03x09 - Panama UFO Disc, Bloody Red Sea, and the Dyatlov Pass Incident

[bunniefuu]

- Tonight on The
Proof Is Out There,

a strange sound from the deepest
part of the Pacific Ocean.

- We just had not heard
this kind of thing before.

Is it mechanical,
animal, or alien?

A mysterious object spotted
near the Panama Canal.

Is Central America
the new UFO hotspot?

- This made me do a double take.

A case that
puzzled experts for decades.

What really happened
to this group of hikers

found dead in the
Russian Mountains?

- One theory suggests that it
may have been a Russian Yeti

that attacked and k*lled
these nine hikers.

And the ongoing
story of a phantom plane

that's seen on radar
but nowhere else.

- It's possible that what
we are seeing in this image

is a new technology that's
not released to the public.

Around the
globe are videos.

What
the heck is this?

It's moving.

Photos and sounds
that defy explanations.

Is it some kind
of unidentified object?

What's exciting is
nobody really knows.

What are they?

Some sort of
bizarre mutation.

- Extraordinary claims
need extraordinary proof.

- I'm Tony Harris,

and as a journalist
for more than 30 years,

I've followed the facts
where they take me.

Now I'm bringing that
spirit of investigation

to the world's strangest
sounds and images.

We'll analyze each
one with top experts.

- It's a credible case,
it's a credible video.

And pass a
verdict on what it is.

- This video was clearly faked.

- The proof starts now.

Good evening and welcome
to The Proof Is Out There.

We know the ocean is as
mysterious as it is deep,

but what we don't know is
why there's been a spate

of odd creatures from the depths

washing up in the same
area in California.

See if you can figure it out.

It's 2021 at scenic
Crystal Cove, California,

a seaside nature preserve
in Orange County.

While out for a refreshing
surfside stroll,

one beachcomber comes
across a carcass

that looks like something
imagined by Jules Verne.

The photo shows a
bizarre, huge, round fish

with a gaping toothed mouth

and an odd,
joystick-like appendage

protruding from its body.

It seems to lack eyes and fins,
and its near black coloring

only adds to its disturbing
phantasmagoric appearance.

And this incident
was not a fluke.

Pun intended.

Yeah,
it's a barracuda.

It's a barracuda.

No, a barracuda
looks like this.

What we see here
is another bizarre,

out-of-place sea creature that
washed up in recent months.

A few miles up the coast,

a strange fish flailing
about on the beach.

Are these creatures
natural, and if they are,

what accounts for their
appearance on these shores?

Field researcher, Ken Gerhard
goes fishing for an explanation.

- Some UFO theorists talk
about Sycamore Knoll,

a strange, anomalous
structure about 2,000 feet

under the water off the
coast of California.

UFO enthusiasts have speculated
that it might represent

some type of
underwater alien base.

The Sycamore
Knoll is three miles wide

and 2,000 feet
beneath the surface.

That alien base theory
stems from its oval shape

and perfectly flat surface.

One theory is that the Sycamore
Knoll is emitting signals

that are driving deep
sea fish to the surface.

Another theory is that we are.

- Another possibility is
that the U.S. military

and other military
forces around the world

deploy new types of sonar and
underwater experimentation,

driving these strange-looking
creatures to the surface.

- Another note.

22 miles off the coast
of Southern California

lies Catalina Island,

a place where some
of our own experts

have recently been documenting
anomalous activity in the skies.

In other words, this
area is a noted hotbed

for unexplained phenomena.

So what are these
strange creatures,

and why are they washing up
on shore with such frequency?

Let's hear from the experts.

Marine biologist, Shea Conger

says the strange fish in
the photo can be identified.

- This is a football fish, which
is related to angler fish.

Football fish have this large
lure on top of their head

to bring in prey to eat.

This is not an animal that
we would expect to see

washed up on a beach, because
it is a very deep sea animal.

She also identifies the
long skinny fish from the video,

which is very unusual
to find on dry land.

- This is the lancet fish,

and they're typically
very deep-dwelling.

A lot of benthic or abyssal
fish are built like this,

where they have
really striking fins

that help them stay
upright in the water,

and they have these
long, sinuous bodies,

because they live under
a lot of pressure.

By abyssal, she
means the zone of the ocean

roughly 10,000 to 20,000
feet below the surface,

where no light reaches,
resulting in perpetual darkness

and an absence of
oxygen-producing plant life.

But the mystery remains.

Why are these deep sea creatures

turning up on the
beaches of California?

Conger considers the
Sycamore Knoll theory,

but she says it's
not an alien base.

It's a natural geological
formation called a seamount.

- This is probably just
a normal ocean feature,

and seamounts like this

are actually really
important for ocean life.

But what could
cause the creatures

congregating around the
Sycamore Knoll to wash ashore?

Conger moves on to the top
secret experiment theory.

- Military testing is
definitely an explanation

of why we might
find deep sea fish

abnormally washed up on shore.

Sonar testing is
incredibly powerful.

Being hit with that high
impact of sound and pressure

can be very injurious or even
deadly for marine animals.

Conger also
suggests a natural cause:

underwater seismic activity.

- Many of the
Earth's fault lines

are actually off the
coast of our continents,

so there could be earthquakes,

and that's why we have
tsunamis, for example.

There's a lot of
volcanic activity

under the ocean as well,

and it's not unfeasible that
this would cause animals

to wash up on shore.

But at
the end of the day,

she thinks the
real culprit is us,

specifically the global
fishing industry.

- Within the last decade,

there's been an uptick
of species washing up

that are traditionally
deep water species.

The reason for this
may have to do with

when humans are out fishing,

we catch a whole variety of
species in those fishing nets,

and the animals that aren't
marketable are discarded,

and eventually they
float to shore.

- Our verdict?

We're looking at a football
fish and a lancet fish,

both deep water creatures.

As to why they washed up,
that remains a mystery.

I'm drawn to the fishing theory,

but you can pick your favorite.

We're gonna stay with
the Pacific Ocean now,

but we are going much
deeper, literally.

The Mariana Trench
of the Pacific Ocean

is nearly 36,000 feet deep.

To put that in perspective,

you could pick up Mount Everest
and drop it in the trench,

and the mountain
would still be a mile

below the water's surface.

Due to such enormous depths,

the trench still has not
been widely explored,

so when a monstrous
sound was detected there,

it was a mystery for us all.

It's November 16th, 2014.

Dave Mellinger and his
team of marine researchers

drop a passive
acoustic ocean glider

into the deepest part
of the Pacific Ocean,

the Mariana Trench.

There, they record this.

The five-part sounds,

which last no longer
than 3.5 seconds each,

include deep moans at
frequencies as low as 30 hertz,

low rumbles, high
pitched screeching,

and a strangely metallic finale

that reaches frequencies

as high as 8,000 hertz.

The noises return.

Let's turn up the volume.

A weird auditory mixture

of the biological
and the mechanical,

leading to confusion
over the likely cause.

- We ran across this very
strange, unusual sound,

which we later called the
Western Pacific Biotwang.

We started hearing
it, and we were like,

what the heck is that sound?

But we really didn't
know what this sound was.

We just had not heard
this kind of thing before.

Journalist Erin
McCarthy says the biotwang

emanates from a place so remote,

it might as well
be another planet.

- Up until recently, more
people had been to the moon,

so you're looking at
an area of the planet

that is basically
like an alien world.

I think it's fair to
say that this sound

is fairly alien-like, which has
led some people to speculate

that aliens have set
up underwater bases

in the Mariana Trench,

because it's more like
their world than it is ours.

But that isn't the
only possible explanation

for the mechanical sound.

- A potential explanation

is some kind of top-secret
military transmission.

The U.S Navy has
conducted underwater experiments

for decades; some
of the most famous

include the Sealab
underwater habitats.

There was an underwater
nuclear b*mb test,

and, more recently, they've
started testing b*ll*ts

that can sh**t from underwater.

Until recently,
scientists assumed

that the murky depths of the
Mariana Trench were quiet,

but research teams
have since discovered

that it is actually
abuzz with sound.

A NOAA research
oceanographer has even said

that there is almost
constant noise

from both natural
and man-made sources.

So the question remains:

what created these
mysterious sounds?

Our experts go on a deep dive.

First, could the sound
be seismic activity?

The Mariana Trench is a
hotbed for earthquakes,

thought to be due
to the high pressure

at the bottom of the trench.

Compared to the nearly 15 pounds

per square inch of
pressure we feel on land,

the ocean floor has a
pressure of over 16,000 PSI,

and scientists theorize
that this pressure,

alongside the seawater,
lubricates the fault lines

enough to create
frequent sudden slippage

in the tectonic plates.

Soundscape ecologist, Dr.
Ben Gottesman has his doubts.

- There's hundreds of
thousands of earthquakes

happening each year.

It's one of the more
common acoustic signals

we have in our oceans.

This is super low frequency,

and it's this continuous rumble,

which is way different
than the biotwang.

We could say definitively

it's not caused by
seismic activity.

Next,
Gottesman explores

whether the noise
might be manmade.

- We can compare it with
sonar of a submarine.

So you have this
repetitive, simple pinging.

Contrast that with
this biotwang,

which is extremely
complex, five parts.

So this biotwang
is not a sonar.

Marine
biologist Dr. Shea Conger

focuses on the bio
in the biotwang.

She thinks it could be
an animal, but what?

- This sound was similar
in pattern and frequency

to marine mammals that use sound

either to inform or locate

other individuals
of their species,

or they might use echolocation

to navigate their environment.

So if it is biological,

Conger wonders if it
could be something

from an undiscovered or
presumed extinct species.

- In recent years, there have
been sightings or biopsies

of whales that we
thought were extinct

and in fact, they weren't.

We're only getting small
glimpses of what's going on

in places like the
Mariana Trench.

Conger
believes the biotwang

was made by one such species,

not one believed extinct,
but one that's rarely seen.

- The researchers that
study these types of animals

were able to determine that this
is probably a Bryde's whale.

They spend a lot of
time at the surface,

but they're very elusive,

and we don't know
a lot about them.

But hang on.

As Dr. Conger mentioned,

the Bryde's whale spends
the majority of its time

in the top 10 meters
of the water column,

not the bowels of the
planet's deepest ocean trench.

And there's another problem here

with the persistence
of the sound.

- These whales primarily
use these sounds for mating,

which happens mostly
in late winter,

but this sound,
they've recorded it

all year round at this location.

- Okay, so the ocean scientists

say the Bryde's whale
theory is possible,

but as we just saw, it doesn't
really fit all the facts.

The sound is similar
enough to other whale calls

to rule out anything mechanical.

But our verdict?

This is an unidentified
ocean animal,

quite possibly a species
we've never seen before.

- Many religions share a
belief in doomsday prophecies

that describe the
end of the world.

Until now, the most terrifying
images of these end times

have appeared only
in our imaginations.

But could a recent
incident in the holy land

be seen as an omen, heralding
the day of judgment?

It's September 2021 near
the shores of the Dead Sea

in Ghor Al-Haditha, Jordan,
when scientists get wind

of a positively biblical
event taking place.

They head to the
site to check it out.

There they film a scene
straight out of a horror film.

The water in a small pool
by the side of the Dead Sea

has turned blood red overnight.

The Dead Sea and other nearby
pools are still deep blue,

but this one spot is
unmistakably crimson.

Journalist Eric Grundhauser
says the location of this event

naturally brings up
biblical connotations.

- The site sits on what
is believed by some

to be the location of
ancient Sodom and Gomorrah,

famously destroyed by God
for their sin and iniquity.

This could be a signal
of a modern plague

that we are being punished
for our modern sinfulness.

Catholic miracle
researcher Michael O'Neill

says it hearkens backs
the book of Exodus,

when God unleashed
plagues to punish Egypt

for enslaving the Israelites.

- It's one of the
first of 10 plagues.

God commands Aaron to stick
his staff in the water,

and when he does so,
it turns to blood.

All the fish die.

The Egyptians are unable
to drink from that water

or any of the nearby springs.

- Several books of the
Bible prophecy that the moon

will turn into blood
at the end of days.

As a result, some
believe it's a bad omen

to have four consecutive
total lunar eclipses

where the moon briefly
turns a reddish hue,

what is known as a blood moon.

So is this red pool also a sign?

It's no secret that the Dead Sea

is one of the world's
saltiest bodies of water,

and the area around it is famed
for its geological oddities.

So is this an act of God, a
unique natural phenomenon,

or perhaps some
combination of the two?

O'Neill first investigates if
it could be divine retribution.

- In 1981, in those Marian
apparitions in Kibeho, Rwanda,

that were approved by the
Vatican as being authentic,

several children saw
visions of the Virgin Mary,

and they saw rivers of blood

that were a foreshadowing
of the Rwandan genocide.

In this case,
they tested the water,

and it's not blood.

But a similar recent incident
at the Alexander River

in nearby Israel was
the blood of animals

dumped from a local
slaughterhouse.

So could ill*gal waste
disposal, just not blood,

also be to blame
at the Dead Sea?

- Typically that would be
in a moving body of water

that can flush away pollutants

or in a larger body of
water, like the sea.

This is a really
isolated pool of water.

Then if it's
not human dumping,

archeologist Dr. Ed
Barnhart considers

that the reddish hue
could be plant-based.

- There's a lot of
salt content here.

That is an environment in which

a particular kind of red
algae can really thrive.

So when the water
becomes more salty,

the sort of things that
eat the algae die off,

and only the algae
can proliferate,

and that turns the water red.

But Conger
is somewhat skeptical

that algae is the
answer in this case,

since this is the only
red pool in the area.

- If this is actually
an algal bloom,

we would probably expect
to see this happening

in other bodies of water
around it, but we're just not,

so I don't think that's
what's happening here.

So if it's
not animal or plant,

could it be mineral?

Geologist Dr. Bob Anderson says
a natural occurring element

is likely the cause.

- From the scientists
who have done soil

and water samples in that area,

they're seeing higher
concentrations of manganese,

most likely in the form
of manganese oxide.

Manganese oxide would act
very similar to iron oxides,

causing this water to turn red.

Manganese is usually
a brown-black substance,

but in some rare cases,
manganese oxide can take on

the same rusty orange
red color as iron oxide.

That seems to
solve this mystery.

Our verdict? Manganese oxide.

Scientists say the
mineral could have entered

the stagnant pool
through fissures

that allow fresh water to
bubble up from the seabed.

But does that
natural explanation

mean it's not the hand of God?

Or is the natural
world, as many believe,

just another of his
tools to communicate?

That is a matter of opinion.

- There are more objects
flying in our skies

and orbiting in space
than ever before.

At any given moment,

there are as many
as 20,000 planes

and nearly 5,000
satellites above our heads,

and that's not even
counting the drones.

So it takes something pretty
unusual to grab our attention,

and this next sighting

recorded near the Panama
Canal, no less, did just that.

It's October 9th, 2019
in Panama City, Panama.

Jose Angel Castro is strolling
on a pedestrian bridge

when he suddenly notices
something strange

floating in the sky.

Take a closer look.

A thin, smooth, white disc is
simply floating in the sky.

Now, if you've
watched us before,

you may think this is just
another case of reflection

or optical illusion,

but there's no doubt in
Jose's mind what he's seeing.

Journalist
Erin McCarthy

isn't surprised by
Jose's reaction.

- There are UFO sightings
in Central America

pretty frequently,

usually around volcanoes
and things like that,

so it doesn't surprise me

that someone would
think this is a UFO.

In fact,
just this year,

a recently resurfaced
photo of this flying saucer

in neighboring Costa Rica
has been making headlines,

some calling it the best
UFO photo ever taken.

The image was captured
in September 1971

during a survey for a
hydroelectric project

and estimated to be between
120 and 220 feet in diameter.

The photograph was analyzed in
France and the United States

by different organizations
and confirmed to not be faked,

but what it is remains
a mystery to this day.

So we have a 50-year-old
UFO seen over Costa Rica.

Now this mysterious white disc
seen near the Panama Canal?

What's going on here?

Is there something
drawing extra terrestrials

to Latin America?

We asked our experts
to take a look.

We begin with aviation
expert Tim McMillan.

In this footage, the
object is so flat and long,

it sure doesn't look
like a plane or a drone,

and McMillan says it
doesn't look or move

like a balloon either.

- If it was a balloon,

we should be seeing more
of a larger, oval shape.

The lighter-than-air gases
that are inside of that

that would be causing it to fly

would be distributed in a manner

where it wouldn't stay level,
and we don't see that here.

But McMillan
does observe that,

whatever this craft is,

not everyone in the video
is as excited as Jose.

- We can see the gentlemen
that are in the cherry picker,

but we can't help but notice

that they seem unaffected
by whatever this is,

so that's kind of a
red flag there to me.

Next, we
ask science writer

Mick West to take a look.

Could this footage
simply be a hoax?

- Quite often you can see
people use a Gaussian blur,

de-focusing technique when
they make fake videos,

but this looks more like a
proper out-of-focus video.

I can't see anything that
really stands out as fake.

- So then is Jose right?
- Could this be an actual UFO?

- The thing about it being a UFO

is that it doesn't do anything
particularly interesting.

It doesn't change direction.

It doesn't appear to hover
without any means of propulsion.

It doesn't really meet any

of the interesting
criteria of a UFO.

However,
West does have a clue

that meets his criteria
to solve the mystery.

- We know it's a real video,
shot in a real place.

We can look it up.

So here we've got Panama
City, and we can zoom in,

and find the Albrook
Mall right here.

And this is where
the video was filmed.

He's on this bridge
here, I believe,

and he is taking the
video in this direction.

West says that
Jose's location is the key.

- Right behind,
there is an airport.

Now, there'd be
these buildings here,

which are obscuring the
view of the airport.

We can see the plane
would've started

down at this end of the runway.

Mick says the
brightness is caused

by the angle of the sun
reflecting off the wing.

It's the intense light rays

that obscure the
rest of the plane.

- And it's pretty consistent

with something like a Cessna

with a high wing and
the fuselage underneath.

Some friends of mine on
my website, Metabunk,

actually tracked
down an actual plane

that was taking
off at that time.

It's a Cessna 182,

which would be white and
illuminated by the sun,

and that would give the
appearance of a saucer.

- Our verdict? Airplane.

The angle and the
reflected sunlight

made it look like
a flying saucer.

But as of now, the
good people of Panama

and that crucial canal remain
safe from alien invasion.

Planes are tracked
almost everywhere by radar.

Sometimes, though,
the signal disappears

and the plane keeps going.

But what does it mean if
the signal keeps going

and the plane disappears?

Follow closely now.

This story takes place
in November 2021,

off the coast of Russia

and in the deserts of Arizona.

People are monitoring
a flight tracking site

called Flight Radar 24 that
tracks planes in real time,

when they start noticing
something strange going on.

They share screenshots
from the site,

showing a plane
identified as Avrora.

It looks like it's on a standard
trans-Pacific flight path

from Arizona to Russia,
but it's actually not.

Its callsign is seen flying
over Arizona's Sonoran Desert,

when it suddenly disappears.

It's gone for almost 22 hours.

Then it reappears off the coast

of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula,
over 4,000 miles away,

where it is spotted for
the next three days.

It's a flight that should
only take 8 to 10 hours,

and there's no data showing a
path between the two points,

so it's just an
interpolated great circle,

a perfect arc between
the two points,

which likely doesn't
accurately represent

a real flight path.

And when the radar tracking
is examined more closely,

it appears that when the
aircraft was over Arizona,

it was just doing tight circles.

Science journalist
Amy Teitel says

that's not the only odd
thing about these images.

- This plane with this callsign
has never been seen in person.

It is only visible
on this website.

This is not the normal
type of call sign.

They usually have
a flight number

and the aircraft or
the airline identifier.

There's a
military testing site

in the Sonoran Desert,

near where the call sign
was spotted over Arizona,

so perhaps this was a
secret government experiment

or an attempt to get intel.

- The fact that it's flying

between the United
States and Russia

does suggest we're going
back to Cold w*r days,

that it could be some kind
of new spy technology.

Some also
believe this could be

an extra terrestrial craft
with stealth capabilities

creeping along to
secretly observe Earth.

Another possibility
for how a spacecraft

could disappear and reappear
over 4,000 miles away

is that it could be
using hidden portals

that travel from one
point to the other

without being detected
by prying eyes.

This fits with a UFO theory
known as Dark Forest,

which suggests alien species
purposely hide from us

because they are not sure yet

if we're a threat to
them or will become one.

This theory stems from
the Fermi Paradox,

which suggests
there's a disconnect

between the number of
advanced civilizations

that should be in space

and the lack of hard
evidence for any of them.

The term Dark Forest comes
from a novel of the same name

that compares the
universe to a dark forest

where every species
st*lks through the woods

as stealthy hunters.

Scientists believe
this dark forest idea

could potentially explain why
we haven't been picking up

extraterrestrial radio activity.

It's because they are hiding

as they scan the
universe for threats.

So could this be a stealth UFO?

Let's turn to our experts.

Aviation expert Tim
McMillan examines the data

to see if it could have an
extra terrestrial origin.

- These particular devices
are only picking up

the transponders that are
coming off of the aircraft,

and so I would be inclined
to say it's not a UFO,

because it has a transponder.

But video analyst Mick
West says there's something

about how the transponder
is transmitting its code

that still seems off.

Could it be a glitch
in the system?

- The transponder codes that
we see here are the ICAO,

the International Civil
Aviation Authority Codes.

They are a six-digit,
hexadecimal code,

which means it uses the
digits zero through nine

and A through F.

But in this case we
don't have a code,

we just have all fives,
which is an invalid code.

Then could
it be a plane

that's relaying a false code
to trick a potential adversary

into thinking it's
there when it's not,

a practice known as spoofing?

- Explain why you would
spoof that particular image,

because nothing about the
data that's being provided

resembles a real aircraft.

McMillan says the
data makes it hard to believe

this could be a real plane,
nevermind a fake one.

- It's moving extremely slow.

It's going around
three knots an hour,

slower than even a
balloon might travel,

and it's only at about
3,300 feet in altitude.

None of that matches
with a known airplane.

So West comes up
with only one possible answer.

- I think what we have here
is two separate incidents.

An aircraft in Arizona,
possibly an aircraft in Russia,

that just happen to have the
same invalid transponder code.

West says the planes

likely don't have
a transponder code,

so they're being assigned
the same default code:

555555.

So while the Russian plane's
call sign may be Avrora,

the tracking system is
accidentally identifying

a different plane in Arizona

that's using the same
default 555555 code

as the Russian plane Avrora.

- Avrora is simply the Russian
spelling of the word aurora,

and Aurora is actually the
name of a Russian battleship,

so it kind of hints at some
kind of Russian military origin

for the callsign.

We don't know what
the aircraft is,

we don't know what was hovering
over the ocean in Russia,

and we don't know what was
making circles in Arizona,

so it's a mystery.

- We think West's
guess that these

are two separate aircraft
is the most likely,

but even that theory requires

a series of
coincidences to line up.

So for now, we're
going to consider this

an unsolved aviation mystery

until we get more information
about this unusual callsign.

- Last season, we showed
you a rectangular object

flying over Wichita, Kansas

that was not
identifiable as a plane

nor any other easily
recognizable aircraft.

Now, rectangular UFOs are
strange, even by UFO standards,

so when another one
appeared on this next video,

we knew we had to investigate.

On a clear December day,

a father and daughter are
driving south on Route 347,

near Phoenix, Arizona, when
they spot something unusual.

They pull over to
the side of the road

and begin recording this.

- Here we go guys.
- What is this right here?

Flying through the
air above South Mountain

is what appears to be a black,
rectangular-shaped object.

It's
definitely not a plane.

You see that? Let's
zoom in for a closer look.

Four solid corners
are clearly visible

as the object glides
over the mountain range.

At first blush, we thought
advertising banner,

but where's the
plane pulling it?

- You can understand why
the man filming this

would be a little
bit freaked out.

There are no wings,
there's nothing that says

this object should
be able to fly.

I don't know
what that is, guys.

My daughter, who is with me,

we are convinced that
this is possibly a UFO.

Could he be right?

Well, it wouldn't be surprising.

Teitel says Phoenix's
South Mountain

is known for its UFO sightings.

But a UFO in the
form of a rectangle?

Now that's unusual.

- People who believe
they've seen UFOs

don't typically report
rectangular or square shapes.

They're usually discs
or circles or ba*ls,

but there seems to be a rise

in non-traditional flying
saucer-type UFO sightings.

But why is
this rectangular object

in the skies over Phoenix?

- Luke Air Force Base
is near Phoenix.

Arizona's National Guard
in Papago Park is there.

Because there's so
much military activity

and there has been historically

a lot of advanced military
technology tested in the area,

this might actually
be a correlation

with the high volume of UFO
sightings in the southwest.

- Phoenix is also the site

of the famous Phoenix
Lights incident in 1997,

a widely reported
series of UFO sightings

that remain unexplained
to this day.

But the question is,
do we have yet another

true UFO sighting here,

or is there a more
obvious explanation?

First, we take the
video to astronomer

and video effects
designer Marc D'Antonio.

- This guy pulled over
and thought it was UFO,

but could it be an aircraft?

Well, what about
the Super Guppy?

NASA makes a Super
Guppy aircraft,

and because it's
so oddly shaped,

it will indeed be
mistaken as a UFO.

The Super Guppy is
a large, wide-bodied aircraft

that can carry loads
up to 54,000 pounds.

The skin of the
Guppy is very reflective,

and it's a bright, clear day,

but nowhere in the video
do you actually see

any kind of reflection
off of this object.

And they can track where
the Guppy is at all times,

and for this date and time,

you can look up and see if
the Guppy was in the area,

and you'll find that it was not.

Instead, D'Antonio
has an explanation

that appears to match
the visual facts.

- You'll notice that the
shape sort of subtly changes

as if it's flapping.

I would basically say
that, based on the shape,

based on the speed, it looks
very much like an object

that is an advertising banner.

But advertising
banners can't fly by themselves.

Plus, they're usually low enough

and close enough to
read the ad, right?

A check of real time
flight radar data

does show daily small aircraft
activity near South Mountain.

So where's the plane?

Physicists Michio Kaku explains.

- There should be an airplane
pulling the whole thing,

but you don't see it, but that
could be an optical illusion.

Kaku says
that the long distance

between the camera
and the object,

combined with
atmospheric conditions,

could be important factors.

- Notice that this
videotape was done

from a distance
of several miles.

Because of that, you
can have mirage effects

that would hide the airplane.

Hot air rises and expands.

When light goes through
air that is less dense,

it starts to bend, and there
could be air currents here

which distort the light,

and that's probably the reason
why you don't see the airplane.

- Our verdict?

The fluttering is the key.

We're going with our first
instinct: advertising banner.

But the absence of the plane
in the footage is strange,

and it certainly had
people online talking.

These mysterious
rectangular objects

are a definite phenomenon,

and as you continue
to document them,

we'll keep investigating.

- UFO sightings, hallucinations,

and malfunctioning
compasses are all features

of one anomalous zone
in the wilds of Russia

and part of the 62-year-old
mystery that is our next story.

January 23rd, 1959, in the
mountains of western Russia.

Nine members of the Ural
Polytechnic Institute

head into the frigid wilderness

on a skiing expedition
led by Igor Dyatlov.

The team makes camp
on February 1st.

Those seven men and two women
are never heard from again.

A search team arrives
on February 26th

to find the tent half torn
open, covered in snow,

and cut open from inside, as
if the campers were trying

to escape something in a hurry.

The group's shoes
and other belongings

have been left behind.

Footprints lead to the
team's dead bodies,

dressed only in underwear.

Three hikers have skull damage
and major chest fractures.

Notably, the corpses
have no external wounds

associated with those fractures.

The diaries and
cameras left behind

offer the only clue
as to what happened.

Amongst the dozens of photos
taken during the ill-fated trek

is an alarming image
of a darkened figure

that seems to be approaching
from not far off.

Field researcher Ken Gerhard

explores one of the
most popular hypotheses

about the group's demise.

- One theory suggests that it
may have been a Russian yeti

that attacked and k*lled
these nine hikers.

Yetis are said
to have razor-sharp teeth

and be closely related to bears,

as opposed to the ape-like
nature of a Sasquatch.

In 2019, the Indian
Army posted a photo

of a 32x15-inch footprint
found near the Makalu base camp

they suspect was made by a yeti.

The terrain here is similar.

- We are talking about a fairly
remote, mountainous area,

and this is the type of habitat

where yeti-type creatures
have been said to roam.

It's also been
suggested the bright lights

emanating from orbs in the sky

that were captured in
the group's photographs

could imply some
otherworldly force

was behind the tragedy.

- UFO theorists have
speculated that there could be

some type of
extraterrestrial involvement

in these mysterious deaths.

Another theory is
that a local native tribe,

the Mansi people, may
have k*lled the hikers

after they trespassed
on sacred lands.

In fact, at one point
during their journey,

the group is believed
to have been following

the tracks of a Mansi hunter.

Soviet investigators concluded
that, during the night,

an unknown compelling
force k*lled the hikers.

They immediately
classified the case files,

but bowing to public
pressure, Russia opened

a new investigation into
the incident in 2019.

So what will our experts
say when they investigate?

Professor of anatomy
Dr. Jeff Meldrum

weighs the possibility that
these hikers encountered a yeti

and whether that could
account for the ripped tent

and the figure
captured in the photo.

- There's a line of ski tracks

that lead right
straight to the figure.

Looking more closely
at the photos

for hints from the garb worn,

anoraks and gaiters,
gloves, hoods, and so forth,

it's one of the trekkers.

There's no question
left in my mind,

based on that comparison.

Next, astrophotography
expert Andrew McCarthy

examines the photos for
clues of the UFO theory,

and he offers an explanation.

- A common subject for
photographers is the full moon.

It's a beautiful
sight to your eyes.

However, it can be
difficult to photograph.

Sometimes it can look great
through your eye piece,

but unless you really dial
in your camera settings,

the photo's not going
to turn out very good.

McCarthy
says this image

is likely an attempted
handheld shot of the moon,

overexposed and blurred by
the motion of the camera.

And those strange lights and
shapes seem to be the results

of the photographer's attempt
to capture photos of stars

and planets in the night sky.

As for the Mansi people,
this theory was abandoned

due to a lack of motive

and any concrete evidence
of their involvement.

So what could prompt the crew
to cut through their tents

and face the Russian winter
in a state of undress?

Meteorologist Juan
Hernandez has a theory.

- There's something
called a slab avalanche

where you have a slab of snow

that is moving down the
slope of the mountain.

The slant has to be
around 30 to 45 degrees

for it to be able to
go down the slope.

There was a significant wind,
there was significant cold.

That would likely be the
cause of a slab avalanche.

Hernandez
beliefs it was a mixture

of the avalanche itself
and the extreme cold

that k*lled the hikers.

This explanation would help
explain the fascinating mystery

of why their bodies
were brutally pummeled

and broken inside,

but strangely unharmed
on the outside

with no visible external wounds.

- So here we have
a windshield chart

which, unfortunately, the hikers

were in the extreme
end over here

where winds were
around 60 miles an hour

with a temperature of -40.

So, given the wind chill of -91,

they would likely have
less than five minutes

before the frostbite setting in.

And Jeff Meldrum
believes this theory

explains the grizzly state in
which the bodies were found.

- The avalanche
explanation makes clear

why they were buried
in their tents

and had to dig their way out.

When a slab avalanche like
that goes whipping by,

it grinds things to a pulp,
it's like crumbled concrete.

- Our verdict? An
avalanche and frostbite

caused by freezing conditions
k*lled these hikers.

The area has been
named Dyatlov Pass

in memory of Igor and
the rest of the group.

And that's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching,

and, as ever, keep
those cameras rolling!