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00:01I'm Tim Tate.
00:03I've been an investigative journalist
00:05for almost half a century.
00:08And what I specialise in
00:10is exploring official archives,
00:13unearthing dusty old files
00:15from government departments,
00:18spy agencies, the police.
00:20And what I have found
00:25in those collections,
00:26both in Britain and in the United States,
00:30is a truly extraordinary collection
00:33of real-life X-Files.
00:36True cryptids are the Yeti,
00:38the Mongolian death worm,
00:39death worm, death worm.
00:41And those files disclose investigations
00:44by the police, by governments,
00:47by spy agencies.
00:48Shortly after that transmission,
00:50Captain Shaffner's radio went dark.
00:53To examine and uncover the truth
00:56about phenomena which are truly
00:59out of this world.
01:01It's a great piece of branding,
01:02death ray.
01:03Everyone knows where they stand
01:04with a death ray.
01:05Death ray.
01:11Death ray.
01:18Our first entry takes us back
01:20to a simpler time.
01:22A time when it was still possible
01:24to believe in magic.
01:34Do you believe in fairies?
01:40If not, is that because you have never seen them?
01:45But would you believe in fairies
01:46if you saw them with your own eyes?
01:50The story begins in the summer of 1917.
01:53Two young cousins, Elsie Wright and Francis Griffin,
01:59were staying at Elsie's family home in Cottingley,
02:05which was then a little village
02:06on the outskirts of Bradford in West Yorkshire.
02:10Elsie was 16, Francis was 9,
02:13and both liked to play in Cottingley Beck,
02:18a little stream which ran through the wooded valley
02:20and right beside the end of the Wright family garden.
02:25But Elsie's mother, Polly,
02:27didn't like Francis playing in the Beck.
02:29Francis's daughter, Christine,
02:31tells of the extraordinary event that followed.
02:34And her mother used to come home tired
02:36and got angry with her
02:38for always continually getting her shoes and stockings wet.
02:42And so then one day,
02:44she said, why do you go down to the Beck?
02:45What takes you down there?
02:47And she said, without thinking,
02:49I go to see the fairies.
02:51Suspecting the comment was a child's made-up excuse.
02:54Polly told Francis that she couldn't tell tales,
02:57at which point Elsie told her mother
02:59she's not making it up.
03:01I see them too.
03:03Evidently, this remark was greeted
03:04with some scepticism by Elsie's mother
03:07because the girls then decided
03:10that they would take photographs
03:12of fairies down by the Beck.
03:14Elsie borrowed her father's camera
03:17and she and Francis went back down to the Beck.
03:21And when they came back,
03:22they said they had photographed the fairies.
03:24When the negatives and the prints came back,
03:28they appeared to bear out Elsie
03:33and Francis's story.
03:37One of the images showed Francis lying on the ground
03:41surrounded by little dancing fairies,
03:44figures in diaphanous clothing
03:46who were dancing around a young girl.
03:49Two weeks later,
03:52Elsie borrowed her dad's camera again
03:54and went back down to the Beck.
03:56And this time,
03:57Francis snapped Elsie
04:00sitting on the ground
04:02with a little gnome
04:05dancing beside her head.
04:08Arthur Wright, Elsie's father,
04:11thought it very suspicious
04:12but couldn't work out
04:14how the images had been made.
04:16But Elsie's mother was more receptive.
04:18She was a member of the Theosophy
04:20or Spiritualist Society
04:22and she took the photographs to a meeting.
04:25The meeting
04:26to which Polly took the photographs
04:30had a subject for the night
04:32and that subject was fairy life.
04:46Victorians really loved
04:48the idea of fairies in the countryside
04:50and one of the reasons for that
04:53and perhaps this is particularly relevant
04:55to Bradford
04:56was the increasing,
04:58the growing sense
04:59that the countryside
04:59was disappearing into industry.
05:01Fairy law was just huge in this period.
05:04It's not that long since the play
05:07Peter Pan first opened
05:08with Tinkerbell the fairy.
05:10Pantomimes with fairies
05:11were kind of an annual event.
05:13Well, Polly's photographs
05:14caused a stir
05:15and soon they were brought
05:17to the attention
05:17of the Theosophical Society's president.
05:22Edward Gardner
05:23was a prolific writer
05:25on the subject
05:26and travelled internationally
05:28to give lectures
05:29about the society,
05:31about its beliefs,
05:32about its theories.
05:36Gardner was so excited
05:37by the photographs
05:38that he took them
05:39to the best-known supporter
05:41of spiritualism in the world
05:42at that time,
05:43Arthur Conan Doyle,
05:45the author of Sherlock Holmes.
05:47Don't, for one moment,
05:49suppose that I am taking it
05:50upon myself
05:51to say that I am
05:52the inventor of spiritualism
05:54or that I am even
05:56the principal exponent of it.
05:58There are many great mediums,
06:00many great psychical researchers,
06:02investigators of all sorts.
06:04All that I can do
06:06is to be a gramophone
06:08on the subject.
06:10Conan Doyle's son, Kingsley,
06:12had very sadly died
06:14just towards the end
06:16of the Great War.
06:17And so, you know,
06:18he was already interested
06:19in spiritualism
06:20when he heard about
06:21these photos.
06:22It's possible that he also
06:23kind of wanted to lean
06:24into the idea
06:25that fairies were real.
06:27Arthur Conan Doyle
06:28was commissioned
06:30to write articles
06:32of fairies
06:33for the Christmas edition
06:35of the Strand magazine.
06:37I take it the new issue
06:38of the Strand magazine
06:39is out,
06:39containing another
06:40of your slightly lurid tales.
06:42Yes, indeed.
06:43And what do you call this one?
06:45I call it
06:46A Scandal in Bohemia.
06:48Not a bad title, eh?
07:04The attention of the media
07:06focused the spotlight
07:07of scepticism
07:08on the charming story.
07:10How could these photographs
07:11of fairies be real?
07:13So they were sent
07:14to Kodak for analysis.
07:17And what the experts
07:18were looking for
07:19was a double exposure.
07:20They were looking for the idea
07:21that the plate had been
07:22first exposed
07:23as a photograph
07:24of one of the girls
07:25and then exposed
07:26as a photograph
07:27of fairies.
07:28That was the kind of
07:29faking
07:30that they were thinking with.
07:31And, of course,
07:32they were able
07:33to rule that out.
07:34But despite the doubts,
07:36Conan Doyle's backing
07:37ensured the status
07:38of the photographs
07:39in the public mind.
07:42His fame
07:44essentially sealed it.
07:46These two photographs,
07:49because Conan Doyle
07:50had endorsed them,
07:52were, in homes
07:54up and down the land,
07:56believed as absolute
07:58cast-iron proof
08:01that fairies
08:03had been photographed.
08:05What happened next
08:07is what always happens
08:08in these stories.
08:09Interest died down.
08:11The girls grew up,
08:13got married,
08:13and got on with their lives.
08:15But the Cottingly fairies
08:17didn't just disappear.
08:18People were still
08:19intrigued by what had happened.
08:21And in the 1960s,
08:22interest in the story
08:24peaked enough
08:24for journalists
08:25to trace Elsie and Frances
08:27and ask them
08:28if they really took
08:29the photographs of fairies.
08:31The first time
08:32journalists did this,
08:33both Elsie and Frances
08:34said,
08:35note the photos
08:36were real.
08:37We really saw fairies.
08:38We didn't fake anything.
08:40The first crack
08:41in the girls' bond
08:42of silence
08:43came when Elsie suggested
08:44that the fairies
08:45might be photographs
08:46of her imagination.
08:48But then Joseph Cooper,
08:49an academic
08:50who was interested
08:51in the story,
08:52befriended Frances.
08:55Jo Cooper came down
08:56and spent the weekend
08:57with her.
08:58And she said,
08:59Jo, I'd written
09:00this secret
09:00past my story.
09:01So he didn't say anything.
09:02That was okay.
09:05They went to bed
09:06as usual
09:07at 10 o'clock at night.
09:09And next thing
09:09she heard sound
09:10downstairs.
09:11And so she called down,
09:13Jo, what's wrong?
09:14And he called back up.
09:15She says,
09:16very often I stay up
09:17at night.
09:17I can't sleep to do work.
09:18Do you mind
09:18if I stay downstairs?
09:20I said,
09:20no, no, that's fine.
09:21That's fine.
09:22That's totally unsuspecting.
09:24But he knew
09:25where she kept
09:26her documents
09:27and she was totally
09:29trusting him,
09:31not believing
09:31anything would happen.
09:32And two weeks later,
09:34the Unexplained magazine
09:35had the whole story
09:37of the fix.
09:41So what fiendishly
09:42clever trickery
09:43did these two young girls
09:45use to fool the world?
09:46And no less a figure
09:48than Arthur Conan Doyle
09:49into believing
09:50that there really were
09:51fairies at the bottom
09:52of the garden.
09:53They went about this
09:54really systematically.
09:55They created tracings
09:57from a book.
09:59It was actually called
10:00Princess Mary's Gift Book.
10:02And she was very clever,
10:03she was very artistic.
10:04And she drew them,
10:06cut them out beautifully,
10:08tinted them,
10:08and then when it was all ready,
10:11they asked the father
10:12to follow the camera.
10:14And they artistically
10:15arranged the fairies
10:16in front of her,
10:18sticking the hatpins
10:19on the back of the fingers
10:20put them into the grass
10:21and very artistically
10:22arranged in front of Francis.
10:24So Francis was
10:26standing like this
10:26on the bank,
10:27looking at the camera,
10:29and the first photograph
10:30was taken.
10:31I don't think that
10:32there are any bad actors here.
10:34I think, in effect,
10:35everybody played their part
10:36in this.
10:37You have Francis,
10:38who is the fairy experiencer.
10:40You have Elsie,
10:41who enjoyed limelight
10:43and enjoyed the attention
10:44that these photos
10:45were garnering.
10:46And, you know,
10:47but we have Elsie's glamour,
10:49in effect,
10:50to thank for the reason
10:52why we're talking
10:53about these photos now.
10:55Because Elsie was the one
10:57with the creative talent,
11:00the artistic talent,
11:01enabling her to create
11:03these fairies
11:03and produce the photos.
11:06But there is one photograph
11:07that is different
11:09from all the others,
11:10both in style
11:11and for the fact
11:12that it features
11:12neither of the girls.
11:15Totally different.
11:16The others are solid paper.
11:17You can see that paper,
11:18you know,
11:19when you're really low.
11:19Because it's solid.
11:20But that last photograph,
11:22the grasses are there
11:23and you can see
11:26transparent figures.
11:27You can see the grasses
11:27behind,
11:28grasses in front.
11:29You can see one
11:30beginning to appear.
11:31You see a tiny little face
11:33on the right-hand side.
11:34there's people
11:34in the grasses
11:35and my mother said
11:36that's genuine.
11:37That is real.
11:39Those are fairies I saw.
11:41I really believe
11:42that Frances did see fairies.
11:44She gives a wonderful
11:45description in her memoir.
11:47She reports that
11:49at that time
11:50she saw a leaf twirling
11:52without a breeze
11:53and later on
11:54she sees a little man
11:55that is twirling that leaf.
11:57She also talks about
11:59little men trooping
12:00over the branch,
12:01over the beck
12:02on a willow branch
12:04and this place,
12:06she comes to take it
12:07for granted
12:07that she goes there
12:08and she sees these beings.
12:10Today the pictures
12:11are categorised
12:12as a hoax
12:12in the pages
12:13of the British X-Files.
12:15But although they may not
12:16have been any fairies,
12:17is that really fair
12:18on Frances and Elsie?
12:20I don't think it was a hoax.
12:22I think it was,
12:23and the girls themselves
12:24said it,
12:26mischief.
12:27And now mischief
12:27is a very fairy quality.
12:29I personally love the idea
12:31that these two innocent girls
12:33completely tricked
12:34Conan Doyle
12:35who clearly believed
12:36that his own powers
12:37of reason
12:38were magically akin
12:40to those of his creation,
12:42Sherlock Holmes.
12:43What a mind.
12:44Sharp enough
12:45and brilliant enough
12:46to outwit
12:47the great Sherlock Holmes himself.
13:15Our next file
13:17takes us to the high seas.
13:19where a cursed ship
13:20roams the great oceans.
13:22Its cargo?
13:23Nothing but bad luck.
13:34The 17th century
13:36was the golden age
13:37of the Dutch East India Company.
13:39Sailing ships
13:40from the Netherlands
13:40sailed the globe
13:42in search of trade.
13:43Their determination
13:44to make their fortune
13:45meant taking risks
13:46on the high seas
13:47and this inevitably
13:49led them into danger.
13:50But sailors are superstitious
13:52and knew that
13:53if they weren't careful
13:54they might anger
13:55the gods of the sea
13:56and summon up
13:57a deadly curse.
13:58The Flying Dutchman
14:00is a ship under a curse.
14:03It's a curse brought on it
14:05by the captain of the ship
14:07who is typically
14:09trying to round a point
14:10trying to make his way
14:11through a storm
14:12and makes a rash vow.
14:14He swears that he's going
14:16to round this point
14:17even if he has to keep trying
14:19for the whole of eternity.
14:21He swears that he's not
14:22going to give in
14:23to the storm.
14:24He says,
14:24no, I'm going to make it,
14:26I'm going to make it.
14:27And as a result of that curse
14:28he's doomed to keep trying
14:30forever and ever.
14:35The earliest sightings
14:36of the Flying Dutchman
14:37were in travel logs
14:38and people were
14:39basically repeating
14:41what they'd heard sailors
14:42talking about
14:43on board ship.
14:44And yet this evolved
14:46in the 19th century
14:47with more of a sort
14:48of a back story.
14:49So it actually has
14:50a figure,
14:51a character
14:51who becomes
14:52Captain Van der Decken
14:53and he's this
14:55damned sailor
14:56of this sinful crew
14:58who are forced
14:59to sail around the world
15:00until doomsday.
15:01Sightings of the ship
15:03vainly battling
15:04against the sea
15:05in order to make port
15:06became common
15:07amongst sailors.
15:08But the curse
15:09wasn't confined
15:10to the captain
15:11and crew
15:11of the Flying Dutchman.
15:14Any living crew
15:16on a genuine
15:18real life ship
15:19who spotted
15:21the ghost ship
15:22would become
15:24struck down,
15:26would be killed
15:27or condemned
15:28to devastation,
15:31and doom
15:31and destruction.
15:33It's linked
15:33to the disappearance
15:34of a ship
15:35around the Cape
15:36of Good Hope
15:36and the story
15:38elaborated from there.
15:39It sort of existed
15:39in folklore
15:40until the sort of
15:42late 18th century
15:43and then it started
15:44to get picked up
15:45in literature.
15:46throughout the 18th and 19th centuries
15:50this myth grew
15:53and grew
15:54and grew.
15:55It formed the basis
15:56for supernatural tales
15:59by novelists and poets
16:00and the German composer
16:02Richard Wagner
16:03composed an entire opera
16:06based on the story.
16:09The original story
16:10was set in the 17th century
16:12around the Cape
16:13of Good Hope
16:14and a touristly stormy area
16:16in the southern tip
16:17of South Africa.
16:18However,
16:19since then,
16:20sightings of the Flying Dutchman
16:22have spread around the world
16:23and into more modern times.
16:25One of the examples
16:26I found
16:27was reported
16:28in the New York newspaper
16:29in the 1920s
16:31and it referred to
16:33sighting by a British Navy
16:36or Royal Navy convoy
16:37during the First World War
16:39and the mysterious appearance
16:41of an additional ship
16:42in that convoy.
16:43What happened was
16:44the convoy was then attacked
16:46by German submarines
16:47and again,
16:48the person who had sighted it
16:50on board
16:50his particular ship,
16:52that was the only ship
16:53that was destroyed
16:53and then after the conflict
16:55that ghost ship
16:57disappeared.
16:59In 1886,
17:00John Dalton
17:01contributed a story
17:02to a book called
17:03The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship
17:06the Kante.
17:07In it,
17:07he described an encounter
17:08with the Flying Dutchman
17:09but more extraordinary still
17:11was the identity
17:12of one of the witnesses.
17:14One of the people
17:15who spotted
17:16that infamous ghost ship
17:19went on
17:20to become
17:21King George V.
17:23According to Dalton's account,
17:25the crew
17:26and there were a lot of them
17:29spotted the ship
17:30off the coast
17:31of Australia
17:32and they saw it
17:33as a sort of
17:34phosphorescent glow.
17:37July the 11th.
17:39At 4am,
17:40the Dutchman
17:41crossed our bows.
17:43A strange red light
17:44as of a phantom ship
17:45all aglow
17:46in the midst of which light
17:48the masts,
17:49spars
17:50and sails
17:51of a brig
17:51200 yards distant
17:53stood out
17:54in strong relief
17:55as she came up
17:57on the port bow
17:58where also the officer
18:00of the watch
18:00from the bridge
18:01clearly saw her
18:02as did the quarterdeck
18:04midshipman
18:05who was sent forward
18:06at once
18:06to the fo'c'sle
18:07but on arriving
18:09there was no vestige
18:10nor any sign
18:11whatever
18:11of any material ship.
18:13At 10.45am
18:16the ordinary seamen
18:18who had this morning
18:19reported the flying
18:20Dutchman
18:21fell
18:22from the four-mast
18:23cross-trees
18:24onto the top-gallant
18:26fo'c'sle
18:26and was smashed
18:28to atoms.
18:30This account
18:31was written
18:31by John Dalton
18:32who was the prince's
18:34tutor
18:34given its paranormal
18:36nature
18:36we might expect
18:38Buckingham Palace
18:38to have objected
18:40or even censor
18:41the story
18:41if they felt
18:42it was inaccurate
18:43or damaging
18:44to the future
18:45king's reputation
18:46but that didn't happen.
18:48So was it true?
18:49Did King George V
18:51really see
18:52the flying Dutchman?
18:53On closer inspection
18:55the ship's log
18:56contains no reference
18:57to the sighting.
18:59However
18:59that logbook
19:01does record
19:02the death
19:03of the crewman
19:04who fell
19:06from the top-mast
19:07to the deck
19:09to his death.
19:11So are there
19:12any rational explanations
19:13that might account
19:14for all the sightings
19:15of the flying Dutchman?
19:17There's a range
19:18of theories
19:19have been suggested
19:20there's this kind of
19:21sort of rational
19:21scientific theories
19:22that essentially
19:22this is misperception.
19:24The watery environment
19:25of the sea
19:27you've got miss
19:28you've got
19:28mirages
19:29you've got
19:29the sort of play
19:30of sun and water
19:32can easily distort
19:33what people are seeing.
19:34You've then also
19:35got the fact
19:35that there are
19:36quite a lot
19:36of derelict
19:37and abandoned ships
19:38that can drift
19:39into the shipping lanes
19:40and so people
19:42see at a distance
19:43these eerily empty ships
19:45that have been
19:46sort of exposed
19:46to the elements
19:47they have this
19:48kind of haunting
19:48quality to them.
19:51Virtually all sailors
19:52even as late
19:53as the Prince of Wales
19:54account
19:55suffered to some extent
19:56with scurvy
19:57and that can affect
19:59both eyesight
19:59and the mind.
20:01It's not that uncommon
20:03for scurvy
20:04to induce hallucinations
20:05and altered states
20:06of consciousness
20:07and one of the altered
20:08states of consciousness
20:09that it tends to induce
20:11is anxiety
20:12fear and paranoia.
20:14If visions of the flying Dutchman
20:16were caused by scurvy
20:17that might explain
20:18why the sightings
20:19have now stopped.
20:21However
20:21do we really want
20:22a rational explanation?
20:24Isn't there something
20:25in the story
20:26of Captain Dodeca
20:27and his crew
20:28sailing the oceans
20:29for eternity
20:29that speaks not only
20:31to frightened sailors
20:32but to us all?
20:34I think we just find
20:35the idea of someone
20:36who's both immortal
20:37and deeply unhappy
20:38a fascinating tale.
20:41The idea of somebody
20:42who lives forever
20:43but doesn't gain
20:44any benefit from it
20:45who indeed wants
20:46to escape from life
20:48into death
20:49is always
20:50a very powerful tale
20:52that reassures
20:53the rest of us
20:54about the fact
20:55that actually mortality
20:56might be a blessing
20:57and not a curse.
21:29The arms race
21:31produces ever more
21:32powerful weapons
21:33but what if there
21:34was a device
21:35that could destroy
21:36the missiles
21:37that threaten
21:37to destroy the world?
21:48Death rays are the stuff
21:50of science fiction
21:51comic books
21:52and B-movies
21:53of the 40s and 50s
21:54or even earlier works
21:55by H.G. Wells
21:56depict Martians
21:58laying waste
21:58to whole cities
21:59with one lethal burst.
22:01What general
22:02wouldn't want
22:02to get his hands
22:03on such a deadly weapon?
22:05In the years
22:06following World War I
22:07governments
22:08across the world
22:10took the idea
22:12of a death ray
22:13very, very seriously
22:16indeed.
22:18And a dusty file
22:20held at the British
22:21National Archives
22:22at Kew
22:23contains
22:23an astonishing story
22:26that a self-proclaimed
22:28inventor
22:29could make them
22:31a death ray
22:32which would
22:33help
22:35vanquish their enemies
22:36in all future
22:38conflicts.
22:40The nature of warfare
22:41changed in World War I.
22:43It was now
22:44industrialized
22:45and mechanized.
22:46Governments realized
22:47that the next war
22:48could be won
22:49by the side
22:50with the best technology.
22:51Everybody thinks
22:52that the cunning war
22:54is going to be dominated
22:55by aerial warfare
22:57in particular
22:58and that the nation
23:00that commands the air
23:01is going to win the war.
23:05The government of the day
23:06was desperate
23:07to find something
23:08that would bring down
23:09enemy aircraft
23:10quickly,
23:11conveniently
23:12and cheaply.
23:15step forward
23:17Harry Grindle Matthews
23:18born in Gloucester
23:19in 1880
23:20he trained
23:21as an electrical engineer
23:22and went on
23:23to become an inventor
23:24specializing
23:25in the relatively new
23:27and exciting
23:27field of electronics.
23:29Harry Grindle Matthews
23:31was one of the great
23:33in fact I'd almost say
23:35the greatest
23:36forgotten
23:38inventors
23:39of the first half
23:41of the 20th century.
23:42He made his name
23:43as a maverick
23:44as an outsider.
23:45He kind of styled himself
23:47as Gloucester's answer
23:48to Nikola Tesla
23:49or Thomas Edison
23:51someone who's
23:52just bursting with ideas
23:54and knew how
23:55to make them happen.
23:56He was someone
23:57who saw himself
23:58as
24:00someone who could see
24:01a new world
24:02that was coming.
24:03The files
24:04in the National Archives
24:05record
24:07that he
24:09had staged
24:10a demonstration
24:11for Britain's
24:12military chiefs
24:13in which
24:15for the first time
24:16his
24:17radio
24:18telegraphy
24:20was able
24:20to put
24:22the ground
24:23in contact
24:24with a pilot
24:25in a plane
24:26600 feet up
24:28in the sky
24:28and 2 miles away.
24:30Now that had never
24:30been done before
24:31and was a
24:33positive advance.
24:34He also invented
24:36or at least claimed
24:37to have invented
24:37the first
24:38talking pictures.
24:40He produced a film
24:41featuring an interview
24:43with Ernest Shackleton
24:44before Shackleton
24:45set off on his
24:46expedition
24:47and Matthew's technology
24:48didn't really catch off.
24:50But it wasn't
24:51these inventions
24:52that would earn
24:52Harry Grindle Matthews
24:54his reputation.
24:55In 1923
24:57newspapers across Europe
24:59began reporting
25:00experiments in Germany
25:01and the scientists
25:02there had allegedly
25:04been conducting
25:04experiments
25:05using a death ray.
25:09And that death ray
25:10was able
25:11apparently
25:12to bring down
25:14aircraft
25:15in flight
25:16and had done so
25:18allegedly
25:19to French
25:20planes
25:21flying over
25:22German territory.
25:23The military potential
25:24was obvious.
25:28Unfortunately
25:29there was not
25:30a shred
25:31of truth
25:34in these
25:34extravagant claims
25:36for the German
25:37death ray.
25:43Within months
25:44of the German claims
25:45Grindle Matthews
25:46announced to the press
25:47that he had been working
25:48on a similar experiment
25:50and made the bold claim
25:52that he had made
25:53a death ray
25:53that really worked.
25:55At the time
25:56it was received
25:56kind of rapturously
25:57it received so much
25:59press attention
26:00I mean
26:01it's a great piece
26:02of branding
26:03the death ray
26:03everyone knows
26:04where to stand
26:04with a death ray.
26:05This was exactly
26:06what the British
26:07government needed
26:08to blast their
26:09military into the future.
26:11Under a certain
26:12amount of pressure
26:13from the government
26:13who were at least
26:15potentially interested
26:16in a death ray
26:17he invited
26:18government scientists
26:19to his laboratory.
26:20So there was
26:21Grindle Matthews
26:23and three representatives
26:24from the war office
26:25two of them
26:26scientifically based
26:27one was an engineer
26:28the other one was
26:29a physicist.
26:30The test itself
26:31was in two parts
26:32in the first part
26:34Matthews fired his ray
26:37at a light bulb
26:38some distance away
26:40a light bulb
26:41that was not
26:42connected
26:43to any form
26:44of electricity
26:45or any other wiring
26:47and Matthews ray
26:49lit up
26:51the light bulb.
26:52Having shown
26:53that he could turn
26:54on a disconnected
26:54light bulb
26:55they then moved
26:56on to the second
26:57part of the test.
26:58The test
26:59was supposed
27:01to show
27:02how the death ray
27:03could take out
27:05enemy aircraft
27:06by turning off
27:07their engines
27:08from the ground
27:10basically
27:11to fire it
27:12at the aircraft
27:13it shorts out
27:14the magneto
27:15in its engine
27:17and then it
27:17plummets to the ground.
27:22The death ray
27:23looked like a big
27:24spotlight
27:24with three smaller
27:26spotlights
27:27sort of around
27:27its rim
27:28turned it on
27:29it shot
27:30apparently a
27:31jet of blue light
27:32across the room
27:35and turned off
27:36and turned off
27:37a single stroke
27:37motorcycle engine
27:38which had been
27:39running on the table.
27:40On the surface
27:41then it looked like
27:42the death ray
27:43was potentially
27:44viable.
27:45What were the
27:46problems?
27:47Well the first
27:48was that the
27:50experiment with
27:50the light bulb
27:51was hardly
27:52innovative science
27:54it was
27:54actually a
27:56standard attraction
27:57at fairgrounds
27:58at the time.
27:59and as for
28:01the motorcycle
28:01test
28:02well the
28:03military chiefs
28:04noticed something
28:05a little bit
28:05strange about that
28:07because
28:08throughout the
28:09experiment
28:10and particularly
28:12at the crucial
28:13time when
28:14Grindel Matthews
28:15pressed the button
28:16he had one of
28:19his assistants
28:19standing
28:20conveniently
28:21beside
28:22the motorbike.
28:24government officials
28:25themselves
28:25were
28:28dubious
28:28to say the least.
28:30They strongly
28:31suspected that
28:32they were being
28:33fed a line
28:33and that
28:35the death ray
28:36didn't really
28:37do what
28:38Matthew claimed
28:39it could do.
28:40They suspected
28:41that they weren't
28:42being allowed
28:42to properly
28:43inspect the
28:43apparatus
28:45simply because
28:46it wasn't
28:46what Matthew
28:47said it was.
28:50Undeterred
28:51by the
28:51demonstration
28:52Grindel Matthews
28:53decided to use
28:54his considerable
28:55skills as a
28:56showman to
28:56make a film
28:57showing what
28:58his powerful
28:58death ray
28:59could do.
29:00Matthews
29:01looking visionary
29:02looking scientific
29:04white coated
29:05in his laboratory
29:06then switches to
29:07a scene of
29:09the death ray
29:09itself.
29:10This huge
29:11futuristic
29:12looking cannon
29:14smoke
29:15reeling
29:15all over it
29:16and then
29:17an image of
29:18a city in
29:19flames.
29:20It didn't
29:21escape attention
29:21certainly on the
29:22part of
29:22government
29:23scientists
29:24that the
29:25death ray
29:26as portrayed
29:26in the
29:27Pathé
29:28newsreel
29:28bore very
29:30very little
29:31resemblance
29:32to the
29:33apparatus
29:33of the
29:34they'd
29:34seen in
29:35the
29:35laboratories
29:35a very
29:36different
29:36kind
29:37of thing.
29:38The film
29:39which has
29:39been very
29:40very carefully
29:41edited
29:42doesn't
29:43actually show
29:44the death
29:45ray in
29:45action.
29:45The most
29:46it shows
29:46is Grindel
29:48Matthews
29:48standing beside
29:49the machines
29:50the machines
29:51having been
29:52switched on
29:53and something
29:54in the distance
29:54lighting up
29:55as evidence
29:56of a lethal
29:57death ray
29:58it's worthless.
30:01Matthews claimed
30:02that if the
30:03British weren't
30:04interested
30:04then he had
30:05backers in
30:06France
30:06but the truth
30:08was they
30:08didn't really
30:09exist.
30:10Pursued
30:11by angry
30:11shareholders
30:12Grindel
30:13Matthews
30:13bounced
30:14back with
30:14a new
30:14invention
30:15a sky
30:16projector
30:16that could
30:17throw images
30:18onto clouds
30:19and in
30:201937
30:21he got real
30:22interest
30:23in his
30:23invention
30:24from Germany.
30:26He was
30:26summoned
30:27to Berlin
30:28to talk
30:29about the
30:29sky
30:30projector
30:30where he
30:31met
30:32Hermann
30:33Goering
30:33and he
30:35met
30:35Goebbels
30:35as well
30:36to talk
30:36about it.
30:37Apparently
30:37they wanted
30:37his invention
30:38to beam
30:39Hitler's face
30:41onto the
30:42undersized
30:42clouds
30:42while at
30:43huge
30:43Nazi
30:44rallies
30:44that didn't
30:45in the end
30:46end up
30:46licensing it
30:47to the
30:47Nazis.
30:49After a
30:50period in
30:51America
30:51he once
30:52again found
30:53himself in
30:53financial
30:54trouble
30:54and settled
30:55down on
30:56top of a
30:56mountain
30:57in Wales.
30:58There is a
30:58story of
30:59Grindel
31:00Matthews
31:00having a
31:00little box
31:02with sort
31:03of knobs
31:03and dials
31:04on the
31:04side
31:04and him
31:05lying on
31:06a grass
31:07bank
31:07by a
31:08road
31:08watching
31:09cars
31:10going up
31:10and down
31:10fiddling
31:11with the
31:12dials
31:13on his
31:13box
31:13and watching
31:14the cars
31:14stop
31:14of their
31:15own
31:15accord.
31:17Did
31:18Harry
31:18Grindel
31:19Matthews
31:19perfect
31:20his
31:20death
31:20ray
31:21at his
31:21secret
31:22laboratory
31:22on top
31:23of a
31:23mountain
31:23in
31:23Wales
31:24or was
31:24this
31:25story
31:25perhaps
31:26like
31:26the
31:26death
31:26ray
31:27itself
31:27all
31:28a
31:28hoax?
31:29I
31:29think
31:30it would
31:30probably
31:31be
31:33overstating it
31:33to say
31:34there was a
31:35straightforward
31:35hoax.
31:36It seems
31:37pretty clear
31:37to me
31:37at any
31:38rate
31:39that
31:39the
31:40death
31:40ray
31:42didn't
31:42do
31:43what
31:43Matthews
31:44said
31:44it
31:44could do.
31:45In the
31:45end
31:46it
31:46simply
31:47wasn't
31:47suited
31:47for
31:48the
31:48battlefield
31:48apart
31:49from
31:49anything
31:49else
31:50if
31:50a plane
31:50is
31:50flying
31:50about
31:50200
31:51miles
31:51an
31:51hour
31:51how
31:52are you
31:52going
31:52to be
31:52able
31:53to
31:53train
31:53a
31:54laser
31:54on
31:54it
31:54from
31:54about
31:555,000
31:55feet
31:55away?
31:56He
31:56had
31:56an
31:57idea
31:58he
31:58thought
31:58he
31:59could
31:59make
31:59it
31:59work
32:00but
32:00to
32:01get
32:01it
32:02to
32:02work
32:02he
32:02needed
32:03funding
32:03he
32:03needed
32:04money
32:06and
32:06he
32:06never
32:06got
32:07that
32:07money
32:07so
32:08the
32:09death
32:09ray
32:09never
32:10developed
32:10really
32:10beyond
32:12the
32:13pipe
32:13dream
32:13that
32:14it
32:14was
32:43our
32:44next
32:44story
32:45comes
32:45from
32:45Britain's
32:46darkest
32:46hour
32:47in
32:48times
32:48of
32:48danger
32:49our
32:49senses
32:49are
32:50often
32:50heightened
32:51but
32:52does
32:52that
32:52also
32:53apply
32:53to
32:53our
32:54extrasensory
32:55powers
32:57suddenly
32:58all of
32:58London
32:59seemed
32:59to be
32:59aflame
33:00Herman
33:00Goering's
33:01arrogant
33:01ruff
33:02has
33:02struck
33:02from
33:03the
33:03air
33:03millions
33:04of
33:04tons
33:04of
33:04incendiaries
33:05and
33:05high
33:05explosives
33:06rained
33:06down
33:07from
33:07the
33:07sky
33:07over
33:0840,000
33:09civilians
33:10killed
33:10over
33:11130,000
33:13injured
33:132 million
33:14houses
33:15damaged
33:15or
33:16destroyed
33:16this
33:17was
33:17the
33:17blitz
33:18it
33:18lasted
33:19nearly
33:192
33:19years
33:20and
33:20marked
33:21Britain's
33:21darkest
33:22period
33:22in
33:22world
33:23war
33:232
33:25and
33:25one
33:25of
33:26the
33:26greatest
33:26dangers
33:27was
33:27to
33:27the
33:27air
33:28raid
33:28wardens
33:28and
33:29the
33:29emergency
33:29services
33:30because
33:31it
33:31was
33:31they
33:31who
33:31had
33:32to
33:32dig
33:32out
33:32the
33:32dead
33:33and
33:33barely
33:34living
33:34once
33:34the
33:34damage
33:35was
33:35done
33:35not
33:36knowing
33:36whether
33:36more
33:37attacks
33:37were
33:37coming
33:38or
33:38whether
33:38they
33:39would
33:39stumble
33:39over
33:40unexploded
33:40ordinates
33:41which
33:42could
33:42blow
33:42them
33:42sky
33:43high
33:43this
33:44led
33:45to
33:45one
33:46of
33:46the
33:46strangest
33:47episodes
33:48in
33:49Britain's
33:50X-Files
33:51and
33:51that
33:52was
33:53the
33:53dowsing
33:53detectives
33:54of
33:55world
33:55war
33:552
33:59it
34:00all
34:00seemed
34:01to
34:01sort
34:01of
34:01be
34:01kicked
34:02off
34:02by
34:02an
34:03incident
34:03in
34:031941
34:04in
34:06Warwickshire
34:06near
34:07a
34:07small
34:07town
34:08called
34:08Leamington
34:08Spa
34:10the
34:10Luftwaffe
34:11were
34:11targeting
34:11various
34:12cities
34:12Manchester
34:13Sheffield
34:14Coventry
34:15and
34:16on some
34:17occasions
34:17aircraft
34:18would have
34:19gone off course
34:20or they would have
34:21dropped the bombs
34:22and they didn't hit the target
34:24and maybe they had a load and they just wanted to get rid of the
34:28bombs on board before they flew back to Germany
34:30in this case
34:31the aircraft were over this rural part of Warwickshire
34:35and just dropped a load of bombs in the middle of the field
34:38by unlucky chance
34:40two local factory workers
34:42Harry Marston and James Hyatt
34:45were walking along the path
34:47and were caught in the appalling explosion
34:54and of course the local police immediately brought in trying to find the bodies
34:59they'd obviously been killed these two guys but they needed to locate the remains
35:04and there was one particular constable called Philip Terry and he was someone
35:10who was able to divine
35:12using twigs
35:15or metal rods
35:17where buried objects were
35:20and in this case he used a hazel rod
35:22and then he came up with an additional suggestion
35:26he said
35:26if I had an article
35:29of the men's clothing
35:31and I wrap that round
35:33my divining rod
35:34I don't know
35:35but maybe that would help
35:37direct the search
35:39so Marston's cloth cap
35:42was somehow obtained
35:43and he wrapped it around the hazel rod
35:46and started walking around over these mounds of earth
35:49and straight away he got this sort of feeling that
35:52you know he could feel the rod moving
35:54in his hand
35:55and said
35:56that's where they are
35:57and he could pinpoint exactly
35:58and straight away they dug down
36:00and found the bodies
36:01as the country was at war
36:03there were strict instructions
36:05to report any unusual events like this to the war office
36:08these bombsites must be reported
36:12the report landed on the desk of a ministry scientist
36:16Professor William Curtis
36:18and he was both curious
36:19and slightly sceptical
36:22and he resolved to see for himself
36:25where this apparently miraculous divination had taken place
36:31and to test
36:32with some degree of scientific rigour
36:35whether it had actually occurred
36:39and so Curtis went to the bomb site
36:41and he got PC Philip Terry to meet him there
36:44and as they wandered over the craters left by the German bombs
36:48Professor Curtis spotted the obvious
36:51the two craters basically
36:53where these bombs had dropped
36:54and there was a path going between them
36:57and this is where the two guys had walked
37:00and the body was found near the lip of the crater
37:04so he was quite sceptical
37:05he was saying
37:06you don't need this special dowsing ability
37:10to work out how perhaps Philip Terry guessed
37:14that that's where they were
37:15because if they were walking along this path
37:18and you've got the crater there
37:20it's likely that it's here
37:21and they've been buried
37:22immediately to the side of the crater
37:24he then wrote up a report
37:26in which he said
37:28this can't be taken
37:29as a particularly convincing case of divination
37:33but a short while later
37:35Philip Terry struck again
37:37this time he used dowsing
37:39to find the location of a man who had drowned
37:41and had been washed up on the bank of a river
37:43the actual rod in his hand
37:45it was twisting round
37:47there's no doubt about this
37:48he was actually moving
37:49he could feel the hazel rod
37:52and so it's all pointing at that tree
37:55by the river bank
37:56of course they went there
37:57the body of the drowned man was there
38:00so again a copy of this report
38:02was sent to London
38:03and of course this is a bit perplexing for them
38:05once again professor Curtis visited the location
38:08and once again came to the conclusion
38:11that the place where the body was found
38:12was the most logical location for it to wash up
38:16there were others in the war office
38:17who were still convinced
38:18that divination might be useful on the battlefield
38:21and in one instance
38:22an officer was tasked
38:24with using dowsing to find the location of gas pipes
38:27at an army base
38:28but the experiment was a complete failure
38:30and a note in the ministry's files
38:33pointed out
38:34there were better uses of resources
38:36than pursuing the belief in a folk myth
38:41this man is a dowser
38:43and he works with a dowsing or divining rod
38:46to find radiation
38:47that is undetectable to normal instruments
38:50and some dowsers don't even need tools
38:52they just use their hands
38:53but regardless of how it's done
38:55the purpose of dowsing is simple
38:57to find radiations or mysterious powers
39:00emanating from the earth
39:02now is this real
39:03or just an elaborate act?
39:05amongst the believers in dowsing and divination
39:08however
39:08were senior members of the establishment
39:11including former Prime Minister David Lloyd George
39:14Mrs Wiley will show you
39:17how she discovered this wealth
39:19she walked about here for some time
39:22the rod in her hand
39:23there was no movement
39:26she came along there
39:28then suddenly you found the rod going up
39:31in times when perhaps water was short
39:34and they needed someone to locate a water course
39:38and they went to a certain person
39:41who had a reputation
39:42you know the cunning folk
39:44they were known as
39:45and these were maybe people
39:46who employed other magical practices
39:50to find lost treasure
39:51lost objects
39:52and if you gave them a coin
39:55or you know
39:56there'd be some sort of financial transaction
39:58they would employ whatever arcane methods
40:01that they had at their disposal
40:02to find these things
40:04so it's a genuine folk tradition
40:07rescue squads labored night and day
40:14desperate times lead to desperate measures
40:17and Philip Terry's success
40:19backed up by a long folk tradition of dowsing
40:22led a desperate government
40:24to seriously investigate his claims
40:27this is not surprising
40:29the fact that dowsing detective
40:31or people with alleged psychic ability
40:34have been in some way tested
40:37because during this hour
40:38any possibility have been in some way tried
40:41however, psychic detectives
40:44have never been officially tested
40:46or officially involved by the government
40:48only some people within the army
40:51try to use those
40:53and try to test them
40:54because they have the belief
40:55personal belief
40:56that this power actually exists
40:59but any of those tests
41:01proved that this ability
41:02didn't exist
41:03and were completely useless
41:06there was to be no more official interest
41:08in divination
41:09as a useful tool
41:13for more than 20 years
41:15then at the height of the cold war
41:17the military
41:18the British army
41:19once again picked up the idea
41:21as something which could prove useful
41:23should the army have to deal
41:24with buried bombs
41:25they'd heard these stories
41:27that dowsers had the ability
41:29to find buried mines
41:31it was obviously something
41:32that took root
41:33in the intelligence arm
41:36of the war office
41:37that certain people
41:39had this ability
41:40blue is for water
41:41red is for diagonal positive streaks
41:44green is for growth
41:46yellow is for the global net
41:47and white marks
41:49the medial eloquent lines
41:50for the power point
41:51now don't look for this
41:53in any scientific textbook
41:55dowsing isn't accepted
41:57by the scientific community
41:58all the tests
41:59that have been done
42:00around the world
42:01on dosing detectives
42:03under controlled condition
42:05from searching from water
42:07from searching for a specific target
42:10have been completely unsuccessful
42:13so have been always proved that all these alleged power do not work
42:20so what is really happening when someone is dowsing
42:24why does the rod or the pendulum move?
42:27what is happening
42:28is that just thinking
42:31about a possible movement of the object
42:33that the person is touching or holding
42:36is creating very tiny movement
42:38between the finger for example of the person
42:41and these movements are increased
42:43and emphasized by the shape of the object
42:46dowsing may have a long folk tradition
42:48but when it comes to the harsh realities of warfare
42:51if it doesn't work on the battlefield
42:53then it will be cast aside
42:55and that is what happened to the dowsing detectives
42:58of World War II
42:59despite PC Terry's conviction
43:03that he was able to use
43:05traditional divination rods to find bodies
43:08despite all the other experiments and tests
43:13it was abandoned as a technique
43:15in the late 1960s
43:18the only thing we can say with absolute certainty
43:21is that those experiments took place
43:23and that they eventually formed their own little corner
43:26of Britain's extraordinary X-Files
43:31next time on Britain's X-Files
43:34two big cats really stalk Bodmin Moor
43:37what do the files tell us about planes and ships
43:41that vanish near Bermuda?
43:43what explanation do they give
43:45for a sad painting that would not burn?
43:47and what were the strange lights
43:49that terrorized the north of England?
43:51I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'mie
44:17I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm as
44:20And I'm I'm I'm
44:21Sous-titrage FR ?
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