- 1 year ago
Documentary television hosted by Jay Robinson focused on exploring great mysteries around the world, from ghost sightings, alien encounters and everything else in between.
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00:00It is certainly not unusual for tourists to pay a visit to the birthplaces of the famous
00:08and the infamous.
00:11Such places enshrine our memories of those whom we honor and admire.
00:19What is less common is to seek out their death places.
00:25And one tombstone tourist has made it a lifelong quest to seek out and to document the resting
00:33places of hundreds of celebrities who have taken their final bow.
00:44Travels through the world's gardens of stone is often a scenic treat.
00:49The stately mausoleums and dramatic obelisks form an almost beautiful necropolis in a pastoral setting.
01:01For author Scott Stanton, nothing makes his day so much as a discovery of an obscure grave
01:08site that is the last stop on its occupant's road to fame.
01:15It was a hot muggy day in August in Macon, Georgia.
01:18And it was even hot in my hotel room, even with the air conditioning turned on full.
01:22So I decided to take a little walk.
01:24And I cut through an old historic cemetery called Rose Hills Cemetery.
01:29And I was walking through and I cut over a hillside and I saw two matching tombstones
01:33with guitars.
01:34And when I got closer I noticed it was the final resting place of Dwayne Allman and Barry
01:38Oakley from the Allman Brothers, buried side by side and matching beautiful marble stones.
01:43Ah, here they are.
01:48Dwayne Allman and Barry Oakley of the Allman Brothers.
01:52Matching stones and all.
01:53It doesn't get much better than this.
01:55You got Dwayne Allman over here, played slide guitar.
02:02He died in 71 at about age 25.
02:06Barry Oakley played bass.
02:07He died one year later, both in tragic accidents, motorcycles.
02:12Very young.
02:13Too young.
02:14Scott researches their career backgrounds and the circumstances of their demise for
02:20publication in a series of books he's writing about his explorations.
02:25But he is always respectful of his subjects and is not interested in digging up dirt.
02:33I was really worried that when the book first came out that family members would maybe read
02:40into it the wrong things, would react differently.
02:42So I was very conscientious about telling the true story, being very balanced, but being
02:47very fair.
02:48After all, these were artists and they offered quite a bit to us during their lifetime, so
02:53I didn't want to take anything away from them.
02:57It's not always easy to locate the precise plot where notables have found their eternal
03:03peace.
03:04Many of them have chosen to elude in death the spotlight which they so intensely craved
03:12in life.
03:13You'll often end up walking rows and rows of monuments just trying to find that old
03:18forgotten bluesman or some old rock star and it has all the elements of a treasure hunt.
03:24Sometimes cemetery managers don't even like to admit that a certain person is even buried
03:29within our gates.
03:30So finding the cemetery is only half the battle.
03:35This ghoulish groupie may be constantly late to the party, but when the party is over Scott
03:43Stanton will be there as a diehard fan.
03:49Here we are in the heart of Beverly Hills.
03:52A lot of people don't even know this cemetery even exists.
03:55It's nestled between several tall office towers right off of Wilshire Boulevard.
04:01We're here at Pierce Brothers Memorial.
04:03There's probably more stars here than on Sunset Boulevard.
04:10Even in death, the elite of Hollywood still vie for the status of a Beverly Hills address.
04:17Here as elsewhere in Tinseltown, the bigger the name, the more prestigious the accommodation.
04:26This is pretty much the cemetery to the stars.
04:29It costs well into the six figures to be buried here, but where else can you get within six
04:35feet of Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Buddy Rich and all the other characters.
04:42For some, Scott's passion for contact with celebrity may seem a little after the fact.
04:50But perhaps in his role as a kind of post-mortem paparazzi, he has won a link with legends
04:57who have otherwise eluded the hordes of autograph seekers.
05:03It's absolutely amazing.
05:05You have famous writers such as Truman Capote and then you have Sammy Kahn, the great lyricist
05:11for a lot of Sinatra songs.
05:13You've got Dean Martin, you've got Carl Wilson from the Beach Boys, Minnie Riperton, another
05:18fabulous singer.
05:23You got, oh, the hidden graves of Frank Zappa and Roy Orbison, Buddy Rich, oh, just an absolutely
05:32incredible number of stars, Burt Lancaster, and of course one of the most famous graves,
05:36Marilyn Monroe.
05:40Now the interesting thing about Marilyn is you'll notice that there is a blank slot right
05:45to the left of her.
05:47Well, a gentleman by the name of Hugh Hefner had bought that plot for $85,000 just last
05:52year and when somebody asked him why he wanted to, he figured, well, Marilyn would always
05:57have visitors so he'd get a visitor or two at the same time.
06:01Ironically, Scott's fascination with the deaths of the rich and famous has made him more personally
06:08connected to the events of their lives.
06:11It started about six, seven years ago.
06:13I was out on Martha's Vineyard just off the coast of Massachusetts and I was on a little
06:18moped touring the island just like any other tourist and all of a sudden there I saw the
06:22Belushi Monument.
06:23Now I thought John Belushi was from Chicago and I thought for sure he'd be buried back
06:28there with his family, but he had lived on Martha's Vineyard with his wife and there
06:31was Carly Simon and James Taylor, the whole group of people, and sure enough, John Belushi.
06:37And so I pulled the moped off and I had taken some pictures and I'm reading the cards and
06:41it just absolutely knocked me out that people, six, seven years after his passing, still
06:46remembered.
06:47Scott understands that there is no guarantee of where the undertaker will undertake to
06:57take you under.
06:59This is why browsing the boneyards of the world is an ambitious calling.
07:06I travel about two, three hundred thousand miles a year, planes, trains, automobiles,
07:11you name it.
07:12I've been around the world, been to all throughout the U.S., Chicago, New York, down south, Florida,
07:19Texas, California, you name it, I've been there.
07:27Pretty amazing little hobby I have here, but once you find one or two and they aren't that
07:32easy to find, you kind of get hooked, you know, and then you meet some of the other
07:36tombstone tourists that are out by the graveyards and they show you a new one that you hadn't
07:41found before and there's always going to be a new one every year.
07:46Let fans of the living chase limousines, crash private parties, or stand in long lines to
07:54catch a glimpse of their famous idols.
07:58But Stanton knows that with a little patience, he will catch them all when the curtain comes
08:05down.
08:06A one-man fan club that is beyond bizarre.
08:15Houses of worship have been fashioned over the centuries out of everything from adobe
08:21bricks to fresh-cut logs to massive stones and marble carvings.
08:29But all churches don't always have a choice of materials to use.
08:35Oh no, considerable imagination has gone into choosing the construction concepts of many
08:42sacred shrines.
08:45In the case of two European houses of worship, artisans have had to turn to the worshippers
08:51themselves.
08:54The history of Europe is inextricably linked with the history of Christianity and the towering
09:01architectural achievement of the Christian church is the grandeur of its cathedrals.
09:08With their spires pointed toward heaven, these impressive houses of God were designed
09:14to create a spiritual space in which the faithful of the Middle Ages would pay homage to God.
09:23It was along these lines of thought that Sesterian monks in the town of Sedlik in Bohemia were
09:29striving when they planned the construction of their dream, the church of the Assumption
09:35in Kudna Hora, in the 12th century.
09:40Originally the Sesterian monastery was quite prosperous and they constructed three churches,
09:48monastery buildings and an extensive cemetery to serve the silver mining district of Sedlik.
09:58But in the 15th century, Sedlik and its cathedral were overrun by the Hesites, so the churches
10:05large cemetery was unearthed and the bones of the deceased were removed to the safety
10:12of the chapel of all souls.
10:16The monks understood that a church is made up of its people.
10:21Taking this adage more literally than most, they constructed one of the strangest religious
10:29sanctuaries in the world.
10:32Assembled with bones from the graves they rescued from their conquering enemies, this
10:38cathedral was certainly built with community support, a house of worship created by its
10:47occupants' most personal donation.
10:59Here in Eastern Europe, and especially in the Bohemian town of Sedlik, gives us an impression
11:05of how bleak life in the Dark Ages must have been.
11:10The subject of death under these conditions could not be ignored by the church.
11:16In fact, it was because of the pervasiveness of suffering in these people's lives that
11:22the monks incorporated these hardships into the observance of their faith.
11:29With this attitude in mind, we begin to understand the weird decorations in the ossuary of Kudnahora.
11:38This is the traditional icon of Jesus Christ.
11:42Here we see a chalice, the goblet for serving wine, the blood of Christ during Mass.
11:50The woodcarver, Frantis Seikorrent, added many decorative touches in the early 1800s.
11:58Mrs. Eva Kubska is a guide at Kudnahora.
12:04Welcome to Kostnice Sedlik.
12:07Kostnice means bone chapel.
12:10This building was constructed in the 14th century, and ornamentation with bones began
12:15in the early 1500s.
12:18Two-thirds of the Kostnice is located underground in the basement, where the majority of the
12:23bones are located.
12:25It is said that a half-blind monk started piling bones in the basement in 1511.
12:31The ornamentation above ground started in 1870 by Frantis Seikorrent.
12:37This is the largest Kostnice in the world.
12:40There are many others, but this one is unique, because it is the largest.
12:46Originally, the construction was funded by the noble Czech family Swartisberg, who wanted
12:52to create a holy place for meditation.
12:57Forty thousand visitors come to the Kostnice Sedlik every year, and the reactions vary
13:04from those who are tempted to leave with a grisly souvenir to those who are spiritually
13:11moved and are very respectful.
13:16The older ornaments in the basement were constructed by using wooden frames onto which the bones
13:21were attached.
13:22The wooden frames remain there today.
13:27The decorative work above ground was put together with the use of copper and iron wire, which
13:34provides the skeletal framework for these displays.
13:40Clearly, this unique form of pious artwork might invite a little ribbing by the skeptics.
13:51The faithful continue to attend Mass at the Church of the Assumption next door, undisturbed
13:57by the macabre artwork that graced this chilling chapel.
14:04The Kostnice Sedlik is a museum, a tourist attraction, and a solemn place of meditation.
14:13Special ceremonies are performed here each year on All Souls Day.
14:22When asked how many people make up this bizarre temple, the church's overseers attempted
14:28a headcount.
14:30It must have bored them out of their skulls, because they never did come up with an exact
14:35number.
14:39No records from the Middle Ages survive, but Eva Kubska estimates that some 40,000 parishioners
14:49are in permanent attendance.
14:51This is not the only such grisly cathedral.
14:58The Capela dos Ossos, Chapel of Bones in Ibora, Portugal, is fundamentally different from
15:05the ossuary in Sedlik, Bohemia.
15:08Here the bones of the faithful are not merely decorative, but are actually part of the structure.
15:16The walls, ceilings, and foundations of this monastery are thoroughly embedded with the
15:21remains of tens of thousands of Portuguese Christians.
15:27The history of this chapel is not completely clear, but sometime in the 17th century it
15:33is said the monks here at Ibora decided to collect masses of bones from the ruins of
15:39other monasteries and churches in the area, so they could once again lie in a sacrosanct
15:45place.
15:48There is even a legend about two hanging corpses on the chapel wall.
15:54It is said that upon the death of his son, a father did not provide enough money for
15:59a proper burial, and after the father's death, both corpses mysteriously appeared mounted
16:06in the church's structure, a lasting contribution to a bone-chilling house of prayer that is
16:15beyond bizarre.
16:18Please don't move, this is the police!
16:25Get down!
16:28Get down!
16:31Get down!
16:34Get down!
16:37Get down!
16:41Get down!
16:51When two couples who have only just met plan each other's wedding, you can bet anything
16:55is likely to happen.
16:56You're not kidding me.
16:57I'm leaning towards elegant traditional.
16:58We seem to have forgotten where we're going.
17:01But with a dream honeymoon at stake, it pays to do your research.
17:05They did a really good job.
17:07I'm feeling very relieved.
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17:10I can totally see her in that.
17:12Would you pick this for you?
17:14Not in a million years.
17:15Take a walk down the aisle with us for exchanging vows, Thursdays and Fridays on Reality TV.
17:21It's very taxing emotionally for all the things we see and have to do.
17:26They could be depleted of all energy and they still keep going.
17:30That's the type of individuals that you have working.
17:35I was hoping and praying that I'd get down there in time.
17:39Don't worry.
17:40We're not going to leave you like this.
17:43Heroic tales of superhuman courage.
17:46Just another day on Reality TV.
17:52We don't know what he's going to do next.
17:55Put your hands on the car.
17:56Put your hands on the car.
17:58We definitely are the car chase capital of the world.
18:04Examine the causes.
18:05Is he hit you in the past?
18:07Yes.
18:08Understand the consequences.
18:09He's going to kill me right in my front yard.
18:11Right in front of my daughter.
18:12Witness their lives change forever.
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18:16Anatomy of a Crime.
18:17Mondays and Tuesdays on Reality TV.
18:21There are many exotic lands with stories of strange little people that inhabit the remote outposts of civilization.
18:31Weird accounts of tiny humanoids have come from many countries around the world.
18:37In the exotic nation of Thailand, it is not only tall tales that are passed on.
18:45There is also a trail of physical evidence of a race of tiny beings born from a flower.
18:57Thailand has often been called the jewel of Southeast Asia, a land of breathtaking beauty and colorful people.
19:09The culture of Thailand is steeped in contrast.
19:13There is its richly religious past, whose roots stem back to the 6th century BC, to the birth of the Buddhist faith.
19:24And there is modern Thailand, with all the trappings of the 20th century.
19:31This is a land of mystery, and its people, though aware of contemporary science of today, still cling to rituals that are ancient, and occasionally quite strange.
19:46Underlying everything that happens in Thailand is the deep connection that people feel toward their primary religion,
19:56which has fundamentally shaped its spiritual and political life over the centuries.
20:02Thailand was once the religious and imperial center of all of Southeast Asia,
20:08and the relics of that empire still grace the landscape today.
20:14From this long tradition, there comes an old and curious tale.
20:22I will tell you the story of Naripon.
20:25Before Buddha could become God, he had to live ten separate lives.
20:30In each life, he had to master a specific trait or virtue, such as honesty, respect, or obedience.
20:39Our story takes place during Buddha's final life, his tenth.
20:45In which his purpose was to master the virtue of charity.
20:49He had to give away anything and everything that he had upon anyone's demand, unconditionally.
20:57At the time, Buddha lived in a beautiful jungle with his adoring and loving wife.
21:04The angels wanted to protect Buddha from evil villains who would ask him for his wife and destroy his chances of becoming the Buddha.
21:12The angels created four fruit trees and planted them around his jungle camp.
21:19These angelic trees hung with blossoms that grew into beautiful young maidens that would ripen and attract villains in the jungle.
21:30The maiden fruit, or Naripon, would only live seven days and then shrivel and dry up, shrinking in size to that of a normal fruit.
21:40This cycle would repeat every seven days, keeping the villains very distracted and away from Buddha's camp.
21:52I do not say the story is true, but one should be very careful in the jungle of which flowers you steal.
22:00True or not, something very strange has been turning up in the open air markets of Thailand's largest city.
22:08A man who calls himself a former monk makes his living off the legend of Naripon.
22:17But is he a charlatan or a fortunate inheritor of proof of the maidens who protected the Buddha?
22:25This man presents two samples of Naripon, which he claims to have found in the jungle not long after experiencing a dream
22:35with visions of angels and beautiful women.
22:40The man has not been adverse to investigation of his girls, as he calls them, which have been subjected to intense handling and scrutiny.
22:52A local television reporter comments on her own investigation.
22:59Two samples of Naripon were found and studied.
23:02They were each precisely eight to ten inches long, and the position of their paws were ridged and curled up like a fetus.
23:12The tests and examinations performed on the specimens consisted of three steps.
23:19First, they were taken to a doctor who found that they closely resembled a five to six month old human fetus.
23:27The odd thing about the doctor's observations was that the Naripon had complete features, including fingers, ribs, and basic skeletal components.
23:39Their first impression was that the figures were wood.
23:44Next, the Naripon were taken to a pediatrician.
23:47Next, the Naripon were taken to a pediatrician.
23:52The primary comment that this doctor gave was that the heads were disproportional or abnormal because they were too big.
24:01The doctor concluded that they were unlikely to be of human origin.
24:08In step three, the Naripon were taken to a veterinarian in hopes of finding a logical answer.
24:15The doctor generated theories from his observations.
24:19First, they had features that were found in both humans and monkeys.
24:26But this wasn't enough to convince him that they were either species.
24:31The next theory proposed was that these Naripon were some sort of vegetable because fiber was detected.
24:38Additionally, the tip of the figures' heads seemed like they could have been plucked off a tree.
24:46A Thai scientist became interested and decided to perform tests of a more scientific nature.
24:53A computer scan was taken, as well as x-rays, and they did not show any bone structure, although it was obviously evident externally.
25:04A fragment of them was even taken to the United States and examined at the California State University at Hayward.
25:11The fragment was placed in a lab at the University of California at Hayward.
25:15The fragment was even taken to the United States and examined at the California State University at Hayward.
25:21The fragment was put through an incubation test.
25:25Pollen was found.
25:27Their theory at first was it being some kind of tree.
25:31But then when a picture of the whole specimen was shown, they seemed mystified.
25:36And again, the conclusion was uncertain.
25:39Another specimen of Naripon was found.
25:42This specimen was more human-like than the other two.
25:45It had equivalent features as these two, but this one had an umbilical cord.
25:51It was taken through the same exams as the other two.
25:55The umbilical cord was DNA tested, but the results were unclear due to its age.
26:01Research is now being done in great detail, for these specimens are isolated and very rare.
26:08Are these freeze-dried cadavers really evidence of the Diliputian race?
26:16Real or not, they are a tempting hint of the reality of an ancient myth that is beyond bizarre.
26:28Having pulled all the rabbits out of my hat,
26:31it has come time for me to wave my magic wand and do my disappearing act.
26:38But before I take my leave, I would like to offer this one small observation.
26:45Our scientific civilization might misdirect us into believing there is no magic in the world,
26:53that there is always a rational explanation for everything.
26:57But as we have seen, there is always a crafty Houdini out there
27:03with a new parlor trick to baffle our senses and toy with our expectations.
27:09No matter how much we anticipate, there is always some clever conjurer with a surprise up his sleeve
27:18or a fascinating stunt that is always beyond bizarre.
27:24Transcribed by ESO. Translated by —
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