Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files (2010) s01e11 Episode Script
Lunar Landing Hoax & Tropical Intruder
Tonight on "fact or faked: Paranormal files" Wow.
Did you see that? We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed.
Chi-lan: This is huge.
Ben: Visor down.
Bill: Light it up, larry.
Man: Oh! Look at that [bleep.]
What the [bleep.]
Oh, wow.
Jael: Wow! Hawkins: Check that out.
It would be a cover-up of enormous size.
Liftoff.
Oh, my god! Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
Oh, my god! What the heck is happening? Welcome back, everyone.
Austin: Morning.
Larry: How's it going? Ladies.
We got a lot of videos to see.
I'm really excited.
Who do we have up first? I have something pretty unique.
It's something we've never investigated.
It was shot in October of 2009 in lancaster, pennsylvania.
Now, these people were there.
They're trying to film a home video of their little bunny That they wanted to post on youtube, But then they hear this noise outside in the backyard.
So they run to the window, they turn the light on, And they start filming through the window.
And they see something very strange, A very strange-looking animal That's standing under the wash line.
People are saying that this creature is a mothman.
I want you to take a look at it and tell me what you think.
Woman: Do you hear something outside? Man: Yeah.
[ indistinct conversation .]
Wow.
Wow.
That's really strange.
I've actually had the image enhanced, And I'd love for you to just take a look at that.
That is freaky.
I can't see any real form to this that's recognizable.
That is interesting to me.
I think it's probably just a video Done on a poor digitalamera, Shot at night, with poor image quality.
I agree.
I'm gonna have to say shelve this one.
I think we're all in agreement that this isn't a case for us.
Maybe if there is another sighting, It could be a case to follow up on.
Right.
I have one that I'd like to share with you today.
This case is huge.
This is historical.
It involves something we all know a little bit about The moon landings.
I'm so excited that you brought this case to the table.
A quarter of the world's population Still believes that we didn't actually go.
If the moon landings were faked, It would be a cover-up of enormous size.
There are a number of theories As to why we would fake the moon landings.
The principal theory is the cold war.
We were involved in the race to space with russia.
Getting first to the moon meant world domination.
But we were struggling.
They put the first man in orbit, a satellite, a moon probe.
We were behind.
Some people claim it became too difficult for us And so we decided to fake it.
I'm gonna show you some video clips Of the later moon landings, Which leave a lot of people thinking, "man, this really could have been hoaxed.
" Now, this is apollo 15, Where astronaut david scott is demonstrating An experiment with a hammer and a feather To show that these objects will fall At the same rate when they're in a vacuum.
A lot of people are saying That this could easily be faked on a sound stage, Made with hollywood effects that were available at that time.
That's really interesting.
So, this clip from apollo 16 Shows astronauts charles duke and john young, And they're doing a moonwalk and a salute to the flag.
Now, watch this.
A lot of people believe that this is simply somebody Attached to some type of a device that gets them to float.
You can see it's almost like a wire holding him up.
Wow.
Huh.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Now, this one, if you look at the two astronauts again, One of them is helping the other one up off the ground.
He seems to pop back up in a very strange way That doesn't look consistent with what you would expect.
Oh, wow.
Check that out.
It looks like he'd had something assisting him In pulling him up off the ground.
Look at that.
Wow.
That movement is kind of strange.
What perplexes me Is that over a quarter of the world's population Still believes we didn't land on the moon.
And they're pointing to clips such as this as their evidence.
I would love to see how easy or how difficult It would be to re-create this With the technologies available back then.
Guys, I think this case is so huge, it's so historical, That it deserves and merits our attention.
Yep.
I'm all for it.
I would love to be an astronaut.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Let's start making plans for it right now.
Yeah.
Let's do it.
Okay.
Moving on to bill.
I've also got a big case.
How does filling up the night sky With giant blue explosions sound? This is chris roach and his friends in nederland, texas.
They heard some explosions outside, And they started to get very loud, repeating itself, Filling up the sky with a blue light.
They grabbed a camera.
They ran outside.
They started videotaping.
It got so intense, they had to retreat back into their house.
Take a look at this clip.
Man: Dude! Oh! Look at that [bleep.]
What the [bleep.]
Man #2: Freaking out.
Oh, my god! Wow.
Wow! Now, that is not something that you miss.
That is like the apocalypse.
[bleep.]
freaking out.
Oh, my god! Ben: The theory behind this Is possibly it's a ufo taking off at supersonic speeds.
Very peculiar.
If it was anything of any significance, There would be a lot more witnesses than just these guys.
It feels like a natural weather phenomenon to me.
I think it would be a blast to try and replicate.
I just think we should probably look At the rest of the cases first.
Well, bill, would you look into it a little bit more? Sure.
Larry, you have one more case for us, right? Yes, I do, and I'm really excited about this one.
This one takes place in gulf breeze, florida.
This place is renowned for ufo activity, Partly because of all the military presence in the area.
Mike hawkins and his friend are driving in their car When they see this light in the sky.
They start following it, But they get to a point where they can't drive anymore, And they have to get out.
Take a look at this video.
Yeah, let's take a look at this.
All right.
Hawkins: That's no balloon, man.
It's no balloon.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
Wow! It's the real thing.
As he's shooting it - it's behind this tree line - It almost zooms off with an otherworldly speed.
That's the real thing, dude.
Whoa.
Did you guys see that? Jael: Wow.
Austin: Yeah.
That is weird.
That is really glowing bright.
We never get a clip like this.
Is mike hawkins making himself available If it's a case we want to take on? Larry: He's willing to work with us, for sure.
So we have all the necessary criteria.
Gulf breeze is a hotbed for activity.
I think this video is strong enough That we go out and check it out.
I really like this one, but now it's time to decide, Which one should we choose? I think we have the moon.
We've already got that one locked in.
What should our other one be? I think we should go with gulf breeze ufo.
Even though I wanted to fill up the night sky With giant blue explosions, I got to go with the gulf breeze ufo.
So, larry, because you brought us the gulf breeze video, Would you like to go to florida? Yes, I would.
Larry, jael, and bill, I think you guys should do that.
I cannot wait to be an astronaut! [ laughs .]
All right.
Well, let's get ready.
Ben: Guys, I can't tell you how excited I am To be doing a case on the moon landing.
Chi-lan: Yeah, I mean, this is huge.
This is actually tackling One of the biggest conspiracy theories out there.
It's been over four decades, and people are still talking About a conspiracy that maybe we didn't even go.
But before we actually strap on the moon boots, It's really important that we talk to aron ranen.
Sounds like he has a really interesting story.
Yeah.
He was commissioned to do a documentary In celebration of the landing.
And while doing so, he became a skeptic Because of the things That didn't add up and make sense to him.
Chi-lan: I don't know if it's even possible To fake the moon landing, but a lot of people think That the footage that came back from the moon Is actually just a guy on a sound stage.
Well, here we are at the studio.
I can't wait to turn this place into the surface of the moon.
Shall we? Yeah.
Wow.
Ben: Plenty of room.
Set it up kind of right here in the center.
Aron.
Ben.
Hi, guys.
Ben, nice to meet you.
Hi, aron.
I'm austin.
Thanks for coming.
Hey, aron.
Chi-lan.
I'm very excited to see the results of your test, 'cause you know I, myself, spent a year Trying to prove we landed on the moon.
I was actually funded by the state of ohio.
And at the end of my year's journey, I ended up with more questions than answers.
And it was very disturbing.
I mean, if you guys think About the proof that nasa's laid out About why we actually landed on the moon - You know, you can start, let's say, During my investigation, I discovered that nasa had lost All the original telemetry and science data That was sent down, in real time, from the capsule As it was making its way to the moon.
And nasa said they erased them for budgetary reasons.
They changed their story more than once.
Not only did they change the story, But they lost the original, pristine footage.
Do you find it really difficult to believe, though, With over 400,000 people working on the moon missions That it being so complex That they could pull off such a cover-up? Mission control was wired for simulations.
They would feed fake material in their signals So they could practice long before the moon landing.
So the whole apparatus to fake it was already set up, Because that's how they were simulating and practicing.
So you think that the moonwalks could actually all be hoaxes? I would say there is a possibility That man's first landing on the moon Might have been a hoax.
Narrator: Coming up on "fact or faked: Paranormal files" Let's see if we can defy gravity.
Chi-lan: This is no joke.
This is heavy.
Ben: Liftoff.
We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed.
Bill: Light it up.
I would say there is a possibility That man's first landing on the moon Might have been a hoax.
I mean, this opens up a whole new avenue And way of looking at it, But it gives us a good starting point For our experiments, as well.
Perfect.
Well, I'm glad I could help, ben.
Thank you so much.
Thanks, aron.
So, we have some great experiments planned To test specific portions of the apollo missions.
But before we do that, We need to transform this space into the lunar surface.
Austin: So, now that we have our frame built, It's time for our moon surface, Which is actually decomposed granite.
Chi-lan: We're hoping to prove, even with limited construction, It's possible to re-create The basic look of the original apollo footage.
I think we're about done.
It's time for you to get suited up.
That's what I'm saying.
I'm gonna put the suit on.
Yeah.
Hey, chris.
Gilman: Hi, there.
How are you? All right, austin is so ready to get suited up.
What do we have here? We have an apollo a7lb, The seventh generation of suit That was developed for the apollo program.
I'm gonna have you put this on over this set of capelines, Which will help wick the sweat away And make you more comfortable.
So this first, this second.
That's second.
All right.
I'll be back in a minute.
Chi-lan: Whoa! There he is.
Oh, yeah.
Ben: Looking pretty official now.
Final piece is the helmet.
Imagine having to do this in something the size of a closet.
Have a clear bump visor.
And then you have the gold visor.
Ah.
Which this is 24-karat gold.
Well, chris, this is awesome.
Thank you so much.
I mean, now that we have our moon setup, We have aust suited up, I think we're ready to go.
We're gonna try our first experiment, Which is replicating the hammer-and-feather test To see if we can get it to look like the original footage.
Okay, guys.
Well, I have the footage from astronaut dave scott In the '71 mission of apollo 15.
This is where, of course, he tests out Galileo's principle of falling bodies.
Two objects of very different composition Will fall at the same rate without air resistance In the perfect vacuum of space.
The skeptics are saying that the astronaut used this test - At the beginning, it's kind of like priming the people To make them think that all this took place on the moon.
As we know, if we were to do this test With a normal feather and a hammer, You know the feather would fall much slower Because of air resistance.
But we've taken this, And we've put a titanium rod inside of it so it's weighted.
With our hammer, Which is a replica from that apollo 15 mission.
We'll give you a 3-2-1 countdown, And it should, you know, drop at the same rate.
That's perfect.
I think we have it all framed up, ready to go.
Ben, you ready to hit the lights? Visor down.
Hammer-feather test.
Ben: In 3, 2, 1.
All right.
Chi-lan: Our h.
D.
Camera scanned twice as fast as the apollo cameras.
So to match the quality of the original footage, We're degrading our video by 50%.
Ben: I was a little worried That we would still get some air resistance from the feather.
With a simple prop and some camera tricks, We actually were able to replicate the video Almost exactly.
It looks like it fell at the same rate.
I'm thinking this was pretty well done.
A lot of people are saying That this is kind of the jumping-off point For the conspiracy of this apollo mission.
Now let's do something a little bit more complex.
I think it's time to start moonwalking.
Yeah.
[ chuckles .]
Chi-lan: Now, our hammer-and-feather test Was actually really encouraging.
So what we're gonna do next Is gonna be a little bit more challenging.
We're actually gonna take on an iconic apollo moonwalk.
And for this test, I'm gonna get suited up.
This is no joke.
This is heavy.
We're gonna begin with testing a simple theory That the astronauts were able to get that movement you see, Like walking on the moon Simply attaching spring devices To the bottom of their boots.
Chi-lan: Skeptics claim that nasa then used The technique known as film matting To erase all evidence of the springs.
Austin: I'm gonna see if I can replicate The same movement we have in the original footage.
Ben: Welcome to the moon, my friends.
Are you ready to do your moon walk? Oh, I'm ready.
Let's do this.
I'm gonna play the role of the second astronaut, So I'll be in the background by the flag.
Okay, and you'll start somewhere up here.
I'll get behind the camera, Frame you guys up, count you down.
Let's see if we can defy gravity.
Ben, is this good? Yeah.
Come towards me just a tiny bit.
Austin, that's a good place to start.
Let's kill the lights.
Visors down.
Our first moonwalk in 3, 2, 1.
Let's kill the lights.
Visors down.
Our first moonwalk in 3, 2, 1.
This is looking really hard for him.
You look like you're struggling.
Okay, try it again.
Visors down.
Okay.
All right.
So, how's it look? It didn't feel good.
I'm gonna say fail.
Yeah.
[ chuckles .]
The problem was - You were getting your motion down and everything, But I think we're not able to reduce your weight.
I saw you straining to make that jump.
You're coming down hard.
And it looks kind of awkward.
I'm still subject to the natural laws of gravity.
Spring boots only help for the initial takeoff and when I land.
You can see there You're probably not even getting a foot.
In the original footage, about a foot and a half.
Well, I think for our next experiment, We really have to get something That will give you a lot more lift.
I think lift and taking some of the weight off of your back.
Maybe we could attach something and pull up on it.
We need something that's gonna control me As I come up and come down.
You're an awkward astronaut.
Let's try it out.
[ laughs .]
So, on this next test, we've got theatrical fly wire.
Now, this is gonna be counterbalanced With about 100 pounds, which will hopefully simulate About the 1/6 gravity that the moon has.
And we'll have a fly-wire expert who will be on this end, Who will give us an extra added control Where we can hopefully get that smooth motion.
So now I have this harness to attach myself to the ceiling To hopefully give me the same floating lift we see in the video.
Chi-lan: Conspiracy theorists argue That what nasa claims is a radio antenna Is actually proof that a fly wire was used.
Ben: Let's kill the lights.
Chi-lan: Walking in these moon suits is no small feat.
Are we ready? [ ben chuckles .]
Chi-lan: Helmet time.
Okay, chi-lan? Check.
Austin? Check.
Okay, let's go.
T- minus 3, 2, 1.
Liftoff.
Nice.
Give me some more leg action.
I like it.
I like it.
That was perfect height on the last one.
Just a little bit faster coming down.
Framed perfect.
Okay, so that last run, here is austin jumping.
I do think it looks like I'm tilted forward slightly.
I got to say, this attempt is so similar.
Now, see the height - about a foot and a half - It looks just perfect.
It's perfectly framed.
I think it looks great.
So, I think the theatrical wire was our best replication.
I think we should continue to use it.
Sounds good.
Let's go.
Okay.
Chi-lan: Next up, we're gonna tackle A scene that's caused a lot of controversy - The one where the two astronauts Are actually kind of kneeling down And one is helping the other one up.
A lot of the conspiracy theorists say That this footage could not have been shot Unless someone was using fly wire To help this astronaut up off the ground.
So, what I've done is I've switched up the terrain a bit, Added some rocks, took the flag out.
I put the camera a little bit higher So we get the same perspective as the footage.
And we're all set up to go.
Austin, you'll be playing the part of john young, Crouched right here underneath your cable rigging.
Austin: All right.
And chi-lan will be Helping you up by the elbow as charles duke.
All right.
And then we' have our fly-wire specialists over here, Giving you kind of a snap Right at the same moment that you pop up.
Okay, guys.
You're in position.
You ready to go, austin? You tell me when, brother.
Okay.
Check.
Try to stand up.
A lot of the conspiracy theorists say that this footage could not have been shot Unless someone was using fly wire.
You ready to go, austin? Austin: You tell me when, brother.
Try to stand up.
I never thought that going to the moon would be so much fun.
Jael: [ laughs .]
I'm jealous that you guys got to do that.
So, guys, we took video clips from apollo 15 and 16 And specifically tried to re-create some things That many conspiracy theorists say Point to evidence that we never actually went to the moon.
This is our first clip, the hammer-and-feather test.
Larry: That looked really good.
Wow.
We weighted our feather With a titanium rod inserted through the shaft.
When they drop, they do drop at the same time.
Not too complicated.
Wow.
Next thing we did is we re-created this space walk, And the first thing we tried is using some spring boots.
This is what it looks like.
Something's a bit off.
He's not able to get the same height As we're seeing in the other one.
There wasn't a lot of stabilization.
We didn't have a way to control gravity.
We needed more float, and we definitely needed more control.
So we decided to move on to the next-best thing - Theatrical fly wire.
This is what that looks like.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Oh, my goodness! That looks weightless.
Austin: But, see, that's what's so great about this.
It was perfect.
It took the weight off me.
It gave me that floating look.
And this is not even slowed down.
You can see when he comes down, There's not quite as much of a compression that he's getting, And he's getting a little more height.
So, the last one that we decided to focus on is, of course, What many conspiracy theorists say is a smoking gun - The apollo 16 mission, Where the astronauts, one of them is kneeling down, And the other one's helping him off the ground.
The big question was, if you weren't using a fly wire, Is that a natural motion That an astronaut would make on the moon? Jael: Wow.
That's good.
It looks weightless the way you guys did it.
Well, we decided to talk to some experts, Because we thought, there's something missing here.
Chris gilman - he is a nasa space-suit designer.
He told us that when the suits are pressurized, They naturally are in a standing position.
So what we're actually seeing here Is the suit almost uncoiling, And that's why you get that spring-back motion.
So, could the moon landings have been faked? Yes, you can replicate the moonwalk, The hammer-feather test, all of that here on earth pretty well.
I think if we had the same resources as nasa, We might be able to get exact.
But does that really mean that it was a hoax? I personally don't think so.
Your re-creations were pretty convincing, But I believe that the lunar landings are authentic.
Even though itan be replicated here on earth, It doesn't mean that the same thing wouldn't happen In the conditions on the moon.
There were 400,000-plus people involved in the apollo missions.
To get all of them to not divulge That we didn't actually go would be enormous.
And I think taking it all into account, It's much, much, much more probable It really did happen and we really went to the moon.
I want to hear about florida.
Well, our witness shot a nighttime video On the shores of red fish point in gulf breeze, florida, Of a glowing object in the sky.
Hawkins: It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
Here's what we found.
Larry: Here we are in gulf breeze, florida, Which is renowned for its ufo activity.
It seems like it really started in 1987 With that ed walters photo.
Jael: He said that he had captured A series of really clear photographs Of an object that looked like a topper With black squares and lighted portals.
And then, in August of 1995, Mike hawkins shot a video of a very similar-looking object That we're gonna investigate today.
There it is.
Check that out.
It's right over the base.
Where the hell did it go? Well, one of the main theories is this was actually hoaxed.
It does look, like, too clear.
Instead of just being a little fuzzy object, It's brightly illuminated.
We're on our way to the exact location in gulf breeze Where the original video was shot And to meet our eyewitness, mike hawkins.
[ seagulls cawing .]
Hey, mike.
How you doing? Bill.
Pretty good.
So, this is the exact spot in red fish point Where you shot that video? Yes, it's right over here.
All right.
We'll follow you.
Jael: So, mike, we're retracing your steps From that night right now? Yes.
This was a dirt road.
We would drive all the way back in there Until the woods ran out, And we would sky-watch right out there.
Bill: What would you expect to see out here? Military activity.
Also ufo activity.
This was the spot right here.
Right here, between these trees here? Yes.
Mike, how many investigators were with you that night? On that night, it was just two of us.
We was driving down through here, And we was coming down to sky-watch, Like we did almost eve day of the week.
About at the midway point, That's when we seen it out over the bay.
Oh, man.
Get out, man.
Get out.
We jumped out to try to get a better angle of it.
At that point, you could see some structure in it.
Check that out.
Check that out.
We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed, Because we'd never seen it, And we'd been sky-watching for years.
It's no balloon.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
How long was it in the sky? A couple minutes, maybe, total.
I'm not knowing what it is.
You know, I'm thinking, "well, maybe it is a blimp or something.
" But I wanted to get a better shot of it.
But when it zipped off, you know, it wasn't a blimp.
Where the hell did it go? It looked like it maybe went down.
It's weird.
Like it zipped downwards.
Did it make any noise when it zipped off? No.
I didn't hear anything.
Can you say, mike, that you were involved or not involved With any sort of a hoax of this ufo video? No.
We didn't have any money for props.
I guarantee I didn't fake it.
I'll take a lie-detector test.
Mike, thank you for your time.
I really appreciate it.
We learned a lot.
So, one of the theories that we're working with Is that the object we're seeing in hawkins' video Is simply a lit prop being pulled across the horizon.
So I'm gonna set up a zip line across these trees, And we'll do just that.
We'll pull a lit object across the trees And it'll look like what we're seeing in mike's original video.
Jael: And hopefully we can even get That moment where the ufo disappears.
Where the hell did it go? We're gonna take our steel aircraft cable here.
We're gonna attach it to these two trees, Which are about 30 feet across.
And we're gonna rig it at about 20 feet up.
It's there that we're gonna create our own lit object, See if it matches the original video.
Right now I'm cutting up these foam sheets into smaller panels, Which I'll then connect and make our mock ufo.
So, in order to replicate the lit portals, I'm gonna use some black tape right here, And I'm gonna cut some holes into it that essentially Are gonna go around the ufo that larry's building, And it's gonna be kind of like a jacket.
And make sure we get it nice and straight.
Larry: Guys, up close, I know this is very rudimentary, But mike told us during the interview He didn't have very much money at all.
And so I took that into account, Only spent 20 bucks on the materials.
And I'm pretty sure that once it's dark, You guys get it in your vantage point, it's gonna look great.
Okay.
Soon as it gets dark, we'll start our experiment.
All right.
All right.
Bill: So, we've built our own gulf breeze ufo.
Larry is attaching it to the zip line now, which is black.
It should be invisible against the night sky.
In the original video, the craft seemed to disappear.
And I'll be using this remote To dim the interior light that we mounted inside of our craft.
Jael: So, we've established our vantage point, And I'm standing a little less than 100 feet From where our mock ufo is.
I've got my camera.
What I'm gonna do is try and replicate The same footage from hawkins' original video.
This is the path you're gonna take.
Yeah.
That pretty much mimics what we're seeing in the video.
Bill and jael for larry.
Go for larry.
Are you ready to begin the movement of the ufo? I'm ready to go whenever you are.
2 1.
Begin motion.
Lights on.
So, the gulf breeze ufo that we built is mounted on a zip line.
This will give larry the control he needs By moving it on a pulley system across the length of a tree.
We're hopeful that from the vantage point of the camera, It will look just like we see in the original hawkins video.
Hawkins: That thing's for real.
2 1.
Begin motion.
Lights on.
Jael: Wow! This is unbelievable.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Start moving towards the woods here.
It's to the left.
Yeah.
All right, so now We have to make it disappear really quickly.
So I need you to turn off the light As I'm panning up and right.
Give me the mark on 3.
Okay.
2 3.
Off.
That looked pretty good.
I think we have a pretty good match here.
Guys, how did it look? You're gonna be pleasantly surprised.
All right.
Look how close it matches.
I'm having a hard time finding any differences at all.
Jael: The only thing I'm noticing right here Is that our ufo is actually shining a light Onto one of the trees.
So you can see that it's actually Really close to the trees rather than up in the sky.
You know, there's another issue, too.
If you look at the video that we just shot, We have really good horizontal motion, But we don't have good vertical motion.
In the original video, look how it seems to go higher And then start to come back down.
Ours almost looks like it's on a horizontal track.
I'm thinking of another experiment That would give us more vertical control.
Okay.
Now we're moving on to our r.
C.
- Helicopter test, Which will suspend our ufo in the air, And we'll have a lot more vertical control.
Larry: Right now, I'm building our illuminated panel, Which the helicopter will actually be towing around.
On the inside of this panel, I'm going to actually line it with l.
E.
D.
Strips.
I'm gonna spray-paint the front panel with black spray paint.
And then I'll just cut it out, using this as a model.
I have a remote-control helicopter.
Oh, wow.
That looks really cool.
I've got about a 5-pound payload that this can lift.
We want to get our ufo about 20 feet in the air.
To do so, the helicopter is gonna go about 30 feet.
And then if you add some slack at the bottom, I can actually frame the helicopter out So we can mimic the original video.
Check that out.
Bill: In the original video, The ufo seems to disappear or blink off.
I'm gonna be radioing larry, Who's then gonna turn off the lights remotely.
Bill: Larry, you ready to get that thing airborne? Hey, bill, I'm ready whenever you guys are.
Get it up in the air.
All right, I'm lifting off right now.
On 3, 2, 1.
Light it up, larry.
Yeah! There it is.
There it is.
Look at it.
It matches.
Actually, it looks pretty good.
Larry, move it from left to right.
We need to see it move through the tree line.
That's what we need! Like that! That's what we need! The only problem is that because it's a panel, When it does a 360 turn because of the wind, We lose the 3-dimensional effect.
Get ready to cut the lights on 3, 2, 1.
Cut the lights.
Whoa.
Yeah.
That was weird.
Yeah, it was actually pretty good.
Go ahead and take it down And join us at the vantage point over here.
All right, larry, let me just show you what it looked like.
Look.
Larry: Oh, wow, wow, wow.
Bill: There it goes.
That looks good.
Look how it's matching.
You definitely had The vertical and the horizontal control that we wanted.
Very, very similar.
But then it starts this whole shaking, And then it's turning a little bit.
It starts to turn 360 because of the wind, And we lose the 3-dimensional effect.
Obviously, there's gonna be wind.
That's true.
They call it gulf breeze for a reason.
I think it's safe to say It was not an illuminated panel hoisted up by any other means.
It just wasn't this.
Both of our experiments got really close, But I'm beginning to think that maybe it wasn't Anything in the air flying at all.
Maybe it was perhaps something from the ground And it was just an illusion.
Bill: For this next test, We're projecting a custom-made gobo onto a theatrical screen.
Think of a gobo as the bat-image projected against the night sky.
Gobo means "go-before optics.
" It looks exactly like the image in the original clip.
I'm gonna place it into our spotlight, Which then I'll project onto a screen.
Hey, guys.
How's it going? Good.
We've got our 10'x15' movie screen.
You're gonna project from behind it, So it should be able to capture that projection.
Exactly.
Bill: This screen is black.
It should disappear against the night sky.
Jael: Once we've got a stable projection, I'll be able to control The horizontal and vertical movement With my camera.
Bill: Larry, how you doing? You set up over there? I'm all ready to go, waiting on your cue.
On 3 2 Light it up.
Now, we're gonna try to replicate an illusion of flight By using our gobo and spotlight.
I'm all ready to go, waiting on your cue.
On 3 Light it up.
Wow.
Wow! Ben: So, tell me about florida, then.
Our witness, mike hawkins, Shot a really clear video of an object in the sky In revealing detail That we haven't seen in any other ufo footage before.
Hawkins: Check that out.
Larry: In our first attempt to re-create the original footage, We strung a zip line between two trees And sent up a replica ufo.
Chi-lan: Wow.
That looks really, really similar.
Bill: But the problem was We could only get it to move left to right, not up and down.
And so we decided to move on to our next experiment.
We had an r.
C.
Helicopter And a cut-out panel that was lit up by l.
E.
D.
S.
But the problem with that is the panel was lightweight And very susceptible to the wind.
It would turn left and right, And it would lose that ufo shape.
Bill: So, we knew then we had to move on To an experiment that would not be susceptible to the wind, And that would be by creating The illusion of an object being in the sky.
Our last experiment involved a gobo, or a go-before optics.
And we projected that onto a big screen.
Chi-lan: Oh, wow.
This is - This is incredibly similar, guys.
It's uncanny.
Bill: In order to create the illusion Of the craft flying away, like we see in the original video, Jael simply moved the camera up.
Wow.
Jael: Isn't it amazing? Chi-lan: It is.
Austin: That looked exact.
But, I mean, with a big screen that you have to erect, Mike must have been in on that if that was really the solution.
Bill: We started to wonder the same thing.
So we had to submit the interview That we conducted with mike to layered voice analysis.
This is what happened during the initial interview.
Hawkins: Well, we was driving down through here, And we was coming down to sky-watch, Like we did almost every day of the week.
And about at the midway point, That's when we seen it out over the bay.
Ben: Wow.
Bill: So what this is suggesting Is that, yes, he definitely saw something in the sky.
But when you play this next clip, You'll see that he may have known what it was he was looking at.
I'm not knowing what it is.
You know, I'm thinking, "well, maybe it is a blimp or something.
" But I wanted to get a better shot of it.
But when it zipped off, you know, it wasn't a blimp.
Wow.
What this is really suggesting Is that he wasn't in on a hoax But he may have known or suspected what the object was.
Austin: Maybe he was not in on the hoax.
I still think the video's fake.
Jael: I think that he knows There's a possibility that it wasn't a ufo.
I think that he may not have been in on the hoax, But he was hoaxed.
You were spot-on with your replications.
It can be done.
Did he do it? Maybe he didn't hoax it, but he probably knew what it was.
Check that out.
Check that out.
Where the hell did it go?
Did you see that? We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed.
Chi-lan: This is huge.
Ben: Visor down.
Bill: Light it up, larry.
Man: Oh! Look at that [bleep.]
What the [bleep.]
Oh, wow.
Jael: Wow! Hawkins: Check that out.
It would be a cover-up of enormous size.
Liftoff.
Oh, my god! Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
Oh, my god! What the heck is happening? Welcome back, everyone.
Austin: Morning.
Larry: How's it going? Ladies.
We got a lot of videos to see.
I'm really excited.
Who do we have up first? I have something pretty unique.
It's something we've never investigated.
It was shot in October of 2009 in lancaster, pennsylvania.
Now, these people were there.
They're trying to film a home video of their little bunny That they wanted to post on youtube, But then they hear this noise outside in the backyard.
So they run to the window, they turn the light on, And they start filming through the window.
And they see something very strange, A very strange-looking animal That's standing under the wash line.
People are saying that this creature is a mothman.
I want you to take a look at it and tell me what you think.
Woman: Do you hear something outside? Man: Yeah.
[ indistinct conversation .]
Wow.
Wow.
That's really strange.
I've actually had the image enhanced, And I'd love for you to just take a look at that.
That is freaky.
I can't see any real form to this that's recognizable.
That is interesting to me.
I think it's probably just a video Done on a poor digitalamera, Shot at night, with poor image quality.
I agree.
I'm gonna have to say shelve this one.
I think we're all in agreement that this isn't a case for us.
Maybe if there is another sighting, It could be a case to follow up on.
Right.
I have one that I'd like to share with you today.
This case is huge.
This is historical.
It involves something we all know a little bit about The moon landings.
I'm so excited that you brought this case to the table.
A quarter of the world's population Still believes that we didn't actually go.
If the moon landings were faked, It would be a cover-up of enormous size.
There are a number of theories As to why we would fake the moon landings.
The principal theory is the cold war.
We were involved in the race to space with russia.
Getting first to the moon meant world domination.
But we were struggling.
They put the first man in orbit, a satellite, a moon probe.
We were behind.
Some people claim it became too difficult for us And so we decided to fake it.
I'm gonna show you some video clips Of the later moon landings, Which leave a lot of people thinking, "man, this really could have been hoaxed.
" Now, this is apollo 15, Where astronaut david scott is demonstrating An experiment with a hammer and a feather To show that these objects will fall At the same rate when they're in a vacuum.
A lot of people are saying That this could easily be faked on a sound stage, Made with hollywood effects that were available at that time.
That's really interesting.
So, this clip from apollo 16 Shows astronauts charles duke and john young, And they're doing a moonwalk and a salute to the flag.
Now, watch this.
A lot of people believe that this is simply somebody Attached to some type of a device that gets them to float.
You can see it's almost like a wire holding him up.
Wow.
Huh.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Now, this one, if you look at the two astronauts again, One of them is helping the other one up off the ground.
He seems to pop back up in a very strange way That doesn't look consistent with what you would expect.
Oh, wow.
Check that out.
It looks like he'd had something assisting him In pulling him up off the ground.
Look at that.
Wow.
That movement is kind of strange.
What perplexes me Is that over a quarter of the world's population Still believes we didn't land on the moon.
And they're pointing to clips such as this as their evidence.
I would love to see how easy or how difficult It would be to re-create this With the technologies available back then.
Guys, I think this case is so huge, it's so historical, That it deserves and merits our attention.
Yep.
I'm all for it.
I would love to be an astronaut.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Let's start making plans for it right now.
Yeah.
Let's do it.
Okay.
Moving on to bill.
I've also got a big case.
How does filling up the night sky With giant blue explosions sound? This is chris roach and his friends in nederland, texas.
They heard some explosions outside, And they started to get very loud, repeating itself, Filling up the sky with a blue light.
They grabbed a camera.
They ran outside.
They started videotaping.
It got so intense, they had to retreat back into their house.
Take a look at this clip.
Man: Dude! Oh! Look at that [bleep.]
What the [bleep.]
Man #2: Freaking out.
Oh, my god! Wow.
Wow! Now, that is not something that you miss.
That is like the apocalypse.
[bleep.]
freaking out.
Oh, my god! Ben: The theory behind this Is possibly it's a ufo taking off at supersonic speeds.
Very peculiar.
If it was anything of any significance, There would be a lot more witnesses than just these guys.
It feels like a natural weather phenomenon to me.
I think it would be a blast to try and replicate.
I just think we should probably look At the rest of the cases first.
Well, bill, would you look into it a little bit more? Sure.
Larry, you have one more case for us, right? Yes, I do, and I'm really excited about this one.
This one takes place in gulf breeze, florida.
This place is renowned for ufo activity, Partly because of all the military presence in the area.
Mike hawkins and his friend are driving in their car When they see this light in the sky.
They start following it, But they get to a point where they can't drive anymore, And they have to get out.
Take a look at this video.
Yeah, let's take a look at this.
All right.
Hawkins: That's no balloon, man.
It's no balloon.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
Wow! It's the real thing.
As he's shooting it - it's behind this tree line - It almost zooms off with an otherworldly speed.
That's the real thing, dude.
Whoa.
Did you guys see that? Jael: Wow.
Austin: Yeah.
That is weird.
That is really glowing bright.
We never get a clip like this.
Is mike hawkins making himself available If it's a case we want to take on? Larry: He's willing to work with us, for sure.
So we have all the necessary criteria.
Gulf breeze is a hotbed for activity.
I think this video is strong enough That we go out and check it out.
I really like this one, but now it's time to decide, Which one should we choose? I think we have the moon.
We've already got that one locked in.
What should our other one be? I think we should go with gulf breeze ufo.
Even though I wanted to fill up the night sky With giant blue explosions, I got to go with the gulf breeze ufo.
So, larry, because you brought us the gulf breeze video, Would you like to go to florida? Yes, I would.
Larry, jael, and bill, I think you guys should do that.
I cannot wait to be an astronaut! [ laughs .]
All right.
Well, let's get ready.
Ben: Guys, I can't tell you how excited I am To be doing a case on the moon landing.
Chi-lan: Yeah, I mean, this is huge.
This is actually tackling One of the biggest conspiracy theories out there.
It's been over four decades, and people are still talking About a conspiracy that maybe we didn't even go.
But before we actually strap on the moon boots, It's really important that we talk to aron ranen.
Sounds like he has a really interesting story.
Yeah.
He was commissioned to do a documentary In celebration of the landing.
And while doing so, he became a skeptic Because of the things That didn't add up and make sense to him.
Chi-lan: I don't know if it's even possible To fake the moon landing, but a lot of people think That the footage that came back from the moon Is actually just a guy on a sound stage.
Well, here we are at the studio.
I can't wait to turn this place into the surface of the moon.
Shall we? Yeah.
Wow.
Ben: Plenty of room.
Set it up kind of right here in the center.
Aron.
Ben.
Hi, guys.
Ben, nice to meet you.
Hi, aron.
I'm austin.
Thanks for coming.
Hey, aron.
Chi-lan.
I'm very excited to see the results of your test, 'cause you know I, myself, spent a year Trying to prove we landed on the moon.
I was actually funded by the state of ohio.
And at the end of my year's journey, I ended up with more questions than answers.
And it was very disturbing.
I mean, if you guys think About the proof that nasa's laid out About why we actually landed on the moon - You know, you can start, let's say, During my investigation, I discovered that nasa had lost All the original telemetry and science data That was sent down, in real time, from the capsule As it was making its way to the moon.
And nasa said they erased them for budgetary reasons.
They changed their story more than once.
Not only did they change the story, But they lost the original, pristine footage.
Do you find it really difficult to believe, though, With over 400,000 people working on the moon missions That it being so complex That they could pull off such a cover-up? Mission control was wired for simulations.
They would feed fake material in their signals So they could practice long before the moon landing.
So the whole apparatus to fake it was already set up, Because that's how they were simulating and practicing.
So you think that the moonwalks could actually all be hoaxes? I would say there is a possibility That man's first landing on the moon Might have been a hoax.
Narrator: Coming up on "fact or faked: Paranormal files" Let's see if we can defy gravity.
Chi-lan: This is no joke.
This is heavy.
Ben: Liftoff.
We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed.
Bill: Light it up.
I would say there is a possibility That man's first landing on the moon Might have been a hoax.
I mean, this opens up a whole new avenue And way of looking at it, But it gives us a good starting point For our experiments, as well.
Perfect.
Well, I'm glad I could help, ben.
Thank you so much.
Thanks, aron.
So, we have some great experiments planned To test specific portions of the apollo missions.
But before we do that, We need to transform this space into the lunar surface.
Austin: So, now that we have our frame built, It's time for our moon surface, Which is actually decomposed granite.
Chi-lan: We're hoping to prove, even with limited construction, It's possible to re-create The basic look of the original apollo footage.
I think we're about done.
It's time for you to get suited up.
That's what I'm saying.
I'm gonna put the suit on.
Yeah.
Hey, chris.
Gilman: Hi, there.
How are you? All right, austin is so ready to get suited up.
What do we have here? We have an apollo a7lb, The seventh generation of suit That was developed for the apollo program.
I'm gonna have you put this on over this set of capelines, Which will help wick the sweat away And make you more comfortable.
So this first, this second.
That's second.
All right.
I'll be back in a minute.
Chi-lan: Whoa! There he is.
Oh, yeah.
Ben: Looking pretty official now.
Final piece is the helmet.
Imagine having to do this in something the size of a closet.
Have a clear bump visor.
And then you have the gold visor.
Ah.
Which this is 24-karat gold.
Well, chris, this is awesome.
Thank you so much.
I mean, now that we have our moon setup, We have aust suited up, I think we're ready to go.
We're gonna try our first experiment, Which is replicating the hammer-and-feather test To see if we can get it to look like the original footage.
Okay, guys.
Well, I have the footage from astronaut dave scott In the '71 mission of apollo 15.
This is where, of course, he tests out Galileo's principle of falling bodies.
Two objects of very different composition Will fall at the same rate without air resistance In the perfect vacuum of space.
The skeptics are saying that the astronaut used this test - At the beginning, it's kind of like priming the people To make them think that all this took place on the moon.
As we know, if we were to do this test With a normal feather and a hammer, You know the feather would fall much slower Because of air resistance.
But we've taken this, And we've put a titanium rod inside of it so it's weighted.
With our hammer, Which is a replica from that apollo 15 mission.
We'll give you a 3-2-1 countdown, And it should, you know, drop at the same rate.
That's perfect.
I think we have it all framed up, ready to go.
Ben, you ready to hit the lights? Visor down.
Hammer-feather test.
Ben: In 3, 2, 1.
All right.
Chi-lan: Our h.
D.
Camera scanned twice as fast as the apollo cameras.
So to match the quality of the original footage, We're degrading our video by 50%.
Ben: I was a little worried That we would still get some air resistance from the feather.
With a simple prop and some camera tricks, We actually were able to replicate the video Almost exactly.
It looks like it fell at the same rate.
I'm thinking this was pretty well done.
A lot of people are saying That this is kind of the jumping-off point For the conspiracy of this apollo mission.
Now let's do something a little bit more complex.
I think it's time to start moonwalking.
Yeah.
[ chuckles .]
Chi-lan: Now, our hammer-and-feather test Was actually really encouraging.
So what we're gonna do next Is gonna be a little bit more challenging.
We're actually gonna take on an iconic apollo moonwalk.
And for this test, I'm gonna get suited up.
This is no joke.
This is heavy.
We're gonna begin with testing a simple theory That the astronauts were able to get that movement you see, Like walking on the moon Simply attaching spring devices To the bottom of their boots.
Chi-lan: Skeptics claim that nasa then used The technique known as film matting To erase all evidence of the springs.
Austin: I'm gonna see if I can replicate The same movement we have in the original footage.
Ben: Welcome to the moon, my friends.
Are you ready to do your moon walk? Oh, I'm ready.
Let's do this.
I'm gonna play the role of the second astronaut, So I'll be in the background by the flag.
Okay, and you'll start somewhere up here.
I'll get behind the camera, Frame you guys up, count you down.
Let's see if we can defy gravity.
Ben, is this good? Yeah.
Come towards me just a tiny bit.
Austin, that's a good place to start.
Let's kill the lights.
Visors down.
Our first moonwalk in 3, 2, 1.
Let's kill the lights.
Visors down.
Our first moonwalk in 3, 2, 1.
This is looking really hard for him.
You look like you're struggling.
Okay, try it again.
Visors down.
Okay.
All right.
So, how's it look? It didn't feel good.
I'm gonna say fail.
Yeah.
[ chuckles .]
The problem was - You were getting your motion down and everything, But I think we're not able to reduce your weight.
I saw you straining to make that jump.
You're coming down hard.
And it looks kind of awkward.
I'm still subject to the natural laws of gravity.
Spring boots only help for the initial takeoff and when I land.
You can see there You're probably not even getting a foot.
In the original footage, about a foot and a half.
Well, I think for our next experiment, We really have to get something That will give you a lot more lift.
I think lift and taking some of the weight off of your back.
Maybe we could attach something and pull up on it.
We need something that's gonna control me As I come up and come down.
You're an awkward astronaut.
Let's try it out.
[ laughs .]
So, on this next test, we've got theatrical fly wire.
Now, this is gonna be counterbalanced With about 100 pounds, which will hopefully simulate About the 1/6 gravity that the moon has.
And we'll have a fly-wire expert who will be on this end, Who will give us an extra added control Where we can hopefully get that smooth motion.
So now I have this harness to attach myself to the ceiling To hopefully give me the same floating lift we see in the video.
Chi-lan: Conspiracy theorists argue That what nasa claims is a radio antenna Is actually proof that a fly wire was used.
Ben: Let's kill the lights.
Chi-lan: Walking in these moon suits is no small feat.
Are we ready? [ ben chuckles .]
Chi-lan: Helmet time.
Okay, chi-lan? Check.
Austin? Check.
Okay, let's go.
T- minus 3, 2, 1.
Liftoff.
Nice.
Give me some more leg action.
I like it.
I like it.
That was perfect height on the last one.
Just a little bit faster coming down.
Framed perfect.
Okay, so that last run, here is austin jumping.
I do think it looks like I'm tilted forward slightly.
I got to say, this attempt is so similar.
Now, see the height - about a foot and a half - It looks just perfect.
It's perfectly framed.
I think it looks great.
So, I think the theatrical wire was our best replication.
I think we should continue to use it.
Sounds good.
Let's go.
Okay.
Chi-lan: Next up, we're gonna tackle A scene that's caused a lot of controversy - The one where the two astronauts Are actually kind of kneeling down And one is helping the other one up.
A lot of the conspiracy theorists say That this footage could not have been shot Unless someone was using fly wire To help this astronaut up off the ground.
So, what I've done is I've switched up the terrain a bit, Added some rocks, took the flag out.
I put the camera a little bit higher So we get the same perspective as the footage.
And we're all set up to go.
Austin, you'll be playing the part of john young, Crouched right here underneath your cable rigging.
Austin: All right.
And chi-lan will be Helping you up by the elbow as charles duke.
All right.
And then we' have our fly-wire specialists over here, Giving you kind of a snap Right at the same moment that you pop up.
Okay, guys.
You're in position.
You ready to go, austin? You tell me when, brother.
Okay.
Check.
Try to stand up.
A lot of the conspiracy theorists say that this footage could not have been shot Unless someone was using fly wire.
You ready to go, austin? Austin: You tell me when, brother.
Try to stand up.
I never thought that going to the moon would be so much fun.
Jael: [ laughs .]
I'm jealous that you guys got to do that.
So, guys, we took video clips from apollo 15 and 16 And specifically tried to re-create some things That many conspiracy theorists say Point to evidence that we never actually went to the moon.
This is our first clip, the hammer-and-feather test.
Larry: That looked really good.
Wow.
We weighted our feather With a titanium rod inserted through the shaft.
When they drop, they do drop at the same time.
Not too complicated.
Wow.
Next thing we did is we re-created this space walk, And the first thing we tried is using some spring boots.
This is what it looks like.
Something's a bit off.
He's not able to get the same height As we're seeing in the other one.
There wasn't a lot of stabilization.
We didn't have a way to control gravity.
We needed more float, and we definitely needed more control.
So we decided to move on to the next-best thing - Theatrical fly wire.
This is what that looks like.
Bill: Oh, wow.
Oh, my goodness! That looks weightless.
Austin: But, see, that's what's so great about this.
It was perfect.
It took the weight off me.
It gave me that floating look.
And this is not even slowed down.
You can see when he comes down, There's not quite as much of a compression that he's getting, And he's getting a little more height.
So, the last one that we decided to focus on is, of course, What many conspiracy theorists say is a smoking gun - The apollo 16 mission, Where the astronauts, one of them is kneeling down, And the other one's helping him off the ground.
The big question was, if you weren't using a fly wire, Is that a natural motion That an astronaut would make on the moon? Jael: Wow.
That's good.
It looks weightless the way you guys did it.
Well, we decided to talk to some experts, Because we thought, there's something missing here.
Chris gilman - he is a nasa space-suit designer.
He told us that when the suits are pressurized, They naturally are in a standing position.
So what we're actually seeing here Is the suit almost uncoiling, And that's why you get that spring-back motion.
So, could the moon landings have been faked? Yes, you can replicate the moonwalk, The hammer-feather test, all of that here on earth pretty well.
I think if we had the same resources as nasa, We might be able to get exact.
But does that really mean that it was a hoax? I personally don't think so.
Your re-creations were pretty convincing, But I believe that the lunar landings are authentic.
Even though itan be replicated here on earth, It doesn't mean that the same thing wouldn't happen In the conditions on the moon.
There were 400,000-plus people involved in the apollo missions.
To get all of them to not divulge That we didn't actually go would be enormous.
And I think taking it all into account, It's much, much, much more probable It really did happen and we really went to the moon.
I want to hear about florida.
Well, our witness shot a nighttime video On the shores of red fish point in gulf breeze, florida, Of a glowing object in the sky.
Hawkins: It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
Here's what we found.
Larry: Here we are in gulf breeze, florida, Which is renowned for its ufo activity.
It seems like it really started in 1987 With that ed walters photo.
Jael: He said that he had captured A series of really clear photographs Of an object that looked like a topper With black squares and lighted portals.
And then, in August of 1995, Mike hawkins shot a video of a very similar-looking object That we're gonna investigate today.
There it is.
Check that out.
It's right over the base.
Where the hell did it go? Well, one of the main theories is this was actually hoaxed.
It does look, like, too clear.
Instead of just being a little fuzzy object, It's brightly illuminated.
We're on our way to the exact location in gulf breeze Where the original video was shot And to meet our eyewitness, mike hawkins.
[ seagulls cawing .]
Hey, mike.
How you doing? Bill.
Pretty good.
So, this is the exact spot in red fish point Where you shot that video? Yes, it's right over here.
All right.
We'll follow you.
Jael: So, mike, we're retracing your steps From that night right now? Yes.
This was a dirt road.
We would drive all the way back in there Until the woods ran out, And we would sky-watch right out there.
Bill: What would you expect to see out here? Military activity.
Also ufo activity.
This was the spot right here.
Right here, between these trees here? Yes.
Mike, how many investigators were with you that night? On that night, it was just two of us.
We was driving down through here, And we was coming down to sky-watch, Like we did almost eve day of the week.
About at the midway point, That's when we seen it out over the bay.
Oh, man.
Get out, man.
Get out.
We jumped out to try to get a better angle of it.
At that point, you could see some structure in it.
Check that out.
Check that out.
We actually didn't believe that that kind of an object existed, Because we'd never seen it, And we'd been sky-watching for years.
It's no balloon.
It's real.
That's the real thing, dude.
How long was it in the sky? A couple minutes, maybe, total.
I'm not knowing what it is.
You know, I'm thinking, "well, maybe it is a blimp or something.
" But I wanted to get a better shot of it.
But when it zipped off, you know, it wasn't a blimp.
Where the hell did it go? It looked like it maybe went down.
It's weird.
Like it zipped downwards.
Did it make any noise when it zipped off? No.
I didn't hear anything.
Can you say, mike, that you were involved or not involved With any sort of a hoax of this ufo video? No.
We didn't have any money for props.
I guarantee I didn't fake it.
I'll take a lie-detector test.
Mike, thank you for your time.
I really appreciate it.
We learned a lot.
So, one of the theories that we're working with Is that the object we're seeing in hawkins' video Is simply a lit prop being pulled across the horizon.
So I'm gonna set up a zip line across these trees, And we'll do just that.
We'll pull a lit object across the trees And it'll look like what we're seeing in mike's original video.
Jael: And hopefully we can even get That moment where the ufo disappears.
Where the hell did it go? We're gonna take our steel aircraft cable here.
We're gonna attach it to these two trees, Which are about 30 feet across.
And we're gonna rig it at about 20 feet up.
It's there that we're gonna create our own lit object, See if it matches the original video.
Right now I'm cutting up these foam sheets into smaller panels, Which I'll then connect and make our mock ufo.
So, in order to replicate the lit portals, I'm gonna use some black tape right here, And I'm gonna cut some holes into it that essentially Are gonna go around the ufo that larry's building, And it's gonna be kind of like a jacket.
And make sure we get it nice and straight.
Larry: Guys, up close, I know this is very rudimentary, But mike told us during the interview He didn't have very much money at all.
And so I took that into account, Only spent 20 bucks on the materials.
And I'm pretty sure that once it's dark, You guys get it in your vantage point, it's gonna look great.
Okay.
Soon as it gets dark, we'll start our experiment.
All right.
All right.
Bill: So, we've built our own gulf breeze ufo.
Larry is attaching it to the zip line now, which is black.
It should be invisible against the night sky.
In the original video, the craft seemed to disappear.
And I'll be using this remote To dim the interior light that we mounted inside of our craft.
Jael: So, we've established our vantage point, And I'm standing a little less than 100 feet From where our mock ufo is.
I've got my camera.
What I'm gonna do is try and replicate The same footage from hawkins' original video.
This is the path you're gonna take.
Yeah.
That pretty much mimics what we're seeing in the video.
Bill and jael for larry.
Go for larry.
Are you ready to begin the movement of the ufo? I'm ready to go whenever you are.
2 1.
Begin motion.
Lights on.
So, the gulf breeze ufo that we built is mounted on a zip line.
This will give larry the control he needs By moving it on a pulley system across the length of a tree.
We're hopeful that from the vantage point of the camera, It will look just like we see in the original hawkins video.
Hawkins: That thing's for real.
2 1.
Begin motion.
Lights on.
Jael: Wow! This is unbelievable.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Start moving towards the woods here.
It's to the left.
Yeah.
All right, so now We have to make it disappear really quickly.
So I need you to turn off the light As I'm panning up and right.
Give me the mark on 3.
Okay.
2 3.
Off.
That looked pretty good.
I think we have a pretty good match here.
Guys, how did it look? You're gonna be pleasantly surprised.
All right.
Look how close it matches.
I'm having a hard time finding any differences at all.
Jael: The only thing I'm noticing right here Is that our ufo is actually shining a light Onto one of the trees.
So you can see that it's actually Really close to the trees rather than up in the sky.
You know, there's another issue, too.
If you look at the video that we just shot, We have really good horizontal motion, But we don't have good vertical motion.
In the original video, look how it seems to go higher And then start to come back down.
Ours almost looks like it's on a horizontal track.
I'm thinking of another experiment That would give us more vertical control.
Okay.
Now we're moving on to our r.
C.
- Helicopter test, Which will suspend our ufo in the air, And we'll have a lot more vertical control.
Larry: Right now, I'm building our illuminated panel, Which the helicopter will actually be towing around.
On the inside of this panel, I'm going to actually line it with l.
E.
D.
Strips.
I'm gonna spray-paint the front panel with black spray paint.
And then I'll just cut it out, using this as a model.
I have a remote-control helicopter.
Oh, wow.
That looks really cool.
I've got about a 5-pound payload that this can lift.
We want to get our ufo about 20 feet in the air.
To do so, the helicopter is gonna go about 30 feet.
And then if you add some slack at the bottom, I can actually frame the helicopter out So we can mimic the original video.
Check that out.
Bill: In the original video, The ufo seems to disappear or blink off.
I'm gonna be radioing larry, Who's then gonna turn off the lights remotely.
Bill: Larry, you ready to get that thing airborne? Hey, bill, I'm ready whenever you guys are.
Get it up in the air.
All right, I'm lifting off right now.
On 3, 2, 1.
Light it up, larry.
Yeah! There it is.
There it is.
Look at it.
It matches.
Actually, it looks pretty good.
Larry, move it from left to right.
We need to see it move through the tree line.
That's what we need! Like that! That's what we need! The only problem is that because it's a panel, When it does a 360 turn because of the wind, We lose the 3-dimensional effect.
Get ready to cut the lights on 3, 2, 1.
Cut the lights.
Whoa.
Yeah.
That was weird.
Yeah, it was actually pretty good.
Go ahead and take it down And join us at the vantage point over here.
All right, larry, let me just show you what it looked like.
Look.
Larry: Oh, wow, wow, wow.
Bill: There it goes.
That looks good.
Look how it's matching.
You definitely had The vertical and the horizontal control that we wanted.
Very, very similar.
But then it starts this whole shaking, And then it's turning a little bit.
It starts to turn 360 because of the wind, And we lose the 3-dimensional effect.
Obviously, there's gonna be wind.
That's true.
They call it gulf breeze for a reason.
I think it's safe to say It was not an illuminated panel hoisted up by any other means.
It just wasn't this.
Both of our experiments got really close, But I'm beginning to think that maybe it wasn't Anything in the air flying at all.
Maybe it was perhaps something from the ground And it was just an illusion.
Bill: For this next test, We're projecting a custom-made gobo onto a theatrical screen.
Think of a gobo as the bat-image projected against the night sky.
Gobo means "go-before optics.
" It looks exactly like the image in the original clip.
I'm gonna place it into our spotlight, Which then I'll project onto a screen.
Hey, guys.
How's it going? Good.
We've got our 10'x15' movie screen.
You're gonna project from behind it, So it should be able to capture that projection.
Exactly.
Bill: This screen is black.
It should disappear against the night sky.
Jael: Once we've got a stable projection, I'll be able to control The horizontal and vertical movement With my camera.
Bill: Larry, how you doing? You set up over there? I'm all ready to go, waiting on your cue.
On 3 2 Light it up.
Now, we're gonna try to replicate an illusion of flight By using our gobo and spotlight.
I'm all ready to go, waiting on your cue.
On 3 Light it up.
Wow.
Wow! Ben: So, tell me about florida, then.
Our witness, mike hawkins, Shot a really clear video of an object in the sky In revealing detail That we haven't seen in any other ufo footage before.
Hawkins: Check that out.
Larry: In our first attempt to re-create the original footage, We strung a zip line between two trees And sent up a replica ufo.
Chi-lan: Wow.
That looks really, really similar.
Bill: But the problem was We could only get it to move left to right, not up and down.
And so we decided to move on to our next experiment.
We had an r.
C.
Helicopter And a cut-out panel that was lit up by l.
E.
D.
S.
But the problem with that is the panel was lightweight And very susceptible to the wind.
It would turn left and right, And it would lose that ufo shape.
Bill: So, we knew then we had to move on To an experiment that would not be susceptible to the wind, And that would be by creating The illusion of an object being in the sky.
Our last experiment involved a gobo, or a go-before optics.
And we projected that onto a big screen.
Chi-lan: Oh, wow.
This is - This is incredibly similar, guys.
It's uncanny.
Bill: In order to create the illusion Of the craft flying away, like we see in the original video, Jael simply moved the camera up.
Wow.
Jael: Isn't it amazing? Chi-lan: It is.
Austin: That looked exact.
But, I mean, with a big screen that you have to erect, Mike must have been in on that if that was really the solution.
Bill: We started to wonder the same thing.
So we had to submit the interview That we conducted with mike to layered voice analysis.
This is what happened during the initial interview.
Hawkins: Well, we was driving down through here, And we was coming down to sky-watch, Like we did almost every day of the week.
And about at the midway point, That's when we seen it out over the bay.
Ben: Wow.
Bill: So what this is suggesting Is that, yes, he definitely saw something in the sky.
But when you play this next clip, You'll see that he may have known what it was he was looking at.
I'm not knowing what it is.
You know, I'm thinking, "well, maybe it is a blimp or something.
" But I wanted to get a better shot of it.
But when it zipped off, you know, it wasn't a blimp.
Wow.
What this is really suggesting Is that he wasn't in on a hoax But he may have known or suspected what the object was.
Austin: Maybe he was not in on the hoax.
I still think the video's fake.
Jael: I think that he knows There's a possibility that it wasn't a ufo.
I think that he may not have been in on the hoax, But he was hoaxed.
You were spot-on with your replications.
It can be done.
Did he do it? Maybe he didn't hoax it, but he probably knew what it was.
Check that out.
Check that out.
Where the hell did it go?