1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,960 Music 2 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:26,560 Welcome to Sightings. I'm Tim White. When you think of the word voodoo, what comes to mind? 3 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:34,160 Zombies rising from the dead, magic potions, evil spells cast by sticking pins into voodoo dolls. 4 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:38,160 Well, these may be the popular voodoo images learned from pulp fiction, 5 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:43,440 but they aren't reality. While real voodoo practiced in the United States is more benign 6 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,320 than you may think, black magic disguised as voodoo is more evil than you can imagine. 7 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,360 In November 1991, the law catches up with the reputed Florida drug lord Romeo Mathis. 8 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,800 For the past four years, many people believe Mathis has controlled a million-dollar drug empire 9 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:05,920 with powers he acquired through black magic. In fact, documents have been found showing 10 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:12,480 Mathis targeted 58 people for spells intended to cause death. Among those allegedly cursed were a 11 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:18,480 U.S. attorney, a federal judge, and a prosecutor. The black magic spells evoked by Mathis have been 12 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:24,720 called voodoo, but real voodoo is not black magic. It is a complicated religion, almost 13 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,760 completely misunderstood by the uninitiated. 14 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:51,440 Voodoo to Americans means black magic and zombies and pins and dolls. 15 00:01:51,600 --> 00:02:01,360 Voodoo to a scholar is the study or the observance of holy things. So the word voodoo actually means 16 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:08,160 holy or sacred. Pollywood is largely responsible for the misconceptions about voodoo, and tabloid 17 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,360 journalists have taken one of the world's oldest religions and reduced it to a series of sensational 18 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:19,840 headlines. True voodoo evolved from various African religions coming together during slave 19 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:25,840 trading in the 19th century on the island of Edin. After gaining independence from the French, 20 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:30,080 Haitians brought their practice of voodoo out of the mountains and into the open. 21 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:36,960 The Haitians are 90% Catholic, 10% Protestant, and 100% voodoo. I don't think that Haiti would 22 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,920 have been the first black republic. I don't think the Haitians would have achieved their independence 23 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:50,640 without the religion of voodoo. Voodoo gave them solidarity, which no other institution could 24 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:57,600 have given them. Today, voodoo thrives outside of Haiti, kept alive in peristals or temples around 25 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,520 the world. In Philadelphia, the peristyle Haitian sanctuary is just one of more than a thousand 26 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:05,520 voodoo sanctuaries in the United States. 27 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:20,880 Voodoo has become synonymous with the word evil and satanic. So it's something that everybody 28 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,280 hates and know nothing about. It's amazing the tremendous amount of ignorance people have about 29 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:31,120 something and yet have such a definite firm opinion about it. It is a perfect example of how 30 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:38,000 in this country people have lost the capacity for analysis, reflection, and clear thinking. 31 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:44,720 Voodoo's sacred secrets are guarded by priests and priestesses like Angela Novanyom. Angela 32 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:50,960 believes she was called to voodooism by a mysterious power. I had a dream about this place and I 33 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:56,720 didn't know what it was. I went to the travel agent and they showed me pictures. That's where I want 34 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:02,480 to go. They said that's Haiti and I was very sick and I lost my job. I didn't have anything to lose. 35 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:11,200 I went to Haiti and I became a priestess there. The voodoo service involves a complicated series 36 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:18,000 of rituals and ceremonies. Drumming and singing are used to call spiritual forces or loas to visit 37 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:23,920 the congregation. Believers claim to have a direct line to the spirit world when loas temporarily 38 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:25,920 possess the priests and talk through them. 39 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:39,840 Lower possession can be sudden and for some believers very traumatic. The writhing body 40 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:44,400 movements and altered state of consciousness are particularly disturbing the first time a 41 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:52,320 practitioner is possessed. When I came out of that possession my mother had me pinned up against 42 00:04:52,320 --> 00:05:00,480 the refrigerator with my arms stretched out and she was crying Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus 43 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:07,680 the blood of Jesus and then my mother said you possessed a devil. Since possession is frequently 44 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:13,200 associated with evil it has been difficult for voodoo practitioners to convince outsiders 45 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:20,240 that lower possession is benign and in fact positive. The constant metaphor used in a voodoo 46 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:28,000 ceremony is that the loa are like horsemen and the worshipers are like horses and during 47 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:36,240 a voodoo ceremony the loa will come down and ride the backs of the worshipers the way a horseman 48 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:43,600 rides a horse. It is believed that a loa completely obliterates the personality of the priest or 49 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:49,600 priestess being possessed and sometimes that kind of total possession will affect a member of the 50 00:05:49,600 --> 00:06:01,200 congregation with frightening results. Anybody can become possessed which is a danger because 51 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:07,600 not anyone can handle possession. There's a word in Haitian Creole it's the word is basal which is 52 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:14,080 means wild and if a person hasn't been properly initiated if she or he is contacted by the energy 53 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:22,160 of the loa is basically out of control. The first time that I got hit lightly with a possession I 54 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:30,000 was quite shocked and I said boy this is a lot realer than I thought it's so close it's a very 55 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:38,240 humbling experience you realize that it's beyond us. Anybody who's ever seen a voodoo ceremony and 56 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:45,600 isn't prepared for the phenomena of spirit possession would be I think shocked perhaps upset 57 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:51,840 if that person was not used to seeing people worship with their body as well as with their minds. 58 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:59,840 The rituals practiced at the Peristyle Haitian Sanctuary in Philadelphia are voodoo as a religion 59 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:07,200 offering guidance a strong sense of community spirit and a path to spiritual enlightenment. 60 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:12,400 How then did the myths about voodoo's dark side become so ingrained in popular culture? 61 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:20,800 Some scholars believe it happened here in New Orleans early in this century when voodoo was 62 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:27,120 popularized some say commercialized by priestess Marie Lavaux. One blue candle I brought is a 63 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,960 special offering to the spirit of Marie Lavaux because blue was her favorite color and she always 64 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:38,000 wore blue shawl and that was the blue that represented her great compassion and healing 65 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:44,960 quality of the mother. All of the power structure of New Orleans came to consult with her because as 66 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:50,160 a voodoo priestess of course she was able to talk to the law she was recognized as sort of the 67 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:57,520 unofficial mayor of the city. The voodoo practiced by Marie Lavaux and generations of disciples 68 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:04,080 after her has been preserved in the New Orleans voodoo museum but what is called voodoo here 69 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:09,280 is really a mix of many traditions including elements of black magic. New Orleans voodoo is 70 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,640 probably the most eclectic because people came here from all of the islands so they brought their 71 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,440 tradition with them and I think this is what's wonderful about New Orleans voodoo because it 72 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:27,760 really allows you to to be creative to express yourself through spiritual means. In small shops 73 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:33,680 called botanicas throughout the french quarter potions are available that believers claim can cast 74 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:40,320 spells on people. There are love potions, money potions, even a potion thought to cause a state of 75 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:46,160 waking death. Some voodoo practitioners claim zombies are human beings who have been given this 76 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:54,240 hallucinogenic potion but despite Hollywood's continuing fascination with the dark side of 77 00:08:54,240 --> 00:09:02,320 voodoo practitioners of true voodoo deny the very existence of zombies. The fight to establish the 78 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:07,600 legitimacy of voodoo as a positive faith has been made difficult by their practice of animal 79 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:13,920 sacrifice. Believers insist that what may look evil to outsiders is an important part of their 80 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:24,720 religion. For us the animal sacrificing is asking the loa to bless your offering so that you can 81 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:35,040 have holy meat to eat and is only done at a ceremony a real big ceremony which is a time where priests 82 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:41,040 and priestess must feed the poor. While some believers continue to concentrate on the positive 83 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:47,440 forces of voodoo there will always be those who exploit voodoo for their own purposes and as long 84 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:53,120 as the spells and curses of people like Romeo Mathis are exploited in headlines and on television 85 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:59,920 the religion of voodoo will remain feared and misunderstood. Voodoo gave purpose to my life. 86 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:05,040 I mean you're talking about a young african-american male coming up on the streets from the poor 87 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:10,560 community and not only physically cleaned me up but spiritually provided and nourished me. 88 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:18,800 It gave me things to learn new things fresh things new ideas new directions things that I never thought 89 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:27,840 of before. In the voodoo religion voodoo dolls are not as evil as we've come to believe the pins 90 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:33,360 traditionally stuck in the dolls were actually holding messages for the spirits. The idea that 91 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:38,800 these pins were meant to hurt people is pure imagination invented by writers trying to cash 92 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:46,400 in on the fear of voodoo cults. Coming up the psychic powers of healing and crime solving are 93 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:53,840 alive and well in Russia. What's the secret meet the amazing Russian psychics next. With a sightings 94 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:59,600 investigative team working in Russia we've been intrigued by the amount of respect and credibility 95 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:05,280 given to the paranormal by government agencies there. In Moscow the scientific research center 96 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:10,720 for traditional medicine is conducting serious research into psychic healing. For them psychics 97 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:17,440 who heal illness are put into the category of traditional medicine. Red Square continues to 98 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:23,920 symbolize the heart and soul of what used to be the Soviet Union. The military parades and communist 99 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:30,400 presence of the past are gone now but a team of psychics is free to make to perform an exorcism 100 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,400 on the evil spirits they believe haunt the Kremlin and Lenin's tomb. 101 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:45,360 Lenin's ghost is evil. He is still here with many other high-level communists who are buried in the 102 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:52,880 square. It's our duty as psychics to purge the Kremlin of these demons who have a stranglehold 103 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:59,840 on the people. Exorcising ghosts in a nation's capital may seem like a bizarre practice to Americans 104 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:05,360 but Russia is a land where psychic power is accepted by not only the citizens but by the 105 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:11,280 scientific community as well. This psychic claims that the supernatural energy emanating from his 106 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:17,680 hands is so strong that he can control the needle of a compass and beyond street demonstrations 107 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:23,680 like this psychics work with doctors to reportedly heal a variety of life-threatening illnesses. 108 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:30,320 The Moscow Police Department regularly employs psychics in unsolved cases including kidnapping, 109 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:37,360 missing persons and murder. The central clearinghouse for the study of clairvoyance and psychic healing 110 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:43,280 is the scientific research center of traditional medicine in Moscow. The center's director is Dr. 111 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:50,640 Vladimir Galperin. Our center is a fantastic research and treatment clinic. After conferring 112 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:56,880 with their own doctors, patients make appointments for sessions with our psychic healers. The healers 113 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:02,080 meet with the patients and design a program that heals the person without drugs or machines. 114 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,680 Our psychics are the best in the world and have documented results without even touching the person. 115 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:14,640 Dr. Galperin backs up his claims with data and statistics from years of scientific study. 116 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:19,120 He claims his psychics have had success with cases where medical doctors have given up hope. 117 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:23,680 People with terminal illnesses see this center as their last chance. 118 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:30,000 Every psychic on our staff is certified yearly by the scientific committee. They test the 119 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:36,480 psychics powers and verify their abilities. Only board certified healers work here. We guard against 120 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:42,640 charlatans and fakes. There's too much important work to be done. In addition to healing, the 121 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:48,880 psychics working at the center have branched out into other areas. Here, Moscow police detectives 122 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:57,360 ask the psychics help in solving a missing persons case. A man came from Prisq to Moscow to visit 123 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:03,920 relatives. After visiting, he disappeared without a trace. The number of unsolved crimes in Moscow 124 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:10,320 has risen dramatically. Overworked police are using every means possible to solve crimes. So, 125 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,160 you want to use our psychics as a means of finding the whereabouts of these people. 126 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,400 Absolutely. We find less than 10% of these people using traditional methods. 127 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,600 The police files are presented to the staff in a round table meeting. Dr. Galperin asks each 128 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:36,320 psychic to focus on the energy of the victim. This is not black magic. Our psychics have gifts 129 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:41,680 from God that they use to focus and interpret energy particles that are too small to be detected 130 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:48,080 by standard instruments. They use photographs only as a tool to help them visualize. The observations 131 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:54,640 of each psychic are recorded and the results are startling. The group unanimously agrees as to the 132 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:59,760 fate of the victim. They say that the man in this photograph was brutally murdered by organized 133 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:06,800 crime because he knew too much. The psychic Podlyagin receives the clearest visions and working with 134 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:12,480 the Moscow street map, he indicates exactly where he believes the man's body can be found. 135 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:26,240 Podlyagin led police to this location, an old Russian Orthodox cemetery in east Moscow. Strangely, 136 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:32,000 cemeteries are a common hiding place for murder victims in Russia. Organized crime often buries 137 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:37,920 bodies under existing coffins. To pinpoint the exact location of the body in this case, 138 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:44,160 Podlyagin uses divining rods, thin stainless steel pointers he believes pick up psychic energy. 139 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:51,760 It's a macabre form of dowsing designed not to find water but bodies. Podlyagin concludes that 140 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:57,600 the body is within 30 meters of this location. The group then relays their findings to police 141 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:02,160 detective Mikhail Ivanovich who has had success working with psychics in the past. 142 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:08,480 I've worked many cases with Podlyagin and I know him to be correct more than 80% of the time. 143 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,680 The case we are currently investigating is no different. In the past we have brought in the 144 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:19,600 canine squad with a homicide detective. The team follows the lead that Podlyagin has given them. 145 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:25,440 When the dog signals that something is buried, the men immediately dig. In the winter, this is a 146 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:30,880 difficult process. The frozen ground can hold up an investigation. But in the past, when we've had 147 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:36,800 such clear indications, it has only been a matter of time before the body was found. When a body 148 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:41,120 is unearthed, it is very gruesome as bodies that have been buried for a long time without 149 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:47,120 preservatives decay very rapidly. Once the positive idea is made with police techniques, 150 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:53,440 the case is closed and we can all go home. I cannot say that every case has a positive resolution 151 00:16:53,440 --> 00:17:00,320 because many crimes just remain unsolved. But despite his cautious attitude, 152 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:05,840 Detective Ivanovich remains hopeful that psychics like Podlyagin will be a successful addition to 153 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:12,080 his department. During our investigation, Podlyagin believes he has located the exact location of 154 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:17,920 this victim, buried directly underneath the coffin in this burial plot. At the time of our 155 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:23,920 investigation, the frozen ground and a scarcity of resources forced the police to postpone digging 156 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:31,360 at this site. Everything is difficult in Moscow right now. Our access to the necessary equipment 157 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:36,320 is limited. We are frustrated because we would like to dig immediately. But the case must wait 158 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,640 until spring when the ground is softer. Investigation will continue at that time. 159 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:47,600 The tragedy of cases like this one takes its toll on the psychics. But they are encouraged by the 160 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,680 healing work that they're also involved with at Dr. Galparen's Research Center. 161 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:57,440 We have many people who want to invest in our work and we want to teach the world about these 162 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:04,000 things. It's exciting to help so many people find health. And for those we cannot save, 163 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:10,480 we can at least illuminate the mystery and with a light on mystery, we will be led to true understanding. 164 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,600 Moscow police have now confirmed that after the spring thaw, they will dig at the site indicated 165 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:22,480 by the psychic Podlyagin. The fact that the Moscow police department credits their psychic 166 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:29,120 detectives with an 80% success rate is astounding. Perhaps with the new spirit of openness between 167 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:34,240 Russia and the United States, some of their psychics may soon be invited here to test their 168 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:42,240 accuracy on American soil. Coming up next, has science discovered the cosmic secret to time travel? 169 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,480 If you create the right kind of wormhole, you could also use it to travel through time. 170 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:53,040 For astronomers, few phenomena are as intriguing as black holes. To us, they may seem like little 171 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:59,200 more than dark, empty voids in space. But to the trained scientist, black holes represent 172 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:04,240 a world of possibilities, including the potential for real life time travel. 173 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,520 Literally black holes are star-gobbling objects. According to some estimates, 174 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:17,120 there are about 100 million black holes in our galaxy. So there's a very, very, very slight chance 175 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,880 that sometime over the next couple of hundred billion years, we might run into a black hole. 176 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:26,720 The Hubble Space Telescope recently took what may be among the most historic photos in the history 177 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,800 of science. And those are photos of what appears to be a black hole. This is the first really 178 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:36,160 convincing evidence that black holes do exist. This photo shows what appears to be a kind of 179 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:42,000 donut-shaped object surrounding a point of light. It's the area around the black hole where matter 180 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,400 tends to clump together just before it sucks ultimately to its doom inside the black hole. 181 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:52,960 Now that these new pictures have changed black holes from scientific theory to scientific fact, 182 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:57,200 space researchers are exploring the possibility that theories about time travel 183 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,360 and interdimensional space travel could also one day be scientific fact. 184 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:08,000 For years when people looked at black holes, they thought of them as time machines. What people 185 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:14,320 are talking about instead now are things called cosmic wormholes, which are special cousins of 186 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:19,760 the black holes. Although it has yet to be proven, scientists are pursuing the idea that wormholes 187 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:25,840 are really tears in the fabric of space. Could these holes be the intergalactic subway tunnels 188 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:30,640 of the future? If you create the right kind of wormhole, you could also use it to travel through 189 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:36,000 time. If time travel is possible, then why haven't we been invaded by hordes of tourists from the 190 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:43,200 future? Just as black holes were once only theory, scientists hope to someday prove that time travel 191 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:49,600 is also possible, and they're looking to the stars for that proof. The universe is an enormous place, 192 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:55,360 and people have to remember that the numbers are definitely in favor of the possibility of the 193 00:20:55,360 --> 00:21:00,240 existence of life, perhaps even intelligent life, on other worlds. I am very hopeful that 194 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:06,480 wormholes do exist because they would create the option of being able to travel to the distant stars. 195 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,160 If you've had a paranormal experience, our sightings investigative team would like to know. 196 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:18,320 At 1-900-740-SIGHT, each call 75 cents a minute, average call last two minutes, and you must be 18 197 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:19,680 years or older.