03x04 - Bigfoot Photobombs Eagle's Nest, Mexican Blackbirds Dive to Their Death, and Human Faced Fish

[bunniefuu]

- Tonight on "The
Proof Is Out There,"

the international mystery of
these Mexican blackbirds...

- Birds are not known for
smashing into the ground.

A trio of UFOs
in formation over Texas...

My
God!

A potential
Bigfoot photobombs

an eagle's nest cam...

- This is good Bigfoot habitat.

That's well established.

And the mystery
of the split rock.

Who or what is responsible
for this perfect cut?

- This object was
simply unbelievable.

Around the
globe are videos.

What
the heck is this?

It's moving.

Photos and sounds
that defy explanation.

Is it some kind
of unidentified object?

What's exciting is
nobody really knows.

What are they?

Some sort
of bizarre mutation.

- Extraordinary claims
need extraordinary proof.

- I'm Tony Harris,

and as a journalist
for more than 30 years,

I've followed the facts
where they take me.

Now I'm bringing that
spirit of investigation

to the world's strangest
sounds and images.

We'll analyze each
one with top experts.

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

And pass a
verdict on what it is.

- This video was clearly faked.

- The proof starts now.

Good evening and welcome to
"The Proof Is Out There."

We begin tonight,
as we often do,

with the story of
strange flying objects.

But these aren't saucers,
orbs or Tic Tacs.

They're just regular birds.

Or are they?

It's February 2022
in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Early in the morning a
mounted CCTV camera is rolling

on a quiet residential street,

where a large flock of
yellow-headed blackbirds

is seen flying overhead
at the top of the screen.

Then suddenly things take
a strange and deadly turn.

The security camera
catches the shocking moment

the huge black mass of birds
appears to fall like rain

from the sky to
the pavement below.

As the footage
continues to roll,

we see that many of the birds
recover and fly off safely,

but the street and
sidewalk are now littered

with nearly 100 avian corpses.

Science journalist Amy Teitel

says this footage
is quite surprising.

- Birds are not known for
smashing into the ground.

So what exactly is happening
to make them act this way?

Though this
strange incident

seems once in a lifetime,

it's not the only
time small animals

have rained from the sky.

In this video from
Virginia Beach, Virginia,

a fish is captured
falling and hitting a car.

And footage from December 2021

shows a parking lot
in Texarkana, Texas

filled with a dozen dead fish

that have seemingly
come out of nowhere.

That turned out to be the
result of a weather phenomenon

known as a water spout.

But the incident in
Mexico remains mysterious.

And all this is nothing new.

In the Book of Exodus,

God sends down a reign
of frogs on the Egyptians

because of their refusal to
free the enslaved Israelites.

But while some wonder if
these strange incidents

could be divine punishment,

others suggest they have a
more technological source.

The alleged culprit?

- 5G is a relatively
new technology

that we're using increasingly
for cell phone reception.

One theory is that
somehow 5G interfered

with the birds'
natural navigation.

Birds create a protein
called cryptochromes

that makes them very
sensitive to blue light

and actually helps them see
the Earth's magnetic field.

That's how birds
know how to fly south

and migrate for the winter.

So could it be
that this increase

of electromagnetic frequency

is somehow interfering
with the bird's ability

to see where they're going?

- Recent research in the
field of magneto reception

indicates that molecular
fragments in the birds' eyes

enable them to see Earth's
magnetic field lines

and use that information
to chart a course

between their breeding
and wintering grounds.

So what went wrong here?

Let's go to the experts
for a bird's eye view.

The idea that 5G signals
cause bodily harm

has been debunked, but
biologist Dr. Floyd Hayes

considers whether some form of
electromagnetic interference

could be to blame.

- There was a study
published on the effects

of electromagnetic radiation

on the magnetic compass
of European robins,

and it affected the direction
in which they oriented.

But these birds aren't really
migrating a long distance.

They're just probably
trying to find food.

And they also have
backup compasses,

migrating by the stars at
night and the sun by day.

Furthermore, we wouldn't
expect all of these birds

to fall suddenly like
we're seeing in this video.

So if they're
not being affected

by electromagnetic noise,

could these birds
have been poisoned

by a lethal toxic
cloud of pollution?

Wood burning stoves
and agrochemicals

can cause high levels of
air pollution in the region.

Meteorologists Juan Hernandez
checks the weather conditions

to see if this
could be the cause.

- If it's mountainous,

we're able to have
a thermal inversion

where we have trapped gases

or trapped smoke
near the ground.

But if we look at the video,

we don't really see much in
the way of smoke chemicals.

Likely there was something
else that occurred.

Hayes agrees
pollution is not very likely.

- If they were exposed
to some sort of a toxin,

we would see individuals
gradually becoming sick

at different times, depending
on the amount of the dose

that they were exposed to.

So did these
small critters rain down

during an anomalous weather
event like a microburst?

- We're able to see that
it had rained earlier,

but by the time that the
birds crashed into the ground,

it appeared that it
had stopped raining,

ruling out the potential for
a microburst or a downburst.

So since
Hernandez says the birds

weren't blown into the ground

by a sudden downburst
of wind and rain,

Hayes believes the real culprit

is a deadly presence
we don't see on camera.

- I think there is
a predatorial bird

such as a peregrine falcon

that rapidly dived onto that
flock, and the birds panicked,

and some of them
crashed into the ground.

When a large flock
of birds form,

they call it a murmuration,
and it's generally

to either provide
protection for each other

or to find food.

This is what
he's talking about.

Watch how this murmuration
of western sandpipers

moves suddenly in unison

to avoid this swooping
peregrine falcon.

This is
actually normal behavior

when a predatorial bird
attacks flocks of birds.

We're not seeing the
predator up above,

but it's probably
just out of view.

- We're going with Hayes here.

Our verdict is the birds
were flying in a murmuration,

so when an unknown
predator we can't identify

came upon the flock, they
made a sudden, drastic dive

that was too drastic for some.

That's the downside
of flocking together.

Our next story also begins with
birds, unhatched eagle eggs,

but it's really about
something much bigger,

Bigfoot to be exact.

If you're in Michigan, you
may already be familiar

with this next video
captured on a trail camera.

329,000 trail cameras are
sold globally each year.

So if Bigfoot really exists,

you'd think one of those cameras

would've documented
the creature by now?

Well maybe one did. Watch this.

It's September 15th, 2016.

The Platte River state fish
hatchery in northern Michigan

is live streaming a
bald eagle's nest.

There, two baby eaglets

are waiting for their
mother's return.

People keeping a keen eye
on their safety from home

begin to notice
something very strange

in the corner of the screen.

The video shows some sort
of unidentified creature

roaming around the
base of the nest.

It looks like the
beast is foraging

back and forth
beneath the trees.

The creature even turns its
head up towards the eaglets.

We've pushed in so you
can get a closer look.

It looks like a Sasquatch.

Field researcher Cliff Barackman

director of the
National Bigfoot Museum,

says this might just
be the legendary beast.

- Michigan has a long
history of Bigfoot reports,

and that history continues
to the present day.

This is good Bigfoot habitat.

That's well established.

It's near a fish hatchery,
and fish hatcheries

have a lot of fish
stacking up underneath it.

That's easy prey, not
just for those eagles,

but for Sasquatches.

The Platte
River state fish hatchery

is located in Beulah, Michigan,

with a population around 342.

This small town is not the
most remote place in Michigan,

but it is not far from
the Sleeping Bear Dunes

national lake shore,
where the forested terrain

could be an ideal
habitat for Bigfoot.

The state is also rich
with shallow rivers,

which would serve as an
optimal feeding ground

for these creatures.

So what might a
Bigfoot be doing here?

- Could it be that
that is a Sasquatch

and they want to exploit the
nest for a food resource?

I have personally taken several
Sasquatch sighting reports

of them in trees or
jumping down out of trees.

Now, they're certainly
up there for a reason,

and most likely that's food.

Human ancestors exploited
eggs and nests for food.

Why wouldn't a Sasquatch?

I mean, Sasquatches are apes.
They're made for climbing.

In fact, in 2020,

a researcher in New
York's Hudson Valley

reported an account of a
Bigfoot jumping into a tree

and then swinging
from tree to tree,

grabbing branches with
its arms like Tarzan.

So Sasquatch sightings
and trees aren't uncommon.

But Bigfoot isn't
the only creature

reported to be hiding in
Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

The area may also be home
to a mysterious creature

known as the Dogman.

The Michigan Dogman
is a folklore figure

described as a bipedal canine
roughly seven feet in height

who walks like a
human and let's loose

a blood-curdling howl.

It was supposedly spotted
in Wexford County, Michigan

in 1887.

- I have a very
good Navajo friend

that told me that Dogman

is just the northern tribal
version of the skin walker.

Who knows what to
think about the Dogman?

But the phenomenon is real.

- More than three million
people have watched this video,

trying to figure out
what the creature

lurking on the ground is

and why he is looking up
towards the hatchlings.

Let's see if our experts can
make heads or tails of this.

Wildlife biologist Dr.
Stephanie Schuttler

explores whether this creature
matches the alleged anatomy

of the famed Bigfoot,

a creature believed to stand
between eight and 10 feet tall.

- Based on the way
this being moves,

it doesn't match up with
any primate that I know of.

When I think of gorillas,
it doesn't look like this.

It doesn't seem
abnormally large.

It just seems human size.

It seems to have regular arms.

Two Bigfoot arms are
supposed to be longer,

like gorillas and chimpanzees.

I don't think
there's anything here

to suggest that it is Bigfoot.

The average
height of a man in the U.S.

is five feet nine.

If this isn't a Bigfoot,

could it be the smaller,
famed Dogman of Michigan?

Anthropologist Kathy
Strain takes a closer look.

- Michigan is well
known for the Dogman.

There was a series of sightings.

Dogman, though,
has a canine head.

He walks like a man with
the upper appearance

is that of a dog.

And what you can
see of the video,

even though it's a dark, bipedal
creature walking through,

what you don't see is ears,
you don't see a big snout,

you don't see anything that's
characteristic of a Dogman.

The creature
isn't Bigfoot or Dogman,

but strain has a theory
of what it could be.

- One of the most compelling
pieces of this video

is when the creature
jumps up on top of a log

and then playfully jumps off.

That playing characteristic
is more attuned

to what a human would do.

A person, perhaps
wearing dark clothing,

easily mistaken for fur from
this angle and great distance,

possibly the camouflage
of a hunter or a hiker.

- What I think that
we're seeing is a human

just out for a hike.

It was just happenstance that
the camera caught that image.

The experts agree

that this creature is
native to these woods,

but it's not a wild animal;
it's a person out for a hike.

The good news is that,
as far as we know,

the baby eagles
are alive and well,

regardless of what bipedal
predators may be in the area.

- Our next video
takes us to Texas

and a strange
sighting in the sky

that alarmed a group of friends.

Was it proof of a UFO

or just a mystery the size
of the Lone Star State?

September 2018.

It's a warm night in Tomball,
Texas, just north of Houston.

Nick Daily and a
group of his friends

have come home from dinner
to their apartment complex,

when they are astounded by
mysterious lights in the sky.

My
god!

What the?

Take a closer look.

Three teardrop-shaped glowing
objects appear to hover

in a deliberate,
coordinated motion.

Nick's friend also
begins recording.

One thing is for sure,

Nick has never seen
anything like it.

- They were circling
around in formation

and then come back to
a triangle formation.

It was incredible.

But as the
crowd stands transfixed

by the mysterious lights,

the UFOs suddenly disappear
and then reappear.

Look at 'em,
look at 'em, look at 'em.

Nick is convinced
whatever he witnessed,

it's not from this world.

- I am ex-military. I was in
the United States Air Force.

I've never seen
flares act like that.

I've never seen
planes like that.

It looks like UFOs to me.

According to author
and journalist Alexis Brooks,

this is far from the first
time mysterious lights

have been spotted in
the Lone Star State.

- These very strange UFO-type
lights have been seen

as recently is April of 2022
in a town called Kyle, Texas.

These lights emanated
a sort of orange glow,

and local officials came
up with no explanation.

These eerie,
shimmering lights

are similar to the the
ones seen in Tomball,

but with one, even more
mysterious difference.

- In the case of the
Tomball UFO sequence,

we have something that has
been referred to as phasing,

that some of these craft
change their atomic structure

so that they appear
to be dematerializing

and rematerializing.

So is Texas rife with UFOs?

- One of the first reported
UFO incidents in Texas

was on April 17th, 1897,

when a UFO crashed on a
farm near Aurora, Texas

with claims of an alien
pilot found dead inside.

So have those aliens returned,

or is there another
way to explain

what Nick and his friends saw?

Let's ask the experts.

First, we ask video forensic
expert Michael Primeau

to examine the footage.

Does what we see
appear to be authentic?

- We examined the
file to determine

if there were any
original file signatures.

No known file signatures
were identified.

And at this low of
spatial resolution,

it's very difficult
to make determinations

in reference to CGI.

However, when the videos
are placed side by side

and synchronized, whatever
occurred in the sky

appears to be consistent
across both videos.

Next we go to
aviation expert Tim McMillan.

Are we simply looking
at conventional aircraft

like an airplane or helicopter?

- We're not seeing movements
that are consistent

with fixed wing aircraft.

What we're looking at
here, they're really close,

so they're violating
how close you want to be

to another aircraft.

Close proximity becomes even
more dangerous for a collision.

McMillan
is also skeptical

these could be another
common flying machine.

- Drone would match up best
for what we've seen so far,

but if they're drones, we have
to start taking into account

the amount of energy it takes.

And so for these to
be bright lights,

they're not gonna be able
to stay up for very long,

'cause they're just gonna
drain that battery power.

We asked astronomer
and video effects editor

Marc D'Antonio if the answer
is in front of us all along.

Could they be sky lanterns?

- Sky lanterns are possible,

but they don't move
the way these did.

Sky lanterns are very
subject to the wind.

What they wouldn't do is sort
of circle around each other.

And at certain
points in the video,

they're leaving
like a tail almost.

That is very
telling information.

In fact, D'Antonio
believes those streaks

are the final piece
of the puzzle.

- I think that this
actually was very likely

skydivers with flares.

But if these
are nighttime skydivers,

why then would they be jumping
over Tomball, Texas at night?

D'Antonio points to a
similar event in Tomball

five years earlier, in 2013,

which also featured
slowly drifting lights.

There was
a high school game,

and they did in fact have
skydivers with flares

skydive into the game.

They actually saw
the three in the sky,

and they separated
from each other,

and they actually left
trails behind them,

and that trail could
be illuminated smoke

from the flare brightness.

- While D'Antonio
makes a strong case

for parachuters with flares,

our research hasn't
been able to confirm

there was a parachute
demonstration

that night in Tomball.

And without definitive
visual proof,

we think many
alternate possibilities

are still on the table.

Our verdict?

For now, we're gonna go
with unexplained phenomenon.

But if you're in Texas, be
sure to keep looking up,

and send us what you see.

People have always been
surprised by stories

of creatures with
human-like traits.

A dog singing or squirrel
surfing will break the internet.

But can some animals
with special powers

adopt human features
intentionally?

November 7th, 2019. Miao
Village in Kunming, China.

A visitor is wandering
through a park near Cui Lake

when she takes this video.

The footage shows a fish, but
there's something more here.

There are two dark dots
that look like human eyes,

two vertical lines which
resemble the sides of a nose,

and one horizontal
one underneath

where a man's mouth would be.

It's uncanny. Take another
look as we zoom in.

- What I'm seeing is
obviously a large fish,

but as it swims
closer to the camera,

it appears to have
a human-like face

where you can actually make out

what appear to be eyes,
a pronounced nose.

This is really creepy
and disturbing.

- Field researcher Ken Gerhard

speaks of this fish's
resemblance to a local legend.

- Dragons Gate represents

one of the most famous
Chinese legends.

The story describes a carp
in the China's Yangtze River

which began to swim upstream,
slowly mutating as it went.

And when this carp
finally reached the head

of the Yangtze River,
the god's rewarded it

by transforming it
into a golden dragon.

In modern depictions
of Chinese dragons,

we often see these large scales,

which is almost a tribute
to this carp fish.

Perhaps this carp or
this coy type of fish

is in the process
of transforming

into one of these
golden dragons.

Gerhard explores
another possibility,

that this creature
could be the result

of covert government activity.

There have
been many theories

that China have been
conducting experimentation

with marine animals.

You have examples of
porpoises and seals

that have been trained
for military use.

Perhaps they are somehow
trying to manipulate

the genetic makeup of different
types of aquatic animals.

- Is this ringing any bells?

It certainly reminded
our team of something.

The human-faced shark we
previously investigated.

We decided that
was a birth defect

caused by pollution
in the ocean.

So what exactly is going
on in the waters of China?

We'll turn it over to
our experts to decide.

Biologist Dr. Floyd
Hayes mulls the theory

that the Chinese government

might be trying to mutate
fish with other species.

There have been cases of fish

undergoing gene
editing techniques

that resulted in the
development of limbs

with bones, joints,
and musculature.

But Hayes says the
morphology of this fish,

particularly the dorsal spines
and the large, thick scales,

are in line with what we'd
expect from a normal carp.

- I don't see any evidence
that it has been mutated

with any kind of other animals

such as a reptile or a mammal.

Next, marine
biologist Dr. Shea Conger

weighs in on how the
fish got this way.

She compares the
phenomenon in this video

to our previous case
involving that bizarre shark.

The human-faced shark

had really severe
developmental defects.

What I see here doesn't seem
to have any structural issues.

Because fish hatch from eggs,

it really is survival
of the fittest.

And for an animal
to get this size,

it would have to
be very healthy.

And what we see here are
really distinct markings,

but I don't see
anything biologically

wrong with this fish.

What we see appears to be
a really healthy live carp.

We always have
to consider the phenomenon

of pareidolia, the
tendency of the human brain

to perceive meaningful
images, especially faces,

in random objects like clouds
and even electrical outlets.

But Conger says this
isn't just our minds

pulling tricks on us.

The key here is that the carp

is known as the plastic species

with a marked tendency to
produce varieties in races

in response to
selective breeding

and environmental influences.

Conger says those markings
are no coincidence.

- There have been
other cases of carp

that looked like a human face.

Having markings is a
really common technique

that we call mimicry.

And why would a
fish wanna look like a human?

It's all about
survival of a fittest.

- Having marks
that look like eyes

is a really disconcerting
thing for a predator,

because in that split second

where the predator has to decide

if it's going to go
after a prey item or not,

having something that causes
a little bit of uncertainty

is advantageous.

- Our verdict? Adaptive
marking patterns.

Yes.

This species of
carp has developed

these strange features over time

to help it survive
in its environment.

And this specimen
just happens to be

exceptionally well-adapted.

- We've shown you footage before

of an apparent superhuman

who seemed to have the dexterity

to dodge oncoming
traffic with ease.

That clip turned out to
be a cleverly-edited hoax.

But our next video takes
walking through traffic

to the next level,

It's June 2018 in
San Carlos City

in the Philippine
province of Pangasinan.

a CCTV camera mounted
outside a shop

is rolling on the
busy street out front.

And now watch this.

Just after 2:00 p.m.
the surveillance footage

seems to show a
shadowy apparition

appear out of thin air

and walk slowly right
through oncoming traffic.

He isn't hit by any of
the speeding vehicles,

but instead simply walks
right through them.

Then, 13 hours later, CCTV
footage from the store

picks up what may be
the same shadowy figure

reappearing and lurking
ominously near a delivery driver

who does not seem to see him.

Amy Teitel says the
shopkeepers and other locals

were terrified after
watching the clips.

- Some people wonder
if this footage

hasn't actually finally
caught a ghost on camera,

that the way it's walking,

not interacting with
the world at all,

is clear proof
that it is a ghost.

The source of many
ghost stories in the Philippines

goes back to World w*r II.

- One theory ties
into Filipino culture,

and that is the
idea of pasatsats.

Pasatsats are the
ghosts of people

who were k*lled during
the Japanese occupation,

people whose family
or loved ones

were too poor to bury
them in proper graves.

Instead, these bodies
were covered with mats.

But grave robbers at the
time disturbed the bodies

to pillage anything of value.

These disturbed spirits then
came back with a grudge.

- The word "pasatsat" comes
from the local word for "stab."

If you come across one,

you're supposed to
stab the burial net

to open it and
release the ghost.

What's more, according
to the legends,

the pasatsats have been known

to block the path of travelers.

So could that actually be
what we're witnessing here

with these passing cars?

Let's see what
our experts think.

We turn first to video
analyst Mick West.

- You could certainly understand

when someone in the Philippines

might assume that it was
perhaps the local ghost.

But the people in the cars
can't actually see it.

If it was a ghost,
it'd be more likely

that people could
actually see it

than the camera could see it,

because ghosts don't exist
in a technological realm;

they exist in a more
spiritual realm in theory.

Then what explains
why a ghostly figure

was spotted in the same location

very early the next morning?

- I think a bird flew down,

landed right in
front of the camera.

Because it's so close to the
camera, it's out of focus.

It flies in and does
a few little twitches,

like a small bird
or like a sparrow.

They move very rapidly, and
it's just kind hopping along.

I don't think there's
anything particularly ghostly

about this example.

Since this doesn't
appear to be a ghost,

forensic video analyst
Michael Primeau wonders

if the video of
the man in traffic

has instead been manipulated.

- In the metadata of the file,

as well as on screen
with the time code,

we have 25 frames

per second that transpire.

However, when counting
the video frames

from the surveillance imagery,

we were only able to arrive
at seven frames per second.

Very rarely is this
timestamp different

than what's actually captured
in the video imagery.

So based on frame
timing analysis,

did a sufficient amount of
evidence for me to opine

that this video is manufactured.

So since this
video is most likely edited,

West explains how someone
could do it easily.

- So they take one video
of the street scene.

Then they need to add the ghost.

So they just need some footage

that looks like somebody
crossing the road.

And then you blend the two.

Perhaps run that through some
other software to blur it.

Then add on top of that
the timestamp in the corner

to make it look like it's
some kind of security camera.

This
is likely a hoax

created with editing software.

So this may not be the
proof we've been looking for

that ghosts are real.

But we know plenty of the
Filipinos k*lled in World w*r II

weren't given proper burials,

so it's a good place
to keep looking.

If you study UFO
footage the way we do,

you soon realize that
quite a few videos

seem to show multiple
unidentified objects

flying in a kind of formation.

Well, one eyewitness
in Washington state

recently captured
what looks like

a veritable armada
of spacecraft.

The question we have is,
where did they come from?

May 4th, 2020.

It's a clear night in
Lynnwood, Washington,

just north of Seattle.

College student Daffa Azizan
is out for an evening stroll

when he looks to the
stars and sees this.

At first glance, it looks
like a streaking comet

or maybe a sh**ting star.

But look closely.

It's not burning up
in the atmosphere,

and it doesn't appear
to be a single object.

Instead, it's mini and
flying in formation.

- I started to panic,

because it looked like a string
of stars moving together,

and immediately I thought
this could be a spacecraft

from another part of our galaxy.

If this is a
fleet of alien spacecraft

over the skies of Washington,
it wouldn't be the first time.

In fact, journalist M.J.
Banias says this area

is home to one of the most
historic UFO sightings

of all time.

- In 1947, Kenneth
Arnold was flying

over Mount Rainier
in Washington,

and he reported nine sort
of boomerang-shaped objects

flying through the mountains.

It was splashed
across newspapers,

and it's the incident
that allowed journalists

to coin the term
"flying saucer".

Although
there is a possibility

these are alien spaceships,

Banias also says the
location of this video

may provide another,

not-so-out-of-this-world
explanation.

- Washington State is home to
several aircraft manufacturers

and the largest being Boeing.

And Phantom Works is
Boeing's top secret,

experimental arm of the company.

Phantom Works is very
much shrouded in secrecy.

Among the known
programs at Phantom Works

are miniature satellites
constructed for the government.

- Cube satellites are low-power,
very small mini satellites

that are placed into
a low Earth orbit.

It could be for
telecommunications work,

it could be for surveillance,
we don't really know.

But cube sat technology
is pretty new,

and they often work together

as a sort of swarm
or a collective.

Did this gentleman
record it on video?

That remains to be seen.

- So what do we have here?

Aliens?

Experimental tech from Boeing
like this X-45 combat drone?

If the Phantom Works
program is engaged

in some sort of
classified technology,

that could be very
difficult to verify.

But our experts
are up to the task.

Aviation expert Tim
McMillan starts us off.

- So could it be commercial
aircraft or military aircraft,

any type of fixed wing airplane?

We're looking at this
perfectly straight line.

Military conventional
wisdom, you don't do that.

I think a lot of people
have seen aircraft

that are in V formations
or they're offset,

they're spread out.

These are all going straight.

They're at near
midair collision.

It's not a smart way
that anybody's gonna fly.

If these aren't
aircraft, could they be drones?

And not just any drones.

One of the latest
weapons in military use

are loitering munitions,

otherwise known as suicide,
or kamikaze, drones.

They're used to target
both personnel and armor,

and, depending on size,

can hover for a few
minutes or several hours.

So could this be a drone test?

McMillan isn't so sure.

- If there were a military
testing drone swarm technology,

this would not be consistent
with how you would employ them.

Also, classified testing is
done in very secure locations.

You just don't fly your secret
stuff over populated areas.

So what are we seeing?

Daffa Azizan's first
thought was UFOs.

Could he be right?

We asked astronomer and
video effects designer

Mark D'Antonio.

- The option that this is a UFO,

these are
always on the table.

But let's consider what
we're looking at here.

One of the things you notice

is that they're
moving in unison.

That means, from an
astronomical point of view

and from an orbital
mechanics point of view,

that these are all objects
moving in earth orbit

at the same speed and
relatively same altitude.

For D'Antonio,
that relative motion is key

to solving this mystery.

He thinks they might be a
brainchild of Elon Musk,

a project called Starlink.

It's a global
network of satellites

providing internet
coverage from space.

Much larger than
cube satellites,

Starlinks are about
the size of a table

and weigh about 575 pounds.

The network requires
thousands of satellites

near enough to each other

to provide simultaneous
global internet coverage.

They're launched 60 at a time

and form a line that
appears like a streak

in the initial
days after liftoff,

which is actually
a parking orbit

at around 270 miles
above the Earth.

Then their solar panels unfurl,

and, over the course of
three to four months,

each one spreads out
to an even higher orbit

of about 350 miles.

Today, there are more than
2,000 in low Earth orbit.

- The Starlink program
is the only one

that actually does this
type of launch behavior

that we see here.

You can figure out just
from a quick search

which Starlink launch it was.

In fact,
D'Antonio checked

the Starlink launch schedule

and confirmed that satellites
were rocketed into orbit

12 days prior to the
recording of this video.

- So when people look at
this, they could be forgiven

for thinking that the aliens
are now starting to land.

Starlink satellites.

But while these orbiting objects

don't represent an alien menace,

they might be a
threat nevertheless.

Astronomers have raised concerns

about their effect on
ground-based astronomy

and how the satellites will add

to an already congested
orbital environment.

Humans have been carving
and drawing on rocks

for tens of thousands of years,

but we've never seen
anything quite as precise

as this next formation.

Maybe it's a monument,
maybe it's a message,

and it's definitely a mystery.

It's October 2021
near the Tayma Oasis

in northwest Saudi Arabia.

Photographer Satish
Javali is trekking

through the remote desert area

to document a magnificent site.

His shots show a
monumental rock formation

in the shape of a
rounded rectangle.

It appears to be a monadnock,

which is an isolated
mass of stone.

The 18-by-27-foot,
ochre-colored slab

is covered in
prehistoric petroglyphs

of horses, camels, and hunters,

shown in stark
relief and detail.

But these
4,000-year-old drawings

are not the most notable
feature of this formation.

That honor is reserved for
a perfectly precise crevice

that divides the rock in two.

The crack is so
straight and exact

that it seems impossible
it could be natural

or even manmade without the
most advanced precision tools.

What's even more remarkable
is that each half

is balanced precariously
on a pedestal,

yet the formation remains
standing after millennia.

Satish says he's never seen
anything quite like it.

- It is simply mind-blowing the
way the rock has been split.

The archeological
specialists have gone there,

but nobody has come up
with the right answer.

- The large, solid boulder

looks as though it
was split in half

with the aid of a
precision laser.

It's hard to believe this
perfect crack down the middle

could have been accidental.

So there are a couple of
things I wanna show you

with the Al Nozzle rock.

First of all, this
pedestal right here.

This pedestal right here.

Built for monuments
to rest on, right?

Take a look at the
line down the center.

How does this happen?

If you had a stone saw,

could you cut the
stone that perfectly?

Again, there are petroglyphs
all through this rock.

This rock was created hundreds
of thousands of years ago,

and it has certainly spawned
wild and amazing stories.

Journalist Eric
Grundhauser says one theory

is that the people who drew
the glyphs 4,000 years ago

also split the rock.

But did they have advanced
enough technology at that time?

- The ancient
cultures of the area

were working with much
more rudimentary tools

than one would expect to
be able to create something

with such precision.

It's almost as if someone
would've had to have had a laser

or some sort of highly,
highly precision saw

to create this sort of break.

There was
a nomadic people

roaming the Arabian desert
a few centuries later

who were known for
their engineering skill.

- It could have been created

possibly by the
Nabataean people,

same culture that created
the Petra site in Jordan,

whose knowledge and expertise

would've possibly
been advanced enough

to create something
with such precision

as we see in the Al
Naslaa formation.

But even the
Nabataeans didn't have access

to high-tech tools like laser
cutters and circular saws.

So the exactness of the cut
has led some to speculate

it could have been made by
advanced ancient visitors

from another planet.

- Is it possible that
the Al Naslaa formation

was created by
extraterrestrials?

Was it left as a gift,

not unlike the monolith from
"2001: A Space Odyssey,"

to push humanity
forward, to inspire us?

- As early as the
fifth century BC,

the Nabataeans began
carving elaborate,

multi-story building facades

into the red sandstone
cliff faces of Petra.

But that site is in Jordan,

450 miles away from
the Al Naslaa rock,

and it involves more
complex carvings

than a single straight
line through one rock

in the middle of nowhere.

So that might be a stretch.

Let's see what our
experts can dig up.

Physicist Matthew
Szydagis investigates

to see if the rock and Al Naslaa

could actually have been
made by man or aliens.

- So I've taken an image
of the Al Naslaa rock,

and I've actually drawn two
perfectly straight lines

from my computer.

And what you can see
in several locations

is that actually the rock
pokes past the straight lines,

so this gap is actually
not perfectly straight.

Humans could create
cuts in rocks,

and nearby civilizations here
are known to have done that.

No need for ancient aliens.

Since the line isn't
actually as perfectly straight

as it looks at first,

perhaps it was made by
people from the region.

Archeologist. Dr.
Ed Barnhart says

nearby ancient civilizations,
like the Egyptians,

had special techniques
for cutting into rock

without high-tech tools.

- The typical way that Egyptians

would split a stone like this

would be to get up
on the top of it

and peck holes
into it in a line.

Then, as they peck
the holes deep,

they then put wooden stakes
inside each one of the holes.

So the Egyptians
would put the stakes

in a straight line, like
the one scene at Al Naslaa.

- And then they would
water those stakes

like you water a plant.

When the wood expanded
together as a line of stakes,

they would pull the rock apart,
and that split will travel

through the whole
stone and split it.

But geologist
Dr. Bob Anderson

says there aren't
any telltale signs

of this construction technique

that you would expect to see
on the top or sides of the rock

if the crack was manmade.

- There's no chip marks,
there's no pieces.

You don't even see fragments
on the ground around it

that would say if you're
chipping and and breaking.

So could
this crack be caused

by a natural disaster,
like an earthquake?

- I realized that
this monadnock,

or this isolated rock
here, is not isolated.

There's almost a trail
of boulders going back.

They're all cracked
at the exact location.

You can see that the
crack is a result

of regional tectonic features.

So Anderson
believes the rock

may sit on a fault line,

and it's likely an earthquake
or shifting tectonic plates

created the crack, not
just in this boulder,

but in other rocks along
the same fault line.

Or it could also be that
the crack is a joint,

which in geological terms means

when a rock breaks naturally
without displacement.

It's rare, but sometimes the
fracture can divide the rock

in an unusually straight line.

Another possibility is
that freeze-thaw weathering

may have caused the crack.

But no matter how
it was split in two,

Anderson thinks erosion
may have played a part

in its near perfect appearance.

- The reason it
looks so clearly cut

is because it's been
willowed out by the wind.

It's been almost
sandblasted and polished,

which has opened
up that crack more.

- The ground around
and under the boulder

eroded so much that
eventually it was left

just resting on these
two natural pedestals.

Someday the forces of gravity

will likely cause
it to collapse.

The Al Naslaa rock has baffled
scientists for centuries,

but we think we finally
found the true answer.

Tectonic
activity created a crack

thousands, or even
millions, of years ago.

It was later perfected
with erosion,

which also made those pedestals
the rock now rests on.

And that's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching,

and remember to keep
those cameras rolling.