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Expedition Files - Season 4 - Episode 11: The Supernatural Eng Sub
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00:00On this episode of Expedition Files.
00:04In 1934, legendary inventor Nikola Tesla claims he's built a ray gun capable of obliterating anything in its path.
00:17But the superweapon is never discovered.
00:21Nearly a century later, newly declassified documents finally reveal the truth
00:26behind Tesla's most mysterious invention, the death ray.
00:32Then, in 1676, a Sicilian nun says she's overtaken by a mysterious force,
00:39writing 14 lines of cryptic symbols that no one can understand.
00:44The church believes it's the work of the devil himself.
00:48Today, cutting-edge technology decodes the sinister message.
00:54And, in ancient Greece, people would visit the Oracle of Delphi,
01:00a priestess who claimed to communicate with the gods and reveal the future.
01:05Now, scientists believe they've uncovered a startlingly real explanation for her otherworldly powers.
01:16In the corridors of time
01:20are mysteries that defy explanation.
01:24Now, I'm traveling through history itself
01:30on a search for the truth.
01:35New evidence
01:38Shocking answers
01:41I'm Josh Gates
01:43And these
01:46are my expedition files
01:52People often ask me if I believe in the supernatural.
01:56I always say I'm a born skeptic with a very open mind.
01:59And after the many, many things I've seen on my adventures,
02:03I've learned that the so-called impossible can be all too possible.
02:07So tonight, check your skepticism at the door
02:10as we explore three shocking stories of the supernatural,
02:14searching beneath the sensationalism
02:16to discover what actually lives up to the billing of strange but true.
02:21So, let's begin on January 9th, 1943, in Manhattan.
02:28The city is covered by winter clouds,
02:30but inside the Hotel New Yorker,
02:33it's more a blanket of secrecy.
02:35Two days earlier, the famed inventor, Nikola Tesla,
02:38died in this very suite.
02:40And these guys aren't here to make up the room.
02:43They're government agents on a mission to secure Tesla's belongings,
02:47because the safety of America may depend on it.
02:50Somewhere in this room, there's supposed to be a hidden superweapon,
02:54or at least the plans for it, a death ray,
02:57so strong it can obliterate anything in its path.
03:00But does it actually exist?
03:03The question of whether Tesla succeeded in creating this deadly device
03:07will be fiercely debated for 80 years.
03:10That is, until declassified documents emit a burning beam of truth.
03:24These days, when you hear the name Tesla,
03:26you probably think of an electric car with annoying door handles.
03:30But our story begins 152 years earlier,
03:34with the man the car is named after.
03:39Born during a lightning storm in 1856 in what is now Croatia,
03:45Nikola Tesla is a prodigy in mathematics and physics,
03:50obsessed with creating electric motors.
03:56After pioneering success in Europe,
03:59in 1884, Tesla moves to the U.S.
04:01to work for America's greatest inventor, Thomas Edison.
04:07Edison is already famed for creating the light bulb
04:11and the first sound recorder.
04:13To power his inventions, he uses direct current, or DC,
04:17a one-way flow of electricity that works well over short distances.
04:22But DC has a major limitation.
04:25It can't travel far without losing power.
04:29Tesla sees that flaw and turns to alternating current, or AC,
04:34which can be transmitted at high voltage over long distances,
04:37and then reduced to safe levels for everyday use,
04:41making it far more efficient.
04:43With his characteristic monomaniacal focus,
04:47Tesla quits working for Edison after just a year
04:49and goes out on his own to make AC work.
04:55And in 1888, he succeeds.
05:00Tesla invents an induction motor that runs on AC
05:04to operate machines, tools, even entire factories.
05:12In 1893, Tesla becomes a household name
05:16as his AC generator system lights up the Chicago World's Fair,
05:21dazzling millions.
05:22The so-called war of the currents between DC and AC is officially over.
05:29Edison may have invented the light bulb,
05:30but Tesla invented something much, much bigger.
05:34The entire electrical grid used to power it.
05:38In other words, you couldn't be watching me on that screen right now
05:41without Nikola Tesla.
05:48And Tesla's inventions don't stop with the AC generators.
05:53In 1891, he invents the Tesla coil,
05:57proving electricity can transmit wirelessly through the air,
06:01laying the groundwork for things like radio, radar, and wireless charging.
06:05He also helps birth X-ray technology and fluorescent lighting.
06:12But for all his brilliance in the lab,
06:15Tesla proves to be a poor businessman.
06:18Just like his beloved AC current,
06:20his fortunes swing wildly.
06:22At times, he has millions.
06:24At others, he's nearly penniless.
06:26He gives away valuable patents,
06:30picks public fights with rivals,
06:32and chases ideas so ambitious they scare off investors.
06:36And no idea is more bold or scary
06:39than an invention he calls teleforce.
06:43In 1934, at 78 years old,
06:46Tesla announces he's devised a particle beam weapon
06:49that could destroy tanks,
06:52ships, even aircraft from hundreds of miles away.
06:56It soon earns a more sensational nickname in the press,
07:00the Death Ray.
07:02This new weapon, Tesla claims,
07:04could slice through metal like a hot knife through butter.
07:10He also believes it could act as an invisible shield,
07:14protecting a country with a wall of energy so powerful
07:17that war itself would become pointless.
07:21Tesla insists he's even tested the revolutionary weapon,
07:24but never shares any details of those experiments.
07:37Still, he pitches the idea to multiple governments,
07:40the US, the UK, and the USSR,
07:44despite never publicly demonstrating it.
07:47Most potential buyers turn him down,
07:49and by 1935, Tesla is in debt and unable to pay his bills.
07:58Then, a company connected to the Soviet government
08:01pays him $25,000 for plans and blueprints,
08:05but a working prototype is not part of the deal.
08:13Before the deal can be completely sealed,
08:16World War II ignites.
08:18But Tesla's supposed superweapon does not enter the battlefield.
08:29Flash forward to January 7, 1943.
08:32Tesla is living in a room at the Hotel New Yorker
08:36and heads off to bed.
08:40But he'll never wake up.
08:42He passes away in his sleep from a blood clot.
08:47By now, Tesla was broke
08:49and has no fortune to leave behind.
08:51But almost immediately,
08:53rumors begin to circulate
08:55about a locked wooden trunk
08:56amidst his personal effects.
08:59Hotel staff claim Tesla told them
09:01that the box contains
09:02the fabled teleforce prototype.
09:07Suddenly, there's a rush
09:08to lock down everything belonging to Tesla.
09:11The U.S. government is at war
09:13and realizes the risk
09:14of a potential superweapon
09:16falling into enemy hands.
09:17They dispatch the FBI
09:19to Tesla's hotel room
09:20to secure the scene.
09:22The feds lock down his papers and possessions,
09:25but they'll have to fight to keep them.
09:29Tesla's nephew,
09:30a Yugoslavian diplomat
09:32named Sava Kosanovic,
09:33enters the picture.
09:35He argues that Tesla's possessions
09:37are the rightful property
09:38of his family
09:39and his homeland, Yugoslavia.
09:42After eight years of back and forth,
09:45in 1952,
09:46Tesla's nephew finally gets permission
09:48to ship his uncle's estate to Europe.
09:51The 60 cases and their contents,
09:54as well as Tesla's personal papers,
09:56are now under lock and key
09:58in the Nikola Tesla archives
10:00in Belgrade, Serbia.
10:03But do those papers contain
10:05any proof of Tesla's death ray?
10:07Was he really able
10:08to construct a prototype?
10:10And if so,
10:11what happened to it?
10:12For over 60 years,
10:14there's silence.
10:15Until, in 2016,
10:17a remarkable breakthrough
10:18changes everything.
10:20What follows unfolds
10:21like a real-life Cold War spy thriller.
10:31Famed inventor Nikola Tesla
10:33died in 1943.
10:35But before he did,
10:36he claimed to have created
10:38a death ray called the Teleforce.
10:40For decades,
10:41any proof of Tesla's superweapon
10:43remained elusive.
10:45Then, in 2016,
10:47a Freedom of Information Act request
10:48forces the release
10:50of classified U.S. government documents
10:52about Tesla.
10:54Historian Stephen Kotowich
10:55studied the files
10:56and their shocking revelations.
11:00The 2016 release
11:02of the classified files
11:03was a game-changer
11:04for Tesla research.
11:05We finally,
11:06for the first time,
11:07understood all of
11:08the behind-the-scenes scramble
11:09to get a hold
11:10of Tesla's materials
11:11after his death.
11:12One of the things we learned
11:13is that in January of 1943,
11:16the National Defense Research Committee
11:18tasks Dr. John Trump
11:20with sorting through
11:21Tesla's belongings
11:22in search for
11:23any weapons technology
11:25that might be useful
11:26for the Allied war effort.
11:28You heard right.
11:29Trump.
11:30Dr. John G. Trump
11:32was the future U.S. president's uncle.
11:34At the time,
11:35Dr. Trump was a professor at MIT,
11:37an expert in electrical engineering.
11:39Trump reviewed Tesla's notes
11:41and concluded there was,
11:43quote,
11:43nothing of significant value,
11:45no new sound,
11:46workable principles or methods.
11:48But Stephen Kotowich
11:49suspects this statement
11:50was a smokescreen.
11:53If there was nothing
11:54in these files,
11:55then why would the United States
11:56fight so hard
11:57to keep hold of them?
11:58The United States government
11:59goes on for nearly a decade
12:01to fight the release
12:02of Tesla's belongings
12:03to his next of kin
12:04and to the museum in Belgrade.
12:07One of the big revelations
12:08was the issue of
12:09how many crates
12:10were in Tesla's possession
12:11and how many of those crates
12:13made their way to Belgrade.
12:15According to the FBI,
12:16Tesla reported
12:17that he had 80 cases
12:19containing transcripts
12:20and plans
12:21concerning his experiments,
12:22but only 60 cases
12:24arrived in Europe in 1952,
12:26and it gets stranger.
12:29The question becomes,
12:30what happened
12:31to that missing 20 cases?
12:33The most logical explanation
12:34is that 80 cases
12:36that were half full
12:37were condensed down
12:38into 60 cases
12:39that were completely full
12:40just to make it easier to ship.
12:42But people have fixated
12:44on this missing 20 cases.
12:46Does the U.S. government
12:47still have hold of them
12:48and for what reason?
12:50There could be anything in them,
12:52which is why I think
12:53speculation about them
12:54has been so tantalizing
12:55for researchers.
12:56And what about
12:57that particular trunk,
12:59rumored by Tesla himself
13:00to contain his death ray?
13:02Thanks to these
13:03newly released documents,
13:04we have an answer.
13:08The staff of the Hotel New Yorker
13:10take Dr. Trump
13:11down to the basement.
13:12They point out the crate
13:14that Tesla has left there.
13:15When he left the crate,
13:17Tesla said,
13:18no one is to disturb this.
13:19That one right there.
13:20The contents are very dangerous.
13:22If anyone unauthorized
13:24tries to open it,
13:24it will explode.
13:25It could destroy the hotel.
13:27Dr. Trump says,
13:28all right,
13:29I will open this crate.
13:30Everybody can step back.
13:32Dr. Trump opens the crate.
13:36And it's a big letdown.
13:38What is it?
13:41The only thing in it
13:43is an old piece
13:44of lab equipment,
13:45a resistance box,
13:46and there's certainly
13:47no prototype
13:48for the teleforce device.
13:50Historians now suspect
13:52Tesla exaggerated
13:53the value of the box,
13:55making it sound
13:55far more important
13:56than it was,
13:57so he could use it
13:58as collateral
13:59with hotel staff,
14:00as he was more than
14:01$400 behind on rent
14:03at the time.
14:05In other words,
14:06a ruse concocted
14:07by Tesla
14:08to help pay off
14:09his debts.
14:12So although we can
14:13seemingly rule out
14:14the existence
14:15of a death ray prototype,
14:17evidence from elsewhere
14:18in the declassified
14:19FBI files
14:20suggests there may still
14:22be much more
14:23to this story
14:24than the U.S.
14:25government declared.
14:27Because even if
14:28a working prototype
14:29was never built,
14:30the idea itself
14:31was real.
14:33Tesla designed
14:33a system
14:34that would fire
14:35a concentrated stream
14:36of charged particles,
14:38essentially a beam
14:39of energy,
14:39that could potentially
14:41disable aircraft
14:42and act
14:43as a defensive shield.
14:45Newly declassified
14:47FBI files
14:48show that
14:49back in 1945,
14:50the U.S. government
14:51was working
14:52to find out
14:52what Tesla's teleforce
14:54could actually do.
14:56The U.S. government
14:57launched Project Nick
14:58at Wright-Patterson
14:59Air Force Base.
15:00This was a top-secret
15:02project that was
15:03designed to investigate
15:04how Tesla's teleforce
15:06could be used
15:07as a defensive measure
15:08to protect the United States
15:10against nuclear attack
15:11by the Soviet Union.
15:14Among those involved
15:15was Blois Fitzgerald,
15:17a young electrical engineer
15:18who had known Tesla
15:19and corresponded with him
15:21during his life.
15:23A strong believer
15:24in Tesla's teleforce,
15:26Fitzgerald worked
15:27with the government
15:27to analyze Tesla's notes
15:29and help determine
15:30whether a practical version
15:32of the particle beam weapon
15:33could be built.
15:36While there's no evidence
15:37a working system
15:38was ever created,
15:39the ideas themselves
15:41continued to shape
15:42future research.
15:47Tesla's ideas
15:48have really laid
15:48the foundation
15:49for a lot of modern research
15:51into directed energy weapons.
15:53In 1983,
15:55President Ronald Reagan
15:56announced the
15:56Strategic Defense Initiative,
15:58which was nicknamed
15:59Star Wars.
16:00Proceeding boldly
16:01with these new technologies,
16:02we can significantly reduce
16:04any incentive
16:05that the Soviet Union
16:06may have
16:07to threaten attack
16:08against the United States
16:09or its allies.
16:11It was the idea
16:12of using ground-based
16:14and space-based lasers
16:15and particle beam weapons
16:17to help defend
16:18against the potential
16:19for nuclear attack
16:21by intercontinental
16:22ballistic missiles
16:23and enemy satellites
16:25in space.
16:25It was similar
16:26to the idea
16:27that Tesla had had
16:2850 or 60 years earlier
16:29where he envisioned
16:30teleforce using
16:31directed energy
16:32as a defensive mechanism
16:34to protect a country.
16:36And that's very much
16:36what Tesla had in mind
16:37with his teleforce weapon.
16:40Despite the government's claims
16:42there was nothing of value
16:43in Tesla's files,
16:45Stephen Kotowich thinks
16:46the declassified documents
16:48could suggest
16:49there were powerful
16:50scientific insights,
16:52insights used
16:53to shape America's own
16:54top-secret energy
16:55weapons development.
16:57As for that
16:57Star Wars program,
16:59it didn't pan out
17:00because it was limited
17:00by cost
17:01and the technology
17:02available in the 1980s.
17:04Like much of Tesla's work,
17:06it seems a particle superweapon
17:08remained ahead of its time.
17:10And as a fan
17:11of the movie Star Wars
17:12and the planet Alderaan,
17:14let's hope it stays that way.
17:22It's August 11th, 1676.
17:26I'm in the Benedictine convent
17:28of Palma de Montecchiaro
17:30in Sicily.
17:31This young nun,
17:32Sister Maria,
17:33is performing
17:34her evening prayers.
17:35But things are about
17:36to get seriously unholy.
17:39Maria senses powerful,
17:41evil energy engulfing her
17:43and then begins to write
17:44as if under its control,
17:47scrawling out 14 cryptic lines
17:49in a strange language
17:50that she can't understand.
17:52She believes this letter
17:54is dictated by Satan himself.
17:56For the next three centuries,
17:58no one will be able
17:59to crack the code
18:00of this strange document.
18:02That is,
18:03until groundbreaking technology
18:04claims to solve
18:06the diabolical riddle
18:07of the devil's letter.
18:28After hearing screams
18:29of distress,
18:30the mother abbess,
18:31the leader of the convent,
18:33finds 31-year-old
18:34Sister Maria
18:35writhing on her chamber floor
18:37in the midst of what looks
18:38like a seizure.
18:42Her face is smeared with ink
18:46and her hand clutches
18:47the sheet of paper
18:48scrawled with strange writing.
19:00When she comes out
19:01of her trance,
19:02Sister Maria claims
19:03she was forced
19:04to write the message
19:05that it was dictated to her
19:07by the fallen angel Lucifer,
19:09also known as Satan.
19:13In the aftermath
19:14of Sister Maria's
19:15harrowing experience,
19:16church officials
19:17closely inspect the letter.
19:20The other sisters found
19:22It's a 14-line jumble
19:24of enigmatic symbols
19:26and characters.
19:27Some appear to be
19:28archaic script,
19:30some almost otherworldly.
19:33And despite all their efforts
19:34to understand it,
19:36the clergy are confounded.
19:41Sister Maria swears
19:43she doesn't know
19:44how to decipher it either.
19:45Church authorities
19:46believe the incident
19:47is a sinister attempt
19:49by Satan
19:50to corrupt
19:50Sister Maria
19:51and pull her
19:52and others
19:53away from God.
19:55If so,
19:56why did the devil
19:57choose Sister Maria
19:58as his pawn?
20:00Well,
20:01curiously,
20:01this wasn't the first time
20:03she experienced
20:03disturbing visions.
20:06Born Isabella Tomasi
20:08in 1645
20:09to Sicilian nobility,
20:11she enters the convent
20:13at age 15,
20:15taking the name
20:15Sister Maria
20:16Crocefissa
20:18della Concezione.
20:19While immersing herself
20:21in daily prayer,
20:22she's also
20:23a keen student,
20:24learning Latin,
20:25Greek,
20:26Arabic,
20:26and even
20:27ancient Germanic
20:28runic script.
20:31Around 1672,
20:33Sister Maria
20:33claims to experience
20:35a potent vision
20:36of the Madonna
20:37Adolorata,
20:38the Mother of Sorrows.
20:41A depiction of Mary,
20:43Mother of Jesus,
20:45grieving at his death,
20:46often shown
20:47with seven swords
20:48piercing her heart
20:49to symbolize
20:50her deep suffering.
20:52The Mother of Sorrows
20:54informs Maria
20:55that she too
20:56will suffer
20:57and that hardships
20:58both physical
20:59and spiritual
21:00will define
21:01her existence.
21:03Never a pleasant
21:04thing to hear,
21:05especially for a
21:06pious 17th century nun.
21:08So Sister Maria
21:09begins to prepare
21:10for the worst.
21:13In the years
21:14before the devil's letter,
21:16she isolates herself
21:17from the rest
21:17of the convent
21:18more and more,
21:21engaging in
21:22self-punishment
21:23to prove
21:23her devotion to God.
21:28But her extreme piety
21:30doesn't seem
21:31to bring peace.
21:33Rather,
21:34she claims
21:35to be hounded
21:35by evil spirits
21:37bent on corrupting
21:38her soul.
21:45Then,
21:46on that fateful afternoon
21:47of August 11th,
21:491676,
21:50it all builds
21:52to a terrifying
21:53crescendo.
22:00It's a scene
22:01straight out
22:01of a horror film.
22:07The only thing
22:08she claims
22:09to remember
22:09is Lucifer,
22:12threatening her
22:13with eternal damnation
22:14if she didn't
22:15sign the letter
22:16by name.
22:18Maria did sign
22:20the letter,
22:20in a way.
22:22It's the only
22:23decipherable word
22:24on the page.
22:26Oime,
22:26an Italian word
22:27meaning alas,
22:29expressing regret
22:30and sorrow.
22:32Some read it
22:33as a sign
22:34of submission
22:34to the devil's power.
22:36Others,
22:36including the mother abbess,
22:38say that by refusing
22:39to sign
22:40with her own name,
22:41it was an act
22:42of desperate defiance
22:43against Satan.
22:46Even after
22:46her horrifying experience,
22:49Sister Maria's faith
22:50did not falter.
22:51It is said
22:52that she spends
22:52the rest of her life
22:53at the convent,
22:54devoutly worshipping God
22:56and resisting Satan
22:57to the very end.
22:58On October 16th,
23:001699,
23:01just before passing away
23:02at the age of 54,
23:04she reportedly whispers,
23:06Santo,
23:07Santo,
23:09Santo.
23:10Italian for
23:11holy,
23:12holy,
23:13holy.
23:16In the centuries
23:17that follow,
23:18Sister Maria's
23:19devil's letter
23:19is studied
23:20by generations
23:21of priests
23:22and historians
23:23in the hopes
23:23someone might be able
23:25to decipher it.
23:26None succeed.
23:29The contents
23:30of Sister Maria's letter
23:31appeared destined
23:32to remain a mystery forever,
23:34but even Satan
23:35is no match
23:36for technology.
23:37In 2017,
23:38researchers
23:39made a breakthrough,
23:40finally unlocking
23:41the devil's letter
23:42using secret spy software.
23:51In 1676,
23:53a cryptic letter
23:54allegedly dictated
23:55by Satan himself
23:56to an Italian nun
23:57becomes an incomprehensible mystery.
24:00For 300 years,
24:02scholars tried
24:03and failed
24:04to decode the message.
24:05But finally,
24:06in 2017,
24:07experts from Sicily's
24:09Ludum Science Center
24:10decided to run
24:11the writings
24:11through state-of-the-art
24:12decryption software.
24:14And to their great shock,
24:15a message began
24:16to emerge.
24:18The Ludum Science Center
24:20is headed up
24:22by Daniele Abete,
24:24and they were able
24:25to access
24:26the original document
24:28that had been written
24:29by Sister Maria
24:30some 341 years earlier.
24:33And they applied
24:35new software
24:37that they were using,
24:38originally developed
24:39by intelligence agencies
24:40to help them
24:42break codes.
24:43As the software
24:44worked to solve
24:46the mystery
24:47of this letter,
24:48the researchers
24:50were stunned.
24:51There was a hidden message
24:53embedded in
24:54the devil's letter.
24:56Once translated,
24:58the letter revealed
24:59a series of ominous statements,
25:01including,
25:02God thinks
25:03he can free mortals,
25:04the system works
25:06for no one,
25:07and the Holy Trinity
25:09are dead weights.
25:11This is especially blasphemous
25:13coming from the pen
25:14of Sister Maria,
25:16a devoted servant of God.
25:18It is a stunning discovery,
25:20and it's one
25:21that may have you asking,
25:22is this the real deal?
25:24Did someone
25:24or something
25:25actually channel
25:27a message
25:27through Sister Maria?
25:29Well, the answer
25:30lies in how
25:31the researchers
25:31decoded the letter.
25:32The team at Ludum
25:35recognized
25:36that there were
25:36certain repeating symbols,
25:38which they supposed
25:40might be vowels.
25:42In addition,
25:43some of the characters
25:44appeared to be drawn
25:46from languages
25:47that would have been known
25:49to Sister Maria.
25:51Italian, Arabic,
25:53Latin, Greek,
25:54even Germanic,
25:56runic characters.
25:57Taking this information,
25:59they then primed
26:01the software
26:02to try to decipher
26:04the text.
26:06The researchers
26:07discovered the software
26:09was able to reveal
26:11a message
26:12that had been embedded
26:13in this mishmash
26:15of characters
26:16and symbols.
26:18The experts
26:20had revealed
26:20something shocking.
26:22Even though Sister Maria
26:23was likely unable
26:25to translate
26:25what she'd written,
26:27all of the characters
26:28were from languages
26:29she already knew.
26:30In other words,
26:31the creator
26:32of the secret code
26:33in the devil's letter
26:34is none other
26:35than Sister Maria herself.
26:37But how did she do it?
26:40Today,
26:42most people
26:43would understand
26:44that what Sister Maria
26:46was experiencing
26:47was probably
26:48some kind of
26:49undiagnosed
26:50mental illness.
26:52Schizophrenia
26:52or severe depression.
26:55For Sister Maria,
26:57this type of experience
26:58would have been understood
26:59within their own
27:01religious worldview
27:02as a demonic attack.
27:05Remember,
27:06folks like Sister Maria
27:08in these convents
27:10are in a crucible
27:12of wrestling
27:14with deep existential questions
27:17around the meaning of life,
27:20the presence of evil,
27:21the question of God.
27:23Combine that with
27:25very intense spiritual practices,
27:29extended fasting,
27:31deep periods of prayer,
27:32meditation,
27:34isolation,
27:35and you have
27:36the perfect conditions
27:37which we know
27:39can affect
27:40people's perception
27:42of the world
27:42and generate visions.
27:46These extreme,
27:47destabilizing conditions
27:49might be exactly
27:51what we're seeing
27:51in the devil's message.
27:53For 350 years,
27:55the devil's message
27:56was mostly dismissed
27:58as a jumble of chaos.
28:03But now,
28:04instead,
28:05we have a portrait
28:07of a deeply devout,
28:09complicated woman,
28:12Sister Maria.
28:14By blending the languages
28:16she studied at the convent,
28:18Sister Maria did something
28:19equal parts impressive
28:20and terrifying.
28:21She unconsciously
28:23created a code
28:24so devilish
28:25that it was credited
28:26to Satan himself.
28:28Now,
28:29three centuries later,
28:30we can breathe
28:30a sigh of relief
28:31as this unholy mystery
28:33has finally been solved.
28:35Amen to that.
28:44I'm inside
28:45the most sacred site
28:46in all of ancient Greece,
28:48the temple of Apollo
28:50in the city of Delphi.
28:51And behind me
28:52is a woman
28:53who shapes
28:54the fate of empires.
28:55She's one of a long line
28:57of priestesses
28:58known as Pythia,
28:59who's said to communicate
29:00directly with the gods
29:02and through them
29:03can see the future.
29:05To learn their fates,
29:06kings and commoners alike
29:08bring gifts,
29:09gold and treasure,
29:10hoping the gods
29:11will be kind to them.
29:13Then,
29:13as Pythia enters
29:14a powerful trance,
29:16she shares
29:17her divine message.
29:18These strange powers
29:20will become
29:21the stuff of legend.
29:22But nearly
29:232,000 years from now,
29:25modern science
29:25will finally reveal
29:27the stunning truth
29:28behind the so-called
29:29Oracle of Delphi.
29:40Perched high
29:41in the mountains
29:42of central Greece,
29:43the ruins of Delphi
29:44hint at its once
29:45extraordinary importance.
29:48According to myth,
29:49Zeus released
29:50two eagles
29:51from opposite ends
29:52of the earth.
29:53And where they met
29:54marked the center
29:55of the world,
29:56Delphi.
29:59In the 7th century BC,
30:01the people of Delphi
30:03establish a formal
30:04sanctuary here,
30:05building a temple
30:07dedicated to Apollo,
30:08the son of Zeus,
30:10and transforming the site
30:11into one of the most
30:12important religious centers
30:14in the ancient world.
30:18Apollo is one
30:19of the most
30:20revered Olympians.
30:22He is the god
30:24of music,
30:24poetry,
30:25archery,
30:26and above all,
30:27prophecy.
30:28To share
30:29that divine knowledge,
30:30he speaks
30:31through a mortal woman
30:32chosen to serve
30:33as his voice,
30:34delivering prophecies
30:35to those who journey
30:36to Delphi
30:37in search of answers
30:39about the future.
30:40She is known
30:41as the Pythia,
30:43the Oracle of Delphi.
30:45Not a single individual,
30:46but a sacred role
30:47that passes on
30:48over generations,
30:49with one woman
30:50succeeding another.
30:52Apollo,
30:53come to me.
30:54Candidates are selected
30:55by the temple priests,
30:57usually from local women
30:58of good reputation.
31:00Many are older
31:01and removed
31:02from family obligations.
31:04Once selected,
31:06the Pythia leaves
31:07her ordinary life behind
31:08and enters the service
31:10of the temple,
31:11taking on a role
31:12that is both an honor
31:13and a lifelong obligation,
31:15with little choice
31:16to step away.
31:18Her prophecies,
31:19often spoken in riddles,
31:21are used
31:22to determine everything
31:23from where a farmer
31:24plants his crop
31:25to when an empire
31:27declares war.
31:30On every day of prophecy,
31:32it's recorded
31:33that the Oracle of Delphi
31:34ritualistically prepares herself
31:36with water
31:37from sacred springs.
31:39Then,
31:40inside the temple's
31:41inner sanctum,
31:42she sits on the sacred tripod
31:44and chews laurel leaves,
31:46plucked from Apollo's
31:48sacred tree.
31:50Soon after,
31:51she enters an ecstatic,
31:52euphoric state.
31:53Some ancient accounts
31:55describe her trembling
31:56or speaking wildly.
32:00Others suggest
32:02a calmer trance,
32:03with her voice changing
32:05as Apollo speaks
32:07through her.
32:11For each prophetic ceremony,
32:13a priest is at her side,
32:15translating and recording
32:16the messages.
32:18People travel for weeks
32:20and spend their life savings
32:21for the chance
32:22to reach Delphi
32:23and receive
32:24their own message.
32:26The ancient Greeks
32:27believed that
32:28the Oracle of Delphi
32:29is speaking directly
32:30on behalf of a god.
32:32But skeptics
32:33have long questioned
32:35whether those messages
32:36were truly divine
32:37and really foretold
32:39the future.
32:39I have a prophecy
32:41of my own,
32:41that the truth
32:43behind the Oracle
32:43is about to be revealed.
32:51For centuries,
32:52thousands journey
32:53to visit ancient Greece's
32:55Oracle of Delphi,
32:56seeking a glimpse
32:57of the future
32:58bestowed by the gods.
33:00How her messages
33:01are interpreted
33:02can lead to great triumph
33:03or terrible disaster.
33:07Just ask King Croesus
33:09of Lydia,
33:10who consults
33:10with the Oracle
33:11before going to war
33:12with Persia.
33:14Her vision,
33:15transcribed and declared
33:17by her priest,
33:18reads,
33:18If you cross
33:20the Halas River,
33:21you will destroy
33:22a great empire.
33:23The king believes
33:24this is a message
33:25of victory,
33:26but important disclaimer,
33:28prophecies
33:29can be deceiving.
33:32Confident
33:32in the Oracle's words,
33:34Croesus crosses
33:35the Halas River
33:36and launches
33:37his invasion of Persia.
33:39And sure enough,
33:40the Oracle's prophecy
33:41comes true.
33:42A great empire
33:43is destroyed,
33:45just not Persia,
33:46but rather
33:48the army of Croesus.
33:55Years later,
33:56when the Persian Empire
33:57threatens Greece again,
33:59this time targeting Athens,
34:01the Athenians once more
34:02turn to the Oracle
34:03for guidance.
34:05So all else
34:07will be taken.
34:09Zeus grants
34:10that the wooden wall alone
34:12shall not fall.
34:13She seems to suggest
34:15that while everything else
34:16will fall,
34:17something made of wood
34:18will be what saves them.
34:21Some believe the message
34:22refers to a literal
34:23wooden barrier,
34:24a wall that could
34:26protect the city.
34:27But Greek general
34:29Themistocles
34:29believes it means
34:31wooden ships,
34:32a reference to
34:33the Greek navy
34:33rather than the old
34:35wood fortifications
34:36of the Acropolis.
34:37He leads Athens
34:39to a fight at sea
34:40and wins a decisive victory,
34:42saving Greece
34:43from destruction.
34:45Once again,
34:47the Oracle's words
34:48appear to shape
34:49the course of history,
34:50but that raises
34:51a deeper question.
34:53What is the secret
34:54of the Oracle's power?
34:56How does she enter
34:57her strange,
34:58trance-like state?
34:59Well, there have long
35:00been rumors
35:01that the answer might lie
35:02beneath Apollo's temple
35:03itself.
35:05During the first century A.D.,
35:08a priest of the Oracle
35:09of Delphi
35:10is the renowned
35:11Greek philosopher Plutarch.
35:14In his writings,
35:15he mentions a legend
35:16that the Oracle's ability
35:18to channel Apollo's prophecies
35:20comes from sacred vapors
35:22with mystical powers.
35:24By Plutarch's time,
35:25the Oracle's sway
35:26over the ancient world
35:27is already fading.
35:29He writes of fewer prophecies
35:31and long silences
35:33between sessions.
35:34Could it be,
35:35he wonders,
35:36that her power is fading
35:37because the source
35:38of those vapors
35:39is drying up?
35:42Then,
35:42in the fourth century A.D.,
35:44as Christianity rises,
35:46the Oracle of Delphi
35:47is said to deliver
35:48a final prophecy,
35:51foretelling the end
35:52of Apollo's temple
35:53and her own voice.
35:55Soon after,
35:56pagan practices
35:57are outlawed.
35:58The Oracle falls silent
36:00and Delphi fades
36:01into history.
36:03Fast forward
36:05to the 19th century
36:06when European scholars
36:07seek to excavate Delphi
36:09and reveal its secrets.
36:11Unfortunately,
36:12at this point,
36:12it's buried
36:13under the Greek village
36:14of Castri,
36:15perched on the slopes
36:16of Mount Parnassus.
36:20Determined to uncover
36:21the ancient sanctuary,
36:23a team of French archaeologists
36:24strikes a deal
36:25with the Greek government
36:26and by 1893,
36:28the entire village
36:30of Castri is relocated,
36:32clearing the way
36:32for a historic breakthrough.
36:34In addition to uncovering
36:35ancient foundations,
36:37archaeologists find
36:38inscribed stones
36:39and bronze objects,
36:42all confirming
36:42that this was
36:43the Temple of Apollo,
36:45buried for centuries
36:46and now exposed
36:48to the world.
36:50French archaeologists
36:51also examine
36:52the bedrock
36:53beneath the temple,
36:55looking for a fissure
36:56or vent
36:57that might explain
36:58Plutarch's strange account
37:00of sacred vapors
37:01rising from the floor,
37:03but no such feature
37:04is found.
37:05Like so many stories
37:07of the Oracle itself,
37:09the ancient belief
37:10that the Pythia's wisdom
37:11came from divine fumes
37:13is dismissed
37:14as nothing more
37:15than a myth.
37:16Then,
37:17nearly a hundred years later,
37:19scientists uncover
37:20a clue
37:21that changes everything.
37:22The source of the Oracle's power
37:24is finally bubbling
37:25to the surface.
37:32Scientists investigating
37:34the ruins
37:35of ancient Greece's
37:36Temple of Apollo
37:37have uncovered
37:38new evidence
37:39that explains
37:39how its Oracle
37:40was able to enter
37:42strange trances
37:43and supposedly
37:44predict the future.
37:45Historian and author
37:47Phil Cousineau explains.
37:48In 1980,
37:51the United Nations
37:52commissioned
37:53a delegation
37:54of scientists
37:55to go to the area
37:56around Delphi
37:57to explore
37:58geological activity.
38:00Yela de Boer
38:01led this team
38:02of geologists
38:03and found
38:04two fault lines.
38:05Where they met
38:06was directly
38:07underneath
38:08the Temple of Apollo
38:10and specifically
38:11underneath
38:11the small area
38:13called the Ataton
38:14where the Delphic Oracle
38:15prophesized to the world.
38:18De Boer's discovery
38:20suggests
38:20real seismic activity
38:22was happening
38:23right beneath
38:23the Oracle's feet.
38:25The Earth itself
38:26was stirring
38:26directly under
38:27Apollo's Temple.
38:29But it's not
38:30until the mid-1990s
38:32when archaeologist
38:33John Hale
38:33teams up with De Boer
38:34that things get
38:35really interesting.
38:38Hale was looking
38:39for the finer details.
38:41He noticed
38:41small cracks
38:43in the stone itself
38:44which would have been
38:46created by
38:46the water
38:47the series
38:48of springs
38:49that had been
38:51bubbling up
38:53for many,
38:54many centuries.
38:55When Hale and De Boer
38:56analyzed the rock
38:59they discovered
39:00traces of
39:02methane,
39:02ethane
39:03and ethylene
39:05which is an
39:06intoxicating gas
39:07that can bring
39:09about
39:09the trance state.
39:11once used
39:12as a surgical
39:13anesthetic
39:14ethylene
39:15is more potent
39:16than nitrous oxide.
39:17It can induce
39:18intense
39:19psychoactive states
39:20just like
39:21the powerful
39:22euphoria
39:22of the Oracle's
39:24trance.
39:24The recent
39:25scientific studies
39:27suggest
39:28that the ethylene
39:29that was
39:30released
39:31underneath
39:32the Temple
39:32of Apollo
39:33could have
39:35sent the Oracle
39:36into a trance.
39:37What it sets up
39:38is a picture
39:40that the Delphic
39:41Oracle
39:41was leaning
39:42over the fissure
39:45and breathing
39:46in some of
39:47these gases
39:47and then
39:48going into
39:50a trance.
39:53So,
39:54the gases
39:54rising from
39:55below the Temple
39:56may have eased
39:57the Oracle
39:58into a trance.
39:59But that might
40:00not be the only
40:00ingredient in
40:01this ancient
40:02recipe
40:02because some
40:03scholars think
40:04the Oracle
40:05may have been
40:05boosting the
40:06mind-altering
40:07effects
40:07with something
40:08even more potent.
40:10When ancient
40:11writers visited
40:12the oracular
40:14site,
40:15they described
40:16the Oracle
40:17as chewing
40:18a sprig
40:19of laurel,
40:21probably as a
40:22salute to Apollo.
40:23It is possible,
40:25however,
40:25that she was
40:26actually chewing
40:27oleander,
40:28which is both
40:29hallucinogenic
40:30and toxic.
40:32It can cause
40:35hallucinations,
40:35facial tremors
40:38and altered
40:39consciousness.
40:40All three
40:41changes echo
40:43the reports
40:45of what happened
40:46to the Pythia,
40:47to the Oracle,
40:49when she took
40:50your questions
40:50and went into
40:51trance.
40:52The Oracle
40:53of Delphi
40:53was one of
40:54the most potent
40:55spiritual figures
40:56in the ancient
40:57world.
40:57But now,
40:58the mystical
40:59vapors of
41:00Apollo's temple
41:01have cleared,
41:01revealing the
41:02true source
41:03of her powers.
41:04In the end,
41:05the trances
41:05and prophecies
41:06weren't divine,
41:07they were chemistry,
41:09intoxicating ethylene
41:11gas combined
41:12with hallucinogenic
41:13leaves.
41:14And though we
41:14now know
41:15that the Oracle's
41:16true voice
41:17rose not from
41:18the heavens,
41:19but from the
41:19bowels of the
41:20earth,
41:20her prophecies
41:21still influenced
41:23empires and
41:24shaped the course
41:25of history,
41:26a testament
41:26to the strongest
41:27magic of all,
41:28the power
41:29of belief.
41:30I'm Josh Gates,
41:31and I'll see you
41:32on the next
41:33expedition.
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