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Strange But True S04E05
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00:00Good evening.
00:26The death of a body is not the end, the soul lives on.
00:31So followers of the Jewish faith believe.
00:34The Koran promises that the pious and the righteous will be in delight,
00:38and the wicked disbelievers will be in the blazing fire.
00:41And Christians have their own ideas of heaven and hell.
00:44But on one central point, all religions unite.
00:47Death is only the beginning of a new existence.
00:50Hard evidence for this belief is at best elusive.
00:53But in our programme tonight, a retired bingo caller from Birmingham
00:57claims to provide that evidence.
01:00You soldiers all that now are part of...
01:04This is it. This is it.
01:06Peter, Bob and Carl are brothers from Birmingham, all on a mission.
01:11Oh, this is definitely the church, without a shadow of a doubt.
01:14Their quest to unearth details of Peter's claimed past life as John Raphael,
01:19a soldier in the English Civil War of the 17th century.
01:24While I live not where I love.
01:31About 20 years ago, I really became interested in hypnosis.
01:35My brother Peter's daughter-in-law agreed to come along for a session.
01:41Well, she dropped out for whatever reason,
01:44and something was telling me to go for it.
01:48Testing? Testing?
01:50And I was very hopeful that we may get something.
01:53And just relax.
01:57And relax.
01:58You're now drifting back through your childhood,
02:03beyond to a previous life.
02:09Where are you?
02:11I'm going to church.
02:14What's it called?
02:15And what's happening around you?
02:19Sir Michael's.
02:21I'm praying with my wife Elizabeth.
02:25And little Izzy.
02:27What year is it?
02:311638.
02:33Peter, tell me what your name is,
02:35and what work do you do?
02:39Come on!
02:42John Raphael.
02:45Orford soldier in Cromwell's army.
02:48Fire!
02:51Me, a parliamentarian foot soldier,
02:53with the first foot regiment.
02:57And I thought to myself at the time,
02:59when people are going to hear this,
03:00they're going to think that I'm,
03:01that I'm two bricks short of a full load.
03:05Peter and Bob began their quest for the truth about Peter's past life,
03:09in the tiny Nottinghamshire village of Halem.
03:11Here's the church.
03:12This is it.
03:13You've even got the name right.
03:14And these trees weren't out, I'll tell you, that's 350 years ago.
03:19Oh, this is definitely the church, without a shadow of a doubt.
03:23We went into the church.
03:24Luckily, it was open.
03:26And as soon as Peter entered, he said, there's something wrong.
03:29Hang on, I'm going to be.
03:30Hang on, I'm going to be.
03:31Hang on, I'm going to be.
03:32What's wrong?
03:33You see where that altar is up there?
03:35Yes, yes, yes.
03:35Well, I tell you, 350 years ago, the altar was this end.
03:39This end?
03:40So, I mean, you can see,
03:41the pews have actually been changed completely around.
03:44Well, I wouldn't.
03:44Completely around.
03:45Baffled by the fundamental change, Peter and Bob sought out church warden Richard Brown.
03:51That altar's been there since the church was built, what, 700 or over years ago.
03:59It's never moved.
04:00The altar has been there all the time.
04:04However, working on a hunch, Richard uncovered old plans of Halem Church.
04:09But, in 1890s, the church was altered.
04:13So, when John Raphael walked into the church, in his day, he would look to his right, and there would be the altar.
04:22So, Peter would be correcting what he was saying.
04:26Are you OK, Peter?
04:28Encouraged by this success, the brothers scoured the graveyard.
04:31We were looking for a name.
04:32We were looking for my name, John Raphael.
04:35I was drawn to one particular grave.
04:37What's wrong with it, then, Peter?
04:38I'm not happy about this grave at all.
04:40You're not happy about what?
04:41I feel as though I'm going to throw up.
04:43Now, I've looked at a lot of the other graves, and I have no problem at all, but this one is bothering me.
04:48We bent down, and we scratched away the first piece of moss where we hoped the initial would be.
04:54It's not going to be a G.
04:55That is a G.I. coming up.
04:58That's a G.I.
04:58And then an O, H, N.
05:01And by this time, I was getting very excited.
05:04Go on, Rob.
05:04Try the next.
05:05Try the next.
05:06If the next one's an O, well, I don't.
05:08Jesus.
05:09And the first initial that came up on the surname was R.
05:13And I thought, oh, dear.
05:14Oh, dear.
05:15If I'm correct, if it is my grave, the next one will be an O, won't it?
05:18It can't be right.
05:19It's too good.
05:20I could do without an O.
05:21It's coming.
05:22I don't want to know this.
05:24Oh, oh, dear.
05:25No, no.
05:26It's an O.
05:27It's an O.
05:27I was quite relieved that it wasn't me.
05:30You can't get much closer, can you?
05:31You can't.
05:32It seemed the trail had gone cold.
05:36Peter agreed to undergo further regression to see what details might emerge of his army exploits.
05:43Beginning to see where you are.
05:44I was asking general questions to Peter to gather information for our research.
05:50He suddenly became agitated and moving about on the seat he was on.
05:55Tell me, what's going on?
05:57They're soldiers.
06:00They're fighting.
06:03I remember that myself and the rest of the poikmen, we were lined up in a straight line.
06:15We had been tanked up.
06:17Things were a bit hazel, all the beer would pour down our throats.
06:20I remember that we had our poikestaffs at the ready.
06:23We attacked Newbury on the 17th of September, 1643.
06:33All these soldiers, they're fighting.
06:43Hail!
06:44We're meeting up.
06:47We're meeting up.
06:47What else do you see, Pete?
06:50All these soldiers are fighting.
06:53He appeared to be in a somewhat desperate fight and struggle.
06:58He was throwing himself about and shouting.
07:01Then everything went black.
07:04The Battle of Newbury is recorded by historians
07:07and at the time is being fought on the 27th of September.
07:10But it was definitely the 17th of September.
07:14So we've got a shortfall of some 10 days from what's claimed.
07:18One reason for that might be there was a change in calendar in 1752
07:22when we actually went from the Julian Gregorian calendar
07:26and we lost 10 days.
07:28Another beautiful day for it, lads, as usual.
07:32Spurred on by another hit,
07:34Peter and Bob were joined by younger brother Carl
07:36as they expanded their mission to include Scotland.
07:40Believing he'd been stationed in the border regions,
07:42Peter and the brothers were determined to track down his campsite.
07:45You see where that pills over there?
07:47It just looks like fields over there.
07:48Oh, there's the tree to the right.
07:49Oh, yes.
07:50Just through the tree.
07:50Right now, when I was on guard on the mount,
07:53when I was walking along,
07:54then the tree that I remember seeing is in front of me.
07:56I tell you what, look at this.
07:57Look at the trees.
07:57Just look at this.
07:58Oak trees.
07:59It's hardly changed.
08:00It's hardly changed in all those years.
08:02Look at that.
08:03This has got to be...
08:04There's nothing on here.
08:05This is it.
08:05This is it.
08:06I was able to pinpoint where it was.
08:08Definitely.
08:10Oak trees again.
08:10This is it.
08:11As we got to the edge of the embankment,
08:14that's when the ravine appeared.
08:16And my initial reaction was,
08:18it hasn't changed at all in the last 350 years.
08:21I couldn't believe it.
08:22There's this river.
08:23You see, the river used to be quite high.
08:26I remember we would sit around the campfire,
08:29we'd play cards, sing songs.
08:33We'd also carve initials on trees.
08:36Yet when waking, can I take a moment...
08:40However, despite Peter's enthusiastic claims,
08:43local historians believe no such campsite existed in the Haddon area.
08:47To stand so sterner...
08:50Well, the brothers came to see me about three or four years ago
08:52and told us about this campsite,
08:55but our records had no information about campsites at all.
09:00Come on there, guys, let's go look.
09:02Let's have a look at this.
09:03Undeterred, the brothers armed themselves
09:05with metal detectors
09:06to see what evidence they could unearth.
09:10And on bringing us to this site,
09:12we've started to do some metal detecting.
09:15And these are some of the articles,
09:17or the artefacts that have come in out of the ground.
09:19We appear to have two musket balls,
09:21possibly from the Civil War period.
09:23A love token, which used to be a coin,
09:26but had an initial stamp to it.
09:29Left hand, I've got part of a broken spurt.
09:31Well, they were all scattered around.
09:33Most of the foot soldiers were along.
09:35So could these artefacts mean
09:37that the brothers had discovered
09:38a previously unknown Civil War campsite?
09:41We're actually left with some quite convincing information, I think.
09:45Musket balls, a spur here,
09:48some of the buckles and things.
09:49Do certainly argue that we're looking at a campsite
09:53where people could have camped overnight
09:54during this Civil War period.
09:56The next discovery was when Peter's story was featured on television.
10:05I was watching the time and place on television
10:07and the camera went to a man that I recognised as my father in a previous life.
10:13Peter.
10:13We were in the hospitality suite
10:15and after a few minutes, the producer said to me,
10:18Pete, there's a phone call for you, if you can take it in that booth next door.
10:22He said, it's from your daughter.
10:23Now, at that particular time,
10:25I thought that he meant my real-life daughter,
10:28Karen, who lives near Loughborough.
10:31Well, I picked the phone up.
10:33And I said, I'm really not a loony and I'm finding from London
10:35and I was your daughter in a previous life.
10:38Now, my first reaction was,
10:40this woman is star-craving mad.
10:46Daddy, what do you do?
10:47I said to Barbara, do you remember
10:50on either your fifth or your sixth birthday on the farm?
10:54She said, yes.
10:55I said, can you remember what I made you?
10:59She said...
11:00For my sixth birthday, he made a horse out of wood.
11:03I said, that's correct.
11:04I said, what else?
11:06And put green and yellow ribbons around it.
11:09Happy birthday!
11:10Could Barbara Hartfield really be the daughter of John Raphael?
11:14Peter is convinced.
11:16She's mentioned a couple of things
11:17that she couldn't possibly have known about
11:20unless she was my daughter.
11:22Back on the road, Peter and Bob head for London
11:24and the Clink prison in pursuit of their latest lead.
11:28This...
11:29This could better all be the price.
11:31It's apparently on the side, the Black Friars, you said Black Friars.
11:33When I was thrown down the steps,
11:35it was very similar to this rob.
11:37And you said down, didn't you?
11:39That's right.
11:39That's it.
11:39That's it down.
11:42Arrested after a pub brawl,
11:44Peter suspects he was jailed in the Black Friars area.
11:47Rosemary Smith, lecturer at the Clink Museum,
11:50joined the brothers.
11:50Some trouble started with some of the locals in there.
11:53I remember furniture being thrown around.
11:56And the next thing I remember
11:57is coming in a place very similar to this,
12:00this might be the right place,
12:01being thrown down some stone steps
12:03and one rips into my thigh.
12:05And the pine was terrible.
12:07If you were caught drunk and disorderly,
12:09which you were,
12:10or if you were a debtor,
12:11this is the place that you would have been thrown in.
12:13We're still searching for more evidence
12:17and I know that the truth is out there.
12:21This is my quest,
12:23to come to a conclusion.
12:24We've got to find Jean Raphael
12:25and the evidence is out there somewhere
12:28and we will find it.
12:29It might take years.
12:30So, what's now, Pete?
12:33We've done the Clink, Black Friars,
12:35and you've had some strong feelings in there.
12:37That's right.
12:38What do you reckon, too?
12:39Where do we go next?
12:40I think our next venture should be
12:42back to Comstock in Devon.
12:44Yes.
12:45Because the last time we were there,
12:46I remember seeing this lion.
12:49Yes. Oh, yes, I remember.
12:50And I've got a strong feeling...
12:52If Peter Hume really did have a past life,
12:54maybe he'll have another life after this one.
12:57He might even visit Birmingham one day
12:58on a quest to learn about the life of Peter Hume
13:01and end up watching a rerun of this programme.
13:09The medieval French scholar Nostradamus
13:12wrote prophecies based on dream-like visions.
13:16It seems that much of what he predicted,
13:17including world wars and space travel,
13:20has come true.
13:21But, in fact, Nostradamus wrote rather generally
13:24about things that would happen in hundreds
13:26and even thousands of years' time.
13:27It's tougher for today's prophesiers.
13:30The public demands specific information
13:32about short-term events.
13:34And if prospects are catastrophic,
13:37the modern-day Nostradamus
13:38must raise the alarm.
13:40In early 1996, the IRA were preparing to break
14:03their 18-month-old ceasefire
14:04and unleash a new campaign of terror
14:06on the British public.
14:07As they made their preparations,
14:11one man named Chris Robinson
14:13was experiencing a series of disturbing dreams.
14:20At the end of January,
14:22I was starting to dream of terrorist movements.
14:25And on the 1st of February,
14:27I had a very vivid dream where somebody spoke to me
14:30and said to me,
14:31you'd better do something about this,
14:33you'd better send this to the security services.
14:35So I then decided that,
14:37never mind a ceasefire,
14:38I'm going to take action.
14:40To the police,
14:42Chris Robinson was no ordinary member of the public.
14:45For six years,
14:46Regional Crime Squad Detective Chief Inspector Alex Hall
14:49was allocated to be his police contact.
14:53Alex Hall remembers that Chris was very insistent
14:56that an attack was imminent.
14:59He'd said that he felt very strongly
15:01that the ceasefire was about to end
15:03and that he was starting to have
15:05a lot more dreams about dogs,
15:08that is to say,
15:08the IRA,
15:10and people being injured.
15:12Chris Robinson dreams in symbols.
15:14Dogs mean IRA terrorists, for example.
15:17But in this case,
15:18the symbols were mixed up
15:19with tantalisingly specific details
15:22about the location of the impending attack.
15:24He was seeing a bridge,
15:26a concrete bridge,
15:28pillars,
15:29tall buildings,
15:31by the waterside,
15:33that type of thing.
15:35The Canary Wharf bomb
15:37which ended the IRA ceasefire
15:39was planted underneath a railway bridge
15:41by water,
15:43near tall buildings.
15:44Unfortunately,
15:45the dream had not been specific enough
15:47to enable the police to avert the disaster.
15:51Ordinary people
15:52with no previous experience
15:54of psychic phenomena
15:55can also have premonitions.
15:57For years,
15:58Caroline Harrison
15:59was haunted by a dream
16:00of drowning at night.
16:02I've always had this dream
16:04since my early 20s
16:07and I'm floating up to my neck
16:09in very dark black water
16:11and I can see lights in the distance
16:14and there's no one around
16:16that I can see
16:17and I know that there's not going
16:19to be any help coming.
16:21In January 1996,
16:23Caroline and her boyfriend Steve
16:25were backpacking through Southeast Asia
16:27and planned to take a ferry
16:29to an island off Sumatra.
16:31Because of her dream,
16:32it was to be a daytime journey.
16:35We never ever went on a boat
16:36at night time
16:38if we could help it.
16:40This boat was not meant to leave
16:42in the night.
16:43It was three o'clock in the afternoon
16:45but it got delayed
16:45so we wouldn't have got on it otherwise.
16:49The ferry set off
16:50as night fell.
16:52Shortly after leaving port,
16:54it started to list heavily
16:55and then turned over
16:56with very little warning.
16:57I was just sort of waiting
17:00for Steve to catch up with me
17:01to come out of the cabin,
17:03out of the room
17:04and the water just came
17:07from behind me.
17:09I took two steps
17:11towards the door
17:11and the next thing I knew
17:13I felt water
17:14around my ankles
17:14and instantly
17:15it was over my head.
17:19And I swam up
17:20and I bashed my head
17:21and I could feel
17:22my face was pressed
17:23up against the ceiling
17:24and there was no air pocket
17:26at all.
17:28It seemed like
17:29I was just swimming
17:29for ages to get to the surface
17:31and all I could see
17:32were these white bubbles
17:33in front of my face
17:35and I was like
17:35thinking,
17:36God, you know,
17:37how much more
17:38have I got to swim
17:38to break to the surface?
17:41When I eventually did,
17:43there was like
17:44lots of people
17:45around
17:46all screaming
17:48and I was just
17:50wondering
17:51where Steve was.
17:55I don't know
17:55how long I was
17:56swimming around
17:56for until I found
17:57a door.
17:59I shot through that
18:00and I just kept
18:01swimming until I
18:02hit the surface.
18:04I felt somebody
18:05grab me around the neck.
18:07We struggled
18:08and spun around.
18:11We sank
18:12under the water
18:13and then he was gone.
18:18Caroline!
18:21Babe!
18:22Babe!
18:25Babe!
18:26Karen!
18:27I'm here!
18:28Babe!
18:29Are you all right?
18:31I'm alive.
18:32I can think of places
18:33that I'd rather be.
18:34There was a life raft.
18:38There was quite a few guys
18:39inside it
18:40and then they were going
18:42around the edge
18:43and just kicking people off
18:46and then we started
18:47seeing sharks
18:48coming around
18:49underneath us
18:50grabbing bodies.
18:56Then Caroline and I
18:56decided we'd be swimming
18:57off on our own.
18:58The people were more
19:00dangerous than the sharks
19:01because they were so
19:02totally unpredictable,
19:03so panicky,
19:04so frightened.
19:07We drifted off
19:09quite a way
19:10and we couldn't hear
19:11anybody's voices
19:12in the end.
19:12It was like we were
19:13the only two
19:14that had survived.
19:17And I just
19:18turned to Steve
19:19and I said,
19:19God, this is my dream.
19:21This is it.
19:22This is exactly
19:23the same.
19:24We just kept
19:29fooling ourselves
19:29that we were
19:31just swimming.
19:32There wasn't
19:32any danger
19:34apart from the sharks.
19:37We realised
19:38that if we started
19:40being silent,
19:42we would start
19:43to dwell on
19:44the fact that
19:45we were out
19:45in the middle of nowhere.
19:46Hey, babe,
19:47remember that night market
19:48in Kota Baru?
19:51Wasn't that just
19:51the most fantastic market
19:52we've ever been to?
19:54Yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:56As soon as you came in,
19:57it was like an
19:58Aladdin's cave.
20:01Late in the night,
20:02the two spotted
20:02a light in the distance.
20:06It wasn't until
20:08the daylight came
20:10that we realised
20:12that it was land
20:13that we were
20:13swimming towards.
20:15We really thought
20:16that we were going
20:17to make it to the land
20:18because it seemed
20:18so close.
20:20I don't know
20:21if it was the currents
20:22that changed,
20:23but we were just
20:24swept straight past
20:25the night.
20:26It was just so awful,
20:30the sinking feeling
20:31you had when you thought
20:32there is nothing else
20:33in sight now.
20:36Despite their disappointment,
20:38Daybreak itself
20:39brought some comfort.
20:40When the dawn came,
20:42it was quite a relief
20:43that we'd actually
20:44made it through the night
20:45and it wasn't
20:46pitch black anymore.
20:50My dream had always
20:51been in the dark.
20:55All of a sudden,
20:56bobbing along,
20:56we saw a tomato
20:58and then we saw
20:59a couple more.
21:00I hope that's not
21:00all our luck used up.
21:01And so we grabbed it
21:03and we shared it
21:04and it was nice
21:04and sweet
21:05and cool
21:06and fresh.
21:16Those houses in Burma
21:18were fantastic,
21:18weren't they?
21:20I could see how drawn
21:21Caroline had become,
21:23how wet she was
21:24and how tired she was.
21:25and I could see
21:27the determination
21:27and I just thought,
21:30oh, I love you.
21:32And I just said to her,
21:33We're going to get married
21:34when this is over, yeah?
21:35Okay?
21:41Okay.
21:43A floating oil drum
21:44offered little help.
21:47They spent hours
21:48under the blistering sun
21:49before their hopes
21:50were raised again.
21:52I spy
21:53with my little eye
21:54something beginning
21:56with S.
21:57Not the sky again,
21:59is it?
22:00No.
22:01Ship.
22:03You are joking.
22:04No, no, look.
22:06It's coming this way.
22:07Come on then, babe,
22:08let's swim towards it.
22:11No, we should save our energy.
22:13No, come on,
22:13we've got to go.
22:14It's our last chance.
22:15Inside I was really
22:16panicking and thinking
22:17there's just no way
22:19I can survive another night.
22:21I can't go through
22:22that blackness again.
22:24And I realised
22:26that this was it.
22:28We had to make this ship
22:29or we were finished.
22:32In the 20 hours
22:33they spent in the water,
22:34current had swept
22:35Steve and Caroline
22:3675 miles
22:38from where the ferry sank.
22:40Their rescue
22:40was captured on video.
22:42They didn't spot us
22:43until we were like 20,
22:4420, 25 yards away.
22:47My legs felt like
22:48they weren't there anymore.
22:49They were like really painful
22:51and aching,
22:52like I'd done nonstop
22:53step aerobics or something
22:55for like 20 hours.
22:57Of more than 200 passengers
22:59on the ferry,
23:00Steve and Caroline
23:01were among only 47
23:03who were rescued.
23:04That's what I'm able to do.
23:05I was just so happy
23:07but I was crying as well
23:09and all my panic
23:11and fears were coming out
23:13because I knew
23:14that I was safe
23:15and I could let it all go.
23:16I feel like
23:21the dream was a warning.
23:24It's like you can't escape it.
23:26It's like
23:27it's going to happen
23:28and there's no way
23:29that you can stop it.
23:31It was just meant to be.
23:34This year,
23:35lottery player
23:36Isabella Hughes
23:37claimed her numbers
23:38came to her
23:38in a dream.
23:39She won
23:40£2.5 million.
23:42So you know
23:42what you have to do
23:43before you go to bed
23:44from now on?
23:45Have a large slice of cheese
23:46with you, Coco.
23:47Good luck
23:48and good night.
24:16You're welcome.