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00:00Tonight on The Proof is Out There.
00:02It's a classic UFO mystery of World War II.
00:06What did the army shoot at in the Battle of Los Angeles?
00:09This photo alone can't possibly capture the sheer panic
00:14that was felt by everybody involved.
00:18Could the myths and legends be true?
00:21Are these the bones of an ancient dragon?
00:23The body of this animal looks almost reptilian in nature.
00:28Did a famous pop singer have his own close encounter with a UFO?
00:33This thing kind of floats and hovers in the sky
00:35and then very quickly just kind of shoots away.
00:39And is this nun's body actually proof of a miracle?
00:44Incorruptibility is when a person's corpse simply doesn't decompose.
00:54Around the globe are videos.
00:59Photos
01:00and sounds that defy explanation.
01:08We don't know where they come from, who made them, or how they operate.
01:12What are they?
01:13Some sort of bizarre mutation.
01:15What's exciting is nobody really knows.
01:17Extraordinary claims need extraordinary proof.
01:22I'm Tony Harris, and as a journalist for more than 30 years,
01:25I've followed the facts where they take me.
01:28Now I'm bringing that spirit of investigation
01:30to the world's strangest sounds and images.
01:33It's coming towards us.
01:34We'll analyze each one with top experts.
01:37It's a credible case.
01:39It's a credible video.
01:40And pass a verdict on what it is.
01:43This video is clearly fake.
01:55Good evening and welcome to The Proof is Out There.
01:58In 1942, just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
02:03California was the site of a deadly incident now known as the Battle of Los Angeles.
02:09Some thought the Japanese had struck again.
02:11Some thought it was a UFO invasion.
02:14And luckily for us, someone snapped a photo.
02:19February 25th, 1942, Los Angeles, California.
02:24It's only a couple of months since the Pearl Harbor attack
02:27brought the United States into World War II,
02:30and fears of a Japanese invasion are running high.
02:34Around 2 a.m., military radar detects an unidentified object approaching the city.
02:39A blackout is ordered while air raid sirens blare,
02:43and the anti-aircraft artillery starts firing.
02:46As the chaos unfolds, one Los Angeles Times reporter captures this.
02:54Searchlights converge on what looks like a white craft.
02:57It appears to have a pointed top, tapered sides, and a domed bottom.
03:02The anti-aircraft fire peppers the surrounding sky.
03:06Whatever this thing is, they can't shoot it down.
03:09The photo makes headline news,
03:11and the incident becomes known as the Battle of Los Angeles.
03:15All over town, eyewitnesses insist.
03:18Something was in the sky that night.
03:20Some people, of course, particularly in more modern times,
03:24have thought, well, wait a minute.
03:25Isn't this a classic UFO sighting?
03:29At the time, people thought, my goodness, we're under attack.
03:32The Japanese are here again.
03:33In fact, just before the Battle of Los Angeles,
03:37a Japanese submarine had surfaced off the coast near Santa Barbara
03:42and had actually bombarded an oil field there,
03:46aiming for some of the storage facilities.
03:49So you can imagine the feeling was no one's safe.
03:53And then it hit, and people started saying,
03:56there's something in the sky.
03:58And they're firing up.
03:59It's just, like, smoke, the sound, the lights.
04:04I mean, they're in the middle of a war zone here.
04:06And so this goes on for some hours.
04:10But it's a tragic story,
04:12because five people lose their lives in this.
04:15Two heart attacks
04:17and three fatalities in road traffic accidents.
04:22It's believed that, you know, the lights being out and so forth
04:26caused all sorts of chaos on the streets.
04:30More than 1,400 rounds of anti-aircraft artillery
04:34had been pumped into the sky.
04:36But once all the smoke cleared,
04:38there was no wreckage from Japanese planes
04:40or any indication of Japanese aircraft.
04:43Now we know Japan didn't fight the war with aircraft alone.
04:47In fact, they would later launch a new weapon
04:50against the American mainland, balloon bombs.
04:53Japan did launch balloons designed to drop bombs
04:57over to the continental United States,
04:59most notably reaching Oregon,
05:01which makes people wonder,
05:02was what happened this night actually an early balloon
05:05or an early attempt by the Japanese
05:07to launch something toward the American mainland.
05:11In January 2018,
05:14Hawaiians received this emergency alert warning.
05:17Ballistic missile threat inbound.
05:20Seek immediate shelter.
05:21This is not a drill.
05:23Panic spread.
05:24But it all turned out to be a false alarm.
05:26Similarly, some believe a false alarm
05:29triggered the Battle of Los Angeles.
05:31But then how do you explain that photo?
05:34Let's ask the experts.
05:40Considering the U.S. was at war,
05:42was this a Japanese air raid?
05:45I don't think that's what we're actually looking at here
05:47because when we zoom in on this image,
05:49it doesn't look like a plane.
05:51It just looks like a whitish blob.
05:53And if it was a plane,
05:55you'd be able to see that it was a plane
05:56from these searchlights.
05:58But what about an early balloon bomb?
06:01Again, a balloon would be something
06:03that would be very well illuminated by searchlights.
06:05You will see the clear circular outline,
06:08and we just simply don't see that.
06:10And of course, if it was a balloon,
06:11it probably would have been shot down
06:12because balloons don't move very fast,
06:14and they're very vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
06:16The Japanese later denied involvement in the incident.
06:20Even the U.S. military dismissed the so-called battle
06:23as a false alarm.
06:25Could that be all this is?
06:27We have to remember the radar
06:28was very much in its early days back then.
06:31It was very slow scanning and very prone to error.
06:34So what might have shown up on the radar back then
06:36may just have been something like
06:38reflections of waves on the water or even birds.
06:41Of course, faulty radar doesn't explain the photo,
06:45though something else might.
06:47I think what we're actually looking at here
06:49is just simply a region of smoke
06:52from the anti-aircraft fire
06:53that's been illuminated by multiple searchlights
06:56at the same time.
06:57And that single bright area
06:59that all the searchlights concentrated on
07:02creates a shape that looks a little bit like
07:04a flying saucer.
07:05And so a legend was born.
07:09But that still leaves numerous eyewitness accounts
07:12of strange objects in the sky.
07:14Objects that could not be struck down
07:16by anti-aircraft artillery.
07:19World War II fighter pilots in Europe
07:21would notice something similar two years later.
07:24They reported being confronted by mysterious glowing orbs
07:28that they called Foo Fighters.
07:31My best guess here
07:33is that either nothing was there
07:36and it's a false alarm
07:37or that maybe it was a high-tech craft of some kind
07:39that never could be hit by our shells.
07:42And to this day,
07:43we can't discount the possibility
07:45that it might also have been an advanced craft
07:47that was looting the guns.
07:54Our verdict?
07:55This is a split decision.
07:57We think the object in the photo
07:59is probably smoke from the anti-aircraft fire.
08:02But based on the eyewitness accounts,
08:04we believe something unexplained
08:06was also in the skies that night.
08:10Whether it's Smaug hoarding treasure in The Hobbit
08:13or the Targaryens riding them to victory
08:16in the Game of Thrones,
08:18dragons are among the most iconic creatures
08:21in legend and literature.
08:23But that's all just fiction, right?
08:27October 10th, 2017,
08:30Zhangji, Yakou City, China.
08:33Villagers of this rural community
08:34gather around, smartphones in hand,
08:37after several residents claim
08:38to have made a bizarre discovery.
08:41We see what appears to be a 65-foot-long skeleton.
08:45It has a serpentine body,
08:47a head with antlers,
08:49and a set of prominent claws.
08:51The villagers are in awe,
08:53with some even straddling its head
08:55while posing for photos.
08:56This video went viral,
08:58and ultimately it got over 10 million views.
09:01But apparently many of the local villagers
09:03swore up and down
09:04that these were actually the remains
09:06of a real-life dragon.
09:08Many say this skeleton
09:10matches the anatomy of dragons
09:12from Chinese mythology.
09:14They were often depicted
09:16with horns or antlers.
09:18In primeval China,
09:20emperors were said to have descended
09:22from the bloodline of dragons,
09:25and these were known as the lung.
09:27It's a very powerful symbol
09:29in Chinese culture.
09:31One can wonder,
09:32where does this mythology stem from?
09:34Are we actually looking at the remains
09:36of a real-life dragon?
09:39Some argue that instead of looking
09:41to China's cultural history,
09:43we should look to its fossil record.
09:45In 2024,
09:47an international team
09:48discovered the fossilized remains
09:50of a new type of dinosaur,
09:54Dinocephalosaurus orientalis,
09:56nicknamed the Chinese dragon.
09:58This particular species
10:00lived about 240 million years ago.
10:03But what was really remarkable was
10:04that it had a very long neck
10:06like we're seeing here in the video.
10:08So, are these the remains
10:10of some type of prehistoric creature?
10:16Legends claim that Alexander the Great
10:18came across a dragon
10:20during his campaign in India,
10:22a hissing, cave-dwelling beast
10:24over 100 feet long
10:25and with eyes as large
10:27as a Macedonian shield.
10:29The terrifying creature
10:30reportedly struck fear
10:31into his army
10:33and was worshipped
10:34as a god by the locals.
10:36Is it possible
10:37that these creatures
10:38once did exist?
10:40Let's ask the experts.
10:46This is really like no skeleton
10:49that I have ever seen before.
10:52Dragons are often depicted
10:54as having wings.
10:55For animals that have wings
10:57like birds and bats,
10:58they're essentially
10:59like modified hands.
11:01And we're not seeing
11:03any indication of that here.
11:05In fact, we're seeing forearms
11:07and we're not seeing
11:08anything on its back.
11:11However, the dragons of Chinese myth
11:13were thought to be wingless.
11:15They'd fly by undulating
11:16through the sky.
11:18Impossible?
11:19Well, check out these airborne leaps
11:21made by paradise tree snakes,
11:23recently documented
11:24by researchers at Virginia Tech.
11:26But our experts still say
11:29no way.
11:30These bones seem
11:32really thick
11:33and there's a lot of them.
11:35Even if this were
11:36a real dragon,
11:38it doesn't make sense
11:39for it to have
11:40such a dense number
11:42of rib bones.
11:43Its skeleton seems
11:44way too heavy.
11:46It doesn't seem
11:48physiologically possible
11:49for this animal
11:50to be able to fly.
11:52Okay, so maybe
11:54not a dragon
11:54as we know them,
11:55but could it be
11:57an undocumented,
11:58cold-blooded creature
11:59of some sort?
12:01The body of this animal
12:03looks almost reptilian
12:05in nature.
12:06You see a very elongated body
12:07like a snake
12:08and it seems to have
12:09some sort of antlers.
12:10There's one snake
12:11out there
12:11which does have
12:12two seeming antlers
12:15on them.
12:15The snake is known
12:17as the venomous
12:17horned viper Sarastes,
12:20named after a horned
12:21serpent of Greek legend.
12:23But those antlers,
12:24they're more cartilage-based
12:26and they're fleshy tissue
12:28that would decay
12:29and dissolve
12:29with the rest of the body.
12:31If it's not
12:32a new species of reptile,
12:34is it possible
12:35this mysterious beast
12:37is actually very old?
12:39A dinosaur
12:40like that recently
12:41discovered Chinese dragon.
12:43Skeletons of dinosaurs
12:45are not actually bone anymore
12:46because the minerals
12:48from the surrounding rock
12:50have replaced the bone.
12:52If this is a real animal,
12:54this is one that would have
12:55had to have died
12:56very recently.
12:57If this was
12:58truly a recent kill,
13:00I would expect to see
13:01some sort of insect
13:03or decomposer
13:04in the area.
13:05My hypothesis
13:06is this is some sort
13:07of hoax.
13:09They either used fake bones
13:11or they took bones
13:13from other existing animals
13:14and put them all together
13:15to create the shape
13:17and illusion of a dragon.
13:23Our verdict?
13:25We agree with our experts
13:26that this is most definitely
13:28a hoax.
13:29There are just too many things
13:31that don't add up.
13:32And recent online posts
13:34from China indicate
13:35that this may indeed
13:36be a movie prop.
13:38So dragons shall remain
13:40the stuff of myths
13:41and legends
13:42for now.
13:45Every parent knows
13:47the anxiety
13:48of tending to a sick child,
13:49but it's even worse
13:51when the doctors
13:51can't even figure out
13:52what's going on.
13:53Well, in this next story,
13:55hundreds of children
13:56experience the same
13:57strange affliction
13:58all at once,
14:00setting the stage
14:01for one massive
14:02medical mystery.
14:04July 13, 1980,
14:07Kirkby in Ashfield, England.
14:09Photographer Neil Lancashire
14:11is covering a children's
14:12band competition
14:13at the Hall & Wells
14:14Showground,
14:15where more than 300 kids
14:17are gathered
14:17with their instruments.
14:19But in the midst
14:20of this idyllic scene,
14:22disaster strikes,
14:23and Neil's camera
14:24captures this.
14:27All over the showground,
14:29children begin to collapse,
14:30complete chaos takes over
14:32as people lie unconscious
14:34in the grass
14:34and parents carry
14:36their children
14:36in their arms.
14:38As you can see
14:39in Neil's photos,
14:40young children appear
14:41to be doubled over
14:42in pain,
14:43as if sick to their stomachs,
14:45or possibly gasping for air.
14:48You don't understand
14:49what's really happening.
14:50You're in the moment
14:52and thinking,
14:53well, this is not right.
14:55Some of the children
14:56had come down
14:56without the parents
14:57and there was only
14:58a big sister
14:59to look after them.
15:00They called in ambulances
15:02then to the hospital
15:04and the ambulances
15:06couldn't cope
15:07with the amount
15:08of children
15:08that fainted.
15:09All these kids
15:10just were falling over,
15:12really horrible,
15:14and it was really frightening.
15:15Thankfully,
15:16no one died.
15:17But what caused this
15:18in the first place?
15:20The health department theory?
15:22Mass hysteria.
15:23Mass hysteria has affected
15:25a lot of young people.
15:27There was a case in 1962
15:29called the Tanganyika laughing incident,
15:32which occurred in Tanzania
15:34and East Africa.
15:35And in this case,
15:37up to 1,000 girls
15:39over a period of weeks
15:40couldn't stop laughing.
15:43They were also getting rashes
15:45and sores
15:46and sore throats
15:48and fainting
15:49and nausea.
15:50So people were very concerned
15:51about what it could have been.
15:53In 2014,
15:5634 years after
15:57the Hollandwell incident,
15:59British politician
16:00Dennis Skinner
16:01claimed the incident
16:02was not properly investigated
16:03because the victims
16:05were working-class kids.
16:06He said if the children
16:07had fallen ill
16:08at a royal garden party,
16:10authorities would have handled it
16:12more meticulously.
16:13Let's see if our experts
16:15can discover anything
16:16those authorities
16:17might have missed.
16:22Could we really be looking
16:24at a case of mass hysteria?
16:26Mass hysteria,
16:27or mass psychogenic illness,
16:29is a very real phenomenon
16:31in which symptoms
16:32with no known cause
16:33spread throughout a community.
16:35Some believe that mass hysteria
16:36actually reflects
16:37the social fears
16:38and anxiety
16:39of a given time period.
16:40There have been many
16:41mass hysteria events
16:42throughout history.
16:43A famous one occurred
16:45in 1518
16:45in Strasbourg, France
16:47when a woman began dancing
16:48and didn't stop
16:49for a couple of weeks.
16:51More and more people
16:52began to join her
16:53until eventually
16:54there were 400 people dancing.
16:57Some of them died
16:58from overexerting themselves
16:59and no one could figure out
17:01what had caused
17:01the event.
17:03Most recently,
17:04there was a mysterious condition
17:05called Havana Syndrome
17:06which occurred in Cuba.
17:08U.S. diplomats there
17:09were suffering
17:09from dizziness
17:10and migraines
17:11and they thought
17:12they might have been
17:13attacked by some kind
17:14of weapon.
17:16Officials came to the conclusion
17:17that this was some kind
17:18of mass hysteria
17:19where people became sick
17:20because they thought
17:21they were exposed
17:22to some kind of threat.
17:24According to two U.S.
17:25intelligence agencies,
17:26it's possible
17:27that a novel weapon
17:28wielded by some kind
17:29of foreign adversary
17:30could be causing
17:31some cases
17:32of Havana Syndrome.
17:33Others, however,
17:34disagree.
17:36The reasons why
17:37I don't think
17:37this is a case
17:38of mass hysteria
17:39is that we see infants
17:40that are falling sick.
17:42Infants who are
17:44less than a year old
17:45are not going to be
17:46taken over
17:47by psychological
17:49manifestations of symptoms.
17:50In addition,
17:51there were individuals
17:52who felt sick
17:53when they got home.
17:54The symptoms continued
17:56even after people
17:57had left the scene
17:58when they were not around
18:00other people
18:01who were sick.
18:03If mass hysteria
18:04can't explain
18:05what's happening,
18:06maybe chemistry can.
18:08According to reports,
18:09there was a powerful
18:10chemical smell
18:11coming from
18:12the recently cleaned
18:13bathrooms.
18:15People smelled
18:16a combination
18:16of ammonia and chlorine.
18:18Because they were
18:18smelling that combination,
18:20that gave people
18:21the idea that
18:21that was the major
18:23cause of this accident.
18:25The beauty of chemistry
18:26is that you could take
18:28two everyday
18:29normal household items,
18:31mix them together,
18:32and come out
18:33with something
18:34totally different.
18:35And that very well
18:35could be what
18:36happened here.
18:37When they were trying
18:38to clean the bathrooms
18:39and they mixed
18:39the bleach
18:40with the ammonia,
18:41they produced
18:42chlorine gas,
18:43which can be
18:44pretty terrifying.
18:45It was even used
18:46in World War I
18:47as a weapon.
18:50Now that sounds
18:51like a compelling theory,
18:52but that doesn't make
18:54this a closed case.
18:55After all,
18:56you can see
18:57in these photos,
18:58the kids were outside
18:59in the open air.
19:01Those two gases
19:02would have dissipated
19:03long before they had
19:04gotten out onto the field
19:05where those kids
19:06were playing
19:06their marching bands.
19:08There's just really
19:08no evidence
19:09to really determine
19:10what actually went on.
19:11Everybody has
19:12their own leading
19:13hypotheses,
19:14but there's really
19:14no strong evidence
19:15to point to any
19:16one particular thing.
19:22Our verdict?
19:24Unexplained mass illness.
19:27We're going with
19:27Dr. Anderson
19:28on this one.
19:29The Hollandwell incident
19:30remains one of the
19:32greatest medical mysteries
19:33of the 20th century.
19:37Skeptics often argue
19:39that UFO witnesses
19:40are lying about
19:41their experiences
19:42for fame and fortune,
19:44while believers argue
19:45that there's too much
19:46ridicule involved
19:47for that to be the case.
19:49But what does it mean
19:50when somebody
19:51who's already famous
19:52shares his UFO sighting?
19:54It means we need
19:55to investigate.
19:57It's spring 2024
19:58in New York City.
20:00Grammy-nominated musician
20:02Jay Balvin
20:03is hanging out
20:04on the soccer field
20:05with some friends.
20:06Before long,
20:08they notice something
20:08strange in the sky
20:09and manage to record this.
20:12The camera zooms in
20:14on an object
20:14hanging in the blue sky.
20:16It appears triangle-shaped
20:18with rounded corners
20:19and a light
20:20or opening
20:21on its underside.
20:26The object pivots
20:28slowly from side to side
20:30as if scanning the area.
20:31Then,
20:32as Jay turns the camera
20:33away from his
20:34awestruck friend,
20:35the UFO zips away.
20:38Jay posts the video
20:39on Instagram,
20:40and you can guess
20:42what happens next.
20:43Jay Balvin
20:44is enormously popular.
20:46He has more than
20:4650 million followers
20:48on his social accounts.
20:49So when he posted
20:50this video,
20:51it spread like wildfire.
20:54Jay's sighting
20:55brings to mind
20:56a type of UFO
20:57that's famous
20:58in its own right.
20:59UFOlogists will point
21:00to kind of
21:01consistent shapes
21:02that UFOs have,
21:03and triangular
21:04is one of them
21:05with sightings
21:06from around the world.
21:07From 1983 to 1984,
21:10even into 1985,
21:11residents of the
21:12Hudson River Valley area
21:14reported giant,
21:15triangular,
21:16or boomerang-shaped craft.
21:18This is important
21:19because this is not just
21:21grandma seeing some lights
21:22in the backyard.
21:23These are trained observers,
21:25highly trained individuals
21:26like law enforcement,
21:28even military personnel,
21:29all reporting
21:30being eyewitnesses
21:32to some of these,
21:33the most incredible
21:34UFO experiences
21:35and events
21:36in recent history.
21:39It's worth noting
21:40that while triangle UFOs
21:42typically have sharp edges,
21:44this one is a little different.
21:45Take a look at this.
21:47See how it has
21:48these rounded corners?
21:50And look here
21:51in the middle.
21:52Now, if you ask me,
21:53that looks like
21:54an opening going
21:55straight through the craft.
21:57That's different.
21:58But what will our experts
22:00make of this
22:01celebrated sighting?
22:06We always consider
22:08the most obvious
22:09explanation first.
22:10Could this be
22:11some sort of
22:12novelty balloon?
22:13Balloons can be
22:14any shape
22:15that you want them to be,
22:16but the balloon
22:17is going to be impacted
22:18by wind
22:19and wind changes.
22:20It would not be
22:21hovering in one spot.
22:22It would be up and down,
22:23and you don't see
22:25anything like that
22:25in this video.
22:27We know that paparazzi
22:28have started using drones
22:30to get shots
22:30of celebrities.
22:32Could they be
22:32targeting J Balvin?
22:34I would think that
22:35this drone would be
22:36a lot closer
22:36to the individual
22:37so that they could get
22:38good facial recognition
22:40and see who's part
22:42of his entourage.
22:43Also, I have tried
22:44zooming into this video
22:45and I don't see
22:46any indication that
22:47this in particular
22:49object is a drone.
22:50There's none of the lights,
22:51there's no sound.
22:52The typical things
22:53that you would see
22:53with a drone
22:54are not in this video.
22:56So if it's not
22:57any flying craft
22:59we know of,
23:00is it a famed
23:01triangle UFO?
23:02Not exactly.
23:04I don't think
23:05that it's a UFO.
23:06It's not the description
23:07that we typically get
23:08for triangular shaped UFOs
23:09at all.
23:10It looks like
23:11it's relatively
23:11about the same distance
23:12from the camera
23:13as the water tower is,
23:16which is not that far.
23:17So it appears
23:18to be relatively small.
23:22Triangular UFOs
23:23are known
23:24for being massive,
23:25often described
23:26as the size
23:27of multiple football fields.
23:28So if this one is small,
23:30it doesn't fit.
23:31And that's not
23:32the only suspicious clue.
23:34In this video clip,
23:36there's a water tower,
23:37there's a tree,
23:37and then there's an object.
23:39When I zoom my camera in,
23:41I'm seeing the fact
23:43that the position
23:44of the actual object
23:46shifts and moves
23:47with the camera movement.
23:49See how in this
23:51stabilized version
23:52of the video,
23:52the object doesn't
23:54actually hold steady
23:55relative to its surroundings?
23:57Instead,
23:58it moves with
23:59a video frame.
24:00That's a telltale sign
24:01it was digitally
24:03inserted into the scene.
24:04None of the things
24:06matched up
24:07in terms of positions
24:08of where the object was.
24:10The moving away
24:10from that
24:11to take a picture
24:12of somebody,
24:13all that has
24:14the indications
24:15of it being a hoax.
24:20Our verdict?
24:22Hoax.
24:23If you're still
24:24not convinced,
24:25take a look
24:26at this photo
24:26from Jay Balvin's
24:28Coachella performance
24:29just four days
24:30after he posted
24:30the video to social media.
24:32Look familiar?
24:33That's the same UFO.
24:35Clever promo, Jay.
24:37But I think we can agree
24:38your talent is for music,
24:40not video fakery.
24:44Have you ever seen
24:46The Blob?
24:46It's a 1958 horror movie
24:48where a community
24:49is terrorized
24:50by an alien creature
24:51made of goo.
24:53This fictional blob
24:54consumes people,
24:55growing bigger
24:56and hungrier
24:57with each victim.
24:58Well, after seeing
24:59this next video,
25:00you might think
25:01something similar
25:01happened in Nebraska.
25:04June 20, 2024.
25:07Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska.
25:09Chad Casey is out
25:10and about
25:11in the countryside
25:12when suddenly
25:13something on the ground
25:14starts moving towards him.
25:16It's like nothing
25:18he's seen before.
25:18So he takes out his phone
25:20and captures this.
25:25A brownish, blobby mass
25:27studded with white spheres
25:29crawls along the ground.
25:31Chad films it
25:32moving across the countryside
25:34as it spreads out
25:35in what seemed to be layers
25:36eating everything in its path.
25:39After it's posted,
25:40the video spawns
25:42a curious theory online.
25:43People drew comparisons
25:44between the video
25:45and the movie The Blob,
25:47which was apparently inspired
25:49by a real-life incident.
25:50On September 26, 1950,
25:53two Philadelphia police officers
25:54saw an object
25:55falling from the sky.
25:57They called for backup
25:58and then pursued the object
26:00to where it had fallen.
26:02During a search of the area,
26:03they discovered an ooze
26:04that seemed to move.
26:06According to some reports,
26:07it even shimmied up
26:07a telephone pole.
26:09When one of the officers
26:11touched the ooze,
26:12it left behind
26:13a clear, sticky residue.
26:14After about an hour and a half,
26:16the whole mass
26:17simply evaporated.
26:18Because they had called
26:19for backup,
26:20there were actually
26:20four witnesses
26:21to whatever had gone down
26:24in that field.
26:26Think that's the only time
26:27a weird jelly fell from the sky
26:29and puzzled the world?
26:30Think again.
26:31In 1969,
26:33following a meteor shower,
26:34scientists in Australia
26:35were actually able
26:36to gather 200 pounds
26:37of a jelly-like substance
26:39off the ground,
26:40which they then analyzed
26:41and discovered
26:42that it included amino acids,
26:44which are the building blocks
26:45of life.
26:46So is this some sort
26:48of natural substance
26:49from space?
26:50Or could it be possible
26:51it was created in a lab?
26:54After all,
26:54we've seen synthetic blobs
26:56like this magnetic putty,
26:58which appears to have
27:00a life of its own.
27:01Scientists have also created
27:02a really creepy-looking,
27:05gooey substance
27:05that's actually infused
27:07with metal.
27:07And so when you put it
27:09near magnets,
27:10it moves in a way
27:11that is really unsettling.
27:15In 2024,
27:16in Southern California,
27:18beachgoers spotted clusters
27:20of strange oval-shaped blobs
27:22along the shore.
27:23These were identified
27:24as Valella valella,
27:26a small ocean predator
27:27related to jellyfish.
27:29But what about
27:30our terrestrial blob?
27:32It's nowhere near any ocean.
27:34Can our experts identify it?
27:41Could this blob
27:42be a man-made creation?
27:44It's got dirt in it.
27:45It's got ice in it.
27:46You can see that
27:47it's picking up material
27:48that's on the outside.
27:49This appears to be
27:51like a mud type of feature.
27:53It's more moving
27:53like a solid.
27:54It's more like a mud flow.
27:56So it's more natural
27:57than it is a man-made
27:58type of feature.
28:00If it didn't come from a lab,
28:01where did it come from?
28:03I believe this has
28:04the appearance of hail.
28:06We're looking at
28:07some water.
28:08So this tells me
28:08we're looking at
28:09the beginnings
28:10of a flash flood.
28:12Flash floods
28:13might conjure up images
28:14of rushing water,
28:15but they can also create
28:17what's known
28:17as a debris flow.
28:19This is when flooding
28:20runs downhill,
28:21picking up loose soil,
28:23rocks, and foliage
28:24along the way.
28:25The result?
28:26A sludge-like torrent.
28:28More than likely,
28:29we just saw a storm
28:31move across
28:31with flash flooding
28:33that is likely occurring
28:34in the background.
28:35We also probably
28:37just experienced
28:37a hailstorm
28:38that dropped
28:40quite a bit of hail
28:41across the region.
28:44Good theory.
28:45But how about some data?
28:47Well, we confirmed
28:49that a hail-forming storm front
28:51had passed
28:52through the region.
28:53Although this blob
28:54may seem quite scary,
28:55the most monstrous thing
28:56we saw was
28:57a severe hailstorm
28:58that impacted
28:59the Scotts Bluff area.
29:05Our verdict?
29:07Hail and ground
29:08debris flow.
29:09So this was
29:10no living goo monster,
29:12but there's a chance
29:13we'll soon see
29:14a different kind
29:15of blob come to life.
29:16Scientists in Japan
29:17have recently engineered
29:18a pink blob
29:19out of collagen gel
29:21to mimic living skin tissue
29:23for humanoid robots.
29:27On a previous episode,
29:29we investigated the case
29:31of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster,
29:33whose body was remarkably,
29:35some say miraculously,
29:37preserved after her death.
29:38Well, we have some
29:40developments to that story.
29:41Is it more evidence
29:42of divine intervention?
29:44You can make
29:45the last judgment.
29:48April 2023,
29:50Gower, Missouri.
29:51Four years after
29:53the death of Sister
29:54Wilhelmina Lancaster,
29:55the other sisters
29:56of her order
29:57decide to transfer
29:58her remains
29:59to the monastery chapel.
30:01But when they open
30:02her casket,
30:03they're stunned
30:04to find this.
30:07It's Sister Wilhelmina's body,
30:09but where one might
30:10have expected
30:11decayed and formless
30:12remains after four years,
30:14instead,
30:15her body
30:16is largely intact.
30:18Sister Martina Lee,
30:19who witnessed
30:20the exhumation,
30:21reveals that it's
30:22not just
30:23Sister Wilhelmina's body
30:24that seemed unscathed
30:26by the passage of time.
30:27Everything that she
30:28was wearing
30:29at the time
30:30of her burial,
30:31her veil
30:31and forehead piece,
30:33her entire habit
30:34was preserved intact.
30:35It's kind of like,
30:36you know,
30:36this is God's little sign
30:37that this person
30:39was so faithful to him
30:40that she didn't
30:41necessarily need
30:42to undergo
30:42the curse of corruption.
30:46incorruptibility
30:46is when
30:47a person's corpse
30:49simply doesn't decompose.
30:51It's said to happen
30:52with people
30:53of the cloth.
30:54At the time,
30:55the story caught fire
30:57with media
30:57around the world.
30:59People were so excited
31:00that 25,000 people
31:02flocked
31:02to rural Missouri
31:03in the first month
31:05after her body
31:05was exhumed
31:06to pay their respects
31:07and see for themselves.
31:09When we first told
31:10this story,
31:11our verdict was that
31:12this was a potential miracle.
31:14Now,
31:15a new development.
31:16Fast forward to 2024
31:18when a new medical exam
31:20of the remains
31:21has come up
31:22with some startling revelations.
31:24In the time since
31:25Sister Wilhelmina
31:25was exhumed,
31:26she has been examined
31:27by medical experts
31:28who,
31:29according to the church,
31:30couldn't find any reason
31:31for why her body
31:32would be so well preserved.
31:34Now,
31:34a fellow Benedictine nun
31:35said that this is a miracle
31:37and she is actually
31:38gathering testimony
31:39from eyewitnesses
31:40to bolster the case
31:42and that is just
31:42one of the steps
31:44towards canonization.
31:48In 2024,
31:50experts studying relics
31:52in Spain
31:53exhumed the body
31:54of St. Teresa of Avila
31:56who died in 1582.
31:58They declared
31:59that her remains
32:00had not decomposed at all.
32:02A year later,
32:03the church presented
32:03the new evidence.
32:04Saint's corpse
32:06was put on display
32:07and some claimed
32:08that its well-preserved condition
32:10was proof
32:11of her incorruption.
32:12But can we say the same
32:14for Sister Wilhelmina?
32:20When we first covered
32:22this story,
32:22no medical exam
32:23of the body
32:24had taken place.
32:25But now,
32:26we've got forensic data.
32:28So what did
32:29that new exam reveal?
32:31The examining doctor
32:32was a doctor of pathology
32:34and was assisted
32:35by two other
32:36medical doctors
32:36and also by
32:38the local coroner
32:39and they said
32:39that her body
32:40is truly atypical
32:42for what they might expect
32:43for the passage
32:44of approximately
32:45four years.
32:46To top it off,
32:47the team literally
32:48dug deep
32:49for more answers,
32:50conducting a soil analysis
32:52around the grave.
32:53They even addressed
32:56people's ideas
32:57about the soil.
32:58There are chemicals
32:59that will help preserve skin
33:01and help preserve tissue.
33:03But they came to the conclusion
33:04that there was nothing
33:05in the soil
33:06that would have preserved
33:07her body
33:08in such pristine condition.
33:10Additionally,
33:11the medical examiners
33:13interviewed eyewitnesses
33:14at the burial
33:15and did not learn
33:16of any other factors
33:17that could explain
33:19the body's remarkable condition.
33:21What's really remarkable
33:23about Sister Wilhelmina
33:24is that when they
33:26pulled out her coffin,
33:27there was a large crack
33:28down the middle.
33:30They found a large amount
33:31of moss
33:32suggesting really damp
33:33and wet environment.
33:35And you're going to see
33:36more bacteria,
33:38scavengers,
33:39all of these organisms
33:40that decompose the body.
33:42So the fact
33:43that her body
33:43was preserved
33:44despite the environment
33:45is unexplainable.
33:47I honestly don't have
33:48a medical explanation
33:49for what's going on here.
33:52So can we call this
33:54a real case
33:55of incorruptibility?
33:57Perhaps this is
33:59truly a case
33:59of incorruption
34:00in the great tradition
34:02of the Catholic Church.
34:03But throughout
34:03Christian history,
34:04we have 10,000 saints
34:06who have been canonized
34:07by the Catholic Church.
34:08A very small fraction
34:10of those have been
34:11declared incorruptible.
34:18Our verdict,
34:19unexplained phenomenon.
34:21As of 2025,
34:23the Catholic Church
34:24has not yet weighed in
34:25with a formal declaration
34:26on Sister Wilhelmina's
34:28perceived incorruption.
34:30But now that there's
34:31an American pope,
34:32maybe that could change.
34:35For centuries,
34:37medieval medicine
34:38has been dismissed
34:39as unsound.
34:40The time period itself
34:42is snidely referred to
34:43as the Dark Ages,
34:45suggesting that it was
34:46unenlightened
34:47by science or reason.
34:49So how could
34:50a 1,100-year-old
34:52medical book
34:53from this period
34:54hold the secret
34:55to curing
34:56modern illnesses?
34:592016, Lendon, England.
35:02Scientists around the world
35:03are intrigued
35:04when the British
35:05library announces
35:06it is releasing online
35:08the complete pages
35:09of Bald's Leech book,
35:11a medical text
35:12that is believed
35:13to have been written
35:14in the mid-10th century.
35:16When the day comes,
35:18eager researchers
35:19log on to find this.
35:21It's a blend
35:22of Old English
35:23and Latin,
35:24and the remedies
35:25within it
35:25are totally wild,
35:27completely unorthodox.
35:29Among these cures
35:30is one for swollen eyes
35:32in which it's recommended
35:33that the person
35:34whose eyes are swollen
35:35gets a live crab,
35:36cuts off the crab's eyes,
35:38and then holds those eyes
35:39to their neck.
35:40There's even
35:41a baldness cure
35:42in which it's advised
35:43to take burned bees,
35:45willow leaves,
35:46and oil,
35:47make a salve,
35:48and spread it
35:49all over your scalp.
35:51Bald's Leech book
35:52is actually one of the oldest
35:54surviving collections
35:55of medical knowledge
35:57in existence.
35:58Bald was the owner
35:59of the book.
36:00Leech refers to physicians.
36:02In this book,
36:03there's Bald's eye salve
36:05to cure an eye infection.
36:07There was a very specific recipe.
36:09It had onion,
36:11garlic,
36:12English white wine,
36:14and the bile salts
36:15from a cow's stomach.
36:17How did this Leech book
36:19come by its odd remedies?
36:20Some speculated
36:21it was witchcraft.
36:23Magic really was a part
36:24of life in the Middle Ages,
36:26really before
36:27the witch persecutions
36:29started in Europe.
36:30There were people
36:31who you believed
36:32worked magic,
36:33and you might go to them
36:35for cures
36:36probably before you would go
36:38to any kind of physician
36:39who is out of your reach.
36:42But for some people
36:43who were coming up
36:44with cures
36:44during the Middle Ages,
36:45there was a real danger,
36:48particularly for women
36:49who were accused of witchcraft.
36:51The church
36:52and the patriarchy
36:53were not okay with this.
36:55They persecuted those women
36:57and sometimes even executed them
36:58for coming up with remedies
36:59and the kinds of things
37:00you'll find
37:01in Bald's Leech book.
37:05It's not the first time
37:06we've seen books like this
37:08ahead of their time.
37:09In the 70s,
37:10Chinese scientists
37:11found the malaria treatment
37:12in a text
37:13from the 4th century.
37:15Do the cures
37:16in Bald's Leech book
37:17work too?
37:18And how did they get there?
37:24How did the medieval healers
37:26behind Bald's Leech book
37:27come up with their remedies?
37:29Did they actually work?
37:30Bald's Leech book
37:31isn't the only medicinal book
37:33from this period.
37:34We have other examples
37:35of books with remedies in it,
37:37and they actually came up
37:38with remedies that worked.
37:40The treatments devised
37:41by practitioners
37:42in the Middle Ages
37:43required gathering ingredients
37:45and experimenting with them
37:47until they found
37:48something that worked.
37:49Willow bark was used
37:50to calm inflammation,
37:52and today,
37:53a compound from willow bark
37:54is used in aspirin.
37:56Another example
37:57are the psychotropic
37:58plant compounds
37:59that were used
38:00in witches'
38:01quote-unquote
38:01flying ointment,
38:02but today,
38:03we use them as
38:04muscle relaxants
38:05and to cure motion sickness.
38:07A lot of this stuff
38:08has been around
38:09for a very long period of time.
38:10This book
38:12has a remedy
38:13for arthritis
38:14that contains nettles,
38:16and we know
38:17that nettles
38:17are a traditional
38:19Native American way
38:20of relieving arthritis
38:21and is also found
38:22in modern arthritic
38:24medicines today.
38:25So we know
38:26a lot of those herbs
38:27and a lot of those methods
38:28really are effective.
38:31Researchers at
38:32the University of Warwick
38:33actually tested out
38:35Bald's eye salve
38:36on a staph infection.
38:37To their astonishment,
38:40the staph infection
38:41was completely gone,
38:43and they repeated
38:44the experiment
38:45time after time,
38:46and every time
38:47they found
38:48the same results.
38:49The eye salve
38:50was completely
38:51eradicating
38:52the staph infection.
38:53Scientists were
38:54even more surprised
38:55when they tested
38:56the salve on MRSA,
38:57a highly resistant
38:58bacterial strain.
39:01This is a superbug
39:02that is responsible
39:04for killing
39:04about 2,000 people a year
39:06and a major problem
39:07in the world
39:08of medicine today.
39:09And to their surprise,
39:11the eye salve
39:12killed 90%
39:13of the infection.
39:15How could
39:16an archaic recipe
39:17that includes
39:17white wine
39:18and bile salts
39:19from a cow's stomach
39:21accomplish this?
39:22Researchers found
39:24that allicin,
39:25a component of garlic,
39:27while it had
39:27the strongest bactericidal
39:29properties,
39:30did not work
39:31nearly as well alone
39:33as it did
39:35mixed with
39:35the other ingredients.
39:37Within the book's
39:38remedies,
39:38researchers have
39:39also discovered
39:40herbal ingredients
39:41that can effectively
39:42treat coughs,
39:44colds,
39:45and toothaches.
39:46But not all
39:47the recipes
39:47are created equal.
39:48There's another recipe
39:50where if you mix
39:51beetroot and honey,
39:54mash it together,
39:55smear it on
39:56someone's face,
39:57have them lay
39:57on their back
39:58in the sun
39:59and let it drip
40:00down their face,
40:01that will cure
40:02their headache.
40:03I don't believe
40:04that works.
40:09Our verdict?
40:10There are some
40:11real, proven
40:12medical treatments
40:12in Bald's leech book.
40:14We haven't come
40:15across witchcraft
40:16or magic potions here,
40:18just evidence
40:19that the Dark Ages
40:20weren't so dark
40:21after all.
40:22Still, I think
40:23I'll pass on
40:24Bald's cure for warts,
40:25which says to apply
40:27dog urine
40:28and mouse blood
40:29to the affected area.
40:30No thanks.
40:32And that's our show
40:33for tonight.
40:34Thank you so much
40:34for watching.
40:35And remember to keep
40:37those cameras rolling.
40:38and we'll see you next time.
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