1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,400 You know what, I've been around for a while. 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:14,600 I've traveled the world, met some interesting people, done some crazy things. 3 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:19,040 So you might just think there's not much that could take me by surprise. 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,440 You'd be wrong. 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:27,540 The world is full of stories and science and things that amaze and confound me every single 6 00:00:27,540 --> 00:00:28,540 day. 7 00:00:28,540 --> 00:00:31,500 Incredible mysteries that keep me awake at night. 8 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:33,700 Some I can answer. 9 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:38,420 Others justify logic. 10 00:00:38,420 --> 00:00:45,060 Like the man who falls 47 stories from a New York skyscraper to the street below and lives. 11 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:51,220 Or what about the mysterious and deadly ice chunks, the size of basketballs falling from 12 00:00:51,220 --> 00:00:55,700 the sky and smashing into people's homes? 13 00:00:55,700 --> 00:01:00,460 And then there's the bizarre story of the seven dismembered feet that washed up on the 14 00:01:00,460 --> 00:01:04,380 beaches of Vancouver wearing sneakers. 15 00:01:04,380 --> 00:01:06,820 Yep. 16 00:01:06,820 --> 00:01:10,220 It's a weird world. 17 00:01:10,220 --> 00:01:11,500 And I love it. 18 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:32,740 December 7th, 2007. 19 00:01:32,740 --> 00:01:37,420 New Yorkers witness one of the strangest events in the city's history. 20 00:01:37,420 --> 00:01:42,720 I can remember myself and the other guys looking up and saying, it can't be. 21 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,580 Something that I cannot explain. 22 00:01:45,580 --> 00:01:52,660 A dramatic accident with an outcome that justifies reason. 23 00:01:52,660 --> 00:01:54,980 Listen to this. 24 00:01:54,980 --> 00:01:58,420 Our modern way of life runs on rules. 25 00:01:58,420 --> 00:02:01,860 Laws that need to be obeyed, telling us what we can or cannot do. 26 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:04,900 But really, most of these rules can't stop you from doing anything. 27 00:02:04,900 --> 00:02:07,180 If you choose to, you can break laws. 28 00:02:07,180 --> 00:02:10,740 But science is quite different. 29 00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:12,420 Take physics, for example. 30 00:02:12,420 --> 00:02:17,220 Here there are indisputable laws that physically cannot be challenged, certain facts that are 31 00:02:17,220 --> 00:02:18,220 absolute. 32 00:02:18,220 --> 00:02:22,940 I mean, the laws of gravity are not exactly open to interpretation, right? 33 00:02:25,980 --> 00:02:30,940 It's nearly Christmas in New York. 34 00:02:30,940 --> 00:02:40,660 An exciting time for everyone in the city, including brothers Alcides and Edgar Moreno. 35 00:02:40,660 --> 00:02:42,220 A working team. 36 00:02:42,220 --> 00:02:44,980 December 7th is another regular day on the job. 37 00:02:44,980 --> 00:02:48,540 But the Moreno job is far from regular. 38 00:02:48,540 --> 00:02:51,380 High above the streets of the Big Apple. 39 00:02:51,460 --> 00:02:56,860 Alcides and Edgar do what would certainly give me the heebie-jeebies. 40 00:02:56,860 --> 00:02:58,900 Their high-rise window washers. 41 00:02:58,900 --> 00:03:03,100 The window washers that I speak to seem to enjoy their work. 42 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:06,980 They can enjoy the sunrise in the morning. 43 00:03:06,980 --> 00:03:10,140 And this is their chosen field, and they like it. 44 00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:17,180 Today, the brothers will be cleaning the solo residences at East 66th St. in over 400 feet 45 00:03:17,180 --> 00:03:18,420 of glass. 46 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:22,060 On the roof, the men prepare to launch a platform like this one. 47 00:03:22,060 --> 00:03:26,140 It's designed to suspend them on the side of the building as they work. 48 00:03:26,140 --> 00:03:31,140 Unknown to them, there is a serious malfunction, and the Moreno brothers are just moments from 49 00:03:31,140 --> 00:03:34,060 a terrifying and spectacular accident. 50 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:38,660 The two window washers were preparing to launch the rig that morning. 51 00:03:38,660 --> 00:03:42,100 They got their equipment ready on the roof of the building. 52 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:44,660 So they had a bucket of hot water. 53 00:03:44,660 --> 00:03:47,060 They had squeegees. 54 00:03:47,060 --> 00:03:52,180 And they had this rig attached to a carriage and had electric motors that would elevate 55 00:03:52,180 --> 00:03:56,780 them and hold them in place. 56 00:03:56,780 --> 00:04:01,820 Photos from that day show the brothers put down their lunges before positioning the platform. 57 00:04:01,820 --> 00:04:09,060 It's approximately 22 feet in length by 2 1 1 1 1 foot wide, and it's designed to carry 58 00:04:09,060 --> 00:04:10,060 two workers. 59 00:04:10,060 --> 00:04:14,060 Then they swung the rig over the edge of the building and got on the rig. 60 00:04:14,060 --> 00:04:31,260 When the men stepped on the platform, the platform immediately gave way. 61 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:34,020 I saw the commotion. 62 00:04:34,020 --> 00:04:40,940 There were a lot of people standing in the street around the building screaming and pointing. 63 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:45,460 New York State safety inspector Kevin Dillon arrives on the scene and is witness to the 64 00:04:45,460 --> 00:04:46,460 carnage. 65 00:04:46,460 --> 00:04:49,620 There was debris all over the place. 66 00:04:49,620 --> 00:04:51,380 Scattered all over the place. 67 00:04:51,380 --> 00:04:54,180 There was blood. 68 00:04:54,180 --> 00:04:59,860 Tragically, 30-year-old Edgar Moreno was killed instantly. 69 00:04:59,860 --> 00:05:05,020 But among the wreckage, paramedic Gary Smiley makes an amazing discovery. 70 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:08,140 We entered the debris field because they had said there was a guy in there. 71 00:05:08,140 --> 00:05:11,340 We started to move a lot of the metal and debris. 72 00:05:11,340 --> 00:05:13,340 When I first saw him, he was in a sitting position. 73 00:05:13,340 --> 00:05:15,100 His hands were up around his chest. 74 00:05:15,100 --> 00:05:18,020 I went to touch him and he gasped. 75 00:05:18,020 --> 00:05:22,820 That took us aback because then we realized that this gentleman is actually still alive. 76 00:05:22,820 --> 00:05:29,060 I can remember myself and the other guys looking up and just saying to ourselves, it can't be. 77 00:05:29,060 --> 00:05:30,660 It's just impossible. 78 00:05:30,660 --> 00:05:35,780 With no time wasted, Alcides is rushed to the hospital. 79 00:05:35,780 --> 00:05:40,740 The fall has left him with broken ribs and legs and severe spinal injuries. 80 00:05:40,740 --> 00:05:44,180 But just two weeks later, on Christmas Day... 81 00:05:44,180 --> 00:05:49,500 I don't know what adjective you'd care to use on precedented, extraordinary. 82 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:53,460 If you are a believer in miracles, this would be one. 83 00:05:53,460 --> 00:05:57,300 Alcides gives his wife Rosario the best present she could ever wish for. 84 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:00,220 He speaks for the first time since the accident. 85 00:06:00,220 --> 00:06:03,820 He will make an incredible recovery. 86 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:04,900 I don't know what to tell you. 87 00:06:04,900 --> 00:06:06,660 I'm still at all. I'm still a show. 88 00:06:06,660 --> 00:06:10,180 I've worked as a paramedic in New York City for approximately 25 years. 89 00:06:10,180 --> 00:06:13,940 And I've never seen anyone fall from that height before and survive. 90 00:06:13,940 --> 00:06:15,300 It's truly amazing. 91 00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:18,140 I think Alcides has a guardian angel. 92 00:06:18,140 --> 00:06:23,020 To fall in excess of over 400 feet, it's just truly amazing. 93 00:06:23,020 --> 00:06:29,260 It would be millions and millions and millions to one of the odds of surviving a fall like that. 94 00:06:29,260 --> 00:06:32,100 I just can't explain how he could do that. 95 00:06:32,140 --> 00:06:36,260 Okay, even for New York City, this story is weird. 96 00:06:36,260 --> 00:06:37,220 Let's think about this. 97 00:06:37,220 --> 00:06:40,620 My single-story house must be what? 98 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:42,460 15 feet high? 99 00:06:42,460 --> 00:06:45,980 Even though I fell off my roof, it could be fatal. 100 00:06:45,980 --> 00:06:50,340 So imagine if my house was over 400 feet high. 101 00:06:50,340 --> 00:06:55,420 How can someone fall 47 stories and survive? 102 00:06:55,420 --> 00:06:58,540 The whole descent would have been over in less than five seconds. 103 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:03,860 But during that time, something extraordinary must have happened. 104 00:07:03,860 --> 00:07:06,580 But what? 105 00:07:06,580 --> 00:07:11,420 So let's try and unravel this seemingly impossible mystery by starting at the top. 106 00:07:11,420 --> 00:07:16,180 It's up here that investigators have discovered that the cause of the accident 107 00:07:16,180 --> 00:07:22,020 might be the key to understanding how Alcides Moreno survived. 108 00:07:22,020 --> 00:07:24,980 According to evidence recovered from the accident scene, 109 00:07:25,020 --> 00:07:29,420 the fall was set in motion by two simple but deadly events. 110 00:07:31,940 --> 00:07:36,020 The first concern the Moreno brothers themselves. 111 00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:41,060 If the workers had followed all the safety rules and regulations, 112 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:47,860 they would have been attached to their safety ropes and would have been left dangling on the side of the building. 113 00:07:47,860 --> 00:07:50,180 So why weren't the Moreno brothers saved by theirs? 114 00:07:52,580 --> 00:07:53,580 Simple. 115 00:07:54,980 --> 00:07:56,380 They weren't wearing them. 116 00:07:58,940 --> 00:08:05,620 The second crucial event concerned the way the scaffold had been set up. 117 00:08:05,620 --> 00:08:08,700 Now the window washing platform was supported by cables, 118 00:08:08,700 --> 00:08:11,180 connected to two arms overhead. 119 00:08:11,180 --> 00:08:13,860 These loops of cables, fastened by crimps, 120 00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:17,740 were the only things securing the rig to the building. 121 00:08:17,740 --> 00:08:20,100 And while analyzing photos of the wreckage, 122 00:08:20,140 --> 00:08:25,700 US Labor Department official Richard Mendelssohn discovered just how that rig failed. 123 00:08:25,700 --> 00:08:28,540 Here we see a shot of one of the crimps. 124 00:08:28,540 --> 00:08:31,580 So this is a crimp we recovered from the scene. 125 00:08:31,580 --> 00:08:36,900 And the crimps are the attachment devices that were supposed to hold that wire rope together. 126 00:08:36,900 --> 00:08:44,020 Amazingly, these two tiny crimps are capable of supporting the full 1,700-pound weight of a window washing platform 127 00:08:44,020 --> 00:08:46,260 and its crew, if properly fitted. 128 00:08:46,260 --> 00:08:51,740 What caused the platform ultimately to collapse was the fact that the crimps had not been pushed in enough. 129 00:08:51,740 --> 00:08:55,780 Since it wasn't crimped enough, the added weight of the two brothers, the two workers, 130 00:08:55,780 --> 00:09:00,020 as soon as they stepped on the platform was enough to cause it to fall. 131 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:04,660 But, and this is crucial, it's believed both crimps failed nearly simultaneously. 132 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:12,140 That means the platform was more or less horizontal when it fell 133 00:09:12,140 --> 00:09:16,420 and the two men stayed on board as it plummeted to the street below. 134 00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:21,180 This is where hard science takes over. 135 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:26,020 Physicist Professor Brian Schwartz has investigated every inch of this fall 136 00:09:26,020 --> 00:09:30,580 and he believes the platform may have contributed to our city's survival 137 00:09:30,580 --> 00:09:33,380 by slowing the rate of his descent. 138 00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:35,580 It's a very improbable event. 139 00:09:35,580 --> 00:09:39,700 If it were to happen again, the likelihood of survival is very, very small. 140 00:09:39,780 --> 00:09:45,580 The platform had a total area of 55 square feet, so that presented a fairly wide area 141 00:09:45,580 --> 00:09:48,300 and as a result the drag force was quite large. 142 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:52,300 That cuts the velocity by about 50 miles an hour. 143 00:09:54,100 --> 00:09:55,660 OK, let's think about this some more. 144 00:09:55,660 --> 00:10:01,300 When objects fall, air resistance pushes up to oppose the force of gravity pulling down. 145 00:10:01,300 --> 00:10:06,820 If the men hadn't been on the platform, they would have hit the ground at around 110 miles per hour. 146 00:10:06,820 --> 00:10:11,380 But because the force of drag was pushing up against the bottom of the platform, 147 00:10:11,380 --> 00:10:16,020 they were standing on, they were slowed to around 60 miles per hour. 148 00:10:18,140 --> 00:10:19,340 Does that help? 149 00:10:19,340 --> 00:10:27,340 It's better than 110, but 60 miles an hour is still fast enough to really result in usually death. 150 00:10:28,780 --> 00:10:35,140 So the fact that our cities were still on the platform wasn't enough to save his life during the fall, 151 00:10:35,140 --> 00:10:37,140 but what about the landing? 152 00:10:39,140 --> 00:10:46,540 In some final split second twist to fate, could something have broken our cities fall enough to save his life? 153 00:10:46,540 --> 00:10:49,540 Could the platform have helped him here? 154 00:10:50,740 --> 00:10:52,540 It's weird but true. 155 00:10:52,540 --> 00:10:57,340 High-rise window washer, our cities moreno, survived the seemingly impossible, 156 00:10:57,340 --> 00:11:01,700 a 47-story fall from a New York skyscraper. 157 00:11:01,700 --> 00:11:03,220 But how? 158 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:07,580 As investigators poured over the evidence, they discovered something even weirder. 159 00:11:07,580 --> 00:11:15,740 An incredible series of events in the final split seconds that may have combined to break our cities fall. 160 00:11:15,740 --> 00:11:20,740 What we can see here is we can see scrape marks and some damage to a parapet on one of the windows 161 00:11:20,740 --> 00:11:22,980 and then a scrape going down the face of the building. 162 00:11:22,980 --> 00:11:29,060 And this is where we believe that the side of the scaffold platform impacted the short building next to it. 163 00:11:29,060 --> 00:11:36,260 No one knows for sure if this impact was the moment that caused Edgar Moreno to be thrown from the platform and killed. 164 00:11:36,260 --> 00:11:43,860 One thing though is certain, Alcides remained on the platform with the rate of his descent reduced 165 00:11:43,860 --> 00:11:46,860 as he entered the final phase of the accident. 166 00:11:46,860 --> 00:11:53,260 The fall occurred in a certain way in which the sides of the scaffolding hit the buildings there in the alleyway 167 00:11:53,260 --> 00:12:00,860 and as a result the landing was a lot longer and a lot softer than it would have been had he just hit the ground flat. 168 00:12:00,860 --> 00:12:06,780 After hitting a ledge, the platform struck a low wall opposite, breaking his fall further 169 00:12:06,780 --> 00:12:14,460 and causing the platform to react in a crucial way that saves Alcides life. 170 00:12:14,460 --> 00:12:20,420 When the platform impacted the adjacent building in that short wall, it collapsed into a V. 171 00:12:20,420 --> 00:12:27,620 And my understanding is that Alcides was located in that V when the platform collapsed onto itself. 172 00:12:27,620 --> 00:12:30,180 But how would that have saved his life? 173 00:12:30,180 --> 00:12:36,220 Being a big fan of NASCAR and growing up with the family, we've always watched these horrific crashes. 174 00:12:39,580 --> 00:12:45,420 Where the car rolls and burns and all of a sudden you see a hand go in and releases a seat belt. 175 00:12:46,420 --> 00:12:50,420 And a guy walks away from a crash and you scratch your head and you say, 176 00:12:50,420 --> 00:12:52,420 well, how did he survive that? 177 00:12:52,420 --> 00:12:57,420 And this in my opinion is exactly how he survived. 178 00:12:57,420 --> 00:13:03,420 I believe that the platform created a roll cage and protected his body. 179 00:13:03,420 --> 00:13:09,420 The platform acted like a spring in some sense that it broke his fall. 180 00:13:10,420 --> 00:13:13,420 Well, what an irony. 181 00:13:13,420 --> 00:13:19,420 The very platform that caused this terrible accident helped protect Alcides. 182 00:13:19,420 --> 00:13:21,420 But that's not all. 183 00:13:21,420 --> 00:13:27,420 You see, Alcides' posture may also have helped save him too. 184 00:13:27,420 --> 00:13:33,420 The force of stopping got distributed over his whole body, so the force on any one part of his body 185 00:13:33,420 --> 00:13:38,420 was a lot smaller than it would have been had he hit, let's say, with his head first or feet first. 186 00:13:38,420 --> 00:13:43,420 You had 47 floors worth of cable and rope that was down in the backyard. 187 00:13:43,420 --> 00:13:47,420 It was a pretty immense rubble field that he was just, you know, 188 00:13:47,420 --> 00:13:52,420 as if somebody just placed them in the middle of it in probably the only, you know, 189 00:13:52,420 --> 00:13:55,420 survival position you could have found him in. 190 00:13:56,420 --> 00:14:00,420 It's the last piece to this incredible puzzle. 191 00:14:00,420 --> 00:14:06,420 Against odds of millions to one, a bizarre series of events 192 00:14:06,420 --> 00:14:10,420 combined to save this window washer's life. 193 00:14:13,420 --> 00:14:16,420 Many people believe Alcides' survival was a miracle. 194 00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:21,420 Well, if you think a miracle can be defined as incredibly good luck, they may be right. 195 00:14:21,420 --> 00:14:27,420 But it was also combined with the mind-boggling dynamics of simple physics. 196 00:14:27,420 --> 00:14:29,420 I like physics. 197 00:14:37,420 --> 00:14:43,420 You don't need me to tell you that the modern world can be a pretty dangerous place. 198 00:14:43,420 --> 00:14:50,420 Every day you go out the door, there's literally a million and one ways you can meet a terrible end. 199 00:14:50,420 --> 00:14:54,420 But you know, man's home is his castle. 200 00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:56,420 There's no safer place to be, right? 201 00:14:56,420 --> 00:14:59,420 At least that's what I used to think, but guess what? 202 00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:01,420 Times are changing. 203 00:15:01,420 --> 00:15:08,420 Now me, you, everyone we know is immortal danger at all times from a mystery assailant 204 00:15:08,420 --> 00:15:15,420 who can strike at our homes at any time. 205 00:15:18,420 --> 00:15:21,420 You see, all over the world, unaccounted, 206 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:26,420 objects have begun falling from clear blue skies with destructive 207 00:15:26,420 --> 00:15:30,420 and potentially fatal and very scary consequences. 208 00:15:33,420 --> 00:15:37,420 Come with me to the sleepy rural town of Brush, Colorado. 209 00:15:37,420 --> 00:15:41,420 Danelle Hagen was in the comfort of her own home 210 00:15:41,420 --> 00:15:43,420 when she was a little girl. 211 00:15:43,420 --> 00:15:46,420 She was a little girl, but she was a little girl. 212 00:15:46,420 --> 00:15:50,420 In the beautiful town of the city of Brush, Colorado, 213 00:15:50,420 --> 00:15:55,420 Danelle Hagen was in the comfort of her own home when she was attacked. 214 00:15:56,420 --> 00:15:58,420 This is my home behind me. 215 00:15:58,420 --> 00:16:07,420 Saturday morning, my daughter and I got up and were just doing normal Saturday morning relaxing kind of things. 216 00:16:07,420 --> 00:16:11,420 I had gone to sit at the computer, which is just right outside the kitchen area. 217 00:16:11,420 --> 00:16:14,420 Kind of quiet, having the coffee, trying to wake up. 218 00:16:14,420 --> 00:16:18,020 Her Saturday morning calm is about to be shattered 219 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,420 in the most terrifying and weird way. 220 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:24,600 So I was sitting about three feet outside the kitchen door 221 00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:28,160 when I heard a huge what sounded like an explosion. 222 00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:31,560 And I thought I was going to get up and look outside 223 00:16:31,660 --> 00:16:33,000 and see some horrific thing outside. 224 00:16:33,100 --> 00:16:34,300 I kind of turned to my left, which 225 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,500 would have been towards the kitchen. 226 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,640 And in that instant, the kitchen had been destroyed. 227 00:16:40,740 --> 00:16:42,240 I had beams hanging. 228 00:16:42,260 --> 00:16:44,440 The ceiling had crashed in. 229 00:16:44,540 --> 00:16:47,300 It was unbelievable. 230 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:48,900 And I was in shock, just speechless. 231 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,740 I was too dumbfounded to be scared at that point. 232 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,280 Immediately after the explosion, I 233 00:16:54,380 --> 00:16:56,040 think I was in too much shock to be scared. 234 00:16:56,140 --> 00:16:57,380 My daughter was hysterical. 235 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,380 She came running out, screaming, crying. 236 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:01,420 She couldn't get out of the house fast enough. 237 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:02,720 And at that point, I was trying to decide 238 00:17:02,820 --> 00:17:04,420 if it was safe for us to be there. 239 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,960 I didn't know if a gas line, something had happened. 240 00:17:07,060 --> 00:17:09,360 And if something else would explode. 241 00:17:09,460 --> 00:17:10,760 And I was basically in shock. 242 00:17:10,820 --> 00:17:14,060 I really didn't know what to do at that point. 243 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,660 Initially, Danelle thinks it was caused by an exploded gas 244 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:18,620 line. 245 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:20,960 But when an inspector surveys the damage, 246 00:17:21,060 --> 00:17:24,760 its extraordinary origins are revealed. 247 00:17:24,860 --> 00:17:27,500 Guy said, you know, you didn't have an explosion out. 248 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:29,400 You had something crash through. 249 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:30,680 As we started looking around the kitchen, 250 00:17:30,780 --> 00:17:32,940 it was when we first saw this huge chunk of ice, 251 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:34,440 about the size of a bowling ball. 252 00:17:34,540 --> 00:17:38,880 A huge ball of ice weighing about 20 pounds 253 00:17:38,940 --> 00:17:41,780 had crashed into Danelle's home. 254 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,280 When I saw the large chunk of ice, 255 00:17:43,380 --> 00:17:45,540 I didn't immediately connect it with anything 256 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,040 having crashed through. 257 00:17:47,140 --> 00:17:48,480 It was just, oh, how odd. 258 00:17:48,580 --> 00:17:50,180 You know, why would there be ice in the middle of all 259 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:51,720 this rubble in the kitchen? 260 00:17:51,820 --> 00:17:53,520 So I didn't immediately put it together. 261 00:17:53,620 --> 00:17:55,820 It was after the fire department came 262 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:57,160 and the gentleman from the gas company 263 00:17:57,260 --> 00:17:59,220 that we all started piecing things together. 264 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,460 Ice? 265 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:02,400 But ice is our friend. 266 00:18:02,500 --> 00:18:03,360 We skate on it. 267 00:18:03,460 --> 00:18:04,460 We put it in our drinks. 268 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,260 We use it to help relieve injured muscles. 269 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,160 Oh, no. 270 00:18:10,260 --> 00:18:15,420 This ice was not nice. 271 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:25,360 It was huge, just like this one, weighing about 20 pounds. 272 00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:28,600 Imagine this crashing through your ceiling. 273 00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:34,320 So where in heaven's name did a piece of ice this size come 274 00:18:34,420 --> 00:18:34,820 from? 275 00:18:38,020 --> 00:18:40,160 Basketball-sized piece of ice. 276 00:18:40,260 --> 00:18:42,300 Maybe Chaco Neal finally made a free throw. 277 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,860 To answer that question, I'm going to need some help. 278 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,900 Some friends of mine, researchers at the Texas Tech, 279 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,700 are going to see what kind of damage ice can do. 280 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,840 How are they going to do this? 281 00:18:58,940 --> 00:19:01,580 We're the huge cannon, of course. 282 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,820 Today, we're going to shoot some ice. 283 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,020 Sounds like fun, but let's get on with it. 284 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:07,640 In their first test, they're going 285 00:19:07,740 --> 00:19:12,280 to shoot a 5-pound ice chunk at its terminal velocity. 286 00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:14,480 That's the fastest speed that an object can 287 00:19:14,580 --> 00:19:16,880 fall through the air. 288 00:19:16,980 --> 00:19:19,020 For a 5-pound chunk, the terminal velocity 289 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:22,160 is about 110 miles per hour. 290 00:19:22,260 --> 00:19:25,260 This is going to simulate the speed of a ball of ice, 291 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:28,700 the size of a melon, falling from at least 2,000 feet. 292 00:19:28,700 --> 00:19:30,080 Clear? 293 00:19:30,180 --> 00:19:37,180 Three, two, one. 294 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:42,680 And look at that. 295 00:19:42,780 --> 00:19:44,520 It went right through like a bullet. 296 00:19:44,620 --> 00:19:46,720 Let's see that again in slow motion. 297 00:19:46,820 --> 00:19:48,160 I've always wanted to say that. 298 00:19:53,460 --> 00:19:55,660 So we've confirmed that a falling chunk of ice 299 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:57,160 can rip through the air. 300 00:19:57,220 --> 00:19:58,960 And that a falling chunk of ice can 301 00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:00,460 rip through the roof of a house. 302 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,100 But this is nowhere near the destruction 303 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,400 seen in Denel's roof. 304 00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:07,100 It is estimated that a ball of ice 305 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,900 the size of a basketball, like the one that hit Denel's house, 306 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,340 would have likely been traveling 307 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:17,080 at a terminal velocity of approximately 150 miles per hour. 308 00:20:17,180 --> 00:20:18,840 But the test is only a partial success, 309 00:20:18,940 --> 00:20:20,620 because we're not able to calculate 310 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,380 from what height the ball of ice actually fell. 311 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:24,780 So we're determined this. 312 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,080 We'll need more clues. 313 00:20:28,180 --> 00:20:32,980 The most likely suspect you might think is this stuff, hail. 314 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,180 Frozen water droplets that form in thunderstorm clouds 315 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,720 up to 70,000 feet high and have been known 316 00:20:38,820 --> 00:20:41,720 to do some serious damage. 317 00:20:41,820 --> 00:20:45,260 Like here in Edmonton, Canada, where in 2007, 318 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,300 hail the size of baseballs smashed down 319 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,000 into dark, heavy clouds onto residential areas. 320 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:56,700 But 700 miles away in Vancouver, 321 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,060 a sky filled with thunderstorm clouds 322 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,540 isn't exactly what Chris Drabb remembers, 323 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,740 when a huge ice bomb crunched into his neighborhood in 2009. 324 00:21:10,580 --> 00:21:12,780 This was undoubtedly the strangest, 325 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,160 the most fascinating thing I've ever seen in my life. 326 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:21,320 It was a very hot, sunny, bright Friday afternoon, 327 00:21:21,420 --> 00:21:23,660 and I was mowing my lawn. 328 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:28,260 And I hear what was a loud noise, 329 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:30,760 like an artillery shell or something thundering. 330 00:21:30,860 --> 00:21:34,000 And I look up in the sky and I see something 331 00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:37,200 falling at incredible velocity. 332 00:21:37,300 --> 00:21:41,380 I could see coming down this direction here, 333 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:45,380 what looked like a large chunk of rock 334 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,380 or a large chunk of something, 335 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,540 trailing a plume of white debris or smoke after it. 336 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,840 I didn't know what to think of it. 337 00:21:52,940 --> 00:21:57,740 It didn't compute because the sky was sunny, it was hot, 338 00:21:57,840 --> 00:21:59,680 there wasn't a cloud in the sky. 339 00:21:59,780 --> 00:22:02,540 Just like the case of Danelle Hagan, 340 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,380 Drabb's ice bombs came from seemingly nowhere 341 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,840 on a perfectly calm and sunny afternoon, 342 00:22:09,900 --> 00:22:16,500 meaning it can't behave weirder and weirder. 343 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,640 OK, where else could it be coming from? 344 00:22:20,740 --> 00:22:21,700 Here's a clue. 345 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,300 Danelle's house happens to also be in the approaching flight 346 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,440 path of a major airport. 347 00:22:28,540 --> 00:22:31,240 Coincidence? 348 00:22:31,340 --> 00:22:33,700 Could the world of aviation be responsible 349 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:35,800 for these mysterious ice bombs? 350 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,200 As commercial pilot Stuart McCaskill knows, 351 00:22:44,300 --> 00:22:48,000 the aviation industry has problems of its own with ice. 352 00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:51,000 There's been a lot of accidents because of icing on airplanes. 353 00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:54,240 So now, icing and flying and icing 354 00:22:54,340 --> 00:22:58,600 is of huge importance and a number one item in all of aviation. 355 00:22:58,700 --> 00:23:02,800 Right, so ice builds up on the aircraft in two ways, 356 00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:05,600 on the ground or in flight. 357 00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:09,200 Flight icing occurs when a plane flies through a cloud 358 00:23:09,260 --> 00:23:11,860 filled with tiny droplets of supercooled water 359 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,360 that freezes upon impact. 360 00:23:14,460 --> 00:23:18,360 For ice to form on a wing, you need supercooled water droplets. 361 00:23:18,460 --> 00:23:21,060 If this ice builds up, it doesn't conform to the wing. 362 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,260 It's all over the place, and you can get varying degrees 363 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,400 of aerodynamic instability. 364 00:23:26,500 --> 00:23:27,560 So it's a weight thing. 365 00:23:27,660 --> 00:23:30,060 She's destroying the lift. 366 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,860 Yeah, there is no doubt ice can be a major problem. 367 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,260 That's why the aviation industry has developed 368 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,820 sophisticated anti-icing equipment. 369 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,320 So we've looked at the wheel well, we've looked at the wing. 370 00:23:46,420 --> 00:23:49,820 Yeah, shiny nose, sorry. 371 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,320 But is there any place left on the plane we still haven't looked? 372 00:23:57,820 --> 00:23:59,820 Oh, no. 373 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:03,220 Could the urban legend of airplanes letting go 374 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,020 of their frozen toilet waste in mid-air 375 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:06,980 actually be true? 376 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,480 Is it possible that the 20-pound ice chunk that fell from the sky 377 00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:15,820 and destroyed Danelle Haken's kitchen 378 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,720 originated in the lavatory of a passing commercial airliner? 379 00:24:24,220 --> 00:24:27,420 An aircraft system is just the same as an RV system 380 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:29,880 in that it is self-contained. 381 00:24:29,980 --> 00:24:32,680 This is the access panel for the lav service, 382 00:24:32,740 --> 00:24:37,140 and it's serviced on the ground in-flight, not accessible, 383 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,740 and any seepage from this area in-flight would be minuscule 384 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,540 and certainly would not lead to any ice build-up 385 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,780 that would fall from the airplane. 386 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,980 I can't imagine where this sort of ice formation 387 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,540 would take place or anything of this size on an airplane 388 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,440 and then jettison itself and fall to the earth. 389 00:24:56,540 --> 00:24:59,540 I really can't imagine how that might happen. 390 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,780 Okay, this is getting spooky. 391 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,780 If it's not hail and it's not from an aircraft, 392 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,040 maybe we need to go higher still to find the source 393 00:25:11,140 --> 00:25:12,980 of these killer ice bombs. 394 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,740 Could the culprit be from outer space? 395 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:18,280 Take comets. 396 00:25:18,380 --> 00:25:21,080 Comets are made of rock, dust, frozen gases, 397 00:25:21,180 --> 00:25:23,740 and you guessed it, ice. 398 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:29,740 Ice that vaporizes to resemble a tail as they approach the sun. 399 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:30,840 The scary part? 400 00:25:30,940 --> 00:25:34,940 Sometimes they smash into planets like in 1994 401 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,400 when a fragment from Comet B Shoemaker, Levy 9, 402 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:39,800 collided with Jupiter, 403 00:25:39,900 --> 00:25:42,600 releasing a frightening energy equivalent 404 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:48,040 to six million megatons of TNT. 405 00:25:48,140 --> 00:25:51,240 But as astronomer Robert Stencil knows, 406 00:25:51,340 --> 00:25:53,440 the earth has a natural defense system 407 00:25:53,540 --> 00:25:56,700 to help protect us from similar disasters. 408 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,560 What we anticipate happens when comets encounter 409 00:25:59,660 --> 00:26:02,260 the Earth's atmosphere is that they heat up in a hurry 410 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:06,060 and 99.999% of that would vaporize 411 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:08,560 before they reach the ground. 412 00:26:08,660 --> 00:26:11,100 So could the ball of ice that destroyed 413 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,560 Denel Hagen's kitchen have been the surviving remnant 414 00:26:14,660 --> 00:26:15,800 of a comet? 415 00:26:15,900 --> 00:26:18,200 For something to survive to the ground 416 00:26:18,300 --> 00:26:21,060 and still be the size of a basketball, 417 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,560 it would probably have to be of order a million times larger. 418 00:26:27,060 --> 00:26:28,420 And that's the problem. 419 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,020 In a world that constantly watches the skies, 420 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,360 would a comet 160 miles across, 421 00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:38,560 plummeting through space towards us, go unnoticed? 422 00:26:38,660 --> 00:26:40,960 I hope not. 423 00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:44,000 So we checked out Hale, we checked out the plane, 424 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:48,920 we checked out the bathroom, and we checked up in space. 425 00:26:49,020 --> 00:26:53,520 Where else is there left to look? 426 00:26:53,620 --> 00:26:56,220 Meet meteorologist David Jones. 427 00:26:56,340 --> 00:26:59,540 He has a theory that we are dealing with a whole new kind 428 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:05,080 of weather phenomena that puts us all in potential danger. 429 00:27:05,180 --> 00:27:07,180 They're not cosmic, they're not from space. 430 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,940 The theory is that these great chunks of ice 431 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,280 form very high in the upper atmosphere, 432 00:27:12,380 --> 00:27:17,640 above the level where most of normal day-to-day weather occurs. 433 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:20,440 OK, this is where we need a good old-fashioned sixth grade 434 00:27:20,540 --> 00:27:22,680 science lesson. 435 00:27:22,780 --> 00:27:24,780 It's right here in the boundary region 436 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,500 between the moist upper troposphere 437 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,700 and the cold lower stratosphere where Jones believes 438 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,280 the process of ice crystal formation starts. 439 00:27:34,380 --> 00:27:37,880 Wind shear, caused by the mixing of warm and cold air, 440 00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:41,240 creates powerful turbulence that is strong enough 441 00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:46,140 to keep ice bombs aloft as they grow. 442 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,440 And the growth of those ice crystals 443 00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:50,480 is supported by the turbulence. 444 00:27:50,580 --> 00:27:52,680 And the turbulence in this very moist air 445 00:27:52,740 --> 00:27:56,480 allows the crystals to grow, somewhat like hail stones do, 446 00:27:56,580 --> 00:28:01,280 until they're so heavy that the strong winds can't support them 447 00:28:01,380 --> 00:28:03,180 and they fall to the ground. 448 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:04,620 Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. 449 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,560 What are these mutant ice monsters called? 450 00:28:07,660 --> 00:28:08,520 I'll tell you. 451 00:28:08,620 --> 00:28:12,960 Mega cre... cremata? 452 00:28:13,060 --> 00:28:19,060 I'm sorry, I'll get it right next time when there's no airplane. 453 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:20,440 There's nothing wet, I promise you. 454 00:28:20,540 --> 00:28:22,400 So what are these mutant ice monsters called? 455 00:28:22,460 --> 00:28:23,520 I'll tell you. 456 00:28:23,620 --> 00:28:26,300 Mega... uh... 457 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,400 Mega cryo meteor. 458 00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:31,660 Mega meaning large, cryo meaning ice, 459 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,700 and meteor meaning of atmospheric origin. 460 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,440 Frighteningly, reports of these mega cryo meteors 461 00:28:40,540 --> 00:28:42,580 seem to be on the increase. 462 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,780 In 2007, for example, a resident of Tampa, Florida, 463 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,580 was working on his Red Hot Ford Mustang 464 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520 when suddenly it got iced by a chunk 465 00:28:51,580 --> 00:28:53,620 the size of a basketball. 466 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,220 Yikes. 467 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:59,580 It struck with so much force, the roof was completely flattened, 468 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:04,060 and the heavy sports car bounced four feet off the ground. 469 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:08,600 Since about 1950, there have been about 100 verifiable reports 470 00:29:08,700 --> 00:29:12,200 of these ice chunks falling from clear blue sky. 471 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:17,040 Since about 2001, there's been well over 50 472 00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:19,140 of these events reported. 473 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:22,760 And that, according to many scientists, 474 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:26,600 is because mega cryo meteors might be yet another consequence 475 00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:30,240 of global warming, increasing the levels of warm air 476 00:29:30,340 --> 00:29:32,540 that reach the stratosphere. 477 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,540 There's no way to say whether we're going to see more 478 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,980 of these weird events in the future. 479 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,580 So whether the mega cryo meteor theory is true or not, 480 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,820 one thing is for sure, it's time to watch the skies... 481 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,140 because you might be next. 482 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,880 Or even worse, me. 483 00:30:08,980 --> 00:30:11,980 Some people just don't know what's going on. 484 00:30:12,980 --> 00:30:15,980 Some people just love hanging out at the beach, not me. 485 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,980 I'm a pool kind of guy. 486 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,980 I don't like skimming him, but I like swimming him. 487 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,980 I mean, just think about all the dangerous and slimy creatures 488 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,620 that are in the ocean, and then there's all the junk 489 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,720 we put in there, pollution, trash, sewage. 490 00:30:33,820 --> 00:30:36,860 Did you know it's been estimated that for every square mile 491 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,860 of ocean, there's around 45,000 pieces of floating plastic in it? 492 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,960 Whew, this next tale is about the most sinister, 493 00:30:47,060 --> 00:30:49,260 mysterious, and downright, I'm sorry, 494 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,960 weird collection of seaborn debris ever to wash up 495 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:55,960 on the shores of North America. 496 00:30:57,260 --> 00:31:00,400 Vancouver, British Columbia, a lovely place famous 497 00:31:00,500 --> 00:31:04,740 throughout the world for staging the 2010 Winter Olympics. 498 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,940 But infamous for a series of grisly and downright 499 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:10,620 weird discoveries. 500 00:31:13,220 --> 00:31:17,720 August 20, 2007, Jedediah Island near Vancouver, 501 00:31:17,820 --> 00:31:20,020 a young girl taking a walk on the beach 502 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,020 makes a disgusting discovery. 503 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,160 November 12, 2008, a couple walking their dogs 504 00:31:30,260 --> 00:31:33,300 just a few miles away in Richmond, British Columbia 505 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,700 discover something equally as horrific. 506 00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:41,500 I saw a running shoe thrown up on a rock. 507 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,100 I felt a strange sensation. 508 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,000 It compelled me to do something about it, not visual. 509 00:31:48,100 --> 00:31:50,600 It's just a sense that I had. 510 00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:54,180 Curiosity soon turned to fear when they looked inside. 511 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:55,340 Then I could see there's something in it, 512 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,620 so I wanted to figure out what it was. 513 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,680 The shoe was in pretty good condition. 514 00:31:59,780 --> 00:32:03,880 As they turned it over, it looked like a athletic sock 515 00:32:03,980 --> 00:32:06,120 that had been well-aged with what I would call 516 00:32:06,620 --> 00:32:08,780 a large ham knuckle bone in there. 517 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:12,720 Now this is where it gets really scary, 518 00:32:12,820 --> 00:32:16,980 because what lay in the shoe wasn't animal flesh. 519 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:18,320 It was a human foot. 520 00:32:19,620 --> 00:32:20,720 So what do we have? 521 00:32:20,820 --> 00:32:25,000 Two Vancouver beaches, two unrelated feet. 522 00:32:25,100 --> 00:32:27,560 It was a shocking find, but amazingly, 523 00:32:27,660 --> 00:32:31,700 according to police, not actually that odd. 524 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,840 There's a number of waterways that surround 525 00:32:34,860 --> 00:32:37,860 the Mitchell Vancouver area, so it's not that unusual 526 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,860 to have a variety of body parts wash up, 527 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:44,400 and it's not usually newsworthy. 528 00:32:44,500 --> 00:32:46,540 These two feet were just the beginning, 529 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,440 and as more sneakers wash up, 530 00:32:48,540 --> 00:32:50,600 news of this macabre mystery 531 00:32:50,700 --> 00:32:53,400 quickly spreads fear throughout the region. 532 00:32:53,500 --> 00:32:55,480 The left foot was spotted Monday morning, 533 00:32:55,580 --> 00:32:57,880 floating in the waters off Westham Island. 534 00:32:57,980 --> 00:33:00,920 The kind of case you could see in a crime show on television, 535 00:33:01,020 --> 00:33:03,720 but it's happening right now in the Gulf Islands. 536 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,220 After the fifth, sixth, seventh foot, 537 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:12,320 it does appear pretty odd, pretty unusual, 538 00:33:12,420 --> 00:33:16,720 and of course a number of theories have been put forward 539 00:33:16,820 --> 00:33:20,200 to us by the public through our website, et cetera, 540 00:33:20,300 --> 00:33:23,860 and there's certainly a curiosity 541 00:33:26,460 --> 00:33:27,900 to what's happening. 542 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,080 In a little over a year, a total of seven feet wash up 543 00:33:31,180 --> 00:33:34,380 on beaches in close proximity to Vancouver, 544 00:33:34,420 --> 00:33:38,260 five right feet, and two left, 545 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:41,760 all wearing sneakers. 546 00:33:41,860 --> 00:33:44,500 The media call it the case of the missing feet. 547 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,860 Meanwhile, the police and criminologist, Dr. Gale Anderson, 548 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:53,340 struggled to identify who the decomposing body parts belonged to. 549 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,700 We have DNA on all of the feet that have been found. 550 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,040 The problem is we don't have anything to match it to. 551 00:34:01,140 --> 00:34:03,140 Your DNA alone isn't going to tell you anything. 552 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:04,240 It's just a barcode. 553 00:34:04,340 --> 00:34:05,640 And you see, that's the problem. 554 00:34:05,740 --> 00:34:10,140 Without bodies, identifying the victims is nearly impossible. 555 00:34:10,240 --> 00:34:15,320 But at least analyzing the DNA does provide some data. 556 00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:18,060 Our investigation determined that the third foot and the fifth 557 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:22,720 foot were a match, and the fourth foot and sixth foot 558 00:34:22,820 --> 00:34:24,020 were also a match. 559 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,360 However, we still don't know who those feet belonged to. 560 00:34:27,860 --> 00:34:33,360 The case of the missing feet, a shudder at the thought. 561 00:34:33,460 --> 00:34:37,700 Where did these seven sneakers come from? 562 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:42,000 And to whom did the feet inside belong? 563 00:34:42,100 --> 00:34:44,640 All over the world, journalists, scientists, bloggers, 564 00:34:44,740 --> 00:34:48,440 and amateur sleuths weighed in with their theories. 565 00:34:48,540 --> 00:34:51,820 Were funeral home workers dumping bodies in the ocean? 566 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,620 Were medical workers, or were they just 567 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,720 workers dumping bodies in the ocean? 568 00:34:56,820 --> 00:35:01,220 Were medical students carrying out a sick prank? 569 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,420 Or was this the work of another Vancouver serial killer? 570 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,300 Yes, I said another one. 571 00:35:11,900 --> 00:35:15,840 A number of people have brought up the theory of, 572 00:35:15,940 --> 00:35:18,780 it's probably another serial killer. 573 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,980 In 2007, Robert Pickton was convicted of the murder 574 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,880 of six Vancouver women and charged in the deaths of 20 575 00:35:26,980 --> 00:35:28,140 more. 576 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:32,040 Could he have been responsible for the feet, too? 577 00:35:32,140 --> 00:35:34,780 But if the feet had been cut off by a serial killer, 578 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,320 the telltale signs of the act would be visible to forensic 579 00:35:38,420 --> 00:35:40,760 experts like Coroner Jeff Dolan. 580 00:35:40,860 --> 00:35:43,820 With respect to separation, whether it's a natural or 581 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:45,800 mechanical separation from the body, 582 00:35:45,900 --> 00:35:48,600 experts who conduct toolmark analysis 583 00:35:48,700 --> 00:35:51,840 would examine the bones to see what type of mechanism had 584 00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:54,200 actually separated that bone from the rest of the body. 585 00:35:54,300 --> 00:35:56,840 But the team came up with a surprising answer. 586 00:35:56,940 --> 00:35:59,240 There is no evidence that there was any kind of mechanical 587 00:35:59,340 --> 00:36:00,900 separation of these bones. 588 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,320 They've come apart at their natural point of separation. 589 00:36:04,420 --> 00:36:08,020 So if the feet had not been intentionally severed, what 590 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,680 happened? 591 00:36:10,780 --> 00:36:13,560 Dr. Anderson believes she has the answer based on her 592 00:36:13,660 --> 00:36:18,760 research into what happens to submerged flesh as it decomposes. 593 00:36:18,860 --> 00:36:19,860 This is Venus. 594 00:36:19,980 --> 00:36:22,220 It's the Victoria Experimental Network under the sea. 595 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,220 So look at decomposition underwater so that I could see 596 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,820 how a body decomposes. 597 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:27,960 What animals feed on it. 598 00:36:28,060 --> 00:36:30,460 When you bring the body ashore, you see marks on the body. 599 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:31,360 Well, what's that? 600 00:36:31,460 --> 00:36:32,160 Is that suspicious? 601 00:36:32,260 --> 00:36:33,260 Is that foul play? 602 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:35,600 Or is that just something naturally caused by animals 603 00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:36,840 in that area? 604 00:36:36,940 --> 00:36:39,500 Instead of putting more human cadavers at the bottom of the 605 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,640 ocean, Anderson has another option, a pig. 606 00:36:43,740 --> 00:36:45,180 Pig carcass is very similar to human. 607 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,480 So they do decompose in very similar manner to the way a 608 00:36:47,540 --> 00:36:48,700 human body decomposes. 609 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,600 And they're fed on, certainly, interestarily by insects on 610 00:36:51,700 --> 00:36:55,840 land in a very similar manner to that of a pig carcass, to a 611 00:36:55,940 --> 00:36:56,740 human body. 612 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,040 So we use these in a lot of our experiments. 613 00:36:59,140 --> 00:37:02,080 So we hope that these would be very, very similar to what 614 00:37:02,180 --> 00:37:04,820 would happen in a human case. 615 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,060 According to Dr. Anderson, the sea is a very inhospitable 616 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,320 place for bodies. 617 00:37:10,420 --> 00:37:12,500 In these cases with Venus, we've been able to see it 618 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,960 actually performed by these animals, by the crabs in 619 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,580 particular, the large dungeon-esque crabs and also the 620 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,580 smaller squat lobsters. 621 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,220 Once the flesh is gone, it doesn't take long for the body 622 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,420 to come apart, a nasty process known as 623 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,220 disarticulation. 624 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,720 Wrists and ankles have got lots of tiny little bones in them. 625 00:37:30,820 --> 00:37:33,760 So it's very easy to disarticulate those by natural 626 00:37:33,860 --> 00:37:36,560 activity. 627 00:37:36,660 --> 00:37:40,100 OK, so the process of decomposition underwater 628 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:45,360 will lead parts of the body to come loose to disarticulate. 629 00:37:45,860 --> 00:37:49,000 So why was it that only feet were washing up on the beaches 630 00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:52,900 of British Columbia, one at hands or even heads? 631 00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,140 Perhaps the answer lies in the footwear itself. 632 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:01,780 The feet that have been washed ashore were in running shoes. 633 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:03,580 Now, if you think about a running shoe, throw one in a 634 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:05,180 swimming pool, it floats. 635 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:06,480 So it's a floatation device. 636 00:38:06,580 --> 00:38:08,820 And I think that's probably why you're specifically 637 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,320 finding feet and not finding the rest of the body. 638 00:38:11,420 --> 00:38:15,320 OK, so we know that feet can naturally come free as a 639 00:38:15,420 --> 00:38:16,620 body decomposes. 640 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:19,560 We figured out why they floated ashore. 641 00:38:19,660 --> 00:38:21,260 But the real mystery remains. 642 00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:29,900 Where did the seven feet come from? 643 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,580 In a little over a year, seven dismembered feet 644 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:36,980 washed up on beaches in and around Vancouver. 645 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,520 Police now know that the feet weren't sewn off, 646 00:38:39,620 --> 00:38:42,880 thankfully, and that it was the sneakers that floated them 647 00:38:42,900 --> 00:38:43,980 to shore. 648 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,380 But the origins of these feet remain a mystery. 649 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,920 Many believe that the feet were a grim souvenir 650 00:38:51,020 --> 00:38:54,720 of the massive Asian tsunami of 2004, 651 00:38:54,820 --> 00:38:57,920 a theory supported by the fact that one of the shoes found 652 00:38:58,020 --> 00:39:01,400 was only sold in India in 2003. 653 00:39:01,500 --> 00:39:04,000 We were getting phone calls, emails, letters 654 00:39:04,100 --> 00:39:07,940 from around the world, people who had missing family members 655 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:09,040 from the tsunami. 656 00:39:09,140 --> 00:39:10,480 Seems plausible. 657 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:13,180 But according to oceanographer Eddie Carmack, 658 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:17,340 the tsunami theory holds no water. 659 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:19,080 One thing to understand about the oceans 660 00:39:19,180 --> 00:39:23,960 is that they are a system highways that we call gyres. 661 00:39:24,060 --> 00:39:27,760 Water goes around and around in these gyral orbits. 662 00:39:27,860 --> 00:39:29,620 And particles following these orbits 663 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:32,900 can come from great distances at sea. 664 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,560 I would think it very unlikely that the feet would have 665 00:39:35,660 --> 00:39:37,540 come from the Indian Ocean. 666 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,100 The ocean currents don't link up that well. 667 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:41,900 It's not a very direct path. 668 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,100 And if something did drift from there, 669 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:49,140 it would take well over a decade to reach these shores. 670 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:52,040 Given that feet started appearing just three years 671 00:39:52,140 --> 00:39:54,140 after the tsunami, investigators 672 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:56,740 are forced to start looking for another explanation 673 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,840 and turn to the recent crash of a small plane off 674 00:40:00,940 --> 00:40:02,880 the coast of British Columbia. 675 00:40:02,980 --> 00:40:04,580 At that stage of the investigation, 676 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:06,720 only one individual had been recovered, 677 00:40:06,820 --> 00:40:08,420 restaurant accounted for. 678 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:11,180 When the feet began to appear, we 679 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:13,480 expected to have a hit in that cluster. 680 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:15,920 But these hopes were soon dashed. 681 00:40:16,020 --> 00:40:18,260 The DNA from the feet doesn't match 682 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,360 with any of the crash's victims. 683 00:40:21,460 --> 00:40:23,960 A global search for clues has turned up nothing. 684 00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:26,400 The feet can't be coming from tsunami victims. 685 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:29,900 They didn't float thousands of miles across the sea. 686 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,240 So maybe they came from closer to home. 687 00:40:33,340 --> 00:40:37,740 Facing a dwindling list of possible explanations, 688 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,840 Carmack has a theory that the shoe's origin is a lot closer 689 00:40:41,940 --> 00:40:46,440 to home, and he has a novel way to prove it. 690 00:40:46,540 --> 00:40:47,840 Well, what I'm holding in my hand 691 00:40:47,940 --> 00:40:51,980 is an old recycled running shoe. 692 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:57,760 It's been inserted with a satellite track GPS system, 693 00:40:57,860 --> 00:41:01,000 and it has been ballasted. 694 00:41:01,100 --> 00:41:02,760 So when this is thrown in the water, 695 00:41:02,860 --> 00:41:07,000 it's about as close to replicating the pattern 696 00:41:07,020 --> 00:41:09,200 that a drifting shoe would follow. 697 00:41:09,300 --> 00:41:12,600 By dropping these shoes from various points around Vancouver 698 00:41:12,700 --> 00:41:15,900 and tracking their every motion via GPS, 699 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,900 Carmack believes he knows which currents carried 700 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:20,880 the missing feet to shore. 701 00:41:20,980 --> 00:41:23,380 Behind me is the Alex Fraser Bridge. 702 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,720 Fraser River is flowing from my left to my right to the sea. 703 00:41:27,820 --> 00:41:31,420 Three of the shoes were found on the mouth of the river 704 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:33,460 on the islands downstream. 705 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,660 So the direction of travel is certainly 706 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:37,620 consistent with the pathway of the river. 707 00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:41,720 So it appears that the river, not the ocean, 708 00:41:41,820 --> 00:41:44,300 is the likely source of the shoes. 709 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,000 But investigators still have no names, 710 00:41:47,100 --> 00:41:48,740 and they're growing desperate. 711 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,440 So we have gone public with the photos of the footwear 712 00:41:52,540 --> 00:41:54,600 in the hopes that somebody would recognize it 713 00:41:54,700 --> 00:41:58,140 as belonging to that of their loved one. 714 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:00,220 This ID tactic seems like a long shot, 715 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:04,520 but apparently it's right on target. 716 00:42:04,580 --> 00:42:07,920 The first foot, which was located on Genedaya Island 717 00:42:08,020 --> 00:42:12,720 on August 20, 2007, was later identified 718 00:42:12,820 --> 00:42:16,500 to that of a missing person, missing male, 719 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:18,900 from the Lorraine land here. 720 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,800 He was last found to be in some type of emotional distress. 721 00:42:23,900 --> 00:42:28,640 Suddenly, in a sea of red herrings, one theory stands out, 722 00:42:28,740 --> 00:42:32,340 a surprising appearance of naturally disarticulated body 723 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:35,800 parts with no visible sign of homicide, 724 00:42:35,900 --> 00:42:39,640 all found in water systems near bridges. 725 00:42:39,740 --> 00:42:41,940 They could be suicide victims. 726 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:45,280 They could have been people that jumped off the bridge. 727 00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:51,620 We have a number of people that are presumed dead in a database 728 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:56,520 where only their vehicle was found parked on a bridge. 729 00:42:56,620 --> 00:42:59,500 And while the suicide theory seems likely, 730 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,360 it remains just that. 731 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:03,460 A theory. 732 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:06,240 They all remain active investigations. 733 00:43:06,340 --> 00:43:09,440 And there's no such thing as a cold case. 734 00:43:09,540 --> 00:43:13,040 We never thought that we would end up at seven feet. 735 00:43:13,140 --> 00:43:16,920 Only time will tell whether or not there will be an eight. 736 00:43:17,020 --> 00:43:21,720 In the end, there are no hard answers, just more questions. 737 00:43:21,820 --> 00:43:26,160 And after three years, seven feet, and endless questions, 738 00:43:26,260 --> 00:43:30,560 the case of the missing feet remains open and unsolved. 739 00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:38,400 So there we have it, three strange and mysterious stories, 740 00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:43,140 but each with many plausible theories to explain them. 741 00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:46,820 Did Al Cidiz Moreno survive his 47 story fall 742 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,020 because of a freak series of events 743 00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:50,880 conspired to break his fall? 744 00:43:50,980 --> 00:43:52,780 It seems so. 745 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,500 And the lone Ice Bombs falling from clear-blue skies 746 00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,800 with a sin of an indifference between the two 747 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,760 Ice bombs falling from clear blue skies all over the world. 748 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,480 A new quirk of global warming? 749 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:07,320 Maybe. 750 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,680 And will we ever find a conclusive answer 751 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:12,880 to finally close the case of Vancouver's 752 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,200 seven washed up feet? 753 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:16,160 Who knows? 754 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:21,760 Join me next time for three new stories 755 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:23,760 that will be undoubtedly 756 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:27,040 weird or what.