1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
A granite shrine to a legendary brigade.

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:09,000
The Germans out of fear called them the Harlem Hellfighters.

3
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,000
A set of sculptures that speak to a strange event.

4
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:19,000
They think this is a huge battle cry before they kill us all in our beds.

5
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:24,000
And a towering summit at the center of another worldly tale.

6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000
His work made us wonder whether we were really alone in the universe.

7
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:33,000
Sometimes the greatest secrets lie in plain sight.

8
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,000
These are the mysteries of the monument.

9
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,000
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

10
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,000
For Americans, this small town is hallowed ground.

11
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,000
It's the location of Gettysburg National Military Park.

12
00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,000
The site of the largest battle of the Civil War.

13
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,000
And home to 1400 memorials.

14
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,000
But among these shrines to valor and sacrifice,

15
00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:13,000
stands one monument that's linked to a shocking tale of peacetime controversy.

16
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,000
It's about 21 feet tall.

17
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,000
It's shaped like a pentagon and there's an eagle sitting on top of the monument.

18
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000
This is the Excelsior Brigade Monument.

19
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,000
A tribute to five volunteer regiments from New York.

20
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,000
But according to author James Hessler,

21
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:37,000
the leader of this unit left a legacy that endures to this day in courtrooms across America.

22
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,000
Who was this controversial commander?

23
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,000
And how did he accidentally transform the U.S. justice system?

24
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
1859, Washington, D.C.

25
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000
New York Congressman Daniel Sickles is new to the Capitol.

26
00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000
But the 39-year-old lawyer is already a powerful political insider.

27
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000
He had risen through the politics of New York City

28
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:08,000
and was considered a protege of the sitting president, James Buchanan.

29
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,000
So he was considered a guy with a big future.

30
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000
Sickles frequently entertains Washington's elite.

31
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,000
At the Lafayette Square home, he shares with his young wife, Teresa.

32
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:27,000
Teresa is a very sophisticated, well-educated, passionate Italian girl.

33
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:33,000
The high society marriage adds glitter to Sickles' already gilded career.

34
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,000
But an explosive revelation threatens to tarnish it all.

35
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,000
One day in February, the congressman receives an anonymous message in the mail.

36
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,000
The letter basically tells him that his wife, Teresa, is having an affair.

37
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,000
What's worse, the note reveals that Teresa's lover is one of Sickles' trusted friends.

38
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,000
Attorney Philip Barton Key.

39
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,000
Philip Barton Key was considered one of the handsomest men in Washington society.

40
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:11,000
He was tall, athletic, dark-haired, considered to be the best dancer in town.

41
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000
The letter describes the details of the torrid liaison,

42
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000
including the secret sign that Key uses to communicate with Teresa.

43
00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,000
When he was passing by the Sickles' residence in Lafayette Square,

44
00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000
Key would pull out a white handkerchief and he would twirl it slowly.

45
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,000
And this was supposed to be his signal to Teresa to come out and meet him.

46
00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,000
The news makes Sickles seethe with rage.

47
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,000
His wife has betrayed him with one of his best friends,

48
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,000
and apparently everybody in Washington knows about this except him.

49
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,000
Teresa!

50
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,000
The congressman immediately confronts his wife, who tearfully admits all.

51
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,000
Sickles can barely contain himself.

52
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,000
And three days later, the situation explodes.

53
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000
He looks out the window of his house,

54
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:15,000
and Philip Barton Key is walking through Lafayette Square twirling this handkerchief.

55
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,000
Moments later, Sickles grabs a gun and storms out to confront Key.

56
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,000
Key!

57
00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:31,000
Sickles basically says, Key, you scoundrel, you've dishonored my house and you must die.

58
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,000
Sickles!

59
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:39,000
Key begs his friend not to pull the trigger, but the scorned husband is deaf to his cries.

60
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:46,000
Sickles puts a gun up to Key's chest and fires literally point blank.

61
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,000
Key is dead.

62
00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:54,000
Sickles!

63
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,000
What have you done?

64
00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,000
Sickles surrenders to authorities and is charged with murder.

65
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,000
There were numerous eyewitnesses, there was no doubt Sickles was guilty.

66
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,000
But the clever politician cooks up a scheme to get off scot-free.

67
00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:23,000
Less than two months later, congressman Daniel Sickles stuns a Washington judge by pleading not guilty.

68
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:31,000
Although he readily admits to firing the fatal shots, he contends that his actions didn't amount to murder.

69
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,000
So the defense team put forward this argument that upon learning of the affair, Sickles' mind had become diseased.

70
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:39,000
Key!

71
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,000
Sickles!

72
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,000
And that he was literally acting upon uncontrollable impulses.

73
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000
The defense declares that Sickles was temporarily insane.

74
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,000
It's an argument never before presented in court.

75
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,000
Yet the testimony appears to support this audacious claim.

76
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:09,000
The defense team starts calling witnesses to the stand, who in some cases go into fairly graphic detail of what Teresa Sickles and Key were doing.

77
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:15,000
Hearing about his wife's tawdry behavior appears to leave Sickles deranged.

78
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000
He burst into tears, he was sobbing.

79
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:25,000
He literally had to stop the trial at one point and he was forcibly carried out of the courtroom.

80
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,000
After three weeks of testimony, the case goes to the jury.

81
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000
It took them only 70 minutes to reach verdict.

82
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,000
Not guilty.

83
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:44,000
The ruling is a victory for both Sickles and his unusual defense strategy.

84
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:57,000
He ultimately became a general in the Union Army, where he played a prominent role in a number of battles, including the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.

85
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:05,000
Sickles survives the Civil War and plays a major role in establishing Gettysburg National Military Park.

86
00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,000
But his most lasting legacy may be his novel defense.

87
00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:20,000
Not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, which goes on to gain legitimacy in the U.S. court system and continues to be used to this day.

88
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:33,000
The Excelsior Brigade Monument stands as a tribute to a controversial man who was unafraid to fight, both on the battlefield and in the courtroom.

89
00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:45,000
Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains is Arcadia, California.

90
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:55,000
This scenic Los Angeles suburb is home to a sprawling botanical garden whose resident peacocks can sometimes be spotted wandering onto the streets.

91
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:04,000
Yet just a cross from these tranquil grounds is an attraction that appeals to a more boisterous crowd.

92
00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:12,000
It's oval shaped and it's a mile in length. There's a grandstand, a clubhouse, a European style paddock.

93
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,000
It's just a beautiful venue and it's just a beautiful place to spend a day.

94
00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:22,000
Drawing in over one million visitors each year, this is Santa Anita Park.

95
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:30,000
From almost a century, this legendary racetrack has hosted the country's finest thoroughbreds and greatest jockeys.

96
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:42,000
And as reporter Christina Bosenakis reveals, among them is a man with a tail so extraordinary it rocked the annals of both racing and medicine.

97
00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:51,000
This was unique, terrifying, but at the same time amazing. People still talk about it to this day.

98
00:08:51,000 --> 00:09:04,000
May 8th, 1936, San Mateo, California. The stands at the Bay Meadows Racetrack are packed for a two day tournament.

99
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,000
However, the crowd's mood isn't one of excitement, but shock.

100
00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:21,000
A popular 19 year old jockey named Ralph Neves has been thrown from his horse and now lies motionless on the ground.

101
00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,000
It was a very dramatic scene. The track physicians were doing everything they could to try to save his life.

102
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000
The spectators watch in horror.

103
00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:44,000
Ralph Neves was a fiery, intense competitor. His nickname was the Portuguese pepper pot and he was already one of the top riders on the circuit.

104
00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:53,000
But it seems that Neves' career has come to an end. After repeated attempts to resuscitate him, doctors give up.

105
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,000
Neves' body is loaded onto a stretcher and transported to the local hospital.

106
00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:06,000
And the announcer told the crowd, we regret to inform you that Ralph Neves is dead. Please stand in silent prayer.

107
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,000
The crowd was absolutely stunned. This was an awful accident and loss of life.

108
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,000
Though the mood is grim, track officials decide to carry on with the event.

109
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:32,000
But that's not the end of the athlete's tragic tale. Soon after Neves' arrival at the hospital, an attendant enters the room where his motionless body has been placed.

110
00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,000
Only to make a shocking discovery.

111
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,000
To his surprise, the stretcher that Ralph Neves was on was found empty.

112
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,000
The body is no longer there.

113
00:10:50,000 --> 00:11:02,000
It's 1936 in San Mateo, California. Celebrated jockey Ralph Neves is pronounced dead following a horrific accident on the track.

114
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:07,000
But after his body is taken to the mortuary, it mysteriously disappears.

115
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:17,000
Back at the Bay Meadows track, the crowd is still reeling from the tragedy when they hear a sudden commotion.

116
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,000
A frantic, half-dressed figure is running onto the race course.

117
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:30,000
To everyone's amazement, it is none other than the fallen jockey Ralph Neves.

118
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:39,000
People couldn't even believe what they were seeing. Ralph Neves was back on the track running around and he was alive.

119
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,000
Neves insists he's fit to ride.

120
00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:52,000
And incredibly, race officials eventually agree to let him participate in the remainder of the two-day event.

121
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,000
Neves' incredible resurrection stuns the crowd.

122
00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:06,000
In less than 24 hours after being pronounced dead, Ralph Neves won the riding title at Bay Meadows and was awarded $500 and a gold watch.

123
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:14,000
So how did the Portuguese pepperpot apparently come back from the dead?

124
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:27,000
It is later revealed that when the jockeys seemingly lifeless body arrived at the morgue, a grief-stricken friend who was a doctor at the hospital rushed in to pay his final respects.

125
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:37,000
So he sees Neves and whether it was because it's his friend, whether he just had an instinct, he decided to check for a pulse.

126
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,000
And to the doctor's amazement, there was a glimmer of a pulse.

127
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:52,000
Believing the unconscious jockey could still be saved, the physician reportedly administered a shot of adrenaline directly to Neves' heart.

128
00:12:53,000 --> 00:13:00,000
And Neves miraculously sits up and comes back to life.

129
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:07,000
Before the stunned doctor could say a word, the jockey rushed out the door.

130
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,000
Neves galed a taxi and demanded to be taken back to the racetrack.

131
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:20,000
Ralph Neves goes on to enjoy a long and prolific racing career.

132
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:29,000
And in 1954, the Santa Anita Park presents him with one of the sport's highest honors, the George Wolf Award.

133
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:35,000
Throughout his career, Ralph Neves won over 3700 victories.

134
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:47,000
Today, the Santa Anita Park stands as a reminder of the jockey who crossed life's finish line, not once, but twice.

135
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:52,000
Paris, France.

136
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,000
The legendary Latin Quarter is home to one of the world's oldest universities.

137
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:08,000
And also at the heart of this scholarly district stands another imposing edifice that celebrates the country's greatest minds.

138
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:21,000
It's 350 feet long, 275 feet high with 22 Corinthian columns, and inside are frescoes and statues honoring France's great heroes.

139
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:35,000
This is the Pantheon, final resting place of the philosopher Voltaire, scientist Marie Curie, and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

140
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:47,000
But as author Andrew Rosgineau knows, this palatial mausoleum also houses the tomb of a lesser known Frenchman who enlightened a once powerless population.

141
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,000
He may not be a household name, but his invention spread throughout the globe.

142
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:59,000
Who is this man? And how is his ingenious creation essential to millions of lives around the world?

143
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000
1812, Couvet, France.

144
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:11,000
In this small country village outside of Paris, daily life holds few surprises.

145
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:18,000
Yet for three-year-old Louis Brie, every moment is filled with intrigue and wonder.

146
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:23,000
Louis was curious and creative. He was really interested in how the world works.

147
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:31,000
Louis' favorite place to explore is the shop where his father makes harnesses for horses.

148
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:37,000
Louis loved nothing more than to go to work with his father. Every day he would go in there and sit and watch his father and his work.

149
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:47,000
The back-breaking job involves punching hundreds of holes into leather strips, using a hammer and a sharp instrument known as an awl.

150
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000
Louis' father expressly forbids him from playing with the dangerous tools.

151
00:15:54,000 --> 00:16:00,000
But one day, when the harness maker's back is turned, the curious boy sees a chance to handle the instruments.

152
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:06,000
He tries as much as he can and musters all of his energy to put holes into the leather.

153
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000
But he's unable to get the sharp point to go through.

154
00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,000
Then suddenly, Louis loses his grip.

155
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000
The tool slips and goes into his left eye.

156
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:28,000
Despite the efforts of local doctors, the wound develops into a raging infection that spreads to Louis' right eye.

157
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,000
Unfortunately, the damage is irreversible and Louis becomes blind.

158
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,000
The affliction is devastating.

159
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:40,000
At the time, French schools are simply not equipped to educate blind children.

160
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000
So in the early 19th century, to be blind was to have no future.

161
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,000
Most people that were blind at the time had lives as beggars in the streets.

162
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000
Louis knows this cruel fate may also await him.

163
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,000
But seven years later, he's thrown what seems like a lifeline.

164
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:06,000
A local priest secures a scholarship for him at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris.

165
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,000
This was the only school of its kind, not only in France, but in the world.

166
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,000
The elite academy offers classes ranging from math to science to music.

167
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,000
Louis' imagination runs wild. He's picturing a library full of books, row after row after row.

168
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:29,000
But when the ambitious boy arrives at the institute, he is sorely disappointed.

169
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:34,000
He discovers that the school has just three books for blind readers.

170
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,000
The existing technology to make books for the blind was called embossing,

171
00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,000
which was a process of pressing lead into wax paper in order to create raised letters

172
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,000
that you would have to trace with your finger in order to read.

173
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,000
The embossed type is so oversized that a single sentence is a single sentence

174
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:56,000
that a single sentence often takes up an entire page, making reading laborious.

175
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:06,000
Not only that, but fabricating such enormous books is so costly that precious few have ever been produced.

176
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:13,000
This system had flaws. Louis realizes the current technologies that exist for the blind are not sufficient.

177
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,000
Louis comes to a heartbreaking conclusion.

178
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:23,000
Unless a better way to educate the blind is found, they are destined to remain on the fringes of society.

179
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000
In that moment, Louis realizes he's the one that's going to have to do this himself.

180
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:41,000
It's the 1820s in France. Blind teenager Louis Bray is desperate to learn,

181
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:47,000
but the system in place for teaching the blind how to read and write is woefully subpar.

182
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,000
So what game-changing alternative is he about to invent?

183
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,000
Couvret, France

184
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,000
School is out of session and Louis has returned to his parents' village for the summer.

185
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:07,000
But while the other children are playing outdoors, Louis spends most of his time in his father's harness shop.

186
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:16,000
One morning, he picks up the awl, the very tool that injured him, and grips it in his hand like a pencil.

187
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,000
Suddenly, inspiration strikes.

188
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:28,000
Louis realizes that he can use this very same tool to poke dots into paper to create letters of the alphabet.

189
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,000
But instead of recreating the large, embossed letters of his school books,

190
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:37,000
the boy translates the alphabet into a simple code.

191
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,000
Like a domino, Louis' system involved a series of dots, two by three.

192
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,000
Each letter represented by one to six dots.

193
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:52,000
To Louis' delight, his compact new system is much easier to read.

194
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,000
Each letter could be read by a single finger as he moved it across the page.

195
00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,000
And he even had configurations for music, numbers and punctuations.

196
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:08,000
Best of all, he knows that such a simplified code will finally make books for the blind more cost-effective to print.

197
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:15,000
Louis presents his invention to his classmates, and it rapidly gains traction.

198
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,000
Eventually, the French government would adopt the system and it would spread throughout the globe.

199
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:25,000
This truly was now giving blind people the same access to knowledge that the side had had.

200
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:32,000
To properly honor the 15-year-old student who created it, Louis' writing system is named after him.

201
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:39,000
Even to this day, the code is called Braille, the English pronunciation of Louis' French name, Braille.

202
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:51,000
200 years after his landmark invention, a bust of Louis Braille appears alongside his tomb at the Pantheon.

203
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:57,000
A marble tribute to the man who delivered the world's knowledge to those who could not see it.

204
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:07,000
Wyoming covers almost 100,000 square miles and is the 10th largest state in the Union.

205
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:16,000
But despite its massive size, the 44th state has one of the smallest populations, a mere 500,000 people.

206
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:23,000
But one imposing feature of this vast landscape now brings in just as many tourists.

207
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:31,000
It's over a thousand feet high and the first thing you see about it is it's just covered with these vertical lines.

208
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,000
Nature has been working on this a long time.

209
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,000
This is Devil's Tower.

210
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:44,000
In 1906, the striking monolith was declared America's first, and it was the first to be built.

211
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,000
The first was declared America's first national monument.

212
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:56,000
But according to author Mark O'Connell, it owes its popularity to one man's obsession with the unknown.

213
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:04,000
His work propelled the popularity of Devil's Tower to unparalleled heights and made us wonder whether we were really alone in the universe.

214
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:10,000
1966, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

215
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:18,000
Dr. J. Allen Heineck is a well-respected astronomer and scientific advisor for the U.S. Air Force.

216
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:28,000
With UFO sightings on the rise, Heineck has been charged with squashing the public's growing fear by any means necessary.

217
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:34,000
The Air Force employed him as a debunker. He was proud of that and he went after it with great relish.

218
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:42,000
Heineck's job is to convince the public that UFOs don't exist and that sightings are a result of natural causes.

219
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:47,000
To this end, he has developed an arsenal of excuses.

220
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Dr. Heineck's job was to look at every UFO sighting report that came in and say,

221
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:59,000
no, we can set this one aside. That was clearly the planet Venus. That was clearly a meteor.

222
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:05,000
There was one case where Heineck says, oh, that was an atmospheric eddy, but there was no such thing as an atmospheric eddy.

223
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,000
It was something Heineck just made up for that case.

224
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,000
But his life is about to be flipped upside down.

225
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:20,000
On March 23rd, Heineck is sent to investigate a high-profile sighting in southwest Michigan.

226
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:27,000
Once he arrives, the skeptical scientist speaks to a local resident who claims to have witnessed the event.

227
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:35,000
A farmer in southern Michigan reported seeing a lighted craft land in the swamp north of his farmhouse.

228
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,000
It hovered, it moved up and down, and side to side.

229
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:44,000
But the farmer wasn't the only one to observe strange lights in the night sky.

230
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:50,000
An entire sorority at a nearby college claims to have seen something similar.

231
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,000
87 residents of a dorm watched very similar lights hovering in the arboretum outside the building.

232
00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:03,000
By the end of his visit, Heineck has interviewed over 100 people, including local police.

233
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,000
They all confirm that they saw something in the skies over the town.

234
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:12,000
It's then that Heineck has an epiphany.

235
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:19,000
He started to wonder whether this case was credible. He realized that it was wrong to treat these people like they were kooks.

236
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:25,000
Back at his hotel, Heineck starts to think about his previous cases from the past two decades.

237
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:36,000
Heineck had spent an awful lot of time investigating some extremely strange UFO cases that had been reported by some extremely normal people.

238
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:43,000
It really caused him to question his assumptions and think long and hard what had really happened to these people.

239
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:48,000
It seemed clear to him that there was something more to this phenomenon than anyone had originally suspected.

240
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:57,000
The former skeptic now unequivocally believes that the lights in Michigan could actually be evidence of something otherworldly.

241
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,000
Heineck decides he needs to do something.

242
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:07,000
What Dr. Heineck really wanted was a serious scientific study of the phenomenon.

243
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:14,000
For the first time in 20 years, Heineck proposes to his boss, Major Hector Quintanilla,

244
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:20,000
that supposed UFO sightings deserve serious scientific study.

245
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,000
But he is immediately rebuked.

246
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:32,000
Hector Quintanilla had made it very clear to Heineck that he had to come up with an explanation quickly and that it had to be natural causes.

247
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:38,000
Vowing to pressure from his boss, Heineck reluctantly prepares a report.

248
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:45,000
In it, he dismisses the mysterious sightings as nothing more than swamp gas.

249
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:50,000
But the residents of Southwest Michigan don't buy it.

250
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:55,000
An angry and confused public demands a more thorough investigation into the sightings.

251
00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:01,000
And Heineck is ordered to make a statement at a congressional hearing.

252
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:06,000
So with the nation and the Air Force watching, what will Heineck say?

253
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:20,000
It's 1968. UFO debunker Jay Allen Heineck has spent the last 20 years convincing the American public that aliens do not exist.

254
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:25,000
But he's recently come to the stunning realization that maybe they do.

255
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:32,000
Now he faces a congressional hearing. Will Dr. Heineck reveal his extraterrestrial epiphany?

256
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,000
When the congressional hearing convenes, Heineck is called to the stand.

257
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,000
I have a dossier of 20 particularly…

258
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:48,000
In his statement, Heineck's proposal was to take the investigation of UFO cases out of the Air Force's hands

259
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,000
and put it in the hands of scientific teams at universities across the country.

260
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:58,000
It is a landmark moment and the press goes wild.

261
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,000
The fiasco made Heineck a superstar.

262
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,000
But his superiors aren't so impressed.

263
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,000
They were furious with Heineck for making that statement.

264
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:14,000
In the wake of Heineck's rogue statement, Project Blue Book is terminated.

265
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,000
And with it, his role in the U.S. Air Force.

266
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:25,000
Undeterred, in 1972, Heineck writes a book titled The UFO Experience.

267
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,000
And in it, he coins a new term.

268
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:34,000
Dr. Heineck introduced a new categorization system for UFO experiences.

269
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,000
He identified them as close encounters.

270
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Today, the phrase is synonymous with extraterrestrial activities.

271
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:49,000
A close encounter of the first kind involves visual contact with an object less than 500 feet away.

272
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:54,000
A close encounter of the second kind includes physical effects.

273
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,000
So this could mean that a UFO causes a car's engine to die.

274
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,000
A close encounter of the third kind involves occupants of the UFO

275
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,000
and possible interaction between the occupants and the human witness.

276
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,000
Heineck's book becomes a runaway bestseller.

277
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:18,000
And in 1977, the now infamous term finds its way to the silver screen.

278
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:25,000
As the inspiration for Steven Spielberg's blockbuster hit Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

279
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,000
For the location of the film's finale, the director casts Devil's Tower

280
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:35,000
as the site of the climactic extraterrestrial encounter.

281
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,000
In the movie, several UFO contactees become obsessed with this image

282
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:46,000
and then they become obsessed with getting to where this image is, which is Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

283
00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:53,000
In a fitting nod of appreciation and respect, Spielberg even gives Dr. Heineck a cameo in the film.

284
00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:01,000
And today, the iconic peak of Devil's Tower stands as a magnificent testament to mother nature

285
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:09,000
and a reminder of one man who risked his livelihood in the pursuit of ideas that were truly out of this world.

286
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:18,000
The New York City neighborhood of Harlem is a world-renowned hub of African-American art and culture

287
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,000
thanks to the great migration of the early 20th century.

288
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:28,000
During this time, more than 6 million people fled the South in search of a better life.

289
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:36,000
But standing on the north end of Fifth Avenue is an obelisk that commemorates a group of black Americans

290
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,000
who traveled far beyond the nation's borders.

291
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:48,000
It's 12 feet tall, 3 feet at the base, it's black granite, and like the men that it honors, this monument is largely unknown.

292
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,000
This is the 369th Infantry Regiment Memorial.

293
00:29:54,000 --> 00:30:04,000
According to author Max Brooks, the soldiers immortalized here pushed themselves to the limit during an epic struggle for honor and equality.

294
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:11,000
In spite of tremendous adversity, this unit helped define a war, an army, and a nation.

295
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,000
April 1917, France.

296
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,000
World War I is raging.

297
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:29,000
America has just joined the Allies in the global conflict, and not a moment too soon.

298
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:35,000
By 1917, the British were teetering on the edge of exhaustion.

299
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,000
The French Army was at the end of its rope.

300
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,000
The question was, could the United States marshal enough men to save the Allies?

301
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:54,000
General Jack Pershing, commander of the American forces in Europe, calls on President Woodrow Wilson to send him one million troops.

302
00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:00,000
And by December, thousands of American soldiers have landed on French soil.

303
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,000
Among them is the 369th Infantry.

304
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:10,000
They are the first black combat soldiers America has ever deployed overseas.

305
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:15,000
But while these men may be new to Europe, they are no strangers to conflict.

306
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:25,000
Back in the U.S., where segregation and racial violence against African Americans is rampant, they live under constant threat of attack.

307
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:33,000
The conventional wisdom in 1917 among white Americans was that the African American was a lesser breed of human.

308
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:39,000
But by fighting for their country, the young men see an opportunity to finally prove their worth.

309
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,000
As black men, they wanted to prove themselves to their community.

310
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:48,000
And as Americans, they wanted to prove that they had a right to share in the American dream.

311
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,000
Yet the Army's high command crushes their aspirations before they had their chance.

312
00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:01,000
The top brass thought that the 369th were not worthy of the battlefield.

313
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:07,000
This unit was kept completely separate from whites, and they were made to do manual labor.

314
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:16,000
Instead of heading to the front lines, the 369th are put to work unloading ships in French ports.

315
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,000
These were combat troops. They were trained to go into the trenches.

316
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,000
And to suddenly be made to offload ships could not have been a greater insult.

317
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:33,000
The mood was grim. The mood was angry. They were described as orphans left on the stoop of France.

318
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:39,000
So will the 369th infantry ever get their chance to fight?

319
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,000
It's 1918 and World War I is raging.

320
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:55,000
When an all-African-American unit is sent to Europe, they see it as an opportunity to prove themselves as first-rate soldiers.

321
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,000
But upon arriving in France, they're told they're not allowed to fight.

322
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:04,000
So will these men get the chance to show the world what they're truly made of?

323
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:13,000
The 369th fear they'll be relegated to the sidelines for the rest of the war.

324
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:20,000
But then they get some unexpected news. Not from the American Army, but from the French.

325
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,000
The French were desperate for anybody who would help them.

326
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,000
Suddenly there was a unit of American troops that was willing to get into combat, and the French didn't think twice.

327
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,000
They took them with open arms.

328
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,000
It's the chance they've been waiting for.

329
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,000
They were given French helmets, French gear, French rifles.

330
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:46,000
In September of 1918, the 369th Regiment arrives on the front lines in northeastern France.

331
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,000
The battle they fight comes to be known as the Muse Argonne Offensive,

332
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,000
an arduous campaign to push enemy forces out of France for good.

333
00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,000
It was a bloodbath. They had to endure shell fire. They had to endure machine guns.

334
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,000
They had to endure poison gas.

335
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:12,000
Day after day, the men of the 369th Regiment bravely risk their lives.

336
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:20,000
You have men charging into shell fire and never retreating, never losing a foot of ground, never losing a man to capture.

337
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:28,000
The soldiers are so ferocious and unyielding on the battlefield that the enemy even gives them a nickname.

338
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,000
The Germans out of fear called them the Harlem Hellfighters.

339
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000
This was the unit you did not want to cross.

340
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:48,000
And in November of 1918, Germany surrenders to the Allies, signaling the end of World War I.

341
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:54,000
The Harlem Hellfighters set out to prove their mettle in combat, and they did it with honor.

342
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,000
They became one of the most decorated regiments in the entire U.S. Army.

343
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,000
Reports of their fearless feats make it back to America.

344
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,000
And in February of 1919, the men return home as heroes.

345
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,000
Over a million New Yorkers lined Fifth Avenue to welcome them back.

346
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:28,000
While a long fight for civil rights still lay ahead, the men of the 369th Infantry Regiment took a courageous and historic step forward.

347
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:35,000
The road to equality is made up of many stones, and one of those stones was laid by the Harlem Hellfighters.

348
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:51,000
And this monument, commemorating the Harlem Hellfighters, stands as a fitting testament to a brave group of men who battled hatred on two continents and emerged victorious.

349
00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:03,000
The town of Wyndham, Connecticut was once home to the largest thread mill in North America, hence its nickname Thread City.

350
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:14,000
But just downriver from the former mill's waterfall, a collection of unusual landmarks spins a far more chilling tale from the region's earliest days.

351
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:23,000
They're 11 feet tall, they're blue-green, they're made of bronze, and they have huge bulging golden eyes that are a little bit creepy.

352
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:28,000
And when you see these things, you wonder, what are they doing on the bridge?

353
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:39,000
This quartet of four-legged amphibians holds court on each end of the Thread City crossing, a 500-foot bridge that spans the Willimantic River.

354
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:50,000
And as author S. E. Schlosser can attest, these beguiling statues speak of a harrowing incident that left the people of Wyndham hopping with fright.

355
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:57,000
There was a tale of terror that left a peaceful community convinced that they were on the brink of destruction.

356
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:10,000
Wyndham, Connecticut, 1754. This agrarian community of 1,000 English settlers has fallen on hard times.

357
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:19,000
It is in the throes of a parching drought, and the people live in constant fear of being attacked by neighboring Native Americans.

358
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,000
If Wyndham had been attacked at this time, period, they wouldn't have survived.

359
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:30,000
To protect the town from this grim fate, local lawyer Colonel Elephant Dyer forms a plan.

360
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:40,000
Dyer was very aware that the town was vulnerable to a possible attack, so he started recruiting for militia out of the farmers and the other workers in his community at the time.

361
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:45,000
And the Ragtag Group will be called into action sooner than they think.

362
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:52,000
One night in June, the settlers are asleep when a strange chorus pierces the night.

363
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:56,000
This sound comes out of nowhere.

364
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:05,000
It was thunderous. It was shrieking and screaming and roaring. It woke everyone up in town.

365
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:15,000
They think the Indians must be massed outside our village, and this is a huge battle cry just before they come and kill us all in our beds.

366
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,000
The villagers descend into all-out panic.

367
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:25,000
Women were screaming, and little kids started crying. People were huddling in their beds. They were diving for cover.

368
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:30,000
As the townsfolk cry out in terror, Dyer quickly assembles his men.

369
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:37,000
The militia are grabbing any kind of weapon they can get their hands on. Pitchforks, guns, rolling pins, whatever they can get.

370
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:43,000
They brace for the onslaught. But the attack never comes.

371
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,000
They're exhausted from terror, and nothing's happened.

372
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:54,000
By morning, the horrific cries have died down, but the villagers still don't know if they're safe.

373
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:59,000
So Colonel Dyer forms a posse and sets off into the woods to investigate.

374
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:08,000
They're looking behind every rock, every tree, and every shrub expecting to find warriors waiting to attack, and there's no one there.

375
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:14,000
They are totally baffled. What in the world is going on? Where's the enemy?

376
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:23,000
But a few miles out of town, as the men near the crest of a hill, the bizarre cross, the men are all in the same place.

377
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,000
The cries return.

378
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,000
They think they're about to be attacked or terrified.

379
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:47,000
It's 1754 in Connecticut. The villagers of Wyndham are searching for a tribe of Native Americans who they believe were shouting battle cries during the night.

380
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:52,000
But what's really behind these mysterious nocturnal noises?

381
00:39:55,000 --> 00:40:02,000
As Dyer and his men creep up the hill towards the source of the noise, they brace themselves for battle.

382
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:08,000
But when they reach the peak, they encounter an eerie sight.

383
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:15,000
They get to the top. There's nothing there. No enemy.

384
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,000
Instead, all they see is a half-empty pond.

385
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:26,000
As they're walking towards the pond, they look down and look around.

386
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:35,000
They see hundreds and hundreds of dead bullfrogs all over the ground.

387
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:42,000
And the frogs that are still alive are making a kind of roaring sound at each other.

388
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,000
The embarrassed militia men breathe a sigh of relief.

389
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:59,000
But the question remains, why are there so many dead frogs?

390
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:13,000
The theory is that because of the drought, many colonies of frogs from several areas all decided that night to migrate to the only source of water that was left in the area, which was this mill pond.

391
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:22,000
Windomites believe that when there wasn't enough water to satisfy the frenzied mob, a massive and deadly battle ensued.

392
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:33,000
Their battle cries, multiplied by hundreds and hundreds of frogs coming from many directions, were what caused this huge sound that seemed to surround the town.

393
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:42,000
Two hundred and sixty years later, the legacy of a bullfrog battle endures as a piece of local folklore.

394
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:53,000
They actually put the frog on their town's seal. When they were minting their own money, they had pictures of the battling frogs on their one dollar bill.

395
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,000
And they've even created monuments to the frogs at each corner of the bridge.

396
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:12,000
And so today, these whimsical frog sculptures greet visitors to Windom, a reminder of the case of mistaken identity that terrified an entire town.

397
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:22,000
From a jilted spouse to a resurrected jockey, a blind inventor to a bullfrog battle.

398
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:27,000
I'm Don Wildman and these are the Mysteries at the Monument.