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WILLIAM SHATNER:
Shadowy objects hiding
above our planet.

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Unidentified vehicles
moving through outer space.

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And a strange radio signal

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that may have been sent
from another world.

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For thousands of years,

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humanity has looked
to the stars and wondered,

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"Are we alone in the universe?"

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Scientists have long theorized

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the existence of life
among the stars,

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despite the lack
of irrefutable evidence.

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But as a new era
of space exploration begins,

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are we on the verge
of finally proving

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that extraterrestrials exist?

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Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

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♪ ♪

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At Ohio State University's

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Big Ear telescope, which uses
a specialized antenna

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to detect radio waves
from outer space,

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astronomer Jerry Ehman

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is poring over a printout
of incoming data

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when he notices
something remarkable.

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Buried amidst the random static

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is a signal of such
extraordinary intensity

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that he wrote a single word
in the margin beside it:

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"Wow!"

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JEFF COUGHLIN:
So the Wow! signal
just leapt off the charts.

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It was so strong and so
unique that it didn't seem

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to come from
any known human source.

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JAMES BENFORD:
The exciting thing about
the Wow! signal was

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it was in a frequency
band which is

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forbidden to
broadcast in on Earth.

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So it wouldn't be
an Earth signal.

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But it looked just
like a transmission.

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MICHIO KAKU:
When we detected
this Wow! signal,

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it wasn't random.

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It looked like it was planned.

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So, people have theorized

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maybe it was a message from
an alien civilization in space.

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♪ ♪

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SHATNER:
Many researchers
consider the Wow! signal

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to be the strongest
evidence to date

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of an extraterrestrial
radio transmission.

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But almost 50 years
after it was detected,

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the signal remains
shrouded in mystery,

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in part because it has
never been observed again.

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People have looked for the
Wow! signal to come back again,

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but the unfortunate thing is
it just hasn't been repeated.

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It's a complete unknown
whether we'll find

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an intelligent civilization like

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our own out there,

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but that's one of
the reasons we're looking.

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SHATNER:
The work that scientists do

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to detect radio signals
from outer space

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is referred to as the search

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for extraterrestrial
intelligence, or SETI.

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Since 1984, this research
has been overseen

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by the SETI Institute,

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which is located in
Mountain View, California.

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SETH SHOSTAK:
At the SETI Institute,

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all we do is we look at
the kinds of signals coming in,

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if we pick up any, and see

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if there's any
information in them.

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Like the kind of signal
that you would expect

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from an extraterrestrial
transmitter.

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One of the most modern
radio telescopes we have

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for detecting
extraterrestrial signals

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is the Allen Telescope Array

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operated by the SETI Institute.

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So this is an array
of telescopes

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that is specifically designed

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to look for
radio signals from ET.

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There have been dozens
and dozens and dozens

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of SETI experiments.

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We are curious about knowing

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whether we're the only,
you know, only game in town.

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SHATNER:
The work being done by the
SETI Institute is the latest

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in a long line of scientific
efforts to determine

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whether or not humanity

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is the only intelligent
life in the universe.

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KAKU:
Since time immemorial,
we have wondered,

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"What's out there?"

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Well, that paradigm
is with us today.

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Today, we still wonder
what's in the stars.

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It's sometimes said that
perhaps the greatest search

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in the history of science
is to search for

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how we fit in
with regards to the universe.

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SHATNER:
For thousands of years,

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astronomers could only
gaze up at the heavens

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and wonder whether
there was life among the stars.

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But the idea of actually
finding evidence

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of extraterrestrial life
really took hold

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in 1774, when astronomer
William Herschel

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used new technology

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to see other planets up close

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for the first time
in human history.

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ROD PYLE:
In the 18th century,
William Herschel comes along

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and builds the largest
telescope of that time--

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48 inches in diameter.

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And he, in effect, invented
the field of stellar astronomy.

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He's looking at the planets
and other nearby objects

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and says, "Well, I think there's
people living on the Moon,

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I think there's people
living on other worlds,

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and I think there's people
living inside the Sun."

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Herschel's influence
was significant.

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The Founding Fathers
of the United States,

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Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson,

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all read his work

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and agreed with the potential
that there could be life

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on other planets.

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SHATNER:
As telescopes
became more powerful

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in the late 19th century,

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American astronomer
Percival Lowell

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began to focus them on Mars.

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And what he observed
on the Red Planet

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was nothing short
of extraordinary.

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PYLE:
Percival Lowell saw linear lines

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going between the light
and dark areas of Mars.

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And so he mapped
these meticulously

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and he called them canals.

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So suddenly, all this buzz
starts coming around

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about "Wait a minute,

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there are people on Mars
building canals?"

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TEITEL:
This idea of canals
on Mars, that there was

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an intelligent society building

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this planet-wide system,
just gripped the world.

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People were obsessed
with this idea

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of the intelligent Martians
wanting to reach them.

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There were plans to shine
a big light to Mars,

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somehow signal to the Martians.

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As Lowell's documenting
his Mars observations,

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he starts writing
popular articles,

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which are incredibly
widely read.

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Now, it is notable that
this came out right about

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the same time as H.G. Wells'
<i>The War Of The Worlds,</i>

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which is a wonderful,

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journalistically-styled
fiction novel

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about the invasion
of Earth by Martians.

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This is the time when the idea

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of alien cultures
and extraterrestrials

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really begins to flourish
and kind of explode.

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SHATNER:
First published in 1897,

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<i>The War of the Worlds</i>
popularized the notion

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that humanity could,
in the near future,

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encounter hostile beings
from another planet.

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TEITEL:
<i>War of the Worlds</i>
started this whole trend

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that we always think that aliens
are going to enslave humanity

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or that they're going to see us
and somehow try to kill us all.

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We have a lot of ideas
about what aliens could be,

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and they tend to be
very violent images.

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SHATNER:
By the early 20th century,
aliens had become a staple

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of the imaginative works
of science fiction.

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But in the 1940's,
eyewitnesses around the world

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began to claim
that they had seen real

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extraterrestrial spacecraft
flying in the sky.

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Our history is full
of UFO reports

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and sightings and abductions
and visitation experiences.

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D'ANTONIO:
And in the last several decades,

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people are looking up
and seeing UFO objects

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that are moving
through our space.

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The UFO phenomenon is real.

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There have been consistently
a lot of reports

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of unidentified objects.

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Recently, there have been

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classified briefings
in the U.S. Congress.

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...on the UFO findings.

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This is a matter of
great public interest

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and has been for a very long
time to a lot of Americans.

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Our government should not
hide the truth from us

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for another second.

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On June 25, 2021,

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the Office of Director
of National Intelligence

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delivered
a preliminary assessment

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and what the media
and the public have seen

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is a nine-page
unclassified summary.

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But it essentially says
that this phenomenon is real.

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This was a sensational headline.

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the U.S. government
is saying, "Watch out!"

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Historically,
the burden of proof

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was on the true believers

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to prove that these objects
are extraterrestrial.

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And for the first time,
the burden of proof has shifted.

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Of course, we can't be
definite about this,

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but I would think that within
the next 50 to 100 years,

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the probability that
we actually make contact

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with an extraterrestrial
civilization

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approaches 100%.

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♪ ♪

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It's thrilling to think that,

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someday soon,
we might find proof

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that there's intelligent
life in the universe.

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But while scientists
continue to search deep space,

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many believe there's evidence
to suggest that alien life forms

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have already visited Earth.

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SHATNER:
Inside the International
Space Station,

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00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:11,917
Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner

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is recording a video
of the southern lights

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when, suddenly,
his camera captures

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what appears to be a formation
of unidentified spacecraft

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above the Earth.

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MERA:
It was an amazing
piece of footage.

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These objects comes into frame,

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which seems to be
of five lights,

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and then suddenly disappear.

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It happens quite fast
in the video.

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One minute it's there,
the next one, it's gone.

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SHATNER:
Vagner immediately posted
the video on Twitter,

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and many people claimed
that the clip was evidence

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00:11:03,083 --> 00:11:06,167
of an extraterrestrial
spacecraft.

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MERA:
The video is very interesting

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because when
you look at the video,

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it was speeded up.

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It turns out that these lights

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actually were visible by the
astronaut for about 50 seconds,

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which is quite long.

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So sometime later,

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00:11:21,667 --> 00:11:23,375
he comes back with
a second story saying,

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00:11:23,542 --> 00:11:25,083
"Maybe I misidentified them."

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00:11:25,208 --> 00:11:26,375
You know?

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00:11:26,500 --> 00:11:28,417
So we don't know
if really NASA leaned on

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00:11:28,542 --> 00:11:29,917
this astronaut to say,

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00:11:30,042 --> 00:11:32,417
"Look, you know, change
your story a little bit."

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00:11:32,542 --> 00:11:36,292
Or... that he genuinely
did think he made a mistake.

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SHATNER:
A number of
mainstream scientists

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quickly dismissed the lights
as misidentified satellites,

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which would have seemed
to put the matter to rest,

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00:11:46,833 --> 00:11:51,833
except for the fact that
American astronaut Leroy Chiao

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00:11:51,917 --> 00:11:55,667
had a similar sighting
back in 2005.

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LEROY CHIAO:
We were on a spacewalk

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to install navigation antennas

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00:12:00,250 --> 00:12:02,125
outside of the
International Space Station.

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00:12:02,208 --> 00:12:05,667
We were in that transition
zone at part of the orbit

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00:12:05,792 --> 00:12:08,375
where we're going
from night to day,

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00:12:08,500 --> 00:12:10,083
and right at that moment,

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00:12:10,208 --> 00:12:13,125
I saw what looked like
five lights flying in formation

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in kind of
an inverted checkmark.

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There was no time

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00:12:18,208 --> 00:12:19,458
to take a picture of it.
It just happened

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00:12:19,583 --> 00:12:21,083
in just a couple of seconds.

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00:12:21,208 --> 00:12:24,667
Then we burst into sunrise
and everything was gone.

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00:12:24,833 --> 00:12:26,375
When I saw the lights,

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00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:29,500
I knew they were unusual,
but I really didn't assign

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00:12:29,583 --> 00:12:31,167
any, uh, big deal to them.

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00:12:31,250 --> 00:12:33,250
I just thought they were
a satellite constellation.

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00:12:33,375 --> 00:12:35,125
And I really didn't
give it any other thought.

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00:12:35,250 --> 00:12:37,958
And it wasn't till later
that we got these reports that

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00:12:38,083 --> 00:12:41,333
people reporting, were reporting
that I had spotted UFOs

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00:12:41,458 --> 00:12:42,625
and there was theories that

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00:12:42,750 --> 00:12:45,125
that might be
an alien spacecraft.

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SHATNER:
Is it possible that the various

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00:12:48,083 --> 00:12:50,292
recent sightings
of strange phenomena

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00:12:50,375 --> 00:12:51,833
above Earth are evidence

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00:12:51,958 --> 00:12:54,667
that there is intelligent
life in the universe,

253
00:12:54,750 --> 00:12:56,167
and that extraterrestrials

254
00:12:56,333 --> 00:13:00,042
are secretly
monitoring our planet?

255
00:13:00,208 --> 00:13:05,333
Many researchers claim that the
answer is yes because astronauts

256
00:13:05,458 --> 00:13:07,292
are highly credible witnesses.

257
00:13:08,875 --> 00:13:11,083
POPE:
When you look at the number of

258
00:13:11,208 --> 00:13:15,208
sightings of UFOs
and anomalous phenomena

259
00:13:15,333 --> 00:13:16,750
by astronauts,

260
00:13:16,875 --> 00:13:19,167
the possibilities
are hugely exciting

261
00:13:19,292 --> 00:13:23,000
because, generally, astronauts
are the sorts of people who,

262
00:13:23,125 --> 00:13:26,042
as witnesses, are unimpeachable.

263
00:13:26,167 --> 00:13:27,958
MERA:
Astronauts are absolutely

264
00:13:28,042 --> 00:13:30,500
the best observers of
anything that's out there.

265
00:13:30,625 --> 00:13:34,333
Their attention
to detail is incredible,

266
00:13:34,458 --> 00:13:38,250
and they make absolutely
amazing observers.

267
00:13:38,375 --> 00:13:41,333
So when we do get reports of
something strange being seen,

268
00:13:41,417 --> 00:13:43,875
you can pretty much
take that to the bank

269
00:13:44,042 --> 00:13:46,917
because they've kind of
looked at all the possible

270
00:13:47,042 --> 00:13:49,792
rational explanations
and not come up with anything.

271
00:13:51,292 --> 00:13:52,833
SHATNER:
The recent sightings

272
00:13:52,917 --> 00:13:54,417
made by astronauts
are not the first time

273
00:13:54,542 --> 00:13:55,833
that mysterious objects

274
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,375
have been encountered
above our planet.

275
00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:02,083
In fact, there are similar
reports that date back

276
00:14:02,208 --> 00:14:03,917
to the beginning
of the space age.

277
00:14:04,042 --> 00:14:07,375
In 1965, during
the Gemini 4 mission,

278
00:14:07,542 --> 00:14:09,417
astronaut Jim McDivitt

279
00:14:09,542 --> 00:14:12,375
reported photographing
a mysterious object

280
00:14:12,500 --> 00:14:15,167
outside his capsule.

281
00:14:15,292 --> 00:14:18,083
Jim McDivitt was one of
the first astronauts to see

282
00:14:18,208 --> 00:14:20,792
something unexplained in space.

283
00:14:20,917 --> 00:14:23,917
He saw what looked like a
cylindrical spacecraft

284
00:14:24,042 --> 00:14:26,667
or cylindrical object
with antennas sticking out.

285
00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:27,958
He didn't know what it was.

286
00:14:29,042 --> 00:14:30,667
MERA: He said it was
quite a large object,

287
00:14:30,792 --> 00:14:33,333
and was moving quite
fast towards them,

288
00:14:33,417 --> 00:14:35,875
He described it as
a shape of a can of beer,

289
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,500
with a prong sticking
out of one end.

290
00:14:38,583 --> 00:14:41,958
And he had absolutely
no idea what this thing was.

291
00:14:42,083 --> 00:14:46,333
So he grabs the nearest camera
and snaps it, but he's clever.

292
00:14:46,417 --> 00:14:48,125
In case there's something
wrong with this one,

293
00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:50,125
grabs a second camera
and takes another photograph.

294
00:14:50,250 --> 00:14:53,750
And of course, he relays this
information back to, to NASA.

295
00:14:53,875 --> 00:14:56,667
SHATNER:
Two days after
McDivitt's encounter,

296
00:14:56,792 --> 00:15:01,083
the Gemini 4 Mission ended
and the crew returned to Earth.

297
00:15:01,208 --> 00:15:03,375
The film from McDivitt's camera

298
00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:05,875
was then processed
by NASA technicians.

299
00:15:06,042 --> 00:15:08,708
But when McDivitt
reviewed the images,

300
00:15:08,833 --> 00:15:11,292
he didn't see
a cylindrical object

301
00:15:11,417 --> 00:15:14,167
with a large antenna
sticking out.

302
00:15:14,333 --> 00:15:16,500
MERA:
James McDivitt was curious.

303
00:15:16,667 --> 00:15:19,833
What the hell was up there
that was close to his craft?

304
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,708
So sometime later,

305
00:15:21,875 --> 00:15:23,958
he's looking through
the images of this camera

306
00:15:24,042 --> 00:15:25,417
and he can't find it.

307
00:15:25,542 --> 00:15:27,500
All he can find is
some blue obscurity.

308
00:15:27,583 --> 00:15:29,167
And he thinks to himself,

309
00:15:29,250 --> 00:15:32,333
"Well, is it because
the camera was out of focus?"

310
00:15:32,417 --> 00:15:35,000
So he grabs the images
of the second camera,

311
00:15:35,125 --> 00:15:36,458
and he's looking
at those photographs.

312
00:15:36,542 --> 00:15:39,083
And lo and behold,
it's not on there neither.

313
00:15:39,208 --> 00:15:42,125
Just another obscurity.

314
00:15:42,250 --> 00:15:44,750
POPE:
The photos didn't
come out really well.

315
00:15:44,875 --> 00:15:48,125
So, what was it?
We still don't know.

316
00:15:48,250 --> 00:15:50,333
Now, a lot of
people say, "Wait.

317
00:15:50,458 --> 00:15:51,917
There was
a cover up about this."

318
00:15:52,042 --> 00:15:55,458
That there was indeed
a genuine photo

319
00:15:55,542 --> 00:16:00,000
buried in a vault somewhere
at NASA headquarters.

320
00:16:01,708 --> 00:16:05,583
SHATNER:
Is it possible that NASA has
photographic evidence of a real

321
00:16:05,708 --> 00:16:07,667
extraterrestrial spacecraft

322
00:16:07,750 --> 00:16:10,792
that they've kept secret
for more than 50 years?

323
00:16:10,875 --> 00:16:12,667
Perhaps.

324
00:16:12,792 --> 00:16:16,292
But many researchers believe
that another orbital encounter

325
00:16:16,375 --> 00:16:18,458
provides even stronger evidence

326
00:16:18,542 --> 00:16:22,625
of an extraterrestrial
presence around our planet.

327
00:16:28,875 --> 00:16:31,333
On the 155th day
of their mission

328
00:16:31,458 --> 00:16:34,333
aboard the Soviet
space station Salyut 7,

329
00:16:34,417 --> 00:16:37,292
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Atkov,

330
00:16:37,417 --> 00:16:41,208
Leonid Kizim
and Vladimir Solovyov

331
00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:44,375
witness an extraordinary event.

332
00:16:45,542 --> 00:16:50,417
The Salyut 7 sighting
is one of the most

333
00:16:50,542 --> 00:16:53,750
bizarre and
mysterious encounters

334
00:16:53,875 --> 00:16:56,375
that we've had in space.

335
00:16:58,042 --> 00:17:01,500
These Russian cosmonauts
are up there and suddenly,

336
00:17:01,625 --> 00:17:07,042
they report that
the entire space station

337
00:17:07,208 --> 00:17:09,833
is bathed in this
mysterious light.

338
00:17:09,917 --> 00:17:12,125
It's this orangey glow.

339
00:17:12,208 --> 00:17:14,333
And they look out

340
00:17:14,458 --> 00:17:19,125
and they see strange
entities out in space.

341
00:17:58,583 --> 00:18:02,917
POPE:
There are theories that
it was a hallucination

342
00:18:03,042 --> 00:18:04,667
or something like that,
but, come on.

343
00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:09,542
A shared hallucination where
everyone sees the same thing?

344
00:18:09,667 --> 00:18:10,917
That's not very likely.

345
00:18:11,042 --> 00:18:13,417
So it leaves you
with the impression

346
00:18:13,542 --> 00:18:16,500
maybe this isn't
a hallucination.

347
00:18:16,583 --> 00:18:17,542
Maybe this was real.

348
00:18:19,708 --> 00:18:23,583
Are the numerous sightings by
astronauts of unusual phenomena

349
00:18:23,708 --> 00:18:28,167
in outer space
simply misidentification?

350
00:18:28,292 --> 00:18:31,417
Or are there forces at work
trying to keep the truth

351
00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:34,958
about extraterrestrial life
hidden from the public?

352
00:18:35,042 --> 00:18:36,417
Perhaps the answer lies

353
00:18:36,542 --> 00:18:38,667
with a strange object
orbiting the Earth

354
00:18:38,750 --> 00:18:42,750
which some people think
may be an alien satellite

355
00:18:42,875 --> 00:18:45,208
spying on our planet.

356
00:18:53,208 --> 00:18:55,833
SHATNER:
The Soviet Union
shocks the world

357
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,667
by successfully
launching Sputnik,

358
00:18:58,792 --> 00:19:02,833
the first man-made satellite,
into outer space.

359
00:19:05,333 --> 00:19:06,833
In the six decades

360
00:19:06,958 --> 00:19:08,917
since that historic achievement,

361
00:19:09,042 --> 00:19:10,625
more than 70 nations

362
00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:12,833
have sent their own
satellites into orbit

363
00:19:12,958 --> 00:19:14,458
around the Earth.

364
00:19:14,542 --> 00:19:16,333
Today,

365
00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:21,458
there are approximately 6,500
satellites circling our planet.

366
00:19:22,875 --> 00:19:26,708
We send multiton satellites
into outer space all the time.

367
00:19:26,833 --> 00:19:27,833
You can now communicate

368
00:19:27,958 --> 00:19:29,958
with anyone, anywhere, anytime,

369
00:19:30,042 --> 00:19:31,583
on the surface of the Earth

370
00:19:31,708 --> 00:19:34,125
without a telecommunications
network on the ground.

371
00:19:34,250 --> 00:19:35,917
Internet,

372
00:19:36,042 --> 00:19:37,417
weather satellites,

373
00:19:37,542 --> 00:19:40,333
reconnaissance--
all of it can be done

374
00:19:40,417 --> 00:19:43,708
using the satellites
in outer space.

375
00:19:43,833 --> 00:19:49,000
LAUNCH DIRECTOR:
Three, two, one,
zero and lift off.

376
00:19:49,125 --> 00:19:51,500
SHATNER:
One unfortunate side effect

377
00:19:51,625 --> 00:19:53,958
of launching so many
satellites into orbit

378
00:19:54,083 --> 00:19:56,458
is the accumulation
of mechanical debris

379
00:19:56,542 --> 00:19:59,625
left over from previous
space missions.

380
00:19:59,750 --> 00:20:02,125
These objects
floating above our planet

381
00:20:02,250 --> 00:20:06,292
are collectively referred to
as space junk.

382
00:20:06,375 --> 00:20:08,167
Experts estimate that there are

383
00:20:08,250 --> 00:20:11,833
128 million pieces of space junk

384
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,125
in orbit.

385
00:20:14,208 --> 00:20:16,333
COUGHLIN:
Every launch we make,

386
00:20:16,458 --> 00:20:19,125
we're putting out
particles and, honestly,

387
00:20:19,208 --> 00:20:21,208
space trash into orbit
around the Earth.

388
00:20:21,333 --> 00:20:24,208
So far, we've been able
to navigate around it.

389
00:20:24,333 --> 00:20:26,250
But if we're not
careful in the future

390
00:20:26,375 --> 00:20:27,875
and we put out
too much space junk,

391
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,333
it's gonna get harder and
harder to launch spacecraft.

392
00:20:30,458 --> 00:20:32,833
SHATNER:
Scientists continue to monitor

393
00:20:32,958 --> 00:20:35,417
the millions of objects
surrounding our planet.

394
00:20:35,542 --> 00:20:38,500
But many researchers
believe that there is one

395
00:20:38,667 --> 00:20:41,708
mysterious satellite
orbiting Earth

396
00:20:41,833 --> 00:20:44,250
that was built not by man

397
00:20:44,375 --> 00:20:47,750
but by an extraterrestrial
civilization.

398
00:20:55,250 --> 00:20:56,667
On day nine of their mission

399
00:20:56,792 --> 00:21:00,083
to construct the
International Space Station...

400
00:21:00,208 --> 00:21:01,708
...the crew of Space
Shuttle Endeavor

401
00:21:01,833 --> 00:21:03,667
is unpacking new hardware

402
00:21:03,792 --> 00:21:06,500
when they spot
an irregular shadow

403
00:21:06,667 --> 00:21:08,625
floating some distance away.

404
00:21:09,958 --> 00:21:12,750
They quickly take photographs
of the oddly-shaped object,

405
00:21:12,875 --> 00:21:16,583
but its dark color makes it
difficult to identify.

406
00:21:16,708 --> 00:21:20,833
Almost as if it was
meant to be camouflaged

407
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,375
against the darkness of space.

408
00:21:24,583 --> 00:21:26,375
TEITEL:
Astronauts took a picture

409
00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:28,500
of some unidentified
object in space.

410
00:21:28,583 --> 00:21:30,333
Once people saw that picture

411
00:21:30,417 --> 00:21:32,500
they were convinced that
it was an alien spacecraft

412
00:21:32,583 --> 00:21:34,333
or some kind of flying saucer.

413
00:21:35,667 --> 00:21:39,458
But then that raises the
question of what it might be.

414
00:21:40,583 --> 00:21:42,708
POPE:
This really was
something anomalous

415
00:21:42,875 --> 00:21:45,500
because when you
think about satellites,

416
00:21:45,625 --> 00:21:48,250
normally you think maybe
about something spherical

417
00:21:48,375 --> 00:21:49,917
or about something

418
00:21:50,042 --> 00:21:52,333
obviously manufactured.

419
00:21:52,417 --> 00:21:56,667
But this is
all sorts of odd angles

420
00:21:56,750 --> 00:21:59,208
and curved edges.

421
00:21:59,333 --> 00:22:01,417
Like nothing the human mind

422
00:22:01,542 --> 00:22:04,708
could conceive of
or design or build.

423
00:22:04,833 --> 00:22:07,250
SHATNER:
After reviewing the photographs,

424
00:22:07,375 --> 00:22:09,417
NASA claimed that
the mysterious object

425
00:22:09,542 --> 00:22:12,583
was simply a thermal cover
that had broken free

426
00:22:12,708 --> 00:22:15,417
from the space station
during construction.

427
00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:19,708
But given the bizarre shape
of the mysterious object,

428
00:22:19,833 --> 00:22:21,875
there are many people
who find that explanation

429
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,375
a little hard to believe.

430
00:22:23,542 --> 00:22:27,792
Instead, they claim that
the images are evidence

431
00:22:27,917 --> 00:22:30,917
of an extraterrestrial
craft in Earth's orbit

432
00:22:31,042 --> 00:22:35,583
that is known as
the Black Knight satellite.

433
00:22:36,875 --> 00:22:39,208
POPE:
The Black Knight satellite

434
00:22:39,333 --> 00:22:44,042
is one of those
really curious mysteries.

435
00:22:44,208 --> 00:22:47,042
And the theory is

436
00:22:47,167 --> 00:22:49,625
that this thing is-is like a...

437
00:22:49,708 --> 00:22:52,875
a sort of silent
sentinel in space.

438
00:22:54,125 --> 00:22:58,667
And it's very difficult
to pin down how this started.

439
00:22:58,792 --> 00:23:01,125
What's intriguing is nobody
really knows where the name

440
00:23:01,250 --> 00:23:03,167
Black Knight satellite
came from.

441
00:23:03,292 --> 00:23:04,583
We can't find
where the reference

442
00:23:04,708 --> 00:23:06,625
suddenly came into
Black Knight.

443
00:23:06,708 --> 00:23:11,292
But in 1954, one of the major
newspapers in the U.S.

444
00:23:11,375 --> 00:23:13,375
released a story about

445
00:23:13,542 --> 00:23:15,750
a gentleman known
as Donald Keyhoe,

446
00:23:15,875 --> 00:23:19,167
and he was a very
well-known UFO investigator,

447
00:23:19,292 --> 00:23:20,667
ex-military.

448
00:23:20,750 --> 00:23:24,583
And he said
there is something up there

449
00:23:24,708 --> 00:23:29,583
traversing the planet
Earth on an orbit,

450
00:23:29,708 --> 00:23:32,375
and it's not built
by human hands.

451
00:23:33,875 --> 00:23:37,083
SHATNER:
But if there really is a
satellite circling our planet,

452
00:23:37,208 --> 00:23:40,292
built by
extraterrestrial beings,

453
00:23:40,417 --> 00:23:43,125
then it naturally
begs the question,

454
00:23:43,208 --> 00:23:46,667
what on Earth is it doing here?

455
00:23:46,792 --> 00:23:48,750
The best wildlife documentaries

456
00:23:48,875 --> 00:23:50,917
is when the animals
don't know you're there.

457
00:23:51,042 --> 00:23:56,458
Well, if Earth is being
monitored, we're the animals.

458
00:23:56,583 --> 00:24:00,667
So it is an
extremely logical step

459
00:24:00,750 --> 00:24:02,708
to park a satellite in orbit

460
00:24:02,833 --> 00:24:06,542
up there in space
just watching, recording,

461
00:24:06,667 --> 00:24:10,000
harvesting information about us

462
00:24:10,083 --> 00:24:14,167
and beaming information
and messages about us

463
00:24:14,250 --> 00:24:16,083
back to the alien home world.

464
00:24:16,208 --> 00:24:18,375
When we think about

465
00:24:18,542 --> 00:24:21,083
the space program,
we are doing the same thing

466
00:24:21,208 --> 00:24:25,000
with all the missions that
we're sending out to Mars,

467
00:24:25,125 --> 00:24:27,667
with all the orbiters,

468
00:24:27,792 --> 00:24:31,333
and even the probes at
the edge of the solar system.

469
00:24:31,500 --> 00:24:34,125
SHATNER:
Has an extraterrestrial
civilization

470
00:24:34,208 --> 00:24:36,000
sent a probe
to hover above Earth

471
00:24:36,167 --> 00:24:38,750
in order to spy on us?

472
00:24:38,875 --> 00:24:40,000
Perhaps.

473
00:24:40,167 --> 00:24:43,625
But some scientists argue
that a better strategy

474
00:24:43,708 --> 00:24:47,250
would be to observe our planet
from much further away

475
00:24:47,375 --> 00:24:50,333
on distant asteroids

476
00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:53,583
that are known as
co-orbital objects.

477
00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:55,500
BENFORD:
A co-orbital object

478
00:24:55,667 --> 00:25:00,375
looks like a distant satellite
of Earth like the Moon,

479
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:01,958
but much further away.

480
00:25:02,083 --> 00:25:05,583
They were first discovered
about 20 years ago.

481
00:25:05,708 --> 00:25:08,167
We know very little
about them as objects.

482
00:25:08,292 --> 00:25:10,000
It's assumed they're asteroids.

483
00:25:10,125 --> 00:25:14,417
We estimate that there are
several dozen of them at least,

484
00:25:14,542 --> 00:25:17,958
and the nearest
co-orbital object is about

485
00:25:18,042 --> 00:25:19,667
three million miles away.

486
00:25:19,792 --> 00:25:22,042
So if extraterrestrial
intelligence

487
00:25:22,167 --> 00:25:25,958
wanted to observe Earth
and not be seen,

488
00:25:26,083 --> 00:25:28,917
the co-orbitals
are a fine way to do it,

489
00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:33,000
because it will not
be so noticeable.

490
00:25:33,125 --> 00:25:37,167
Could an extraterrestrial
satellite be secretly

491
00:25:37,292 --> 00:25:38,833
monitoring our planet

492
00:25:38,958 --> 00:25:41,000
as I speak?

493
00:25:41,125 --> 00:25:43,667
For now, that question
remains unanswered.

494
00:25:43,750 --> 00:25:46,542
But an even more
compelling mystery

495
00:25:46,667 --> 00:25:49,167
can be found on
one of the moons of Mars,

496
00:25:49,250 --> 00:25:52,583
where researchers claim
there is evidence

497
00:25:52,708 --> 00:25:54,917
of alien technology.

498
00:26:01,708 --> 00:26:03,500
SHATNER:
140 million miles from Earth,

499
00:26:03,583 --> 00:26:06,667
after a perilous five-month
journey through space,

500
00:26:06,750 --> 00:26:11,625
NASA's Perseverance rover
gently lands on the planet Mars.

501
00:26:13,417 --> 00:26:14,542
A big part of our
interest in Mars

502
00:26:14,708 --> 00:26:16,333
has always been
looking for life,

503
00:26:16,458 --> 00:26:20,417
whether it's some kind of small
fossilized life in the rocks

504
00:26:20,542 --> 00:26:23,875
or biochemical
signatures in the soil

505
00:26:24,042 --> 00:26:26,667
that prove that there might
have been life on that planet

506
00:26:26,792 --> 00:26:28,000
at one time in its history.

507
00:26:28,125 --> 00:26:30,708
And people are getting
really excited,

508
00:26:30,875 --> 00:26:32,500
because if we do find life

509
00:26:32,583 --> 00:26:35,167
on another planet
in our own cosmic backyard,

510
00:26:35,250 --> 00:26:37,958
that's a massive game changer.

511
00:26:39,208 --> 00:26:41,792
SHATNER:
Ever since the NASA
spacecraft Mariner 4

512
00:26:41,917 --> 00:26:45,208
made the first flyby
of Mars in 1964,

513
00:26:45,375 --> 00:26:48,375
more than 40 additional
missions have been launched

514
00:26:48,542 --> 00:26:50,000
to search the Red Planet

515
00:26:50,125 --> 00:26:53,333
for signs of
extraterrestrial life.

516
00:26:53,458 --> 00:26:55,458
But some researchers claim

517
00:26:55,542 --> 00:26:58,333
that if Mars
is indeed harboring life,

518
00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:01,667
we won't find it
on the planet itself.

519
00:27:01,750 --> 00:27:05,000
Instead, they believe
there is evidence

520
00:27:05,167 --> 00:27:07,625
of an extraterrestrial
intelligence

521
00:27:07,708 --> 00:27:12,833
on a Martian moon
that is known as Phobos.

522
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,875
Phobos is just plain weird.

523
00:27:15,042 --> 00:27:17,833
It's only about
seven miles in radius

524
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,250
which is, uh, very, very small.

525
00:27:21,375 --> 00:27:22,792
And it's a really

526
00:27:22,917 --> 00:27:26,333
bizarre and surreal
looking shape.

527
00:27:26,458 --> 00:27:30,333
It's all sorts of odd angles--

528
00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:35,292
a mixture of sharp
and curved edges.

529
00:27:35,375 --> 00:27:36,958
A real jumble.

530
00:27:38,750 --> 00:27:40,208
HAAS:
In the 1950s,

531
00:27:40,333 --> 00:27:43,208
a Soviet Union astrophysicist,

532
00:27:43,333 --> 00:27:45,167
Iosif Shklovsky,

533
00:27:45,250 --> 00:27:49,083
noticed that Phobos
may not be a moon at all.

534
00:27:49,208 --> 00:27:50,500
And he was approached by

535
00:27:50,625 --> 00:27:52,917
Carl Sagan in the 1960s.

536
00:27:53,042 --> 00:27:54,833
The two of them
worked on a book together,

537
00:27:54,958 --> 00:27:57,167
<i>Intelligent Life
in the Universe,</i>

538
00:27:57,292 --> 00:28:00,708
and in that book they both talk
about Phobos possibly being

539
00:28:00,875 --> 00:28:02,042
an artificial structure.

540
00:28:03,333 --> 00:28:04,667
TAYLOR:
In 1998,

541
00:28:04,833 --> 00:28:07,708
the Mars Global Surveyor
took a picture of Phobos

542
00:28:07,833 --> 00:28:11,750
that has this strange
three-dimensional cubic-looking

543
00:28:11,875 --> 00:28:13,792
monolith structure on it.

544
00:28:13,917 --> 00:28:17,250
And geologists have looked at it
and they can't quite explain it,

545
00:28:17,375 --> 00:28:19,708
although they come up
with some theories.

546
00:28:19,875 --> 00:28:23,750
But there's no real explanation
as to why it's there

547
00:28:23,875 --> 00:28:27,375
and what its purpose is,
or how it was formed.

548
00:28:27,500 --> 00:28:30,917
That's really intriguing.
What is it?

549
00:28:31,042 --> 00:28:34,917
HAAS:
NASA scientists claim
that this monolith

550
00:28:35,042 --> 00:28:36,667
is the result of a crumbled rock

551
00:28:36,833 --> 00:28:38,750
that fell from
a nearby mountain ridge.

552
00:28:38,875 --> 00:28:41,583
There's no such
surface feature in the area.

553
00:28:41,708 --> 00:28:44,167
The surface of Phobos
is very smooth,

554
00:28:44,292 --> 00:28:46,500
which was vindicated
in later images

555
00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:49,000
taken by the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter.

556
00:28:49,125 --> 00:28:51,875
It's very shiny,
very flat surface.

557
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,750
It's littered
with small craters,

558
00:28:53,875 --> 00:28:56,208
and there's no surface
features sticking up.

559
00:28:56,333 --> 00:28:58,167
There's no mountains,
there's no ridges,

560
00:28:58,292 --> 00:29:00,833
and we have this weird obelisk
sticking out of the ground

561
00:29:00,917 --> 00:29:02,750
which doesn't belong there.

562
00:29:02,875 --> 00:29:05,708
D'ANTONIO:
In looking at
the monolith on Phobos,

563
00:29:05,833 --> 00:29:08,000
we can't tell whether it's
a perfectly square object

564
00:29:08,125 --> 00:29:09,667
or it's just
a rocky protuberance,

565
00:29:09,833 --> 00:29:11,833
but it is seemingly out of place

566
00:29:11,958 --> 00:29:14,667
on what looks like
the smooth surface of this moon.

567
00:29:14,792 --> 00:29:17,125
That means
it might be artificial.

568
00:29:17,250 --> 00:29:20,583
SHATNER:
Could the Phobos monolith really
be an artificial structure

569
00:29:20,708 --> 00:29:23,833
built by extraterrestrials?

570
00:29:23,917 --> 00:29:28,000
Some researchers think so,
and for further evidence,

571
00:29:28,125 --> 00:29:32,375
they point to the fact that
Phobos is mysteriously hollow.

572
00:29:32,542 --> 00:29:36,458
TEITEL:
The European Space Agency's
Mars Express mission in 2008

573
00:29:36,583 --> 00:29:39,333
explored Mars' moon Phobos.

574
00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:41,167
Using radar sounder technology,

575
00:29:41,333 --> 00:29:44,083
it found that the moon
isn't actually solid.

576
00:29:44,208 --> 00:29:48,667
There are large subterranean
voids in this body.

577
00:29:48,792 --> 00:29:53,750
KAKU:
We have detailed photographs
of Phobos, and it turns out

578
00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:56,667
that Phobos has
a slightly irregular orbit

579
00:29:56,792 --> 00:29:59,917
that deviates from
Newton's laws of motion,

580
00:30:00,042 --> 00:30:01,792
and this is because of the fact

581
00:30:01,917 --> 00:30:03,917
that it's actually
a hollow moon.

582
00:30:04,042 --> 00:30:05,875
So some people say, "Aha.

583
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,500
"Maybe it's a piece
of alien technology

584
00:30:08,625 --> 00:30:10,667
in orbit around Mars."

585
00:30:10,750 --> 00:30:12,292
POPE:
When you look at Phobos,

586
00:30:12,375 --> 00:30:15,542
when you look at its
comparatively small size,

587
00:30:15,667 --> 00:30:17,042
odd shape,

588
00:30:17,167 --> 00:30:21,208
and apparent partial hollowness,

589
00:30:21,333 --> 00:30:25,333
Phobos could be
not a natural satellite

590
00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:27,417
but an artificial satellite,

591
00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:31,250
perhaps put there by an
extraterrestrial civilization

592
00:30:31,375 --> 00:30:35,625
to hide some sort
of monitoring device,

593
00:30:35,708 --> 00:30:37,458
listening station,
whatever you call it.

594
00:30:38,875 --> 00:30:40,625
SHATNER:
There are those who believe
that the best evidence

595
00:30:40,750 --> 00:30:44,000
that Phobos is
an extraterrestrial outpost

596
00:30:44,125 --> 00:30:47,750
was an incident
that occurred in 1989,

597
00:30:47,875 --> 00:30:50,833
when a Soviet satellite
known as Phobos 2

598
00:30:50,917 --> 00:30:54,375
was sent to investigate the moon

599
00:30:54,500 --> 00:30:57,292
and it mysteriously vanished.

600
00:30:59,500 --> 00:31:01,042
TAYLOR:
In 1989,

601
00:31:01,167 --> 00:31:05,292
the Russians sent the Phobos 1
and 2 probes to Phobos.

602
00:31:05,375 --> 00:31:07,083
And when it got there,

603
00:31:07,208 --> 00:31:09,792
Phobos 2
took a couple of photos,

604
00:31:09,917 --> 00:31:12,458
sent them back...

605
00:31:12,542 --> 00:31:14,333
and then it quit working.

606
00:31:14,417 --> 00:31:15,750
It disappeared.

607
00:31:15,875 --> 00:31:17,792
We don't know
what happened to it.

608
00:31:17,875 --> 00:31:20,583
But one of the images
is really strange.

609
00:31:20,708 --> 00:31:24,125
There's a cigar-shaped thing
in the middle of the image.

610
00:31:24,208 --> 00:31:27,625
And I find that
quite interesting

611
00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:31,958
that a lot of the UFO sightings
are cigar-shaped objects.

612
00:31:32,083 --> 00:31:34,125
Is that just a coincidence?
I don't know.

613
00:31:35,625 --> 00:31:38,000
HAAS:
Some people speculate
that there's some type of

614
00:31:38,125 --> 00:31:40,625
defensive mechanism on the moon

615
00:31:40,708 --> 00:31:44,500
that was defending itself
against approaching spacecraft.

616
00:31:44,625 --> 00:31:48,875
And when this probe approached
Phobos it was activated

617
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,083
and it destroyed the probe.

618
00:32:06,083 --> 00:32:07,667
SHATNER:
Officially, the loss of Phobos 2

619
00:32:07,792 --> 00:32:11,042
was blamed on a malfunction
of the onboard computer,

620
00:32:11,167 --> 00:32:14,333
but the authorities never
came up with a good explanation

621
00:32:14,500 --> 00:32:17,917
for the strange
cigar-shaped object.

622
00:32:18,042 --> 00:32:20,667
And it makes you wonder--

623
00:32:20,750 --> 00:32:24,583
was Phobos 2 actually shot down,

624
00:32:24,708 --> 00:32:26,708
as some believe?

625
00:32:26,833 --> 00:32:31,458
POPE:
If Phobos really is some sort
of extraterrestrial artifact,

626
00:32:31,542 --> 00:32:35,292
is it something that's been put
there from a civilization

627
00:32:35,375 --> 00:32:38,333
that's come from
much further away

628
00:32:38,417 --> 00:32:39,792
as a sentinel?

629
00:32:39,875 --> 00:32:42,958
We can't rule out
the possibility.

630
00:32:43,042 --> 00:32:46,458
There's no getting away
from the fact that Phobos 2

631
00:32:46,583 --> 00:32:48,042
was lost.

632
00:32:49,417 --> 00:32:53,042
Is Phobos really an
artificial space station?

633
00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:57,500
And if so, then where did the
aliens who built it come from?

634
00:32:57,667 --> 00:33:01,292
Well, astronomers are using
a powerful telescope

635
00:33:01,375 --> 00:33:05,833
that may reveal the answer
by showing us the home world

636
00:33:05,958 --> 00:33:09,000
of an extraterrestrial
civilization.

637
00:33:16,125 --> 00:33:18,833
SHATNER:
Astronomers from
the University of Geneva

638
00:33:18,917 --> 00:33:21,167
announce an incredible discovery

639
00:33:21,250 --> 00:33:23,167
in the pages
of the journal <i>Nature.</i>

640
00:33:23,333 --> 00:33:28,333
They reveal that by analyzing
slight changes in the light

641
00:33:28,500 --> 00:33:32,333
generated by the distant star
known as 51 Pegasi,

642
00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:35,458
they were able to confirm
the existence of an exoplanet

643
00:33:35,583 --> 00:33:40,292
around another star in our
galaxy for the very first time.

644
00:33:40,417 --> 00:33:42,583
An exoplanet is just a planet

645
00:33:42,708 --> 00:33:43,750
around somebody else's star.

646
00:33:43,875 --> 00:33:45,208
It's not orbiting the Sun.

647
00:33:46,208 --> 00:33:48,250
Before 1995,
we thought there might be

648
00:33:48,375 --> 00:33:50,500
a lot of planets out there,
but we didn't know it.

649
00:33:50,625 --> 00:33:52,667
And since then, there are
a lot of exoplanets

650
00:33:52,750 --> 00:33:55,542
that have been found,
in fact, thousands of them.

651
00:33:55,708 --> 00:33:57,708
That's a lot of planets.

652
00:33:59,042 --> 00:34:03,417
KAKU:
Right now, we have catalogued
about 5,000 exoplanets

653
00:34:03,542 --> 00:34:04,875
orbiting other stars,

654
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,417
and that's just
in our own vicinity

655
00:34:07,542 --> 00:34:09,167
of the Milky Way galaxy.

656
00:34:09,250 --> 00:34:13,417
And we have encyclopedias
documenting the size

657
00:34:13,542 --> 00:34:16,500
and the characteristics
of these planets.

658
00:34:16,625 --> 00:34:20,792
Every day, we discover
a new planet out there

659
00:34:20,917 --> 00:34:23,500
that potentially
could carry life.

660
00:34:23,583 --> 00:34:28,167
SHATNER:
Since it's true that our galaxy
is teeming with planets,

661
00:34:28,250 --> 00:34:32,125
could some of them be home
to extraterrestrial life?

662
00:34:32,208 --> 00:34:38,000
According to astronomers,
the answer is yes.

663
00:34:38,125 --> 00:34:41,042
And they claim that these
planets can be found in

664
00:34:41,208 --> 00:34:45,792
what is known
as the Goldilocks zone.

665
00:34:47,042 --> 00:34:48,500
COUGHLIN:
In terms of the Goldilocks zone,

666
00:34:48,667 --> 00:34:50,167
that's the right distance
from the star

667
00:34:50,292 --> 00:34:52,833
where you're not too hot
and you're not too cold.

668
00:34:52,958 --> 00:34:55,083
You're just right.

669
00:34:55,208 --> 00:34:56,375
If you're on
the Goldilocks zone,

670
00:34:56,500 --> 00:34:58,000
you can have liquid water
on your surface

671
00:34:58,167 --> 00:34:59,667
without it freezing
or without it boiling off.

672
00:34:59,792 --> 00:35:03,333
And where there's liquid water,
there could be life.

673
00:35:03,417 --> 00:35:07,167
SHOSTAK:
Earth is obviously in the
Goldilocks zone for the Sun.

674
00:35:07,292 --> 00:35:09,292
Those are the kind of planets
you want to find.

675
00:35:09,375 --> 00:35:11,958
Because you probably
need water for life.

676
00:35:12,042 --> 00:35:14,083
And thanks to telescopes,

677
00:35:14,208 --> 00:35:17,292
we know that every
second or third star

678
00:35:17,375 --> 00:35:18,792
has at least one planet

679
00:35:18,875 --> 00:35:20,833
more or less
the same size as our own

680
00:35:20,917 --> 00:35:22,583
in the Goldilocks zone.

681
00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:25,333
SHATNER:
Will we ever be able
to prove that planets

682
00:35:25,458 --> 00:35:27,375
located in the Goldilocks zone

683
00:35:27,500 --> 00:35:31,292
are in fact home
to other life forms?

684
00:35:31,417 --> 00:35:36,542
Well, some scientists believe
that we may soon find out.

685
00:35:41,958 --> 00:35:44,167
Today is a historic day.

686
00:35:44,250 --> 00:35:45,708
SHATNER:
At an event at the White House,

687
00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:48,500
President Joe Biden
unveils the first image

688
00:35:48,625 --> 00:35:52,833
taken by NASA's
James Webb space telescope.

689
00:35:54,458 --> 00:35:57,000
JOE BIDEN:
It's a new window into
the history of our universe.

690
00:35:57,167 --> 00:35:59,208
We can see light
from the oldest galaxies.

691
00:35:59,375 --> 00:36:02,250
The oldest documented light
in the history of the universe,

692
00:36:02,375 --> 00:36:06,583
from over 13 billion years ago.

693
00:36:06,708 --> 00:36:08,708
SHATNER:
The ten billion dollar
instrument

694
00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:10,208
is armed with the most powerful

695
00:36:10,375 --> 00:36:14,125
infrared imaging technology
ever created.

696
00:36:14,208 --> 00:36:17,667
And what's even more remarkable
is that the telescope

697
00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:22,333
was specifically designed
to analyze planets that lie

698
00:36:22,458 --> 00:36:26,625
in the Goldilocks zone
for evidence of life.

699
00:36:28,125 --> 00:36:29,667
SHOSTAK:
The James Webb Telescope--

700
00:36:29,792 --> 00:36:32,333
it's an infrared telescope,
so it's sensitive to heat.

701
00:36:32,417 --> 00:36:34,375
But that's really not
the big deal.

702
00:36:34,542 --> 00:36:37,625
The big deal is that
it can look, for example,

703
00:36:37,708 --> 00:36:41,583
at a planet around another star
and actually see it.

704
00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:43,500
It might only look like
a dot on a photo,

705
00:36:43,625 --> 00:36:45,250
but you take the light
from that dot,

706
00:36:45,375 --> 00:36:48,167
put it through a prism,
and you could tell

707
00:36:48,292 --> 00:36:50,708
what's in the atmosphere
of that planet.

708
00:36:50,833 --> 00:36:53,333
The James Webb Space Telescope
is like a magnifying glass.

709
00:36:53,458 --> 00:36:55,667
It's gonna look
in extreme detail.

710
00:36:55,792 --> 00:36:58,042
And the great thing is,
for the first time,

711
00:36:58,208 --> 00:36:59,500
we can actually start to study

712
00:36:59,625 --> 00:37:01,333
the atmospheres
of Earth-size planets.

713
00:37:01,417 --> 00:37:04,333
If we look at a planet
and we can see chemicals

714
00:37:04,458 --> 00:37:07,042
that we know don't occur
naturally in its atmosphere,

715
00:37:07,208 --> 00:37:08,417
that's a really good indication

716
00:37:08,542 --> 00:37:11,000
that they're produced
by industrial processes.

717
00:37:11,083 --> 00:37:12,792
So if we see those
in an exoplanet,

718
00:37:12,875 --> 00:37:16,292
that's a good sign that they're
produced by some alien industry.

719
00:37:16,417 --> 00:37:18,042
It tells you there's very likely

720
00:37:18,167 --> 00:37:20,250
an intelligent civilization
like our own

721
00:37:20,375 --> 00:37:22,667
on that planet
producing those chemicals.

722
00:37:22,750 --> 00:37:26,167
KAKU:
Given the fact that we have now
the Webb Telescope up there

723
00:37:26,292 --> 00:37:28,167
giving us even more information,

724
00:37:28,250 --> 00:37:31,708
given the fact that we
keep on cataloging more

725
00:37:31,875 --> 00:37:33,458
and more exoplanets,

726
00:37:33,542 --> 00:37:36,375
we are now flooded
with information about

727
00:37:36,500 --> 00:37:38,833
potential lifeforms
in the galaxy,

728
00:37:38,917 --> 00:37:41,083
perhaps even intelligent life.

729
00:37:41,208 --> 00:37:44,583
And so this is a game changer.

730
00:37:45,667 --> 00:37:48,875
The mere possibility that
the James Webb Telescope

731
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,875
might reveal life on other
planets is fascinating.

732
00:37:54,042 --> 00:37:55,833
But if it's true,
as some believe,

733
00:37:55,958 --> 00:38:00,333
that extraterrestrials exist
and have already visited Earth,

734
00:38:00,458 --> 00:38:04,500
then how did they
cross the galaxy to get here?

735
00:38:04,667 --> 00:38:07,667
Well, according
to some scientists,

736
00:38:07,833 --> 00:38:10,000
it could be
by harnessing the power

737
00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:12,500
of an entire star.

738
00:38:18,708 --> 00:38:21,042
SHATNER:
Astronomer Tabetha Boyajian

739
00:38:21,208 --> 00:38:23,458
and her colleagues
at Yale University

740
00:38:23,583 --> 00:38:25,792
are combing through
data recorded by

741
00:38:25,917 --> 00:38:30,875
the Kepler Space Telescope when
they notice something unusual.

742
00:38:31,042 --> 00:38:33,417
They discover that a star

743
00:38:33,542 --> 00:38:36,333
located approximately 1,500
light years from Earth

744
00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:40,958
is behaving
in a rather strange manner.

745
00:38:41,042 --> 00:38:44,625
Tabetha Boyajian, who was
working at Yale University,

746
00:38:44,750 --> 00:38:47,750
was looking at some
nearby stars,

747
00:38:47,875 --> 00:38:51,833
and she noticed that one star
had a big dip in brightness.

748
00:38:51,917 --> 00:38:55,125
Not one percent
or a tenth of a percent

749
00:38:55,208 --> 00:38:58,500
but 22%, which is enormous.

750
00:38:58,583 --> 00:39:00,667
KAKU:
We call it Tabby's Star

751
00:39:00,792 --> 00:39:03,625
after the person
who began to talk about this.

752
00:39:03,708 --> 00:39:06,417
Stars do vary in intensity

753
00:39:06,542 --> 00:39:09,042
because a planet
moves in front of it.

754
00:39:09,208 --> 00:39:11,875
It maybe drops a half a percent,

755
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,500
but this is the first time in
history that we've seen a star

756
00:39:16,625 --> 00:39:20,333
whose sunlight
diminished by 22%.

757
00:39:20,417 --> 00:39:22,667
That's astounding.

758
00:39:22,792 --> 00:39:26,208
What could be causing that?
We don't know.

759
00:39:26,333 --> 00:39:28,333
But it's an ongoing mystery.

760
00:39:30,167 --> 00:39:33,542
SHATNER:
Astronomers studying
Tabby's Star initially theorized

761
00:39:33,667 --> 00:39:36,917
its dimming could be
the result of comet dust

762
00:39:37,042 --> 00:39:39,167
passing in front
of its position.

763
00:39:39,292 --> 00:39:41,375
But according to another theory,

764
00:39:41,542 --> 00:39:43,292
the unusual dimming
could be caused

765
00:39:43,417 --> 00:39:46,542
by a piece
of otherworldly technology

766
00:39:46,667 --> 00:39:50,750
known as a Dyson sphere.

767
00:39:52,042 --> 00:39:56,542
First proposed by physicist
Freeman Dyson in the 1960s,

768
00:39:56,667 --> 00:40:00,167
a Dyson sphere
is a hypothetical device

769
00:40:00,292 --> 00:40:04,333
that extraterrestrials could
be using to harness the energy

770
00:40:04,458 --> 00:40:08,042
of an entire star.

771
00:40:08,167 --> 00:40:10,125
If you're an alien civilization

772
00:40:10,208 --> 00:40:11,708
and you want to get
lots of power,

773
00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:14,667
you might build some really
large solar collectors in space.

774
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:18,667
So, one theory is that
there could be a civilization

775
00:40:18,792 --> 00:40:20,500
that was maybe starting
to build a Dyson sphere

776
00:40:20,667 --> 00:40:22,500
to harness the star's energy,

777
00:40:22,583 --> 00:40:24,792
and it's blocking out light
as we see it from Earth.

778
00:40:25,875 --> 00:40:27,542
SHOSTAK:
The idea that advanced societies

779
00:40:27,667 --> 00:40:29,875
would collect energy
from their star

780
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,500
is so appealing
and so logical, really,

781
00:40:32,583 --> 00:40:34,458
because with
the amount of energy

782
00:40:34,542 --> 00:40:35,917
they could marshal this way,

783
00:40:36,042 --> 00:40:37,917
they could build
a rocket propulsion system

784
00:40:38,042 --> 00:40:42,333
that is so fast that they can go
from one star system to another

785
00:40:42,417 --> 00:40:43,958
very close
to the speed of light.

786
00:40:44,042 --> 00:40:47,708
SHATNER:
Is it possible
that extraterrestrials

787
00:40:47,833 --> 00:40:51,167
could use the power
generated by a Dyson sphere

788
00:40:51,292 --> 00:40:54,375
to travel across the galaxy
and visit other planets?

789
00:40:54,500 --> 00:40:58,625
Perhaps even Earth?
It's an astonishing notion.

790
00:40:58,708 --> 00:41:02,000
And further research
on this potential technology

791
00:41:02,083 --> 00:41:03,875
may allow us to one day

792
00:41:04,042 --> 00:41:07,708
finally get an answer
to the question of whether

793
00:41:07,833 --> 00:41:10,708
we're alone in the universe.

794
00:41:11,917 --> 00:41:15,042
COUGHLIN:
Our galaxy has hundreds
of billions of stars in it,

795
00:41:15,208 --> 00:41:16,500
in addition to our own.

796
00:41:16,625 --> 00:41:18,500
Nearly every one
of those stars has planets

797
00:41:18,625 --> 00:41:20,500
like we have
in our own solar system.

798
00:41:20,583 --> 00:41:22,750
And there are hundreds
of billions of galaxies

799
00:41:22,875 --> 00:41:24,333
in the universe.

800
00:41:24,500 --> 00:41:26,000
That means
there are just trillions

801
00:41:26,125 --> 00:41:28,667
and quintillions of planets
out there in the universe.

802
00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:32,208
It is nearly
statistically impossible

803
00:41:32,375 --> 00:41:34,833
that we're
the only life out there.

804
00:41:37,292 --> 00:41:39,125
So, what do you think?

805
00:41:39,250 --> 00:41:41,000
Are we alone in the universe?

806
00:41:41,125 --> 00:41:45,917
Or is there intelligent life
beyond our planet?

807
00:41:46,042 --> 00:41:48,583
Just like our ancestors
before us,

808
00:41:48,708 --> 00:41:51,833
we'll continue
to keep searching the stars

809
00:41:51,958 --> 00:41:55,458
in hopes of answering
this profound question

810
00:41:55,583 --> 00:41:59,250
that, for now, remains...

811
00:41:59,375 --> 00:42:00,667
unexplained.

812
00:42:00,792 --> 00:42:02,625
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