- 55 minutes ago
Expedition Files Season 4 Episode 7 engsub fullfilm🍿🍿
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00On this episode of Expedition Files.
00:04In 1971, rock legend Jim Morrison dies in Paris.
00:09Or does he?
00:11Now, a wild theory ripped from the tabloids
00:14claims Morrison faked his death, is still alive today,
00:18and has now been found.
00:21Then, in Japan, what is said to be a fossilized mermaid
00:26is discovered in an ancient temple's vault.
00:28But what is this mystery specimen?
00:32New scientific testing finally uncovers the truth.
00:37And, at a place called Devil's Den,
00:41a U.S. airman is certain he had an alien encounter.
00:45Now, he's revealing the evidence that he says
00:48proves he was abducted by a UFO.
00:57In the corridors of time
01:01are mysteries that defy explanation.
01:05Now, I'm traveling through history itself
01:12on a search for the truth.
01:16New evidence.
01:19Shocking answers.
01:22I'm Josh Gates.
01:24And these
01:27are my Expedition Files.
01:34Brace yourself for some shocking news.
01:37It turns out that sometimes
01:39the tabloid media takes a story
01:41and sensationalizes it,
01:43blowing it out of all proportion.
01:45Not me, of course.
01:46I'm one of the good guys.
01:47I would never lie to you.
01:48No siree.
01:49And to prove it,
01:50I'm going to read the fine print
01:52of three sensational stories
01:54to see whether the media
01:56made a myth out of a molehill
01:58or if the truth really is
01:59stranger than any fiction.
02:01We begin on July 7th, 1971
02:04in the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris,
02:08the final resting place
02:09of some of history's most famous celebrities.
02:12And one of them is being laid to rest today.
02:15But you wouldn't know it.
02:17There's no crowds,
02:18no fanfare,
02:20not even a priest,
02:21just a plain wooden coffin.
02:23Who's inside?
02:24Jim Morrison,
02:26the 27-year-old front man
02:28of legendary 60s rock group The Doors,
02:31who passed away four days ago.
02:33The official cause of death?
02:35Heart failure.
02:36But the secrecy,
02:38the speed,
02:38and the silence surrounding this funeral
02:41don't just raise eyebrows.
02:43They ignite an extraordinary conspiracy theory
02:46that plays out in the media
02:47for decades to come.
02:49The idea that Jim Morrison's body
02:51isn't in this coffin at all,
02:53because he isn't actually dead.
02:56It may sound crazy,
02:57but 50 years on,
02:59a documentary filmmaker
03:00claims to have evidence
03:02that Rock's ultimate outlaw
03:04faked his final performance
03:06and is still alive and well.
03:17Born in 1943 in Melbourne, Florida,
03:21Jim Morrison is a Navy brat
03:22with a restless mind
03:24and a nonconformist soul.
03:26As a boy,
03:27he witnesses a violent car crash
03:29on a family road trip,
03:31a moment he later claims
03:32marks him forever.
03:35And while other kids toss footballs
03:37or dance to doo-wop,
03:39Jim is lost in darker worlds,
03:41reading French poet Charles Baudelaire
03:44and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
03:46Their belief that suffering and pain
03:49are essential for creative growth
03:51grips the young Morrison.
03:54By the mid-1960s,
03:56he heads to Los Angeles
03:57to study film at UCLA,
03:59chasing images as intense
04:01as his inner world.
04:03Then, one afternoon in 1965
04:06on Venice Beach,
04:07Jim bumps into former UCLA classmate
04:10Ray Manzarek.
04:12Jim shares some lyrics
04:14he's been scribbling,
04:15strange, poetic fragments
04:17about fire, desire, and the end.
04:20Manzarek is stunned.
04:21Let's start a band, he says.
04:25The Doors is officially born.
04:28Morrison on vocals,
04:30Manzarek on keyboards,
04:32with guitarist Robbie Krieger
04:33and drummer John Densmore
04:35rounding out the lineup.
04:41Anchored by Jim's haunting lyrics,
04:43the band's sound is dark,
04:45poetic, and defiant.
04:47Perfect for a 60s generation
04:49that's disillusioned by war,
04:51assassinations,
04:52and broken promises.
04:54With hits like Break On Through,
04:57Light My Fire,
04:58and Riders on the Storm,
04:59Morrison becomes the face
05:01of the counterculture,
05:02equal parts sex symbol,
05:04shaman, and showman.
05:06And despite Jim's heavy drinking,
05:08drug use, and erratic behavior,
05:10the Doors become nothing short
05:13of a global phenomenon,
05:14the first American group
05:16to achieve eight consecutive
05:17gold LPs.
05:20In 1969, though,
05:23the now self-proclaimed
05:24Lizard King gets arrested
05:26for indecent exposure
05:27while on stage in Miami,
05:29sparking national backlash,
05:32canceled shows,
05:32and a headline-grabbing trial.
05:34He receives a six-month jail sentence
05:37and a $500 fine,
05:39but remains free pending appeal.
05:42The combination of the scandal
05:44and Jim's escalating substance abuse
05:47strains his relationship
05:48with the band.
05:50In 1971,
05:52Morrison decides to break free
05:54from the Doors.
05:58That March,
05:59Jim and his longtime girlfriend,
06:01Pamela Corson,
06:02flee to Paris.
06:03It's supposed to be a reset,
06:05a chance for him to dry out,
06:07write poetry,
06:08and enjoy a quiet break
06:09from his rock star persona.
06:12But then,
06:13in the early hours of July 3rd,
06:15four months into their French getaway,
06:17Pamela allegedly awakes
06:19to find Jim unresponsive
06:21in the bathtub.
06:26She eventually calls nearby friends
06:28who bring in the French authorities.
06:30But it's too late.
06:32Jim Morrison is dead.
06:35A doctor on the scene
06:37believes Morrison died of heart failure.
06:40No foul play is suspected.
06:42No autopsy is conducted.
06:44But here's where the story starts to twist.
06:47Considering Morrison's wild,
06:49rebellious lifestyle,
06:50some fans find it hard to accept
06:52that their hero died
06:54of natural causes
06:55at the age of 27
06:56while simply taking a bath.
06:59Something doesn't make sense.
07:05Then there's the secrecy
07:07and speed of what follows.
07:09Pamela had waited hours
07:10before alerting anyone.
07:12Along with no autopsy,
07:14there's no public viewing,
07:16a sealed casket,
07:17and just a handful of people
07:19at the funeral.
07:20Not even his bandmates
07:21or family are there.
07:23To many,
07:24it seems suspicious.
07:27The perfect conditions
07:29for conspiracy rumors
07:30to take root.
07:33Over the years,
07:35several theories surface.
07:36One of the most persistent
07:37that Morrison overdosed
07:39hours earlier
07:40in a Paris nightclub.
07:43According to a former manager
07:44at the club,
07:46Morrison showed up that night
07:47died in rough shape.
07:49Two drug dealers arrived
07:51and escorted him
07:52into the bathroom
07:53with a load of heroin.
07:56He claims Jim
07:58never came out.
08:00A little while later,
08:02the nightclub manager
08:02says Jim was found slumped
08:04in a bathroom stall
08:05unresponsive.
08:08Allegedly,
08:09the club's owners
08:10were worried
08:11about a drug scandal
08:12and allowed the pair
08:13of dealers
08:13to carry Morrison
08:14out the back door
08:15and to his apartment.
08:18There,
08:19they helped Pamela Corson
08:20get him into a cold bath
08:21in an effort to revive him
08:23to no avail.
08:28The next morning,
08:29Pamela tells authorities
08:30that she found Jim
08:32dead in the bathtub.
08:33I'm so sorry.
08:36There's no mention
08:37of the club,
08:38no mention of drugs,
08:39just heart failure.
08:42The nightclub theory
08:43has plenty of skeptics
08:44and for good reason.
08:46There are many conflicting
08:47versions of events
08:48and at the time,
08:50not a single person
08:51at a Paris nightclub
08:52stepped forward
08:53to testify having seen
08:54one of the most famous
08:55rock stars in the world,
08:57which leads some
08:58to a darker conclusion.
08:59Maybe Morrison
09:00never left the apartment
09:02at all,
09:02but heroin was still
09:03ultimately what killed him.
09:06Multiple sources
09:07say Pamela
09:08often used the drug,
09:10while Jim stuck
09:11mostly to alcohol
09:12and occasionally cocaine.
09:15But that night
09:16may have been different.
09:18The theory goes
09:19that Pamela
09:20had heroin on hand.
09:25Jim,
09:26either curious
09:27or mistaking it
09:28for cocaine,
09:29tried some.
09:32Think Uma Thurman
09:33in Pulp Fiction.
09:35Except in this case,
09:37it's fatal.
09:44Some suggest
09:45that Pamela wakes
09:46to find that he's overdosed.
09:49Jim.
09:52Jim.
09:53Panicking,
09:54it's argued
09:55that she clears
09:56the drugs
09:56from the apartment
09:57before calling for help,
09:59maybe to avoid
10:00being blamed,
10:00or maybe because
10:01she fears
10:02no one would have
10:03believed it was
10:04an accident.
10:08With no autopsy
10:10or toxicology report,
10:11there's no way
10:12to know for sure
10:13if heroin
10:14caused Jim's death.
10:15But we do know this.
10:16Pamela Corson
10:17died of a heroin
10:18overdose herself
10:19just three years later.
10:21There's one more theory,
10:22though,
10:23the most extraordinary
10:24of all,
10:25that argues
10:26Jim never died
10:27in Paris
10:27because he never died,
10:29period.
10:30Supposedly,
10:31Jim faked his death
10:32and is still alive
10:33in 2025.
10:34Could it possibly
10:36be true?
10:42For decades,
10:43suspicion has shadowed
10:44Jim Morrison's death.
10:46Heart failure
10:47never quite fit
10:48the strange details
10:49of that night.
10:50And one shocking theory
10:51claims he may not
10:53have died at all.
10:54But how could that be?
10:56By 1971,
10:58Jim is burned out.
10:59He's facing a jail sentence
11:01for the indecent exposure
11:02incident in Miami.
11:03He's hounded by the press,
11:06bloated,
11:07depressed,
11:08and fed up with fame.
11:09Friends say
11:10he dreamed of disappearing,
11:12shedding the rock star persona
11:14and living quietly
11:15as a poet.
11:16Some even recall him
11:18joking about
11:18faking his death
11:19and sitting back
11:21to watch the legend grow.
11:23Over the decades,
11:24people have claimed
11:25to spot him alive,
11:26living under the radar
11:27in places like
11:28rural Oregon,
11:29Australia,
11:30even the Congo.
11:31Most of these are chalked up
11:33to wishful thinking,
11:34fans unwilling to let go
11:36of their hero.
11:37But now,
11:38documentary filmmaker
11:39Jeff Finn
11:39says the impossible
11:41might actually be true,
11:43that Jim Morrison
11:44is still alive
11:45and he's been found.
11:47There are numerous
11:48alternative theories
11:50abounding
11:51regarding Jim
11:52post-death,
11:54post-July 1971.
11:56Certainly those helped
11:58inspire me
11:59to, you know,
12:01dive deeper
12:02down the rabbit hole.
12:04Chief among them
12:05was a fascinating
12:06story
12:07from one of
12:09The Door's roadies
12:10who became
12:10a dear friend of mine,
12:11the late Gareth Blythe.
12:14Gareth told me
12:15that he had friends
12:16in the Bay Area,
12:17San Francisco,
12:18who were convinced
12:20they saw Jim
12:21in 1972,
12:24a year after
12:25his supposed demise.
12:27Now, this is fascinating
12:29because this sort of
12:31corroborates
12:31other sightings
12:33that were listed
12:34in the media
12:35through the years
12:36of Jim
12:36in the Bay Area.
12:38So,
12:39a picture emerges
12:40of Jim
12:41on the move
12:42I had this,
12:44you know,
12:45innate sense
12:46that someday
12:47I'm going to find
12:47Jim Morrison alive.
12:50I kept all my notes
12:51and those added up
12:52to all the research
12:53I'd already done
12:54and then
12:55there came a point
12:57in 2012
12:58where I was ready
12:59to make a documentary
13:00film about Jim.
13:02In his film,
13:03Finn documents
13:04his years-long investigation
13:06into Morrison's fate.
13:07The search leads
13:08not to some distant
13:09foreign hideaway,
13:11but to upstate New York.
13:12And to a man
13:13Finn wants to call
13:14Frank X,
13:15not revealing
13:16his full name
13:17because,
13:18well,
13:18Frank X
13:19is allegedly
13:19Jim Morrison,
13:21alive and well.
13:23I first encountered
13:25the man I nicknamed
13:26Frank X
13:27in December 2016.
13:29I've joked that
13:30it's not so much
13:32that I found Frank,
13:34it's that he
13:35let me find him.
13:36he began following
13:38my official Facebook page
13:40and I remember
13:41just being
13:42struck
13:43and, you know,
13:45zooming in
13:45with my eyes
13:46and then later
13:47pulling the photo up
13:48and enlarging it
13:49to see
13:50what I believed
13:52was the spitting image
13:53of an elderly
13:54Jim Morrison
13:55and he was
13:57standing next
13:58to John Dunsmore,
14:00the Doors drummer.
14:02It's one of the
14:03most haunting moments
14:04I've ever experienced,
14:05like seeing
14:06a real ghost.
14:08Eventually,
14:09Finn convinces
14:10Frank X
14:10to sit for an interview.
14:12And during
14:13their conversation,
14:14Finn becomes certain
14:15that Frank
14:16and Jim Morrison
14:17are one and the same.
14:18I will never forget
14:20when we finally
14:21met in person
14:22in May of 2017.
14:25One of the many things
14:27that just
14:27blew my mind
14:30during the interview
14:31was Frank's
14:32expressed interest
14:33in French poet
14:35Charles Baudelaire
14:37who was essentially
14:38synonymous
14:39with Jim's interest
14:40going back
14:41to his formative years,
14:43certainly
14:43his teen years.
14:45And who would you say
14:46is your favorite poet?
14:47I like Baudelaire.
14:49I don't read
14:50a lot of
14:51new poetry.
14:53He said that
14:53pleasure
14:54cannot be possible
14:56without
14:57the presence
14:58of evil.
14:59Forgive me,
14:59whose quote was this?
15:01Baudelaire.
15:02This was just
15:03astounding
15:04to me.
15:06Detractors
15:06will immediately say,
15:08this guy has
15:09brown eyes,
15:10you know,
15:10and indeed he does.
15:12But at one point
15:13in the interview,
15:14I kindly asked him
15:15to remove
15:16his baseball cap.
15:18If you would be
15:19so kind
15:19as to let us
15:20see you without
15:21your hat
15:21so we can see
15:22your face better
15:23because the bill
15:23of your cap
15:24covers your eyes,
15:25like...
15:26I looked into
15:27his eyes
15:27and I instantly
15:29felt there was
15:31a murkiness there
15:32and I thought,
15:33my God,
15:33he's wearing
15:34brown contact lenses.
15:36In terms of
15:37physical matches,
15:38it went on and on.
15:39Vein matches
15:40on the arms,
15:41moles,
15:43scars,
15:44one nostril
15:45being slightly
15:47wider or flared
15:48than the other.
15:50It's incredible.
15:52After the interview
15:53was completed,
15:55my editors and I
15:56extracted
15:58a vocal clip
15:59from my on-camera
16:01interview with Frank X
16:02and we created
16:04a comparison,
16:05an audio comparison.
16:07I then played
16:08that comparison
16:09for a number of Jim's
16:10former friends,
16:11lovers,
16:12acquaintances,
16:13et cetera.
16:14Well,
16:15I like
16:16Artificial Paradise.
16:20I like interviews
16:22because...
16:22And each time
16:23I played it for them,
16:25they just assumed
16:26it was Jim.
16:26They went,
16:27oh, there he is
16:27or there's his voice.
16:28You know,
16:28and I would tell them,
16:30no, no,
16:30that first voice
16:31is Frank.
16:32It's incredible.
16:35As for Frank X's
16:36take on all this,
16:38well, he hasn't copped
16:39to the fact that
16:40he's Jim Morrison,
16:41but Jeff thinks
16:42that Frank is just
16:43toying with him.
16:45It felt to me,
16:46you know,
16:46like a game of
16:47cat and mouse.
16:48I think he loves it.
16:49He, in fact,
16:50has basically said
16:51as much.
16:51He loves the game.
16:52He loves the attention,
16:54the respect.
16:55If, in fact,
16:56he ever does
16:57fully give it up,
16:58it's got to be
16:59under his terms.
17:01And I respect that.
17:02I understand that
17:02and I appreciate that.
17:03I knew definitively,
17:07you know,
17:07for what it's worth,
17:09every molecule
17:10of my being.
17:12You know,
17:12I was like,
17:12this is him.
17:13It all adds up.
17:14The so-called Frank X
17:16denies that he
17:17is Jim Morrison,
17:18though he has always
17:19been a huge fan
17:20of his music.
17:22Frank claims
17:23he's lived most
17:23of his life
17:24in upstate New York
17:25where he worked
17:26as a maintenance man.
17:28Let's get real,
17:29though.
17:30None of Jim Morrison's
17:31former bandmates
17:32or friends believe
17:33he made it past
17:34the age of 27.
17:35And for my money,
17:37Frank X is a little
17:37more Duck Dynasty
17:38than Lizard King.
17:40But, hey,
17:41wouldn't it be great
17:41to learn that one
17:42of Rock's greatest icons
17:44defied the odds
17:45to forego fame
17:46and fortune
17:47in favor of
17:48the quiet life?
17:49Now that Finn's
17:50documentary has
17:51gotten attention,
17:52Frank X was recently
17:53invited to throw out
17:54the first pitch
17:55at a Syracuse
17:56minor league baseball game.
17:58If Frank really is Jim,
17:59he seems to be
18:00living his best life.
18:01Break on through
18:02to the other side indeed.
18:08It's 1842
18:09and crowds flock
18:11to P.T. Barnum's
18:12American Museum
18:13in New York,
18:14eager to catch a glimpse
18:15of an astonishing oddity.
18:18The mummified body
18:20of a supposedly real mermaid.
18:22But Ariel,
18:23she is not.
18:24This preserved creature
18:25is half fish,
18:27half monkey,
18:28and Barnum's
18:29mysterious marvel
18:30isn't alone.
18:31Across the Pacific
18:32in Japan,
18:33similar mermaid monkeys
18:35have also been
18:36preserved and displayed.
18:37Now, if you're like me,
18:39you're probably thinking
18:40this whole thing
18:40sounds a little,
18:41well, fishy.
18:42So what's the real story?
18:45The answer involves
18:46dredging up a legend
18:47that dates back
18:48thousands of years
18:49and a scientific study
18:51that will finally reveal
18:52the truth
18:53behind one's
18:54seriously scaly tale.
19:05Long before gracing
19:07your coffee
19:07as a Starbucks logo,
19:09the legend of merfolk
19:10goes back millennia,
19:12first surfacing
19:14in Mesopotamia
19:15with the half-man,
19:16half-fish god,
19:17Ea.
19:19Centuries later,
19:20stories emerge
19:21of sea nymphs,
19:23sirens,
19:23and beautiful women
19:24of the water,
19:25mysterious,
19:27seductive,
19:27and just dangerous
19:28enough to keep
19:29sailors on edge.
19:31But in Japan,
19:32another version
19:33of this creature
19:34exists,
19:35the ningyo,
19:36meaning human fish.
19:38It has scales,
19:40a fish-like body,
19:41and a monkey-like face
19:43with tiny teeth.
19:45The first written account
19:47of ningyo's
19:48appears in an
19:498th-century book
19:50called The Nihon Shoki,
19:52a compilation
19:53of Japan's myths.
19:55It describes how
19:56in the year 619,
19:58a fish with
19:59humanoid facial features
20:00is allegedly spotted
20:02in the Gamo River.
20:04Later that year,
20:05it documents how
20:06a fisherman
20:07in the town of Setsu
20:08claims to have
20:09netted a gruesome creature
20:11with both human
20:12and fish traits.
20:13But there's more
20:14to a ningyo
20:15than its eerie
20:16fish-meets-monkey form.
20:19In Japanese folklore,
20:21these creatures
20:22carry powerful
20:23and dangerous
20:24supernatural baggage.
20:26Catch one,
20:27and legend says
20:28you could unleash
20:29raging storms
20:30that swallow
20:31ships whole.
20:34Not every ningyo
20:36encounter
20:36ends in disaster.
20:37Some stories claim
20:39that the ningyo's
20:40tears can crystallize
20:42into shimmering pearls.
20:44And the boldest legend
20:46of all?
20:47That a single bite
20:48of its flesh
20:48could grant you
20:50immortality.
20:51There are generations
20:53of powerful stories
20:54about the Japanese mermaid,
20:56but is there anything
20:57that could back them up?
20:59Remarkably,
21:00the answer is yes,
21:01and it's about
21:02to be revealed.
21:07The Japanese legend
21:09of the ningyo,
21:10half fish,
21:11half human
21:11with monkey-like features,
21:13has long captivated
21:15the public,
21:15but is there any
21:16hard evidence
21:17for these reported creatures?
21:21Starting around
21:22the 17th century,
21:24alleged ningyo mummies
21:26are often bought
21:26by the wealthy
21:27as exotic curiosities.
21:30Ningyo's are also
21:31enshrined in temples
21:32and featured
21:33in traveling sideshows.
21:35But there is one
21:36so-called Japanese
21:38mermaid mummy specimen
21:39that is seemingly
21:40more convincing
21:41than any other.
21:44It is said
21:45to be discovered
21:46in the 18th century
21:47off the coast
21:48of Japan's
21:49Tosa province.
21:52Early one morning,
21:53two fishermen
21:54allegedly land
21:55their most
21:56astounding catch ever,
21:57the seaweed-covered corpse
21:59of a half-fish,
22:01half-human creature.
22:02They soon learn
22:04they've dredged up
22:05a ningyo
22:05and hear of the
22:07potential curses
22:08it can bring.
22:09The story goes
22:11that the Tosa fishermen
22:12sell it
22:13to the wealthy
22:14Kojima family
22:15to avert
22:15any potential curses.
22:17For generations,
22:18the family regards
22:20the mermaid mummy
22:21as a cherished heirloom.
22:23Later,
22:23it will find its way
22:24to the Enjouin Temple,
22:26a Zen Buddhist order
22:27near Okoyama, Japan,
22:29where it then sits
22:30in storage
22:31for the next
22:32200 years.
22:38A monk carries in
22:40a dusty wooden box
22:41to show his high priest.
22:43They've heard whisperings
22:44about its contents,
22:45but the gruesome,
22:47withered form
22:47that greets them
22:48still comes as a shock,
22:50a mummified ningyo.
22:52They know the legends,
22:54but where did this one
22:55come from?
22:56Inside the box,
22:57there's also
22:58a handwritten note.
23:00The note seemingly
23:02dates back
23:03over two centuries
23:04and recounts
23:05this mermaid's
23:06storied history,
23:07from the fishermen
23:08who found it,
23:09to the Kojimas,
23:10to its relocation
23:11at the temple.
23:13The head of the temple
23:14puts the mermaid mummy
23:15on display.
23:17Almost overnight,
23:18it becomes a sensation.
23:20For the next 50 years,
23:22tens of thousands
23:23of pilgrims
23:24and tourists alike
23:25flock to the temple,
23:27all eager to lay eyes
23:28on a supposedly
23:29bona fide ningyo.
23:33In fact,
23:34during the COVID-19 pandemic,
23:36people even prayed
23:37to the mummy,
23:38desperate for it
23:39to help ease the crisis.
23:41For 50 years,
23:43the Tosa mermaid
23:44is treasured
23:45as a miraculous relic,
23:46the preserved remains
23:48of a magical sea creature.
23:50Yet skeptics argue
23:51the corpse
23:52is not what it seems.
23:53So what exactly is it?
23:56In 2022,
23:57scientists at
23:58Karashiki University
23:59are the first in history
24:00to gain permission
24:01to investigate the relic.
24:03Using cutting-edge technology,
24:05they set out
24:06to solve
24:06the mermaid mystery
24:07for good.
24:08Professor of religion,
24:10Dr. Max Mormon,
24:11followed their
24:12unprecedented work closely.
24:14The scientists
24:15were given permission
24:16by the head priest
24:18of N-Ju-ji
24:19to bring the ningyo
24:21into their
24:22veterinary hospital suite.
24:24They used CT scans
24:25and X-ray
24:26and found that
24:28there were no
24:28internal organs,
24:29but rather that
24:31the interior
24:32of the ningyo
24:33was made up
24:35of inorganic matter,
24:37textiles,
24:38cotton,
24:39and paper
24:40built up
24:41to form the interior
24:42of the body.
24:44and then the
24:45outside skin
24:46was coated
24:48with a substance
24:50of ground charcoal
24:51and sand
24:52and coated
24:53with a shellac-like substance.
24:55It was not
24:57an actual creature,
24:58just a structure
24:59built to resemble
25:01an actual creature.
25:02If this was all
25:03just a fabrication,
25:05how did it manage
25:06to be so convincing
25:07for so long?
25:08Well, it turns out
25:09that while the interior
25:10of the mermaid
25:11was fake,
25:12the exterior
25:13was all too real.
25:15DNA analysis revealed
25:17that the two halves
25:18were largely
25:19a monkey
25:20and a fish.
25:21So the upper part
25:23of the torso
25:24was mainly primate,
25:26the head,
25:27the torso,
25:27the arms.
25:29The jaw, however,
25:30was a carnivorous fish.
25:33The lower part
25:34was a fish,
25:36probably a croaker.
25:37These biological elements
25:39included just enough
25:41realism
25:41to convince the viewers
25:43that it just might
25:44be an animal.
25:46As for being discovered
25:47in the 1700s,
25:49well, turns out
25:50that's not true either.
25:51They were able
25:52to use radiocarbon dating
25:54on the paper
25:55and the cotton
25:57that was used
25:58to make the ningyo.
25:59According to the data,
26:01it was produced
26:02between 1870
26:03and 1890,
26:04which is over
26:06100 years
26:07after it was allegedly
26:09dredged out of the water.
26:10In other words,
26:12those two 18th century
26:13fishermen
26:14who supposedly
26:15found the ningyo,
26:16they were a myth too.
26:18And the so-called
26:19note of provenance,
26:20a forgery.
26:22There was in the late 1800s,
26:24early 1900s,
26:25in Japan,
26:26a booming culture
26:27of public sideshow
26:29entertainment,
26:30carnivals,
26:31and the like
26:32called misemono.
26:33and they exhibited
26:35all sorts
26:36of curiosities,
26:39like the ningyo.
26:40So it's very likely
26:41that this particular ningyo
26:44would have been produced
26:46for this sort of context.
26:47So, sorry to be
26:49the bearer of bad news,
26:50but the Japanese mermaid
26:51is definitely a fake.
26:53But what about
26:54P.T. Barnum's
26:54Fiji mermaid
26:55that we met back
26:56at the beginning
26:57of our story?
26:57Surely that's real.
26:59Well, it turns out
27:00both specimens
27:01had a lot in common.
27:02In a way,
27:03they were kind of
27:03the same species
27:04because the Fiji mermaid
27:06was not only
27:07completely fake,
27:07but most likely
27:08also handcrafted
27:10in Japan.
27:11Though there is
27:11one important distinction.
27:13While P.T. Barnum's
27:14mermaid was just
27:15for spectacle,
27:16its Japanese counterpart
27:18was a nearly sacred
27:19object of worship.
27:21The Tosa ningyo
27:23and other
27:24dried ningyo
27:25in Japan
27:26had protective value
27:29to those
27:30who viewed it.
27:31It had its
27:31its own legend.
27:33It had its own
27:33cultural history.
27:35Despite the findings
27:36about the
27:36Enjuin Temple's
27:37mermaid mummy,
27:39the chief priest
27:39decided to put it
27:40back on display
27:41where it remains
27:42a popular attraction
27:44to this day.
27:45He sees it
27:46not as a deception,
27:47but as a symbol
27:48of people's
27:49ongoing fascination
27:50with the mystical
27:51and unknown.
27:52And sometimes
27:53that can hold
27:54much more power
27:55than the truth.
27:57Anyone for sushi?
27:58Sushi?
27:59Sushi?
28:01Sushi?
28:01Sushi?
28:14Sushi?
28:25Sushi?
28:26Out of this
28:26world evidence
28:27because these
28:28two men
28:28are allegedly
28:29about to be
28:30abducted
28:31by a UFO.
28:41According to
28:41Terry Lovelace,
28:43before the lights
28:43appeared over
28:44Devil's Den,
28:45his life was
28:46altogether normal.
28:47Four years
28:48into his
28:48Air Force service
28:49at the Whiteman
28:50Air Force Base,
28:51he's newly married
28:52and studying
28:53to become
28:53a lawyer.
28:58He's also
28:59an EMT.
29:00He spends
29:00his nights
29:01working the
29:01graveyard shift
29:02as a medic.
29:03His partner
29:04on the shift
29:04is Toby,
29:05a close friend,
29:06fellow medic,
29:07and amateur
29:08astronomer.
29:11And on a long
29:12weekend in June
29:13of 1977,
29:14they take off
29:15on a four-day
29:16road trip,
29:16getting away
29:17from the city
29:18to go camping.
29:18The men
29:20drive six hours
29:21from the Air Force
29:22Base to a remote
29:23part of Arkansas,
29:24a place called
29:25Devil's Den.
29:28They settle in
29:29for a night
29:30under the stars.
29:31And then,
29:33that massive
29:33triangular craft
29:34shows up.
29:35It hovers
29:36over their campsite,
29:37a beam of light
29:38shooting down
29:39over the two
29:40terrified men.
29:43Terry will
29:44later report
29:45that a strange
29:46wave of exhaustion
29:47washes over them,
29:48keeping them
29:49from running away.
29:56Terry says
29:57the next thing
29:58he remembers
29:58is waking up,
30:00his body scorched
30:01and aching,
30:02his clothes disheveled.
30:04Is it still out there?
30:08To his horror,
30:10when he looks
30:10outside the tent,
30:11he sees the craft
30:12hovering even lower.
30:14And more shocking,
30:16several small,
30:17gray beings
30:18on the ground.
30:20This is the story
30:22as reported by Terry.
30:23He claims that
30:24the terror
30:25he experiences
30:26this night
30:26will haunt him
30:27for the next 40 years.
30:29Many are skeptical
30:30about his account.
30:32That is,
30:32until a shocking
30:33medical discovery
30:34changes everything.
30:36Hold on to your
30:37hyperdrives.
30:38This sensational story
30:39is just getting started.
30:47According to Terry Lovelace,
30:49he and his friend Toby
30:50have an alien encounter
30:52in 1977.
30:53After spotting
30:55an unexplainable craft
30:56hovering above them,
30:58they black out,
30:59only to wake up
31:00and find mysterious
31:01gray beings
31:02surrounding their camp.
31:04The two men
31:05sit frozen,
31:06watching in silence
31:07as the gray figures
31:08dissolve into a beam
31:10of light.
31:12Moments later,
31:13the ship itself
31:14slips soundlessly
31:16back into the sky.
31:17Terry and Toby
31:18huddle fearfully
31:19in their tent.
31:22And when dawn
31:23finally breaks,
31:24they bolt for their car,
31:26leaving all of their
31:27camping gear behind
31:28and never daring
31:29to look back.
31:31Before they make it
31:32to town,
31:33Toby recalls
31:34something astonishing.
31:35Memories of both
31:37of them being taken
31:38on board the alien craft
31:39and experimented on.
31:42The men are shaken
31:44and feel lucky
31:45to be alive,
31:46but are due
31:47back on base,
31:48reporting for duty
31:49later that day.
31:50But Terry says
31:52their supervisor
31:52takes one look at them
31:54and sends them
31:54straight to the base hospital
31:56for medical attention.
31:57The men are
31:58allegedly examined
31:59and both supposedly
32:01share near-identical
32:02symptoms.
32:04Burns,
32:05dehydration,
32:06blurred vision,
32:07and red welts
32:08across their bodies.
32:11According to Terry's
32:12account,
32:13his time in the hospital
32:14is painful
32:15and disorienting.
32:16His eyes are
32:17extremely sensitive
32:18to light
32:19while doctors
32:20photograph him,
32:21draw blood,
32:22and run tests.
32:23Then,
32:24he says a senior
32:25officer persuades him
32:26to meet with agents
32:27from the Air Force's
32:29Office of Special
32:30Investigations.
32:31Terry says
32:32these real-life
32:33men in black
32:33have him consent
32:35to chemical hypnosis
32:36to help him recall
32:38what happened.
32:39However,
32:40Terry feels
32:40their primary concern
32:41is not his mental
32:43well-being.
32:43instead,
32:45it's initiating
32:45a cover-up.
32:47How many pictures
32:48did you take?
32:49Sir,
32:50not one.
32:51He says that
32:52before they leave,
32:53the government official
32:54gives him a final order.
32:56Forget what happened.
32:58As Terry tells it,
32:59after he returns to work,
33:01he learns that
33:02Toby is reassigned
33:03to a base in Japan.
33:05In fact,
33:06he never sees him again.
33:09Over time,
33:10Terry, too,
33:10moves on,
33:11putting the events
33:12of that horrifying night
33:14in the rearview mirror.
33:15In fact,
33:16he goes on
33:17to an impressive career.
33:18He earns his law degree
33:20and later serves
33:21as Assistant Attorney General
33:22for the state of Vermont.
33:25Over 30 years pass.
33:27Then,
33:28one morning in 2012,
33:30Terry wakes
33:30with a strange,
33:31sharp pain in his leg.
33:33At the VA hospital,
33:34Terry says
33:34that doctors take an x-ray
33:36and what appears
33:37on the scan
33:37is shocking.
33:39A mysterious,
33:40metallic object
33:41that looks like
33:42a microchip
33:43embedded deep
33:44in his leg.
33:45Never having had
33:46any surgeries
33:47or injuries before,
33:48Terry fears the worst.
33:50Could this be
33:51an alien implant?
34:0135 years
34:02after Terry Lovelace's
34:04alleged abduction,
34:05he says an x-ray
34:06reveals an unknown
34:08square object
34:09lodged deep
34:10in his thigh
34:10and he has no explanation
34:12for how it got there.
34:14Baffled,
34:15Terry fears
34:15it's some kind
34:16of alien tracking device.
34:19A mysterious object
34:20in your body
34:21is pretty alarming
34:22and for Terry,
34:23it was the catalyst
34:24to dig deeper
34:25into the memories
34:26he said he'd repressed
34:28over the years.
34:29He undergoes
34:30regression hypnosis,
34:32a highly controversial
34:33technique that claims
34:34to pull lost memories
34:36back to the surface.
34:38Terry says the treatment
34:39unlocks vivid memories
34:41he believes were buried
34:42by the trauma
34:43of abduction.
34:44Under hypnosis,
34:46one of his first
34:46recollections
34:47is being inside
34:48a massive craft.
34:50Looking around,
34:51he sees diminutive
34:53gray beings
34:54with large heads
34:55and almond-shaped eyes.
34:57Terry recalls
34:58being restrained
34:59on a surgical table.
35:01They begin probing
35:02and cutting,
35:03pain searing
35:05through his body.
35:08For Terry,
35:09the memories
35:09are a horrible validation.
35:11He is now
35:12completely certain
35:13he was abducted
35:14by aliens.
35:16He's also determined
35:17to convince the world
35:18of his encounter.
35:20In 2018,
35:21he publishes a book,
35:22goes on tour,
35:23and is embraced
35:25by the UFO community.
35:27Terry may be convinced,
35:29but me?
35:29I got a few questions.
35:31Chief among them,
35:32what happened to Toby,
35:33the only other eyewitness
35:35to this extraordinary encounter?
35:37Well, Terry claims
35:38he tried to track
35:39his old friend down,
35:40but says an FBI agent
35:41told him Toby died
35:43in 2007.
35:44No word on the identity
35:46of this agent,
35:47and Terry has refused
35:48to divulge Toby's full name
35:50out of respect
35:51for his family.
35:52Enter my old friend,
35:53UFO researcher,
35:54Ben Hansen,
35:55who's spent years
35:56digging into Terry's account,
35:58starting with the memories
35:59he claimed to recover
36:00during regression hypnosis.
36:04Hypnotic regression
36:05is very controversial.
36:06It's used sometimes
36:07in law enforcement
36:08because it can help
36:09a witness remember things
36:11such as a license plate number.
36:12But often in the world
36:15of alleged alien abductions
36:17and things of that sort,
36:18it also has the ability
36:20to introduce
36:20what we call
36:21false memories.
36:24Having interviewed
36:25several alleged abductees
36:28and some of the most
36:29prolific cases,
36:30I feel that Terry's case
36:32is very similar
36:33in the description
36:34of the craft,
36:37the interaction
36:38with the beings
36:39and their descriptions.
36:40When it comes
36:41to very extraordinary stories,
36:43I tell people,
36:45don't believe everything you hear,
36:46but don't disbelieve it
36:48just because you haven't
36:49heard it before.
36:51Open-minded,
36:52but also skeptical,
36:54Hansen then evaluated
36:55Terry's X-ray
36:56that potentially showed
36:58a square-shaped implant.
37:01I've seen the X-rays myself
37:02and if this truly was
37:04from the examination
37:06that occurred,
37:07I am not a medical professional,
37:08but it doesn't take
37:10a medical professional
37:11to say that object
37:12does not belong
37:13in a human body.
37:15You can see what looks like
37:18about a thumbnail-sized square
37:20embedded in his right thigh
37:23and running down from that,
37:25it looks like two very thin filaments
37:28or wires that come off of this.
37:30There's no part of the anatomy
37:31I'm aware of
37:32that should include
37:34a square object
37:35with what looks like antenna
37:37or wires coming off of it.
37:40This implant would seem
37:42to be the key to everything.
37:43If it truly exists,
37:45it could be tested in a lab,
37:47its makeup analyzed,
37:48its origin determined,
37:50settling Terry's claims
37:51once and for all.
37:53Unfortunately,
37:54there's just one small problem.
37:57In 2017,
37:58Terry claims he wakes
37:59with severe bruising
38:01on his thigh
38:01where the object
38:02was first found.
38:04He submits to a second X-ray,
38:06which reveals the object
38:07is now gone.
38:09Almost.
38:10All that remains
38:11are what looks like
38:12the two filaments or wires.
38:16So, are they there?
38:18In 2021,
38:19Ben Hansen opened
38:20an investigation,
38:21arranging an experiment
38:23with Terry,
38:24one Ben hoped would reveal
38:25if any foreign objects
38:27were indeed in Terry's leg.
38:30In 2021,
38:31I met him at his home.
38:34I need more people like you
38:36to tell their stories,
38:37so I appreciate it.
38:38Of course,
38:39when I saw the X-rays,
38:41I was just shocked
38:42because, for me,
38:44it was validation
38:45that these things
38:46put their hands on me.
38:47So I do have a few things here
38:49that we could try
38:50and test with,
38:51but is that okay
38:52if we do that?
38:53Oh, absolutely.
38:55We tried multiple different things.
38:57I used an electromagnetic field meter.
39:00I expected to find nothing.
39:02It did come up
39:03with some readings,
39:04which were kind of unusual.
39:10It's kind of odd.
39:11It's just really unusually high.
39:15I took out a neodymium magnet
39:18such as this.
39:19It's a very, very strong magnet
39:21and passed it over
39:23where he said the object
39:25had originally been located.
39:28I expected to find nothing,
39:30but this little magnet,
39:32as powerful as it was,
39:34had a pole to it,
39:35and it rotated slightly in my hand.
39:38So as I would pass it over,
39:40it would kind of wobble
39:42and you could feel
39:43that there was an attraction
39:44of something metallic
39:46within Terry's knee.
39:48The finding was intriguing,
39:50but Ben remains skeptical.
39:51A single piece
39:52of circumstantial evidence
39:54is not enough
39:55to close this case.
39:56The biggest weak link
39:58in Terry Lovelace's story,
39:59it's that all of the information
40:01and the evidence
40:02that's been presented
40:03comes directly from him.
40:05What we don't have
40:06and what I wish we had
40:07is more corroborating evidence.
40:09But what I would really like to have
40:11is a witness,
40:13but Toby's gone.
40:14And so all we have
40:15is the story from Terry himself.
40:21In the case of Terry,
40:23I found Terry Lovelace
40:24to be a credible witness.
40:26He was an attorney,
40:27very intelligent,
40:28who rose to the level
40:30of assistant attorney general
40:31in the state of Vermont.
40:32He had a lot to lose
40:33and not a lot to gain
40:35by coming out
40:36and talking about this.
40:37So it's unlikely
40:39that someone of his caliber,
40:42if you will,
40:42would come forward
40:43with such a fantastical story
40:46if it were not true.
40:47But at this time,
40:48we just don't have enough
40:49to say that it really happened
40:51exactly as he remembered.
40:52And so all we have
40:54is the story from Terry himself.
40:56Terry Lovelace's story
40:57has won over many UFO enthusiasts,
41:00but the skeptics note
41:02that we can't independently
41:03verify any of his claims.
41:05The square object seen on X-ray,
41:08conveniently gone.
41:09The wires, never removed.
41:11No hospital records,
41:13no military reports,
41:14and the one other witness,
41:16a phantom.
41:17The truth may be out there,
41:19but for now,
41:19this is one sci-fi saga
41:21in need of a sequel.
41:23Title it,
41:23The Evidence Strikes Back.
41:25I'm Josh Gates,
41:26and I'll see you
41:27on the next expedition.
41:28In the shed,
41:31And so the first person
41:31has found light,
Comments