- today
The UnXplained Season 7 Episode 12
#CinemaSeriesUSFilm
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
#CinemaSeriesUSFilm
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00A blood-sucking vampire haunting a decaying cemetery, creepy clowns abducting children
00:10into the woods, and a video game so dangerous it could kill you.
00:18Have you ever been warned about conjuring an angry spirit by repeating the words
00:22Bloody Mary in front of a mirror?
00:25Or maybe you've considered the possibility of a giant beast named Bigfoot.
00:32These are just a few examples of modern mythology called urban legends.
00:39For centuries, humans have told extraordinary tales of mystical creatures and supernatural events.
00:46And today, we continue the tradition by sharing stories of things like creepy encounters
00:53and cursed objects in, in human entities.
01:00Where do these urban legends come from?
01:05And could they be true?
01:08Well, that is what we'll try and find out.
01:23It is said that aspects of what make us human are the capacity for abstract thought, moral reasoning, and creative expression,
01:35which may explain our habit of sharing outrageous stories that make us question the nature of reality itself.
01:42Might the legendary Bigfoot wander the Pacific Northwest?
01:49Could Area 51 be hiding extraterrestrial secrets?
01:54Or are there places where you can really stumble upon a portal to hell?
02:00These are but a few of the countless questions raised by the thrilling tales we call urban legends.
02:10An urban legend is a modern folktale.
02:13And we tell them for the reasons that people have always told folktales.
02:17They are there to entertain.
02:19They are there to horrify us.
02:21A good urban legend is based on being plausible, or nearly plausible,
02:26but also very unexpected and unusual.
02:30And the best ones tend to work because they're not something that can be easily verified.
02:34I think that's part of the appeal.
02:36We are attracted to the mystery.
02:39Urban legends come out of nowhere and spread very, very quickly.
02:42A lot of these legends are about scary things.
02:46Monsters, ghosts, horrible things that could go wrong.
02:50People are expressing their fears.
02:51So, there could be somebody saying they saw something strange in a particular area.
02:57And then these stories become repeated, sometimes embellished.
03:01Oftentimes, kind of made more and more compelling as time goes on.
03:05The real heyday of urban legends was the 1970s and the 1980s.
03:10The legends circulating at that time were stories like The Vanishing Hitchhiker,
03:14which is about the motorist who drives past a young woman on the side of the road and she asks for a ride.
03:23And when he gets to the destination, she's gone.
03:25Usually, he finds out that a young woman died at that exact curve in the road some years before,
03:31and this happens regularly.
03:34When I think of urban legends, I definitely think about the story of the teenage couple making out in the car
03:39and then, you know, being accosted by someone with a hook hand and murdering them.
03:44There will always be legends we can't fully explain.
03:47I think that part of human curiosity is that we want to believe in the unknown.
03:52While some urban legends seem too far-fetched to be true,
03:55there are, in fact, stories whose origins are shockingly real.
04:02Urban legends could be based on some sort of true event,
04:05and it got perhaps exaggerated, or the names and places were changed.
04:10One example is that there are urban legends about alligators
04:14that have gotten flushed down the toilet as babies
04:16and now live in the sewers and eat sewer workers.
04:22Alligators living in the sewers.
04:23Now, that urban legend caught fire because people really were bringing home baby alligators.
04:29So it evolves from there.
04:31You start to think, well, if that happens, then this can happen.
04:33So a baby alligator suddenly becomes a giant killer out in the sewers.
04:40The fun thing about urban legends is they often overlap with reality.
04:44Maybe worries about pollution or government testing
04:47could be expressed in contemporary legends about mutant creatures
04:51that have grown up around these testing sites.
04:53We know that radiation does cause mutations.
04:56We've seen this with Chernobyl.
04:57These are real concerns on real contemporary issues
05:01that people express very often in these narrative forms.
05:06Are urban legends just modern-day fairy tales
05:09meant to entertain the human psyche?
05:12Or could they be a kind of warning
05:14to protect us from the strange and unknown world around us?
05:17Perhaps the answer lies with one seemingly impossible tale
05:22about how a human being can suddenly erupt into flames.
05:29Spontaneous human combustion is the urban legend
05:32that through some chemical reaction,
05:35the human body will spontaneously burst into flames,
05:39leaving the person nothing more than a mound of ash.
05:43The belief that you can spontaneously combust
05:47goes back hundreds of years.
05:50In the 1800s, some of our most popular writers
05:53talked about spontaneous human combustion.
05:56Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Irvin Melville,
06:00they all depicted spontaneous human combustion
06:04in their writings.
06:06We have to wonder,
06:07what is it about spontaneous human combustion
06:09that has made it such an enduring legend
06:12over these centuries?
06:17Galway, Ireland, December 22, 2010.
06:22Authorities rush to the home of 76-year-old retiree
06:25Michael Faraday.
06:27Once inside, they're faced with a tragic scene.
06:31Please be advised,
06:33some images may be disturbing.
06:35Inside Mr. Faraday's home,
06:39it was said that his body was burned badly,
06:42as was the ceiling above him
06:43and the floor beneath him.
06:46Accelerants were searched for,
06:48thinking this might be a case of arson.
06:50Accelerants were not found,
06:52so that was ruled out.
06:53The medical examiner was Dr. McLaughlin.
06:57After nine months of investigating the case,
07:00he declared it to be, remarkably,
07:03death by spontaneous human combustion.
07:06What the first responders found
07:08in answering the call at the Faraday residence
07:10was a mystery then
07:12and remains a mystery to this day.
07:16The coroner decides
07:17that this spark has come from within the body.
07:20It couldn't be from anything else.
07:22It has to have come from within.
07:24We'd like to think that if there's a fire,
07:26there's a way for us to get away,
07:27but the idea that the fire is in us,
07:29that is really kind of scary,
07:31I think, to everyone.
07:33The thought that a human being
07:34can mysteriously burst into flames
07:36is truly alarming.
07:39But what could have led this coroner
07:41to deliver such a bizarre diagnosis?
07:45Well, as with many urban legends,
07:47this strange event seems to have happened
07:50more than once.
07:53One of the better-known cases
07:55of spontaneous human combustion
07:57occurred to Mary Hardy Reeser
07:58in July, 1951.
08:02Photos showed two firemen
08:04shoveling up her ash and remains.
08:06The entire pile of ash
08:07weighed about eight pounds,
08:10a remarkable weight reduction overnight.
08:13More remarkable was the lack of fire
08:15and heat damage to surrounding materials,
08:18including daybed linen
08:19only a few feet from the fire scene.
08:21This mystified the local St. Petersburg
08:24police and fire departments.
08:26So mystifying that the police department
08:29kept us an open file that is unsolved.
08:33That's how extreme this fire scene was
08:35in trying to explain it.
08:38Remarkably, over the last three centuries,
08:40there have been around 200 reports
08:41of people allegedly bursting into flames.
08:45And until we can properly understand
08:48this medical mystery,
08:49spontaneous human combustion
08:51will remain
08:52an urban legend
08:54that continues to smolder.
08:58The existence of the legend,
09:00I don't think,
09:00is a mystery at all.
09:03Spontaneous human combustion
09:04has been consistently reported
09:07time and again
09:08in different literary means,
09:10reported by doctors,
09:12reported by police officers.
09:13These are authoritative accounts.
09:16And it really put
09:18spontaneous human combustion
09:20into the category of
09:22a weird thing
09:24that keeps happening.
09:26How many times
09:28do we need to see
09:29a human body
09:30disintegrate into ash
09:31to wonder
09:32what's going on here?
09:38Highgate Cemetery, London, England.
09:41This sprawling Victorian-era graveyard
09:44is the final resting place
09:46of around 170,000 people.
09:49It was first consecrated in 1839
09:52as part of a plan
09:54to create seven new cemeteries in London.
09:57Its age and unique design
10:00create an otherworldly space
10:03where the living and the dead
10:05come to meet.
10:06Highgate Cemetery
10:09was first laid out
10:10in the mid-19th century.
10:13There's avenues
10:15and there's circles
10:16and there's winding paths
10:19and you can get very lost there.
10:22It's a very creepy place
10:24because the Victorians
10:26were obsessed with death
10:27and they loved creating necropolises
10:31and that was one of them.
10:34There's so many
10:35kind of spooky, dark,
10:36moss-covered columns
10:38and tombs.
10:40You always do feel
10:42that there's just something
10:44lurking around the corner,
10:45if not behind a headstone,
10:48waiting to jump out at you.
10:50While Highgate's Victorian monuments
10:53to the dead
10:53create a spooky impression,
10:56the cemetery is perhaps
10:57most famous
10:58for being the home
10:58of a monstrous urban legend.
11:02It is said
11:03that this old graveyard
11:05is the haven
11:06of a bloodthirsty creature
11:08known as
11:09the Highgate vampire.
11:12In 1970,
11:14there were rumours
11:15that circulated
11:16that a vampire
11:18had been seen
11:19in the cemetery.
11:20The Highgate vampire story
11:22happens at a time
11:23when there's
11:24a lot of interest
11:25in the occult,
11:27in horror.
11:28You've got
11:29the hammer horror films
11:30in the cinemas.
11:32There's the Dracula series
11:33with Christopher Lee
11:34playing the vampire
11:35and really
11:37that kind of feeds
11:38into the public consciousness.
11:41But I defy you
11:42to go to Highgate Cemetery
11:43and not feel
11:45a sense of fear.
11:47If there's going
11:47to be a vampire anywhere,
11:49it's going to be
11:50in Highgate Cemetery.
11:52The vampire tradition,
11:53it's a very old tradition
11:55in Europe.
11:56Now, the traditional vampire
11:57is a loathsome,
11:59repelling creature,
12:00someone who is so evil
12:01and rotten in their soul
12:02that when they die
12:04and you bury them,
12:05their soul is not
12:06going to leave that body.
12:07Their soul is going to
12:08get up with that body
12:09and then go terrorize
12:11the local communities
12:12and drink people's blood.
12:14The Highgate vampire
12:15is a combination
12:17of things that emerged
12:18around the late 1960s
12:19and 1970,
12:22around Highgate Cemetery
12:23there are accounts
12:24of an evil presence
12:25that people claim
12:26to have seen
12:27and you've got
12:28a real sort of
12:29panic on your hands.
12:31Could a vampire
12:32really be terrorizing
12:34Highgate Cemetery?
12:36What would cause people
12:37to even consider
12:38such a claim?
12:40In 1969,
12:42there had been
12:42some pretty serious
12:43vandalism
12:44and grave desecrations
12:45going on in Highgate.
12:47It was not uncommon
12:48to find bodies
12:49that had been dragged
12:50out of their coffins
12:51and left lying
12:52in the path.
12:53You have rumors
12:54of Satanism.
12:56David Ferrant ran
12:57a group called
12:58the British Psychic
12:59and Occult Society.
13:01So he was interested
13:02in all kinds
13:03of supernatural topics.
13:05So David Ferrant
13:06decided to do
13:07a sort of investigation.
13:09He did an all-night vigil
13:10in the cemetery.
13:12And he said
13:13that while he was
13:13doing this,
13:14he saw a dark figure
13:15moving across the cemetery.
13:18It was about
13:19seven feet tall.
13:20And when this sort
13:21of shadowy figure
13:21looked at him,
13:23he was hypnotized
13:25by its eyes.
13:26He felt paralyzed.
13:27So after having
13:28this encounter,
13:29he eventually wrote
13:30the local newspaper
13:31and said,
13:32I have seen
13:33this mysterious specter
13:34in Highgate Cemetery.
13:36Has anybody else
13:37seen this?
13:39And it turned out
13:39lots of people
13:41had seen strange things
13:42in the cemetery.
13:43And all the rumors
13:44about a vampire
13:46began to accumulate.
13:48There are accounts
13:48of these vampires
13:49being seven feet tall,
13:50that they have red eyes,
13:52that people are seeing
13:54these crypts
13:55that have been opened,
13:56and they see these bodies
13:58that don't look alive,
13:59they don't look dead,
13:59they look somewhere
14:00in between.
14:01And so clearly
14:02something's happening.
14:07Could the tales
14:08of frightening encounters
14:09with a red-eyed vampire
14:10be the result
14:11of an overactive imagination?
14:14Or was there something
14:15truly sinister
14:17going on
14:18at the century-old cemetery?
14:21In 1970,
14:22another brave soul
14:24believed he found
14:25the source
14:26of the unholy activity
14:28happening
14:29at Highgate.
14:31Sean Manchester
14:32presented himself
14:33as a Christian occultist,
14:35much in the style
14:36of Dr. Van Helsing
14:38from the Dracula movies.
14:40So Sean Manchester
14:41said,
14:41I know what's really
14:42going on at Highgate.
14:43He said,
14:44it is a king vampire
14:45from Wallachia.
14:47Wallachia is a principality
14:49in what today is Romania
14:50that was once ruled
14:52by Vlad Tepes,
14:53better known as Dracula.
14:55And he said,
14:56this king vampire
14:57was brought here
14:58sometime in the 1700s,
15:00and it's dormant
15:02beneath the cemetery.
15:03And he also claimed
15:04that all of this vandalism
15:06that's occurring
15:06in the cemetery,
15:07it's the satanic cult,
15:09and it's performing
15:10these powerful rituals
15:11in the cemetery at night
15:12for the purpose
15:13of resurrecting
15:14this king vampire.
15:17A king vampire
15:18being resurrected
15:19by a satanic cult?
15:22Sounds more like
15:23a frightening campfire tale
15:24than the truth.
15:25And yet,
15:28in March of 1970,
15:30on Friday the 13th,
15:32this story would become
15:34forever ingrained
15:35in modern folklore.
15:38The Highgate vampire story
15:40escalates
15:41once it gets to
15:42the national media,
15:44and they broadcast
15:45that there was going to be
15:47a sort of an exorcism
15:47of this thing
15:48in Highgate Cemetery.
15:49on Friday the 13th,
15:51of course.
15:53And once that's
15:54on the news,
15:55two hours later,
15:56a mob essentially
15:57forms up.
15:58Highgate Cemetery
15:58is swamped
15:59with amateur vampire hunters.
16:01Apparently,
16:01the police are there.
16:02They can't hold them back.
16:03They kind of swarm
16:03over the gates
16:04of the cemetery
16:05hunting for this vampire.
16:09It was reported
16:10that around 100 people
16:12went hunting
16:12for the Highgate vampire.
16:15But the fabled creature
16:16was never found.
16:17And while skeptics
16:19are quick to dismiss
16:20the idea
16:21of a bloodthirsty demon
16:22that roams the cemetery,
16:24like many urban legends,
16:27it seems that
16:28something strange
16:30really was happening.
16:32The question is,
16:34what was it?
16:35There were definitely
16:36very strange things
16:37going on in Highgate.
16:38In addition to
16:40vandalism
16:41with pseudo-satanic rituals,
16:44one detail
16:44that's often ignored
16:45is that there were
16:46a lot of dead foxes
16:47found at the cemetery,
16:49supposedly drained of blood.
16:51We still don't know
16:52what killed these foxes.
16:54So this is often
16:55how urban legends form
16:57at the intersection
16:58of unexplainable phenomena
17:00and then folklore
17:03rushing in
17:04to build a story
17:04about that mystery.
17:08Was there really
17:09a vampire prowling
17:10the grounds
17:11of Highgate Cemetery?
17:12Or was it
17:13a case of mass hysteria?
17:15Perhaps the answer
17:17may be found
17:17by examining
17:18another famous
17:20urban legend
17:21about mysterious figures
17:24that lurk in the shadows,
17:26known as the Men in Black.
17:29Since the 1940s,
17:35both sightings
17:37and strange encounters
17:38with unidentified flying objects
17:40have sparked
17:41countless urban legends
17:44of close encounters
17:46with extraterrestrial beings,
17:49civilian abductions
17:50and testing
17:51on alien space crabs,
17:53and livestock
17:55found mutilated
17:57as the result
17:58of otherworld entities.
18:01But one of the most
18:02fascinating legends
18:03surrounds the mysterious
18:05Men in Black.
18:08The legend of the Men in Black
18:10is that ever since
18:12the dawn of the UFO age
18:13in the late 1940s,
18:15UFO witnesses
18:16have been silenced,
18:18have been threatened,
18:20and have even possibly
18:21been physically harmed
18:22by the Men in Black
18:24in their pursuit
18:25of the truth
18:27behind what UFOs might be.
18:30These figures
18:31are usually considered
18:33to be agents
18:34of any number
18:35of government agencies.
18:37But there are others
18:38who believe
18:39that the Men in Black
18:40might be agents
18:41of an organization
18:43that is so deeply hidden
18:44within our government
18:45that we don't even know
18:47its name.
18:47The Men in Black
18:49usually show up
18:50after someone's
18:51seen a UFO
18:52or seen some sort
18:53of strange light in the sky.
18:54They try to dissuade them
18:56from talking about the UFO.
18:58Sometimes they take
18:59any evidence
19:00that people have
19:01of the UFOs,
19:02including pieces of it
19:04or photographs,
19:07and they strongly encourage
19:08them not to talk
19:09about them.
19:09Is there really
19:12a top-secret government agency
19:15that employs mysterious agents
19:17to suppress
19:18extraterrestrial secrets?
19:20Perhaps the answer
19:22can be found
19:22by examining
19:23the origin
19:23of this long-standing
19:25urban legend
19:26and the tale
19:28of a prominent ufologist
19:30from the 1950s
19:31named Albert K. Bender.
19:34Albert K. Bender
19:35is really the origin
19:38of the Men in Black
19:39legend.
19:40He worked for the Air Force
19:41during World War II,
19:43but by the 1950s,
19:44he started something
19:46called the International
19:47Flying Saucer Bureau,
19:49and it published
19:49a newsletter
19:50called the Space Review.
19:52In 1953,
19:54in the Space Review,
19:56he wrote,
19:57I've discovered
19:57the secret
19:58of the flying saucers.
19:59I know what
20:00the flying saucers
20:01really are,
20:02and I'm going
20:02to tell the public.
20:04But he never did
20:05tell the public.
20:06Instead,
20:06he shuttered
20:08the International
20:08Flying Saucer Bureau
20:10and stopped
20:11investigating UFOs.
20:14What would compel
20:15Albert Bender
20:16to suddenly go silent?
20:18Well,
20:19nearly a decade
20:19after his strange
20:20change of heart
20:21in 1962,
20:23Bender shared
20:24an unsettling explanation
20:26in his book
20:26titled
20:27Flying Saucers
20:29and the Three Men.
20:31What Bender
20:32eventually said was,
20:34these three men
20:35in black came
20:35to my house
20:36and they said,
20:37we know what
20:37you've been doing.
20:38You're getting
20:38too close to the truth.
20:40You need to stop
20:40talking about this
20:41right now
20:41or there's going
20:42to be serious
20:43consequences.
20:44They acted as if
20:45they were from
20:46the government,
20:47that they were
20:47very frightening.
20:48When the men
20:49in black
20:50initially contacted him,
20:53Bender claimed
20:54he felt the temperature
20:55in the room drop,
20:57he got an excruciating
20:59headache,
20:59and heard a voice
21:01telling him
21:02to not delve
21:04any more deeply
21:05into the Flying Saucer
21:06mystery.
21:07And it terrified
21:09Bender so much
21:10that he was
21:11completely happy
21:12to shut down
21:13his Flying Saucer
21:14organization
21:15and to refuse
21:17to talk about
21:18the topic
21:19even to his
21:20closest friends.
21:21Did men in black
21:23with strange powers
21:24really scare
21:25Albert Bender
21:26into silence?
21:27While skeptics
21:29dismiss the claims
21:30as pure urban legend,
21:31many have wondered
21:32why do stories
21:35of men in black
21:36still persist?
21:39In the summer
21:40of 2008,
21:42residents outside
21:43of Needles,
21:43California
21:44saw something
21:45shooting through
21:46their sky.
21:47It looked like
21:47a long cylinder.
21:49It was covered
21:50in a turquoise
21:52blue flame
21:53and it crashed
21:55on the side
21:56of the Colorado River.
21:59And a matter
22:00of moments later,
22:01big sky copters
22:03came with a crane
22:04removing whatever
22:06debris had crashed there.
22:09The next day,
22:11townsfolk noticed
22:12strange men
22:14in black looking
22:15government officials
22:16in town.
22:17They were intimidating
22:18witnesses
22:19that it would be
22:20to their best interest
22:22if they did not speak
22:23about what they had seen.
22:24The Needles crash
22:26in 2008
22:27contains many
22:28of modern day
22:29tropes
22:29of what we think
22:30of men in black.
22:32Who are the strange men
22:34allegedly intimidating
22:35residents
22:36of Needles,
22:36California?
22:38Well,
22:38according to urban legend,
22:40these mysterious beings
22:41might not even be
22:42men at all.
22:44There are several things
22:47that witnesses
22:48have experienced
22:50that have led people
22:51to believe
22:51that the men in black
22:52could be extraterrestrial
22:54in origin.
22:55They act like creatures
22:57who maybe have learned
22:59how to behave like humans
23:00from monitoring
23:02our mass media.
23:04Are these government officials?
23:07Are they
23:07extradimensional creatures?
23:09Are they some combination
23:12of the above?
23:13We don't know that.
23:14But there's a kernel of truth
23:16at the heart
23:17of the men in black legend.
23:19Ever since the beginning
23:21of the flying saucer age
23:22in the late 1940s,
23:24there have been persistent reports
23:27of men dressed in black
23:29threatening,
23:30intimidating,
23:31or otherwise silencing
23:34UFO witnesses.
23:36This is a real story.
23:40Are the rumored men in black
23:42covering up
23:43the existence of UFOs?
23:45And who are they, really?
23:48When it comes to urban legends,
23:50the fact is that
23:51you can't always trust
23:53your eyes and ears.
23:55Like,
23:56in the case of a rash
23:57of creepy clown sightings
23:59that swept the United States
24:02in 2016
24:03before spreading
24:05across the entire world.
24:11Green Bay, Wisconsin,
24:13August 2016.
24:16Authorities are inundated
24:17with calls
24:18as freaked-out residents
24:20report a strange figure
24:21prowling the streets.
24:23And what they describe seeing
24:25is a disturbing presence
24:28of a very unusual kind.
24:31On August 1st, 2016,
24:34people in the Green Bay area
24:36start seeing
24:37this mysterious clown
24:39that's haunting the streets,
24:40seems to be lurking.
24:41And that clown
24:42is absolutely terrifying.
24:44It is a white-faced clown,
24:46but then you've got
24:47smudged, creepy accents
24:49around the eyes
24:49and the mouth.
24:50He's holding this bouquet
24:52of black balloons.
24:54Suddenly, everyone
24:54is talking about this clown
24:56that seems to be haunting
24:57the streets
24:58of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
24:59This menacing clown
25:02was later revealed
25:03to be part of a marketing stunt
25:04for a new horror film.
25:06But it seemed to have sparked
25:08something very strange
25:09to happen
25:10when similar reports
25:12of creepy clowns
25:14started popping up everywhere.
25:17Later that month,
25:18we were getting reports
25:19from other places.
25:21Greenville, South Carolina,
25:22children were reporting clowns
25:24at the edge of the woods,
25:26offering them money
25:27to follow them
25:28into the forest.
25:29And that fear,
25:30that anxiety catches on.
25:33And thanks to the internet,
25:34it spreads around the world
25:36in a matter of days
25:37or even hours.
25:40Now we get images,
25:42videos,
25:43parents are freaking out,
25:45police stations
25:45are getting phone calls,
25:46they're hearing about predators
25:47in the environment
25:48dressed as clowns.
25:50Oh my God.
25:51And people tried to figure out
25:53whether that's a real genuine threat
25:55or whether that's someone
25:57setting up an elaborate hoax.
26:00The creepy clown craze of 2016
26:02was this remarkable moment
26:04in pop culture history.
26:06At last count,
26:0719 different countries
26:08had their own clown sightings
26:10within that period.
26:11It bears all those earmarks
26:13of really good folklore,
26:15really good urban legend
26:16because this taps into
26:18that same existing fear
26:19about traveling into the woods
26:20by yourself
26:20and protecting children.
26:22But now it's got this extra
26:24level of absurdity,
26:26level of creepiness
26:27with a clown being the threat
26:29that's emerging from the woods
26:30for the kids.
26:31Is there any truth
26:33to the urban legend
26:34that there are dangerous madmen
26:36in clown costumes
26:38seeking to harm our children?
26:40What it sounds like
26:41the stuff of nightmares,
26:43reports of sightings
26:44of creepy clowns
26:46evoke a mass hysteria.
26:48Oh my God.
26:50What's even more bizarre
26:50about this whole thing
26:51is that it's not even
26:52the first scary clown craze
26:54to happen.
26:56Going all the way back
26:57to 1981,
26:58in the Boston area,
26:59this is the first time
27:00we really see
27:01a widespread clown
27:02sighting children,
27:04saying that they saw
27:05a clown approach them
27:06in a van
27:06and then immediately disappear
27:08before any kind of police
27:09could make it
27:10to the scene on time.
27:11And it's important to note
27:12that no clown ever was found
27:14at this particular clown hunt.
27:20In 1981,
27:22reports of creepy clowns
27:23also appeared in Omaha,
27:25Kansas City,
27:25Denver, Providence,
27:26and Pittsburgh.
27:27But thankfully,
27:29there was no real evidence
27:30that clowns
27:31were abducting children.
27:33But based on the sheer terror
27:36that these reports inspired,
27:37it begs the question,
27:39how have we become
27:42so afraid of clowns?
27:46Nothing in modern pop culture
27:49has changed more than clowns.
27:52In the 1800s,
27:54with the height of the circus,
27:55the clowns were the most popular performers.
27:58They were the A-list celebrities.
28:01They were the ones
28:02that everyone went
28:03to the circus to see.
28:05They entertained us,
28:06made us laugh.
28:10But today,
28:11pop culture
28:12has portrayed clowns
28:15as evil beings,
28:16from Pennywise
28:18and Stephen King's It
28:19to killer clowns
28:21from outer space
28:22to Batman's nemesis,
28:25the Joker.
28:26They have painted them
28:27as things that are sinister,
28:29creepy,
28:30and possibly deadly.
28:33While evil clowns
28:34have certainly become part
28:35of the popular culture,
28:37tragically,
28:38the urban legend
28:39became all too real
28:40in the 1970s
28:41with a serial killer
28:43named John Wayne Gacy.
28:47John Wayne Gacy
28:48is one of the most infamous
28:50serial killers
28:51in American history.
28:52He murdered many teen
28:54or very young boys,
28:56would lure them back
28:57to his home
28:58and then murder them
28:59and bury them
29:00under his house.
29:01And when he's arrested,
29:03it kind of comes to light
29:04that he also happened
29:05to moonlight as a clown
29:07for local hospitals.
29:09John Wayne Gacy
29:10was a serial killer
29:12who had a persona
29:13called Pogo the Clown.
29:15So this really cemented
29:17into the American consciousness
29:18that there really is
29:20such a thing
29:21as a killer clown
29:22and that people
29:23who dress as clowns,
29:25they may only be
29:26performing as a clown
29:27so that they can have
29:28access to children.
29:31John Wayne Gacy's
29:32alter ego,
29:34Pogo the Clown,
29:35is a grim reminder
29:36that a dangerous madman
29:38could be hiding
29:39under a layer
29:40of grease paint.
29:42One of the things
29:43that always lingers
29:45for me
29:45with the creepy clown craze
29:48was
29:48who were
29:50the actual clowns?
29:53The people standing
29:54outside elementary schools,
29:56standing under streetlights
29:58at night,
29:58we never got
29:59the follow-up stories
30:01and that tells us something
30:02about the creepy clown craze
30:04because we weren't
30:05looking for answers.
30:07We were looking
30:07to be scared.
30:11Is it possible
30:12that we're in
30:13for another wave
30:14of creepy clown sightings
30:16in the future?
30:17Or is the phenomenon
30:19just an elaborate hoax?
30:22Perhaps I don't tell.
30:24However,
30:24there is another urban legend
30:27that's been a mystery
30:28for more than 185 years.
30:30It's the story
30:32of a demonic entity
30:33that terrorized London
30:35known as
30:37Spring-Heeled Jack.
30:43London, England.
30:45February 19th, 1838.
30:48Around 9 p.m.,
30:50an 18-year-old Jane Austen,
30:53a young woman born
30:54into Victorian high society,
30:57hears a rattle
30:58outside her front door.
31:01She looks outside
31:02and sees a mysterious figure
31:04who identifies himself
31:06as a policeman
31:07and asks her
31:09for assistance.
31:11Believing him,
31:12she opens her door
31:13and very soon,
31:15she'll wish she hadn't.
31:17He's kind of wrapped
31:20in this cloak
31:21and he says
31:22he's a policeman
31:23and he throws off
31:25his cloak
31:25and then she kind of
31:28suddenly sees
31:28he's got this strange face
31:29with these big red eyes.
31:32He looks very sort of inhuman
31:33and then she realizes
31:35he's also got claws
31:36and he blows
31:38a sort of ball of flame
31:39in her face,
31:40kind of describes
31:41blue-white flame
31:42and then he lurches at her
31:44and he starts to attack her.
31:45This man began to claw
31:49at her face,
31:50her neck,
31:50her arms
31:51and her dress.
31:52She was screaming
31:53and struggling
31:54and luckily her sister
31:55heard her.
31:56Jane was actually
31:57being dragged
31:58out of the home.
32:00Her sister fortunately
32:01was able to get her
32:02back inside
32:03but not before
32:04Jane's dress
32:05was almost completely
32:06torn off.
32:08Who or what
32:10attacked Jane Austen?
32:13Her attack made headlines
32:14all over London
32:14and a wave of terror
32:16flooded the city
32:17because this was not
32:19the first woman
32:19said to have been
32:20attacked
32:20by a shadowy figure
32:22that is known
32:24in urban legend
32:25as Spring-Heeled Jack.
32:28In the 1830s
32:30this curious story
32:32emerges
32:33in the newspapers
32:34that there is
32:36an attacker
32:37on the dark foggy streets
32:40of London
32:40called Spring-Heeled Jack
32:43who has eyes
32:45that are like
32:45balls of fire
32:47who has claw-like
32:48hands
32:49who wears
32:51this skin-tight
32:52black costume
32:53and who can
32:55jump
32:56enormous heights.
32:59So Spring-Heeled Jack
33:00is a type
33:01of urban legend
33:02that's sometimes
33:02called a phantom attacker.
33:04So in phantom attacker stories
33:06there is someone
33:08who is attacking people
33:09but it's not
33:10killing someone.
33:12About 50 years
33:13after Spring-Heeled Jack
33:14we have
33:15the Jack the Ripper murders.
33:18Jack the Ripper
33:19is not a phantom attacker
33:20he's an unidentified
33:22serial killer.
33:24But there are similarities
33:26with the panic
33:27over Spring-Heeled Jack
33:28in that we have
33:29someone who is
33:30stalking the streets
33:31at night
33:32attacking women
33:33who nobody seems
33:35able to identify
33:36or catch.
33:38While Jack the Ripper
33:39was a very real killer
33:41in 1888
33:42the urban legend
33:43of a phantom attacker
33:44with superhuman abilities
33:46does sound
33:47a bit hard to believe.
33:50But incredibly
33:51after reports
33:53of Spring-Heeled Jack
33:54started appearing
33:55in the 1830s
33:56they continued
33:59for decades.
34:03Spring-Heeled Jack's
34:03sightings lasted
34:04a very long time.
34:05They dip
34:06in the late 50s
34:08into the early 1860s
34:09he then gets reimagined
34:11as this Penny Dreadful character.
34:14Penny Dreadfuls
34:14were cheap publications
34:16in serialized form
34:18and there seems
34:20to sort of reignite
34:20a lot of the folkloric tales
34:21again.
34:23And then he's seen
34:24in Wales
34:25he's seen up in Scotland
34:26there's a sighting
34:28in Liverpool
34:28in 1904
34:30in Sheffield
34:31he was known
34:33to be around the region
34:34until the First World War
34:35so you've got a character
34:36so you've got a character
34:36that if it is
34:37the same individual
34:38is coming up
34:39for at least 100 years
34:41since he first appeared.
34:43Wasn't it really
34:43a fire-breathing superhuman
34:45with claws
34:46preying on women
34:47for 100 years?
34:49Well some experts
34:50believe that details
34:51of this mysterious attacker
34:53were embellished
34:54like many good
34:55urban legends.
34:56and some suggest
35:00this monster
35:01served as a cautionary tale
35:03for Victorian women
35:05living in 19th century London.
35:09The time period
35:11in which
35:11Spring-Heeled Jack
35:13emerged
35:14was the 1830s
35:16so we're pretty much
35:17smack in the middle
35:18of the Industrial Revolution
35:20at this point.
35:22Industrialization
35:22changed a lot
35:23it moved people out
35:24from pastoral spaces
35:26into urban spaces
35:27it created a lot
35:28of congestion
35:29people living on top
35:31of each other
35:31in sometimes rough conditions
35:33and the story
35:34that we see
35:35is of this
35:36bizarre criminal
35:38targeting women
35:40specifically
35:40in this urban setting
35:42and in so many ways
35:44this is just
35:45really quintessentially
35:47the fear
35:49of the unknown stranger.
35:51So this is clearly
35:53a concept
35:54that women
35:55are often in danger
35:56of predatory creatures
35:57whether they be
35:58human beings
35:59or not.
36:01Spring-Heeled Jack
36:02does speak to some
36:02of that violence
36:03towards women
36:04in the Victorian period.
36:06It's almost
36:06kind of reinforcing
36:07the notion
36:07that women should
36:09just be sitting
36:10at home
36:10and the public sphere
36:11is kind of
36:12the masculine sphere
36:12but it's something
36:13that was often spoken
36:14about in this time period
36:16and so there is
36:17a sort of a controlling
36:18element to this.
36:20Was Spring-Heeled Jack
36:21invented to keep
36:2219th century women
36:23at home
36:24is certainly possible
36:26but if that's true
36:27then why is this story
36:29re-emerged
36:30in the modern age?
36:34Epson, England
36:35February 14th, 2012
36:38a family is taking
36:40a taxi ride
36:41through town
36:41and suddenly
36:42they witness something
36:44that's impossible
36:45to explain.
36:47They see a figure
36:49jump over
36:50a highway divider
36:51run across
36:52two lanes of traffic
36:53and then somehow
36:55leap up
36:56a 15 foot
36:56embankment
36:57all within the span
36:59of about
36:59two seconds.
37:01On top of this
37:02they said
37:03whoever this was
37:04had no facial features
37:06so this is a really
37:07strange encounter
37:08and it sounds a lot
37:09like the original
37:10Spring-Heeled Jack
37:11sightings
37:11from the 1800s.
37:14Has Spring-Heeled Jack
37:15returned to begin
37:16a new reign of terror?
37:18Only time will tell.
37:21But there is another
37:22urban legend
37:23of a different kind
37:24that started
37:25in American arcades
37:27about a game
37:28said to possess
37:30mind-altering powers.
37:36Portland, Oregon
37:391981
37:40The video game revolution
37:43takes over America
37:44and gamers flock
37:45to arcades
37:46throughout the city
37:47and it's said
37:48that there is
37:49one legendary game
37:50that people are
37:51lining up to play.
37:53The only problem is
37:54it might cost you
37:55your life.
37:57It's called
37:57Polybius.
38:00So the Polybius
38:01urban legend
38:02is that there was
38:03this game console
38:04that was placed
38:06in certain arcades.
38:08People would play it
38:09and it was supposedly
38:10either controlling
38:11their mind
38:12or in some cases
38:13we also hear
38:14that people were
38:15having headaches
38:15or seizures.
38:17It was causing them
38:18to have some sort
38:19of medical condition
38:20because of the game
38:22itself.
38:23Kids are getting
38:23into fights
38:24and becoming aggressive.
38:26Some of them
38:26are dying
38:26and where these games
38:28were installed
38:29men in black suits
38:30would come
38:31and tinker
38:32with these games
38:32and it's believed
38:33that these
38:34were some type
38:34of government agents
38:36that were altering
38:37the equipment
38:37in order to see
38:38what effects
38:38that Polybius
38:39would have
38:39on the people
38:40playing it.
38:41But the thing
38:41is there's no
38:42actual evidence
38:43that it existed.
38:45If there's no proof
38:46of Polybius
38:47then where did
38:48this urban legend
38:49come from?
38:50The only known
38:51evidence of his
38:52existence can be found
38:53where many modern
38:54urban legends
38:55are born.
38:57The internet.
38:59Polybius really
39:00comes down
39:01to a single
39:02website in 1998.
39:04The coin-op website
39:06that discussed
39:07different arcade games
39:08from the 1980s
39:10that has an entry
39:12for this game.
39:13Polybius.
39:14So whether that
39:15website grew out
39:17of people's memories
39:18of the game
39:18or whether that
39:19website created
39:20people's memories
39:21of the game
39:23that was really
39:24the linchpin
39:26that leads
39:26to the entire legend
39:28catching on
39:29as it did.
39:31Is the story
39:32of Polybius
39:32a complete fabrication
39:34or could there
39:35be some truth
39:36to a dangerous
39:37video game?
39:38Well, perhaps
39:39the newfound form
39:40of entertainment
39:41in the 1980s
39:42really did warrant
39:44some caution
39:45and even fear.
39:48The arcade phenomenon
39:50was a new one
39:51and in the early 80s
39:52that's what kids did.
39:54There was one kid
39:55who played 28
39:56straight hours
39:57and ended up
39:57making himself
39:58sick over it.
39:59Kids were playing
39:59this Tempest game
40:00and they were
40:01having seizures.
40:03Another game
40:03called Berserk
40:04a kid has a heart
40:05attack and then
40:06a couple of weeks
40:06later another kid
40:07has a heart attack
40:08on the same machine.
40:10This was a lot
40:10of concern for parents
40:11who didn't really
40:12understand what
40:13video games were.
40:15Did fears of video
40:16games warping
40:17the minds of
40:18America's youth
40:19create the urban
40:20legend of Polybius?
40:22Perhaps.
40:23But the bigger question
40:25is not how urban
40:26legends begin
40:27but why
40:28they continue
40:30to endure
40:30from one generation
40:32to the next.
40:36It's often hard
40:37to find the origin
40:38of an urban legend
40:39but it spreads
40:40because it's a good story.
40:42Something about it
40:43appeals to people's
40:44experience
40:44and that's why
40:45they tell it.
40:46There's something about it
40:47that's articulating
40:48something important.
40:49There's a well-known
40:52saying about urban
40:53legends among
40:53folklorists
40:54which is that
40:55legends might not
40:56always be true
40:57but they're always
40:58getting something
40:59right.
41:01The world is full
41:02of experiences
41:03real things
41:04that people
41:06see
41:06witness
41:07experience
41:08for themselves
41:09that they
41:10can't explain
41:11and those are
41:11the things
41:12where we fill
41:13in those answers
41:14with urban
41:15legends.
41:18So
41:19what's the verdict?
41:20Can people
41:21spontaneously combust?
41:23Are mysterious
41:24men in black
41:25hiding among us
41:26concealing the truth
41:27about UFOs?
41:28And what about
41:30Spring-Heeled Jack?
41:32Was he real?
41:34You know
41:34it's easy to be
41:35skeptical
41:35but the truth is
41:36not a single one
41:37of these modern myths
41:38have been
41:39definitively debunked.
41:41So if you happen
41:42to catch a glimpse
41:43of some creepy clowns
41:45prowling around
41:47your neighborhood
41:47perhaps it's
41:49better to
41:50close the blinds
41:52lock the door
41:53and let them
41:55and all
41:56other
41:56urban legends
41:58remain
41:59unexplained.
42:01The End
42:04End
42:11Are
Recommended
1:12:22
|
Up next
1:07:02
45:40
45:40
41:31
46:40
45:40
54:07
21:41
46:43