Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files (2010) s02e18 Episode Script
Reptile Rampage & Gasoline Ghoul
Tonight on "Fact or Faked:".
.
- Wow.
- Oh, my gosh.
"Paranormal files".
.
- Devin: Did you see that! - What? Fire! [ Gunfire .]
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
Begin destruction! Austin: 30 seconds! Something ferocious had attacked their automobile.
It looked like the marks of a creature.
I don't know what it is.
Holy crap! Shh.
Shh.
Holy.
.
Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
Are you seeing what I am seeing? What the heck is happening? I need to think about what it was.
Yes.
And then it moved left to right.
- Hey.
How's it going, man? - Good to see you.
Hey! Have a seat.
Okay.
Well, let's dive right into it.
Devin, you want to kick us off? Yeah.
I have an awesome clip for you guys.
This video was shot in Melrose Park, which is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in 2011.
The video apparently shows an apparition entering and exiting a paranormal researcher's body.
- Lanisha: Ooh.
- Take a look.
Bill: Ooh! Austin: Oh! - What? Again? - Did you see that? Yes.
The story behind this location is straight out of a movie.
The Speakeasy used to be run by Rocco Degrazia, who was a driver for Al Capone.
In Chicago, this place was a mobster hangout during the roaring '20s.
because of all of the haunted stories and hot spots here at the location.
Well, you know, Devin, that investigator seems pretty unfazed by what just happened.
You would think she would have felt something.
You know, you make a very good point, and this is another case where our witnesses didn't actually notice the apparition until they reviewed the footage later.
I think I may know what's going on here, though.
Check this out.
When you play it, you notice that there's investigators in the foreground, and then if you wait for it, you'll notice that there's actually investigators in the background, as well.
I'm thinking the camera's on auto-exposure.
Now, when it's in this setting, the camera will vacillate its focus between F-stops, so when it does focus on the background, that leaves the foreground overexposed, which creates that ghostly image, which is actually just a blown-out after-image of the investigator right here in the foreground.
Check it out.
Oh, I see.
- That makes sense.
- Oh yeah.
That's a good catch, Austin.
Lanisha: Well, you know, it's a good theory, but we don't know what the camera settings were.
I mean, there's no way of telling.
Maybe we should dig a little deeper before we just pass on this video.
Ben: Let's see what else we have, then.
Austin, you want to take a turn? All right.
You guys, for over three decades, something's been on an absolute rampage through the rural swamps of Bishopville, South Carolina.
We're talking a 7 foot, red-eyed, three-toed Lizard-man.
- What? - And apparently he likes to attack cars.
Yeah.
You guys have to see some of the stills of the damage that the supposed Lizard-man is responsible for on these cars.
Check this out.
- Whoa.
- Wow! Look at this.
.
They're saying that the Lizard-man is responsible for this.
So, we have claw marks, what look like teeth markings.
And you have to understand.
.
This is all metal.
It has to be something strong, and there have been three distinct car attacks.
And most recently in 2011, the Marshall family had their minivan attacked.
You know, all three attacks actually happened along Scape Ore Swamp, and that's where the Lizard-man is supposed to have lived.
Bill: How many of these Lizard-man sightings have occurred over the years? Sheriff Truesdale said there are multiple other people with eyewitness accounts that just won't go on official record because they're afraid of the ridicule.
- Sounds like a good case, guys.
Bill: Yeah, it does.
Yeah.
I like this case.
I think you've got credible testimony, you've got evidence, and I think it's worth investigating.
So, what do you say we lock this in now? - Absolutely.
- Okay.
So, Bill, you're up.
Okay, I've got a case.
In November 2007, Ameed Abuzahrieh had a special visitor to his gas station in Parma, Ohio.
He captured the whole thing on one of his mounted surveillance cameras.
Take a look at this clip.
Okay.
- Wow! - Austin: Whoa! - What the heck? - What is that? - I've never seen anything that c.
.
- And it's blue! - Yeah.
- Whoa! Jael: Even if it were an insect, usually they don't show up that color.
Bill: Now, this figure was visible for about 30 minutes.
Ameed saw this on his surveillance systems, ended up showing this clip to some of his patrons, then it hit the local news, and now the stories are all over the place in Ohio about his haunted gas station.
What would cause that? Ameed is standing by his story that this apparently is a ghostly visitation.
Oh, whoa! Did you see that? Just flew off.
Austin: Let me see that.
- Devin: Look at that! Did you see that! - What? I really like this footage.
It's actually difficult to tell if the ghostly apparition is close to the lens or actually down by all of the gas pumps.
Jael: Well, I'm not convinced that it's not just a small piece of debris that flew in and maybe got stuck on the lens.
I don't think we've seen anything like this.
I like this case.
But we have more left to look at today, so, Lanisha, you're up.
Lanisha: All right, guys.
In 2008, a group of friends were gathered around a campfire in a French forest.
.
When they noticed something hiding behind a tree.
Now, at first they thought it was a cat or a possum, but then this alien-looking thing emerged and out reached this claw-like appendage.
It's really creepy.
Take a look.
- Jael: Wow.
- Yeah.
[ Conversation in French .]
- Oh, you see it? - Oh, wow! Oh, my gosh.
Jael: Yeah.
Just on the left side of that tree there.
- What is that? - Whoa.
Ben: And then he gets closer to it.
Lanisha: Mm-hmm.
It's not enough that this thing is creeping around the corner, but they're like, "let's go get a closer look at it," and it's actually doing this with its claw.
Exactly.
It's creepy, right? I'm noticing something here.
Let's just take a look real quick.
Play this again.
If we pause it right where the alien comes out and we zoom in, you can see that there's a very straight line alongside this tree here.
.
A very common feature when it's computer-generated.
I think that what we're looking at is C.
G.
I agree with Jael here.
It could be something like C.
G.
Or something as simple as someone in a mask with a claw hand they bought at a costume store.
Right.
So, I think we should pass on this one.
So, what's our favorites? Bill: There's several cases that I like here, but the gas-station apparition is the one I would like to investigate.
I'm with Bill.
Gas-station apparition all the way.
Lizard-man.
That's it.
Jael: Yeah, I'm with Austin.
I really like the Lizard-man case.
I would really like to go and follow up.
As much as I like Lizard-man, I want to do the gas-station apparition case.
I like the Lizard-man.
Well, you don't have red eyes or three toes, but you're the closest thing to 7' tall, so I think we're gonna need you.
[ Laughter .]
Well, it looks like the gas-station phantom for Bill, Devin, and Lanisha.
And, Jael and Austin, why don't we go to South Carolina and do the Lizard-man case? - Jael: Sounds good.
- Sounds great.
Let's do this, guys.
We are deep in the South.
.
Bishopville, South Carolina.
As you know, we're here to investigate the legend of the elusive Lizard-man.
Ben: Reports of the Lizard-man just keep surfacing.
Now, the most recent one was July They woke up to find that something ferocious had attacked their automobile.
Leon and Ada have agreed to speak with us about their alleged Lizard-man encounter, but first of all, I want to talk to Liston Truesdale.
Now, he was the Sheriff for decades here in Lee County, and he knows the Lizard-man's antics better than anybody.
Austin: Sheriff Truesdale, I'm Austin.
This is Ben and Jael.
Now, you were Sheriff in this County for quite a long time, correct? And you had quite a bit to do with the Lizard-man investigations.
You betcha.
In what year did this all begin? When was the first incident? July the 14th, 1988.
What kind of damage happened to that car? The front fender.
.
There's a chrome strip around it, and it pulled it off and chewed some of it.
Did you consider the possibility that maybe someone was going around and committing just random vandalism? I don't think so.
It looked like marks of a creature.
Uh, I don't know what it is.
Have you done anything to try and find the creature, gone beyond accepting the reports? I tried to find out if any other places had cars mauled, and I couldn't find any cases where something tore up cars like this.
- Uh-huh.
- Wow.
Where have most of the sightings and attacks taken place? Up and down Scape Ore Swamp.
Well, Sheriff, thank you so much for your time.
You've been a huge help.
We appreciate it.
Bye, now.
Ben: We're about to go speak with Leon and Ada Marshall, the victims of the most recent alleged attack of the Lizard-man.
How are you doing, Mr.
& Mrs.
Marshall? It's a pleasure to meet you.
Ben: So, can you tell us when it was that you first noticed something had happened to your vehicle? Jael: Were there any markings indicative that it was something alive that did this? Oh, yeah.
Teeth-print.
The fenders was all chewed up, and then when you look at the teeth-print on the fender, it's not something a human being could put there.
Ben: Wow.
Okay and did you hear anything when it happened? - No.
- You really can't hear nothing.
Okay.
Does this change your daily activities at all? Oh, yes.
I would normally take a walk from my house out to the highway three times in the morning.
I'm afraid to do it any more.
Wow.
I know that there's something out there and it's not a human being doing this, but what it is, I don't know.
What about alligators? Are there alligators that are indigenous or that live around this area? Oh, yeah.
Down in Scape Ore Swamp.
Right across this field.
.
That swamp back over there.
Any advice if we go out looking for him? Thank you so much for your time.
I can't thank you enough.
Much appreciated.
Take care and have a safe day.
You know, it's pretty remarkable that so many occurrences of damaged vehicles have happened right around Scape Ore Swamp.
Oh, I agree.
The damage done to those cars looks deliberate.
You know, but whatever would have created that, would have had to use a lot of force to create those markings.
Yeah? You know what? I've seen pictures of alligators actually biting cars.
It could just be a case of mistaken identity.
Guys, I know an alligator wrangler close by to here.
We could give him a call and meet down at the Scape Ore Swamp.
- I like it.
- That sounds fun.
I like it.
Okay.
[ Laughs .]
We're gonna head to Scape Ore Swamp to see if the damage done to these cars could just be the result of a hungry gator.
Ben: Greg and Roark.
- Nice to meet you, Greg.
I'm Ben.
- How you doing? Good to see you.
So, what do we got here? Ferguson: 5-foot American alligator.
How large can they grow? They've been found up to 13 feet here in South Carolina.
No kidding! And this one's 5? This one's 5, and it's a young male.
So the bigger the animal, the harder the bite? The bigger the animal, the more forceful the bite.
Absolutely.
Have you ever heard of an incident where an alligator has clamped on to a bumper of a car? They'll bite at anything, and I've seen them bite at cars and that sort of thing.
Oh, wow.
How does the bite force of a gator differ based on the gator's size? I brought my bite-force meter here, so we'll be able to figure out what the bite force is for an animal this size, and then I'll be able to tell you what a scaled-up version would do.
- Okay.
Are you ready to test it? - Yeah, let's do it.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
We're about to conduct a bite-force-meter test.
We're going to to see if an American alligator can potentially bite through metal.
Erickson: So, here's what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna go ahead and release the jaws here, and at that point, nobody should get near the animal.
Stay about 3 feet away, okay? Okay.
Release the jaws.
Okay.
- All right.
- Jael: Oh, man.
[ Chuckles .]
- Okay.
- Everybody ready? We're ready.
Ben: We've just arrived at Scape Ore Swamp.
We're gonna test the force of this animal's bite and see if it's possible for one to bite through metal.
Okay.
Everybody ready? We're ready.
Oh! Guys, check that out.
What if you were to scale this animal up to a 12- or 14-footer? I've measured bite forces of 3,000 pounds for 13-foot alligators, which are, you know, world-class animals.
So, you can imagine the pressure they're generating.
.
You know, tens of thousands of pounds per square inch on the tips of those teeth.
So, in your professional opinion, a certain size of alligator could possibly bite through certain types of metal? Absolutely.
A large alligator can bite through metal, but that's not very normal behavior for an alligator.
Okay.
Well, that gives us a lot to start from.
Thank you so much, guys.
Well, guys, according to our experts, an alligator bite definitely has enough force to cut through metal.
That looks like our first test, then.
Why not? Let's test what the bite pattern would look like of one of the big alligators on, like, a fender of a car.
So, I've got something for us that can help us out with that.
- What is it? - What is that? This is actually a hydraulic alligator jaw.
Now, the teeth are made of pure tempered steel.
They're in the same placement as a freshwater alligator.
And how this works is we take our bumper, place it in here, and then we'll just keep applying the pressure up to us an imprint of what an actual alligator would do to a bumper.
All right, well, now all we have to do is find some car parts to destroy.
You know there is a junkyard close by.
I can give them a call, see if they can hook us up.
- Okay.
- That'll work.
Let's start putting it together.
So, we're about to replicate the bite marks and patterns of a 12- to 14-foot alligator.
Ben and I are gonna be holding the car part stationary.
Jael's gonna be working the hydraulic pump, allowing the jaw to shut.
Afterwards, we're gonna photograph the results and see if what we're looking at isn't a Lizard-man, but maybe just an alligator.
The jaws are set.
Are you ready? Hydraulic pump is ready.
Go ahead and start pumping in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin pumping.
- Oh, he's hungry.
He's hungry.
- Yeah.
[ Laughs .]
Here it comes.
Oh, man.
Imagine if that was a real gator.
That'd be scary.
He's already got a good grip on it.
And it should be getting tough right now.
I see one of the bottom teeth coming up.
I'm starting to feel more pressure.
I see.
.
Oh! The hood is definitely punctured.
I think that we should remove this and see what it looks like.
Okay.
Take a look at this.
Nice! We've got a row of several punctures here, both from above and underneath.
We've got pressure indentations.
- Along with the punctures.
- Yes.
But what I'm noticing when I look at the damage of some of the actual vehicles, I'm not seeing a definite bite mark, anything that we could say.
.
"Look, this is where the back teeth are.
This is where they come together at the front".
There's no real pattern there.
It's almost like bullet holes.
You know, I was just about to say that.
Think about this.
.
Someone shows up.
They fire off a few rounds real quick.
They're out before anybody even notices they're there.
It's quick and easy.
We could go to a nearby shooting range.
They'll definitely have enough firepower for us to really test that theory.
What do you think? This could be one of my favorite days.
- Let's go do it.
- Let's go.
Jael: We just arrived at the shooting range.
We plan to test the theory that the damage done to the Marshalls' car was actually created by gunfire and not the Lizard-man at all.
- Austin: Yes, Ben! - Jael: All right! That's what I'm talking about.
Now, this is a 12-gauge shotgun.
- Nice.
- Okay? And also we have an AR-15 rifle, which is pretty common in the area here.
Well, guys, you know what? I really like the logic behind this.
Bishopville has a lot of hunting.
So it makes sense that, you know, this could be the culprit behind the damage in the photographs.
Okay, well, I'll shoot the shotgun.
Great.
I'll take the rifle.
I'll shoot the camera, give you guys the countdown, and document everything.
- Okay.
- Sounds good, guys.
Let's do this.
All righty.
Now, behind me, we've divided the minivan into two parts.
I'm gonna be taking aim on the left-hand side with the shotgun.
Jael will be using the rifle on the right-hand side.
And Austin will be taking photographs.
We're gonna compare the results.
Locked and loaded.
Ready to go.
Austin: Ready? All right.
In three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Fire! [ Gunfire .]
[ Laughs .]
Yeah! Cease fire! Secure guns.
I'm gonna snap pictures, you guys.
- Woo! - That was fun.
Okay.
Let's go take a look.
- Yeah, let's go check it out.
- See what we did.
[ Camera shutter clicks .]
Wow, you guys lit this thing up.
[ Both laugh .]
Impressive.
I'm looking at the shotgun, and I'm actually really impressed.
But anything on this car that we did is missing scratches.
Right.
We still don't have this, like, gnawed-out sort of thing that we're seeing in the original photograph.
That definitely looks different than the holes that we created with the gun.
And, guys, I was taking aim at this.
.
Right at this edge of the shotgun, but look at it.
It didn't create, like, a deteriorated look.
What it did was just completely demolish and dent in the whole ridge.
Yeah.
Ripped apart all the paint.
That looks nothing like this photo.
The bullet holes are all over the hood and not in a line like in the original photos.
It would take some real marksmanship for somebody to come by and do that.
I think you would have to be close.
.
Really close to the vehicle, and therefore the Marshalls and all these others who have damage to their vehicles, they would have heard gunfire.
I don't think we're looking at guns here.
Jael: Yeah.
I think I know what we could use that would actually give us complete control over how we manipulate a car.
Power tools.
Hmm.
Plus, it doesn't necessarily have to be a hoax.
It still can be vandalism.
Well, the vandals would have had to get in and out quickly before anyone noticed them vandalizing the Marshalls' car.
So if we do do this, we're gonna have to work quick.
Well, let's do that.
Let's grab some power tools, and let's go against the clock.
What do you say we set up, see how much damage we can actually do to the car in a minute? I like the power-tool theory.
All right.
Let's pack up.
The ballistics test we ran didn't yield the results we were were looking for, so we're gonna move on to the theory that the Marshalls' van was destroyed by power tools.
This could either be a hoax scenario or straight vandalism.
But if it was vandals, they would have had to move fast and quiet.
So, we're gonna do just that.
We're gonna race against the clock and see how much damage we can do to a vehicle in one minute.
All right.
Here we go, guys.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin destruction! [ Tool buzzing .]
Coming up on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files".
.
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
Devin: Look at that! There we go! There we go! Lanisha: Yes! Austin: We're about to execute operation destruction van with power tools.
This could either be a hoax scenario or straight vandalism, but if it was vandals, they would have had to move fast.
So we're gonna do just that.
Let's see if we can replicate the photos.
All right.
Here we go, guys.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin destruction! [ Tool buzzing .]
Austin: 30 seconds! Three.
.
Two.
.
One.
That's time.
Woo! [ Laughs .]
- Wow! - That was fun.
Take some photos of this.
See how it turned out compared to the originals, huh? - Wow! - Let's check out those photos.
This is a lot better than at the bullets were doing.
Absolutely.
Look, we're actually getting chunks out of there.
I mean, there it looks almost like it has that corrosion that we're seeing here.
You can see those holes.
They're just, like, perfectly circular, as opposed to these that look kind of like some are circular and then some are kind of slashed.
I do like the scuff marks that we're getting, though.
Look at this.
.
Look how those scuff marks that are scratches on the front of the original photo.
We're getting that on the fender.
You guys, within a matter of a minute, we came fairly close.
I mean, a lot of elements were really similar.
There was so much damage to these vehicles, I think you would hear it.
Jael: Yeah.
It just would have been so difficult to do this unnoticed.
If this was a hoax, and people had all the time in the world, it would be actually fairly easy to re-create these photos to an exactness.
My only concern is that there's so many witnesses that have seen the Lizard-man.
If it were a hoax and someone's just dressed up in a costume, what does that look like? So, now we're talking about somebody possibly dressing up in a Lizard-man costume, running around, and purposefully getting themselves "witnessed" so that they can support that story.
Exactly.
Well, guys, we do have a very sophisticated costume-and-makeup kit.
How do you feel about dressing up as a Lizard-man? I like that.
You know what I'm thinking? Have him run through the woods and we film it, right? What if we post it and see what people say? I mean, people either call us out and they say.
.
"No, just a guy in a costume".
Or maybe it adds to the legend and they actually buy into the Lizard-man.
Austin, that's a stroke of brilliance right there.
Okay.
It's a good sociological experiment.
Do it, see what happens, and then tell them the truth.
I'm into that.
We're really pleased with the results from our last test.
We were able to replicate the damage done to the vehicles, so now we're going to put Ben in a Lizard-man suit and try and replicate the sightings.
- Yes! Nice! - Oh, wow.
That looks good.
That fits well.
So, what do we need to do from here? Now, this is probably gonna be a little bit uncomfortable.
They are full Sclera contact lenses.
As you can see, they're tinted red, and that's because the reports say that the Lizard-man has red eyes.
And then we have your feet.
[ Laughs .]
And your scaly hands.
- Awesome.
- Okay.
And, of course, let's not forget we have your prosthetic face.
Okay.
So what do you want me to do to finish this lizard transformation? Get your hood on and zip you up.
- All right.
- Let's get you up.
[ Laughing .]
Yes.
Tell you what.
If I was out in the swamp and all of a sudden, this started walking by, yeah, I'd be creeped out.
All right.
I'm gonna take a basic hand held camera.
.
And uh, we'll head to the vantage point.
You go to your position.
We'll start filming this.
Let's do it, guys.
All right.
Come on, Lizard-man.
Looking good.
All right, Ben.
Are you in your starting point? Ready to go.
All right.
On my countdown.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Unleash the lizard! Holy crap! Shh.
Shh.
Holy.
.
Austin: So, using our eyewitness reports, we actually dressed Ben up in a Lizard-man suit.
We had him walk around the edge of Scape Ore Swamp and we filmed him.
But we also posted it online for people to comment on.
It's already generated thousands of views.
You guys did not hoax your own video.
Yes, we did.
We did, but we're coming clean right now.
We're being responsible hoaxers and telling the world this was us.
So this is what we posted.
Austin: You think that was a coyote? What do you think that was? What was it? Do you see it? Where? Jael: Whoa.
Bill: Oh! [ Laughter .]
Holy crap! What is that? That looks really good.
Lanisha: That is pretty convincing.
Ben: People are still passing it around.
It's generating a lot of buzz.
Wow.
This is a great social experiment.
Look at this one.
"I live near the swamp and I swear I've seen this thing.
The Lizard-man lives".
Now, this was up for just a short amount of time.
We already have people who live in the area who are, like, looking for further evidence.
I mean, he says he's already seen it.
And then right below that, we have a very differing opinion.
"Hmm, if this thing was real, why hasn't anyone captured it yet?" Devin: Look at this one.
"It's dark but an interesting piece of evidence that there are things out there we can't explain".
- Alright.
- People are believing this.
I mean, this legacy was set.
Well, the comments are pretty mixed, but people do seem to really be buying into this thing.
Interesting.
For me, the biggest part of this social experiment wasn't necessarily trying to fool anyone or create skeptics or believers, but just see if a simple video could create hype.
Could one person really be responsible for hoaxing so many people? Well, look, we have one video of one person, and it's been fooling a multitude of people already.
All right, guys, so, I have to ask.
Lizard-man.
.
Fact or Faked? I personally think somebody started this as a prank back in the '80s.
And when the story took off, they honestly just let it keep going.
Jael: Even though we don't have enough evidence to definitively close this case, I'm leaning more towards hoax.
You proved that people buy into the legend of Lizard-man.
I don't buy into the legend, though.
I think it's hoaxed.
Good job, guys.
[ Gunfire .]
[ Tool buzzing .]
Ben: So, tell us about the gas-station phantom.
How'd that turn out? The three of us traveled to Parma, Ohio, to investigate that well-publicized case of that illuminated blue entity that was caught on the gas station's surveillance camera, hovering over the pumps.
Well, guys, this is Parma, Ohio.
We're here to investigate a video that has caused a lot of controversy on the web and throughout the town.
Bill: Well, you can certainly see why.
I mean, the video that was recorded at the local Marathon Gas Station shows this self-illuminating blue entity that is seen hovering in front of one of the CCTV surveillance cameras.
The gas-station owner noticed this strange ghostly formation, and he decided to show it to some of his patrons.
Devin: Well, that's when this little ghost story blew up.
I mean, the local news station did a story on it, and the next thing you know, everybody's doing stories on this possible haunting.
One patron claims that the gas station is located on an ancient burial ground, and now people are connecting that legend to this case.
Devin: Well, guys, let's go meet Ameed and get his take on the video in question.
Coming up on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files".
.
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
All right.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
You got to see this! Lanisha: We just arrived at the gas station to investigate possible ghost activity caught on tape.
Right now, we're gonna meet with the gas station owner, Ameed Abuzahrieh, and hear his firsthand account of the night the video was shot.
- Ameed.
- Yes.
- Hi.
- Bill.
How you doing? This is Lanisha, and this is Devin.
- Hello.
Nice to meet you.
- Lanisha: Nice to meet you.
So, Ameed, could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
If it's not a ghost, nobody knows what's going on.
Do you feel that there was other paranormal activity that occurs here at this location? I had, like, come in here and I have feelings there's something around me, but actually nobody was here.
In the video, we notice that there are people walking by and coming in and out of the store.
Did anyone else see this entity, or was it just through surveillance camera? Surveillance.
Could you show us where the camera is located? Yes.
This way.
Okay.
We'll follow you.
This camera right here.
Devin: I notice you have a bunch of florescent lighting.
These lights were definitely on when that was recording.
- Correct.
- Okay.
Can you say if you or anybody you know was involved with any sort of a hoax with this video? No.
Now, has the camera changed positions since that video was recorded? No, everything is still the same.
Ameed, is it all right if we tap into your surveillance system and use it for our experiments? - Yeah, no problem.
We can.
- Great.
- Thank you for your time.
- You're welcome.
We got a lot of work to do.
Maybe we could find someone else who might have seen something.
- All right.
- Good point.
Let's move the truck and get started.
- Sounds good.
- Okay.
- How you doing? I'm Bill.
- Ed.
Ed, so have you had any paranormal experiences here at this gas station? You know, being in the back and hearing noises, knowing you're in here by yourself and you hear somebody up here talking or you hear movement, you know, coming back out here frequently, looking, never.
.
Nobody being up here, you know.
Do you know anything about the video in question? Yeah.
It's really frightening and it's just out of the ordinary.
Have you ever had an experience here yourself? Yes.
I was pumping gas like I am now, and one of the other customers started screaming.
Um, she saw the ghost over in this corner of the gas station over here.
She saw an apparition over there? Yeah, she actually saw it when I was here, started screaming, and she ran into her car.
It was pretty bizarre.
Before that recording took place, did you believe in ghosts? No.
- And now you do.
- And now, yeah.
It's kind of creepy to be here every day.
So, now that we've spoken with Ameed and a few locals here at the gas station that corroborate his story, we're gonna dive into a full investigation.
First thing we're gonna do is sweep this facility, looking for any evidence that may lead us closer to solving this case.
You know, when I saw the video, I thought of plasma.
I mean, many paranormal researchers believe that apparitions manifest as a form of plasma, which results from pockets of charged ions.
So, we need to see if there's any high electrical current, because surrounding all electrical current is an electromagnetic field.
If we find a high EMF, we could be onto something, and we could run some experiments.
I'll sweep the grounds with a geiger counter, looking for any spikes in radiation.
Lanisha, why don't you take the EMF and look for electromagnetic fields and any anomalies there? Perfect.
You know what? And I'm gonna use the diode detector to see if there's any pockets of charged particles.
- Sounds good.
- Let's sweep this area.
I'm not getting any major spikes.
I mean, it could be something closer to the camera.
Anything, Bill? Just from normal current.
We explored the theory that the ghostly entity seen in the original video is a result of a plasma formation, but we saw no signs of that during our initial sweep.
So I think it's time we start exploring other theories besides plasma formation being responsible for what we see in that original video.
Well, a really popular theory is that what we're seeing is just a misidentified piece of trash or debris that's caught in the wind, creating the ghostly manifestation we see in the original video.
Well, at most gas stations, they have those window-washing bins with the blue towels.
Okay.
So maybe that's what we're seeing in the video.
You know, like this.
Let's see um.
.
[ Laughs .]
Here we go.
How about this? Nice! Oh! Oh.
Got it! [ Laughs .]
This can actually work.
It's the right color and it's lightweight and it should stay in the air long enough.
You know, I saw these in the store when we were interviewing Ameed.
Well, you know, you guys, we could literally create a vortex with fans and.
.
And kind of hover it in the air and see how long we can keep it up there, and maybe that'll look like our apparition.
True.
So while you two set up the fans, I'll feed the Security Camera to our monitor.
That way we can view the results in real time.
Bill, would you like to be responsible for throwing the trash into the vortex? - That's totally fine.
- Excellent.
- I'll take this.
All right, thanks.
- Here you go, Sir.
- So let's get set up.
- All right.
We've put these six fans in a circle, angled them about 45 degrees, and turned just slightly to create a wind vortex right below the Security Camera.
Hopefully our piece of plastic will float and the debris will look like the apparition we've seen in the original video.
Okay, guys.
Vortex is set.
Let's do this.
All right, Lanisha.
I'm ready.
I'm in position.
All right, Bill.
Release the plastic bag in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release the bag.
- Look at that! There we go! There we go! - Nice! Yes! There you go! Lanisha: This peculiar piece of footage, captured on December 27, 2011, by a telescope on board NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft shows a mysterious triangular object coming to view just as Venus becomes visible.
Ufologists claim this UFO is evidence of an extraterrestrial craft.
But is this Delta-shaped object Fact or Faked? The answer coming up.
Lanisha: In 2011, when a telescope on board NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft captured this mysterious triangular UFO just as Venus was coming into view, it had believers calling it proof of advanced alien technology.
But is the Delta-shaped object Fact or Faked? Fact.
.
The triangular artifact is indeed on the footage, but it has been identified.
Watch.
.
The UFO only comes into view as Venus appears, then both remain in a fixed position to each other, indicating this strange UFO is actually just an optical illusion created by Venus' reflection within the telescope's optics.
Devin: Right now, we're testing the theory that maybe just a piece of plastic got caught in a gust of wind and that's what we're seeing on the Security footage.
All right, Lanisha.
I'm ready.
I'm in position.
All right, Bill.
Release the plastic bag in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
.
Release the bag.
Look at that! There we go! There we go! Nice! Yes! There you go! - Look at it! - Yes! - That looks great, guys! - Yeah! That wasn't that bad.
All right.
Check it out.
Okay.
Look, look, look.
You know, the color is surprisingly similar.
But you know what, guys? The shape is completely off, and it's just way too defined.
You can clearly see that it's a plastic bag.
- This test is a fail.
- Yeah.
The amount of time that this bag stayed airborne.
.
Doesn't even come close to matching the original video.
And also, the color difference is kind of odd, because this is like a royal blue.
.
But in the video that we just recorded, it's coming up that same sort of aqua.
.
- Yeah.
- That the original entity is.
And, Bill, if you take a look at this, the car that pulls in seems to have some reflecting blue on the rooftop, and I almost wonder if this actually is light.
- I noticed that.
- It has an emitting light source.
Mm-hmm.
I have an idea for another experiment, but it involves a possible hoax theory, even a prank.
So, another popular online theory is that a kid is hoaxing the gas station by shining a laser pointer or a flashlight directly at the camera.
That's an interesting idea, but I think a direct hit from one of our laser pointers into the lens is more than the imaging chip in the camera could probably handle.
Devin: There it goes.
Look at that.
It completely whites out.
- Yeah.
- The iris of this camera simply can't handle a light shining directly at the camera lens.
Well, maybe if we put some sort of screen in front of the lens, you know, a few feet away, something we can project the dot onto.
- Like a sheet of plexiglass.
- Mm-hmm.
You know, the plexiglass hoax scenario wouldn't work without somebody in the store seeing the setup.
So, we're working under the assumption that Ameed or whoever was working here that night was in on a hoax.
But you know what? If it can replicate the video, we at least have to see if it's a possibility.
I'll go grab the plexi and start rigging it to some stands with clamps.
All right.
Okay.
So, let's grab the ladder and set it up.
All right.
Plexi's in place.
Good to go.
- You ready? - Yep.
Okay.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Blue apparition.
Can you aim it down so it makes a streak and hold it still for a moment? That's actually looking pretty good.
- Yeah? - All right, I'm coming down.
Let me show you guys the results.
Oh, wow.
That looks pretty good.
This is actually looks better than I thought it would.
We are getting a blue illuminated formation similar to what we see here in the original video.
- Right.
- Right off the bat, I'm seeing the infrared emitters in the plexiglass.
- Right there in the upper right-hand side.
- Yeah.
And in this original video, we are seeing this ghostly formation, and you can't see through it, and that's not the case with the manifestation re-created with our flashlight.
- It's completely transparent.
- Yeah.
Not to mention the fact that if this was a hoax, I find it hard to believe that nobody would have noticed plexiglass, lasers, blue lights, all this stuff that we have here for well over 30 minutes.
So, let's rethink this um.
.
Look at the wall that the camera's mounted on.
It's got a blue shade that is similar to what we're seeing in the original clip.
Perhaps that wall is reflective enough where an object close to the wall was bouncing that color back onto the camera and it just looks blue.
I think you're onto something.
Any light hitting this wall will turn anything close to it completely blue.
It makes sense.
Lanisha, step back closer to the wall.
Whoa! Your red coat is picking up that blue color.
- And your gloves.
Raise your hands.
- I can see it in the monitor.
You know, I would completely believe that an object could be reflecting blue, and that would explain why the object wasn't seen, because patrons couldn't see it because it was way up there, and, two, why it was blurry.
It was right up against the lens.
So that could take us back to the popular bug-on-a-lens theory.
Yes.
All right, guys, sounds like we have our next experiment, and it looks like we need to find ourselves some bugs.
You know.
.
This insect-on-a-lens theory makes sense because whatever it is that's very close to the lens would have been on a two-dimensional plane the whole time.
Not getting closer or farther away from the lens.
And it would have been in front of everything in the background the whole time, just like in the original video.
And because the camera can't focus on something so close to the lens, it would appear to be distorted.
That's a really good point.
Well, we know that this video was shot in November, like Ameed said.
And as we can tell, it gets pretty chilly in the winter months.
So I called an entomologist to find out what types of insects would be around this time of year.
We've got ourselves some silverfish and a couple other insects to work with.
Well, all right, guys, let's get these silverfish on the lens.
I'll stay at the monitors here.
I'll let you know when to release the bugs and when we have enough footage.
- All right.
- Let's bug out to the roof.
[ Laughs .]
Okay.
Considering that many insects see in infrared and that these surveillance cameras are ringed with infrared lights.
It's very possible that a bug could be attracted to the camera, thinking it's a source of heat.
If that's what's happened and we're able to replicate the original video with this experiment, we may have solved this case.
All right, Bill, these little bugs are gonna be hard to control, but we'll see if we can get one on there.
All right, guys.
I'm now recording.
Come on, buddy.
Almost got him.
Almost got him.
I see that.
- Okay, you ready, Dev? - Yep.
All right.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release insect! - Yes! - You got to see this! Our last test generated some interesting results, but we didn't get an exact match.
So now we're gonna move on to test the theory that what we're seeing is a bug on the lens that's colored blue by the light reflecting off the blue wall where the Security Camera was mounted.
All right, Bill.
We got it up here.
These little bugs are gonna be hard to control, but we'll see if we can get one on there.
Okay.
I'm gonna have you hold the large container underneath, just in case I drop one.
- Oh, perfect.
Yeah.
- I see exactly what you're saying.
Yeah.
All right, guys.
I'm now recording.
All right, I'm just gonna try to coax him onto the lens here.
Okay.
A little bit closer to the.
.
Oh, that's perfect, actually.
Oh! Dropped him.
- Oh, he fell off? - I'm glad you have this here.
[ Chuckles .]
All right, buddy.
Come on.
All right, Dev.
Come on, buddy.
Almost got him.
Almost got him.
I see that.
- Okay, you ready, Dev? - Yep.
All right, on three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release insect! - Go! - Yes! - Pull it up! Pull it up! - Yes! There it is! [ Laughs .]
I can't believe he stayed on.
You got to see this.
Bill: So, we realized that the wall that the surveillance camera was mounted on was painted bright blue.
With the bright lights at the gas station reflecting that blue color back onto an object that would either be near or on the camera's lens.
Devin: So the only question was, what's the object in front of the camera's lens? The only other logical answer is a bug on a lens.
Well, we never thought of that because there are no blue bugs like that.
But take a look at what just a bug on a lens looks like in this video camera.
That's it! Right there! - Jael: No way! - Lanisha: Wow! That's impossible! Bill: It's not impossible.
What! Is that the original, or is that yours? This is your bug that you placed on there.
- Devin: That's correct.
- [ Laughs .]
Wow! Check out the side-by-side.
Jael: Guys, that's an exact match.
Lanisha: Uh-huh.
The bug took on the color from the wall, therefore creating that blue floating figure we see there in the original video.
Ben: Guys, I say case closed.
I never thought that it could have reflected so much light like that.
It's bright blue, just like the original.
Good stuff, guys.
Wow! Awesome job.
.
- Wow.
- Oh, my gosh.
"Paranormal files".
.
- Devin: Did you see that! - What? Fire! [ Gunfire .]
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
Begin destruction! Austin: 30 seconds! Something ferocious had attacked their automobile.
It looked like the marks of a creature.
I don't know what it is.
Holy crap! Shh.
Shh.
Holy.
.
Oh, my goodness! There's a flying saucer.
I'm getting a series of lights right there.
Are you seeing what I am seeing? What the heck is happening? I need to think about what it was.
Yes.
And then it moved left to right.
- Hey.
How's it going, man? - Good to see you.
Hey! Have a seat.
Okay.
Well, let's dive right into it.
Devin, you want to kick us off? Yeah.
I have an awesome clip for you guys.
This video was shot in Melrose Park, which is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in 2011.
The video apparently shows an apparition entering and exiting a paranormal researcher's body.
- Lanisha: Ooh.
- Take a look.
Bill: Ooh! Austin: Oh! - What? Again? - Did you see that? Yes.
The story behind this location is straight out of a movie.
The Speakeasy used to be run by Rocco Degrazia, who was a driver for Al Capone.
In Chicago, this place was a mobster hangout during the roaring '20s.
because of all of the haunted stories and hot spots here at the location.
Well, you know, Devin, that investigator seems pretty unfazed by what just happened.
You would think she would have felt something.
You know, you make a very good point, and this is another case where our witnesses didn't actually notice the apparition until they reviewed the footage later.
I think I may know what's going on here, though.
Check this out.
When you play it, you notice that there's investigators in the foreground, and then if you wait for it, you'll notice that there's actually investigators in the background, as well.
I'm thinking the camera's on auto-exposure.
Now, when it's in this setting, the camera will vacillate its focus between F-stops, so when it does focus on the background, that leaves the foreground overexposed, which creates that ghostly image, which is actually just a blown-out after-image of the investigator right here in the foreground.
Check it out.
Oh, I see.
- That makes sense.
- Oh yeah.
That's a good catch, Austin.
Lanisha: Well, you know, it's a good theory, but we don't know what the camera settings were.
I mean, there's no way of telling.
Maybe we should dig a little deeper before we just pass on this video.
Ben: Let's see what else we have, then.
Austin, you want to take a turn? All right.
You guys, for over three decades, something's been on an absolute rampage through the rural swamps of Bishopville, South Carolina.
We're talking a 7 foot, red-eyed, three-toed Lizard-man.
- What? - And apparently he likes to attack cars.
Yeah.
You guys have to see some of the stills of the damage that the supposed Lizard-man is responsible for on these cars.
Check this out.
- Whoa.
- Wow! Look at this.
.
They're saying that the Lizard-man is responsible for this.
So, we have claw marks, what look like teeth markings.
And you have to understand.
.
This is all metal.
It has to be something strong, and there have been three distinct car attacks.
And most recently in 2011, the Marshall family had their minivan attacked.
You know, all three attacks actually happened along Scape Ore Swamp, and that's where the Lizard-man is supposed to have lived.
Bill: How many of these Lizard-man sightings have occurred over the years? Sheriff Truesdale said there are multiple other people with eyewitness accounts that just won't go on official record because they're afraid of the ridicule.
- Sounds like a good case, guys.
Bill: Yeah, it does.
Yeah.
I like this case.
I think you've got credible testimony, you've got evidence, and I think it's worth investigating.
So, what do you say we lock this in now? - Absolutely.
- Okay.
So, Bill, you're up.
Okay, I've got a case.
In November 2007, Ameed Abuzahrieh had a special visitor to his gas station in Parma, Ohio.
He captured the whole thing on one of his mounted surveillance cameras.
Take a look at this clip.
Okay.
- Wow! - Austin: Whoa! - What the heck? - What is that? - I've never seen anything that c.
.
- And it's blue! - Yeah.
- Whoa! Jael: Even if it were an insect, usually they don't show up that color.
Bill: Now, this figure was visible for about 30 minutes.
Ameed saw this on his surveillance systems, ended up showing this clip to some of his patrons, then it hit the local news, and now the stories are all over the place in Ohio about his haunted gas station.
What would cause that? Ameed is standing by his story that this apparently is a ghostly visitation.
Oh, whoa! Did you see that? Just flew off.
Austin: Let me see that.
- Devin: Look at that! Did you see that! - What? I really like this footage.
It's actually difficult to tell if the ghostly apparition is close to the lens or actually down by all of the gas pumps.
Jael: Well, I'm not convinced that it's not just a small piece of debris that flew in and maybe got stuck on the lens.
I don't think we've seen anything like this.
I like this case.
But we have more left to look at today, so, Lanisha, you're up.
Lanisha: All right, guys.
In 2008, a group of friends were gathered around a campfire in a French forest.
.
When they noticed something hiding behind a tree.
Now, at first they thought it was a cat or a possum, but then this alien-looking thing emerged and out reached this claw-like appendage.
It's really creepy.
Take a look.
- Jael: Wow.
- Yeah.
[ Conversation in French .]
- Oh, you see it? - Oh, wow! Oh, my gosh.
Jael: Yeah.
Just on the left side of that tree there.
- What is that? - Whoa.
Ben: And then he gets closer to it.
Lanisha: Mm-hmm.
It's not enough that this thing is creeping around the corner, but they're like, "let's go get a closer look at it," and it's actually doing this with its claw.
Exactly.
It's creepy, right? I'm noticing something here.
Let's just take a look real quick.
Play this again.
If we pause it right where the alien comes out and we zoom in, you can see that there's a very straight line alongside this tree here.
.
A very common feature when it's computer-generated.
I think that what we're looking at is C.
G.
I agree with Jael here.
It could be something like C.
G.
Or something as simple as someone in a mask with a claw hand they bought at a costume store.
Right.
So, I think we should pass on this one.
So, what's our favorites? Bill: There's several cases that I like here, but the gas-station apparition is the one I would like to investigate.
I'm with Bill.
Gas-station apparition all the way.
Lizard-man.
That's it.
Jael: Yeah, I'm with Austin.
I really like the Lizard-man case.
I would really like to go and follow up.
As much as I like Lizard-man, I want to do the gas-station apparition case.
I like the Lizard-man.
Well, you don't have red eyes or three toes, but you're the closest thing to 7' tall, so I think we're gonna need you.
[ Laughter .]
Well, it looks like the gas-station phantom for Bill, Devin, and Lanisha.
And, Jael and Austin, why don't we go to South Carolina and do the Lizard-man case? - Jael: Sounds good.
- Sounds great.
Let's do this, guys.
We are deep in the South.
.
Bishopville, South Carolina.
As you know, we're here to investigate the legend of the elusive Lizard-man.
Ben: Reports of the Lizard-man just keep surfacing.
Now, the most recent one was July They woke up to find that something ferocious had attacked their automobile.
Leon and Ada have agreed to speak with us about their alleged Lizard-man encounter, but first of all, I want to talk to Liston Truesdale.
Now, he was the Sheriff for decades here in Lee County, and he knows the Lizard-man's antics better than anybody.
Austin: Sheriff Truesdale, I'm Austin.
This is Ben and Jael.
Now, you were Sheriff in this County for quite a long time, correct? And you had quite a bit to do with the Lizard-man investigations.
You betcha.
In what year did this all begin? When was the first incident? July the 14th, 1988.
What kind of damage happened to that car? The front fender.
.
There's a chrome strip around it, and it pulled it off and chewed some of it.
Did you consider the possibility that maybe someone was going around and committing just random vandalism? I don't think so.
It looked like marks of a creature.
Uh, I don't know what it is.
Have you done anything to try and find the creature, gone beyond accepting the reports? I tried to find out if any other places had cars mauled, and I couldn't find any cases where something tore up cars like this.
- Uh-huh.
- Wow.
Where have most of the sightings and attacks taken place? Up and down Scape Ore Swamp.
Well, Sheriff, thank you so much for your time.
You've been a huge help.
We appreciate it.
Bye, now.
Ben: We're about to go speak with Leon and Ada Marshall, the victims of the most recent alleged attack of the Lizard-man.
How are you doing, Mr.
& Mrs.
Marshall? It's a pleasure to meet you.
Ben: So, can you tell us when it was that you first noticed something had happened to your vehicle? Jael: Were there any markings indicative that it was something alive that did this? Oh, yeah.
Teeth-print.
The fenders was all chewed up, and then when you look at the teeth-print on the fender, it's not something a human being could put there.
Ben: Wow.
Okay and did you hear anything when it happened? - No.
- You really can't hear nothing.
Okay.
Does this change your daily activities at all? Oh, yes.
I would normally take a walk from my house out to the highway three times in the morning.
I'm afraid to do it any more.
Wow.
I know that there's something out there and it's not a human being doing this, but what it is, I don't know.
What about alligators? Are there alligators that are indigenous or that live around this area? Oh, yeah.
Down in Scape Ore Swamp.
Right across this field.
.
That swamp back over there.
Any advice if we go out looking for him? Thank you so much for your time.
I can't thank you enough.
Much appreciated.
Take care and have a safe day.
You know, it's pretty remarkable that so many occurrences of damaged vehicles have happened right around Scape Ore Swamp.
Oh, I agree.
The damage done to those cars looks deliberate.
You know, but whatever would have created that, would have had to use a lot of force to create those markings.
Yeah? You know what? I've seen pictures of alligators actually biting cars.
It could just be a case of mistaken identity.
Guys, I know an alligator wrangler close by to here.
We could give him a call and meet down at the Scape Ore Swamp.
- I like it.
- That sounds fun.
I like it.
Okay.
[ Laughs .]
We're gonna head to Scape Ore Swamp to see if the damage done to these cars could just be the result of a hungry gator.
Ben: Greg and Roark.
- Nice to meet you, Greg.
I'm Ben.
- How you doing? Good to see you.
So, what do we got here? Ferguson: 5-foot American alligator.
How large can they grow? They've been found up to 13 feet here in South Carolina.
No kidding! And this one's 5? This one's 5, and it's a young male.
So the bigger the animal, the harder the bite? The bigger the animal, the more forceful the bite.
Absolutely.
Have you ever heard of an incident where an alligator has clamped on to a bumper of a car? They'll bite at anything, and I've seen them bite at cars and that sort of thing.
Oh, wow.
How does the bite force of a gator differ based on the gator's size? I brought my bite-force meter here, so we'll be able to figure out what the bite force is for an animal this size, and then I'll be able to tell you what a scaled-up version would do.
- Okay.
Are you ready to test it? - Yeah, let's do it.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
We're about to conduct a bite-force-meter test.
We're going to to see if an American alligator can potentially bite through metal.
Erickson: So, here's what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna go ahead and release the jaws here, and at that point, nobody should get near the animal.
Stay about 3 feet away, okay? Okay.
Release the jaws.
Okay.
- All right.
- Jael: Oh, man.
[ Chuckles .]
- Okay.
- Everybody ready? We're ready.
Ben: We've just arrived at Scape Ore Swamp.
We're gonna test the force of this animal's bite and see if it's possible for one to bite through metal.
Okay.
Everybody ready? We're ready.
Oh! Guys, check that out.
What if you were to scale this animal up to a 12- or 14-footer? I've measured bite forces of 3,000 pounds for 13-foot alligators, which are, you know, world-class animals.
So, you can imagine the pressure they're generating.
.
You know, tens of thousands of pounds per square inch on the tips of those teeth.
So, in your professional opinion, a certain size of alligator could possibly bite through certain types of metal? Absolutely.
A large alligator can bite through metal, but that's not very normal behavior for an alligator.
Okay.
Well, that gives us a lot to start from.
Thank you so much, guys.
Well, guys, according to our experts, an alligator bite definitely has enough force to cut through metal.
That looks like our first test, then.
Why not? Let's test what the bite pattern would look like of one of the big alligators on, like, a fender of a car.
So, I've got something for us that can help us out with that.
- What is it? - What is that? This is actually a hydraulic alligator jaw.
Now, the teeth are made of pure tempered steel.
They're in the same placement as a freshwater alligator.
And how this works is we take our bumper, place it in here, and then we'll just keep applying the pressure up to us an imprint of what an actual alligator would do to a bumper.
All right, well, now all we have to do is find some car parts to destroy.
You know there is a junkyard close by.
I can give them a call, see if they can hook us up.
- Okay.
- That'll work.
Let's start putting it together.
So, we're about to replicate the bite marks and patterns of a 12- to 14-foot alligator.
Ben and I are gonna be holding the car part stationary.
Jael's gonna be working the hydraulic pump, allowing the jaw to shut.
Afterwards, we're gonna photograph the results and see if what we're looking at isn't a Lizard-man, but maybe just an alligator.
The jaws are set.
Are you ready? Hydraulic pump is ready.
Go ahead and start pumping in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin pumping.
- Oh, he's hungry.
He's hungry.
- Yeah.
[ Laughs .]
Here it comes.
Oh, man.
Imagine if that was a real gator.
That'd be scary.
He's already got a good grip on it.
And it should be getting tough right now.
I see one of the bottom teeth coming up.
I'm starting to feel more pressure.
I see.
.
Oh! The hood is definitely punctured.
I think that we should remove this and see what it looks like.
Okay.
Take a look at this.
Nice! We've got a row of several punctures here, both from above and underneath.
We've got pressure indentations.
- Along with the punctures.
- Yes.
But what I'm noticing when I look at the damage of some of the actual vehicles, I'm not seeing a definite bite mark, anything that we could say.
.
"Look, this is where the back teeth are.
This is where they come together at the front".
There's no real pattern there.
It's almost like bullet holes.
You know, I was just about to say that.
Think about this.
.
Someone shows up.
They fire off a few rounds real quick.
They're out before anybody even notices they're there.
It's quick and easy.
We could go to a nearby shooting range.
They'll definitely have enough firepower for us to really test that theory.
What do you think? This could be one of my favorite days.
- Let's go do it.
- Let's go.
Jael: We just arrived at the shooting range.
We plan to test the theory that the damage done to the Marshalls' car was actually created by gunfire and not the Lizard-man at all.
- Austin: Yes, Ben! - Jael: All right! That's what I'm talking about.
Now, this is a 12-gauge shotgun.
- Nice.
- Okay? And also we have an AR-15 rifle, which is pretty common in the area here.
Well, guys, you know what? I really like the logic behind this.
Bishopville has a lot of hunting.
So it makes sense that, you know, this could be the culprit behind the damage in the photographs.
Okay, well, I'll shoot the shotgun.
Great.
I'll take the rifle.
I'll shoot the camera, give you guys the countdown, and document everything.
- Okay.
- Sounds good, guys.
Let's do this.
All righty.
Now, behind me, we've divided the minivan into two parts.
I'm gonna be taking aim on the left-hand side with the shotgun.
Jael will be using the rifle on the right-hand side.
And Austin will be taking photographs.
We're gonna compare the results.
Locked and loaded.
Ready to go.
Austin: Ready? All right.
In three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Fire! [ Gunfire .]
[ Laughs .]
Yeah! Cease fire! Secure guns.
I'm gonna snap pictures, you guys.
- Woo! - That was fun.
Okay.
Let's go take a look.
- Yeah, let's go check it out.
- See what we did.
[ Camera shutter clicks .]
Wow, you guys lit this thing up.
[ Both laugh .]
Impressive.
I'm looking at the shotgun, and I'm actually really impressed.
But anything on this car that we did is missing scratches.
Right.
We still don't have this, like, gnawed-out sort of thing that we're seeing in the original photograph.
That definitely looks different than the holes that we created with the gun.
And, guys, I was taking aim at this.
.
Right at this edge of the shotgun, but look at it.
It didn't create, like, a deteriorated look.
What it did was just completely demolish and dent in the whole ridge.
Yeah.
Ripped apart all the paint.
That looks nothing like this photo.
The bullet holes are all over the hood and not in a line like in the original photos.
It would take some real marksmanship for somebody to come by and do that.
I think you would have to be close.
.
Really close to the vehicle, and therefore the Marshalls and all these others who have damage to their vehicles, they would have heard gunfire.
I don't think we're looking at guns here.
Jael: Yeah.
I think I know what we could use that would actually give us complete control over how we manipulate a car.
Power tools.
Hmm.
Plus, it doesn't necessarily have to be a hoax.
It still can be vandalism.
Well, the vandals would have had to get in and out quickly before anyone noticed them vandalizing the Marshalls' car.
So if we do do this, we're gonna have to work quick.
Well, let's do that.
Let's grab some power tools, and let's go against the clock.
What do you say we set up, see how much damage we can actually do to the car in a minute? I like the power-tool theory.
All right.
Let's pack up.
The ballistics test we ran didn't yield the results we were were looking for, so we're gonna move on to the theory that the Marshalls' van was destroyed by power tools.
This could either be a hoax scenario or straight vandalism.
But if it was vandals, they would have had to move fast and quiet.
So, we're gonna do just that.
We're gonna race against the clock and see how much damage we can do to a vehicle in one minute.
All right.
Here we go, guys.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin destruction! [ Tool buzzing .]
Coming up on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files".
.
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
Devin: Look at that! There we go! There we go! Lanisha: Yes! Austin: We're about to execute operation destruction van with power tools.
This could either be a hoax scenario or straight vandalism, but if it was vandals, they would have had to move fast.
So we're gonna do just that.
Let's see if we can replicate the photos.
All right.
Here we go, guys.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Begin destruction! [ Tool buzzing .]
Austin: 30 seconds! Three.
.
Two.
.
One.
That's time.
Woo! [ Laughs .]
- Wow! - That was fun.
Take some photos of this.
See how it turned out compared to the originals, huh? - Wow! - Let's check out those photos.
This is a lot better than at the bullets were doing.
Absolutely.
Look, we're actually getting chunks out of there.
I mean, there it looks almost like it has that corrosion that we're seeing here.
You can see those holes.
They're just, like, perfectly circular, as opposed to these that look kind of like some are circular and then some are kind of slashed.
I do like the scuff marks that we're getting, though.
Look at this.
.
Look how those scuff marks that are scratches on the front of the original photo.
We're getting that on the fender.
You guys, within a matter of a minute, we came fairly close.
I mean, a lot of elements were really similar.
There was so much damage to these vehicles, I think you would hear it.
Jael: Yeah.
It just would have been so difficult to do this unnoticed.
If this was a hoax, and people had all the time in the world, it would be actually fairly easy to re-create these photos to an exactness.
My only concern is that there's so many witnesses that have seen the Lizard-man.
If it were a hoax and someone's just dressed up in a costume, what does that look like? So, now we're talking about somebody possibly dressing up in a Lizard-man costume, running around, and purposefully getting themselves "witnessed" so that they can support that story.
Exactly.
Well, guys, we do have a very sophisticated costume-and-makeup kit.
How do you feel about dressing up as a Lizard-man? I like that.
You know what I'm thinking? Have him run through the woods and we film it, right? What if we post it and see what people say? I mean, people either call us out and they say.
.
"No, just a guy in a costume".
Or maybe it adds to the legend and they actually buy into the Lizard-man.
Austin, that's a stroke of brilliance right there.
Okay.
It's a good sociological experiment.
Do it, see what happens, and then tell them the truth.
I'm into that.
We're really pleased with the results from our last test.
We were able to replicate the damage done to the vehicles, so now we're going to put Ben in a Lizard-man suit and try and replicate the sightings.
- Yes! Nice! - Oh, wow.
That looks good.
That fits well.
So, what do we need to do from here? Now, this is probably gonna be a little bit uncomfortable.
They are full Sclera contact lenses.
As you can see, they're tinted red, and that's because the reports say that the Lizard-man has red eyes.
And then we have your feet.
[ Laughs .]
And your scaly hands.
- Awesome.
- Okay.
And, of course, let's not forget we have your prosthetic face.
Okay.
So what do you want me to do to finish this lizard transformation? Get your hood on and zip you up.
- All right.
- Let's get you up.
[ Laughing .]
Yes.
Tell you what.
If I was out in the swamp and all of a sudden, this started walking by, yeah, I'd be creeped out.
All right.
I'm gonna take a basic hand held camera.
.
And uh, we'll head to the vantage point.
You go to your position.
We'll start filming this.
Let's do it, guys.
All right.
Come on, Lizard-man.
Looking good.
All right, Ben.
Are you in your starting point? Ready to go.
All right.
On my countdown.
And three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Unleash the lizard! Holy crap! Shh.
Shh.
Holy.
.
Austin: So, using our eyewitness reports, we actually dressed Ben up in a Lizard-man suit.
We had him walk around the edge of Scape Ore Swamp and we filmed him.
But we also posted it online for people to comment on.
It's already generated thousands of views.
You guys did not hoax your own video.
Yes, we did.
We did, but we're coming clean right now.
We're being responsible hoaxers and telling the world this was us.
So this is what we posted.
Austin: You think that was a coyote? What do you think that was? What was it? Do you see it? Where? Jael: Whoa.
Bill: Oh! [ Laughter .]
Holy crap! What is that? That looks really good.
Lanisha: That is pretty convincing.
Ben: People are still passing it around.
It's generating a lot of buzz.
Wow.
This is a great social experiment.
Look at this one.
"I live near the swamp and I swear I've seen this thing.
The Lizard-man lives".
Now, this was up for just a short amount of time.
We already have people who live in the area who are, like, looking for further evidence.
I mean, he says he's already seen it.
And then right below that, we have a very differing opinion.
"Hmm, if this thing was real, why hasn't anyone captured it yet?" Devin: Look at this one.
"It's dark but an interesting piece of evidence that there are things out there we can't explain".
- Alright.
- People are believing this.
I mean, this legacy was set.
Well, the comments are pretty mixed, but people do seem to really be buying into this thing.
Interesting.
For me, the biggest part of this social experiment wasn't necessarily trying to fool anyone or create skeptics or believers, but just see if a simple video could create hype.
Could one person really be responsible for hoaxing so many people? Well, look, we have one video of one person, and it's been fooling a multitude of people already.
All right, guys, so, I have to ask.
Lizard-man.
.
Fact or Faked? I personally think somebody started this as a prank back in the '80s.
And when the story took off, they honestly just let it keep going.
Jael: Even though we don't have enough evidence to definitively close this case, I'm leaning more towards hoax.
You proved that people buy into the legend of Lizard-man.
I don't buy into the legend, though.
I think it's hoaxed.
Good job, guys.
[ Gunfire .]
[ Tool buzzing .]
Ben: So, tell us about the gas-station phantom.
How'd that turn out? The three of us traveled to Parma, Ohio, to investigate that well-publicized case of that illuminated blue entity that was caught on the gas station's surveillance camera, hovering over the pumps.
Well, guys, this is Parma, Ohio.
We're here to investigate a video that has caused a lot of controversy on the web and throughout the town.
Bill: Well, you can certainly see why.
I mean, the video that was recorded at the local Marathon Gas Station shows this self-illuminating blue entity that is seen hovering in front of one of the CCTV surveillance cameras.
The gas-station owner noticed this strange ghostly formation, and he decided to show it to some of his patrons.
Devin: Well, that's when this little ghost story blew up.
I mean, the local news station did a story on it, and the next thing you know, everybody's doing stories on this possible haunting.
One patron claims that the gas station is located on an ancient burial ground, and now people are connecting that legend to this case.
Devin: Well, guys, let's go meet Ameed and get his take on the video in question.
Coming up on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files".
.
Could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
All right.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
You got to see this! Lanisha: We just arrived at the gas station to investigate possible ghost activity caught on tape.
Right now, we're gonna meet with the gas station owner, Ameed Abuzahrieh, and hear his firsthand account of the night the video was shot.
- Ameed.
- Yes.
- Hi.
- Bill.
How you doing? This is Lanisha, and this is Devin.
- Hello.
Nice to meet you.
- Lanisha: Nice to meet you.
So, Ameed, could you describe what it was that was recorded that night? A ghost.
If it's not a ghost, nobody knows what's going on.
Do you feel that there was other paranormal activity that occurs here at this location? I had, like, come in here and I have feelings there's something around me, but actually nobody was here.
In the video, we notice that there are people walking by and coming in and out of the store.
Did anyone else see this entity, or was it just through surveillance camera? Surveillance.
Could you show us where the camera is located? Yes.
This way.
Okay.
We'll follow you.
This camera right here.
Devin: I notice you have a bunch of florescent lighting.
These lights were definitely on when that was recording.
- Correct.
- Okay.
Can you say if you or anybody you know was involved with any sort of a hoax with this video? No.
Now, has the camera changed positions since that video was recorded? No, everything is still the same.
Ameed, is it all right if we tap into your surveillance system and use it for our experiments? - Yeah, no problem.
We can.
- Great.
- Thank you for your time.
- You're welcome.
We got a lot of work to do.
Maybe we could find someone else who might have seen something.
- All right.
- Good point.
Let's move the truck and get started.
- Sounds good.
- Okay.
- How you doing? I'm Bill.
- Ed.
Ed, so have you had any paranormal experiences here at this gas station? You know, being in the back and hearing noises, knowing you're in here by yourself and you hear somebody up here talking or you hear movement, you know, coming back out here frequently, looking, never.
.
Nobody being up here, you know.
Do you know anything about the video in question? Yeah.
It's really frightening and it's just out of the ordinary.
Have you ever had an experience here yourself? Yes.
I was pumping gas like I am now, and one of the other customers started screaming.
Um, she saw the ghost over in this corner of the gas station over here.
She saw an apparition over there? Yeah, she actually saw it when I was here, started screaming, and she ran into her car.
It was pretty bizarre.
Before that recording took place, did you believe in ghosts? No.
- And now you do.
- And now, yeah.
It's kind of creepy to be here every day.
So, now that we've spoken with Ameed and a few locals here at the gas station that corroborate his story, we're gonna dive into a full investigation.
First thing we're gonna do is sweep this facility, looking for any evidence that may lead us closer to solving this case.
You know, when I saw the video, I thought of plasma.
I mean, many paranormal researchers believe that apparitions manifest as a form of plasma, which results from pockets of charged ions.
So, we need to see if there's any high electrical current, because surrounding all electrical current is an electromagnetic field.
If we find a high EMF, we could be onto something, and we could run some experiments.
I'll sweep the grounds with a geiger counter, looking for any spikes in radiation.
Lanisha, why don't you take the EMF and look for electromagnetic fields and any anomalies there? Perfect.
You know what? And I'm gonna use the diode detector to see if there's any pockets of charged particles.
- Sounds good.
- Let's sweep this area.
I'm not getting any major spikes.
I mean, it could be something closer to the camera.
Anything, Bill? Just from normal current.
We explored the theory that the ghostly entity seen in the original video is a result of a plasma formation, but we saw no signs of that during our initial sweep.
So I think it's time we start exploring other theories besides plasma formation being responsible for what we see in that original video.
Well, a really popular theory is that what we're seeing is just a misidentified piece of trash or debris that's caught in the wind, creating the ghostly manifestation we see in the original video.
Well, at most gas stations, they have those window-washing bins with the blue towels.
Okay.
So maybe that's what we're seeing in the video.
You know, like this.
Let's see um.
.
[ Laughs .]
Here we go.
How about this? Nice! Oh! Oh.
Got it! [ Laughs .]
This can actually work.
It's the right color and it's lightweight and it should stay in the air long enough.
You know, I saw these in the store when we were interviewing Ameed.
Well, you know, you guys, we could literally create a vortex with fans and.
.
And kind of hover it in the air and see how long we can keep it up there, and maybe that'll look like our apparition.
True.
So while you two set up the fans, I'll feed the Security Camera to our monitor.
That way we can view the results in real time.
Bill, would you like to be responsible for throwing the trash into the vortex? - That's totally fine.
- Excellent.
- I'll take this.
All right, thanks.
- Here you go, Sir.
- So let's get set up.
- All right.
We've put these six fans in a circle, angled them about 45 degrees, and turned just slightly to create a wind vortex right below the Security Camera.
Hopefully our piece of plastic will float and the debris will look like the apparition we've seen in the original video.
Okay, guys.
Vortex is set.
Let's do this.
All right, Lanisha.
I'm ready.
I'm in position.
All right, Bill.
Release the plastic bag in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release the bag.
- Look at that! There we go! There we go! - Nice! Yes! There you go! Lanisha: This peculiar piece of footage, captured on December 27, 2011, by a telescope on board NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft shows a mysterious triangular object coming to view just as Venus becomes visible.
Ufologists claim this UFO is evidence of an extraterrestrial craft.
But is this Delta-shaped object Fact or Faked? The answer coming up.
Lanisha: In 2011, when a telescope on board NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft captured this mysterious triangular UFO just as Venus was coming into view, it had believers calling it proof of advanced alien technology.
But is the Delta-shaped object Fact or Faked? Fact.
.
The triangular artifact is indeed on the footage, but it has been identified.
Watch.
.
The UFO only comes into view as Venus appears, then both remain in a fixed position to each other, indicating this strange UFO is actually just an optical illusion created by Venus' reflection within the telescope's optics.
Devin: Right now, we're testing the theory that maybe just a piece of plastic got caught in a gust of wind and that's what we're seeing on the Security footage.
All right, Lanisha.
I'm ready.
I'm in position.
All right, Bill.
Release the plastic bag in three.
.
Two.
.
One.
.
Release the bag.
Look at that! There we go! There we go! Nice! Yes! There you go! - Look at it! - Yes! - That looks great, guys! - Yeah! That wasn't that bad.
All right.
Check it out.
Okay.
Look, look, look.
You know, the color is surprisingly similar.
But you know what, guys? The shape is completely off, and it's just way too defined.
You can clearly see that it's a plastic bag.
- This test is a fail.
- Yeah.
The amount of time that this bag stayed airborne.
.
Doesn't even come close to matching the original video.
And also, the color difference is kind of odd, because this is like a royal blue.
.
But in the video that we just recorded, it's coming up that same sort of aqua.
.
- Yeah.
- That the original entity is.
And, Bill, if you take a look at this, the car that pulls in seems to have some reflecting blue on the rooftop, and I almost wonder if this actually is light.
- I noticed that.
- It has an emitting light source.
Mm-hmm.
I have an idea for another experiment, but it involves a possible hoax theory, even a prank.
So, another popular online theory is that a kid is hoaxing the gas station by shining a laser pointer or a flashlight directly at the camera.
That's an interesting idea, but I think a direct hit from one of our laser pointers into the lens is more than the imaging chip in the camera could probably handle.
Devin: There it goes.
Look at that.
It completely whites out.
- Yeah.
- The iris of this camera simply can't handle a light shining directly at the camera lens.
Well, maybe if we put some sort of screen in front of the lens, you know, a few feet away, something we can project the dot onto.
- Like a sheet of plexiglass.
- Mm-hmm.
You know, the plexiglass hoax scenario wouldn't work without somebody in the store seeing the setup.
So, we're working under the assumption that Ameed or whoever was working here that night was in on a hoax.
But you know what? If it can replicate the video, we at least have to see if it's a possibility.
I'll go grab the plexi and start rigging it to some stands with clamps.
All right.
Okay.
So, let's grab the ladder and set it up.
All right.
Plexi's in place.
Good to go.
- You ready? - Yep.
Okay.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Blue apparition.
Can you aim it down so it makes a streak and hold it still for a moment? That's actually looking pretty good.
- Yeah? - All right, I'm coming down.
Let me show you guys the results.
Oh, wow.
That looks pretty good.
This is actually looks better than I thought it would.
We are getting a blue illuminated formation similar to what we see here in the original video.
- Right.
- Right off the bat, I'm seeing the infrared emitters in the plexiglass.
- Right there in the upper right-hand side.
- Yeah.
And in this original video, we are seeing this ghostly formation, and you can't see through it, and that's not the case with the manifestation re-created with our flashlight.
- It's completely transparent.
- Yeah.
Not to mention the fact that if this was a hoax, I find it hard to believe that nobody would have noticed plexiglass, lasers, blue lights, all this stuff that we have here for well over 30 minutes.
So, let's rethink this um.
.
Look at the wall that the camera's mounted on.
It's got a blue shade that is similar to what we're seeing in the original clip.
Perhaps that wall is reflective enough where an object close to the wall was bouncing that color back onto the camera and it just looks blue.
I think you're onto something.
Any light hitting this wall will turn anything close to it completely blue.
It makes sense.
Lanisha, step back closer to the wall.
Whoa! Your red coat is picking up that blue color.
- And your gloves.
Raise your hands.
- I can see it in the monitor.
You know, I would completely believe that an object could be reflecting blue, and that would explain why the object wasn't seen, because patrons couldn't see it because it was way up there, and, two, why it was blurry.
It was right up against the lens.
So that could take us back to the popular bug-on-a-lens theory.
Yes.
All right, guys, sounds like we have our next experiment, and it looks like we need to find ourselves some bugs.
You know.
.
This insect-on-a-lens theory makes sense because whatever it is that's very close to the lens would have been on a two-dimensional plane the whole time.
Not getting closer or farther away from the lens.
And it would have been in front of everything in the background the whole time, just like in the original video.
And because the camera can't focus on something so close to the lens, it would appear to be distorted.
That's a really good point.
Well, we know that this video was shot in November, like Ameed said.
And as we can tell, it gets pretty chilly in the winter months.
So I called an entomologist to find out what types of insects would be around this time of year.
We've got ourselves some silverfish and a couple other insects to work with.
Well, all right, guys, let's get these silverfish on the lens.
I'll stay at the monitors here.
I'll let you know when to release the bugs and when we have enough footage.
- All right.
- Let's bug out to the roof.
[ Laughs .]
Okay.
Considering that many insects see in infrared and that these surveillance cameras are ringed with infrared lights.
It's very possible that a bug could be attracted to the camera, thinking it's a source of heat.
If that's what's happened and we're able to replicate the original video with this experiment, we may have solved this case.
All right, Bill, these little bugs are gonna be hard to control, but we'll see if we can get one on there.
All right, guys.
I'm now recording.
Come on, buddy.
Almost got him.
Almost got him.
I see that.
- Okay, you ready, Dev? - Yep.
All right.
On three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release insect! - Yes! - You got to see this! Our last test generated some interesting results, but we didn't get an exact match.
So now we're gonna move on to test the theory that what we're seeing is a bug on the lens that's colored blue by the light reflecting off the blue wall where the Security Camera was mounted.
All right, Bill.
We got it up here.
These little bugs are gonna be hard to control, but we'll see if we can get one on there.
Okay.
I'm gonna have you hold the large container underneath, just in case I drop one.
- Oh, perfect.
Yeah.
- I see exactly what you're saying.
Yeah.
All right, guys.
I'm now recording.
All right, I'm just gonna try to coax him onto the lens here.
Okay.
A little bit closer to the.
.
Oh, that's perfect, actually.
Oh! Dropped him.
- Oh, he fell off? - I'm glad you have this here.
[ Chuckles .]
All right, buddy.
Come on.
All right, Dev.
Come on, buddy.
Almost got him.
Almost got him.
I see that.
- Okay, you ready, Dev? - Yep.
All right, on three.
.
Two.
.
One.
Release insect! - Go! - Yes! - Pull it up! Pull it up! - Yes! There it is! [ Laughs .]
I can't believe he stayed on.
You got to see this.
Bill: So, we realized that the wall that the surveillance camera was mounted on was painted bright blue.
With the bright lights at the gas station reflecting that blue color back onto an object that would either be near or on the camera's lens.
Devin: So the only question was, what's the object in front of the camera's lens? The only other logical answer is a bug on a lens.
Well, we never thought of that because there are no blue bugs like that.
But take a look at what just a bug on a lens looks like in this video camera.
That's it! Right there! - Jael: No way! - Lanisha: Wow! That's impossible! Bill: It's not impossible.
What! Is that the original, or is that yours? This is your bug that you placed on there.
- Devin: That's correct.
- [ Laughs .]
Wow! Check out the side-by-side.
Jael: Guys, that's an exact match.
Lanisha: Uh-huh.
The bug took on the color from the wall, therefore creating that blue floating figure we see there in the original video.
Ben: Guys, I say case closed.
I never thought that it could have reflected so much light like that.
It's bright blue, just like the original.
Good stuff, guys.
Wow! Awesome job.