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The UnXplained: top 5 shocking mysteries of 2023 | Part 1

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    Lovelock Nevada, 1911
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    Inside a narrow cave, two miners
    are searching for bat guano.
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    a key ingredient in making fertilizer.
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    But as they head deeper into the darkness,
    they make an unexpected discovery.
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    They find more than 40 human skeletons,
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    some of which are abnormally large.
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    In 1911 giant bones
    were found in Lovelock cave.
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    Large human skulls and skeletons
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    that measured
    between 7 and 8 feet in height
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    which for ancient man
    would have been rather significant.
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    This caused a sensation
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    and one of the strange things
    about the discoveries in Lovelock cave
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    is that the skeletons
    were often found with red hair
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    and so it does seem like there are
    a different kind of people
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    than the Native Americans from the area
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    although many of the large bones
    found in Lovelock cave
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    were unfortunately
    lost a time for decades.
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    A number of skulls were preserved
    at a local museum.
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    Until about 10 years ago,
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    there were four very large skulls
    on display inside the museum
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    and these were then removed
    and ceremonially buried
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    Was also so interesting
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    is that over 100,000 artifacts
    were excavated from Lovelock cave.
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    The strange thing is that
    many of the artifacts were huge
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    like you have giant sized sandals
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    like a 15 inch long shoe
    which is size 29 US
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    which would fit someone
    who's about 9 feet tall.
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    And even pieces of clothing
    which was so big,
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    looked as though they were worn by giants.
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    The idea that giant bones
    were actually found in a cave in Nevada
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    may sound far-fetched to some
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    but the truth is that there were
    many such discoveries reported
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    during the wild west.
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    Even in the southwestern United States,
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    there's several
    very strange stories of these,
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    dead corpses or skeletons
    being found regularly
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    in terms of the reports of giants.
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    This is a compelling motif.
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    People were fascinated
    by the idea of a giant race
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    that had lived here previously
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    and this connects
    to a lot of biblical belief
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    that tended to be fairly literal back
    in the day
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    and the Bible talks about back
    when there was a race of giants
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    when there was a race of giants
    that lived on the Earth
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    and so for many people in the wild west
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    when you see some skeletons
    dug out of the earth
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    that seem to corroborate this.
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    This was an affirmation
    of literal biblical beliefs as well
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    Is it really possible that a race
    of giants once inhabited the old West?
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    As the numerous discoveries
    reported throughout the 1800s suggest
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    and if so?
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    Was evidence of these giants
    recovered in Lovelock cave?
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    Perhaps a clue can be found
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    by examining the history
    of the indigenous Piute people
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    who have inhabited
    the Nevada desert for centuries .
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    A woman named Sarah Winnemucca
    who was a descendant of chief Winnemucca,
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    the Piutes, wrote a book in the 1800s
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    and recounted her people's battle.
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    with this race of giants
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    Now, what's fascinating about this
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    is that she says
    that it was an actual battle
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    not part of tribal lore or mythology
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    but something that actually occurred.
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    The ??? were red-haired and lived
    in the mountains near the Piute nation
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    and they were cannibals.
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    According to the Piutes,
    they naturally grew tired
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    of being cannibalized
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    and they confronted these giants.
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    A war was started between the giants
    and the Piute people, for three years.
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    They battled one another.
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    The last of the giants
    holded themselves up
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    in the Lovelock cave
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    and the Piute people stuff the openings
    with a bunch of of brush and firewood
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    and lit the place on fire
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    and that was the end
    of the redhaired giant cannibals.
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    What's also interesting is that
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    when the discovery was made
    in 1911 at Lovelock cave
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    they also found evidence
    of extreme burning
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    which took place near
    the entrance to the cave
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    So, this matches the story
    almost precisely
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    and again have evidence of red hair
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    because Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins
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    actually saved some of the hair
    and sewed it into a morning dress
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    which she used when she gave lectures
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    and so the story of the Piutes
    defeating the giants.
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    then suddenly became a reality.
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    For many the evidence in support
    of the Piute story
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    about the redheaded giants
    is compelling
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    not only because
    of what was found in Lovelock cave
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    but also because there have been
    reports of giant bones
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    being discovered in other places
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    throughout the Western Nevada desert.
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    If you go back
    and look through the records
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    you can find numerous accounts of bones,
    skeletons and giant sized artifacts
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    that been found in this area.
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    In 1904 it was reported
    that an 11 feet tall skeleton was found
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    and then we have accounts in 1931
    of an 8 and 1/2 feet skeleton
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    that was reported and so the fact is
    you have the stories,
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    you have the skeletal evidence
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    and you have the artifacts
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    And even the legends that proved
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    this was a real story of giants
    in this area.
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    To be sure the Piutes believe this to be
    a historical truth.
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    People might dismiss him as just folklore
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    but again who's to say
    that it didn't happen?
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    Of course, there were ethnic conflicts,
    of course there were wars
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    and of course people
    tend to remember this.
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    So, this has been a real important part
    of many people's historical beliefs
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    and how they think
    about their own history.
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    Mecca, it is home to one of the world's
    largest religious structures,
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    the Grand Mosque.
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    In the center courtyard
    of this immense edifice
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    stands a 43 foot tall granite Cube
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    known as the Caaba, the house of God.
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    Five times a day, every day,
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    almost 2 billion Muslims across the world
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    will turn and prey towards
    this striking black monument,
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    the holiest and most sacred site
    in all of Islam.
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    Why? Because embedded
    in the Eastern corner of the shrine
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    is perhaps the most sacred stone
    in all the world,
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    the Black Stone of Mecca.
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    For the world's 1.8 billion Muslims,
    this stone is crucial.
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    When Muslims face
    in the direction of Mecca,
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    they face in the direction of that stone.
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    This object, as simple as it might be,
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    is of incredible significance
    to the Muslim faith
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    because it is said to have fallen
    from Heaven
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    at the commands of Allah
    at the time of Adam and Eve
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    and it was was said to have marked
    the position of the first temple
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    which obviously becomes Mecca itself.
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    Then the story is that
    that stone gets lost during the flood
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    because Muslims have the same flood story
    that Jews do from the Hebrew Bible.
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    Then that stone for Muslims
    is rediscovered by Abraham,
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    so Abraham with his son Ishmael
    build in Mecca the first place of prayer.
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    That's why Mecca is important to Muslims,
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    because this is the first place of prayer
    to the one God.
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    Over time it gets worn away,
    the building gets rebuilt.
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    In 605 the prophet Muhammad himself
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    is the one that places
    that stone in its place.
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    That's part of what gives it power.
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    Each year millions of Muslims
    make a pilgrimage or Hajj to the Kaaba.
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    Once there, visitors take part
    in a series of rituals called Tawaf
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    which includes circling
    the Kaaba seven times
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    in the belief that it will bring about
    true humility
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    by linking them with God.
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    The Black Stone is therefore
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    one of the focal points
    of the Hajj ceremony
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    that every Muslim certainly
    tries to achieve during their lifetime
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    and they will then enter
    the Central Court of Mecca
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    and, if possible,
    try to kiss the Black Stone
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    in emulation of Muhammad
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    who was said to have set it up
    in this position in the year 605 AD.
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    Certainly the stories
    that have been built around it
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    really pull people in
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    and some people suggested that maybe
    it's something in the stone itself
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    that pulls people in.
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    The stone itself pulling people in?
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    But how for the millions,
    if not billions, of Muslims,
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    who have made their pilgrimage
    to the Kaaba?
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    There's no doubt that the Black Stone
    has an inexorable power
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    that seems to draw them into its orbit
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    and, according to some experts,
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    that's because the Black Stone
    is not of this world.
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    Muslims believe that
    this was sent down by God to Earth.
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    If we're scientific
    we may call that a meteorite.
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    If we're not scientific,
    we may call that miraculous.
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    Here's this stone that comes
    from the heavens.
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    When a meteorite hits the Earth
    and somebody witness it to fall
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    and they were to go to that location,
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    there's a variety of things
    that they might be able to find.
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    If the stone falls in a sandy area,
    for example,
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    there might be a lot of heat
    associated with the meteorite as it falls
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    and that could cause a fusion of the sand
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    to cause some kind of glass to form.
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    And so, when you walk up onto it
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    you might find
    some interesting new features
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    that you probably wouldn't have seen
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    in that particular part
    of the of the world before.
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    Meteorites arrive from outer space
    being exposed to cosmic rays.
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    They're slightly radioactive to people
    not exposed to electromagnetic radiation.
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    They would might have been able
    to even feel that buzz from this rock,
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    from the radiation,
    beta particles especially.
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    Whether you believe
    it was sent by God
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    or whether you believe
    it was a random act,
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    it has literally extraterrestrial origins
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    and so that creates a real power there.
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    Could the Black Stone of Mecca
    really have the power
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    to physically affect people
    who come near it?
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    Now, the truth is
    we may never know for sure
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    because no one has ever been officially
    allowed to inspect or analyze it.
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    So, there are a lot of exciting
    and interesting questions
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    about the Black Stone.
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    I think the first initial one is
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    Is it actually a meteorite?
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    A lot of people propose that
    and there's some evidence,
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    particularly from a local impact trader,
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    that it came from there
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    and is there some sort of radiation energy
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    that it emits or is coming from it
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    that we just don't understand yet.
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    So, it would be really amazing
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    to have the opportunity
    to analyze the Black Stone
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    There are obviously challenges,
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    both sort of social as well as scientific.
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    It's in the Muslim world,
    it's in a very sacred place.
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    It's a very sacred stone.
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    So, bringing in scientists
    and doing careful analyses
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    have those social challenges
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    and would be difficult.
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    Tombstone, Arizona.
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    The spirit of the Wild West
    is alive and well in this small town
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    where a saloon doors still swing open
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    and horses pull stage coaches
    along main street.
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    Founded in the late 1800s
    Tombstone embraces its history
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    when outlaws, gunslingers
    and violent shootouts were all too common.
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    Tombstone was a silver broom town...
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    but what makes Tombstone so legendary
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    was well mostly
    the Gunfight of the O.K. Corral.
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    That was between the Earps, the Clantons,
    and McLauries and Billy Claiborne.
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    Also Doc Holliday
    was involved in that gunfight.
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    Now, the gunfight was actually
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    in the alleyway leading
    into the O.K. Corral, on Freemont Street.
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    No one knows who fired the first shot.
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    It was a 30 second gunfight.
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    38 shots were fired
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    and three men lay dead on the street.
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    There's so much history around here.
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    When you walk those streets in Tombstone,
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    you're walking in the steps of History.
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    The gunfight at the O.K. Corral
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    is the most well-known tale
    from this wild west boomtown.
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    But Tombstone past is also riddled
    with bizarre supernatural stories,
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    including tales of strange creatures
    roaming the frontier
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    that spread like wildfire
    in the 19th century.
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    There are a lot of legends
    that have come out of Tombstone.
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    but there's one very curious one.
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    In 1890 the Tombstone Epitaph
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    reported a story about two ranchers
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    who saw a giant flying creature
    in the sky above them.
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    Tombstone Epitaph reported
    that they encountered
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    a prehistoric looking monster,flying,
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    and they said the whole body
    was about 100 feet long
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    and the head was about 8 feet long,
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    loaded with razor sharp teeth.
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    They not only were afraid of it
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    but apparently they tracked it down
    and killed this creature
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    and tried to take a photograph of it
    sprawled out.
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    According to local lore, a photo
    of the strange creature was indeed taken
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    and even published
    in the Tombstone Epitaph
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    but locating the supposed picture
    is proven to be difficult.
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    In terms of the photograph,
    there are legions of people
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    who remember seeing this pictur
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    even into the 1930s and 40s.
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    Yet no one has ever been able to locate it
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    and in fact the edition of the Epitaph
    that the story ran in
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    didn't have any photographs at all.
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    Although the alleged newspaper photo
    has never been found,
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    over the years a number
    of bizarre pictures
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    featuring cowboys
    and a massive winged creature
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    have surfaced and can be seen
    on the Internet.
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    One photograph depicts a group of men
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    with a giant winged beast.
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    That creature is winged
    but it's not really a bird.
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    It looks more like a pterodactyl,
    something prehistoric
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    with large leathery wings
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    and a large head with two feet
    hanging down below.
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    It adds to the mystery of the creature
    and makes us wonder
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    what exactly is flying around
    in the southern deserts.
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    While the images
    of the wing creature are compelling
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    historians have questioned
    their authenticity
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    and claim that
    they may have been fabricated
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    as a result of the fascination people have
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    with this strange tale
    from the old West.
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    Although most variations of the photos
    seem to be hoaxes,
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    I think it's weird when you combine
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    all of the things
    of the newspaper encounter
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    people swearing that they personally saw
    the photograph
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    and now it's gone.
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    It only adds more history and wonder
    to the story
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    and I think in some regard,
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    it makes it even bigger
    than it would have been.
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    Is the story of the Tombstone pterodactyl
    just a tall tale?
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    Or is it possible that there really was
    a species of giant flying creatures
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    that roam the deserts of the old west?
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    Perhaps the answer can be found
    by examining accounts
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    from Native American folklore
    of a creature known as the Thunderbird.
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    The Thunderbird is one of the most
    widespread powerful creatures
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    and symbols in Native American mythology.
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    It is a gigantic bird,
    some kind of a raptor,
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    sometimes with somewhat human qualities
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    but it's connected
    with thunder and with lightning.
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    Very often, those flapping its wings
    is what creates thunder.
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    It shoots lightning out of its eyes.
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    The Thunderbird is common
    in Native American tribes
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    all over the West.
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    You'll find them on petroglyphs,
    on the rocks ,
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    or you'll find them in totem poles.
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    It's a special bird,
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    a special spiritual power
    of protection and support and strength.
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    That's what the Thunderbird represents.
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    By some accounts, Thunderbirds
    were strictly spiritual beings.
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    they lived in another world and they were
    18:17
    frightening but could also sometimes lend their power to the people on other occasions they were
    18:25
    perly real creatures that could swoop down at any time and snatch up humans if
    18:31
    they so choose is it possible that there is a connection between the Thunderbird and
    18:38
    the winged creature that was reportedly seen near Tombstone Arizona in
    18:43
    1890 for now the answer is unclear but people remain fascinated by
    18:51
    the idea that massive winged Birds really did soar over the American
    18:57
    frontier it's important to remember that this is taking place in the wild west is taking
    19:04
    place when people are looking out for Marvels and becoming aware of Native American explanations Native American
    19:10
    mythology at the same time so people were aware that the Thunderbird was held to be out there which leads us back to
    19:16
    the question you know the Thunderbird is it encrypted like it's out there somewhere is it is it simply a deity
    19:23
    that's sort of cobbled together from abstract Notions of what the Divine is or is it sort of resulting from
    19:30
    people finding you know pterodactyl skeletons and saying wow there must have been a great big bird here at some point
    19:36
    uh or maybe all three so this is still a great
    19:42
    mystery Sardinia 1974 on This Island located off the
    Sardinia
    19:49
    coast of Italy a farmer in a region known as Monte PR is tilling his Fields
    19:56
    when he strikes what appears to be a large Rock but upon closer inspection he
Title:
The UnXplained: top 5 shocking mysteries of 2023 | Part 1
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Duration:
32:07
Margarida Ferreira edited English subtitles for The UnXplained: top 5 shocking mysteries of 2023 | Part 1 May 30, 2025, 6:44 PM
Margarida Ferreira edited English subtitles for The UnXplained: top 5 shocking mysteries of 2023 | Part 1 May 30, 2025, 11:49 AM
Margarida Ferreira edited English subtitles for The UnXplained: top 5 shocking mysteries of 2023 | Part 1 May 30, 2025, 12:17 AM

English subtitles

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Revisions Compare revisions

  • Revision 3 Edited
    Margarida Ferreira May 30, 2025, 6:44 PM
  • Revision 2 Edited
    Margarida Ferreira May 30, 2025, 11:49 AM
  • Revision 1 Edited
    Margarida Ferreira May 30, 2025, 12:17 AM