17:00,186 --> 00:17:02,480 That the Hope Diamond is actually cursed? 334 00:17:02,522 --> 00:17:05,942 Or that virtually everyone who came into contact with it 335 00:17:06,025 --> 00:17:10,821 over the years suffered a horrific tragedy 336 00:17:10,947 --> 00:17:12,990 by coincidence? 337 00:17:13,950 --> 00:17:15,868 Perhaps the answer can be found by examining 338 00:17:15,993 --> 00:17:18,996 another supposedly cursed object, 339 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:23,793 one that was once found in thousands of homes 340 00:17:23,876 --> 00:17:26,712 all over the world. 341 00:17:35,263 --> 00:17:37,515 The Sun DAVE SPINKS: There were so many fires that these paintingsThe Bd 342 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,560 publishes an article by journalist John Murphy 343 00:17:40,685 --> 00:17:44,939 about the aftermath of a local house fire. 344 00:17:45,022 --> 00:17:46,440 But according to John Murphy, 345 00:17:46,524 --> 00:17:49,318 this is not your typical human interest story. 346 00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:51,904 Because, although the blaze burned the home 347 00:17:52,029 --> 00:17:54,115 and nearly everything in it to the ground, 348 00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:59,912 one object did manage to survive: a copy of a painting 349 00:17:59,996 --> 00:18:04,542 depicting the Crying Boy. 350 00:18:04,625 --> 00:18:07,503 I was told to go out and have a look at the fire, 351 00:18:07,587 --> 00:18:10,298 speak to the homeowners, and see what had happened. 352 00:18:10,339 --> 00:18:13,843 I got there and it was a conventional chip pan fire, 353 00:18:13,926 --> 00:18:15,928 and no one, fortunately, was hurt, 354 00:18:16,012 --> 00:18:18,264 but the house had been completely gutted. 355 00:18:18,347 --> 00:18:20,266 But the extraordinary thing 356 00:18:20,349 --> 00:18:24,270 was that the print had actually survived the blaze. 357 00:18:24,353 --> 00:18:26,814 SHATNER: Initially, John thought that the painting's survival 358 00:18:26,856 --> 00:18:30,067 was a mildly interesting tidbit 359 00:18:30,151 --> 00:18:33,487 but not especially newsworthy on its own. 360 00:18:33,571 --> 00:18:37,366 That is, until a firefighter on the scene informed him 361 00:18:37,491 --> 00:18:40,661 that this wasn't the only time that a copy 362 00:18:40,745 --> 00:18:45,291 of a similar painting had survived such a massive fire. 363 00:18:45,374 --> 00:18:47,168 MURPHY: When I was speaking to the fire officer 364 00:18:47,251 --> 00:18:51,130 outside the home on that Monday morning, 365 00:18:51,213 --> 00:18:52,757 he told me about his brother‐in‐law 366 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,801 whose house had also been destroyed by fire and who also 367 00:18:55,885 --> 00:18:59,805 had a print of the Crying Boy in the house which survived. 368 00:18:59,847 --> 00:19:01,641 We had an interesting conversation, 369 00:19:01,724 --> 00:19:05,227 and he said, "This is really, really strange. 370 00:19:05,311 --> 00:19:07,980 "I have been on so many house fires recently 371 00:19:08,105 --> 00:19:12,193 where there has been this print in the house." 372 00:19:12,276 --> 00:19:14,362 CLARKE: The houses where there'd been these fires 373 00:19:14,445 --> 00:19:17,657 were completely gutted, so hot, in fact, 374 00:19:17,740 --> 00:19:19,992 that, say, on the ground floor of one particular house, 375 00:19:20,034 --> 00:19:22,328 the plaster was stripped from the walls. 376 00:19:22,370 --> 00:19:26,707 And yet the‐‐ this particular print was hanging on the wall, 377 00:19:26,791 --> 00:19:29,335 absolutely unscathed. 378 00:19:31,504 --> 00:19:34,465 I contacted my news desk, phoned through the story. 379 00:19:34,507 --> 00:19:38,135 So hence the story of the curse of the Crying Boy print 380 00:19:38,177 --> 00:19:40,137 was born. 381 00:19:40,179 --> 00:19:44,266 SHATNER: Dozens of homes ravaged by fire, 382 00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:47,103 and in every single case, 383 00:19:47,186 --> 00:19:51,399 a Crying Boy print had survived unscathed? 384 00:19:51,482 --> 00:19:54,944 But how could such a thing be possible? 385 00:19:55,027 --> 00:19:59,240 MURPHY: And the story went viral after The Sun got hold of the story, 386 00:19:59,323 --> 00:20:04,662 and next thing, they ran telephone, uh, campaigns asking 387 00:20:04,745 --> 00:20:07,540 if their readers had got a print of the Crying Boy, 388 00:20:07,665 --> 00:20:12,795 and if so, had they experienced any disasters like house fires? 389 00:20:12,837 --> 00:20:15,089 CLARKE: So, that's where the rumor became a legend. 390 00:20:15,172 --> 00:20:18,968 But at that stage, there was no story to explain 391 00:20:19,009 --> 00:20:21,804 who the child was and why was he crying? 392 00:20:21,846 --> 00:20:25,474 SHATNER: The Crying Boy portraits are among a series 393 00:20:25,558 --> 00:20:28,978 of mass‐produced artworks that belong to a genre 394 00:20:29,061 --> 00:20:30,980 known as big‐eyed art, 395 00:20:31,105 --> 00:20:35,484 sold in British department stores in the 1960s and '70s. 396 00:20:35,568 --> 00:20:39,447 But in this case, who was the artist? 397 00:20:39,530 --> 00:20:42,199 And why was he or she so obsessed 398 00:20:42,324 --> 00:20:45,619 with painting the Crying Boy? 399 00:20:45,703 --> 00:20:49,457 CLARKE: In the 1950s, there was a Californian artist, 400 00:20:49,540 --> 00:20:54,503 Margaret Keane, who painted a whole range of, um, children, 401 00:20:54,587 --> 00:20:57,089 and this became big‐eyed art, 402 00:20:57,173 --> 00:20:58,758 and it was something that was very popular 403 00:20:58,841 --> 00:21:00,426 in the '50s and '60s. 404 00:21:00,509 --> 00:21:05,473 Lots of European painters copied Margaret Keane's art style. 405 00:21:05,514 --> 00:21:10,686 Probably the best known was a series of 27 paintings 406 00:21:10,770 --> 00:21:14,190 by an Italian artist called Bruno Amadio, 407 00:21:14,273 --> 00:21:18,486 who was born in 1911, died in the early 1980s. 408 00:21:18,527 --> 00:21:20,780 And he was, um, classically trained, 409 00:21:20,863 --> 00:21:24,325 but he didn't make much in the way of money. 410 00:21:24,408 --> 00:21:26,118 So, in order to make money, 411 00:21:26,202 --> 00:21:28,329 he painted, in the style of Margaret Keane, 412 00:21:28,370 --> 00:21:30,414 lots of pictures of small children, 413 00:21:30,539 --> 00:21:32,833 uh, sort of street urchins, 414 00:21:32,917 --> 00:21:35,085 crying girls, crying boys, 415 00:21:35,169 --> 00:21:37,963 and these sold to tourists 416 00:21:38,088 --> 00:21:40,341 in post‐war Italy. 417 00:21:40,424 --> 00:21:43,177 He didn't want to be associated with these paintings 418 00:21:43,260 --> 00:21:44,553 because he just didn't think 419 00:21:44,637 --> 00:21:46,347 they were very good quality paintings, 420 00:21:46,472 --> 00:21:49,934 so he came up with a, with a name, his nom de guerre, 421 00:21:50,017 --> 00:21:52,603 as Giovanni Bragolin, 422 00:21:52,686 --> 00:21:56,148 which was actually, apparently, his uncle's name. 423 00:21:56,190 --> 00:21:58,317 No one knew who this Bragolin was. 424 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,986 He didn't have, um, a biography 425 00:22:01,070 --> 00:22:03,531 in the way that many other well‐known artists did. 426 00:22:03,614 --> 00:22:06,992 So, it's a... There's that element of mystery. 427 00:22:07,117 --> 00:22:09,870 And one of the, um, stories 428 00:22:09,954 --> 00:22:11,956 about the Crying Boy Curse is 429 00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:15,626 that the child in the painting is trapped inside the painting, 430 00:22:15,709 --> 00:22:17,628 and that the only way that the child 431 00:22:17,711 --> 00:22:20,339 or the spirit of that child can free itself is 432 00:22:20,422 --> 00:22:23,300 by setting fire to its surroundings, 433 00:22:23,425 --> 00:22:26,595 and that's the way it escapes from the painting. 434 00:22:26,679 --> 00:22:28,848 SHATNER: Cursed paintings, 435 00:22:28,931 --> 00:22:31,308 and mass‐produced ones at that. 436 00:22:31,433 --> 00:22:35,771 Why would anyone believe such an outlandish notion? 437 00:22:35,855 --> 00:22:37,857 In Gothic literature, there are examples 438 00:22:37,982 --> 00:22:42,027 from the early 19th century of paintings that come to life. 439 00:22:42,111 --> 00:22:44,196 There is Oscar Wilde's famous story 440 00:22:44,321 --> 00:22:46,323 The Picture of Dorian Gray, 441 00:22:46,365 --> 00:22:48,534 which is a painting that was kept in the attic 442 00:22:48,617 --> 00:22:52,746 that does the aging for the character in the story. 443 00:22:52,872 --> 00:22:55,666 M.R. James, the famous writer of ghost stories‐‐ 444 00:22:55,749 --> 00:22:58,377 he had a story called "The Mezzotint," 445 00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:00,296 which is about an eerie painting 446 00:23:00,421 --> 00:23:03,132 that changes every time you look at it. 447 00:23:03,173 --> 00:23:04,675 It's amazing to think, uh, 448 00:23:04,758 --> 00:23:07,303 when I think back to that day in Rotherham, 449 00:23:07,428 --> 00:23:09,597 that a story from a small town 450 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,683 in the north of England has evolved to such a degree 451 00:23:12,766 --> 00:23:15,978 with so many column inches dedicated to it, 452 00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:17,980 and it's become a global story, 453 00:23:18,022 --> 00:23:21,942 with instances of fires happening across the world. 454 00:23:22,026 --> 00:23:23,736 Instances of fires 455 00:23:23,819 --> 00:23:27,823 where these prints have been in existence. 456 00:23:29,366 --> 00:23:31,327 SHATNER: Recently, 457 00:23:31,452 --> 00:23:34,496 forensic investigators studying the so‐called 458 00:23:34,622 --> 00:23:38,292 "Curse of The Crying Boy," have raised a new possibility 459 00:23:38,375 --> 00:23:41,795 as to how the painting has come to survive so many housefires. 460 00:23:41,879 --> 00:23:44,089 And it has nothing to do 461 00:23:44,173 --> 00:23:46,717 with a supposed curse. 462 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,136 There was some investigation done on these paintings, 463 00:23:49,219 --> 00:23:50,721 and they were actually 464 00:23:50,804 --> 00:23:53,057 coated with fire retardant material. 465 00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:56,852 And that could just be the reason that they didn't burn 466 00:23:56,936 --> 00:24:00,648 and the other aspects of the locations did burn. 467 00:24:00,773 --> 00:24:04,443 You plant an idea, whether it's in a newspaper, in a book, 468 00:24:04,526 --> 00:24:07,321 or via Twitter or Facebook, 469 00:24:07,404 --> 00:24:09,490 suggesting that there's something eerie 470 00:24:09,531 --> 00:24:11,867 or there's some‐‐ there's bad luck 471 00:24:11,951 --> 00:24:15,955 that's circulating around a particular object or painting, 472 00:24:16,038 --> 00:24:19,500 and you're almost guaranteed to get people saying, 473 00:24:19,583 --> 00:24:21,752 "Yes, I've had bad luck." 474 00:24:21,835 --> 00:24:24,296 And that's exactly what happened in the 1980s 475 00:24:24,380 --> 00:24:25,965 with the Curse of the Crying Boy. 476 00:24:26,006 --> 00:24:28,759 SHATNER: But even if we accept the wild notion 477 00:24:28,842 --> 00:24:31,178 that the Crying Boy paintings are fireproof, 478 00:24:31,303 --> 00:24:35,641 that would only mean that it can survive a fire, not cause one. 479 00:24:35,724 --> 00:24:38,978 In any case, perhaps in future, 480 00:24:39,061 --> 00:24:40,896 when buying art for your home, 481 00:24:40,980 --> 00:24:46,360 it would be best to choose something a bit less emotional. 482 00:24:46,443 --> 00:24:48,988 Unlike another deadly curse 483 00:24:49,071 --> 00:24:51,281 that, taste aside, 484 00:24:51,365 --> 00:24:53,993 is truly unavoidable. 485 00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:00,666 SANFORD HOLST: Friday the 13th‐‐ the fear, the dread. 486 00:25:00,749 --> 00:25:05,254 all around the world, it happens. 487 00:25:05,337 --> 00:25:09,049 From the moment the new day dawns... 488 00:25:10,342 --> 00:25:12,886 ...to the 12th chime of midnight... 489 00:25:12,970 --> 00:25:15,139 (clock chimes) 490 00:25:15,222 --> 00:25:18,017 ...it is utterly unavoidable. 491 00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:20,394 No continent is safe. 492 00:25:20,477 --> 00:25:23,480 No country is spared. 493 00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:26,108 No city is immune. 494 00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:29,153 No matter where you are or what you're doing, 495 00:25:29,194 --> 00:25:32,031 there's no escaping 496 00:25:32,114 --> 00:25:34,742 Friday the 13th. 497 00:25:36,368 --> 00:25:38,996 HOLST: It's actually very interesting, 498 00:25:39,038 --> 00:25:41,498 the whole idea about Friday the 13th, 499 00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:43,917 the mysteriousness, the‐the fear, the dread. 500 00:25:43,959 --> 00:25:47,004 There's a natural human desire to understand things, 501 00:25:47,129 --> 00:25:48,630 to know why something happened. 502 00:25:48,714 --> 00:25:50,632 And sometimes, if the unexplainable happened 503 00:25:50,716 --> 00:25:52,634 but there was a curse involved, you say, 504 00:25:52,718 --> 00:25:55,012 "Aha, I have the reason." 505 00:25:55,095 --> 00:25:57,264 We never know when they're gonna turn out to be real, 506 00:25:57,347 --> 00:26:01,477 but we have to give all of them a fair shot and say, "Maybe." 507 00:26:01,602 --> 00:26:03,228 SHATNER: Believe it or not, 508 00:26:03,312 --> 00:26:06,607 there is some statistical evidence which suggests 509 00:26:06,690 --> 00:26:08,817 that more bad things happen 510 00:26:08,901 --> 00:26:12,780 on Friday the 13th than any other day of the year. 511 00:26:13,697 --> 00:26:16,533 But is it really cursed? 512 00:26:16,617 --> 00:26:19,912 And if so, how? 513 00:26:20,788 --> 00:26:22,873 13 is an unstable number. 514 00:26:22,956 --> 00:26:25,501 In numerology, 12 is a perfect circle. 515 00:26:25,626 --> 00:26:27,377 We think of the heavens as 516 00:26:27,503 --> 00:26:30,339 divided into the 12 houses of the zodiac. 517 00:26:30,422 --> 00:26:32,299 The 12 months of the year, the 12 apostles. 518 00:26:32,382 --> 00:26:35,469 12 is a very rounded and total number. 519 00:26:35,511 --> 00:26:37,971 13 is an odd number, an unbalanced number. 520 00:26:38,055 --> 00:26:41,141 WHITEHEAD: There was a lot of superstition that surrounded it 521 00:26:41,183 --> 00:26:43,519 to the point where many buildings were built 522 00:26:43,644 --> 00:26:45,104 without a 13th floor 523 00:26:45,187 --> 00:26:48,315 simply because they were worried that there was somehow 524 00:26:48,357 --> 00:26:51,693 gonna be a cursed floor if they installed it into a building. 525 00:26:51,777 --> 00:26:53,654 SHATNER: Although it would seem 526 00:26:53,737 --> 00:26:55,823 that the public's awareness of Friday the 13th 527 00:26:55,906 --> 00:26:58,951 really came of age in modern times, 528 00:26:59,034 --> 00:27:00,661 ‐as it turns out... ‐(clock bell tolls) 529 00:27:00,786 --> 00:27:02,496 the origin of this curse 530 00:27:02,538 --> 00:27:06,458 actually dates back to the 14th century. 531 00:27:06,542 --> 00:27:08,043 It goes back, in my opinion, 532 00:27:08,127 --> 00:27:10,504 to what happened to the Knights Templar. 533 00:27:10,629 --> 00:27:12,172 (horse neighing) 534 00:27:12,256 --> 00:27:16,385 So, the Knights Templar were founded in the 12th century, 535 00:27:16,468 --> 00:27:21,974 and they were the world's first combination of warrior and monk. 536 00:27:23,684 --> 00:27:26,937 They were the guardians of a lot of the treasures 537 00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:28,939 of various kings and popes and monarchs, 538 00:27:29,022 --> 00:27:31,733 and because of their amazing reputation, 539 00:27:31,817 --> 00:27:36,989 they became known as the world's first international bankers. 540 00:27:37,072 --> 00:27:40,117 Friday the 13th was such a pivotal day 541 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,161 in the life of the Knights Templar 542 00:27:42,202 --> 00:27:44,830 that it ended one chapter and began another. 543 00:27:44,955 --> 00:27:48,250 It literally was the day of the destruction of the order. 544 00:27:48,333 --> 00:27:51,253 And the Friday the 13th that was so critical 545 00:27:51,336 --> 00:27:56,675 to the Knights Templar happened on the 13th of October in 1307. 546 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,429 The king of France needed money, 547 00:28:00,512 --> 00:28:03,640 but he owed money to everybody, including the Templars, 548 00:28:03,682 --> 00:28:05,809 and he decided the Knights Templar had money, 549 00:28:05,934 --> 00:28:08,270 he wanted it, so he attacked them. 550 00:28:08,353 --> 00:28:09,688 (bell clangs) 551 00:28:09,771 --> 00:28:11,398 (distant shouting) 552 00:28:11,481 --> 00:28:14,318 Everyone was arrested, people were thrown in jail. 553 00:28:15,944 --> 00:28:17,905 They were tortured, they were being killed. 554 00:28:18,030 --> 00:28:19,865 Then there were long trials. 555 00:28:19,948 --> 00:28:24,119 These trials were conducted by the Catholic Church, 556 00:28:24,203 --> 00:28:26,121 and it basically ended 557 00:28:26,205 --> 00:28:28,498 with the death of Jacques de Molay, 558 00:28:28,540 --> 00:28:30,667 the grand master. 559 00:28:32,336 --> 00:28:35,422 WHITEHEAD: Jacques de Molay was a powerful, enigmatic figure, 560 00:28:35,505 --> 00:28:39,134 and so it was important for the Church and the Crown 561 00:28:39,259 --> 00:28:42,179 to execute him publicly to show as an example. 562 00:28:42,262 --> 00:28:46,225 And when they were burning Jacques de Molay, 563 00:28:46,308 --> 00:28:47,893 the fire was being lit, 564 00:28:47,976 --> 00:28:51,647 he cursed Pope Clement 565 00:28:51,730 --> 00:28:54,650 and also King Philip and said, 566 00:28:54,775 --> 00:28:56,401 "Within this year, 567 00:28:56,485 --> 00:28:57,819 you will die." 568 00:28:57,861 --> 00:29:00,489 And, lo and behold, they did. 569 00:29:00,572 --> 00:29:02,241 (church bell rings) 570 00:29:02,324 --> 00:29:05,035 HOLST: What happened was, within 33 days, 571 00:29:05,118 --> 00:29:08,497 the pope died of a terrible illness. 572 00:29:08,538 --> 00:29:11,667 And all of a sudden, it just seized him and killed him, 573 00:29:11,750 --> 00:29:13,460 just like that, suddenly. 574 00:29:13,543 --> 00:29:15,128 Seven months later, 575 00:29:15,170 --> 00:29:18,382 the king of France was on a hunting expedition, 576 00:29:18,465 --> 00:29:20,092 had a massive stroke, 577 00:29:20,175 --> 00:29:23,762 ‐fell down dead on the ground, right there. ‐(horse neighs) 578 00:29:26,765 --> 00:29:28,517 SHATNER: In the years since the Templars' 579 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,644 eventual exile from Europe, 580 00:29:30,686 --> 00:29:32,562 there were many who began to believe 581 00:29:32,646 --> 00:29:35,649 that Jacques de Molay's death curse applied 582 00:29:35,774 --> 00:29:37,651 not only to his enemies 583 00:29:37,776 --> 00:29:39,194 but also to the very day 584 00:29:39,278 --> 00:29:41,738 that spelled the beginning of the end 585 00:29:41,822 --> 00:29:45,325 for the Knights Templar, the day they were arrested‐‐ 586 00:29:45,367 --> 00:29:47,744 Friday the 13th. 587 00:29:47,869 --> 00:29:49,705 But is it really possible 588 00:29:49,788 --> 00:29:52,666 that a centuries‐old curse still has the power 589 00:29:52,749 --> 00:29:57,587 to cause bad luck after 700 years? 590 00:29:57,671 --> 00:30:00,007 There is this legend around Jacques de Molay 591 00:30:00,090 --> 00:30:03,719 that he possessed some kind of extraordinary power. 592 00:30:05,679 --> 00:30:07,347 When it comes to the Knights Templar, 593 00:30:07,431 --> 00:30:09,850 one of the things that stand out is, of course, 594 00:30:09,933 --> 00:30:12,978 they were the guardians of the Temple of Jerusalem. 595 00:30:13,020 --> 00:30:15,480 And some people believe that they may have found 596 00:30:15,564 --> 00:30:17,024 some ancient artifacts there, 597 00:30:17,149 --> 00:30:18,734 possibly the Ark of the Covenant, 598 00:30:18,817 --> 00:30:21,987 or came across some ancient knowledge 599 00:30:22,029 --> 00:30:24,156 that was sort of confiscated 600 00:30:24,197 --> 00:30:26,408 and held sacred from the general public. 601 00:30:26,491 --> 00:30:28,493 And so, some people look at Jacques de Molay 602 00:30:28,535 --> 00:30:32,039 as some kind of a sorcerer in a way, where he had this ability 603 00:30:32,122 --> 00:30:36,626 to put a curse that actually really did come into fruition. 604 00:30:36,710 --> 00:30:38,962 HOLST: When something happens 605 00:30:39,046 --> 00:30:42,549 such as De Molay's curse, the Templar curse, 606 00:30:42,674 --> 00:30:47,012 it's entirely possible that this actually has reality behind it. 607 00:30:47,095 --> 00:30:48,805 It's entirely possible 608 00:30:48,889 --> 00:30:51,099 that just simply saying the words 609 00:30:51,183 --> 00:30:54,644 and putting it in everyone's mind was like a common prayer 610 00:30:54,728 --> 00:30:56,146 between so many people. 611 00:30:56,271 --> 00:30:59,149 And the power of so many people desiring it and wanting it 612 00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:02,778 might have influenced events as they happened. 613 00:31:02,861 --> 00:31:06,907 Did Jacques de Molay channel some type of dark force 614 00:31:06,990 --> 00:31:10,410 when he cursed Friday the 13th? 615 00:31:10,494 --> 00:31:13,121 Perhaps. 616 00:31:13,205 --> 00:31:17,125 But what if that theory is missing the target? 617 00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:19,127 Because there are those who believe 618 00:31:19,211 --> 00:31:22,964 that it isn't the day that's cursed, 619 00:31:23,006 --> 00:31:26,635 but the number 13 itself. 620 00:31:26,718 --> 00:31:28,804 And if that's the case, 621 00:31:28,887 --> 00:31:31,807 could there be other numbers 622 00:31:31,890 --> 00:31:36,561 that hold dark and deadly powers? 623 00:31:36,645 --> 00:31:39,398 Numbers that should be avoided 624 00:31:39,481 --> 00:31:47,906 at all costs? 625 00:31:49,950 --> 00:31:53,412 Jimi Hendrix dies of a drug overdose. 626 00:31:57,958 --> 00:32:01,128 Kurt Cobain, lead singer and songwriter 627 00:32:01,169 --> 00:32:04,047 of the trailblazing grunge rock band Nirvana, 628 00:32:04,131 --> 00:32:07,843 dies of a self‐inflicted gunshot wound. 629 00:32:12,514 --> 00:32:15,392 Internationally famed vocalist Amy Winehouse 630 00:32:15,475 --> 00:32:18,395 is found dead of alcohol poisoning. 631 00:32:19,938 --> 00:32:23,024 Aside from their remarkable musical talents 632 00:32:23,150 --> 00:32:26,570 and the fact that they all tragically passed away 633 00:32:26,653 --> 00:32:28,196 well before their time, 634 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,325 they all have something else in common: 635 00:32:32,451 --> 00:32:38,457 at the time of their deaths, each of them was 27 years old. 636 00:32:40,125 --> 00:32:45,338 There is sort of a weirdly persistent pop culture 637 00:32:45,422 --> 00:32:48,008 legend that talks about 638 00:32:48,091 --> 00:32:51,428 the strange number of pop cultural figures, 639 00:32:51,511 --> 00:32:56,266 especially musicians, who have died at the age of 27. 640 00:32:56,349 --> 00:32:59,853 I think it's attracted a lot of interest because 641 00:32:59,936 --> 00:33:02,147 it's obviously a young age. 642 00:33:02,189 --> 00:33:05,066 Also, a lot of the people involved‐‐ the circumstances 643 00:33:05,150 --> 00:33:10,280 of their death have been sort of mysterious or unclear. 644 00:33:10,363 --> 00:33:12,824 So I think that really grabbed people's attention 645 00:33:12,949 --> 00:33:14,743 and imagination. 646 00:33:14,826 --> 00:33:18,955 The 27 Club has definitely given a lot of these rock stars‐‐ 647 00:33:19,039 --> 00:33:20,499 up and coming‐‐ the fear. 648 00:33:20,540 --> 00:33:24,211 Their families, their parents have all been scared, 649 00:33:24,336 --> 00:33:27,631 warning their, their siblings and their children, 650 00:33:27,714 --> 00:33:28,798 "We know that this‐‐ 651 00:33:28,924 --> 00:33:30,800 "you're‐you're getting success now, 652 00:33:30,884 --> 00:33:32,761 "but be careful because 653 00:33:32,844 --> 00:33:34,930 no one wants to be part of the 27 Club." 654 00:33:35,013 --> 00:33:38,308 SHATNER: The 27 Club? 655 00:33:38,391 --> 00:33:41,895 While it may sound like something the tabloids invented 656 00:33:41,978 --> 00:33:43,980 to sell newspapers, 657 00:33:44,064 --> 00:33:47,234 there is evidence to suggest that such a club 658 00:33:47,317 --> 00:33:51,530 not only exists but has far more members 659 00:33:51,613 --> 00:33:53,240 than you might think. 660 00:33:53,323 --> 00:33:56,076 WOOD: You have Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones, 661 00:33:56,159 --> 00:34:00,956 Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison from the Doors. 662 00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:02,999 Clearly, this is a club that not everybody 663 00:34:03,083 --> 00:34:04,793 wants to be a member of. 664 00:34:04,834 --> 00:34:05,919 ERIC SEGALSTAD: There was a study 665 00:34:06,002 --> 00:34:08,421 that just came out from Liverpool, 666 00:34:08,505 --> 00:34:12,175 where the researchers looked at the average age of death 667 00:34:12,259 --> 00:34:15,804 for people who had played on charting records 668 00:34:15,887 --> 00:34:18,223 over the last, whatever, 30 or 40 years, 669 00:34:18,306 --> 00:34:20,350 uh, and compared that to the general population 670 00:34:20,433 --> 00:34:23,520 in the same countries, in the UK and the U. S. 671 00:34:23,603 --> 00:34:25,647 So I reached out and asked, 672 00:34:25,730 --> 00:34:28,984 do you see a statistical spike at the age of 27? 673 00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:32,153 And they did, and they couldn't explain it. 674 00:34:32,195 --> 00:34:35,282 There must be something greater at play, 675 00:34:35,365 --> 00:34:38,076 and, uh, it keeps happening. 676 00:34:39,578 --> 00:34:41,162 SHATNER: While it would certainly appear 677 00:34:41,204 --> 00:34:44,165 that celebrities are more prone to accidental deaths 678 00:34:44,207 --> 00:34:48,086 at the age of 27 than the normal population, 679 00:34:48,169 --> 00:34:49,713 according to some experts, 680 00:34:49,838 --> 00:34:55,218 it's not fame that's behind the curse of the 27 Club, 681 00:34:55,302 --> 00:34:59,306 but the number 27 itself. 682 00:34:59,347 --> 00:35:03,560 In horoscopic astrology, Saturn return is this phenomenon 683 00:35:03,643 --> 00:35:07,022 where the planet Saturn returns to the exact same spot 684 00:35:07,105 --> 00:35:09,816 in the sky as the day you were born. 685 00:35:09,858 --> 00:35:11,860 That takes about 29 and a half years. 686 00:35:11,943 --> 00:35:15,989 Astrologers say that you enter this phase of Saturn return 687 00:35:16,072 --> 00:35:17,991 starting in your 27th year, 688 00:35:18,074 --> 00:35:21,995 and astrologers say that this particular time 689 00:35:22,078 --> 00:35:24,581 is really a time when you, as a person, 690 00:35:24,664 --> 00:35:27,959 are on the threshold between the face of youth 691 00:35:28,043 --> 00:35:30,462 entering to the face of maturity. 692 00:35:30,587 --> 00:35:32,881 I think that for a lot of the 27s, 693 00:35:32,964 --> 00:35:34,424 they might have faced their own troubles 694 00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:37,594 around this time trying to enter adulthood 695 00:35:37,677 --> 00:35:39,679 after having a successful 696 00:35:39,763 --> 00:35:44,601 or an artistically very intense period of youth. 697 00:35:46,144 --> 00:35:48,313 SHATNER: Is it possible the number 27 698 00:35:48,396 --> 00:35:50,649 actually carries a mathematical, 699 00:35:50,732 --> 00:35:54,653 or even celestial, jinx? 700 00:35:54,694 --> 00:35:56,237 It's possible. 701 00:35:56,363 --> 00:36:02,243 But if so, why does it only seem to affect famous people? 702 00:36:02,327 --> 00:36:04,162 Many believe the answer 703 00:36:04,245 --> 00:36:06,623 as to why the curse of the 27 Club 704 00:36:06,706 --> 00:36:10,335 is limited to celebrities is the same reason 705 00:36:10,418 --> 00:36:15,382 some people are seduced by fame in the first place. 706 00:36:15,465 --> 00:36:18,843 Rock and roll has always romanticized extreme behavior. 707 00:36:18,968 --> 00:36:22,180 If you're growing up as a young artist, 708 00:36:22,263 --> 00:36:25,809 the concept of it retains a kind of dark glamour. 709 00:36:25,934 --> 00:36:29,270 Therefore, people orient their lives 710 00:36:29,354 --> 00:36:30,939 around that kind of stuff. 711 00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:35,902 It becomes sort of a part of what rock and roll's all about. 712 00:36:35,985 --> 00:36:40,115 You think that that is what it is to be a musician. 713 00:36:40,198 --> 00:36:43,493 YOUNG: Whether this is conscious or unconscious, 714 00:36:43,576 --> 00:36:45,787 what you have, if you die at 27, 715 00:36:45,870 --> 00:36:48,164 is eternal youth. 716 00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:50,542 You never have to be an older person. 717 00:36:50,625 --> 00:36:52,252 You never have to get the wrinkles. 718 00:36:52,335 --> 00:36:55,088 You never have to go into the full disillusionment. 719 00:36:55,171 --> 00:36:58,800 So those who left young get to stay young. 720 00:36:58,842 --> 00:37:02,220 WHITEHEAD: It's become a myth in our culture now. 721 00:37:02,303 --> 00:37:05,974 And so, could it be a self‐perpetuating prophecy 722 00:37:06,057 --> 00:37:08,643 where, because people start to believe it, 723 00:37:08,685 --> 00:37:11,312 they actually manifest it into reality? 724 00:37:11,438 --> 00:37:16,568 SHATNER: Is the story of the 27 Club a cautionary tale? 725 00:37:16,651 --> 00:37:19,988 One that tells us that we need to accept the fact that curses, 726 00:37:20,071 --> 00:37:23,533 like fate, are simply 727 00:37:23,658 --> 00:37:26,161 inescapable? 728 00:37:26,244 --> 00:37:28,997 And if we can't avoid deadly curses, 729 00:37:29,122 --> 00:37:32,375 perhaps we should ask whether there's anything we can do 730 00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:37,297 to protect ourselves once they come for us. 731 00:37:46,681 --> 00:37:50,477 Contractors begin uncovering a series of strange artifacts 732 00:37:50,518 --> 00:37:54,022 while renovating a string of 18th century houses 733 00:37:54,105 --> 00:37:56,316 in the area: 734 00:37:56,357 --> 00:37:58,359 mummified animals, 735 00:37:58,485 --> 00:38:01,696 dismembered dolls, broken knife blades, 736 00:38:01,780 --> 00:38:05,074 strange bottles filled with human hair, 737 00:38:05,158 --> 00:38:06,826 bent nails, 738 00:38:06,868 --> 00:38:09,204 and silver pins. 739 00:38:09,287 --> 00:38:14,083 And all concealed within hidden nooks and voids 740 00:38:14,167 --> 00:38:16,961 throughout the old homes. 741 00:38:17,045 --> 00:38:20,381 The artifacts are so unnerving that many began to wonder 742 00:38:20,465 --> 00:38:23,968 who had placed them throughout the homes. 743 00:38:24,010 --> 00:38:26,888 And perhaps more importantly, why? 744 00:38:29,015 --> 00:38:30,642 After looking at a, a number of 745 00:38:30,683 --> 00:38:34,604 instances of, of these either intentional deposits 746 00:38:34,687 --> 00:38:38,149 or objects that were located in strange places‐‐ 747 00:38:38,233 --> 00:38:40,652 uh, shoes, um, animal parts, 748 00:38:40,735 --> 00:38:43,822 bottles with, um, unusual contents in them‐‐ 749 00:38:43,863 --> 00:38:46,366 certain patterns that seemed to be prevalent 750 00:38:46,449 --> 00:38:49,828 throughout the area, uh, became apparent. 751 00:38:49,869 --> 00:38:52,705 We see them in England and in the Netherlands 752 00:38:52,831 --> 00:38:54,666 and in Germany, where a lot of the people 753 00:38:54,707 --> 00:38:57,794 who settled in New York State originally came from. 754 00:38:57,836 --> 00:39:00,463 And so it's clear that people brought their folk beliefs 755 00:39:00,547 --> 00:39:02,090 and folk religion with them 756 00:39:02,173 --> 00:39:04,968 when they moved across the Atlantic Ocean. 757 00:39:05,051 --> 00:39:06,886 Evidently, in all these cases, 758 00:39:06,970 --> 00:39:11,266 there was a very strong belief in, uh, the agency of evil 759 00:39:11,349 --> 00:39:13,434 to affect people's everyday lives. 760 00:39:13,518 --> 00:39:17,730 Particularly in a number of stories that related 761 00:39:17,814 --> 00:39:20,900 to fears of illness 762 00:39:20,984 --> 00:39:22,402 or of the potential for curses 763 00:39:22,485 --> 00:39:24,821 to access houses through openings, 764 00:39:24,904 --> 00:39:28,741 particularly, uh, through fireplaces, 765 00:39:28,867 --> 00:39:32,495 uh, doors, windows, that kind of thing. 766 00:39:32,579 --> 00:39:35,999 The more you look, the more you find of these objects, 767 00:39:36,082 --> 00:39:37,709 and it becomes increasingly clear 768 00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:40,503 that the numbers of objects that we have found, 769 00:39:40,587 --> 00:39:42,463 which go into the thousands, 770 00:39:42,505 --> 00:39:44,257 is really just the tip of the iceberg. 771 00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:48,970 SHATNER: But were these strange objects carefully collected and hidden 772 00:39:49,053 --> 00:39:52,473 in order to invoke a deadly curse 773 00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:56,144 or as a means of preventing one? 774 00:39:56,227 --> 00:39:58,146 I think what people were really focused on 775 00:39:58,187 --> 00:40:00,982 was finding ways of turning that harmful magic around 776 00:40:01,065 --> 00:40:03,902 and either repelling it or trapping it or thwarting it 777 00:40:04,027 --> 00:40:05,695 in some way from getting into their houses. 778 00:40:05,778 --> 00:40:08,489 So, the local sort of white witch or wizard 779 00:40:08,531 --> 00:40:11,159 could be paid to produce a charm for you, 780 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,620 and the charm would eventually be concealed on your property 781 00:40:13,703 --> 00:40:16,789 as a trap, essentially, to impale any negative energies 782 00:40:16,873 --> 00:40:18,499 coming into the house looking to attack you 783 00:40:18,583 --> 00:40:20,293 and stop it from going further into the house, 784 00:40:20,376 --> 00:40:21,753 where it might do you harm. 785 00:40:24,047 --> 00:40:26,966 SHATNER: While such arcane practices may seem like the stuff 786 00:40:27,091 --> 00:40:28,718 of fairy tales and fantasy, 787 00:40:28,801 --> 00:40:32,305 is it possible that mystical talismen 788 00:40:32,388 --> 00:40:35,600 and other charms can actually protect people 789 00:40:35,683 --> 00:40:39,646 from the deadly effects of curses? 790 00:40:39,687 --> 00:40:42,190 YOUNG: Things that are mysterious, 791 00:40:42,273 --> 00:40:44,025 if we put it in the right narrative, 792 00:40:44,108 --> 00:40:47,779 then we have a semblance of control or understanding, 793 00:40:47,862 --> 00:40:49,572 even though we made up the story. 794 00:40:49,697 --> 00:40:52,659 The explanations may not be very sound, 795 00:40:52,784 --> 00:40:54,994 but they still give us some comfort. 796 00:40:56,204 --> 00:40:57,413 WHITEHEAD: Maybe these curses 797 00:40:57,538 --> 00:41:00,416 are created by us, by our imagination, 798 00:41:00,500 --> 00:41:02,752 by us trying to deal with the mystery of nature... 799 00:41:02,835 --> 00:41:04,629 (thunder crashing) 800 00:41:04,712 --> 00:41:07,757 ...and then it actually comes to life, 801 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,634 because we bring the curse to life, 802 00:41:09,717 --> 00:41:13,554 by attaching our mind to it collectively. 803 00:41:14,681 --> 00:41:18,893 Relics that can guard us against evil? 804 00:41:18,977 --> 00:41:21,813 Perhaps you believe such ideas are as nonsensical 805 00:41:21,854 --> 00:41:24,899 as the notion of curses themselves. 806 00:41:24,983 --> 00:41:28,319 Well, then, maybe you'd be comfortable taking a dip 807 00:41:28,361 --> 00:41:30,697 in Round Valley Reservoir, huh? 808 00:41:30,780 --> 00:41:34,993 Or hanging a picture of the Crying Boy 809 00:41:35,076 --> 00:41:37,328 over your fireplace. 810 00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:39,622 Or perhaps you're eager to tempt fate 811 00:41:39,706 --> 00:41:42,417 by placing the Hope Diamond around your neck 812 00:41:42,500 --> 00:41:46,504 in celebration of your 27th birthday. 813 00:41:46,587 --> 00:41:48,464 Well, until then, I think the rest of us 814 00:41:48,548 --> 00:41:50,133 will choose to play it safe 815 00:41:50,174 --> 00:41:52,510 and let those things remain, 816 00:41:52,593 --> 00:41:57,849 at least for now, unexplained. 817 00:41:59,851 --> 00:42:07,637 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS