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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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tonight's the season premiere of
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unsolved mysteries December 26 1980 a US
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Air Force security patrol told of seeing
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a mysterious unearthly visitor near
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their airbase in England during the next
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two nights a rash of sightings astounded
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even the most skeptical military level
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for years these sightings were cloaked
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in secrecy until tonight for the first
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time former Air Force personnel go on
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counter the tell of a close encounter
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what they believed were UFOs shane
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stewart and sally mcnally of San Angelo
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Texas were typical teenagers until they
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became involved with a bizarre
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underground cult on July 4th 1988 Shane
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and Sally mysteriously disappeared four
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months later their bodies were finally
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discovered both had been murdered when
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Connor downing was 16 she lost her
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mother in an automobile accident 25
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years later after her father passed away
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Carla would discover a surprising secret
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hidden in her tangled family history a
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woman she knew as her mother was not her
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mother after all joining these
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fascinating news stories on the season
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premiere of unsolved mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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the 81st Tactical Fighter when did the
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United States Air Force operates out of
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southeast England in a unique
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arrangement the wing is housed on twin
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bases Woodbridge and Bentwaters the two
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air bases border a three mile expanse of
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farmland and woods known as Rendlesham
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forest in 1980 Rendlesham was a site of
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one of the most extraordinary and least
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publicized events in modern military
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history around 2:00 a.m. on December
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26th
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airman first class John Burroughs and
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his partner both assigned a Woodbridge
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base security were on routine patrol
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along the base perimeter I don't know
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it's not in the middle of the woods come
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on let's go back this guard station
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called sorry to see what he wants to do
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there was definitely something out in
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the woods it seemed like to me like a
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massive light show
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who would come out in the middle of the
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woods outside an Air Force Base and make
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it Christmas is life I was nervous he
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was nervous we didn't know what to
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expect and we decided at that point in
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time we better get back and let somebody
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know what's going on in case something
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did happen Burroughs notified his
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immediate superior from the nearby
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sentry post yeah sure I can see him from
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here still going on yeah look at some
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kind of weird lights in the trees I
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don't know moving all up and down almost
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simultaneously another security patrol
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arrived they verified the presence of
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the odd lights Burroughs and the second
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security team were sent off base to
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investigate they were ordered to leave
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their weapons behind because they were
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moving out of American jurisdiction
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we were intrigued but we were also very
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nervous we didn't know what we were
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getting into
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we started down a foot towards lights at
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the same time we could hear the animals
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were very upset you can hear a lot of
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ruckus at that point you got a radio
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transmission they just got in contact
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from etheral tower in London that an
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object had been seen over our base and
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then had disappeared on radar setting I
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can tell all of a sudden in the clearing
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there was an object it had Bank of blue
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lights on it and it was sitting there
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like strobing it was unbelievable
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we all hit the ground and went up into
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trees
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when it was happening everything seemed
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to go slower we seem to be in like I
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wouldn't say a time warp but like
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everything appeared to be happen slower
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to us and everything felt different but
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when it was all when it disappeared it
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was like everything was normal again the
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perception of the ground the on the air
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the sky the Stars the whole nine yards
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were different for more than two hours
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the three men played an eerie game of
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cat-and-mouse with a mysterious craft it
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appeared almost took toy with them it
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was off the ground and horizon above the
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trees and it always stayed out in the
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distance in horizon it sometimes it
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appeared to get closer when we're gonna
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get close to it again and then we never
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did
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the events of a December night set
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motion a chain reaction that would
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eventually result in the best-documented
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sighting of a UFO in American military
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history the United States Air Force has
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no official comment on the entire
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incident but tonight the military
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personnel who actually witnessed the
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events will appear on camera for the
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first time just five hours after the
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sighting
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John Burroughs reported to his shift
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commander Eddie's spit it out what did
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you see well sir after we received
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permission to continue into the woods we
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um we saw some light sir red ones and
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some white ones and well sir they flew
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up into the trees he basically said
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gentlemen you saw something he throw tar
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confirms that you saw something and now
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let's go out into the area and see if we
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can find any physical proof of what
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happened I was hoping when I got out
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there that basically I would see nothing
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there would be no telltale evidence that
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possibly something happened that would
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make it easier for me because if there's
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nothing proving that something happened
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to me you can just kind of check it off
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but when you get out there and you find
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damage to the trees depressions in the
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ground and stuff that makes it even more
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unexplainable the woods to this point
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right about here I saw it hovering later
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that same day Burroughs rendezvous with
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a British police officer together they
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explored the site where Burroughs had
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seen the strange object
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indeed there were circular impressions
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in the earth directly below the spot
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where the craft had appeared to hover
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that was more of a misty over here
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because when I first saw it I didn't
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perceive it as something sitting on the
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ground with the tripod like a tripod
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type thing now all of a sudden there's
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physical proof showing is something sat
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down in that area the British police
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officer dismissed the circles as a marks
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of burrowing forest animals nevertheless
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he did order his men to measure the
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distance between the circles
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surprisingly the three circles were
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exactly the same distance apart and
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formed a perfect equilateral triangle
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early the next morning Colonel Charles
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halt deputy base commander arrived at
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Woodbridge security headquarters rumor
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of the UFO sighting had spread like
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wildfire what's going on colonel you're
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not gonna believe this but burrows and
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Penniston were running around the woods
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last night chasing after UFOs UFOs what
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are you talking about listen I thought
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they were yanking me but the guy saw
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something they thought an aircraft went
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down somewhere in look there were these
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lights in the woods why isn't that in
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the water the lieutenant didn't want me
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to put that in sir is anybody sure it
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wasn't an aircraft that went down
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sir and put it in the blotter yes sir
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it was very skeptical I find what it
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allegedly taking place hard to believe
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and I was really gonna do bunk it quite
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frankly and as events unfolded I became
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more and more concerned that there may
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be something to this but I kept telling
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myself that there had to be some type of
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an explanation for but I certainly
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couldn't find one even to this day I I
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can't explain what happened
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straight backs right back that evening
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unusual lights were spotted once again
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in response the base commander ordered
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large mobile floodlights devices
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commonly known as light halls to be set
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up in the woods at 9:30 p.m. Colonel
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halt received word that the light halls
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were inexplicably malfunctioning I don't
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know sir craziest damn things I've ever
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seen animals in the forest are acting
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weird
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starlight scopes going bad radios ain't
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working why dolls ain't coming up let's
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get out there and see what we got during
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the next six hours Colonel Charles halt
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will be swept up in an unbelievable
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series of events which improved to be
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one of the most elaborate Encounters of
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the UFO ever documented when we returned
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the details of Colonel halts Odyssey
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[Music]
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in 1980 just after Christmas strange
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lights appeared in a forest near to
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American air bases in southeast England
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security at both bases sprang into
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action large portable floodlights like
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this one commonly known as light all's
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are positioned in the woods the security
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police hope to catch another glimpse of
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the glowing objects sighted two nights
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earlier with the light all's
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mysteriously malfunctioning base
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security was immediately ordered to
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dispatch a second set of light holes
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simultaneously Colonel Charles home
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deputy commander of both bases put
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together a special investigative team I
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called the on duty or stand by a man in
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disaster preparedness and had him get
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his camera he was professional
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photographer and calibrates several
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radio instruments to take along and we
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were going to go debunk this
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by the time Kernan halt arrived at the
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site the second set of light halls was
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also malfunctioning some of the vehicles
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weren't working properly and radio
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transmissions were limited at best armed
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with a Geiger counter a starlight scope
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to enhance night vision and a tape
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recorder to record his first impressions
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Colonel Hart led his team into the woods
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what you were about to see is based on
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four batum transcripts of the tape made
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that night we're in the center of the
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tree didn't take us long to find what I
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believe was a landing site of some sort
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the trees had had branches broken off
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one of the members of colonel Holt's
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team was Sergeant Robert bull as we
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looked up and we had high-power
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flashlights with us and we could see
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branches up to an inch two inches in
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diameter which had either been knocked
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completely off or had been bent downward
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and it was clean up to the top of the
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trees we looked at the area through the
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Starlight scope and it did I'll have to
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admit have a dull glow that I couldn't
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explain so we got a radio instruments
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off and we're taking readings for clicks
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and while we were doing this though its
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police lieutenant said look over there
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yes sir
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it's a strange glowing object it
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appeared to be 100-200 meters away
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I couldn't explain it's out everybody it
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was avoiding the pine trees zigzagging
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around them it kind of winked at us
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strangest thing I've ever seen they're
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strange
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it approached us at one time we just
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stood there in awe watched it probably
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for a minute or two maybe a little more
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finally the object began to move away
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Colonel halt and his men followed as we
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were pursuing this glowing object
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through the woods we noticed a farmhouse
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directly in front of us we've got a
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reading of two on the counter that's
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much higher than the background
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radiation the farmhouse appeared to be
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glowing very brightly as though it were
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on fire reckon there's somebody in there
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sir I don't know the time
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the object then broke into five white
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objects and disappear let's go there was
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a very strange feeling in the air it
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made your hair bristle sort of like
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static electricity you just had a very
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unusual feeling and I don't think it was
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all psychological I think there was
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something physiological about it it was
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there was something to it I don't know
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what it was we ventured on toward the
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coast trying to decide what to do next
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we looked to the north and about 30
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degrees off the horizon there were three
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objects in the sky it started moving
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rapidly about and sharp angular
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movements as though they were exercising
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some type of formation or search pattern
00:15:14
I'm not really sure what it was I think
00:15:19
there was some type of guiding force
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behind these objects
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whether was trying to communicate with
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us whether it was trying to warn us or
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whether was trying to do something to us
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I don't know to me it looked like a grid
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search like they were boxing off an area
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and looking for something and that was
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the thought that hit me right away and I
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stayed with me over the years it looked
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like a search pattern
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[Music]
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Colonel Hall's initial skepticism eroded
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with each passing minute
00:15:53
and each bizarre sighting there's
00:15:56
definitely something up there hey we've
00:15:59
got an object we could very clearly see
00:16:01
it sort of danced the bot in the sky and
00:16:04
it sent down beams of light
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[Music]
00:16:08
I noticed other beams of light coming
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down from the same object following
00:16:13
different places on the base my boss was
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standing in his front yard at Woodbridge
00:16:18
and he could see the beams of light
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falling down and the people in the
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weapons storage area and several other
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places on the base also reported the
00:16:27
lights I woke up about 3:30 4:00 in the
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morning and for whatever reason I felt
00:16:32
like maybe something happening and I
00:16:34
don't know why I just woke up and felt
00:16:36
like something that came back don't ask
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me why he just was a gut feeling so I
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went ahead and got up and went up to the
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base
00:16:51
all of a sudden a couple of like blue
00:16:53
transparent type lights appeared in the
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sky they were off sending the horizon
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and one of them broke towards us
00:17:03
[Music]
00:17:08
the only time the lighthouse were
00:17:10
working as far as came on and off when I
00:17:13
saw them or when the light passed them
00:17:14
and I have no idea what caused light
00:17:17
also come on and off other than the fact
00:17:18
that the blue light as it passed it call
00:17:20
it the light off came on but virtually
00:17:24
the same woman three hundred yards away
00:17:26
colonel halts investigation was about to
00:17:29
culminate in a remarkable close
00:17:30
encounter the object was coming at us at
00:17:34
a very high rate of speed one of these
00:17:39
beams of light fell very very close to
00:17:41
us sort of a pencil beam of light on
00:17:42
object to the ground near our feet
00:17:47
[Music]
00:17:51
the extraordinary visitor never returned
00:17:59
I drafted a memo sent a copy to London
00:18:02
and it'll swallow it up it became very
00:18:06
quiet this is a copy of Colonel hulls
00:18:09
memo it was submitted to British
00:18:11
military authorities who never acted on
00:18:13
it the United States Air Force did not
00:18:16
acknowledge that the episode had
00:18:17
occurred then in 1983 a private citizen
00:18:21
invoked the Freedom of Information Act
00:18:23
and halts memo was released nevertheless
00:18:26
many remain unconvinced spacecraft from
00:18:31
another world although not impossible is
00:18:33
extraordinary James McGaha is an
00:18:35
astronomer a noted UFO skeptic it was
00:18:38
director of to private observatories
00:18:40
proof and the burden of proof for any
00:18:43
event that is extraordinary is upon
00:18:46
those making the claim not upon those
00:18:49
who look at it from a skeptical
00:18:53
perspective where is the evidence show
00:18:56
me the evidence and that's what science
00:18:57
is all about on the first night the
00:19:00
night of 26 December 1980 at about 3
00:19:03
o'clock that morning a bright fireball
00:19:06
which is a very bright meteor came into
00:19:10
the Earth's atmosphere and this is
00:19:11
unquestionably what John Burroughs saw
00:19:14
that night I've seen meteor showers come
00:19:18
down before it you know it wasn't a
00:19:20
meteor falling on the sky and it went up
00:19:23
not down meteors fall from the sky they
00:19:25
don't go back up into the sky
00:19:27
meteors not going to go up go back and
00:19:29
forth and maintain position in the sky
00:19:30
for a long period of time
00:19:31
meteors not going to send beams of light
00:19:34
I think both of them are being honest as
00:19:36
to what their perceptions are but human
00:19:38
perception is very very easily fooled
00:19:42
and I think when they went out there to
00:19:45
the
00:19:45
everybody was out there expecting to see
00:19:48
the UFO with that preconceived notion of
00:19:52
the way you view things can be greatly
00:19:55
influenced definitely something up there
00:19:58
McGahee believes that the growing red
00:20:01
light colonel halts saw that night was
00:20:03
simply reflections from the revolving
00:20:05
beam of a nearby lighthouse there are
00:20:09
too many unrelated things if it were
00:20:12
just a reflection how does one explain
00:20:14
two different sightings in two different
00:20:16
places in the sky how does one explain
00:20:17
the object moving through the forest how
00:20:20
does one explain the sighting in the
00:20:22
forest by the three Airmen there's just
00:20:24
too many things I have a lot of
00:20:28
unresolved questions I'm not sure I'll
00:20:31
ever have answered I've had people
00:20:34
suggest all sorts of things everything
00:20:35
from I've seen the second coming of
00:20:37
Christ of the devil's after us
00:20:38
I can't explain it I really can't I know
00:20:42
it was beyond the realm of anything that
00:20:43
we experienced an ordinary life
00:20:51
according to Colonel halt to other
00:20:54
unconfirmed sightings have been reported
00:20:55
in the vicinity a Woodbridge airbase the
00:20:58
first in January of 1981 the second nine
00:21:01
months later in the initial sightings of
00:21:04
1980 at least 15 men all of them US Air
00:21:07
Force personnel witnessed the strange
00:21:10
lights and objects firsthand the Air
00:21:12
Force continues to have no official
00:21:14
comment on the entire series of events
00:21:19
next the murder of two teenage
00:21:21
sweethearts some say they were the
00:21:24
victims of a bizarre code
00:21:25
[Music]
00:21:37
Shane was a very lively energetic kid
00:21:41
to me he was like beaver cleaver the
00:21:43
all-around boy always having fun always
00:21:46
making sure that everybody else had fun
00:21:48
he had a lot of dreams a lot of goals
00:21:51
and he was a very lovable kid when Shane
00:21:58
and Sally met it was just like two
00:21:59
people clicked on there was a bond there
00:22:02
it was almost inseparable it was like
00:22:05
the two kids were made for each other
00:22:09
Sally loved people she would do anything
00:22:13
for a friend Sally you tried hard to
00:22:18
please people she wanted people to like
00:22:20
her she wanted people to respond to her
00:22:23
and love her
00:22:26
Shane Stewart and sally mcnally
00:22:29
grew up around San Angelo Texas a
00:22:31
peaceful bucolic ranching community but
00:22:34
like so many other small towns there was
00:22:36
more to San Angelo than meets the eye
00:22:42
Independence Day 1988 was a reunion of
00:22:45
sorts for Shane and Sally each had
00:22:48
recently returned to town and it was
00:22:50
their first date in more than four
00:22:51
months it was also the last time they
00:22:54
would ever be seen the next morning a
00:23:04
ranger discovered Shane's car abandoned
00:23:06
near Ossie Fisher Lake fast food
00:23:09
wrappers lay strewn across the front
00:23:10
seat the keys are on the dashboard Shane
00:23:14
and Sally were nowhere to be found
00:23:17
Marshall Stuart felt his son would not
00:23:20
leave his car unlocked with the keys in
00:23:23
it and just merely walked off however
00:23:25
there were no signs of a struggle and so
00:23:28
consequently we looked at it from at
00:23:30
first from from the standpoint of a two
00:23:34
kids ran off and got married knowing how
00:23:37
much he loved that car and that he
00:23:39
wouldn't leave it I was very very
00:23:43
concerned that something tragic had
00:23:47
happened four months later two skeletons
00:23:53
were found near Twin Buttes linked 17
00:23:56
miles from where Shane's car was
00:23:57
abandoned Marshall Stewart was
00:24:00
monitoring his police scanner and
00:24:02
immediately rushed to the scene
00:24:04
I got out of the pickup and walked over
00:24:09
to the air gut feeling is apparent I
00:24:12
knew they had found Shane Marshall yeah
00:24:20
we sure did and it's pretty gruesome in
00:24:23
there well we just won't let you know
00:24:25
that there's not a whole lot left Oh see
00:24:28
okay
00:24:36
it was it was Shane dressed exactly like
00:24:41
he'd left the house that night and I
00:24:45
knelt down beside him and told him that
00:24:49
I had found him and we were taking home
00:24:56
the forces of nature had washed away all
00:24:59
forensic Clues but detectives were able
00:25:02
to determine that both victims had been
00:25:04
killed by shotgun blasts the discovery
00:25:10
of Shane and Sally's bodies was a
00:25:12
culmination of a four month search which
00:25:14
had introduced their Paris to a strange
00:25:16
and frightening subculture Marshall
00:25:18
Stewart and Pat Wei discovered that
00:25:20
their children were engaged in
00:25:21
activities which many believed were
00:25:23
linked to a satanic cult in Sally's case
00:25:26
it appeared to be part of a desperate
00:25:27
search for acceptance in the wake of a
00:25:29
painful and troubled childhood I married
00:25:35
and had Sally when I was very young so
00:25:37
Sally and I spent a lot of our time
00:25:40
growing up together we were like sisters
00:25:44
when she was small and as Sally became a
00:25:47
teenager she became more and more
00:25:48
rebellious and I had less and less role
00:25:51
in her life I don't think I ever heard
00:25:55
of call her mother mother
00:25:56
it was always Pat she was real resentful
00:26:00
towards the fact that her dad wasn't
00:26:02
around and she blamed it on Pat a lot
00:26:06
when we were kids
00:26:08
sallie began sneaking out late at night
00:26:11
and on one occasion Pat stayed up to
00:26:13
confront her Sally
00:26:16
Pat scared me scared you I've been
00:26:22
waiting here all night
00:26:24
Howie just went out for a walk so what
00:26:29
so I've been worried about you look you
00:26:32
don't know anything about this okay so
00:26:34
just leave me alone
00:26:36
it was the only explanation she would
00:26:39
give me so I called one friend of
00:26:43
Sally's the boy's mother answered the
00:26:45
phone and she told me that the kids were
00:26:48
mixed up in Satan worship and she said
00:26:53
that a group of kids had been in her
00:26:55
house one night and said they had a
00:26:56
demon in a bottle Sally really got to a
00:27:00
point to where she thought nobody loves
00:27:02
me these people come along and they say
00:27:05
okay we'll give you that love will give
00:27:07
you that companionship that you need you
00:27:09
just come with us and do what we ask
00:27:15
[Music]
00:27:17
sallie began to attend ritualistic
00:27:19
parties on a regular basis one evening
00:27:22
she invited Helen to join her turn out
00:27:28
the lights
00:27:30
I'm gonna do this you want to
00:27:36
I need some hands on the Oracle in the
00:27:40
name of our Father the Great Satan we
00:27:43
humbly bow to you now and turn over our
00:27:46
will to your great wisdom spirit of the
00:27:49
Oracle we call on you tonight to guide
00:27:53
us
00:27:53
Sally Sally went into a trance are you
00:27:59
all right and it really scared me what
00:28:03
I'm leaving okay half of me said Sally's
00:28:11
poorness stunt just ignore it and half
00:28:14
of me said well maybe is there kind of
00:28:17
having fun in the fall of 1987
00:28:23
Sally began dating Shane Stewart she
00:28:26
introduced him to her new friends
00:28:27
according to Shane's father his behavior
00:28:30
began to change as well Shane started
00:28:36
getting into the fads one day Shane's
00:28:42
getting the better of this guy his two
00:28:44
friends jumped in and then he was thrown
00:28:46
into the river
00:28:50
so I told him I said you should have
00:28:52
learned a lesson one not to fight and to
00:28:56
be aware of where you are what you're
00:28:58
doing because people can always gang up
00:29:01
on you in March of 1988 Sally called
00:29:07
sheriff's deputy Larry Cox she and Shane
00:29:09
had grown disillusioned when some
00:29:11
members of the cope began engaging in
00:29:13
criminal activities she and her
00:29:16
boyfriend Shang were members of this
00:29:19
group and they were trying to get away
00:29:20
from it she said there was a lot of
00:29:22
drugs involved there was a lot of group
00:29:25
sex she also expressed that she had a
00:29:28
weapon that had been given to her by
00:29:30
another member of the cult and when he
00:29:33
gave it to her he told her and Shane
00:29:35
that the gun had been used in a murder
00:29:37
robbery two months earlier Shane and
00:29:43
Sally had moved in together they agreed
00:29:45
to meet with deputy counts in their
00:29:47
apartment to hand over the gun okay
00:29:54
well during this meeting when I first
00:29:55
met them face to face you really think
00:29:58
that they were making this stuff up but
00:30:00
they seemed sincere yeah he's got a
00:30:08
whole toolbox full of guns I mean it's
00:30:10
scary cuz you know these guys are crazy
00:30:12
actually gave me this weapon and we did
00:30:15
some checking on it it turned out to be
00:30:17
a stolen gun then there their story
00:30:20
became a little bit more credible I
00:30:24
can't promise you anything but I will do
00:30:27
my best
00:30:28
I appreciate they did express fears that
00:30:31
that they might be hurt she and her
00:30:33
boyfriend might be in some danger
00:30:35
because it's a very secretive type group
00:30:38
and they knew the ends they knew the
00:30:40
secrets and when they broke away they
00:30:42
realized that they they were in some
00:30:44
danger
00:30:47
six weeks later Shane and Sally moved
00:30:50
out of their apartment and left town
00:30:52
separately but by early summer both
00:30:56
returned to San Angelo two weeks prior
00:31:09
to her disappearance Sally made a
00:31:11
desperate telephone call to Helen yes it
00:31:15
no missing they come in chichi I said
00:31:18
what did you do
00:31:19
she said well I really can't tell you
00:31:25
she just ended things so I really didn't
00:31:28
think much of it
00:31:29
and I really didn't think to call Pat
00:31:31
and say Pat's how he's in trouble
00:31:33
there's something wrong I mean I didn't
00:31:36
think anything about it until I the
00:31:40
third around noon we received a phone
00:31:43
call there was a man on the phone asking
00:31:45
for Shane and as I walked away I heard
00:31:48
Shane mentioned money and so when Shane
00:31:56
come out of the room I asked him I said
00:31:58
is there a problem he said no I told him
00:32:02
if there was a problem I was his dad and
00:32:04
I could help him handle it this is no he
00:32:07
said everything's fine he said I've
00:32:09
taken care of it
00:32:10
thank you that only July the fourth
00:32:13
Shane told me that he was gonna go out
00:32:15
and watch the fireworks so I gave Shane
00:32:20
a hug told him that I loved him take
00:32:23
care of himself and don't get in a bind
00:32:25
and he said no problem he said he'd see
00:32:28
me later and left house and that was the
00:32:33
last time I saw him alive
00:32:40
police have reconstructed the events
00:32:42
which preceded the disappearance at 9:00
00:32:45
p.m.
00:32:45
Shane and Sally watched the annual
00:32:47
fireworks display at Lake neighs worthy
00:32:53
four hours later a fisherman anchored
00:32:55
offshore spotted them at Ossie Fisher
00:32:58
Lake six miles away he could see the
00:33:01
young couple standing by a car then he
00:33:04
saw a pickup truck approach
00:33:13
[Music]
00:33:16
I heard them talking about you won't be
00:33:24
with them people no more I'll listen to
00:33:27
a little bit more and they continued all
00:33:29
getting first and I got thinking whether
00:33:30
it's just bunch of kids out there
00:33:31
drinking partying and I turned my boat
00:33:34
around in our layout
00:33:38
it was the last time anyone saw Shane
00:33:40
Stewart and Sally McNelly alive
00:33:46
Marshall Stewart refused to believe that
00:33:48
the children had run away for four
00:33:51
months he scoured the Lake area and
00:33:52
began questioning people whom he
00:33:54
believed might know something about his
00:33:56
son's disappearance one of the you see
00:34:00
talked to was allegedly involved in the
00:34:02
cult hi I'm Shane Shane told me if he
00:34:10
and his friend ever got together there
00:34:12
was gonna be bad trouble
00:34:13
he said we're enemies we hate each other
00:34:18
if there's ever a confrontation he said
00:34:20
there's really gonna be a fight what's
00:34:22
wrong your face looks like you've been
00:34:23
in a fight it's just a cake okay and I
00:34:33
walked away from the door
00:34:34
convinced he had confronted Shane
00:34:37
somewhere and there had been a fight and
00:34:39
he just wasn't telling me the truth
00:34:41
I felt like Shannon Sally had gone to
00:34:47
the lake and we're probably sitting out
00:34:51
there on the table
00:34:51
listening to music and been approached
00:34:55
by probably some of their friends or
00:34:58
enemies
00:35:04
we don't have any suspects from the
00:35:07
standpoint of something that we could
00:35:08
bring to the grand jury we have
00:35:11
investigated it with the people that
00:35:13
have been referred to us by as having
00:35:16
been in the cult activity and
00:35:19
consequently they are suspects until we
00:35:22
until we solve the murderer most of my
00:35:26
life I was fearful of dying and leaving
00:35:30
sadly before she was grown and then for
00:35:34
the tables to be turned and for Sally to
00:35:37
leave me this is the worst nightmare
00:35:40
that any parent can have and it never
00:35:45
goes away there's no words to describe
00:35:51
what you feel when you find your child
00:35:54
murdered nothing that you can do to
00:35:57
console them during their last hours
00:36:01
these people need to be caught and
00:36:04
brought in and punished for what they've
00:36:06
done
00:36:06
and to prevent something like this from
00:36:09
happening again I'd like to sit through
00:36:13
the trial and make sure that justice has
00:36:16
been served what a Sally's body was
00:36:22
discovered a fortune from a Chinese
00:36:24
cookie was found in her pocket it read
00:36:27
you'll always be surrounded by friends
00:36:30
authorities believe the shane stewart
00:36:32
and sally mcnally were murdered by their
00:36:34
friends as a direct result of their cult
00:36:36
activities police are convinced it there
00:36:38
were witnesses to the crime were afraid
00:36:40
to come forward if you have any
00:36:42
information please contact the Tom Green
00:36:44
County Sheriff's Department in San
00:36:46
Angelo Texas when we return a woman
00:36:50
needs your help to find her real mother
00:36:52
whom she has met only once
00:36:56
[Music]
00:37:04
imagine growing up as an outsider in
00:37:07
your own home eating somehow separate
00:37:09
from your family this is how a young
00:37:12
woman named Carla downing felt her
00:37:13
entire life
00:37:14
Carla's feelings of alienation were
00:37:17
compounded by the tragic death of her
00:37:19
mother when Carla was just 16 in June of
00:37:25
1965 shortly after her mother's death
00:37:28
Carla and her younger brother went to
00:37:30
live with her grandparents in Alexandria
00:37:32
Virginia Carla's father was in the Army
00:37:37
and stationed overseas shortly after my
00:37:40
mother's funeral a woman came to my
00:37:43
grandmother's house where I was living
00:37:45
yeah at that time I was 16 I had a
00:37:47
little bit of money in my pocket my
00:37:49
grandmother was gonna turn me loose that
00:37:50
day to go do some shopping I'm going to
00:37:53
give you $20 I want you to get me quart
00:37:58
of milk and you can use the rest for
00:37:59
drinks or anything else you did yeah
00:38:01
you're welcome
00:38:02
Carla this is Mary Mary was a friend of
00:38:06
your mom's in high school hey you look
00:38:09
fair familiar I saw you when you were
00:38:12
just a little baby and I do remember
00:38:15
thinking gosh this woman needs to sit
00:38:18
down you know she just looked kind of
00:38:20
shook up or something and you know I
00:38:23
just kind of assumed that it was over my
00:38:25
mother's death
00:38:28
[Music]
00:38:34
in looking back you know I can remember
00:38:37
what she wore where she sat what I was
00:38:40
doing at the time what I had on you know
00:38:43
just it did come back to me and I really
00:38:47
wished I would have paid more attention
00:38:48
at that moment
00:38:52
Karla was born in December 1948
00:38:57
her father Chester Libby was an Army
00:39:00
sergeant her mother Mildred the
00:39:04
secretary in 1951
00:39:09
Carlos brother Ronnie was born but
00:39:13
within a few short years
00:39:15
Carla began to feel that she somehow
00:39:16
didn't fit in the whole time I was
00:39:21
growing up I always needed you know
00:39:23
there was just something not right
00:39:24
mainly because of the difference between
00:39:26
my brother and I he had blue eyes and
00:39:30
blonde hair and it was curly and you
00:39:33
know I had straight dark hair dark eyes
00:39:36
olive complexion and it was just obvious
00:39:39
to me even that we just weren't alike
00:39:45
Karla kept her troubling suspicions to
00:39:47
herself after the death of her mother
00:39:52
caught his father moved back to the US
00:39:54
and remarried Karla graduated from high
00:39:59
school married and had a son but even as
00:40:02
a grown woman Carla never stopped
00:40:04
feeling out of place in her own family
00:40:10
in 1990 Carla's father died and she
00:40:13
traveled to auditing Tanvir jigna for
00:40:15
his funeral just belong to your dad and
00:40:30
he wanted you to have it all his
00:40:32
military papers are in here and a few
00:40:35
more when I got the briefcase I just
00:40:38
wanted to go over each and every paper
00:40:40
you know and remember all of the
00:40:43
different places that we live together
00:40:44
in that sort of thing and in the back of
00:40:46
my mind I knew there was something I was
00:40:48
looking for I just knew there was
00:40:50
something in there
00:40:54
that night when she was finally alone
00:40:57
Carla began to sift through the contents
00:40:59
of her father's briefcase two documents
00:41:02
in particular caught her attention
00:41:05
the first dated November 1945 listed
00:41:09
Carla's father is married the second
00:41:12
document filed in November 1948 listed
00:41:16
him as divorced Carla was shocked to
00:41:20
find that her father had been married
00:41:22
before he met her mother and had been
00:41:24
divorced just one month prior to Carla's
00:41:26
own birth the discrepancy between the
00:41:30
two documents heightened all of Carla
00:41:32
suspicions from childhood oh that's good
00:41:36
listen the reason I'm calling do you
00:41:39
know anything about daddy being married
00:41:41
before
00:41:42
two days later Carla called her uncle
00:41:45
Norman her father's only living brother
00:41:47
she asked him to tell her the truth and
00:41:49
a surprising saga began to emerge Norman
00:41:56
made me feel really good because I got
00:41:58
my initial straight answer from him
00:42:01
somebody finally said no you aren't his
00:42:05
daughter you were already there when he
00:42:08
met your mother so at that point I felt
00:42:14
a sense of relief because at least I
00:42:15
knew something I had a direction an hour
00:42:22
later
00:42:22
Carla's brother Ronnie called with more
00:42:24
unsettling news well then that would
00:42:38
mean I was probably her daughter by a
00:42:41
previous marriage then right I noticed
00:42:44
something peculiar on my birth
00:42:45
certificate
00:42:46
couple years ago and I looked at it
00:42:48
again last night and it states the
00:42:51
number of children born to mom before me
00:42:53
if any and a list this figure as none
00:43:00
if his birth certificate is correct that
00:43:03
means that he and I are not brother and
00:43:06
sister so now I have a father who wasn't
00:43:09
my father a brother who isn't my brother
00:43:13
and I'm not real sure about my mother at
00:43:17
this point
00:43:18
Carla Downing's tangled family history
00:43:20
finally began to unravel
00:43:22
Carla learned from her uncles that her
00:43:25
mother Mildred had suffered a series of
00:43:26
miscarriages during her first marriage
00:43:30
in 1948
00:43:32
Mildred met a recent immigrant named
00:43:34
Mary who was pregnant and unmarried in
00:43:37
that time and place Mary knew that she
00:43:39
would be unable to keep her baby
00:43:41
according to Mildred brothers the two
00:43:43
women concocted a scheme to switch ID
00:43:45
cards in the hospital and she doesn't
00:43:52
speak any English
00:43:53
in doing so Mildred would be listed on
00:43:57
the birth certificate
00:43:58
as a child's mother
00:44:02
from the very beginning even as a kid
00:44:04
because I was about 12 when I think it's
00:44:07
occur I always had the feeling that you
00:44:10
know the Karla really shouldn't know I
00:44:12
don't know why I felt that way even at
00:44:14
that age but I almost had a sense that
00:44:18
someday it was going to come out
00:44:19
she's a beautiful
00:44:21
[Music]
00:44:23
they hold her it's my thinking that this
00:44:29
must have really been hard on Mary
00:44:31
because you know at that time she felt
00:44:32
like she could not have a child for
00:44:35
whatever reason I mean she was concerned
00:44:37
enough that she went to this extreme
00:44:41
with my mother to see that I was in a
00:44:44
good family
00:44:46
I just had this need to find Mary I want
00:44:49
to be in the same room with someone I
00:44:51
resemble I want my mother I want
00:44:56
somebody that I've been looking for for
00:44:58
a long time on the night of our
00:45:02
broadcast Karla Downing's prayers are
00:45:03
finally answered her natural mother Mary
00:45:06
Maxwell was still very much alive and
00:45:08
very anxious to see her daughter Karla
00:45:11
was also overjoyed to discover she had
00:45:13
two half-sisters eight days later Tana
00:45:19
traveler from her home in Tennessee to
00:45:21
Maryland where she was finally reunited
00:45:24
with her mother
00:45:26
[Music]
00:45:37
I knew it was her
00:45:41
I couldn't believe it and all he could
00:45:44
say and I ran out the door did she run
00:45:48
almost fell out the car I think and we
00:45:53
couldn't do nothing else but hold each
00:45:55
other and cried
00:45:56
[Music]
00:45:59
when I saw her for the first time I just
00:46:02
can't describe that feeling it's a home
00:46:05
at last I can breathe again it's just
00:46:09
the happiest moment in my whole life
00:46:11
you know just the happiest moment my
00:46:15
whole life married it's like a miracle
00:46:26
I couldn't believe it I couldn't believe
00:46:28
it for the longest to Isis this this is
00:46:31
not happening to us it only happens
00:46:33
through other people that they find
00:46:34
somebody they're looking for another us
00:46:35
but yet it happened to us when I found
00:46:39
out that my mom was alive and healthy
00:46:43
and okay that was just the best news in
00:46:47
the world have it been the extra bonus
00:46:50
was I have two sisters and a nephew
00:46:53
so it's Telus it's a happy ending
00:46:56
it's a fairy tale come true
00:46:59
[Music]
00:47:06
[Music]
00:47:12
on our next unsolved mysteries history
00:47:15
records a 26 year old John Wilkes Booth
00:47:18
the assassin of President Abraham
00:47:19
Lincoln was killed by Union troops in
00:47:21
1865
00:47:23
now some historians claim that Booth
00:47:25
actually managed to escape and flee to
00:47:27
freedom while researching the story we
00:47:31
were surprised to discover that even the
00:47:33
Encyclopedia Britannica is not sure of
00:47:35
what happened to John Wilkes Booth join
00:47:38
me for this fascinating and
00:47:39
controversial journey into the past next
00:47:42
time
00:47:42
unsolved mysteries
00:47:51
[Music]
00:48:14
[Applause]
00:48:17
[Music]
