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On this episode of Destination Truth,

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Josh leads his team on a rugged, high-altitude adventure in the mountains of Peru.

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Working on a tip from a fellow adventurer,

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Josh investigates claims made by local llama herders

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that these crumbling ruins of the Incan Empire are haunted.

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Hold on guys, I've got something in the thermal.

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Next, the team continues their quest for the truth in the frozen.

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Far reaches of Alaska were a small village of Native American Indians

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alleged gigantic winged creature is terrorizing their community.

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How big do you think the wingspan was?

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Well, you see the airplane.

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At sub-zero temperatures, Josh and his team fight against frostbite

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and experience a frightening close encounter with something they cannot explain.

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Ah, right there, right there, right there, go!

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Hold on!

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I'm Josh Gates.

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In my travels I've seen some unexplainable things

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and I've done some things I can't quite explain.

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Now, I've pulled together a team armed with the latest technology

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in the search for answers to the world's strangest mysteries.

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I'm not sure what's out there waiting for me,

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but I know what I'm looking for.

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The truth.

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Everyone's familiar with the Incan city of Machu Picchu,

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Peru's most recognizable tourist attraction.

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But a fellow explorer and South American adventurer recently reported

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about a lost Incan city that you can't find on any map.

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And even more incredibly, locals claim it's haunted.

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The ruins of this pre-colonial city are rumored to sit more than two miles high,

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shrouded in the Peruvian Andes.

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The city disappeared half a millennia ago

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when its residents reportedly buried their gold in tunnels under the city

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to hide their riches from the invading Spanish army.

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Now, hundreds of years later,

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mountain farmers swear they've seen moving figures

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and heard the chimes of a phantom bell tower as if the city still existed.

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Keonetti, exploring alone, had to turn back before reaching the summit of this haunted city.

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My plan was to pick up the investigation where he left off,

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find the lost city, and investigate for evidence of the paranormal.

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We flew more than 4,000 miles from Los Angeles to the city of Lima, Peru.

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If Keonetti's location was accurate,

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my geographical research revealed that treacherous cliffs and nearly impassable roads

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snaking through fog and mist into the clouds were the only route to this lost city.

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The ruins closest human neighbors, farmers in a small village down the mountain,

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told Keonetti that they avoid the path to the city altogether

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and have stopped grazing their animals anywhere near the site.

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Welcome to Peru!

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After touching down, we headed into the center of Lima to meet my associate.

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We're doing the friends opening, everybody get in the fountain.

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Who's got some umbrellas?

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Into the water, into the water.

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It would take some time to get used to feeling like Shaq in this short-statured country.

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Picking up a joint in the police department, I would be the tallest guy in the police force.

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I've been captain in no time.

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General.

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General, that's me.

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General.

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General.

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General.

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Promoted so fast.

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Having attained the rank of general, I marched through the massive church of Santo Domingo.

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The conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in Peru about 500 years ago

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and made quick work of destroying the entire Incan Empire.

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As I gazed at the coffin here that bears his bones,

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I was amazed to think that this one man was not only responsible for the abandonment of the lost city,

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but a lost culture.

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I headed over to the monastery of St. Francis,

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where my explorer friend was comparing his fresh field notes to the record of history buried in the library.

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He told me the farmers living below the city were terrified.

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They abandoned the town suddenly,

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and they went down in the valley and found the San Pedro de Casta.

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The city that's there now, beneath it?

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Correct.

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What do they think of these ruins up on the plateau?

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Nobody dare to go.

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They do see figures of light.

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They hear a lot of strange eerie sounds.

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And the tradition, the legend said,

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there are many tunnels with a lot of treasure.

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Beneath these are the ruins?

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Guys, they are gold there, and also hundreds of skeletons.

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Is it difficult to get to the plateau?

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The roads in these areas are lost in time,

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had been abandoned for hundreds of years.

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Has anyone ever gone up there with a film crew and spent the night in these ruins?

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Never.

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You're going to be the first.

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We had at least a two-day journey ahead of us.

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We would drive several hundred miles northeast into the Andes where the road ends.

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With any luck, we could make it to the last inhabited mountain village, San Pedro de Casta,

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in one day and begin our climb to the lost city at first light the next day.

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Our drive took us from paved roads,

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to dirt roads,

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to donkey paths.

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As we gained altitude and ascended into the clouds, we found ourselves on treacherous terrain.

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Foggy weather and steep, muddy roads.

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We finally reached our destination, sliding into this muddy mountainside town.

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The population seemed either very young or very old,

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but they all believed they lived in the shadow of a haunted city.

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When you go out at night, you hear that.

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But at night, not at night.

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People from this town report hearing the sound of voices coming from these ruins,

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always at night.

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He went on to tell me that it was at least a full day's hike up the mountain

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to reach the ruins of the city.

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Thank you very much, Manuel.

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As it was getting dark and starting to rain, we decided to pack it in for the night.

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Okay, guys, rain's coming. Let's get all the gear out of the roof. Let's go.

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After an endless day of travel, we were disappointed that the only hotel in town

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had just lost its five-star rating.

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Freezing cold, no heat. It doesn't get any better than this, really.

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It's just decorative. Just put this wherever you like.

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This is for mattress.

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Oh, yeah.

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People say, Josh, what's the most dangerous thing you've ever done at destination?

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It's right here right now. It's showering in here.

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I'm supposed to grip this metal handle while soaking wet,

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which is wired to a bare-light bulb.

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And then I am supposed to flip that switch.

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I mean, there is not an uplicker in the universe for me to put that switch.

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Waking up at 8,000 feet with a steep climb ahead of us,

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we got an early start the next morning.

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Based on Chianetti's directions, the city was at least another 3,000 feet further into the clouds,

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and it wouldn't be easy to get there.

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Trekking with our investigation gear through the thin air at this high altitude,

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I hoped everyone on my team had earned their presidential medal of fitness.

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I'm out of shape.

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This is the altitude.

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No, it's not the altitude.

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Beach is way out of shape.

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I had my doubts about Bisha and decided to place my bets and our gear on a donkey and some horses instead.

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This donkey hates me.

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Sorry, donkey.

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A few folks are looking for a new Christmas present for the kids this holiday season.

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May I recommend razor-sharp sickle?

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It may not be safe for children under the age of 40.

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Somebody get that out of her hands.

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Just as we prepared to set off on the trail that led to the ruins,

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our animals became suddenly and mysteriously spooked.

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Stop it!

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We've got major mayhem happening right now.

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This was a trail they had no interest in climbing.

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As we gained altitude into unexplored territory, the reality of our investigation set in,

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and we were headed into the unknown on steep, slippery and dangerous terrain.

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The closer we rode to our destination, the more our animals began to react.

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Finally, their hesitation turned into full-blown panic.

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Gabriel, you okay?

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Did you break anything?

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What hurt the horse?

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The knee right here?

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I don't know if the horse fell on me or what.

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It doesn't look like any of you is broken.

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No weed on you.

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If you want, I'll carry your pack and I'll just hike it.

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The locals would go no further.

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They immediately retreated to lower ground, taking their horses and donkeys with them.

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In the thin cold air of 11,000 feet, we would have to pick up the load and our cameraman ourselves.

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Are you okay?

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You got a real Gandalf thing going on right now.

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Alright, come on, let's go.

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Cast the spell.

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I know it's foggy and a little late in the day, but I'm pretty sure there's a unicorn behind me.

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Guys, I got some rock formations here.

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This is part of a wall.

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Hey guys, we're here.

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We're losing light and obviously the fog's coming back in.

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Maybe some rain.

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Let's start to get everything set up.

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We would spend the night investigating the plateau at the summit, 11,000 feet.

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We would comb this flat area surrounding base camp on foot and set up infrared cameras on the neighboring plateaus that could detect movements or shapes in the dark.

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This is a good spot.

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If anything crossed their path, Sharra and Bisha would see it at base camp and relay directions to us in the field.

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We would also be listening for any strange noises or the chime of the Phantom Bell Tower.

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We are standing in the remains of a pre-Incan and Incan town and the people in San Pedro below, they're scared of this place.

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They hear the sounds of bells from the old bell tower.

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They see strange lights, sounds of people talking and living here as though life is still carrying on in this town.

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We'll use the thermal imager.

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We'll use the audio recorders to try to do some high-end EVP sessions.

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We've sent all the animals back down.

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We're alone up here.

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So anything unusual, pay attention for it.

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Let's keep our eyes and ears open tonight.

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Let's do it.

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Chayelle and I set out to begin our exploration of the overgrown ruins.

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What is this?

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It's part of a wall from the city.

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We're going right along the wall.

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Big drop-off over here. Be careful.

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Yeah, there's another plateau beneath this one. Let's try to find a way to head down.

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Okay.

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Hold on, guys. I've got something in the thermal.

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What did you get?

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I got something hot in the thermal right in those trees.

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Really?

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I wonder what it is.

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It doesn't look like a man or an animal.

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Whatever it is, it isn't moving.

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It looks super treacherous down here.

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Josh, your base camp, come in.

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Go for base camp?

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So we headed due south of camp.

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And we found a series of plateaus that descend down.

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See something on the fleer in this grouping of trees.

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I think I'm just going to try to get down there.

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Just check out what's in this tree line.

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Okay, copy that.

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What is that? Camera 6?

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Camera 6 looks like it's getting...

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Can we get that?

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What is that?

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Whoa!

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What is that?

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Did you hear it?

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What is that?

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Josh, your base camp, what is that noise?

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We heard it too, but it's hard to identify.

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Mike, do you have audio on it?

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I didn't sound like animals.

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I mean, it could have been, but it sounded like it was...

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Like a howl in all books, right?

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Like howling and screaming, yeah.

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I have Rex here.

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I'm going to send him off.

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She check out the noise.

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Okay, here we go.

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I got more structures over here, but they're hard to get to.

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Whoa! Do you hear it?

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There it is again.

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Sounds like someone's crying or screaming or something.

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There is sort of a path here.

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What was that noise?

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Rex for base camp.

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Go for base camp?

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It's getting louder.

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It sounds like a howling sound.

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I'm going to try to catch up to it.

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We're almost at the tree.

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Do you have the thermal image drop?

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Do you still see it?

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I don't.

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It's gone?

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It was right here and it's gone.

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Be careful.

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Josh, I just heard rustling in the trees over there.

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What did you hear?

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I just heard rustling.

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Ow!

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Holy good God.

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There's a big tunnel down here.

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Josh, your base camp come in.

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Go for base camp.

252
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:43,120
Be sure I found a tunnel down here.

253
00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:46,120
Where are you guys at?

254
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,120
You got to keep going south from base camp over each plateau.

255
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:51,120
And there's some sort of tunnel here.

256
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,120
It's too narrow for me to fit in.

257
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:56,120
I mean, definitely try to see if you can set the camera down there.

258
00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,120
Maybe even like a lower camera down there.

259
00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,120
If there's anything down there, we'd love to see it.

260
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,120
Send Rex down with a handy cam and some rope.

261
00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:03,120
Cover that, Josh.

262
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:04,120
I'm on my way.

263
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,120
I really just want to take a quick look around this whole area

264
00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,120
and see if there's any more of these tunnels we can kind of get.

265
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:10,120
Whoa.

266
00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,120
Yeah, there's one right under my feet.

267
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,120
Josh?

268
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:15,120
Be very careful.

269
00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:16,120
There's a hole in this tunnel, too, of them right in here.

270
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:17,120
Don't move, don't move.

271
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:18,120
This is all interconnected.

272
00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,120
We got some sort of tunnel system down here.

273
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,120
Do you think this is where they buried their jewels?

274
00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:24,120
God, I hope so.

275
00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,120
The legend says that ghosts guard their treasure here.

276
00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,120
Wow, all a little structure down there.

277
00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:34,120
Hey, Rex.

278
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:38,120
Careful because it's, uh, the wall is a little dicey.

279
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,120
Careful.

280
00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:41,120
Come on, come on.

281
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,120
You got it, you got it.

282
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,120
It's lower than handy cam down inside.

283
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,120
Okay, let's see what we can see.

284
00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,120
Hey, Josh, your base cam, come in.

285
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,120
Can't go for base cam.

286
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,120
We did hear that these ghosts appear on top of where

287
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,120
their skeletons and their treasure was buried.

288
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,120
So this is a perfect place to do an EVP session.

289
00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,120
We're going to break out the equipment.

290
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,120
See if we can't get something crooked down here.

291
00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:12,120
All right, copy that.

292
00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,120
Is anybody in these tunnels?

293
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,120
Can you make your presence known to us?

294
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,120
Do you want us to leave the mountain?

295
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,120
Is there gold in these tunnels?

296
00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,120
Seriously, is there gold in these tunnels?

297
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,120
We really want to know.

298
00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,120
Whoa, part of the roof just fell in.

299
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:43,120
Whoa.

300
00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,120
Hey, is anybody near one of the infrared cameras?

301
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:52,120
That's a negative.

302
00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,120
We're still down here checking out these tunnels.

303
00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:55,120
That's a negative.

304
00:14:58,120 --> 00:14:59,120
Literally just this second.

305
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,120
Seemed like something flashed in front of me.

306
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:02,120
Just did it again.

307
00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:03,120
What was it?

308
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,120
It's just a flash.

309
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:06,120
Mark the time code on that.

310
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,120
That's definitely spooky because there's no person up there

311
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:09,120
that could have moved in front of it.

312
00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:10,120
We're headed back to camp now.

313
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:11,120
We're running low on batteries.

314
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,120
And I think we've done all we can with these tunnels

315
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,120
without some serious excavation equipment.

316
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,120
Copy that.

317
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:18,120
Hey, guys, how are you?

318
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:19,120
Hey.

319
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:21,120
Just found some tunnels.

320
00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:22,120
How cool was that?

321
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,120
It's frustrating because who knows what's sitting down there.

322
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,120
But at the same time, they're really like just falling in

323
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:28,120
on themselves.

324
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,120
But it's just a little bit of a surprise.

325
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:31,120
Like just falling in on themselves.

326
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,120
But, you know, I think we should probably get back out there.

327
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:35,120
OK, let's do it.

328
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:39,120
Guys, watch the stairs here.

329
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:40,120
A little slippery.

330
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,120
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

331
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:56,120
Look at that.

332
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:57,120
Look at that.

333
00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,120
Hey, Joshua, base camp, I think I found the remains

334
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:03,120
of the old bell tower.

335
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:04,120
That's great.

336
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:05,120
How far around is it?

337
00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:07,120
Not far.

338
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:08,120
Just the foundation levels are here.

339
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:09,120
But it looks like the base of a tower.

340
00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:10,120
This has to be it.

341
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:11,120
Mike has the parabolic dish.

342
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,120
We're going to break that out as well as the digital audio recorder.

343
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,120
See if we can't make this bell ring.

344
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:17,120
All right, copy that.

345
00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,120
This is an EVP session and parabolic dish session

346
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:25,120
in the remains of the old bell tower in the ruined city here in Peru.

347
00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,120
Can you give us a sign of your presence?

348
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,120
Is there anybody here?

349
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,120
Can you make the sound of a bell in this tower?

350
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,120
I thought I heard something.

351
00:16:58,120 --> 00:16:59,120
You hear that?

352
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:00,120
Yeah.

353
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:01,120
Hello?

354
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:10,120
Is anybody there?

355
00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:15,120
I had this feeling there was something right behind me.

356
00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:19,120
And then I heard what just sounded like somebody standing right there.

357
00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:21,120
Joshua, base camp, come in.

358
00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:22,120
Go for base camp.

359
00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:25,120
We had a kind of flurry of activity here in the bell tower.

360
00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:26,120
We heard a couple of noises.

361
00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:28,120
We're going to let the audio recorder run for a while.

362
00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:30,120
Try to get some more just...

363
00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:31,120
Clean recordings without us in here.

364
00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:32,120
We can go back and analyze it later.

365
00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:33,120
Copy that.

366
00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:35,120
Okay, we're headed back to base camp.

367
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:36,120
Let's go.

368
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,120
Let's go.

369
00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:39,120
Bring it out.

370
00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:43,120
We experienced many strange things during our night at 11,000 feet,

371
00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:45,120
finding the hidden network of underground tunnels

372
00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,120
and the thermal image and the image on the infrared camera

373
00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:50,120
were anomalies my team and I could not deny.

374
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:53,120
I needed to get back to Los Angeles

375
00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,120
to enhance what we had captured with our equipment

376
00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,120
and look for answers in the evidence.

377
00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:09,120
Okay, before I even hear it, I can see there's a big bump in the waveform.

378
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,120
We began by pouring over our audio recordings.

379
00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:16,120
The strange noises we all heard around camp were certainly mysterious.

380
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,120
The camera's face looks like it's getting...

381
00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:20,120
But we're ultimately inconclusive.

382
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,120
Since we can't completely rule out, we were hearing an animal.

383
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:25,120
We turned to analysis of our EVP sessions

384
00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:27,120
to look for additional paranormal evidence.

385
00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:29,120
Remember in the last city we found that tunnel?

386
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,120
Yep.

387
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,120
There shouldn't be anything making any sounds down there

388
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:33,120
and we got an interesting noise.

389
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:34,120
Let's listen to it.

390
00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:38,120
Huh.

391
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,120
And it kind of trails off too.

392
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,120
You can see how it's thick.

393
00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:43,120
It goes like...

394
00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:46,120
Well, that's what's really weird is that it sounds so breathy.

395
00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,120
Yeah.

396
00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:48,120
We'll be here at camp?

397
00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:51,120
Sounds like a breath.

398
00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:52,120
That's a tough call.

399
00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,120
I mean, it does sound like a breathy voice,

400
00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:58,120
but for me, I'm a little bit on the fence about how conclusive that is.

401
00:18:58,120 --> 00:18:59,120
What else we got?

402
00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:00,120
Okay, here we go.

403
00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:02,120
Make your presence known to us.

404
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:07,120
Right there.

405
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:13,120
Okay, here we go.

406
00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:15,120
Make your presence known to us.

407
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:19,120
Right there.

408
00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:20,120
Right there.

409
00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,120
What it sounds like is a voice saying, touch him.

410
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:26,120
That's really spooky.

411
00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:27,120
One more time?

412
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:28,120
Yeah.

413
00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:31,120
It does sound a little bit like it says touch him,

414
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:35,120
which is really creepy considering the question and the call and response for me is,

415
00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:36,120
can you make your presence known?

416
00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:37,120
Exactly.

417
00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:38,120
So what does that mean?

418
00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:39,120
What does that mean?

419
00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,120
Who's telling who to touch, right?

420
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:47,120
We turned our video over to none other than Steve Gunzolves and Dave Tango

421
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:48,120
for their expert opinions.

422
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:52,120
First off, there's a video clip here.

423
00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:53,120
I wonder what it is.

424
00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:57,120
You know, if it was an animal, usually it's a lot more solid than that,

425
00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,120
but there's a slight chance that the animal may have sort of brushed against the tree

426
00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:03,120
and moved past it and been on the other side of it now.

427
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:07,120
If it was energy, I think we'd see a little more to it.

428
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,120
Pretty inclusive for you.

429
00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:09,120
Yes.

430
00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:12,120
If you look at this clip here, right.

431
00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:13,120
That's really, right.

432
00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:18,120
Do you think that could be just the reflection of the IR, like a bug really close to the camera?

433
00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,120
That to me doesn't look like a bug.

434
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:21,120
Right.

435
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:25,120
Now I have seen things like this and there's no explanation for it.

436
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:29,120
So you may be dealing with something like that here where energy, for some reason,

437
00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:33,120
manipulates the camera there and doesn't know what to do with it.

438
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,120
I mean, you think you got something going on there.

439
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:36,120
Okay.

440
00:20:36,120 --> 00:20:37,120
That's interesting.

441
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:38,120
It is.

442
00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:39,120
It is.

443
00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:45,120
In the end, our recorded EVP evidence, then visual encounters certainly seem to indicate

444
00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:49,120
that the residents of the village below are having some sort of real experiences here.

445
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:52,120
As to whether or not the city is haunted is harder to say.

446
00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:54,120
Something spooked our horses though.

447
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:55,120
Oh, fuck.

448
00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,120
And our collective evidence and long history of eyewitness accounts suggests that while

449
00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:06,120
the ruins above San Pedro de Costa may be abandoned by the living, we can't totally rule out that

450
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:09,120
they still may be well populated by the dead.

451
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,120
From high altitude ruins, we turn to a high flying mystery.

452
00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:21,120
A giant bird carrying a small child might sound like that big yellow lug that lives on Sesame Street.

453
00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:26,120
But unfortunately, the big bird we're talking about is not singing songs and teaching kids their ABCs.

454
00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:32,120
This massive mix of bird and reptile is believed by many Native Americans living in the wilds of Alaska

455
00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:35,120
to be a monstrous winged creature that they call the Thunderbird.

456
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:40,120
And while his rumored wrath is centuries old, very recent sightings of this ominous bird

457
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:42,120
are coming out of the village of Manacotic.

458
00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:49,120
300 miles west of Anchorage, where a local pilot and his passengers all reported seeing the creature during a recent flight.

459
00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:55,120
Using all available eyewitness accounts, we were able to render the consistent elements into a computerized model of our suspect.

460
00:21:55,120 --> 00:22:00,120
Most reports of this massive bird claim it's spotted gliding high in the Alaskan sky,

461
00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:04,120
where it circles overhead for several seconds before jetting back into the treeline.

462
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:09,120
Reports also claim the creature which has been compared to the prehistoric pterosaur

463
00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:16,120
is dark brown in color with an enormous beak, dangerous raking talons and a wingspan of nearly 30 feet.

464
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:21,120
My team and I were off on a frigid journey to our nation's 49th state.

465
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:26,120
Our expedition began in Los Angeles where we flew north to the city of Anchorage.

466
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:30,120
One thing about Alaskan design, they really know how to bring the outside in.

467
00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:35,120
One of the things we do need to be really careful here in Alaska is bears.

468
00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:37,120
They're very dangerous and they are everywhere.

469
00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:44,120
While waiting for our connecting flight, I spoke to some locals who were all abuzz about the infamous bird.

470
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:46,120
Yeah, Debbie's seen it.

471
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:49,120
Terrible claws, gnashing teeth, yellow eyes.

472
00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:53,120
This is great. We're not even in town. People are all hopped up on giant birds.

473
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:54,120
What's the temperature like at night?

474
00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:57,120
It's been like minus 35, but sometimes it's like 20, so.

475
00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,120
Somebody get me out of here.

476
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:04,120
Worried by the weather forecast, but confident that we were on the right track,

477
00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:08,120
we boarded our flight and traveled on to Alaska's interior toward Dillingham,

478
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:10,120
a town that cannot be reached by road.

479
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:17,120
We landed in white-out conditions and made our way to the center of town.

480
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:18,120
It was a fall, my friend.

481
00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:19,120
It's beautiful.

482
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:20,120
It's beautiful.

483
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:21,120
I should move your junk out of the way.

484
00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:22,120
Sorry, buddy.

485
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:23,120
It's also freezing.

486
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:31,120
I was curious to talk to the local pilot, who reportedly saw our gigantic creature flying right by his plane on a recent flight,

487
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,120
and hear his unique perspective.

488
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,120
Your name comes up a lot in connection to this Thunderbird story.

489
00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:40,120
Well, there were seven of us, and everybody's all excited, all the passengers, you know?

490
00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:42,120
So it's something they'd never seen before.

491
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:46,120
It stood out. It was bigger than a regular eagle. There's lots of eagles around here.

492
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:47,120
How big do you think the wingspan was?

493
00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,120
Well, you see the airplane.

494
00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:50,120
About that big?

495
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:53,120
You know, it's probably 15, 20 foot, you know?

496
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,120
Tuge for a bird.

497
00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:55,120
Yeah.

498
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:59,120
There's no doubt that you saw a large bird and that it wasn't an eagle.

499
00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:02,120
When the hair stands up on the back of your neck, you know, something was up.

500
00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:04,120
I saw what I saw. Nobody can take that away.

501
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:08,120
With no road network outside of Dillingham, in order to do a daytime sweep,

502
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,120
we'd need to get a bird's eye view of the entire area.

503
00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:17,120
In true Destination Truth style, we'd chartered a plane that could only be called a classic.

504
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,120
Charlie, what is the age of this plane?

505
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:21,120
This is a 1961.

506
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,120
61.

507
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,120
61. Nice vintage.

508
00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:30,120
We took to the air and glided over the frozen majesty of America's final frontier.

509
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:33,120
Charlie, I can't help but notice the ad fuel sign here.

510
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,120
Is that something I should just ignore?

511
00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:36,120
Ignore it.

512
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:38,120
Perfect, of course.

513
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:44,120
We scoured the area for miles and it turned out on this particular day,

514
00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,120
the only big bird up here was the antique I was flying in.

515
00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:53,120
But the flight did reveal one thing, the exact location of the remote native village of Manacotic,

516
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,120
nestled against the hills on this frozen tundra.

517
00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,120
This was where almost all of the sightings of the bird had been reported.

518
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:03,120
The treeline surrounding the isolated village could be an ideal habitat for the elusive bird.

519
00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:08,120
I needed to talk with some eyewitnesses to help us target the best investigation site.

520
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:10,120
I didn't see Thunderbird.

521
00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:13,120
Well, Charlie, that means you're not getting paid for the flight.

522
00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,120
That was great, Charlie. Thank you so much.

523
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,120
With temperatures now well below zero, we landed back in Dillingham

524
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:25,120
and stopped by a local outpost to gear up for our journey across the ice to the rural village.

525
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,120
What do you see that you like? Anything?

526
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,120
How's that? How's that look?

527
00:25:30,120 --> 00:25:31,120
That's perfect.

528
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:33,120
Maybe knock over the bank of the way out of town?

529
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:34,120
Very.

530
00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:36,120
This is what I'm talking about. It's something like this.

531
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,120
Some big, like John Carpenter's The Thing.

532
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:40,120
Yeah.

533
00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:41,120
Right?

534
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:42,120
I like it.

535
00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:43,120
Yeah, let's go with that.

536
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:44,120
That's it.

537
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:49,120
Getting all of us, plus our gear to Manicodic, was going to take some local assistance and a fleet of snowmobiles.

538
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:53,120
Thankfully, one of our guides was Alaska's own Davy Crockett.

539
00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:55,120
That guy has a dead animal on his head.

540
00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:57,120
I mean, it's like, it's not even a hat.

541
00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,120
It's like he killed the animal and then just strapped it to his head.

542
00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:01,120
It's warming up.

543
00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:07,120
I don't know if anyone else feels it, but I mean, it's like a T-shirt, whether or not, or two probably.

544
00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,120
I couldn't help but notice that one of the locals was packing a little heat.

545
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:12,120
How often do you go hunting?

546
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:13,120
On a daily basis.

547
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:15,120
But you don't think you're going to have to shoot anything from the snowmobile?

548
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:16,120
No.

549
00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:17,120
Can I change the bonstile?

550
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:18,120
No.

551
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:19,120
Can you?

552
00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:21,120
While I'm driving, can you be on the back and shooting at things?

553
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:22,120
No, that's, it's not safe.

554
00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:23,120
It's not safe.

555
00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,120
It may not be safe, but it's awesome.

556
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:27,120
I've got a pistol on the front of my snow machine.

557
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:28,120
Mounted in the front of your snow machine?

558
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:30,120
Yes, it's on the handlebars.

559
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,120
You've a pistol mounted in the handlebars of your snow machine?

560
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:33,120
Yes, I do.

561
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:34,120
This is the greatest state in America.

562
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:35,120
Yeah, I carry it everywhere.

563
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:36,120
I mean, I don't carry it.

564
00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:40,120
I have a pistol mounted in the front of my Prius.

565
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:45,120
We mapped a course that would need to travel more than 20 miles west across frigid and

566
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:49,120
unforgiving frozen tundra to Manicote, a.k.a. Thunderbird Country.

567
00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:51,120
Got the dead fox in your head?

568
00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,120
You ready?

569
00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:04,120
With biting cold and on unfamiliar terrain, driving snowmobiles at high speeds takes razor-sharp focus.

570
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:12,120
And on these icy plains, hidden cracks in the ice can be deadly.

571
00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:27,120
We were traveling the backwoods of Alaska on snowmobile to reach the remote village of Manicote,

572
00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:30,120
a high speed and also a high risk mode of transportation.

573
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:41,120
We are in trouble.

574
00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:43,120
Almost got it.

575
00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:50,120
Come on, start.

576
00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:52,120
I need a hand.

577
00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:53,120
Yeah, I'm stuck.

578
00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:54,120
Visha, what happened?

579
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:55,120
What happened, Visha?

580
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:56,120
Man, we are...

581
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:57,120
What did you do?

582
00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:59,120
We slept in snowmobile.

583
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:00,120
You slept in snowmobile?

584
00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:01,120
Yeah, we slept in snowmobile.

585
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:03,120
I was waiting for a second there, too.

586
00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:04,120
You okay?

587
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:05,120
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

588
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:06,120
Go slower this time.

589
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:21,120
Luckily, the machine was undamaged and Visha managed to stay on long enough for us to arrive safely in the village.

590
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:30,120
With a population of only 400 people living in complete isolation, 98% of whom are Native American,

591
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:33,120
we were probably not going to slip into town passing for locals.

592
00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:41,120
Luckily, the U-PIC Natives were beyond hospitable and invited us inside for a bite to eat after our Arctic adventure.

593
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:45,120
Melt the mousse fat to make the Eskimo ice cream.

594
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:46,120
That was delicious.

595
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:47,120
And then get the...

596
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:48,120
Crisco?

597
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:49,120
Crisco ready.

598
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:50,120
The mousse fat's a lot enough.

599
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:51,120
You gotta throw some Crisco in there, too.

600
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:52,120
A little bit in the taut.

601
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,120
And then the sugar goes in.

602
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:55,120
Sugar?

603
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:56,120
And the berries.

604
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:57,120
Here we go.

605
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,120
And just chew it.

606
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:04,120
It's very good.

607
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:05,120
It tastes really good.

608
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,120
It's true, you just can't think about the fact that it's mousse fat.

609
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:10,120
Just mousse fat.

610
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,120
Don't say it while you're at it.

611
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:21,120
Feeling all filled up with mousse fat, we got down to business and spoke with Tommy, a retired pilot and Alaskan native who says he spotted the thunderbird very close to where we were.

612
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,120
Could you estimate how big a creature it was?

613
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,120
The wingspan would be at least 30 feet.

614
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:28,120
Wow.

615
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:33,120
Tommy directed me to the exact place that he saw the bird, which was just a few miles northeast of our current location.

616
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:44,120
Since these traditional locals were seeing the thunderbird without these noisy high-speed snow machines, I decided to scout out the surrounding forests using the local mode of environmentally conscious transportation.

617
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,120
Call it Alaskan hybrid technology.

618
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:52,120
Good job.

619
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:53,120
Hey, hey.

620
00:29:54,120 --> 00:30:00,120
I mushed high and mushed low and finally settled on a remote area at the nexus of our eyewitness sightings.

621
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:05,120
I headed back to the village to retrieve the rest of my crew and get us all into position for our investigation.

622
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:13,120
We arrived at the area where all of our eyewitnesses spotted the bird, set up base camp and initiated our plan.

623
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,120
This is the area where the sightings have occurred.

624
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,120
We're in a great ridge.

625
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,120
We've got a great view of the forest beyond here into the mountain.

626
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,120
We've heard that it's nocturnal, so we'll just try to scan the skies and see what we can see.

627
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,120
We do have wolves in this area.

628
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,120
They're very aggressive.

629
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,120
If you do see one, just kind of back away slowly.

630
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:29,120
Leave the area.

631
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:30,120
All right, guys, let's go.

632
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:38,120
First, we placed four infrared cameras in a 300-foot radius to scan the sky, the tree line, and possible roosting areas.

633
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,120
These cameras would be monitored throughout the night from base camp.

634
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,120
The temperature was plummeting, so Rex got started on a fire.

635
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,120
We've got to make sure it's really dry.

636
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,120
If there's no anything green or it's not going to burn.

637
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,120
This will be enough to get us started.

638
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,120
Jial and I headed out to set up one of the several trap cameras we'd be using.

639
00:30:55,120 --> 00:31:04,120
These digital cameras placed more than a mile beyond base camp and well into the wilderness would be baited with moose meat to attract the thunderbird and are equipped with a motion sensor.

640
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:09,120
If anything travels in its field of view, the camera immediately begins taking a series of pictures.

641
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:13,120
Using GPS locators, we check back with the cameras and the status of the bait throughout the night.

642
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,120
I just don't want to see any wolves.

643
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,120
You could probably fight off a wolf.

644
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,120
Come on, you can fight the wolf, not me.

645
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:28,120
Hey guys.

646
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:29,120
Hey, what's up?

647
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:34,120
Now that we have the trap cameras and the infrared cameras out, let's get the thermal imager up and running.

648
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,120
You know, we know that anything is out there with a heartbeat, we can see it with that.

649
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:38,120
Alright, excellent.

650
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,120
Yeah, let's do that.

651
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,120
I think it's getting colder.

652
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:44,120
It is. It's starting to drop.

653
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,120
Anything that gives off heat, this thing will see.

654
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,120
What do you think the temperature is?

655
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,120
It's negative for sure.

656
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:56,120
We just need to get out across this tundra into some of these forests.

657
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:57,120
Where it's quiet.

658
00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:58,120
Yeah, just be as quiet as possible.

659
00:31:58,120 --> 00:31:59,120
Yeah, I agree.

660
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,120
Hopefully those guys will be able to find something out there.

661
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,120
Oh no, I think I might have heard something.

662
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:06,120
I heard a big boom.

663
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:07,120
I just heard something.

664
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:08,120
Yeah.

665
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:09,120
Josh, go pick up the thing.

666
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:12,120
You got it. What did you hear?

667
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:17,120
There's a big just a loud, like a mean, you know, size boom, like boom.

668
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:18,120
Like that.

669
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,120
Hold on a second, hold on a second.

670
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,120
Boom? Boom?

671
00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:27,120
Yeah, I haven't heard it yet, but there was just a light boom.

672
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:32,120
I almost had a little bit of a breakdown when I heard it, but I'll let you know.

673
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,120
Maybe it's been an hour.

674
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:42,120
You know, it could have been nothing, but we're going to check it out.

675
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,120
Sounds like we are some twigs breaking.

676
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,120
Some branches breaking up above us.

677
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,120
Some branches breaking up above us.

678
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,120
I made a spin owl.

679
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:25,120
You know, it could have been nothing, but we're going to check it out.

680
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,120
Sounds like we're some twigs breaking.

681
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,120
Some branches breaking up above us.

682
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:57,120
Josh.

683
00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:00,120
Something just buzzed us, like right over our heads.

684
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:01,120
I can't believe it.

685
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,120
50 to 100 feet up in the trees.

686
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,120
We're hustling in and we'll see you in a couple minutes.

687
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:08,120
Okay.

688
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,120
It's a long, slow walk.

689
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,120
Rex is back.

690
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,120
We heard it, right?

691
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:23,120
We heard it.

692
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:24,120
I don't know what it was.

693
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,120
It definitely made a poor noise.

694
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:32,120
Out of nowhere, as I was speaking, something buzzed us right over our heads.

695
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:33,120
Did you see what it was?

696
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:34,120
The branches kind of swayed a little bit.

697
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,120
Some snow dropped off.

698
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:39,120
It was like as quick as there was.

699
00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:40,120
Here's what we should do.

700
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,120
I think some of the batteries of these cameras are dead.

701
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,120
We should reload these shards because we can get the thermal and get the factory saw.

702
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:47,120
And just keep it in the truck.

703
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:48,120
Okay.

704
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:49,120
It sounded good.

705
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:50,120
Rex, did you see how it was?

706
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,120
It was definitely bigger than any eagle that I've seen in a zoo.

707
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:54,120
It was huge.

708
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:55,120
Let's get this thing going.

709
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,120
We'll get back down there and see.

710
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:58,120
Just try and check it out.

711
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,120
The other thing is we should have Mike break out the parabolic dish.

712
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,120
We can hear something if it's really far off in the distance.

713
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:03,120
Lead on.

714
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:04,120
Let's go, Rex.

715
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:05,120
Okay, great.

716
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,120
Could you see where that thing went to?

717
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:10,120
It went straight.

718
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,120
Right in the direction that it was facing.

719
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:13,120
Right.

720
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:19,120
Hear that?

721
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:21,120
There.

722
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:22,120
Restraction.

723
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,120
I thought it was in that way.

724
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,120
Everybody's set over like, why?

725
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:37,120
Oh, oh, oh, oh.

726
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:38,120
Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

727
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:39,120
Never mind, my man.

728
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,120
Guys, there's definitely something moving around over there.

729
00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:00,120
Totally.

730
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:01,120
Yeah.

731
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,120
I can hear this sound.

732
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,120
Very still, very, very still.

733
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,120
It's pretty far back, but there's something walking around out there in the woods.

734
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,120
Whatever it is on the ground might be a wolf.

735
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,120
It doesn't look big enough to be a mouse.

736
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,120
Now let's just slowly back out of here.

737
00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:28,120
Come on, let's go.

738
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,120
Really slowly.

739
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:34,120
Come on, let's go.

740
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,120
Well, we tried to track down whatever Rex saw, but we didn't see it.

741
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,120
We heard something big moving around in the woods.

742
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,120
It sounded like it was in the ground, kind of close to us.

743
00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,120
And then right as we left, I caught something on the thermal.

744
00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:58,120
Oh, really?

745
00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,120
Very small, very far away.

746
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,120
Maybe a wolf walking around.

747
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,120
But that wasn't what was up close to us.

748
00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:06,120
Something big was right near us for a little bit,

749
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,120
but it wasn't up in the trees, it was down on the ground.

750
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:09,120
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

751
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,120
Check it out, check it out, check it out.

752
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,120
You asked someone right through there, right?

753
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:14,120
Did you see that?

754
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:15,120
Right through the trees there.

755
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:16,120
Wow.

756
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:17,120
That was a good one.

757
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:18,120
Wow, I mean, that's pretty big.

758
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,120
So, this IR, you see that far away.

759
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,120
If the IR picked it up through that tree line, it must have been pretty big.

760
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,120
We'll get a team out to go check out where camera one is.

761
00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,120
It kind of goes through the whole area, see what we can see.

762
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,120
It might have gone into one of those trees to roost,

763
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:30,120
but we could go check out there.

764
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,120
If there was a facecam, should just keep an eye on it to see if we see it again.

765
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:34,120
Yeah, I'll keep an eye on it for sure.

766
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,120
Bisha and I are going to go out in a sweep.

767
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,120
Let's all just keep in radio communication,

768
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:40,120
and we'll take it from there, okay?

769
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,120
Bisha, let's go.

770
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,120
All right.

771
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:53,120
Why don't we just scan down, you know, this, the edge of this tree line.

772
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,120
I mean, this is the area we had that infrared camera pointed.

773
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:57,120
Yep.

774
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:58,120
See if we see anything up in the trees.

775
00:37:58,120 --> 00:37:59,120
Okay.

776
00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:00,120
I think that's probably our best bet.

777
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:01,120
Just cruise through.

778
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:02,120
Yeah.

779
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:03,120
Right there, right there, right there.

780
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:04,120
Go.

781
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:11,120
The edge of this tree line,

782
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,120
and this is the area we had that infrared camera pointed.

783
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:14,120
Just cruise through.

784
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:15,120
Yeah.

785
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:16,120
Right there, right there, right there.

786
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,120
Bisha, something just cruised right between those two trees.

787
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,120
I just saw something go right in between these two trees.

788
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,120
Josh, the base camp, coming base camp.

789
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,120
Hey, Josh, go for base camp.

790
00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,120
We just saw something cruise between two trees,

791
00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,120
some sort of black object.

792
00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:39,120
A little bit hard for us to tell where it went or how big it was,

793
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,120
but we're down here checking it out,

794
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,120
and we're in pretty close proximity to our last trap camera,

795
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:45,120
so we're going to pull that as well.

796
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:46,120
Copy that.

797
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:54,120
Here, here, here.

798
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:56,120
The bait's gone.

799
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,120
The bait's gone, so the bait was right up over there.

800
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:01,120
There's something coming through here, Nate.

801
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:02,120
That.

802
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:03,120
Wow.

803
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:04,120
Josh, the base camp, come in.

804
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:08,120
Go for base camp, Josh.

805
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,120
We're retrieving the last trap camera.

806
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,120
The bait is completely gone.

807
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,120
The moose meat and the salmon that was down here is gone.

808
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:17,120
It looks like something came down here and picked it up,

809
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,120
and it looks to me like it was a bird,

810
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,120
because whatever it is, it looks like it landed and just took off.

811
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:23,120
There's no paw prints coming in or out of it.

812
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,120
It looks like something just came down, snagged it,

813
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:26,120
and went up in the air.

814
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:27,120
Oh, that's awesome.

815
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,120
I like to photograph the area where it happened.

816
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,120
Once you grab the evidence kit and the additional camera,

817
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,120
it comes out of the way this trap camera is.

818
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:38,120
We can at least photograph out what looks like

819
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,120
these might be claw marks in here.

820
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:41,120
Copy that.

821
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:43,120
We'll have to check the trap camera and see what we got,

822
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:44,120
but the food is out of here.

823
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,120
Headed towards you.

824
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:46,120
It could be a claw.

825
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:47,120
I mean, it was something big.

826
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:48,120
That could be a claw.

827
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,120
You know, you got one, two, three, four.

828
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:51,120
Ah.

829
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,120
Let's take a 35 images.

830
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,120
Oh, wow.

831
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,120
Oh, wow, that's great.

832
00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:59,120
We shot photographs of the markings left behind in the snow.

833
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:00,120
Perfect.

834
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:01,120
We got it.

835
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:04,120
The temperature was now nearly minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit,

836
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:07,120
and with most of our equipment succumbing to electronic frostbite,

837
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,120
we decided to call it a night with a few shots of the wind.

838
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,120
We took a few shots of the wind,

839
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,120
and we got a few shots of the wind.

840
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,120
We took a few shots of the wind,

841
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:18,120
and we got a few shots of the wind.

842
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,120
And when we were coming to electronic frostbite,

843
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,120
we decided to call it a night with the knowledge

844
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,120
that we were definitely not alone in the wilderness here.

845
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:28,120
Did our trap camera capture concrete evidence of the giant thunderbird,

846
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,120
or was there another explanation for what people are seeing?

847
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:34,120
We flew back to LA with evidence to be analyzed.

848
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,120
Our trap cam snapped dozens of photos where the bait was taken,

849
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:40,120
and we also caught an image on our infrared camera

850
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,120
of something large buzzing through the tree line.

851
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:45,120
I was excited to identify the culprit.

852
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,120
We showed the evidence to Mike D, former curator of the LA Zoo,

853
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,120
to get his thoughts.

854
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:53,120
The footage from the trees proved inconclusive,

855
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,120
so we turned to our trap cameras.

856
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:58,120
Though our culprit passed too close to the lens to make a positive ID,

857
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:02,120
the photos may still have held a tantalizing clue to his identity.

858
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:03,120
What do you make of that?

859
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:07,120
You've got what appears to be white, and then lines.

860
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:09,120
You see what I'm talking about, the lines?

861
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:10,120
I do.

862
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:13,120
Like as if something's overlaying, like feathers.

863
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,120
It may be that we're seeing through some sort of separation to darkness beyond,

864
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,120
or it may be that we're seeing a color pattern of some sort.

865
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:21,120
To me, that looks like feathers.

866
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,120
Mike went on to postulate that the Stellar Sea Eagle,

867
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,120
a massive bird from northern Japan and eastern Russia,

868
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,120
may have migrated here from across the Bering Strait.

869
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,120
Enormous in size, the bird may well be responsible

870
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,120
for some of the more dramatic sightings here.

871
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:37,120
Since eyewitness accounts of flying animals are notoriously inaccurate

872
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,120
due to the difficulty in establishing scale in open sky,

873
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,120
the Stellar Sea Eagle with a nearly 10-foot wingspan

874
00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:47,120
is a sensible suspect in this case, though we can't say for sure.

875
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,120
More than likely, though, the citizens of Alaska

876
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,120
can probably sleep soundly tonight.

877
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,120
After all, the ancient and mighty Thunderbird is still just a legend.

878
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:57,120
For now.