WEBVTT

1
00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:10.439
<v Speaker 1>What happens if you walk into a swamp at night

2
00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:15.000
<v Speaker 1>and say three times, we have your baby. If you

3
00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:18.679
<v Speaker 1>do that in the Bare Creek Swamp in Pratful, Alabama,

4
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.920
<v Speaker 1>you might not like the answer. Legend has it that

5
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.960
<v Speaker 1>a woman lost her child in that swamp and spent

6
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:29.280
<v Speaker 1>the rest of her life trying to find it. It

7
00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:33.320
<v Speaker 1>isn't clear how the child disappeared. Maybe it wandered off,

8
00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.640
<v Speaker 1>or there are those who say it was taken by

9
00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:40.799
<v Speaker 1>a war party of the Native Americans. We don't even

10
00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.799
<v Speaker 1>know for sure if the child was a boy or

11
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.359
<v Speaker 1>a girl. But what we do know is that death

12
00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.960
<v Speaker 1>wasn't enough of a deterrent to make the woman stop looking.

13
00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.920
<v Speaker 1>Imagine how it must have been for that poor woman.

14
00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.920
<v Speaker 1>It probably started like any day she was going about

15
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.159
<v Speaker 1>doing her chores. It was a long time ago when

16
00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.680
<v Speaker 1>different chores required a whole day's work just to complete

17
00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.439
<v Speaker 1>one task. Maybe it was laundry day. She was busy

18
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.079
<v Speaker 1>boiling water and shaving strips of soap into it from

19
00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.840
<v Speaker 1>a homemade bar. She would have been bent over while

20
00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.359
<v Speaker 1>scrubbing the bedding and clothes on a washboard before passing

21
00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:24.879
<v Speaker 1>them through another tub of water to rentse away the

22
00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:30.079
<v Speaker 1>excess soap and finally hang them out to dry. While

23
00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.719
<v Speaker 1>Mama worked diligently at her burden, the child let's assume

24
00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.640
<v Speaker 1>it was a girl and let's call her Sarah, played

25
00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:42.359
<v Speaker 1>with her doll in the grass nearby. Mama didn't have

26
00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.840
<v Speaker 1>much time to give little Sarah much attention. She had

27
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.200
<v Speaker 1>to rely on the child to play contently and stay close.

28
00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.760
<v Speaker 1>Mama probably didn't think much of it. The first time

29
00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.079
<v Speaker 1>she stepped around from behind a freshly hung sheet to

30
00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:01.599
<v Speaker 1>see her daughter wasn't in her place on the ground, Sarah.

31
00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.920
<v Speaker 1>She most likely called, putting just enough of an edge

32
00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.640
<v Speaker 1>on her voice to warn her daughter to come back

33
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.039
<v Speaker 1>to her spot. Then she picked up the next sheet

34
00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:14.280
<v Speaker 1>and hung it. When she stepped around from behind the

35
00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.159
<v Speaker 1>laundry again, her daughter was still nowhere in sight, Sarah.

36
00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:22.960
<v Speaker 1>She called again, this time with a little more authority.

37
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.800
<v Speaker 1>A third trip to the clothes line occupied Mamma for

38
00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.319
<v Speaker 1>a few more minutes. When little Sara still wasn't back

39
00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.560
<v Speaker 1>in her place, she probably muttered something like where is

40
00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.439
<v Speaker 1>that child off to As she walked around to the

41
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:44.000
<v Speaker 1>side of the house. Sarah wasn't there. She looked around

42
00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:46.639
<v Speaker 1>and listened for a moment, hoping to hear her little

43
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:52.280
<v Speaker 1>girl's laughter. She heard nothing. Mamma continued around to the

44
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.479
<v Speaker 1>back of the house and then to the other side.

45
00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:57.680
<v Speaker 1>By the time she'd made her way back to the front,

46
00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:02.759
<v Speaker 1>she was beginning to worry Sarah. She called out loudly

47
00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:07.199
<v Speaker 1>and then stopped to listen. A cool breeze rattled the

48
00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.360
<v Speaker 1>budding leaves on the trees, but no child's voice could

49
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.439
<v Speaker 1>be heard. Panicked now, she left the house yard and

50
00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:17.439
<v Speaker 1>went down to the barn, scattering the hens that pecked

51
00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:20.560
<v Speaker 1>at the dirt in her path as she passed. Sarah,

52
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.319
<v Speaker 1>where are you, she repeatedly called. As she swung open

53
00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.680
<v Speaker 1>the door, the contrast of light and dark temporarily blinded her.

54
00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:33.560
<v Speaker 1>She stood there for a moment, allowing her eyes to adjust.

55
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:39.159
<v Speaker 1>In focus, Sarah, she called out again. A bird took

56
00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.719
<v Speaker 1>flight as she ducked as it swooped low over her

57
00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:47.879
<v Speaker 1>head to escape through the open door, and silence followed. Slowly,

58
00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:51.360
<v Speaker 1>With terrified eyes, the woman turned and gazed into the

59
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:56.120
<v Speaker 1>swamp that bordered their little house to the south and east. Sarah,

60
00:03:56.360 --> 00:03:59.520
<v Speaker 1>she whispered, as thoughts of the child wandering in such

61
00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:04.560
<v Speaker 1>a danger's place filled her mind. She imagined cotton mouths

62
00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.240
<v Speaker 1>and copper heads singing their fangs into the little girl's legs,

63
00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.800
<v Speaker 1>and calculated how quickly she would succumb to such a

64
00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.120
<v Speaker 1>bite without someone there to help. She had visions of

65
00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.480
<v Speaker 1>alligators dragging her precious child into the water and tearing

66
00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.480
<v Speaker 1>her to pieces, and her mind raced through scenarios where

67
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.399
<v Speaker 1>predators clamped down on the back of the baby's neck

68
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:29.360
<v Speaker 1>and dragged her deep into the swamp to gnaw on

69
00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:34.120
<v Speaker 1>her tiny bones. Dear God know, she managed to cry.

70
00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:38.000
<v Speaker 1>She raced into the thick briars, mindless of the thorns

71
00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.560
<v Speaker 1>that tore at her own clothes. She had to find

72
00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:45.199
<v Speaker 1>her baby, she swore, as she'd never stop looking until

73
00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:50.279
<v Speaker 1>she did. Hours later, her husband came in from the

74
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:54.399
<v Speaker 1>fields and found the cabin empty. He called to his wife,

75
00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:58.680
<v Speaker 1>but she didn't answer. She hadn't started supper, and he

76
00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.319
<v Speaker 1>couldn't help but notice the half finished laundry out in

77
00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:06.120
<v Speaker 1>the yard. Where was she? He stepped back outside and

78
00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:11.480
<v Speaker 1>called her name, and then he listened. Sarah. He heard

79
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:16.839
<v Speaker 1>somewhere in the distance Sarah. Was she lost? Was his

80
00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:21.199
<v Speaker 1>wife out looking for her? He followed his wife's path

81
00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.839
<v Speaker 1>into the swamp, calling to her as he went. Sometimes

82
00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.560
<v Speaker 1>he'd stop and listen, and again and again he heard

83
00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:34.439
<v Speaker 1>his wife's voice calling Sarah. But no matter how hard

84
00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:38.160
<v Speaker 1>he searched, he couldn't pinpoint the location of the sound.

85
00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.720
<v Speaker 1>Night fell on the swamp, crushing the light and his

86
00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:46.000
<v Speaker 1>hopes of finding either his wife or his child with it.

87
00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:51.079
<v Speaker 1>The next morning, he saddled a horse and went to town.

88
00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.560
<v Speaker 1>A search party was formed, and every inch of the

89
00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:58.759
<v Speaker 1>swamp that could be accessed was searched. There was no

90
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:03.639
<v Speaker 1>sign of the man, wife, and child. Once in a while,

91
00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:08.879
<v Speaker 1>everyone would stop and listen, Sarah. They heard deepen the

92
00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:13.439
<v Speaker 1>by you, Sarah, but they couldn't tell where it was

93
00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:21.120
<v Speaker 1>coming from. After several days of looking, they gave up. Eventually,

94
00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.399
<v Speaker 1>the man packed up and moved away. Living so close

95
00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:27.120
<v Speaker 1>to the place that had swallowed up everything that meant

96
00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:31.439
<v Speaker 1>anything to him was more than he could stand. No

97
00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.240
<v Speaker 1>one knows whatever happened to him. I'd like to think

98
00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:40.120
<v Speaker 1>he found happiness somewhere else. As for his wife, they

99
00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:45.079
<v Speaker 1>say she is still out there searching. So what happens

100
00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.240
<v Speaker 1>if you step into Bear Creek Swamp and say three

101
00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:53.399
<v Speaker 1>times we've got your baby? Her mother will appear and

102
00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:57.240
<v Speaker 1>attack you, and if you escape, more power to you.

103
00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.480
<v Speaker 1>But if she catches you, you'll wind up up like

104
00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:06.279
<v Speaker 1>little Sarah. No one will ever find you. This isn't

105
00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.120
<v Speaker 1>the only story about Bear Creek Swamp. There are tales

106
00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.800
<v Speaker 1>of mysterious lights that appear in the road ahead. The

107
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:17.680
<v Speaker 1>ghost of the Alibaimu Indians are often reported drifting in

108
00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:22.480
<v Speaker 1>and out of the fog and then disappearing altogether. It

109
00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.519
<v Speaker 1>is even said that a civil war battle plays itself

110
00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:28.600
<v Speaker 1>out over and over again on the breeze at night.

111
00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:32.720
<v Speaker 1>You'll never find the source, they say, but you will

112
00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:37.040
<v Speaker 1>hear cannons or is that just someone's still blowing up.

113
00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:42.759
<v Speaker 1>Aside from these frightening paranormal stories, there's one true and

114
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.240
<v Speaker 1>verified incident that happened just a few short years ago.

115
00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:51.360
<v Speaker 1>While on patrol on dirt Road three through the swamp,

116
00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:54.519
<v Speaker 1>an officer happened to glance over and see a porcelain

117
00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:59.199
<v Speaker 1>doll sticking up out of the muddy waters. At that time,

118
00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.399
<v Speaker 1>he thought, well, that's odd, but didn't give it much

119
00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:07.879
<v Speaker 1>more thought until over the next few days, dozens of

120
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.639
<v Speaker 1>reports came in of a doll's head seen in the swamp.

121
00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.639
<v Speaker 1>The police went out to investigate and discovered a total

122
00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:20.279
<v Speaker 1>of twenty one dolls impaled on bamboo poles and stuck

123
00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:25.360
<v Speaker 1>down in the mire. It was a veritable dull graveyard.

124
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:30.319
<v Speaker 1>Some of their faces were painted white, further enhancing an

125
00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:34.519
<v Speaker 1>already grim scene. I don't know who the prankster was

126
00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:37.080
<v Speaker 1>or who took the time to place all those dolls

127
00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:41.720
<v Speaker 1>out there, but kudos to you. You succeeded in creating

128
00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.360
<v Speaker 1>one of the creepiest practical jokes I have ever known of.

129
00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.200
<v Speaker 1>All swamps contain an air of mystery, a feeling of

130
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:55.960
<v Speaker 1>being otherworldly, whether you feel like you've stepped through some

131
00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.559
<v Speaker 1>kind of a time warp, landed on another planet, or

132
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.759
<v Speaker 1>passed through the vales that separate life from after life.

133
00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:07.919
<v Speaker 1>All swamps at some point will impose uncomfortable emotions on

134
00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:12.559
<v Speaker 1>the bravest of men. When that swamp bears the name Hackemack,

135
00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:16.960
<v Speaker 1>which means the place where spirits dwell and was originally

136
00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.960
<v Speaker 1>called the devil Swamp by white settlers, those feelings are

137
00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:26.320
<v Speaker 1>likely to come more frequently and with greater intensity. While

138
00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.720
<v Speaker 1>we tend to think of swamps as being a Southern landscape,

139
00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:36.440
<v Speaker 1>they're not Hakamack is located in southeastern Massachusetts, square in

140
00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:41.799
<v Speaker 1>the middle of the legendary Bridgewater Triangle. Stories have poured

141
00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:46.039
<v Speaker 1>out of that region of weird creatures, ghostly apparitions, and

142
00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:53.080
<v Speaker 1>unexplainable disappearances for generations. Places like a Sonnet Ledge, where

143
00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:57.200
<v Speaker 1>even the happiest of souls fell the suicidal urge to

144
00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:01.919
<v Speaker 1>throw themselves into the waters below, and Easton's Mill Pond,

145
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.639
<v Speaker 1>where satanic imps were said to be employed by Nathan Seleah,

146
00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.559
<v Speaker 1>a wizard to run the mill at night, can be

147
00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:14.440
<v Speaker 1>found within the triangle. It seems that everywhere within the

148
00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:18.960
<v Speaker 1>triangle hides one legend or another, but within the swamp

149
00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:24.159
<v Speaker 1>there are many. Early one morning, a fisherman was quietly

150
00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.519
<v Speaker 1>running his boat along the banks of the non Catessit River,

151
00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:31.200
<v Speaker 1>moving into the swamp through a heavy fog, when he

152
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.399
<v Speaker 1>heard what sounded like a distant drum beeat. It only

153
00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:40.279
<v Speaker 1>lasted a moment, but it got his attention. He glanced around,

154
00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:44.200
<v Speaker 1>but the mists were too thick and the sound had stopped,

155
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.279
<v Speaker 1>so he continued on his journey with nothing more than

156
00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:51.559
<v Speaker 1>a gentle whirring of his trolling motor to break the silence.

157
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.799
<v Speaker 1>When he heard it again, and again he stopped and listened.

158
00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.519
<v Speaker 1>The slapping clunk of waves lapping at his boat echoed

159
00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:06.240
<v Speaker 1>around him, and somewhere a bird called for its mate.

160
00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:09.519
<v Speaker 1>The wind rustled in the trees, and the occasional raindrop

161
00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:13.080
<v Speaker 1>fell with a splat against the aluminum seat at the bow.

162
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.039
<v Speaker 1>The drums he thought he heard were gone, and again

163
00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.279
<v Speaker 1>the warring trolling motor kicked up, and he moved on.

164
00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.000
<v Speaker 1>Now on the edge, the fishermen began to feel as

165
00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:29.879
<v Speaker 1>though he were being watched. His natural response was to

166
00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.639
<v Speaker 1>watch back, except he didn't know what he was looking for.

167
00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:38.320
<v Speaker 1>And then he saw it. It was nothing more than

168
00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:41.200
<v Speaker 1>a patch of fog that seemed a little denser than

169
00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:46.120
<v Speaker 1>the rest, but it was moving rhythmically. The fisherman cocked

170
00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.480
<v Speaker 1>his head to listen, and there were no drumbeats now,

171
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.480
<v Speaker 1>just the even gentle, trickling woosh of a paddle being

172
00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.440
<v Speaker 1>swept through the water, over and over as it propelled

173
00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:00.639
<v Speaker 1>a boat forward. The fisherman craned his eyes hard on

174
00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.039
<v Speaker 1>that point, and the haze was spinning and dissolving and reforming.

175
00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.840
<v Speaker 1>White particles of water disintegrated into darkness and then reformed

176
00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:16.039
<v Speaker 1>in shades of buff and brown. Tendrils that trailed into

177
00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.480
<v Speaker 1>space solidified into arms, and a spherical object that once

178
00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:26.720
<v Speaker 1>floated aimlessly, became a human head. Before the fisherman's eyes.

179
00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.480
<v Speaker 1>A Native American slid out of the void and appeared

180
00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:35.279
<v Speaker 1>to be paddling his canoe toward him. Too stunned to move,

181
00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.799
<v Speaker 1>the fisherman grasped the sides of his boat and waited

182
00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:42.960
<v Speaker 1>for impact. He was sure this strange man in the

183
00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:47.240
<v Speaker 1>traditional apparel of the Wampanawag people was going to steer

184
00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.639
<v Speaker 1>his canoe right into him. Seconds before he would have

185
00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.679
<v Speaker 1>done just that, the strange man turned the canoe slightly

186
00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:00.480
<v Speaker 1>and glided silently past. He was so close that the

187
00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:05.080
<v Speaker 1>fisherman could have reached out and touched him. The fisherman

188
00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.240
<v Speaker 1>never took his eyes off the bazaar site. As the

189
00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:12.000
<v Speaker 1>canoe passed, he turned his head to follow, and just

190
00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:16.480
<v Speaker 1>as it had materialized into existence, it dissolved out of it.

191
00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.279
<v Speaker 1>Not once did the man in the canoe acknowledge the fisherman.

192
00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:26.679
<v Speaker 1>Seconds after the apparition disappeared, the distant sounds of a

193
00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:31.960
<v Speaker 1>drum could be heard. One last time. The fisherman might

194
00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:36.120
<v Speaker 1>have counted himself lucky. That day, another man, this one

195
00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.399
<v Speaker 1>outlaying muskrat lines, had a similar experience. It wasn't drums

196
00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:46.200
<v Speaker 1>that he heard that morning, but a loud crash startled The

197
00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.799
<v Speaker 1>man looked up to see a massive, hairy beast to

198
00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:51.919
<v Speaker 1>break through the trees and slog down into the waters

199
00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.879
<v Speaker 1>of the swamp. It growled with a low, menacing rumble

200
00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.240
<v Speaker 1>before passing within a few yards of the terrified man.

201
00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.320
<v Speaker 1>I knew it wasn't a man because it smelled when

202
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:07.559
<v Speaker 1>it passed. He would later say it smelled like a skump,

203
00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:14.399
<v Speaker 1>musky and dirty. Aside from ghostly apparitions and unknown beast,

204
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:20.879
<v Speaker 1>Hackamack Swamp has a reputation for another phenomenon. In nineteen

205
00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:25.679
<v Speaker 1>oh eight, two undertakers were traveling between West Bridgewater and

206
00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.320
<v Speaker 1>Bridgewater when they spotted something in the sky that looked

207
00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.519
<v Speaker 1>to them like a giant lantern. The two men stopped

208
00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.720
<v Speaker 1>and watched the peculiar light while it hovered in place

209
00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:41.799
<v Speaker 1>for nearly forty minutes. In nineteen oh eight, there were

210
00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:47.159
<v Speaker 1>no blaming experimental military aircraft for what the undertaker saw.

211
00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.519
<v Speaker 1>Granted Orville and wilbur Wright first achieved flight just south

212
00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:57.200
<v Speaker 1>of Kittyhawk North Carolina in nineteen oh three, but craft

213
00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.600
<v Speaker 1>capable of hovering in nineteen oh eight I was still

214
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.080
<v Speaker 1>getting no more than a few feet off the ground

215
00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:05.960
<v Speaker 1>and never managing to stay in the air for more

216
00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.639
<v Speaker 1>than a few minutes. The first practical helicopter wouldn't come

217
00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:15.799
<v Speaker 1>into existence until nineteen thirty nine. Even if it were

218
00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:20.000
<v Speaker 1>possible that the inventors working diligently to give wings to

219
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.360
<v Speaker 1>man just happened to fly those machines over Hackamack's Swamp

220
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.639
<v Speaker 1>on the same night that two undertakers happened to be

221
00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:33.039
<v Speaker 1>traveling past, it doesn't explain the first documented UFO sighting

222
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:39.080
<v Speaker 1>ever recorded there. John Winthrop was a lawyer and a Puritan.

223
00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:44.799
<v Speaker 1>In sixteen thirty he helped establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony,

224
00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.759
<v Speaker 1>the second settlement in New England after the Plymouth Colony.

225
00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.879
<v Speaker 1>For twelve years, he served as governor. During that time,

226
00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:57.600
<v Speaker 1>he kept an extensive diary of the trials and triumphs

227
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:03.039
<v Speaker 1>of his fellow Puritans. One entry in particular is now

228
00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:07.039
<v Speaker 1>referred to as the first documented u FO siding in

229
00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:13.600
<v Speaker 1>American history. In his March first, sixteen thirty nine entry,

230
00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:18.120
<v Speaker 1>Winthrop told the story of John Everell and two others.

231
00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.200
<v Speaker 1>He declared Everell to be a man of good reputation, activity,

232
00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:28.440
<v Speaker 1>and estate in Boston. The following is an excerpt from

233
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:34.399
<v Speaker 1>the diary. In this year, one James Everell, a sober,

234
00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:38.399
<v Speaker 1>discreet man, and two others saw a great light in

235
00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.759
<v Speaker 1>the night at Muddy River. When it stood still, it

236
00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:46.919
<v Speaker 1>flamed up and was about three yards square, and when

237
00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:51.080
<v Speaker 1>it ran, it was contracted into the figure of a swine.

238
00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.320
<v Speaker 1>It ran as swift as an arrow towards Charleston, and

239
00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.600
<v Speaker 1>so up and down for about two or three hours.

240
00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:03.919
<v Speaker 1>They were come down in their lighter about a mile,

241
00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:07.720
<v Speaker 1>and when it was over they found themselves carried quite

242
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.920
<v Speaker 1>back against the tide to the place they came from.

243
00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:16.920
<v Speaker 1>Diverse other credible persons saw the same light after about

244
00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:22.720
<v Speaker 1>the same place. These men in good standing with the Governor,

245
00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:26.759
<v Speaker 1>along with several others, saw these lights over the course

246
00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.920
<v Speaker 1>of three hours. They hovered and darted and shot back

247
00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:34.079
<v Speaker 1>and forth as these men watched, And when it was

248
00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:38.480
<v Speaker 1>over they found themselves a full mile upstream from where

249
00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:44.000
<v Speaker 1>they'd been when they first spotted the lights. Upstream? Were

250
00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:50.880
<v Speaker 1>these men also the first alien abductees? UFO reports continued

251
00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:55.000
<v Speaker 1>to come out of this region today. In nineteen ninety nine,

252
00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.079
<v Speaker 1>a woman saw lights while she was at a cookout.

253
00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:03.240
<v Speaker 1>She says they too darted around. At one point, she says,

254
00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.240
<v Speaker 1>they looked as if they were heading right for the

255
00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:09.480
<v Speaker 1>house where the cookout was being held. What makes her

256
00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:14.759
<v Speaker 1>story so fascinating is that once the lights disappeared, helicopters

257
00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:17.599
<v Speaker 1>swarmed the area where they'd been, as if they were

258
00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:22.839
<v Speaker 1>looking for something. Was our government searching for something? Or

259
00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:25.160
<v Speaker 1>had they just missed a rendezvous