1 00:00:02,250 --> 00:00:04,458 - [Tony] Tonight on "The Proof is Out There: Alien Edition." 2 00:00:04,542 --> 00:00:07,417 This image of a metallic disc changed everything. 3 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:10,417 Is it the first flying saucer ever caught on camera? 4 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:13,250 - Of all the famous early UFO photographs, 5 00:00:13,333 --> 00:00:15,500 this is perhaps the most famous. 6 00:00:15,625 --> 00:00:19,667 Within months the country knew the term flying saucer. 7 00:00:19,708 --> 00:00:22,542 - [Tony] This photo sparked a wave of reports. 8 00:00:22,667 --> 00:00:26,000 Hundreds claimed that they saw the same disc-shaped craft. 9 00:00:26,833 --> 00:00:28,125 What did they see? 10 00:00:28,208 --> 00:00:29,708 - Yeah, I think the fact that hundreds of people 11 00:00:29,792 --> 00:00:31,042 reported seeing something 12 00:00:31,125 --> 00:00:34,208 means that something was actually there. 13 00:00:34,333 --> 00:00:37,625 - [Tony] A metallic disc spotted near the Panama Canal. 14 00:00:37,708 --> 00:00:39,042 Why do these strange objects 15 00:00:39,167 --> 00:00:40,958 keep appearing in Central America? 16 00:00:41,083 --> 00:00:43,333 - There are UFO sightings in Central America 17 00:00:43,417 --> 00:00:45,708 pretty frequently, usually around volcanoes, 18 00:00:45,792 --> 00:00:47,125 so it doesn't surprise me 19 00:00:47,208 --> 00:00:49,375 that someone would think this is a UFO. 20 00:00:49,458 --> 00:00:52,292 - [Tony] With UFO reports at an all-time high, 21 00:00:52,375 --> 00:00:54,708 we're examining the most compelling evidence 22 00:00:54,792 --> 00:00:56,167 caught on camera. 23 00:00:56,250 --> 00:00:59,167 Tonight's focus, classic flying saucers. 24 00:00:59,250 --> 00:01:01,667 Our experts will analyze the evidence. 25 00:01:05,792 --> 00:01:09,042 - I was just mesmerized with what I was looking at. 26 00:01:09,125 --> 00:01:11,167 - [Tony] And then we'll pass a verdict. 27 00:01:11,292 --> 00:01:12,875 [man speaking in Spanish] 28 00:01:12,958 --> 00:01:14,792 - [Tony] The proof starts now. 29 00:01:14,875 --> 00:01:17,583 [dramatic music] 30 00:01:22,375 --> 00:01:23,500 - [Tony] Good evening everyone, 31 00:01:23,542 --> 00:01:25,458 and welcome to "The Proof is Out There." 32 00:01:25,458 --> 00:01:29,167 We're currently living in the second golden age of UFOs, 33 00:01:29,250 --> 00:01:32,167 which obviously means there was a first golden age. 34 00:01:32,250 --> 00:01:33,625 It happened in the 1940s and '50s 35 00:01:33,708 --> 00:01:36,667 and one of the most compelling pieces of evidence 36 00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:38,833 was a photo of a flying saucer 37 00:01:38,958 --> 00:01:42,917 that fascinated and perplexed researchers for decades. 38 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,208 But was it a UFO or not? 39 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:49,667 - [Tony] It's around 7:30 PM on May 11th, 1950 40 00:01:49,792 --> 00:01:51,500 in McMinnville, Oregon. 41 00:01:51,583 --> 00:01:53,583 Evelyn Trent goes out to feed her animals 42 00:01:53,708 --> 00:01:57,042 behind the farmhouse she and her husband Paul live in. 43 00:01:57,167 --> 00:01:58,583 While attending to her chores, 44 00:01:58,667 --> 00:02:01,208 she is astonished by what she sees in the sky. 45 00:02:01,292 --> 00:02:02,667 She runs towards the house 46 00:02:02,792 --> 00:02:06,042 yelling for Paul to grab their trusty folding camera. 47 00:02:06,167 --> 00:02:08,042 They manage to snap two photographs. 48 00:02:08,125 --> 00:02:10,292 [dramatic music continues] 49 00:02:10,375 --> 00:02:12,667 Both photos show a large metallic-looking 50 00:02:12,708 --> 00:02:15,458 disc-shaped object hovering in the sky. 51 00:02:15,542 --> 00:02:17,833 In one shot, power lines can clearly be seen 52 00:02:17,917 --> 00:02:19,667 above and below the object. 53 00:02:19,750 --> 00:02:23,417 In another shot, the UFO appears to be trapezoidal in shape 54 00:02:23,542 --> 00:02:26,208 with what looks like an antenna or a beacon. 55 00:02:26,292 --> 00:02:29,250 - The 1950s were considered the golden age of UFOs 56 00:02:29,375 --> 00:02:30,833 for a couple of reasons. 57 00:02:30,875 --> 00:02:34,500 In June 1947, we have Kenneth Arnold, a pilot, 58 00:02:34,625 --> 00:02:37,792 seeing some really strange UFOs over Mount Rainier. 59 00:02:37,875 --> 00:02:39,500 And the media coverage of that 60 00:02:39,583 --> 00:02:41,583 gave us the term flying saucer. 61 00:02:41,667 --> 00:02:45,500 In July of 1947, we have the crash at Roswell, 62 00:02:45,583 --> 00:02:49,625 which really kicked UFO mania into high gear 63 00:02:49,708 --> 00:02:51,125 in the United States. 64 00:02:51,208 --> 00:02:52,958 - [Tony] Then, in 1948, 65 00:02:53,042 --> 00:02:55,208 a veteran combat pilot, George Gorman, 66 00:02:55,292 --> 00:02:58,333 reports an altercation with a speeding glowing orb 67 00:02:58,375 --> 00:03:00,417 from the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang 68 00:03:00,542 --> 00:03:02,208 over Fargo, North Dakota. 69 00:03:02,292 --> 00:03:04,917 By 1950 the floodgates were open. 70 00:03:04,917 --> 00:03:07,208 - [Erin] So in the midst of all of these things, 71 00:03:07,375 --> 00:03:08,833 you have the Trent case. 72 00:03:08,875 --> 00:03:12,792 - [Tony] The Trent photos were first published in 1950. 73 00:03:12,875 --> 00:03:15,333 They went on to be circulated and scrutinized 74 00:03:15,417 --> 00:03:17,458 in newspapers across the country 75 00:03:17,542 --> 00:03:19,667 for more than two decades. 76 00:03:19,708 --> 00:03:21,042 But in 1981, 77 00:03:21,125 --> 00:03:23,667 they would receive their most exhaustive analysis yet 78 00:03:23,708 --> 00:03:26,792 when Bruce Maccabee, an optical physicist for the U.S. Navy, 79 00:03:26,875 --> 00:03:29,875 conducted his own examination of the negatives. 80 00:03:29,958 --> 00:03:31,667 - [Erin] Bruce Maccabee determined 81 00:03:31,708 --> 00:03:34,917 that they were not tampered with in any way. 82 00:03:35,042 --> 00:03:36,500 And he also determined 83 00:03:36,542 --> 00:03:38,292 that the line of sight for the two photos 84 00:03:38,375 --> 00:03:40,000 converged behind the power lines, 85 00:03:40,042 --> 00:03:43,917 which in his opinion meant that the object was genuine. 86 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:47,333 - [Tony] The story of what happened to the original 87 00:03:47,375 --> 00:03:49,542 negatives is its own controversy. 88 00:03:49,625 --> 00:03:54,333 For some reason, Bruce Maccabee held onto them for 25 years. 89 00:03:54,417 --> 00:03:56,792 The family thought they'd been lost. 90 00:03:56,875 --> 00:03:58,833 A newspaper later claimed ownership, 91 00:03:58,917 --> 00:04:00,292 which prompted an ugly battle 92 00:04:00,375 --> 00:04:01,583 between the paper and the family 93 00:04:01,583 --> 00:04:04,667 over this incredible piece of UFO history. 94 00:04:04,750 --> 00:04:05,833 You can only imagine 95 00:04:05,875 --> 00:04:08,750 what the UFO community makes of all of this. 96 00:04:08,833 --> 00:04:10,917 Let's see if our experts can shed any new light 97 00:04:11,042 --> 00:04:12,583 on this age old mystery. 98 00:04:12,667 --> 00:04:15,333 [dramatic music] 99 00:04:16,458 --> 00:04:18,167 - [Tony] First off, we take the photographs 100 00:04:18,292 --> 00:04:20,667 to astrophotography expert Andrew McCarthy. 101 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:23,667 He has his doubts about the authenticity of the images. 102 00:04:23,750 --> 00:04:25,958 - There's a few ways you can produce 103 00:04:26,042 --> 00:04:28,667 this type of effect in-camera, 104 00:04:28,792 --> 00:04:31,167 throwing a hubcap like a frisbee, 105 00:04:31,208 --> 00:04:33,750 but I think that would produce motion blur 106 00:04:33,875 --> 00:04:37,167 that would be very evident in the photos. 107 00:04:37,250 --> 00:04:39,292 There is another way it could be done, however. 108 00:04:39,375 --> 00:04:42,833 You could simply tie an object to the power lines 109 00:04:42,917 --> 00:04:44,292 and have it dangle there. 110 00:04:44,375 --> 00:04:47,542 Using nylon string it might not be visible 111 00:04:47,542 --> 00:04:49,417 and it would look like the object was floating 112 00:04:49,500 --> 00:04:51,125 some distance away. 113 00:04:51,208 --> 00:04:53,458 I think the most likely answer here 114 00:04:53,542 --> 00:04:56,500 is there was some small object that resembled a craft 115 00:04:56,542 --> 00:04:59,458 that was hung from the power lines in this photo. 116 00:04:59,542 --> 00:05:00,833 - [Tony] But what would the family have to gain 117 00:05:00,917 --> 00:05:03,000 by staging such an elaborate hoax? 118 00:05:03,083 --> 00:05:05,417 - [Rich] There was no intent on trying to make money 119 00:05:05,500 --> 00:05:07,042 or selling a story. 120 00:05:07,125 --> 00:05:10,167 In fact, their belief was that what they were seeing 121 00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:13,125 was something that might have been from the U.S. government 122 00:05:13,208 --> 00:05:14,333 and they were questioning 123 00:05:14,458 --> 00:05:16,167 whether they should even talk about it at all. 124 00:05:16,250 --> 00:05:17,375 - [Tony] Hoffman acknowledges 125 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:19,792 that our military, as well as others, 126 00:05:19,875 --> 00:05:23,083 was experimenting with various exotic flight technologies 127 00:05:23,167 --> 00:05:25,833 at the time, including VTOL vehicles, 128 00:05:25,875 --> 00:05:29,417 which stands for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. 129 00:05:29,542 --> 00:05:31,792 - [Rich] You have the Avro disc that was created 130 00:05:31,875 --> 00:05:34,708 to build, like, a flying saucer kind of platform, 131 00:05:34,792 --> 00:05:37,583 which had a jet engine that was pointing down 132 00:05:37,667 --> 00:05:41,625 with a large blade that would help to lift the object up. 133 00:05:43,042 --> 00:05:44,375 - [Tony] Hoffman also points out 134 00:05:44,542 --> 00:05:48,125 that one examiner's careful scrutiny of the lines of sight 135 00:05:48,208 --> 00:05:51,333 and the relative position of the power lines in each photo 136 00:05:51,375 --> 00:05:53,458 eliminates the wire dangling theory. 137 00:05:54,458 --> 00:05:55,750 - [Rich] Dr. Bruce Maccabee said, 138 00:05:55,833 --> 00:05:58,542 "If I stood in this spot and I took this photo," 139 00:05:58,625 --> 00:06:01,500 and he drew a line to where that line of sight would be, 140 00:06:01,542 --> 00:06:03,458 and then he moves over to the next plot 141 00:06:03,542 --> 00:06:05,958 where the object is now seen in a different position 142 00:06:06,042 --> 00:06:07,500 when it's tilted up, 143 00:06:07,542 --> 00:06:09,333 where the lines would converge at 144 00:06:09,375 --> 00:06:11,875 would be beyond the telephone wires, 145 00:06:11,958 --> 00:06:13,292 which then indicates 146 00:06:13,375 --> 00:06:16,250 that it was not connected to the telephone lines. 147 00:06:16,333 --> 00:06:19,000 - [Tony] Maccabee's analysis proves the two lines of sight 148 00:06:19,083 --> 00:06:21,625 don't converge directly under the wires, 149 00:06:21,708 --> 00:06:24,500 which is what we'd expect in the case of a hanging model. 150 00:06:24,542 --> 00:06:27,125 - [Rich] So I completely rule out that it's a hoax 151 00:06:27,208 --> 00:06:28,667 or anything contrived, 152 00:06:28,750 --> 00:06:30,667 and I go with this being a UFO. 153 00:06:32,125 --> 00:06:34,833 [dramatic music] 154 00:06:35,917 --> 00:06:36,458 [sparkling music] 155 00:06:36,542 --> 00:06:37,917 - [Tony] Our verdict? 156 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,583 We're calling this a genuine UFO, at least for now. 157 00:06:41,667 --> 00:06:43,167 The hard math in Hoffman 158 00:06:43,250 --> 00:06:44,792 and Maccabee's line of sight analysis 159 00:06:44,875 --> 00:06:47,625 seems to blow up McCarthy's power line theory. 160 00:06:47,708 --> 00:06:49,250 And a lack of motion blur 161 00:06:49,375 --> 00:06:52,167 contradicts any thrown disc theory. 162 00:06:52,250 --> 00:06:53,667 The debate proves one thing. 163 00:06:53,750 --> 00:06:55,500 While the photos can't be confirmed, 164 00:06:55,583 --> 00:06:58,250 they are also quite hard to debunk. 165 00:06:58,375 --> 00:07:01,000 [dramatic music] 166 00:07:01,125 --> 00:07:03,250 You're about to see one of the most famous photos 167 00:07:03,333 --> 00:07:05,333 ever taken of a flying saucer. 168 00:07:05,375 --> 00:07:10,292 And decades later, it is still raising some big questions. 169 00:07:10,375 --> 00:07:13,792 November 1951. Riverside, California. 170 00:07:13,875 --> 00:07:16,333 Guy Marquand Jr. and a couple of friends 171 00:07:16,375 --> 00:07:17,875 are taking in the scenic hillside 172 00:07:17,875 --> 00:07:20,708 when something in the sky breaks the stillness. 173 00:07:20,792 --> 00:07:22,625 - Marquand reported seeing this object 174 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:25,667 flying extremely fast overhead. 175 00:07:25,708 --> 00:07:29,292 He ran to grab his camera, then took this snapshot. 176 00:07:29,375 --> 00:07:30,458 - [Tony] The black and white photo 177 00:07:30,542 --> 00:07:32,583 could hardly make it any clearer. 178 00:07:32,667 --> 00:07:36,542 In the sky above a sloping hill soars a crisp-edged disc 179 00:07:36,625 --> 00:07:40,917 with a domed top and a high contrast metallic sheen. 180 00:07:41,042 --> 00:07:43,000 And while this image stunned Riverside, 181 00:07:43,042 --> 00:07:46,250 it was part of a story already unfolding. 182 00:07:46,375 --> 00:07:48,500 As we mentioned, four years earlier, 183 00:07:48,583 --> 00:07:51,458 it was pilot Kenneth Arnold's eyewitness account 184 00:07:51,542 --> 00:07:54,375 of saucer-like objects over Mount Rainier 185 00:07:54,542 --> 00:07:56,917 that ignited the UFO craze. 186 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,625 - [Amy] In the months after Arnold's original sighting, 187 00:07:59,708 --> 00:08:01,958 more eyewitnesses saw something similar 188 00:08:02,042 --> 00:08:03,417 to what he described. 189 00:08:03,542 --> 00:08:06,875 Within months, 90% of the country knew 190 00:08:06,958 --> 00:08:09,708 and was familiar with the term flying saucer. 191 00:08:09,792 --> 00:08:11,667 - [Tony] Among the many flying saucers 192 00:08:11,667 --> 00:08:13,500 and depictions that followed Arnold's 193 00:08:13,583 --> 00:08:15,542 came the Riverside UFO. 194 00:08:15,542 --> 00:08:16,500 The big difference? 195 00:08:16,542 --> 00:08:18,708 Unlike Arnold, Guy Marquand Jr. 196 00:08:18,792 --> 00:08:21,083 had actual photographic evidence. 197 00:08:21,208 --> 00:08:23,000 [dramatic music continues] 198 00:08:23,083 --> 00:08:26,500 - [Tony] Flying saucers have kind of gone out of fashion. 199 00:08:26,583 --> 00:08:28,208 In 2023, 200 00:08:28,208 --> 00:08:30,792 the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office 201 00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:34,708 dubbed orbs the most common UFO shape among recent reports. 202 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:39,792 In contrast, discs or flying saucers comprised only 2%. 203 00:08:40,750 --> 00:08:42,583 So were flying saucers ever real? 204 00:08:42,708 --> 00:08:46,375 And if so, why are we seeing different UFOs now? 205 00:08:46,458 --> 00:08:49,500 And the big question: is the photo legit? 206 00:08:49,583 --> 00:08:52,542 [dramatic music] 207 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,792 - [Tony] We turn first to astronomer Marc D'Antonio to ask 208 00:08:56,875 --> 00:08:59,167 could a flying saucer even fly? 209 00:08:59,250 --> 00:09:02,125 - Here I am moving a UFO from one side to the other. 210 00:09:02,208 --> 00:09:04,667 It went from here to here. 211 00:09:04,750 --> 00:09:06,667 But what if I can make it disappear from here 212 00:09:06,708 --> 00:09:08,333 and just appear right here? 213 00:09:08,417 --> 00:09:10,125 Maybe they're disc-shaped 214 00:09:10,208 --> 00:09:13,167 because they're particle accelerators 215 00:09:13,208 --> 00:09:17,250 that allow them to pop out of our four dimensions 216 00:09:17,333 --> 00:09:19,292 and then pop back in. 217 00:09:19,375 --> 00:09:21,583 - [Tony] Particle accelerators produce beams 218 00:09:21,667 --> 00:09:25,333 of electrically charged atomic or subatomic particles. 219 00:09:25,458 --> 00:09:26,708 They're often circular 220 00:09:26,792 --> 00:09:28,792 so the beams can travel in a continuous loop. 221 00:09:30,125 --> 00:09:32,375 - [Andrew] The flying saucer shape could allow the craft 222 00:09:32,458 --> 00:09:34,375 to function as a centrifuge. 223 00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:37,708 So you could simulate whatever gravity your home planet had 224 00:09:37,792 --> 00:09:40,833 by spinning it faster or slower as its traveling. 225 00:09:40,875 --> 00:09:42,500 - [Tony] This is because a centrifuge 226 00:09:42,583 --> 00:09:44,667 creates a sustained rotational force 227 00:09:44,750 --> 00:09:46,417 that causes your body's inertia 228 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:48,375 to press you against the sides 229 00:09:48,375 --> 00:09:50,833 effectively simulating gravity. 230 00:09:50,958 --> 00:09:54,000 If you've ever ridden the Gravitron at an amusement park, 231 00:09:54,083 --> 00:09:56,125 then you've experienced this firsthand. 232 00:09:56,208 --> 00:09:58,167 -[Andrew] So the flying saucer may actually be 233 00:09:58,250 --> 00:10:00,458 an ideal interstellar vehicle. 234 00:10:00,542 --> 00:10:03,667 - [Tony] But then why has the ideal interstellar vehicle 235 00:10:03,708 --> 00:10:05,583 apparently fallen out of favor? 236 00:10:05,667 --> 00:10:09,250 - [Marc] It's possible that there are other types 237 00:10:09,375 --> 00:10:10,875 of interstellar craft 238 00:10:10,958 --> 00:10:15,167 that have reached us from various civilizations. 239 00:10:15,292 --> 00:10:17,625 We're seeing flying saucers less often, 240 00:10:17,708 --> 00:10:19,000 but it doesn't mean 241 00:10:19,125 --> 00:10:22,125 that there aren't these types of UFOs out there. 242 00:10:22,208 --> 00:10:25,042 - [Tony] So is this flying saucer a genuine UFO 243 00:10:25,125 --> 00:10:27,583 or the result of some kind of trick photography? 244 00:10:27,667 --> 00:10:29,167 - [Andrew] When I analyze this photo, 245 00:10:29,250 --> 00:10:31,833 it actually appears to be reflecting it 246 00:10:31,917 --> 00:10:34,375 exactly as one would expect 247 00:10:34,458 --> 00:10:36,708 something metallic with that shape 248 00:10:36,833 --> 00:10:39,333 to be behaving in the sky like that. 249 00:10:39,417 --> 00:10:40,667 So whatever this is, 250 00:10:40,792 --> 00:10:43,125 it was captured authentically in-camera. 251 00:10:43,208 --> 00:10:45,667 - [Tony] Yet, while McCarthy believes it's a real object, 252 00:10:45,750 --> 00:10:48,167 he's not so sure it can't be identified. 253 00:10:48,208 --> 00:10:51,625 - [Andrew] If you take a look at car styles at the time, 254 00:10:51,708 --> 00:10:54,208 you'll notice that they all had a common feature 255 00:10:54,292 --> 00:10:55,542 called the hubcap. 256 00:10:55,667 --> 00:10:57,667 - [Tony] Metal hubcaps are less common now, 257 00:10:57,708 --> 00:10:59,292 but back when this photo was taken, 258 00:10:59,375 --> 00:11:02,083 these shiny wheel protectors were everywhere. 259 00:11:02,167 --> 00:11:04,417 They often had a raised part in the center 260 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:08,542 similar to the domed top we see on this alleged UFO. 261 00:11:08,625 --> 00:11:11,583 - [Andrew] The shape very strongly resembles 262 00:11:11,667 --> 00:11:13,167 this flying saucer. 263 00:11:13,208 --> 00:11:16,000 So I think that's a much more plausible explanation 264 00:11:16,125 --> 00:11:18,667 than saying we got visitors from outer space. 265 00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:20,625 - [Tony] And D'Antonio sees that too. 266 00:11:20,708 --> 00:11:22,042 -[Marc] When we look at this, 267 00:11:22,042 --> 00:11:24,833 it's at an angle compared to the camera. 268 00:11:24,875 --> 00:11:29,083 Usually things that are traveling in an arc 269 00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:30,708 through the sky 270 00:11:30,833 --> 00:11:33,000 are things that are say tossed. 271 00:11:33,083 --> 00:11:35,208 It's like a hubcap being thrown like a frisbee 272 00:11:35,375 --> 00:11:37,083 off of this rock right here 273 00:11:37,208 --> 00:11:39,083 and someone took a picture of it. 274 00:11:39,167 --> 00:11:41,917 [dramatic music] 275 00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:46,458 - [Tony] Our verdict? Thrown metal hubcap. 276 00:11:46,542 --> 00:11:50,125 The light, the angle, and the car design of that era 277 00:11:50,208 --> 00:11:52,750 just make it the most likely explanation. 278 00:11:52,833 --> 00:11:54,167 We can't say for sure, 279 00:11:54,292 --> 00:11:56,708 but we think these fun loving folks from the '50s 280 00:11:56,833 --> 00:11:58,833 might have been pulling a fast one 281 00:11:58,875 --> 00:12:00,125 in the heyday of the flying saucer craze. 282 00:12:04,875 --> 00:12:06,250 - You know, often when we hear about a UFO sighting, 283 00:12:06,375 --> 00:12:08,500 it involves a lone eyewitness, 284 00:12:08,583 --> 00:12:10,583 so it's easy to be skeptical. 285 00:12:10,667 --> 00:12:12,000 But our next encounter 286 00:12:12,083 --> 00:12:15,792 has reportedly been seen by hundreds of people. 287 00:12:15,875 --> 00:12:17,208 No wonder the story is considered 288 00:12:17,292 --> 00:12:20,958 one of the biggest mass sightings in UFO history. 289 00:12:21,042 --> 00:12:24,875 April 1966, it's midday in Westall, 290 00:12:24,958 --> 00:12:27,083 a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. 291 00:12:27,167 --> 00:12:29,500 - [Amy] Students and teachers from the Westall High school 292 00:12:29,500 --> 00:12:30,917 and the Westall State School 293 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,083 went outside to enjoy a lovely day, 294 00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:36,917 and they all saw something strange in the sky. 295 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,000 - [Tony] This black and white photo allegedly taken 296 00:12:39,083 --> 00:12:41,292 by one of several hundred eyewitnesses, 297 00:12:41,375 --> 00:12:43,792 depicts a crystal clear flying saucer 298 00:12:43,875 --> 00:12:46,083 hanging in the sky over the trees. 299 00:12:46,208 --> 00:12:49,958 It has a domed top, a large spotlight on the bottom, 300 00:12:50,042 --> 00:12:52,792 and a rim of lights wrapping around it. 301 00:12:52,875 --> 00:12:56,167 Some eyewitnesses recall multiple UFOs that day. 302 00:12:56,292 --> 00:12:58,083 Others, just one. 303 00:12:58,167 --> 00:13:01,833 Eyewitness Phyll Tierney, who was 15 at the time, 304 00:13:01,917 --> 00:13:03,417 recalls three in total, 305 00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,167 but this photo matches her recollection of them 306 00:13:06,250 --> 00:13:07,500 almost exactly. 307 00:13:07,583 --> 00:13:10,125 -[Phyll] They were very streamlined, 308 00:13:10,208 --> 00:13:15,208 just silver with a rounded bottom, a middle platform, 309 00:13:16,125 --> 00:13:19,125 and then rounded area on the top. 310 00:13:19,208 --> 00:13:23,000 I was just mesmerized with what I was looking at. 311 00:13:23,083 --> 00:13:26,500 - [Tony] Remember those claims come from hundreds of people, 312 00:13:26,583 --> 00:13:28,208 students and teachers alike. 313 00:13:28,333 --> 00:13:30,667 Joy Clarke, who was 12 at the time, 314 00:13:30,750 --> 00:13:32,875 recounts what happened next. 315 00:13:32,875 --> 00:13:34,375 - They went up in the sky 316 00:13:34,458 --> 00:13:37,583 and they disappeared down over to the back of an area 317 00:13:37,667 --> 00:13:39,000 called the Grange. 318 00:13:39,125 --> 00:13:42,833 Now, the Grange was bush land, pine trees. 319 00:13:42,917 --> 00:13:45,042 They disappeared down there for quite a while. 320 00:13:45,167 --> 00:13:47,458 And some of the kids had actually jumped the fence 321 00:13:47,542 --> 00:13:50,583 and taken off through the Grange to catch up with them. 322 00:13:50,583 --> 00:13:51,667 - [Tony] One of the students 323 00:13:51,750 --> 00:13:54,375 who follows the UFOs down to the Grange 324 00:13:54,458 --> 00:13:56,625 is 11-year-old Terry Peck. 325 00:13:56,708 --> 00:13:58,500 - [Terry] I ran through the Grange, 326 00:13:58,583 --> 00:14:00,208 and I just stood and stared 327 00:14:00,292 --> 00:14:05,000 because it was really only four, five meters in front of me. 328 00:14:05,083 --> 00:14:07,125 - [Tony] After briefly hovering in the Grange, 329 00:14:07,208 --> 00:14:11,167 eyewitnesses say the UFOs shot off into the sky 330 00:14:11,208 --> 00:14:15,125 leaving hundreds of eyewitnesses on the ground perplexed. 331 00:14:15,208 --> 00:14:18,583 As the story spreads, more eyewitnesses emerge. 332 00:14:18,667 --> 00:14:21,042 - [Amy] This wasn't the only sighting in the area. 333 00:14:21,167 --> 00:14:23,750 A second photo emerged in the wake of this incident 334 00:14:23,875 --> 00:14:26,417 that was allegedly taken just days earlier 335 00:14:26,500 --> 00:14:30,667 showing a very similar silver disc object flying in the sky. 336 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:31,667 - [Tony] Look odd? 337 00:14:31,708 --> 00:14:33,500 We turned the photo on its side 338 00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:38,042 and yet again we have a flying metallic dome-shaped object. 339 00:14:38,125 --> 00:14:41,125 But despite the avalanche of eyewitness accounts, 340 00:14:41,208 --> 00:14:43,792 some are quick to dismiss these sightings. 341 00:14:43,875 --> 00:14:48,167 - [Joy] The principal told us it was a weather balloon, 342 00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:51,750 and if we spoke to the media or anybody else, 343 00:14:51,833 --> 00:14:53,667 we would get into big trouble. 344 00:14:53,750 --> 00:14:54,958 - [Tony] It's been speculated 345 00:14:55,042 --> 00:14:57,000 that the alleged balloon in question 346 00:14:57,083 --> 00:14:59,667 was part of the secretive Project Hibal. 347 00:14:59,708 --> 00:15:03,917 - [Amy] The Hibal program was a joint U.S.-Australian program 348 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,500 to test atmospheric radiation levels in the 1960s. 349 00:15:07,625 --> 00:15:11,250 So the object might have been a high altitude balloon, 350 00:15:11,333 --> 00:15:13,833 but the Hibal explanation doesn't totally fit 351 00:15:13,917 --> 00:15:15,667 what the witnesses said they saw. 352 00:15:15,792 --> 00:15:20,250 - [Joy] No way in hell do I think that was a Hibal balloon. 353 00:15:20,333 --> 00:15:22,083 - [Terry] How could a balloon take off that fast 354 00:15:22,167 --> 00:15:23,375 and turn on its side 355 00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:25,833 and go like that straight up in the air? 356 00:15:25,917 --> 00:15:27,167 - [Phyll] We know what we saw. 357 00:15:27,292 --> 00:15:32,167 They were some sort of aircraft, but in saucer shape. 358 00:15:32,375 --> 00:15:35,625 I would lay my life down it wasn't a balloon. 359 00:15:35,708 --> 00:15:37,375 [dramatic music continues] 360 00:15:37,458 --> 00:15:38,708 - [Tony] Take a look at these sketches. 361 00:15:38,792 --> 00:15:40,375 This is what Phyll remembers 362 00:15:40,458 --> 00:15:42,667 and this is what Terry remembers. 363 00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:44,625 See the dome tops? 364 00:15:44,708 --> 00:15:48,292 This one even has those lights around the rim. 365 00:15:48,375 --> 00:15:51,542 They definitely look a lot more like flying saucers 366 00:15:51,625 --> 00:15:53,917 than deflated balloons to me. 367 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,458 So let's give these eyewitnesses 368 00:15:55,542 --> 00:15:58,292 the investigation this case deserves. 369 00:15:58,375 --> 00:16:01,000 [dramatic music] 370 00:16:02,792 --> 00:16:04,083 - [Tony] Hundreds of witnesses 371 00:16:04,167 --> 00:16:07,125 and two photos that might prove it all. 372 00:16:07,208 --> 00:16:09,833 Does that mean something really did happen in Westall? 373 00:16:09,875 --> 00:16:11,125 - [Mick] Yeah, I think the fact 374 00:16:11,208 --> 00:16:13,500 that hundreds of people reported seeing something 375 00:16:13,583 --> 00:16:16,250 means that something was actually there. 376 00:16:16,333 --> 00:16:18,042 It doesn't mean that it was an alien spaceship, 377 00:16:18,167 --> 00:16:20,292 but it means that there was something in the air. 378 00:16:20,375 --> 00:16:23,667 - [Tony] So we don't think the sighting itself is a hoax. 379 00:16:23,708 --> 00:16:25,333 However, the same can't be said 380 00:16:25,417 --> 00:16:27,167 for that black and white photo. 381 00:16:27,250 --> 00:16:30,042 - [Mick] The lighting itself seems weirdly inconsistent. 382 00:16:30,125 --> 00:16:34,083 We have these very, very dark trees in the foreground. 383 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:36,708 We have some light on the grass here, 384 00:16:36,792 --> 00:16:38,125 but that would be coming from above. 385 00:16:38,208 --> 00:16:40,125 This looks like it's kind of lit from below. 386 00:16:40,208 --> 00:16:41,375 It doesn't seem like something 387 00:16:41,458 --> 00:16:43,333 that's actually there in this scene. 388 00:16:43,458 --> 00:16:45,792 - [Tony] And that could be an important clue. 389 00:16:45,875 --> 00:16:50,250 - [Marc] In the days of film, and even with cameras today, 390 00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:54,000 you could take a single photo of a terrain like this 391 00:16:54,083 --> 00:16:58,167 and then take a second photo and overlay it on top. 392 00:16:58,250 --> 00:17:01,250 And that appears to be what's happened here. 393 00:17:01,333 --> 00:17:04,000 It seems like a photo was taken of this, 394 00:17:04,083 --> 00:17:08,042 maybe it was a model, maybe it was a lamp, 395 00:17:08,167 --> 00:17:11,042 and overlaid into a photo of the ground. 396 00:17:11,125 --> 00:17:13,458 - [Tony] Chances are whoever made this photo 397 00:17:13,542 --> 00:17:16,167 heard the Westall eyewitness accounts 398 00:17:16,208 --> 00:17:18,500 and simply matched their descriptions. 399 00:17:18,625 --> 00:17:21,375 As for that other photo from four days earlier... 400 00:17:21,458 --> 00:17:22,833 - [Mick] I think what we're actually looking at here 401 00:17:22,958 --> 00:17:24,500 is probably something like a ball 402 00:17:24,542 --> 00:17:27,375 being tossed up in the sky in front of this building, 403 00:17:27,375 --> 00:17:29,792 and you can get very similar looking effects. 404 00:17:29,875 --> 00:17:32,958 I've done essentially the same, replicated it, 405 00:17:33,042 --> 00:17:35,667 and I just went and I took the ball, 406 00:17:35,750 --> 00:17:37,083 tossed it up in the air. 407 00:17:37,083 --> 00:17:39,500 And if we were to take this shot here 408 00:17:40,708 --> 00:17:44,500 and just crop out the bottom half of this, 409 00:17:44,542 --> 00:17:45,625 we'd get a UFO. 410 00:17:45,708 --> 00:17:49,125 [dramatic music continues] 411 00:17:50,542 --> 00:17:51,542 [sparkling music] 412 00:17:51,625 --> 00:17:52,833 - [Tony] Our verdict? 413 00:17:52,833 --> 00:17:55,375 These two photos are likely hoaxes, 414 00:17:55,458 --> 00:17:57,917 but the Westall incident itself 415 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,125 with hundreds of credible witnesses, 416 00:18:00,208 --> 00:18:02,208 that still remains unexplained. 417 00:18:02,292 --> 00:18:05,500 We may never know with certainty what happened in Westall, 418 00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:07,042 but we're pretty sure it wasn't a balloon. 419 00:18:11,833 --> 00:18:13,542 - [Tony] In earlier episodes, we've featured videos from Italy 420 00:18:13,625 --> 00:18:18,083 of oddities in the sky that couldn't be easily explained. 421 00:18:18,167 --> 00:18:20,250 But this next clip may be one of the most compelling 422 00:18:20,375 --> 00:18:22,833 to ever come out of that ancient land. 423 00:18:22,917 --> 00:18:25,042 Take a look and you'll see what I mean. 424 00:18:25,125 --> 00:18:26,625 In the early 2000s, 425 00:18:26,708 --> 00:18:29,833 journalist Paola Harris is handed a mysterious videotape 426 00:18:29,917 --> 00:18:31,750 with an alleged UFO sighting. 427 00:18:31,875 --> 00:18:34,375 Paola isn't told any details about the recording, 428 00:18:34,458 --> 00:18:36,000 including when it was filmed. 429 00:18:36,125 --> 00:18:38,250 All she knows is that it took place 430 00:18:38,333 --> 00:18:40,333 near the town of Aviano, Italy. 431 00:18:40,417 --> 00:18:42,250 - We didn't get the name of the photographer. 432 00:18:42,333 --> 00:18:43,708 There was no return address, 433 00:18:43,875 --> 00:18:47,167 so I didn't know what I was getting until I got home. 434 00:18:47,208 --> 00:18:48,917 - [Tony] And when Paola plays the cassette, 435 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,750 she is shocked by what she sees. 436 00:18:52,042 --> 00:18:54,458 An aerial craft shaped like a saucer 437 00:18:54,542 --> 00:18:58,208 flies gracefully along what appears to be a riverbed. 438 00:18:58,333 --> 00:19:01,583 As the UFO gets closer to the camera, we see it appears 439 00:19:01,667 --> 00:19:05,125 to have several vents flaps on its oval body. 440 00:19:05,208 --> 00:19:06,500 - [Paola] It's a pretty big object 441 00:19:06,583 --> 00:19:10,000 and it's very clear it's a classic disc. 442 00:19:10,083 --> 00:19:11,917 And it almost had like lights 443 00:19:12,042 --> 00:19:14,500 around the circumference of it. 444 00:19:14,583 --> 00:19:17,000 - [Tony] Then, after hovering for a few seconds, 445 00:19:17,042 --> 00:19:19,333 we see the craft start to move again 446 00:19:19,375 --> 00:19:21,833 before quickly zooming off into the clouds. 447 00:19:21,875 --> 00:19:23,292 Writer MJ Banias says 448 00:19:23,375 --> 00:19:26,042 Italy has a long history of UFO sightings. 449 00:19:26,125 --> 00:19:28,500 In fact, in June 2023, 450 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:30,708 former intelligence officer turned whistleblower, 451 00:19:30,833 --> 00:19:33,500 David Grusch made a startling claim. 452 00:19:33,625 --> 00:19:36,208 - [MJ] David Grusch believes that the Vatican 453 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:39,583 was responsible for the coverup of UFOs. 454 00:19:39,667 --> 00:19:42,417 He makes the claim that in 1933 455 00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:44,458 there was a UFO crash in Italy 456 00:19:44,542 --> 00:19:47,458 and the Italian government as well as the Church 457 00:19:47,542 --> 00:19:49,292 essentially attempted to hush it up 458 00:19:49,375 --> 00:19:51,833 and secure the downed object. 459 00:19:51,917 --> 00:19:54,792 - [Tony] And when it comes to UFOs near Aviano, 460 00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:56,333 this wouldn't be the first. 461 00:19:56,417 --> 00:19:59,875 -[MJ] There is a bit of history with Aviano and UFO encounters. 462 00:19:59,958 --> 00:20:03,458 - [Tony] The area is home to a NATO air base. 463 00:20:03,458 --> 00:20:06,250 And on July 1st, 1977, 464 00:20:06,333 --> 00:20:09,167 an Air Force guard observed a strange craft 465 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:11,000 hovering over the base, 466 00:20:11,083 --> 00:20:14,583 which housed two secret jet fighters in a large hangar. 467 00:20:14,708 --> 00:20:18,458 - [MJ] This particular object had a sort of dome shaped top. 468 00:20:18,542 --> 00:20:20,833 It was emitting multiple colored lights, 469 00:20:20,917 --> 00:20:22,958 and it was 45 meter in diameter, 470 00:20:23,042 --> 00:20:27,583 about the size of the Navy Pier Ferris wheel in Chicago. 471 00:20:27,667 --> 00:20:29,833 - [Tony] A team of military guards and radar personnel 472 00:20:29,917 --> 00:20:32,792 purportedly tried to capture that aerial object. 473 00:20:32,875 --> 00:20:33,917 But when they did, 474 00:20:34,042 --> 00:20:35,875 they were hit with a mysterious power outage. 475 00:20:35,958 --> 00:20:37,542 The craft disappeared. 476 00:20:37,625 --> 00:20:38,833 But what about this craft 477 00:20:38,917 --> 00:20:41,583 seen hovering over the river near Aviano? 478 00:20:41,667 --> 00:20:44,333 Is it an alien encounter with a military base? 479 00:20:45,750 --> 00:20:48,083 -[Tony] To date, the Aviano footage has garnered 480 00:20:48,167 --> 00:20:50,792 nearly 8.5 million views on YouTube. 481 00:20:50,875 --> 00:20:53,583 A number of netizens have identified the location 482 00:20:53,667 --> 00:20:56,292 as somewhere near this bridge 483 00:20:56,375 --> 00:20:58,667 which crosses the Cellina Stream. 484 00:20:58,708 --> 00:21:00,167 But let's see what our experts think 485 00:21:00,250 --> 00:21:01,792 about what this thing really is. 486 00:21:01,875 --> 00:21:04,458 [dramatic music] 487 00:21:05,250 --> 00:21:06,542 - [Tony] We begin 488 00:21:06,625 --> 00:21:07,958 with military aviation expert Tim McMillan, 489 00:21:08,042 --> 00:21:11,000 who points out this UFO flying over the river 490 00:21:11,125 --> 00:21:13,250 may not be as alien as you think. 491 00:21:13,333 --> 00:21:16,583 - That particular shape is not exclusive 492 00:21:16,667 --> 00:21:18,792 to the UFO alien kind of lore. 493 00:21:18,875 --> 00:21:21,500 And in fact, going back to the 1930s, 494 00:21:21,542 --> 00:21:25,625 the flying disc or lenticular design was already identified 495 00:21:25,708 --> 00:21:29,667 as really being an exceptional aerodynamic shape. 496 00:21:29,708 --> 00:21:31,083 - [Tony] One of the most well-known 497 00:21:31,167 --> 00:21:32,333 saucer shaped machines 498 00:21:32,417 --> 00:21:34,333 is the Avrocar. 499 00:21:34,417 --> 00:21:36,792 It was developed as part of a U.S. military project 500 00:21:36,875 --> 00:21:39,667 carried out in the early years of the Cold War. 501 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:42,500 - [Tim] That particular program never got off the ground, 502 00:21:42,583 --> 00:21:44,625 both figuratively and literally. 503 00:21:44,708 --> 00:21:47,042 The Avrocar was only able to achieve 504 00:21:47,125 --> 00:21:49,833 a few feet off the ground for just several moments. 505 00:21:49,917 --> 00:21:52,917 And there's a more recent attempt at this 506 00:21:53,042 --> 00:21:55,417 with a smaller drone called the ADIFO, 507 00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:57,750 which integrates fans 508 00:21:57,750 --> 00:22:01,000 and then also a rotating jet engine on it 509 00:22:01,042 --> 00:22:04,333 to try to replicate this flying saucer flight. 510 00:22:04,375 --> 00:22:05,542 - [Tony] As the footage was taken 511 00:22:05,625 --> 00:22:07,667 so close to a military base, 512 00:22:07,792 --> 00:22:11,792 could this be some sort of early 2000s military craft? 513 00:22:11,875 --> 00:22:13,333 Well, hold on. 514 00:22:13,375 --> 00:22:15,583 McMillan notices something off about the footage. 515 00:22:15,708 --> 00:22:17,958 - [Tim] One of the major problems that I see is the fact 516 00:22:18,042 --> 00:22:21,875 that this object is flying really close over the surface. 517 00:22:21,958 --> 00:22:25,833 Just imagine a helicopter that's flying extremely low, 518 00:22:25,875 --> 00:22:28,333 that should be generating significant displacement 519 00:22:28,375 --> 00:22:29,292 on the ground. 520 00:22:29,375 --> 00:22:31,000 We don't see that there. 521 00:22:31,083 --> 00:22:32,583 How is it able to hover over 522 00:22:32,667 --> 00:22:36,042 without having any type of external effect on the ground? 523 00:22:36,125 --> 00:22:37,875 - You don't have an original video 524 00:22:37,875 --> 00:22:40,625 and you don't have metadata or anything to go on. 525 00:22:40,708 --> 00:22:43,167 Could I create CGI to look like this? 526 00:22:43,250 --> 00:22:45,042 The answer is yes, I could. 527 00:22:45,167 --> 00:22:46,667 - [Tony] For Hoffman, 528 00:22:46,708 --> 00:22:48,667 the most suspicious parts of the video occur at the end. 529 00:22:48,750 --> 00:22:51,375 - [Rich] When I saw the object become that indistinct 530 00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:53,875 line or blur, to me that suggested 531 00:22:53,958 --> 00:22:58,167 it was more like a CGI type of an artifact. 532 00:22:58,250 --> 00:22:59,708 And I'm giving you the illusion 533 00:22:59,833 --> 00:23:02,292 that it's taking off at a very fast clip. 534 00:23:02,375 --> 00:23:03,708 - [Tony] With the red flags flying, 535 00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:06,792 we head to our video forensics expert, Michael Primeau. 536 00:23:06,875 --> 00:23:09,292 - We don't know where this file came from, 537 00:23:09,375 --> 00:23:12,333 structural attributes to be able to say 538 00:23:12,417 --> 00:23:14,583 whether or not it's a genuine recording. 539 00:23:14,667 --> 00:23:18,083 With the reduction in the quality becomes challenging 540 00:23:18,167 --> 00:23:19,458 because we can't see detail. 541 00:23:19,542 --> 00:23:21,875 - [Tony] But surprise, unlike Hoffman, 542 00:23:21,958 --> 00:23:24,708 Primeau doesn't detect the use of any special effects. 543 00:23:24,708 --> 00:23:26,000 - [Michael] No evidence of CGI. 544 00:23:26,125 --> 00:23:28,292 No evidence of third-party editing applications. 545 00:23:28,375 --> 00:23:29,708 But again, those things can be stripped 546 00:23:29,875 --> 00:23:33,458 and anti-forensic technology essentially can be introduced, 547 00:23:33,542 --> 00:23:34,667 in which case the result 548 00:23:34,750 --> 00:23:36,792 of this authentication is inconclusive. 549 00:23:36,875 --> 00:23:39,042 Without more information about the chain of custody, 550 00:23:39,125 --> 00:23:41,333 we can't opine as to whether or not this actually occurred. 551 00:23:41,417 --> 00:23:45,333 [dramatic music continues] 552 00:23:45,458 --> 00:23:47,750 - [Tony] So this thing remains unidentified, 553 00:23:47,833 --> 00:23:49,667 and it is certainly flying, 554 00:23:49,750 --> 00:23:52,542 but we're not certain if this is even an object 555 00:23:52,625 --> 00:23:54,167 or just a video hoax. 556 00:23:54,292 --> 00:23:57,917 And with the ongoing military presence at Aviano Air Base, 557 00:23:58,000 --> 00:23:59,125 something tells me 558 00:23:59,208 --> 00:24:01,500 we'll be seeing more anomalous incidents there 559 00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:01,875 in the future. 560 00:24:06,375 --> 00:24:06,875 - [Tony] The UFO in our next photograph 561 00:24:07,708 --> 00:24:10,583 has been the subject of debate for almost 20 years. 562 00:24:10,708 --> 00:24:13,333 And some even believe the photograph is evidence 563 00:24:13,417 --> 00:24:17,167 that UFOs can bend the rules of space and time. 564 00:24:17,250 --> 00:24:18,708 [dramatic music] 565 00:24:18,792 --> 00:24:20,667 - [Tony] November 7th, 2006, 566 00:24:20,750 --> 00:24:24,333 it's a typical day at Chicago's O'Hare Airport 567 00:24:24,417 --> 00:24:26,792 when just after 4:00 PM an airline employee 568 00:24:26,875 --> 00:24:29,500 makes a surprising call to the control tower. 569 00:24:40,625 --> 00:24:43,125 - [Tony] But here's the thing, it's not just one person. 570 00:24:43,208 --> 00:24:46,375 Multiple airport employees also report seeing 571 00:24:46,458 --> 00:24:48,458 a strange craft hovering over the gate. 572 00:24:48,542 --> 00:24:50,458 And later an anonymous source claims 573 00:24:50,542 --> 00:24:52,708 to have captured the UFO on his phone 574 00:24:52,792 --> 00:24:55,000 and sends this image to investigators. 575 00:24:56,875 --> 00:24:59,500 A gray seemingly saucer-shaped object 576 00:24:59,625 --> 00:25:01,917 can be seen over the airport gate. 577 00:25:02,042 --> 00:25:04,250 The various eyewitnesses differ on its size, 578 00:25:04,375 --> 00:25:06,792 with estimates ranging from as little as 10 feet 579 00:25:06,875 --> 00:25:10,125 to as large as 88 feet in diameter. 580 00:25:10,208 --> 00:25:13,500 They claim it immediately accelerated at a steep angle 581 00:25:13,583 --> 00:25:16,250 and punched through the 19,000 foot cloud ceiling, 582 00:25:16,333 --> 00:25:17,500 leaving a hole. 583 00:25:17,542 --> 00:25:18,917 - The FAA concluded 584 00:25:19,042 --> 00:25:20,167 that airport employees 585 00:25:20,250 --> 00:25:25,250 had confused a weather phenomenon with a UFO. 586 00:25:25,333 --> 00:25:26,667 But needless to say, 587 00:25:26,708 --> 00:25:29,875 UFO enthusiasts do not consider this case closed. 588 00:25:29,958 --> 00:25:32,042 - [Tony] In fact, a team of scientists 589 00:25:32,125 --> 00:25:34,958 from the privately-funded research group Applied Physics 590 00:25:35,042 --> 00:25:37,917 has proposed that based on the eyewitness reports, 591 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,375 the O'Hare UFO shows signs of a propulsion system 592 00:25:41,458 --> 00:25:43,417 called the Alcubierre Warp Drive. 593 00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:47,458 - [Erin] It was theorized by Miguel Alcubierre in 1994. 594 00:25:47,542 --> 00:25:49,542 It's a warp drive that would allow a craft 595 00:25:49,542 --> 00:25:51,667 to travel faster than the speed of light 596 00:25:51,708 --> 00:25:54,083 by bending space and time around it. 597 00:25:54,167 --> 00:25:55,208 - [Tony] The theory is 598 00:25:55,333 --> 00:25:57,333 to stretch the fabric of space-time in a wave 599 00:25:57,417 --> 00:26:00,125 which would cause the space ahead of an object to contract 600 00:26:00,208 --> 00:26:02,417 while the space behind it would expand. 601 00:26:02,500 --> 00:26:03,958 The spaceship inside this wave 602 00:26:04,042 --> 00:26:07,292 would then ride this warp bubble of flat space. 603 00:26:07,375 --> 00:26:09,958 - [Erin] The chief researcher of Applied Physics said that 604 00:26:10,042 --> 00:26:14,000 the ideal shape for a spacecraft like this would be a saucer 605 00:26:14,042 --> 00:26:15,792 because it's the most efficient one. 606 00:26:18,667 --> 00:26:19,833 - [Erin] So that kind of mimics 607 00:26:19,875 --> 00:26:22,542 what was seen at O'Hare Airport. 608 00:26:24,292 --> 00:26:27,458 - [Tony] Could warp drive just like we see on "Star Trek" 609 00:26:27,542 --> 00:26:28,958 be a reality one day? 610 00:26:29,042 --> 00:26:31,833 Believe it or not, scientists from NASA 611 00:26:31,958 --> 00:26:33,333 have put their minds to it 612 00:26:33,333 --> 00:26:37,292 and published papers examining the possibility. 613 00:26:37,375 --> 00:26:39,000 But did eyewitnesses really see 614 00:26:39,083 --> 00:26:41,583 the O'Hare UFO jump to light speed? 615 00:26:41,667 --> 00:26:44,542 [dramatic music] 616 00:26:46,333 --> 00:26:47,708 - [Tony] According to the FAA, 617 00:26:47,833 --> 00:26:50,583 no airplanes were detected on radar over the gate 618 00:26:50,667 --> 00:26:52,833 or seen by air traffic controllers. 619 00:26:52,875 --> 00:26:55,625 They concluded what the eyewitnesses thought was a UFO 620 00:26:55,708 --> 00:26:57,000 was naturally occurring 621 00:26:57,083 --> 00:26:59,792 and something called a hole punch cloud. 622 00:26:59,792 --> 00:27:00,917 - [Juan] A hole punch cloud develops 623 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,000 where an airplane traverses across a cloud 624 00:27:04,083 --> 00:27:06,667 and causes an instantaneous condensation 625 00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:08,333 of those water droplets. 626 00:27:08,375 --> 00:27:11,792 But hole punch clouds are not normally seen this low. 627 00:27:11,875 --> 00:27:14,875 They occur between 10 to 20,000 feet, 628 00:27:14,958 --> 00:27:17,625 not at about 1,000 feet above the ground. 629 00:27:17,708 --> 00:27:20,042 And for a hole punch cloud to develop, 630 00:27:20,125 --> 00:27:22,083 you need subfreezing temperatures. 631 00:27:22,167 --> 00:27:25,208 At the location and the height that this was reported, 632 00:27:25,292 --> 00:27:28,000 there were no subfreezing temperatures at this time. 633 00:27:28,083 --> 00:27:31,000 I don't think this is a weather event. 634 00:27:31,042 --> 00:27:33,750 - [Tony] But eyewitnesses claim they saw an actual craft, 635 00:27:33,833 --> 00:27:35,750 not just a hole in the cloud, 636 00:27:35,833 --> 00:27:37,792 and that the craft instantaneously 637 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:40,583 accelerated upwards to disappear in a flash. 638 00:27:40,667 --> 00:27:42,042 Is that burst of speed 639 00:27:42,125 --> 00:27:44,500 what could have caused a hole in the cloud? 640 00:27:44,542 --> 00:27:45,792 Could it be the signature 641 00:27:45,875 --> 00:27:49,333 of a UFO engaging its Alcubierre Warp Drive? 642 00:27:49,417 --> 00:27:50,875 -[Michio] I don't think so 643 00:27:50,958 --> 00:27:54,083 because we're talking about incredible amounts of energy 644 00:27:54,167 --> 00:27:56,667 to compress space in front of you. 645 00:27:56,750 --> 00:27:59,208 It would be enough to flatten O'Hare Airport 646 00:27:59,208 --> 00:28:01,375 and take a good chunk of Illinois with it. 647 00:28:02,667 --> 00:28:04,875 - [Tony] And as for that image in the photo, 648 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,750 it's so small and low res, it's hard to authenticate. 649 00:28:08,875 --> 00:28:12,208 In fact, NARCAP, the National Aviation Reporting Center 650 00:28:12,292 --> 00:28:13,833 for Anomalous Phenomena 651 00:28:13,875 --> 00:28:16,500 examined the photo as soon as it was anonymously submitted 652 00:28:16,583 --> 00:28:18,000 during their investigation. 653 00:28:18,083 --> 00:28:20,625 Their analysis determined the image was manipulated, 654 00:28:20,708 --> 00:28:21,958 and that the disc-shaped object 655 00:28:22,042 --> 00:28:24,292 was inserted into the picture. 656 00:28:24,375 --> 00:28:25,375 The smoking gun? 657 00:28:25,458 --> 00:28:27,333 The NARCAP team located online 658 00:28:27,417 --> 00:28:29,917 the original source image of the airport gate 659 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,542 the UFO was cut and pasted onto. 660 00:28:32,542 --> 00:28:36,500 [dramatic music continues] 661 00:28:36,542 --> 00:28:37,500 [sparkling music] 662 00:28:37,583 --> 00:28:40,417 - [Tony] Our verdict? Faked photo. 663 00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:42,333 But while this picture isn't legit, 664 00:28:42,375 --> 00:28:46,000 we still can't explain what we heard in that recording 665 00:28:46,042 --> 00:28:48,042 and why so many people are certain 666 00:28:48,125 --> 00:28:51,083 they saw not just a hole in the cloud, 667 00:28:51,167 --> 00:28:54,250 but an actual physical object in the sky. 668 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:57,375 For now, that part of the story remains unexplained. 669 00:29:02,333 --> 00:29:03,500 - [Tony] There are more objects flying in our skies 670 00:29:03,667 --> 00:29:06,167 and orbiting in space than ever before. 671 00:29:06,333 --> 00:29:09,333 At any given moment, there are as many as 20,000 planes 672 00:29:09,375 --> 00:29:12,792 and nearly 5,000 satellites above our heads. 673 00:29:12,875 --> 00:29:15,000 And that's not even counting the drones. 674 00:29:15,042 --> 00:29:18,167 So it takes something pretty unusual to grab our attention. 675 00:29:18,292 --> 00:29:19,750 And this next sighting 676 00:29:19,833 --> 00:29:23,333 recorded near the Panama Canal no less did just that. 677 00:29:23,417 --> 00:29:25,292 [dramatic music] 678 00:29:25,375 --> 00:29:29,167 - [Tony] It's October 9th, 2019 in Panama City, Panama. 679 00:29:29,250 --> 00:29:32,292 Jose Angel Castro is strolling on a pedestrian bridge 680 00:29:32,375 --> 00:29:34,292 when he suddenly notices something strange 681 00:29:34,292 --> 00:29:35,083 floating in the sky. 682 00:29:37,542 --> 00:29:41,083 [man speaking in Spanish] 683 00:29:41,167 --> 00:29:42,833 - [Tony] Take a closer look. 684 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,125 A thin smooth white disc is simply floating in the sky. 685 00:29:48,208 --> 00:29:49,667 Now if you've watched this before, 686 00:29:49,792 --> 00:29:51,542 you may think this is just another case 687 00:29:51,667 --> 00:29:53,875 of reflection or optical illusion. 688 00:29:53,958 --> 00:29:56,500 But there's no doubt in Jose's mind what he's seeing. 689 00:29:57,583 --> 00:29:59,500 [man speaking in Spanish] 690 00:29:59,625 --> 00:30:03,167 [Jose speaking in Spanish] 691 00:30:11,625 --> 00:30:12,792 - [Tony] Journalist Erin McCarthy 692 00:30:12,875 --> 00:30:14,833 isn't surprised by Jose's reaction. 693 00:30:14,917 --> 00:30:16,667 - There are UFO sightings 694 00:30:16,750 --> 00:30:18,417 in Central America pretty frequently, 695 00:30:18,500 --> 00:30:20,750 usually around volcanoes and things like that. 696 00:30:20,833 --> 00:30:22,042 So it doesn't surprise me 697 00:30:22,125 --> 00:30:24,750 that someone would think this is a UFO. 698 00:30:24,833 --> 00:30:26,000 - [Tony] In fact, just this year 699 00:30:26,083 --> 00:30:27,500 a recently resurfaced photo 700 00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:29,750 of this flying saucer in neighboring Costa Rica 701 00:30:29,833 --> 00:30:31,167 has been making headlines, 702 00:30:31,250 --> 00:30:34,208 some calling it the best UFO photo ever taken. 703 00:30:34,292 --> 00:30:36,542 The image was captured in September 1971 704 00:30:36,542 --> 00:30:39,250 during a survey for a hydroelectric project, 705 00:30:39,333 --> 00:30:43,667 and estimated to be between 120 and 220 feet in diameter. 706 00:30:43,708 --> 00:30:45,333 The photograph was analyzed in France 707 00:30:45,417 --> 00:30:47,542 and the United States by different organizations 708 00:30:47,625 --> 00:30:49,375 and confirmed to not be faked. 709 00:30:49,458 --> 00:30:51,875 But what it is remains a mystery to this day. 710 00:30:51,958 --> 00:30:54,833 [dramatic music continues] 711 00:30:54,875 --> 00:30:56,833 -[Tony] So we have a 50-year-old 712 00:30:56,917 --> 00:30:58,583 UFO seen over Costa Rica. 713 00:30:58,667 --> 00:31:02,792 Now this mysterious white disc seen near the Panama Canal. 714 00:31:02,875 --> 00:31:04,083 What's going on here? 715 00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,417 Is there something drawing extraterrestrials 716 00:31:06,542 --> 00:31:07,708 to Latin America? 717 00:31:07,833 --> 00:31:09,708 We asked our experts to take a look. 718 00:31:09,833 --> 00:31:12,500 [dramatic music] 719 00:31:14,042 --> 00:31:16,333 - [Tony] In this footage the object is so flat and long, 720 00:31:16,458 --> 00:31:18,917 it sure doesn't look like a plane or a drone. 721 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:20,208 And McMillan says it doesn't look 722 00:31:20,292 --> 00:31:22,250 or move like a balloon either. 723 00:31:22,333 --> 00:31:23,458 - [Tim] If it was a balloon, 724 00:31:23,625 --> 00:31:27,208 we should be seeing more of a larger oval shape. 725 00:31:27,292 --> 00:31:29,917 The lighter-than-air gasses that are inside of that 726 00:31:30,042 --> 00:31:32,167 that would be causing it to fly 727 00:31:32,250 --> 00:31:34,458 would be distributed in a manner 728 00:31:34,542 --> 00:31:36,542 where it wouldn't stay level. 729 00:31:36,625 --> 00:31:38,250 And we don't see that here. 730 00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:39,500 - [Tony] But McMillan does observe 731 00:31:39,583 --> 00:31:41,042 that whatever this craft is, 732 00:31:41,125 --> 00:31:43,667 not everyone in the video is as excited as Jose. 733 00:31:43,708 --> 00:31:46,583 - [Tim] We can see the gentlemen that are in the cherry picker, 734 00:31:46,667 --> 00:31:47,958 but we can't help but notice 735 00:31:48,042 --> 00:31:50,917 that they seem unaffected by whatever this is. 736 00:31:50,917 --> 00:31:54,000 So that's kind of a red flag there to me. 737 00:31:54,083 --> 00:31:55,958 - [Tony] Could this footage simply be a hoax? 738 00:31:56,042 --> 00:31:58,292 - Quite often you see people use 739 00:31:58,375 --> 00:32:01,917 a Gaussian blur defocusing technique 740 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:03,542 when they make fake videos, 741 00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:07,000 but this looks more like a proper out-of-focus video. 742 00:32:07,083 --> 00:32:10,292 I can't see anything that really stands out as fake. 743 00:32:11,292 --> 00:32:12,792 - [Tony] So then is Jose right? 744 00:32:12,875 --> 00:32:15,000 Could this be an actual UFO? 745 00:32:15,042 --> 00:32:16,458 - [Mick] The thing about it being a UFO 746 00:32:16,542 --> 00:32:19,250 is that it doesn't do anything particularly interesting. 747 00:32:19,333 --> 00:32:21,208 It doesn't change direction. 748 00:32:21,208 --> 00:32:24,542 It doesn't appear to hover without any means of propulsion. 749 00:32:24,667 --> 00:32:25,875 It doesn't really meet 750 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,917 any of the interesting criteria of a UFO. 751 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,375 - [Tony] However, West does have a clue 752 00:32:32,458 --> 00:32:34,667 that meets his criteria to solve the mystery. 753 00:32:34,750 --> 00:32:37,792 - [Mick] We know it's a real video shot in a real place. 754 00:32:37,792 --> 00:32:38,958 We can look it up. 755 00:32:39,042 --> 00:32:40,708 So here we've got Panama City, 756 00:32:40,792 --> 00:32:48,000 and we can zoom in and find the Albrook Mall right here. 757 00:32:49,125 --> 00:32:53,333 And this is where the video was filmed. 758 00:32:53,417 --> 00:32:55,333 He's on this bridge here, I believe, 759 00:32:55,417 --> 00:32:58,250 and he's taking the video in this direction. 760 00:32:58,333 --> 00:33:01,250 - [Tony] West says that Jose's location is the key. 761 00:33:01,333 --> 00:33:03,250 - [Mick} Right behind there is an airport. 762 00:33:03,333 --> 00:33:05,000 Now there'd be these buildings here, 763 00:33:05,042 --> 00:33:06,833 which are obscuring the view of the airport. 764 00:33:06,958 --> 00:33:09,083 We can see the plane would've started 765 00:33:09,167 --> 00:33:10,708 down at this end of the runway. 766 00:33:12,042 --> 00:33:13,292 - [Tony] Mick says the brightness is caused 767 00:33:13,417 --> 00:33:15,958 by the angle of the sun reflecting off the wing. 768 00:33:16,042 --> 00:33:17,208 It's the intense light rays 769 00:33:17,333 --> 00:33:19,750 that obscure the rest of the plane. 770 00:33:19,875 --> 00:33:22,417 - [Mick] And it's pretty consistent 771 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:24,667 with something like a Cessna 772 00:33:25,208 --> 00:33:28,833 with a high wing and the fuselage underneath. 773 00:33:28,917 --> 00:33:31,833 Some friends of mine on my website MetaBunk 774 00:33:31,875 --> 00:33:34,583 actually tracked down an actual plane 775 00:33:34,667 --> 00:33:37,417 that was taking off at that time. 776 00:33:37,417 --> 00:33:39,167 It's Cessna 182, 777 00:33:39,250 --> 00:33:41,333 which will be white and illuminated by the sun, 778 00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:44,208 and that would give the appearance of a saucer. 779 00:33:44,292 --> 00:33:48,083 [dramatic music continues] 780 00:33:49,042 --> 00:33:51,167 - [Tony] Our verdict? Airplane. 781 00:33:51,208 --> 00:33:53,875 The angle and the reflected sunlight 782 00:33:53,958 --> 00:33:55,833 made it look like a flying saucer, 783 00:33:55,917 --> 00:33:58,667 but as of now, the good people of Panama 784 00:33:58,708 --> 00:34:00,500 and that crucial canal remains safe from alien invasion. 785 00:34:05,167 --> 00:34:06,083 - [Tony] At over 70 years old, 786 00:34:06,458 --> 00:34:09,000 this first story is an oldie, but a very goodie. 787 00:34:09,083 --> 00:34:10,917 These images out of Brazil have been called 788 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:12,333 the most sensational sequence 789 00:34:12,458 --> 00:34:15,125 of flying saucer photos ever seen, 790 00:34:15,208 --> 00:34:17,625 and you're about to see them right here. 791 00:34:17,708 --> 00:34:21,333 May 1952, Joao Martins, a journalist 792 00:34:21,417 --> 00:34:24,875 from Brazilian weekly magazine, O Cruzeiro, 793 00:34:24,958 --> 00:34:27,000 and his photographer Ed Keffel 794 00:34:27,083 --> 00:34:28,500 are on a routine assignment 795 00:34:28,542 --> 00:34:31,917 to the Barra Da Tijuca near Rio de Janeiro. 796 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,208 In the late afternoon, Martins spots 797 00:34:34,292 --> 00:34:36,875 what he thinks is an airplane traveling at great speed. 798 00:34:36,958 --> 00:34:38,500 But upon further inspection, 799 00:34:38,542 --> 00:34:41,458 he realizes it was actually no airplane at all. 800 00:34:41,542 --> 00:34:45,375 Martins screams, "Shoot it," and so Keffel does. 801 00:34:45,500 --> 00:34:47,333 What they capture is astounding: 802 00:34:47,458 --> 00:34:50,667 A saucer-shaped disc flying through the sky at great speed. 803 00:34:50,750 --> 00:34:53,167 They describe the object as blue-gray in color 804 00:34:53,292 --> 00:34:54,583 and completely silent. 805 00:34:54,667 --> 00:34:56,833 Careful inspection of these historic photos 806 00:34:56,917 --> 00:35:00,375 seems to reveal the object has three distinct layers: 807 00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:03,542 A flat disc on the outside, a raised rim in the middle, 808 00:35:03,625 --> 00:35:06,125 and a small bump on the top center. 809 00:35:06,208 --> 00:35:08,208 Keffel is also able to photograph 810 00:35:08,208 --> 00:35:09,542 the bottom of the craft, 811 00:35:09,625 --> 00:35:10,708 which appears flat 812 00:35:10,792 --> 00:35:13,250 except for a raised ring around the center. 813 00:35:13,333 --> 00:35:16,333 The stunned men continue shooting for a full 60 seconds 814 00:35:16,417 --> 00:35:18,958 before the object speeds out of sight, 815 00:35:19,042 --> 00:35:21,458 cementing its place in UFO history. 816 00:35:22,625 --> 00:35:24,417 According to journalist Eric Grundhauser, 817 00:35:24,542 --> 00:35:27,042 when the reports are published in O Cruzeiro 818 00:35:27,125 --> 00:35:28,667 they create a firestorm. 819 00:35:28,750 --> 00:35:30,375 - [Eric] Issues just flew off the shelves. 820 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:33,458 It created a UFO craze in Brazil. 821 00:35:33,542 --> 00:35:35,500 People still reference these photos 822 00:35:35,583 --> 00:35:37,417 as some of the most credible evidence 823 00:35:37,542 --> 00:35:39,500 of extraterrestrial visitation. 824 00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:40,833 - [Tony] The photos get the attention 825 00:35:40,875 --> 00:35:42,208 not only of the public, 826 00:35:42,333 --> 00:35:43,667 but the Brazilian military, 827 00:35:43,750 --> 00:35:46,167 which launches an immediate investigation. 828 00:35:46,250 --> 00:35:47,708 - [Eric] The Brazilian Air Force determined 829 00:35:47,792 --> 00:35:49,625 that they were in fact genuine. 830 00:35:49,708 --> 00:35:53,000 One Brazilian investigator has even called them 831 00:35:53,083 --> 00:35:56,000 the most sensational sequence of photos 832 00:35:56,125 --> 00:35:57,875 of an extraterrestrial ever seen. 833 00:35:57,958 --> 00:36:00,667 - [Tony] The O Cruzeiro photos are so groundbreaking, 834 00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:03,417 they set off decades of Brazilian UFO sightings, 835 00:36:03,542 --> 00:36:06,125 many investigated with zeal by the Brazilian Air Force. 836 00:36:06,208 --> 00:36:08,417 [dramatic music continues] 837 00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:11,542 - [Tony] 70 years ago, these photos may have been 838 00:36:11,625 --> 00:36:14,667 credible enough to make the Brazilian Air Force take notice. 839 00:36:14,750 --> 00:36:17,750 But can they stand up to modern scrutiny? 840 00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:19,167 Our experts are on the case. 841 00:36:19,208 --> 00:36:22,125 [dramatic music] 842 00:36:24,125 --> 00:36:25,500 - [Tony] Some have speculated 843 00:36:25,625 --> 00:36:27,750 the disc could have been superimposed on the background 844 00:36:27,833 --> 00:36:29,292 using double exposure 845 00:36:29,375 --> 00:36:30,958 where the same frame of film 846 00:36:31,042 --> 00:36:32,833 is exposed to two separate images 847 00:36:32,917 --> 00:36:35,167 without advancing the film role. 848 00:36:35,250 --> 00:36:37,667 But astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy says 849 00:36:37,792 --> 00:36:40,958 the sharpness of these images kills that theory. 850 00:36:41,042 --> 00:36:43,208 - [Andrew] I'm not seeing any kind of ghosting in this image, 851 00:36:43,292 --> 00:36:46,833 which would be very common from a double exposure. 852 00:36:46,833 --> 00:36:49,375 This is also a very high contrast image, 853 00:36:49,500 --> 00:36:52,500 which also suggests that it's not a double exposure 854 00:36:52,542 --> 00:36:55,417 because the item in the sky would be washed out 855 00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:57,333 by that relatively bright sky. 856 00:36:57,417 --> 00:37:00,375 So I think this was captured with a single photograph. 857 00:37:00,500 --> 00:37:02,625 - [Tony] So could it just be a model saucer 858 00:37:02,708 --> 00:37:04,333 tossed in the air for the photo? 859 00:37:04,458 --> 00:37:05,958 - It's hard to say for sure 860 00:37:06,042 --> 00:37:08,042 because generally you'd see a little bit more motion blur 861 00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:09,292 with an object that was thrown 862 00:37:09,375 --> 00:37:11,042 moments before the photo was being taken. 863 00:37:11,125 --> 00:37:12,333 - [Tony] A fast exposure speed 864 00:37:12,417 --> 00:37:14,042 could correct for motion blur, 865 00:37:14,125 --> 00:37:15,333 but according to McCarthy, 866 00:37:15,417 --> 00:37:17,208 the deep depth of field in these photos 867 00:37:17,208 --> 00:37:18,625 gives us critical info. 868 00:37:18,708 --> 00:37:21,583 - The focal ratio used for the shot was f/2.8. 869 00:37:21,708 --> 00:37:23,958 That actually lets a lot of light in 870 00:37:23,958 --> 00:37:25,833 so they're able to shorten their exposures 871 00:37:25,958 --> 00:37:28,958 so they would be able to reduce motion blur significantly. 872 00:37:29,042 --> 00:37:31,583 However, it's actually really hard to get an object 873 00:37:31,708 --> 00:37:34,458 that's in focus, both close to your camera 874 00:37:34,542 --> 00:37:36,917 and far away like the landscape. 875 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:38,542 So I think what we're looking at 876 00:37:38,625 --> 00:37:40,750 is actually much further away from the observer 877 00:37:40,833 --> 00:37:43,333 than any disc that could have been thrown. 878 00:37:43,417 --> 00:37:45,125 - [Tony] So if it's not double exposure 879 00:37:45,208 --> 00:37:47,500 and it's not a model thrown in the air, 880 00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:49,792 does that mean these photos are legit? 881 00:37:49,875 --> 00:37:52,958 McCarthy would say not so fast in Portuguese, 882 00:37:53,042 --> 00:37:54,625 if he spoke Portuguese. 883 00:37:54,708 --> 00:37:57,375 - You can see the craft appears to be illuminated 884 00:37:57,458 --> 00:38:00,000 from the left and behind the observer. 885 00:38:00,083 --> 00:38:01,667 However, when you look at the trees, 886 00:38:01,708 --> 00:38:05,000 they appear to be illuminated from the right. 887 00:38:05,042 --> 00:38:08,500 So the shadows are actually inconsistent in this image. 888 00:38:08,625 --> 00:38:10,500 - I don't think the shadow issue 889 00:38:10,625 --> 00:38:12,333 that was raised is a concern. 890 00:38:12,417 --> 00:38:13,875 - [Tony] Hoffman insists 891 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,792 the shadows thrown in the tree line can't be compared 892 00:38:16,875 --> 00:38:19,125 to the shadowing in the clear air above the mountain. 893 00:38:19,208 --> 00:38:22,167 - [Rich] The things that are up above that tree line 894 00:38:22,250 --> 00:38:24,250 are gonna catch the sun 895 00:38:24,375 --> 00:38:26,333 that are not being exposed by the shadow 896 00:38:26,417 --> 00:38:29,208 from the tree on the left side. 897 00:38:29,333 --> 00:38:31,000 - [Tony] But McCarthy sticks to his guns. 898 00:38:31,125 --> 00:38:34,417 - In the days before Photoshop, film was actually doctored 899 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:36,333 through a technique called airbrushing. 900 00:38:36,417 --> 00:38:38,792 They were essentially drawing directly on the film. 901 00:38:38,875 --> 00:38:40,167 In this case, 902 00:38:40,250 --> 00:38:42,667 they could have very easily drawn on these elements. 903 00:38:42,708 --> 00:38:44,917 That may be what we're looking at here. 904 00:38:45,042 --> 00:38:49,000 [dramatic music continues] 905 00:38:49,042 --> 00:38:50,333 - [Tony] Our verdict? 906 00:38:50,417 --> 00:38:53,167 We're going to call it an even split for now. 907 00:38:53,250 --> 00:38:56,500 Hoffman says genuine UFO, McCarthy says hoax, 908 00:38:56,583 --> 00:38:58,375 and we're left uncertain, 909 00:38:58,458 --> 00:39:01,333 especially with the shady status of the lighting. 910 00:39:01,417 --> 00:39:02,833 But even if it is a hoax, 911 00:39:02,917 --> 00:39:04,625 if this incident inspired 912 00:39:04,708 --> 00:39:07,583 a whole new field of study in Brazil, 913 00:39:07,583 --> 00:39:11,458 then perhaps some hoaxes do some good after all. 914 00:39:11,542 --> 00:39:14,375 Flying saucers have been reported for decades. 915 00:39:14,375 --> 00:39:16,667 Just one of many UFO shapes. 916 00:39:16,792 --> 00:39:18,250 For those that seem genuine, 917 00:39:18,375 --> 00:39:21,667 who or what is at the controls? 918 00:39:21,708 --> 00:39:24,500 Our experts will continue to search for answers. 919 00:39:24,583 --> 00:39:27,042 Thank you so much for watching this special edition 920 00:39:27,125 --> 00:39:28,458 of "The Proof is Out There." 921 00:39:28,542 --> 00:39:31,333 Please send us any video, images or sound 922 00:39:31,417 --> 00:39:33,208 that you think we should investigate. 923 00:39:33,292 --> 00:39:35,625 And remember to keep those cameras rolling. 924 00:39:35,708 --> 00:39:39,583 [dramatic music continues]