1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:04,560 [tense music] 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:06,160 ♪ ♪ 3 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,680 [Duchovny] Tonight on "Secrets Declassified," 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,160 government cases and programs so strange, 5 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,480 they cross into the supernatural, 6 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:16,640 like when the U.S. resorts to ancient magic 7 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,440 to win a modern conflict... 8 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,520 - They're on the front lines of a war, 9 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,520 deploying 16th century witchcraft. 10 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,040 - Or the time the FBI went hunting for monsters... 11 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,480 [Sami] It's one of the most advanced forensic labs 12 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,960 in the world, and it's testing for Bigfoot. 13 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,840 - And the most mysterious UFO sighting of them all. 14 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,400 [Hakeem] He sees a gleaming metallic object. 15 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,320 It looks like a big egg. 16 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:41,680 ♪ ♪ 17 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,600 - These are some of the strangest things 18 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,040 done throughout history by governments 19 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:47,680 and the people who work for them. 20 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,200 It's time to bring them to light. 21 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,200 [dramatic music] 22 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,200 ♪ ♪ 23 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,280 In the Vietnam War, the U.S. military is desperate 24 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,480 to locate the Viet Cong's jungle hideouts. 25 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:08,000 They try aerial reconnaissance, tracker dogs, 26 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,920 even deadly chemicals to strip the jungle bare. 27 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,880 When none of that works, 28 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,960 desperate times call for desperate measures, 29 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,560 and they turn to something far stranger-- 30 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,120 two bent wires and some witchcraft. 31 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,520 [tense music] 32 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,320 [Sami] By 1967, the conflict in Vietnam 33 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,040 is a brutal deadlock. 34 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,000 American troops had massive firepower 35 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,760 and cutting-edge gear, yet they're getting worn down. 36 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,800 - Their enemy, the Viet Cong, is determined and innovative. 37 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,040 And one of their most effective ways 38 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,240 of combating U.S. troops is by using 39 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,080 a massive network of underground tunnels. 40 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,560 - The Viet Cong have dug and expanded 41 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,040 200 miles of these underground tunnels 42 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:51,760 that stretch under the jungle. 43 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:53,160 [Hakeem] For the American GIs, 44 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,280 these tunnels are a nightmare. 45 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,360 The VC can pop up, ambush a patrol, 46 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,680 and then just disappear back underground. 47 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,320 [Duchovny] One reason the VC tunnels are so effective 48 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,040 is because they're almost impossible to find. 49 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,400 - Traditional aerial reconnaissance doesn't work, 50 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,240 because the jungle canopy is just too thick. 51 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,080 And on the ground, they're so well camouflaged 52 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:15,440 that the soldiers can't find them 53 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,080 unless they just get lucky. 54 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,360 [Duchovny] To find their invisible enemy, 55 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,680 one U.S. official pleads for help. 56 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,160 - In November 1966, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara 57 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,880 screens a film for military consultants 58 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,560 that demonstrates some of the problems they're facing 59 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,640 in Vietnam, and it includes this appeal for new ideas 60 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,160 to detect and wipe out tunnels used by the enemy. 61 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:40,640 - The film catches the eye 62 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,280 of a professional land surveyor from Virginia. 63 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,520 His name is Louis Matacia. 64 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,120 When he sees the film showing these American troops 65 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,320 searching helplessly for these underground tunnels, 66 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,680 he thinks, I know exactly how to fix that problem. 67 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:56,240 [Duchovny] Matacia's answer is 68 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,600 a form of witchcraft: divination. 69 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,120 [Dan] Divination is this centuries-old 70 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,160 mystical practice where people claim they can pinpoint 71 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,280 underground water or minerals with just a forked stick 72 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:09,720 or with metal rods. 73 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,400 [Martin] Divination is used by people 74 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,720 who believe that, by balancing a rod, 75 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,400 someone can notice a subtle movement in it, 76 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,160 which is its magnetic attraction to a variation 77 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,320 in the magnetism below the soil. 78 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,160 [Dan] Mystics and mineral prospectors 79 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:26,000 have used this throughout Europe. 80 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,800 And some frontier settlers used it to help them find water 81 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:30,360 when they were pushing West. 82 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,240 There's just one catch, and that is that 83 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:34,880 there is no scientific evidence that it works-- 84 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,920 for water or for minerals or for anything. 85 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,200 - Louis Matacia uses divining 86 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,240 as a part of his regular job as a surveyor. 87 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,400 And he is convinced divination can be used 88 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,080 to pinpoint the location 89 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,280 of Viet Cong tunnels in Vietnam. 90 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:51,600 [Duchovny] Matacia volunteers 91 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:53,320 his skills to the military. 92 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,800 With nothing to lose, the Marine Corps decides 93 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,400 to put his idea to the test. 94 00:03:58,520 --> 00:03:59,720 - A group of Marine Corps engineers 95 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:01,680 bring Matacia to a basement location 96 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,360 where he can demonstrate his technique firsthand. 97 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,560 - During this demonstration, he walks beneath 98 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,760 exposed water pipes on the ceiling 99 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,200 holding two L-shaped metal rods, 100 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:12,520 one in each hand. 101 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:14,080 - Every time he passes directly 102 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,640 under a pipe, the rods swing out. 103 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,240 [Hakeem] Some officers think that this is just 104 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,440 a total waste of time, but others buy it. 105 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,360 - They view this as a potential way 106 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,360 to see underground and locate the Viet Cong. 107 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,120 - Matacia's demonstration is enough to inspire 108 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:30,800 a stunning leap of faith. 109 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,120 The U.S. Military gives their troops 110 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,280 a crash course in witchcraft. 111 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:36,920 [Dan] In May of 1968, 112 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:38,600 Matacia leads a training session 113 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:40,320 for Marines in North Carolina. 114 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,080 He shows them how to make divination tools 115 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:43,600 from simple coat hangers. 116 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:47,040 And he promises they can learn to find anything, 117 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,120 from booby traps to hidden weapons. 118 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,480 - They create a simulated Vietnam trail 119 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,360 with ammunition stored underground. 120 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,880 They have a couple of tunnels. 121 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,120 And the results are reliable enough 122 00:04:58,240 --> 00:04:59,640 that it's worth the effort 123 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,440 to roll it out in combat theater in Vietnam. 124 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,520 - Did they set up the experiments properly? 125 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:06,640 We don't really know, but what we do know 126 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,080 is that the military fast-tracked divination 127 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,080 to the front lines in Vietnam. 128 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,200 [Duchovny] Now American troops in Vietnam 129 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,000 carry a weapon into combat-- bent coat hangers. 130 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,440 [Hakeem] You have Marines walking through the jungle 131 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,440 holding their M16 in one hand and forked rods in the other. 132 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,120 - The crazy thing is, the commander in chief 133 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,360 of U.S. forces in Vietnam reports back 134 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,880 that Marines are getting marked success. 135 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,520 He claims divination is enabling his troops 136 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,840 to find tunnels as well as hidden weapons stores, 137 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,200 supplies, and even buried documents. 138 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,320 [Duchovny] But not everyone in the military 139 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:41,520 is a believer. 140 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:42,960 [Catherine] Many think this is 141 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,960 a textbook case of confirmation bias. 142 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,840 The troops are desperate for any edge they can get. 143 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:49,200 [Sami] When they do locate a tunnel, 144 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:50,720 whether through intelligence or luck, 145 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:52,320 they're holding these rods in their hand. 146 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,800 And naturally, the divining gets the credit. 147 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,240 [Duchovny] Witchcraft or chance? 148 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,400 The military never truly discovers 149 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,520 what is behind divination's alleged hit rate. 150 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,440 And as the war winds down, 151 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,880 so does the interest in divining. 152 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,480 - Without any clear evidence of effectiveness, 153 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:10,280 that any of this works to begin with, 154 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,040 backing for the program slowly fades. 155 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,760 And by 1971, the Marine Corps 156 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,160 quietly shuts the whole thing down. 157 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:19,600 [Duchovny] Though few journalists had glimpsed 158 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,640 troops wandering the jungle with coat hangers, 159 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,600 the full story stays classified for several years. 160 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,320 - In May of 1977, a detailed 79-page report 161 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,640 on cheap and unconventional innovations 162 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,640 from the Vietnam era gets quietly declassified 163 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,160 and released. 164 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:38,600 - Buried in that document is the bizarre tale 165 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,400 of how the military embraced divination. 166 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:43,920 [Hakeem] In the end, for Marines 167 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:45,840 walking through a booby-trapped jungle, 168 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,280 a bent coat hanger offering even 169 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,200 a slight edge over pure luck was worth a shot. 170 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,720 Science be damned. 171 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,840 - Four years after the Marines turn to divination, 172 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,480 the Army attempts to harness its own supernatural power, 173 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,080 a secret weapon that can slip past any guard 174 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,040 and penetrate any vault-- 175 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,800 the out-of-body experience. 176 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,160 [tense music] 177 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:12,960 [Sami] In the spring of 1972, 178 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,400 inside the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, 179 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,440 a secret report suddenly lands like a shockwave. 180 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,520 [Dan] This document contains unconfirmed reports 181 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,520 that the Soviets are creating spies 182 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,800 whose consciousness can detach from their bodies. 183 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,520 [Sami] They're attempting to project their minds 184 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,800 thousands of miles to spy on classified meetings 185 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:34,880 or read restricted files, 186 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,520 while their physical bodies are 187 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,120 safely back in Moscow. 188 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,400 [Duchovny] At the height of Cold War paranoia, 189 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,080 any report that the Soviets have an edge is investigated, 190 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,880 even one claiming the enemy is training psychic spies. 191 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,040 - In the 1970s, both superpowers 192 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,120 locked in the Cold War are basically terrified 193 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:53,680 that the other is gonna come up with 194 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,080 some technological development 195 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:56,880 that's gonna instantly win the conflict. 196 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,600 [Andrew] In this high-stakes environment, 197 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,880 a report that says that the Soviets might have 198 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,160 found a way to harness psychic abilities, 199 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:04,720 it's taken seriously. 200 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:06,240 [Duchovny] To close the psychic gap, 201 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:08,760 the DIA doesn't look to a high-tech lab 202 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,760 or research installation. 203 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,240 It heads to a mystical retreat in Virginia's 204 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:15,040 Blue Ridge Mountains, 205 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,320 the Monroe Institute for Applied Sciences. 206 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,760 - This Institute is run by Robert Monroe, 207 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:22,760 a former radio executive who has turned into 208 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,480 a best-selling author. 209 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,640 Word has reached the military that Monroe claims 210 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,800 to have unlocked the same power as the Soviets. 211 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:32,840 - After years of experimenting, he says he can trigger 212 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,240 an out-of-body experience at will 213 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,799 and allow his mind to separate from his body 214 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:39,360 and travel anywhere. 215 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,559 [Duchovny] The military immediately dispatches 216 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,640 one man to discover if it's true. 217 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,200 [Sami] Lieutenant Colonel McDonnell is an officer 218 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:48,560 working for the Army Intelligence 219 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:49,720 and Security Command. 220 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,160 He's sent to immerse himself 221 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:52,800 into Monroe's curious institute. 222 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:55,400 And when he arrives, he does a real deep dive. 223 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,320 Over time, he discovers what Monroe claims 224 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,120 is the secret of the out-of-body experience. 225 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:02,680 [Duchovny] Monroe calls this system 226 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:04,640 the Gateway Process, 227 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:06,720 and he says he can teach it to anyone. 228 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,040 [Greg] According to Monroe, 229 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:09,800 the process uses audio frequencies 230 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:11,000 to manipulate the brain. 231 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:12,400 Monroe plays one tone 232 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,560 in the left ear, and another in the right. 233 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:16,240 The brain tries to reconcile the difference 234 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:18,920 and, in doing so, creates a third frequency. 235 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,320 This can then "click" the subject out of space-time, 236 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:24,880 and now the subject's mind can travel anywhere. 237 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,080 [Duchovny] After fully immersing in the institute, 238 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:28,960 McDonnell returns to his bosses. 239 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:33,120 On June 9, 1983, he drops his classified report 240 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,160 of Monroe's work on his superior's desk. 241 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,800 It's not what anyone expects. 242 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,720 - McDonnell drinks the Kool-Aid big time. 243 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:43,920 His 29-page analysis reveals that 244 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:45,800 he's become a true believer. 245 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,880 It argues that there is a rational, scientific basis 246 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,400 for the Gateway Process. 247 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:52,920 - He believes that this process will allow agents 248 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,800 to transcend space-time, 249 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,800 which means spies could theoretically eliminate 250 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,960 sinister plots before they're even hatched. 251 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,520 [Duchovny] Despite his convictions in Gateway, 252 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:04,800 McDonnell issues a chilling warning. 253 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,920 A supernatural spy mission brings supernatural risks. 254 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,640 - McDonnell claims agents traveling out of body 255 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,360 might encounter intelligent energy forms. 256 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,600 - He's talking entities, beings, things in the void, 257 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,320 and they might not be friendly. 258 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,560 - Despite what dangers might lurk in the abyss, 259 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:26,920 McDonnell convinces the army to green-light 260 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,600 a top-secret initiative to train up a battalion 261 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,320 of psychic spies for the U.S. government. 262 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,600 First, they need to find their potential mind travelers. 263 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:38,200 [Andrew] Recruits are pulled 264 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:39,360 from the intelligence services themselves, 265 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,120 and they are heavily vetted. 266 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:42,960 They're looking for people who aren't too skeptical 267 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,040 but also aren't cult fanatics. 268 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,480 They want believers, not extremists. 269 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:49,280 [Duchovny] Over a range of ambitious, 270 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,000 mind-expanding projects, 271 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,760 the early results seem promising. 272 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:55,360 [Dan] In one session, this one agent says 273 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,080 he sent his mind soaring to Mars-- 274 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,200 and not just Mars, but Mars a million years ago. 275 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,360 He traveled through space and time. 276 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,920 Oh, and by the way, there were pyramids there too. 277 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:07,440 [Amy] He talks about giant pyramids, 278 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:09,200 swirling dust storms, 279 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,320 and an entire civilization of colossal figures. 280 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:13,800 [Duchovny] The problem is, 281 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:15,280 when subjects' supernatural abilities 282 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:17,320 are tested more rigorously, 283 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,600 the results are dangerously unreliable. 284 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,080 - In a more controlled experiment 285 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,320 at the Monroe Institute, subjects on the East Coast 286 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,080 are asked to project their minds 287 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,120 all the way to the West Coast, where there is 288 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,560 a computer screen projecting random numbers. 289 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:32,840 [Andrew] Their job is to read the numbers on the screen 290 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:34,680 and then report back to their East Coast handlers 291 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:36,640 what they actually see. 292 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:38,960 - And guess what-- it doesn't work. 293 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,520 They do no better than you would if you just guessed. 294 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,280 [Duchovny] McDonnell himself acknowledges this problem. 295 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,800 He calls it information distortion. 296 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,480 - Nevertheless, the government continues 297 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:50,640 to push research forward into the 1980s, 298 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,000 oftentimes under classified projects, 299 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,080 but the experimental results are still wildly inconsistent 300 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:57,200 and unreliable. 301 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,400 - In 1984, it's all shut down, 302 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,040 because the military was not getting 303 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:02,520 any real return on investment. 304 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:03,560 Go figure. 305 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:05,240 [Duchovny] For two decades, 306 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,840 McDonnell's Gateway report remains locked away. 307 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,120 Then, in 2003, it's finally released, 308 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,440 but some details remain classified. 309 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,000 [Amy] What we do know is, 310 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:17,840 for a brief period in American history, 311 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,880 the government was actually trying to use 312 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,360 out-of-body experiences as the new era of espionage. 313 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,000 - In the 1950s and '60s, a top-secret government project 314 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:34,480 named Blue Book investigates 12,000 UFO cases. 315 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:39,480 Of those, one file stands apart as the most credible of all-- 316 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:40,560 this one. 317 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,000 [tense music] 318 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,640 [Hakeem] On one spring afternoon, 319 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:46,800 Sergeant Lonnie Zamora is in the middle 320 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,360 of a high-speed pursuit. 321 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,000 Suddenly, a massive boom echoes across the desert, 322 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,520 and Zamora sees a column of flames and smoke 323 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,560 rising up from a distant ravine. 324 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:00,280 His first instinct is that 325 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,320 a dynamite shack out there has exploded. 326 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,600 Zamora abandons the chase and tears off road to go help. 327 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,480 [Duchovny] Zamora drives his cruiser closer 328 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,280 but struggles to make out what he sees. 329 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:12,880 [Paul] Initially, he thinks it's actually 330 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,320 an overturned car, but it doesn't have any windows. 331 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,080 It doesn't appear to have any doors. 332 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,680 - He sees a gleaming, white, oval-shaped metallic object. 333 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,960 It just looks like a big egg. 334 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,640 - According to Zamora, standing beside the craft 335 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,480 are two figures dressed in white overalls, 336 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,440 too small to be adults, yet too large to be children. 337 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:33,280 - He calls it in to the sheriff's dispatcher 338 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,600 and says he's going to check out what looks like 339 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,080 it might be some kind of wreck. 340 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,880 And when he looks back up, suddenly, 341 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,720 the two figures are gone. 342 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,120 [Duchovny] Zamora's heart rate goes up a notch. 343 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:45,480 He drives 50 yards closer 344 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,280 and cautiously gets out to approach on foot. 345 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:49,680 [Hakeem] As he gets nearer, 346 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,120 he notices what looks like landing gear. 347 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:56,080 The craft has two metal legs that are angled outward. 348 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,760 On the side, there's a red insignia. 349 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,640 It's an arrow design that he's never seen before. 350 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,040 [Duchovny] Suddenly, the silence shatters. 351 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,200 - A deafening roar erupts, the ground shakes, 352 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,440 and a blue-orange flame spews from beneath the craft. 353 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,080 - Zamora panics. 354 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,760 He thinks the thing's about to detonate. 355 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,880 He turns and sprints away, dives behind the hill, 356 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:19,840 and covers his head. 357 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:21,960 [Duchovny] But no explosion comes. 358 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:23,200 - The roar cuts out. 359 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,080 And so Zamora peeks out. 360 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,680 And he says that he sees the craft now, 361 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,760 slowly lifting up. 362 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,040 - It pauses, hangs about 15 feet in the air, 363 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,040 then picks up speed and blasts across the sky, 364 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,000 vanishing beyond the distant peaks. 365 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,160 [Duchovny] When Lonnie Zamora radios in 366 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,080 to report what he's seen, 367 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,520 an FBI agent is listening in on the frequency. 368 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,040 For him, this sighting isn't just a mystery-- 369 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,160 it's a threat to a top-secret U.S. base. 370 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,520 - Zamora's sighting takes place about a hundred miles outside 371 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,520 of White Sands Missile Range, 372 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,400 very near Holloman Air Force Base, 373 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,240 which is ground zero for classified 374 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,640 military aerospace programs. 375 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:04,120 Anything strange that happens here 376 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:05,760 could very easily be considered a threat, 377 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,000 possibly even from the Soviets. 378 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,520 [Duchovny] The FBI agent alerts the Army. 379 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,120 Soon, military police arrive to secure the location. 380 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,320 [Don] The military finds Zamora shaken, 381 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,480 but crystal clear about what he saw. 382 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,400 - Lonnie Zamora is a very special kind of witness. 383 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,840 He's a no-nonsense cop who carried out 384 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:26,320 everything by the book. 385 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:27,640 [Don] They also find something else-- 386 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,200 physical proof of the craft's existence. 387 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,440 [Andrew] There are indentations in the ground 388 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,560 that look like landing gear as well as scorched brush 389 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:37,600 in the area from flames. 390 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:39,760 [Duchovny] To investigate, the military sent in 391 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,560 the Air Force's top-secret UFO program, 392 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:44,560 Project Blue Book. 393 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:45,840 [Hakeem] Project Blue Book started 394 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,240 back in the 1940s to track 395 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,880 unidentified flying objects across the United States. 396 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,600 Its job is to assess every unexplained sighting 397 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,760 and determine if they pose a threat to national security. 398 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:00,840 [Duchovny] Project Blue Book is led by 399 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:02,880 Major Hector Quintanilla, 400 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,480 a professional skeptic whose team has debunked 401 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:06,960 thousands of sightings. 402 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,600 While the press clamors for answers, 403 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,760 he quietly launches a forensic investigation. 404 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,280 - Quintanilla brings in teams with Geiger counters 405 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,440 to sweep the area for radiation. 406 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,280 They take soil samples and send them 407 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,360 to the Air Force Materials Lab 408 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,320 to see if they can find traces of propellants. 409 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:25,800 All tests are negative. 410 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,480 No foreign materials are identified. 411 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,320 [Don] His team scours the flight logs 412 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:31,680 of every military base 413 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:33,560 and civilian airport in the region. 414 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,040 They contact weather stations across the state, 415 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,360 but there were no experimental flights that day 416 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,240 and no balloons sent up. 417 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,000 - At one point, he actually even approaches the White House 418 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,560 and tries to discover whether there's anything going on 419 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,240 at the highest levels of the government, 420 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,120 and that also does not bear any fruit. 421 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,160 There's no doubt that something happened, 422 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,080 but the FBI can't point to anything 423 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,840 as being abnormal or alien. 424 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:57,120 [tense music] 425 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:58,960 - After a thorough investigation, 426 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,960 Quintanilla stamps the file "unidentified." 427 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,119 For years, the Zamora case sits in a Blue Book filing cabinet. 428 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:11,680 Then, in 1976, the project's findings on UFOs go public. 429 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,560 [Andrew] In part to quell public speculation 430 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:15,079 that the government is trying to cover up 431 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,760 proof of alien existence, 432 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,119 Project Blue Book is publicly declassified. 433 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,240 - Of its 12,000-plus files, the government claims 434 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,880 that all of them can be either explained or debunked. 435 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,800 But a small number, around 700 or so, 436 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:30,040 remain unsolved, 437 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:31,600 including Zamora's. 438 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:33,520 [Duchovny] It's not just unidentified-- 439 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,160 it's one of a kind. 440 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,600 In private memoirs released after his death, 441 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,080 Quintanilla, the skeptic who spent his life debunking UFOs, 442 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:43,880 makes an astonishing admission. 443 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,640 The Zamora sighting was 444 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,000 the best documented case on record. 445 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:49,760 - The Zamora incident was the one 446 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,240 that bothered him the most 447 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:54,080 because he could never figure out what happened. 448 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,160 There's no proof that the Zamora incident involves 449 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,840 any form of alien life, but there's also 450 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:02,400 no definitive evidence of what it was. 451 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:03,480 ♪ ♪ 452 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,520 - In the 1970s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation 453 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,160 hunts infamous fugitives like Ted Bundy, 454 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,840 John Wayne Gacy, and Patty Hearst. 455 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,760 But for a brief period, its world-leading forensic lab 456 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,520 also attempts to find a much more outlandish monster: 457 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:21,560 Bigfoot. 458 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,600 [ominous music] 459 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,200 [Sami] Deep in the Pacific Northwest, 460 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,880 tales have spread since the 1800s of an enormous, 461 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,280 ape-like creature, sometimes over 8 feet tall, 462 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,000 covered head to toe in hair, 463 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:36,440 walking upright through remote forests. 464 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,280 They call it Sasquatch or Bigfoot. 465 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,400 [Duchovny] In 1967, 59.5 seconds of grainy film 466 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,280 make the folktales seem shockingly real. 467 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,480 [Don] A single shaky piece of footage 468 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,360 is captured by two hikers, 469 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,520 Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, 470 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,520 that shows an ape-like figure glancing back at the camera. 471 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,080 [Kavitha] This eerie snippet 472 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,360 ignites a frenzy of Bigfoot pursuit nationwide. 473 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,880 - Amateur hunters flood into the forests. 474 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,160 And Washington State now leads the nation 475 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,120 with more than 650 reported sightings. 476 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,680 That's about 9 for every 100,000 residents. 477 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,560 [Kavitha] It becomes a widespread obsession. 478 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,000 Everyone is seeing something in the woods. 479 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,600 [Duchovny] While Bigfoot fever sweeps the nation, 480 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,800 one organization refuses to get involved: the FBI. 481 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,960 - The FBI is asked repeatedly to investigate these sightings, 482 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:33,920 but it constantly gives the same answer. 483 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,720 "We investigate terrorism and fugitives. 484 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,520 We don't do myths." 485 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,120 [Duchovny] That policy holds firm for a decade, 486 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,720 until a compelling new Bigfoot encounter 487 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,800 inspires a bizarre exception. 488 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:47,480 [tense music] 489 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,320 [Sami] In the summer of 1976, 490 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,240 two biologists from the U.S. Forest Service 491 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,800 claim that they saw a massive creature 492 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,400 lumbering through the trees and disappearing. 493 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,680 Now, this isn't some vague campfire story. 494 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,480 These are credible witnesses, trained observers, 495 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,120 guys who know the woods. 496 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,320 - They immediately contact the world's most dedicated 497 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,680 Bigfoot researcher, Peter Byrne. 498 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,920 [Amy] Peter Byrne is a former big game hunter 499 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,680 who has dedicated his life to wildlife conservation 500 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,320 and also Sasquatch hunting. 501 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:17,480 He operates the Bigfoot Information Center 502 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,760 in The Dalles, Oregon, in what's thought to be 503 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,320 deep Sasquatch country. 504 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,280 [Duchovny] Byrne rushes to the site to investigate. 505 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,600 - Peter Byrne interviews the biologists 506 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,360 and then goes to the area where they spotted the creature. 507 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:32,640 And Byrne notices that the path the creature 508 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,200 supposedly took cuts between two trees that are 509 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:36,360 really close together. 510 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,640 And that gap is too narrow 511 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,120 for anything with broad shoulders 512 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,800 to pass through without making contact. 513 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:43,760 - Byrne examines the trees carefully, 514 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:45,680 and right there, about 5 feet up, 515 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,120 snagged on rough bark, 516 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,240 he spots a small clump of hair 517 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:51,000 and a fragment of skin tissue. 518 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,000 [Amy] For Peter Byrne, this isn't just 519 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:54,960 another footprint in the mud. 520 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,920 This is biological material that can actually be tested. 521 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,040 - Could Byrne be holding in his hands 522 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,280 the proof that Bigfoot exists? 523 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,440 He thinks so, but wants it tested 524 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,880 by an authority no one can question, 525 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,400 so he reaches out to the FBI. 526 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:12,880 [Don] Byrne drafts a letter to the Bureau, 527 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,680 offering to send in his Bigfoot sample 528 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,800 and pleading for them to analyze it, 529 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,520 stressing the seriousness of his research. 530 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,440 [Duchovny] Luckily for Byrne, the FBI's forensic team 531 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,960 has never been better equipped to help. 532 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,160 - Just the previous year, 533 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:27,920 the FBI has moved their central lab 534 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,040 to a brand-new headquarters in D.C. 535 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:31,920 And this is now one of the largest 536 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:33,800 crime labs on the planet. 537 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,440 [Amy] It's filled with cutting-edge technology 538 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:37,840 and can do more than a million tests in a year. 539 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,360 [Dan] Chemical analyses, toxicology reports, 540 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,880 ballistics-- basically any scientific 541 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,200 test you can think of. 542 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:45,640 [Duchovny] But it's never tested 543 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,760 for legendary monsters until now. 544 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:50,760 Byrne's letter lands on the desk 545 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,560 of Assistant Director Jay Cochran, Jr. 546 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:54,800 [Dan] Cochran, Jr. is 547 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,680 a career law enforcement officer. 548 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,160 He is a by-the-book kind of guy. 549 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,400 - The FBI has a strict policy 550 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,440 on what cases they examine in their lab, 551 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:05,520 and that doesn't include Bigfoot. 552 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:06,920 - Cochran is not the type of guy 553 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:08,920 you would expect to deviate from the rules. 554 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,120 [Duchovny] For reasons that remain a mystery 555 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,560 to this day, Cochran makes an exception. 556 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,040 [Dan] Maybe Cochran's curious. 557 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,360 Maybe he figures, if there is 558 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:17,880 a 7-foot humanoid running around, 559 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,680 the government should probably know about it. 560 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:21,680 Or maybe he just wants to put 561 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,600 all this wild speculation to rest. 562 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,520 But whatever his motive, he replies to Byrne, 563 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,680 and he agrees to test that sample if Byrne sends it in. 564 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:32,840 [Duchovny] Byrne meticulously wraps up 565 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,400 the 15 strands of hair and the skin fragment 566 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,200 and ships them off to the FBI lab. 567 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,120 Then nothing. 568 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,400 - Weeks, months, and then years go by, 569 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,080 and he never hears anything. 570 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:45,960 [Don] Byrne continues his work, 571 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:47,440 always searching for Bigfoot. 572 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,200 But the question is always there-- 573 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,360 what did the FBI find? 574 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,040 [Duchovny] The results remain unknown for four decades. 575 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,520 Then when Byrne is in his 90s, he finally gets an answer. 576 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:01,400 [Kavitha] In 2019, the FBI releases 577 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,600 a 22-page Bigfoot file 578 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,120 after a Freedom of Information Act request. 579 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,920 And inside, there's only one investigation reference, 580 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:10,440 Peter Byrne's. 581 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,120 [Duchovny] The file reveals that Cochran did 582 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,560 write back in 1977, 583 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,880 but Byrne never received the letter, 584 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,040 and no one knows why. 585 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,000 - The document explains that the FBI lab scientists 586 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:25,400 had subjected Byrne's Bigfoot sample to a rigorous analysis. 587 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,320 [Amy] This was before DNA testing, 588 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,040 so they tried to use different microscopies 589 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,760 to figure out as much as they could. 590 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,080 They looked at root structure, cuticle thickness, 591 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,920 and scale cast, and the results were pretty clear. 592 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,960 - Not an unknown primate, not a new species, 593 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,240 but a deer. 594 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:43,280 - It was a deer. 595 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:44,960 [Dan] It's not proof of Bigfoot, 596 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,920 but it is proof that, for a brief moment at least, 597 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,640 the U.S. government took the Sasquatch story 598 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,440 seriously enough to forensically test it. 599 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,480 - Most countries fight wars with spies and soldiers. 600 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,000 But in the darkest hour of World War II, 601 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,400 Britain turns to someone with an unexpected set of skills, 602 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,280 an astrologer who claims he can defeat Germany 603 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,680 by reading the stars. 604 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,680 [tense music] 605 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:16,960 [Greg] It's 1940. 606 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:18,600 Hitler's Nazi machine has 607 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:20,680 blitzkrieged its way across Europe. 608 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,000 Britain remains essentially alone 609 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:24,800 in its stand against Hitler. 610 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,120 [Sami] Britain realizes that its best shot 611 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,040 at surviving is to draw the wealth 612 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:31,960 and military power of the United States 613 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,320 into the war on their side. 614 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:34,800 [Greg] The problem is, 615 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:36,440 America is neutral and isolationist. 616 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,960 And public opinion is deeply set against 617 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,200 what is seen as a European war. 618 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,200 [Duchovny] With conventional diplomacy 619 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,480 failing to lure America into the fight, 620 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,400 Winston Churchill needs a new plan. 621 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,400 Instead of sending in one of his spies, 622 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,840 Churchill turns to an astrologer for help. 623 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,240 - Louis de Wohl is a flamboyant 37-year-old 624 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,120 Hungarian-Jewish immigrant 625 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,840 who fled Nazi Germany five years earlier. 626 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,240 - In London, he casts himself as this celebrity stargazer. 627 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:10,280 He charges high-profile clientele 628 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,840 more than $1,000 in today's money 629 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,920 for one horoscope reading. 630 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,960 - Louis de Wohl is very good at convincing people 631 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,520 to part with their money and change their ideas. 632 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:22,440 [Duchovny] He's recently been recruited 633 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,960 by British intelligence to feed them information 634 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,440 on his high-profile clients. 635 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,680 Now he pitches them a wild idea of his own. 636 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:32,680 [Sasha] De Wohl claims that, 637 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,760 by studying planetary alignments 638 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:36,720 and the birth charts of Nazi leaders, 639 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,520 he can predict Hitler's military strategy. 640 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,040 [Greg] He insists that every major German offensive 641 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,480 is timed to astrological calculations. 642 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,840 - There is some evidence to show that several 643 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,680 of the members of the German High Command, including Hitler, 644 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,920 really are motivated by astrological phenomena. 645 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,000 So de Wohl claims that if you have the time and place 646 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:57,640 of their birth, you can actually predict 647 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,160 their future actions. 648 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,320 - He's offering a sort of celestial intelligence. 649 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:03,520 ♪ ♪ 650 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,440 - It's then that British intelligence 651 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,360 gets an ingenious idea. 652 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,640 De Wohl's prophesizing is so powerful, 653 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,360 they wonder if they can use this wacky mystic 654 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:14,880 not to predict the war, 655 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,960 but to spook the U.S. into joining it. 656 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:19,280 [tense music] 657 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:20,920 [Sasha] British intelligence sees 658 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,040 that astrology is becoming more and more 659 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,160 popular in the United States. 660 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,960 Millions of Americans are reading their horoscopes 661 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:29,680 in daily newspapers. 662 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,720 [Greg] British intelligence reasons that, 663 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:33,440 if the United States can't be convinced 664 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:34,880 to join the war for political reasons, 665 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,840 perhaps they can be coaxed into it 666 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,400 through astrological warnings. 667 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:41,360 [Sami] They decide to send de Wohl to America 668 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,880 to masquerade as a freelance astrologer 669 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,000 not linked to any British authority. 670 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:48,120 Here, he'll embark on a lecture tour 671 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,320 aiming to sway public opinion into joining the war 672 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,400 by convincing the American public 673 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,240 Hitler is coming for them. 674 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:57,040 [Paul] They're going to use him 675 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,360 because he's a charismatic individual 676 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,200 who's very good in front of crowds. 677 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,040 ♪ ♪ 678 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,320 [Duchovny] On August 5, 1941, 679 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,520 de Wohl delivers his first major address 680 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:11,880 to the American Federation of Scientific Astrologers 681 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:13,800 in Cleveland, Ohio. 682 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,800 - De Wohl tells 500 delegates that the stars are aligning 683 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,520 for a Nazi invasion of the United States. 684 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,080 He even claims to know the date. 685 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,320 Next spring, Hitler will strike. 686 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,560 [Paul] When Saturn and Uranus cross over 687 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,160 the constellation Gemini, that will be the moment 688 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,400 at which the Nazi attack occurs. 689 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,280 [Hakeem] The only way to prevent this cosmic destiny 690 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,120 is for America to abandon neutrality 691 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,640 and enter the war immediately before it's too late. 692 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,520 [Duchovny] The American press eats up 693 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,440 these apocalyptic celestial warnings. 694 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,640 [Sasha] Newspaper headlines explode, 695 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,800 from New York to California. 696 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,480 - The "Los Angeles Times" even puts his prediction 697 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,760 on their front page, saying that Hitler plans 698 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,840 to invade the United States via Brazil. 699 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:02,920 [Duchovny] De Wohl's secret mission is working perfectly 700 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,240 until it's blindsided by a shocking event 701 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:09,280 that neither the U.S. nor de Wohl predicted: 702 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:10,840 Pearl Harbor. 703 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,040 [Greg] On December 7, 1941, 704 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:14,960 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. 705 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:16,320 It's this attack, 706 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,000 not mystical signs from the stars, 707 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:20,680 that draws the United States into the war. 708 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:22,760 - Despite Pearl Harbor, the SOE considers 709 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,160 de Wohl's operation an enormous success. 710 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,360 He generated a lot of publicity 711 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,760 and helped shift American opinion 712 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:31,440 at a critical moment. 713 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,800 [Duchovny] Britain's stargazing agent returns 714 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,880 from his U.S. tour, but now his love of the spotlight 715 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,040 threatens to undo all his secret work. 716 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,240 [Hakeem] De Wohl has always loved attention, 717 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,400 so he struts about in uniform, 718 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,640 and he calls himself Britain's state seer. 719 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,040 And he boasts of the work that he's done 720 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,000 during the war for British intelligence, 721 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,320 but British intelligence see an egotistical charlatan 722 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:57,880 with a love of the limelight. 723 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,640 - Essentially, he's gone from being 724 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,160 kind of a useful idiot 725 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,560 to being a danger to state secrets. 726 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,200 [Hakeem] They don't want the U.S. 727 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,640 to know that they've been playing their public. 728 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,280 [Duchovny] De Wohl needs to stop talking, permanently. 729 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,520 [Sami] Intelligence officials draft a memo 730 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,600 with three options to dispose of him. 731 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,800 Now, one is exile to a remote village. 732 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:21,080 The other two options, 733 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,120 those are still completely redacted. 734 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,280 [Duchovny] Perhaps sensing his peril, 735 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:27,120 de Wohl takes the hint. 736 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,720 - He quiets down about a lot of his grandiose claims. 737 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,800 He stops engaging in his astrological profession, 738 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,120 and he reinvents himself as a novelist. 739 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,800 [Duchovny] De Wohl dies in 1961, 740 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,680 and for over 60 years, this bizarre chapter 741 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,840 of British spy history is locked away. 742 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,160 Only in 2008 are de Wohl's intelligence files 743 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,880 declassified by the National Archives, 744 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,080 and the full fantastical story emerges. 745 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:54,240 [Greg] De Wohl may have been seen 746 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:55,800 as vain and eccentric-- 747 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,560 and in fact, perhaps was. 748 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,480 Nonetheless, de Wohl had his 15 minutes of fame, 749 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,480 exercising celestial influence, if you will, 750 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:05,280 on the highest levels of British intelligence. 751 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:10,600 - In 1977, a new movie called "Star Wars" 752 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,040 becomes a global phenomenon. 753 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,200 The same year, behind closed doors, 754 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,640 the Pentagon investigates if it can train 755 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,000 Jedi warriors of its own. 756 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,400 But these men aren't after Darth Vader. 757 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,840 They'll take on goats. 758 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,280 [tense music] 759 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,480 [Sami] It's the late 1970s, 760 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:30,880 and the U.S. Army is recovering 761 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,280 from the Vietnam War. 762 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,080 They're desperate to ensure a conflict 763 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,800 as brutal and intractable as that never happens again. 764 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:38,680 - The U.S. Army brass is looking for new 765 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,920 and unconventional ways to fight future wars. 766 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:43,880 [Sami] The usually conservative military 767 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,440 turns its attention to a very unconservative counterculture 768 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,960 sweeping from California right across America, 769 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:51,600 the New Age Movement. 770 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:54,400 [O'Keefe] The New Age Movement in the 1970s 771 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,080 is starting to look at the world 772 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:57,840 and life in a different way. 773 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,600 They're experimenting with transcendental meditation, 774 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,960 clairvoyancy--everything. 775 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:04,480 [Catherine] The movement's led by 776 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:06,360 a number of spiritual gurus 777 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,840 who boldly claim that they can access 778 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:13,440 incredible powers simply by using the power of the mind. 779 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,240 [Sami] Some in the military start to wonder, 780 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,440 could these discoveries be weaponized to create soldiers 781 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,560 with new psychic powers? 782 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,320 [Duchovny] One Vietnam combat veteran 783 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:25,240 decides to find out: 784 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,480 Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon. 785 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,360 [Catherine] Channon witnessed some horrors while serving. 786 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,000 And after the war, he turned to the New Age Movement 787 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,440 to cope with his trauma, and it leads him 788 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,920 to encounter some of its most advanced ideas. 789 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:40,600 - Channon approaches the Pentagon, 790 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,920 and he suggests he might be able to infiltrate 791 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,040 into these New Age communities, 792 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,480 soak up as much intelligence as he can, 793 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,000 and then bring it back. 794 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,320 The Pentagon is quite receptive to all this. 795 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,720 They end up funding him and sending him in. 796 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:56,520 [Duchovny] Channon heads to California 797 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,520 and begins his research. 798 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,120 - It is the ultimate mind-expanding road trip. 799 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,520 - Over months, Channon visits workshops, 800 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:06,800 retreats, spiritual centers-- 801 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,120 150 different organizations. 802 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,520 You name it, Channon goes there. 803 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,040 - And he tries everything, from firewalking 804 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,160 and spoon-bending to primal arm wrestling-- 805 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,920 which is arm wrestling combined with just, like, 806 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:21,360 guttural screaming-- 807 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,280 and naked hot tub therapy sessions. 808 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,280 [Kavitha] One thing he becomes obsessed with 809 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,840 is an idea called the Human Potential Movement. 810 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,920 This believes that collective meditation 811 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,320 can alter brainwaves and heart rate 812 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,280 and give humans untapped power. 813 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:36,880 [Duchovny] After two years of immersing 814 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,400 in this strange world, Channon distills 815 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,320 everything he's learned into a 125-page manifesto. 816 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,640 He argues the Human Potential Movement 817 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,760 can be tapped to create a new kind of soldier, 818 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,960 a warrior monk. 819 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,240 [Sami] He envisions divisions of elite soldiers 820 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,760 trained in psychic combat, soldiers who can turn invisible 821 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,240 through sheer mental focus or stop an enemy's heart 822 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:01,920 just by concentrating on it. 823 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:06,160 [Duchovny] In 1979, Channon delivers this dossier, 824 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,640 named "The First Earth Battalion Operations Manual" 825 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,200 to the Army brass. 826 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,840 Enter Albert Stubblebine, 827 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,360 a major general of U.S. Army intelligence 828 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:17,920 who buys it wholesale. 829 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:19,200 [Greg] Major General Stubblebine 830 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:20,960 is another Vietnam veteran. 831 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,080 He's a true patriot, and at this point has 832 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,920 16,000 men who answer to him. 833 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,480 - He believes that the United States of America 834 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,840 needs the best soldiers possible. 835 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:31,840 - Stubblebine reads Channon's manual 836 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,120 and becomes convinced that this means psychic soldiers. 837 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,000 [Duchovny] With Stubblebine's backing, 838 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,240 the First Earth Battalion transitions from madcap theory 839 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,200 into a real-life psychic school for soldiers. 840 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,160 [tense music] 841 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,480 [Greg] The story goes that Stubblebine sets up 842 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:50,880 a special unit in Maryland to create 843 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,440 soldiers of the future using Channon's techniques. 844 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,920 [O'Keefe] Soldiers are trying to become invisible, 845 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:57,520 trying to walk through walls, 846 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,960 all with just the power of the mind. 847 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,760 - The First Earth Battalion talks a big game, 848 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,200 but the results don't match the hype. 849 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:09,880 By the end of 1983, the program was on the chopping block. 850 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,360 Stubblebine needs proof it works. 851 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,920 Then special forces sets up a make-or-break test. 852 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:17,239 [tense music] 853 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:18,880 [Catherine] Inside Fort Bragg, 854 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,000 which is the home of the U.S. Special Forces, 855 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,840 is what's called the Goat Lab. 856 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,800 It houses 100 goats, and here, 857 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,520 U.S. soldiers can practice 858 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:29,800 treating gunshot wounds on the livestock. 859 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:31,320 [Duchovny] Now these crack troops get 860 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,440 a much more unnatural mission. 861 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,040 - The story goes the special forces bring in a goat, 862 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:38,520 and selected men are tasked with one order. 863 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:40,600 - With the power of the mind, 864 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,440 make the heart of the goat stop beating. 865 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,239 [Catherine] The soldiers meditate 866 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,719 and channel their thoughts into what they believe 867 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,199 is a focused lethal force. 868 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:51,719 [Duchovny] And the goats? 869 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,880 - Just stand there, staring back, chewing. 870 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:57,480 [Duchovny] There's no evidence 871 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,760 a single goat is killed by psychic energy. 872 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:02,760 The test is a complete failure, 873 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,480 and in 1984, 874 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,280 the First Earth Battalion is quietly dissolved. 875 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,800 - General Stubblebine's credibility is shattered. 876 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,440 [O'Keefe] He ends up going into early retirement, 877 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:16,000 but he's still sure that there was promise to this program. 878 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,080 The military was not ready to accept it. 879 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,040 [Duchovny] Anything associated with the project 880 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,600 is classified, but secrets like this 881 00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:24,640 don't stay buried forever. 882 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,320 After 20 years, one journalist unveils 883 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,920 the entire surreal experiment. 884 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:31,800 [Sami] A British reporter named Jon Ronson 885 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,640 hears rumors about the story and chases it down. 886 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,600 He interviews former members of the First Earth Battalion unit, 887 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:39,360 including Stubblebine and Channon. 888 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,160 In 2004, he tells the whole barely believable tale 889 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,000 in a book that becomes a Hollywood film. 890 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,200 He calls it "The Men Who Stare at Goats." 891 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:54,520 - Las Vegas is full of the bizarre-- 892 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:55,960 an indoor Eiffel tower, 893 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:58,360 a water slide through a shark tank. 894 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,720 In 2017, one journalist gets a lead 895 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,120 on something even stranger-- 896 00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:06,960 a secret warehouse packed with UFO artifacts. 897 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:09,880 [tense music] 898 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:11,720 [Hakeem] It's October 2017, 899 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,760 and an investigative reporter named Leslie Kean 900 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,040 gets a tip from a trusted source. 901 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:18,920 A high-level intelligence officer 902 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:21,720 wants to blow the whistle on a government program 903 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,320 he claims is investigating UFOs. 904 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,080 [Kavitha] This is the break that Leslie Kean has been 905 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,240 waiting her entire career for. 906 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,200 She's built her reputation on asking 907 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,400 serious questions about UFOs. 908 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:34,200 She's been fighting the government hard, 909 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:35,440 often through the courts, 910 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:37,520 for transparency on the subject. 911 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,200 [Duchovny] This could be big. 912 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,440 If Kean can prove that the U.S. government is 913 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,960 secretly researching UFOs, it would expose 914 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,280 the first official probe into the subject 915 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,960 since the close of its Project Blue Book in 1970. 916 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,640 - To bring the story to the widest audience possible, 917 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,160 Kean teams up with Ralph Blumenthal, 918 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,720 a veteran reporter who spent 45 years 919 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:00,560 at "The New York Times." 920 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,320 Together, they set up a meeting with the whistleblower 921 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,440 in a hotel room in Philadelphia. 922 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,240 [Duchovny] In an intense, hours-long session, 923 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,320 the 37-year-old intelligence officer from Texas 924 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,240 lays out his story. 925 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,240 His name is Luis Elizondo. 926 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,400 [Dan] Luis Elizondo claims 927 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,840 he has just resigned from the Pentagon 928 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,920 in protest at the cover-ups 929 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,000 of a top-secret UFO research program. 930 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:27,680 [Amy] He says he was the director 931 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:29,960 of a covert program called the Advanced Aerospace 932 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,160 Threat Identification Program, or AATIP. 933 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:36,480 [Dan] It was set up quietly in 2007 with a mission 934 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:39,960 to analyze tracking data, witness statements, 935 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:41,920 and military encounters 936 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,600 with unidentified aerial phenomena or UFOs. 937 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,280 [Duchovny] At first, the facts about AATIP 938 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,120 seemed hard to believe. 939 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:53,160 [Hakeem] He claims that it was funded with $22 million, 940 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,480 largely from the Pentagon's black budget, 941 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,640 which means that it doesn't show up on any public ledger. 942 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,600 - This undercover operation assembled what could be 943 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:04,000 the most advanced and extensive collection 944 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,040 of UFO data in existence. 945 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,560 - Over 200,000 reported incidents. 946 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,960 [Duchovny] Elizondo's exposé is potentially huge. 947 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,360 But for Kean, the word of one whistleblower isn't enough. 948 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,640 [Greg] The journalist can't run a story this incredible 949 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,560 without bulletproof evidence. 950 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,600 [Amy] Kean has spent her career 951 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:25,200 trying to get people to take UFOs seriously. 952 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,800 So if this story flops, everything's just gonna get 953 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:29,240 pushed back into the fringes. 954 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,040 They need this to land. 955 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:33,640 [Duchovny] To corroborate Elizondo's UFO claims, 956 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,880 the journalists go after two of the key players he's named. 957 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:40,160 First up, a former senator named Harry Reid, 958 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,080 who Elizondo says green-lit the hidden funds. 959 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,040 - Kean and Blumenthal track down Harry Reid 960 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:46,760 and ask him point blank, 961 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,400 "Did you authorize a secret Pentagon UFO program?" 962 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,000 - You'd expect a politician to distance himself 963 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:55,400 from little green men, but incredibly, 964 00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:56,960 Reid doubles down. 965 00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,120 He tells them on the record 966 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:02,440 that this program was vital to national security. 967 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,000 He even says, "I'm not embarrassed 968 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:07,000 or sorry that I got this thing going." 969 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,360 [Duchovny] Next, Kean chases down 970 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,400 the strangest player connected to the program, 971 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,440 a billionaire real-estate magnate 972 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:17,880 and UFO truth seeker named Robert Bigelow. 973 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,560 - Robert Bigelow says he had a paranormal encounter 974 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,240 when he was a child, which made him a true believer. 975 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:26,520 And so, in his adulthood, he's poured money 976 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,080 into the study of space and UFOs. 977 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:31,800 [Kavitha] He runs a company called Bigelow Aerospace, 978 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:35,040 which ostensibly builds modules for space stations. 979 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:37,880 But the journalists uncover that Bigelow Aerospace has 980 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:42,160 a secret side contract with AATIP that nobody knows about. 981 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:44,680 - Bigelow tells the journalist that his aerospace company 982 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,400 is paid by the program to manage a specialized 983 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:49,320 storage facility in Las Vegas. 984 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:51,640 - According to Bigelow, it houses files, 985 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,360 but also physical materials, 986 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:55,320 pieces from downed UFOs, 987 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:57,680 mysterious fragments recovered from crash sites. 988 00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,960 - Essentially, says Bigelow, the U.S. government 989 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:04,120 has an entire warehouse of alien technology. 990 00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:05,720 - As the journalists prepare to take 991 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:08,440 this incredible revelation to the public, 992 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:10,160 they're missing just one thing-- 993 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,400 a comment from the Pentagon. 994 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,400 [Hakeem] The team reaches out for an official response, 995 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:17,000 and on December 16th, 996 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,040 just hours from going to press, it arrives. 997 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,560 - The Pentagon knows the story is about to break. 998 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:23,920 There's no stopping it. 999 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:25,760 So instead of denying it, 1000 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,360 the Pentagon acknowledges that AATIP existed. 1001 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,720 ♪ ♪ 1002 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:33,680 [Dan] This is the first time since 1970 1003 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:35,720 that the United States government has admitted, 1004 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:37,880 on the record, that they have been running 1005 00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:39,440 a program to study UFOs. 1006 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:40,720 ♪ ♪ 1007 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:42,320 The article hits the front page. 1008 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,240 It goes global instantly. 1009 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:46,040 The public demands answers, 1010 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,280 and Congress wants transparency. 1011 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,080 [Duchovny] It's a watershed moment. 1012 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:51,680 Almost overnight, 1013 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:55,280 U.S. authorities remove the stigma on UFOs. 1014 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:56,720 - After Kean's exposé, 1015 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,680 the military changes its stance on UFOs. 1016 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,600 Pilots are told, if you see something, say something. 1017 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:04,560 And they even declassify videos 1018 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:06,960 of previous unexplained phenomena. 1019 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,640 - In 2022, the government establishes 1020 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,520 a new public-facing task force 1021 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,520 to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, 1022 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:16,160 and they call it 1023 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:19,000 the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. 1024 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,000 Everybody knows what it really is. 1025 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:24,120 it's the Pentagon's UFO program. 1026 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:25,440 ♪ ♪ 1027 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:26,720 - From witchcraft 1028 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,280 supposed to give troops an edge in battle 1029 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:31,440 to out-of-body espionage, 1030 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,960 all governments secretly embrace the unconventional, 1031 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,960 mystical, and outright unexplained. 1032 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:40,480 But what they do or don't discover 1033 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:42,920 will always find its way into the light.