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Strange But True S04E08
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00:00Good evening.
00:26Before the dawn of recorded time, scientists believe, there existed a land bridge between
00:33the North American continent and Asia, where the Bering Sea now flows.
00:38It's across this land that Native Americans are thought to have migrated from the east.
00:43During their trek, did those early settlers intrude on the territory of a mystical creature
00:48which still inhabits thousands of square miles of forest from northern California to Canada?
00:53This beast crops up again and again in Native American mythology and has many names.
01:00Buckwass, Oma and Sasquatch are just a few.
01:04But you and I know it as Bigfoot.
01:10Impenetrable woodland covers vast areas of the Pacific Northwest.
01:15Sparsely populated and largely unexplored,
01:18the region is believed by many to be the habitat of the mysterious and elusive Bigfoot,
01:23for whom the forests provide the perfect sanctuary.
01:27It's just fascinating to think that a large, bipedal, hominid, hair-covered ape of some sort
01:36is wandering around in these woods around us.
01:39There certainly is enough resources to support something like that.
01:49Todd Neese is a computer manager from Portland in Oregon
01:52and a sergeant in America's National Guard.
01:56During a training exercise in the forests,
01:59Todd had just detonated some explosives
02:01when he says he noticed movement near the blast site.
02:04There, standing in the middle, were these three figures,
02:09very dark, almost jet black in colour,
02:11standing on two legs, arms to their side,
02:15quite like a human would.
02:20Minutes later, Neese was approached by a startled colleague.
02:24And he goes,
02:25Did you happen to see what I saw?
02:27I said, I don't know, what did you see?
02:28And at that time, he came out and said,
02:32Well, for lack of a better word,
02:33I saw three of these Bigfeet.
02:36And I said, Bingo.
02:38I saw them, too.
02:42It's accounts like this which maintain the interest and curiosity
02:46of Bigfoot fans like Larry Lund.
02:49Since I was a kid,
02:50I've always been in wonderment of things
02:52that I can't prove are there, that I haven't seen.
02:55I'm an investigator.
02:56I go out to sites where there's been sightings of the creature or tracks.
03:00A lot of it, of course, is hoaxing, and you can tell,
03:03but we do get a lot of information.
03:07The legend of Bigfoot is so compelling
03:09that over the years, it's generated a minor industry.
03:14It's also encouraged hoaxers to make outrageous claims
03:17and falsify evidence.
03:19Here's an example of a lot of the fakes we get.
03:23As you can see,
03:25it doesn't have a real definite foot shape.
03:27And the toes are just straight across out to here
03:30and then real wide and bulbous.
03:31Now, there's one toe there,
03:33and this one appears to be missing the little toe coming up.
03:36And the hoaxers don't stop at Bigfoot's little toes.
03:40I want you to listen to this.
03:42This is a tape that has been sent.
03:44It's supposed to be the sound of a Bigfoot.
03:46And this is what people say they're hearing.
03:47This is not the sound of a Bigfoot.
04:01It's a fake, recorded in a church bell tower.
04:06But there's one piece of evidence that even Larry finds persuasive.
04:09In 1967, a Bigfoot enthusiast called Roger Patterson
04:14shot this remarkable piece of film in Bluff Creek, California.
04:19It shows this creature walking away from Roger Patterson as he filmed.
04:23He runs behind it.
04:25Patterson claims he'd filmed a female Bigfoot.
04:28As she turned, you can really see that it is a female creature then
04:31because she has large pendulous breasts.
04:33And as she disappears, you can still see the movement of the skin.
04:37You can see the muscle tone.
04:40I'm just, I'm convinced this is a real creature.
04:43The following day, Patterson returned to Bluff Creek
04:46and took what he claims were casts of footprints made by the Bigfoot.
04:51A somewhat normal-looking human-type foot.
04:54Toes are displayed just about right, nice angle,
04:56a nice flat heel here with no outrageous lines in it.
04:59So, since we do have the film and these were cast by people the next day,
05:03we believe these are real.
05:06The Patterson film has always aroused controversy.
05:10Its supporters point to the fact that in 30 years,
05:13nobody has confessed to a hoax.
05:16They also claim that no-one at the time
05:18would have had the skills to fake it.
05:21Several of the movie people and their special effects
05:23have looked at this film.
05:24They said, Larry, back then, 1967, not possible.
05:29A thousand miles to the north
05:33lies Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
05:36It's surrounded by numerous smaller islands
05:38where dense forest extends to the shoreline.
05:43For centuries, these islands have been home to Native Americans.
05:47Village Island, now long since abandoned,
05:49was the birthplace of Tom Seaweed.
05:52For him and his tribe, the legend of Bigfoot,
05:54or Bukwus, as they call the creature,
05:56is part of folklore.
05:59My people of Qwagyoth have always believed
06:02in the being that inhabits this area.
06:04Now, the Bukwus is said to be a large, hair-covered giant
06:10that you can see on the beaches
06:12when you're out clam digging on low tide.
06:15And many of our legends and dances are about the Bukwus.
06:20When you dance, you imitate this.
06:22And the Bukwus will be there, like this,
06:24hiding behind his arm.
06:26And as he steps, he comes forward and he pulls his arm up.
06:29Four years ago, Tom and a friend took a boat trip
06:34around the deserted islands off the Vancouver coast.
06:42Just as it got dark, I started calling for wolves
06:46to see if I'd get an answer from them.
06:48To my surprise, I got a call from the beach,
06:51but it wasn't wolves.
06:52It was a whistling, hooping sort of noise.
06:55Whoop, whoop, whoop.
06:57And at the same time, a really bad smell
07:00came drifting towards my boat.
07:04You smell that?
07:06Boy, that's bad.
07:06What's that stink?
07:07We saw something move, a shadow come out of the bush.
07:10You see that, Dean?
07:12Yeah, I see it.
07:12And right there, the first thing I noticed
07:16was this great creature,
07:19like a human covered in hair, just boom.
07:25I was amazed because he'd done the same posturing
07:28that I'd been taught when I used to dance
07:30the Bukwus for my grandfather.
07:33I would estimate its width of its body.
07:36It was like a 45-gallon oil drum.
07:38That's how big it was.
07:39Jeez, look at that thing.
07:40Tom says he and his friend watched
07:42in amazement until the creature
07:44finally strode off down the beach.
07:48Bukwus, I knew about, is a creature
07:51that ate cockles and clams on the beaches
07:54and was shy of humans.
07:57I've grown up with the legends.
07:59I guess I had my doubts,
08:01but after that night, no doubts.
08:03There is definitely some humanoid creature out there
08:06that is way bigger than a man,
08:08covered in hair, smells like heck,
08:10and shares the land with us.
08:12Did Tom really see a Bigfoot that night?
08:20Skeptics believe there is a simple explanation.
08:23The witnesses have been confusing Bukwus or Sasquatch
08:25with wild bears common to the region.
08:30This theory is rejected by wildlife biologist
08:33Dr. John Bindernagel,
08:35who has studied hundreds of sightings.
08:36Sasquatch differs from a bear actually in several ways,
08:41although superficially there's a similarity.
08:43If we look at a Sasquatch, just the outline,
08:46it has a much shorter neck, long legs,
08:48and in profile a very flat face.
08:50A bear, by comparison, has a very prominent snout,
08:54has very sloping or tapered shoulders,
08:57and has very short legs.
08:58And so, again, although there is this superficial similarity,
09:02it doesn't bear any serious analysis.
09:05One day in July 1985,
09:07the Bradshaw family from Washington State
09:10went on a camping trip deep into the woods.
09:13We had heard that there was a sighting of Sasquatch
09:15in the North River area
09:17and decided that we were going to go out and check it out.
09:19Yeah, are we hunting as well as fishing here?
09:22You can't be too careful.
09:24It was a beautiful day down there,
09:26but yet there was an eeriness to it,
09:29just something that wasn't quite right.
09:33Fred and his son Rick went off to the river to fish,
09:36leaving Carol behind at the campsite.
09:39There was this total stillness.
09:41And the stillness does make you wonder,
09:43because you have a feeling when you're in the woods
09:45that there is something watching.
09:47And that was how this day was.
09:54At dusk, Fred and Rick returned to the campsite
09:57to join Carol for dinner.
10:00I decided, well, we'd get some sleep.
10:03Don't stay up too late, Rick.
10:04And then we'd get up later in the night,
10:06and then we'd go look around at night,
10:08because these creatures seemed to roam more at night.
10:13What the heck was that?
10:15All of a sudden, there was just this big, loud,
10:18like a big limb had fallen.
10:20Sounded like a tree came down in the middle of the camp.
10:22I don't know, maybe it's just a bear or cougar or something.
10:30Over there.
10:31A weird feeling hit me, kind of the back of the spine,
10:37over the top of the head.
10:39And I said, Dad, do you see what I see?
10:44Here was this form that was standing behind a tree.
10:50It was just awesome to see.
10:52The Bradshaws claim this was no fleeting glimpse,
10:58and the creature was in their sight for several minutes
11:00before it disappeared.
11:02They're insistent it was a Bigfoot.
11:05I saw what I saw, and I can't prove it to anyone else.
11:09You just have to have an open mind about it.
11:14Until a Bigfoot is captured,
11:16doubts about its existence will remain.
11:18Whether Bigfoot exists or not,
11:23Larry Lund believes the phenomenon
11:24fulfills a basic human need.
11:27I think it's the mystery of life.
11:31You need something to believe in,
11:32something that you can't quite see
11:34and you can't quite touch,
11:35but that it's out there,
11:37and you hope that it's there.
11:38We need our monsters.
11:41The professor of anthropology at an American university
11:44recently called for a hunt to track and kill Bigfoot
11:47to prove its existence.
11:49If Bigfoot were found,
11:50the species' isolated life would be destroyed forever,
11:54along with a tantalising mystery.
12:01When we indulge our superstitions,
12:03we're mostly enjoying a bit of harmless fun,
12:06reading the tarot cards or tea leaves
12:08or learning our fate in the astrology charts.
12:11The Ouija board, however,
12:13is widely believed to represent a darker
12:15and less acceptable side of the occult.
12:18Deriving its name from the French and German words for yes,
12:21we and ja,
12:22it's mostly used by people
12:23who are trying to make contact with the dead.
12:26The Ouija board is condemned
12:28by both believers and non-believers alike,
12:30because whether or not it can bridge the gap
12:33between this world and the next,
12:35it certainly has the power
12:36to cause awful misery and suffering.
12:38I would say to anyone who wanted to get involved
12:43with playing on the Ouija board
12:44to think twice about it.
12:45I don't believe it's getting in touch
12:47with anything genuinely spiritual and good.
12:50I think it's simply getting in touch
12:51with unhealed parts of the human unconscious
12:54and with the deep wounds within themselves
12:57and that it's going to bring all sorts of things
12:59to the surface which they may not be able to face
13:01and which might be quite destructive.
13:03I have done at least three funerals
13:05that I know of,
13:06of young people who've committed suicide
13:08as a direct result of playing Ouija board.
13:12The origins of the Ouija board
13:14are numerous and varied.
13:16Different versions of the board
13:17have existed for centuries in many countries.
13:22Author Andrew Boyd
13:24is a leading authority on its history.
13:27The modern Ouija board
13:28comes from the late 19th century
13:30when a spiritualist called Planchet
13:32devised a kind of little pointer device
13:34like a glass on casters
13:36to move around quickly around the board
13:38and from then on
13:39the commercial board was developed.
13:41It became extremely popular
13:42in the 1920s after the First World War
13:45when there were so many people
13:46who were bereaved
13:46wanting to contact their dead relatives.
13:50Dr Richard Wiseman heads a unit
13:52at the University of Hertfordshire
13:54which specialises in the paranormal and occult.
13:57A Ouija board is allegedly an object
14:00for communicating with the deceased.
14:02I think there are lots of reasons
14:03why adults use a Ouija board.
14:06It may be just for fun.
14:07It may be that they think it would be exciting
14:09to try and contact the deceased
14:11or to try and bring an evil spirit into the room.
14:14But what can start off
14:15as just a harmless interest
14:17or just as fun
14:18can often lead to serious negative experiences for people.
14:21Well there's a number of different ways
14:23in which the board can work.
14:24You could get together with a group of people
14:26and somebody mischievous in that group
14:28could be shoving the glass around.
14:30It could be involuntary movement
14:32or it could be
14:33that the board is powered by our unconscious.
14:36The last possible theory of this
14:38is it could actually be powered
14:39by what people may believe it's powered by
14:42some kind of spiritual force.
14:45Playing with Ouija boards
14:46generally attracts vulnerable, susceptible people
14:49particularly teenagers.
14:51One of the clearest cases
14:52of somebody who was disturbed
14:54as a result of using the Ouija board
14:55was a 17 year old girl
14:57who'd seen the videos and read the books
14:59and decided to have a go for herself.
15:01She was perfectly normal
15:02and perfectly healthy
15:03until she had a makeshift seance in her home.
15:06Something happened in that seance
15:08we don't know what it was
15:09but it was bad enough to disturb her
15:11to the extent
15:12that she ran out of the house
15:14and was found sitting in the street
15:16completely distressed.
15:21Her parents didn't know what to do with her
15:23so they called for help.
15:27Meanwhile the girl ran upstairs
15:28turned up her hi-fi
15:30as loud as she possibly could
15:31and just wrecked her room.
15:36All they could hear downstairs
15:39was the drum of this music
15:40and things being smashed around her room.
15:45Now she had been perfectly normal
15:47perfectly healthy
15:48before staging this seance
15:50and in the end
15:52she would have been sectioned
15:53they would have put her
15:54in a psychiatric hospital there
15:55and then for her own good
15:55but the doctor had already gone home.
15:58I have been involved
16:00with the deliverance ministry
16:01for about 20 years
16:02and in my experience
16:04it's about six to nine months
16:07on an average
16:08dealing with cases of Ouija board
16:10before the dynamics
16:12within the family
16:13are sorted out.
16:15This woman's teenage daughter
16:16changed almost overnight
16:18after using a Ouija board
16:20for the first time.
16:21She hasn't been back to school
16:22for five weeks before the holidays
16:26because I couldn't get her
16:29to wake up in the mornings.
16:31I'd wake her up
16:32and she'd just swear
16:34roll over and go back to sleep again
16:36so I can't get her
16:39to get up at all.
16:43Schoolwork, she's not been doing
16:44any at all
16:45as far as I know
16:46because she won't let me
16:49look at her books
16:49which is something
16:51she used to let me do
16:52and she won't let me do that now.
16:54She doesn't write any stories
16:57like she used to
16:58she doesn't paint
16:59she doesn't come downstairs
17:01and talk to us
17:02like she used to.
17:03I think at the very least
17:04it's bringing material
17:05from the unconscious
17:06to the surface
17:07material
17:08spiritual material
17:09inside themselves
17:10which they can't cope with.
17:11I remember on one occasion
17:12having a group of lorry drivers
17:14who asked to come and see me
17:15they had to stop
17:16on motorways to rest
17:17and to pass the time
17:19they'd been playing
17:20with a Ouija board.
17:22Come on
17:22who's pushing it?
17:23It's not me
17:24I'm telling you
17:24Well it's one of you
17:25because it ain't me
17:26It's not me
17:27Look Gavin
17:28your finger's white
17:29I can see it
17:29Yeah no look
17:30I'll tip my finger up right
17:31No look look look
17:32I'm going to tip it up
17:33there's no way
17:34I can be doing that
17:35Now come on
17:35this is a why now
17:36I'll tell you what we do
17:38we'll ask it a question
17:39Yeah go on then
17:40Okay
17:40Erm
17:41when did my dad die?
17:44I think the truckers
17:44were just bored
17:45and wanted to pass some time
17:46so I think they just decided
17:47this was a bit of fun
17:48and then became very frightened
17:50when they began to realise
17:51that the glass was moving
17:52was spelling out messages
17:54of things from their past
17:56I don't like this
17:57I'd like to stop now
17:59They felt that some power
18:00was taking over the Ouija board
18:02and was also taking over their lives
18:04so two of them for instance
18:06described how they believed
18:07that some power of evil
18:09was getting into their cabs with them
18:11and was trying to force them off the road
18:13two of the drivers
18:14had an uncontrollable urge
18:16to steer into the path
18:17of oncoming traffic
18:18they all became so distressed
18:20they decided to seek
18:21professional help
18:23They came to me
18:30in a quite terrified state
18:32they obviously found it
18:34deeply distressing
18:35and yet they were
18:35quite tough men
18:37but they certainly
18:39had been frightened
18:39out of their lives
18:40by that experience
18:41There are many more cases
18:43of adults who got more
18:45than they bargained for
18:46following a Ouija board session
18:47Stephen Gilchrist
18:49was the solicitor
18:50defending Stephen Young
18:51who was accused
18:52of a gruesome double murder
18:53Insurance consultant Young
18:56had been charged
18:57with the cold-blooded execution
18:58of newlyweds
18:59Harry and Nicola Fuller
19:00to get cash
19:01for an ailing business
19:02It was clearly
19:04an extremely unpleasant case
19:06for the jurors
19:08because it contained
19:09elements of violence
19:13extreme violence
19:14gunshots
19:15it contained evidence
19:17of Nicola Fuller
19:19the deceased wife
19:21phoning the emergency services
19:24and that tape was played
19:26as she was dying
19:27and that tape was played
19:29to the jury
19:31and what happened
19:33at the end of the case
19:34was that the jury
19:35retired to a hotel
19:36they had a nice dinner
19:38they had a good few drinks
19:40apparently
19:40and they decided
19:42instead of relying
19:43on the evidence
19:44to rely on a Ouija board
19:45to try and make contact
19:46with the deceased
19:47Harry Fuller
19:48Oh my God
19:57I spelt Harry Fuller
20:00Who killed you?
20:27It's him
20:34Stephen Young
20:36What should we do now?
20:51That's enough
20:51I don't want to do this anymore
20:53Nor do I
20:54I must stop now
20:54We mustn't tell anyone about this
20:57not anyone
20:57The following day
21:00the jury returned
21:02with a guilty verdict
21:03in respect of both allegations
21:05that's to say
21:06the murder of Harry Fuller
21:08and the murder of Nicola Fuller
21:10and the verdict was one of guilty
21:12against the defendant
21:13Stephen Young
21:14Some days after the trial
21:16it came to light
21:17that one of the members
21:19of the jury in this case
21:20had gone to see
21:21a solicitor
21:22to make a statement
21:23because he was concerned
21:24about the activities
21:25of some of his co-jurors
21:27that obviously alerted
21:30our suspicions
21:31and we were told
21:31in brief terms
21:33via hearsay
21:34really what had happened
21:36their behaviour
21:37was clearly
21:37out of order
21:38and outrageous
21:39they're not supposed
21:41to tamper
21:42with external factors
21:43particularly
21:44issues such as
21:46Ouija boards
21:46what I think
21:47concerned us
21:48for the defence
21:49and apparently
21:50the juror
21:51who spilled the beans
21:52was that
21:52it was quite apparent
21:53from the evidence
21:54that Harry Fuller
21:55was either illiterate
21:56or dyslexic
21:57or both
21:57in life
21:58and therefore
21:59how could he spell
22:00the words correctly
22:01when it came to
22:02setting them out
22:04on the Ouija board
22:05the court of appeal
22:08set aside
22:09the conviction
22:10but ordered
22:10a retrial
22:11the final verdict
22:13was also guilty
22:14I don't think
22:16for one minute
22:17the jurors
22:18contacted
22:18Harry Fuller
22:19instead I think
22:20one of them
22:21may have been
22:22very keen
22:22to persuade
22:23the others
22:23to return
22:23a certain verdict
22:24and simply
22:25push the glass
22:26or they all
22:27had a verdict
22:27in mind
22:28and unconsciously
22:29just returned
22:30that verdict
22:30via the Ouija board
22:31either way
22:32I think the message
22:33came from someone
22:34on earth
22:34and not the spirit
22:35of Mr Fuller
22:36but what really
22:40does make the glass
22:41move
22:41there are many theories
22:43it's mental energy
22:45I'm fairly certain
22:46of that
22:46from the people
22:48sitting there
22:49with the group
22:49but
22:51that energy
22:52can
22:54be affected
22:55by evil
22:57nine times
22:58out of ten
22:58you'll be safe
22:59nothing will happen
23:00to you
23:01you don't know
23:02when the tenth time
23:03is going to be
23:04and that is when
23:06it becomes dangerous
23:07the evidence
23:09is stacked up
23:10from the files
23:10of counsellors
23:11carers
23:12doctors
23:13social workers
23:14who've had to
23:15pick up the pieces
23:16whatever you think
23:17it is
23:17it's bad news
23:19and it should be
23:20avoided
23:20I would say
23:21don't
23:22the subject
23:27of the Ouija board
23:28is still a controversial
23:29one in the UK
23:30although Parker Brothers
23:31sell them in America
23:32none of the big games
23:34manufacturers
23:35sells Ouija boards
23:36in this country
23:37we asked the toy
23:38manufacturers association
23:39why this was
23:40but they said the issue
23:42was too sensitive
23:43for them to comment
23:44goodnight
23:45the only thing
23:47but they said that
23:47could be
23:49a slight
23:51way
23:51to this
23:52but they had
23:54someGA
23:56or
23:56even
23:57a stupid
23:57or
23:58the
23:58one in the river
23:59can be
23:59hört
24:00as they
24:01do
24:02the
24:02move
24:03on
24:03the
24:04little
24:06algorithms
24:06caught up
24:06the
24:07one in the day
24:09in the wind
24:10in the wind
24:11rock
24:11and
24:12what acあの