William shatner: A ruthless outlaw, who escaped justice.
A mysterious mountain range,
Guarded by a deadly curse.
And giant winged creatures
That soared across the frontier.
When we think of the old west,
We tend to imagine a romanticized era
On the american frontier filled with cowboys,
Native americans, and outlaws.
But what's less well-known is that there are many strange
And sometimes downright bizarre tales
From this time period.
Stories about cursed mountains,
Fearsome monsters
And even flying objects in the sky.
Is it possible the wild west was actually much stranger
Than we commonly think?
Well, that is what we'll try and find out.
♪ ♪
Each year, thousands of tourists travel to this small rural town,
Located 160 miles east of albuquerque,
To visit a museum dedicated
To the most notorious outlaw of the old west...
...Billy the kid.
Among the attractions
Is a tombstone where, according to the history books,
The gunslinger was laid to rest.
Kristina downs: Among infamous outlaws of the wild west,
Billy the kid is definitely, today, the most famous.
He's been the subject of countless novels.
He has appeared in more motion pictures
Than any other historical figure.
And his fame has just really grown and grown and grown.
Shatner: The bandit known as billy the kid
Reportedly committed his first murder at the age of 17...
...When he shot and killed a blacksmith
In a saloon located in bonita, arizona
On August 17, 1877.
He then evaded arrest, fled to new mexico,
And adopted the alias william h. Bonney.
But because of his youth and his growing notoriety,
He earned his infamous nickname, billy the kid.
Billy the kid claimed to have killed 21 men,
One for each year of his short life.
♪ ♪
He escaped prison at least three times,
He was shot and stabbed, and these things
All added to the legend and the lore surrounding him.
At the height of his infamy, there was a $500 bounty
On billy the kid's head, which was a crazy amount of money
At that time period.
That resulted in sheriff pat garrett
And his sizable posse trying to hunt him down.
According to official accounts,
He was shot down by pat garrett in 1881
And laid to rest in sumner, new mexico.
Shatner: In 1882, sheriff pat garret published a book entitled
An authentic life of billy the kid,
Which described garret's encounters with the outlaw,
Including their final showdown in sumner, new mexico.
For decades, historians considered the book
To be the definitive account of the death of billy the kid.
But then, in the 1940s, new information came to light
Which suggested that, incredibly,
Billy the kid had evaded justice and survived
For more than 60 years.
Investigator and lawyer william morrison
Visits this rural community
In search of an elderly prospector and cowboy named
Brushy bill roberts.
Morrison has traveled to meet with brushy bill
Because he has reason to believe that bill may, in fact...
Be billy the kid.
Ian neligh: In 1949,
William morrison came across somebody
Who said he knew that billy the kid was still alive
And living in texas.
And william morrison decided that
That's who he needed to find.
So he went to texas, and he found brushy bill roberts.
When he asked brushy bill if he was billy the kid,
Brushy bill said, “okay, I am billy the kid,
"and I will tell my story if you can secure me a pardon
"from the governor of new mexico
For the crimes that I committed."
Downs: Brushy bill was hesitant to admit to being billy the kid
Because there was still technically
A warrant out for his arrest
And he'd been sentenced to death and if he were recaptured,
He technically could have still been executed.
Shatner: It may seem outlandish to consider the possibility
That brushy bill roberts was billy the kid.
But the truth is that, the more william morrison
Investigated brushy bill's story...
The more he started to believe that it could be true.
William morrison thought that brushy bill
Very well could be billy the kid.
He had knife wounds and bullet wounds
That seemed to fit with the kid's story.
In addition, morrison found several different people
Who knew the kid in the olden days
Who were willing to sign affidavits saying that,
Yeah, indeed, brushy bill was billy the kid.
Shatner: While the evidence in favor of brushy bill's story
Was compelling, many skeptics asked an obvious question:
If billy the kid didn't actually die in 1881,
Then who is buried in the grave site
Located in fort sumner, new mexico?
The official account of billy the kid's death
Comes from pat garrett.
But there's a lot of inconsistencies
In garrett's story from the very beginning.
He said that billy was armed,
But when the body was examined, there was no weapon on him.
The body was described as having facial hair.
Billy the kid was always described
As not having facial hair.
The body was also described as having dark skin,
And billy was always described as fair-skinned.
So all of the inconsistencies
In garrets' story raises a lot of doubt
Into his version of billy the kid's death
And it opens the door for the possibility
That garrett shot the wrong man.
And billy the kid could have survived,
And brushy bill roberts really could have been billy the kid.
Shatner: With the help of william morrison,
Brushy bill was able to secure a meeting
With thomas mabry, the governor of new mexico,
In an effort to finally receive a pardon
For the crimes of billy the kid.
But, unfortunately, the meeting did not go well
For brushy bill.
Neligh: Brushy bill's meeting
With the governor of new mexico went horribly.
He couldn't remember pat garrett's name.
It's said that he maybe was suffering
From some kind of physical ailment.
We don't really know,
But it didn't take long for the governor to decide
That he wasn't gonna give him the pardon.
Shatner: Soon after the governor denied his clemency,
Brushy bill suffered a heart attack
And died on December 27, 1950.
But even in his final days, brushy bill never wavered
From his claim that he was, in fact, billy the kid.
And the town of hamilton, texas
Still commemorates brushy bill to this day,
Where his tombstone identifies him
As being the notorious gunslinger.
The wild west looms very large
In the american historical consciousness
For a variety of reasons.
It attracted outlaws, it attracted people on the run.
And so, it was a place to reinvent oneself,
To create a new persona.
If you took on a new name
And just called yourself differently,
How would anybody ever know?
So there is an interest
In these larger-than-life legendary characters,
Like billy the kid,
And whether or not he actually did get shot.
Because it's the story of how america came to be.
Did billy the kid, one of the most notorious
Gunslingers of the wild west,
Survive into the 20th century, and live a full life?
Some residents of the town of hamilton, texas believe
That the answer is a firm "yes."
Just as there are those who believe that a mysterious
Mountain range, located in the arizona desert,
Is imbued
With a deadly curse.
Shatner: In southern arizona, 50 miles east of phoenix,
Lie the superstition mountains.
These jagged peaks rise approximately
1,800 feet into the sky,
And dominate the surrounding landscape.
According to the folklore of the native apache people,
The superstition mountains are a sacred place
That is guarded by a supernatural entity known as...
-(thunder crashing) -...The thunder god.
To the native apache, the superstition mountains
Are the home of the thunder god,
And as such, they should be respected.
Most apache will not enter the superstition mountains
Because they believe that to do so
Could anger the thunder god, causing him to lash out
And probably kill the person who has violated his space.
Ron feldman: The apache, they did not live too much in the superstitions
Because that's where the thunder god lived,
Was in the superstitions.
And many times, actually,
I've heard thunder sounds
Even when there is no thunderstorms around.
There's something there.
I mean, definitely, the mountains do roar at times.
The mountains rumble by themselves.
And it's been attributed to, of course,
The apache religion of their thunder god.
Shatner: The superstition mountains got their name in the 1800s
When pioneers heard tales from the local native americans
About people mysteriously disappearing
Or suddenly dying after entering this sacred mountain range.
But in spite of these warnings,
Settlers often did not view the superstition mountains
With such reverence.
For those who came to the superstition mountains
During the wild west era in search of gold,
The superstition mountains,
Like every other part of the american landscape,
Were a resource waiting to be tapped.
This was a place of possibility,
This is a place of possible wealth.
Lynne mcneill: We tend to associate
This idea of westward expansion with discovery,
When, of course, there were humans there...
(chuckles) ...All along for centuries
Who already had an existing relationship with that land.
They knew what was in it, and had their own beliefs
About what was an appropriate way
To interact with this landscape.
Downs: The apache were not happy to see these settlers
Coming into their sacred land, and according to legend,
Put a curse on the land that would result in the deaths
Of anybody who tried to mine the superstition mountains
Because they believe that to do so,
Is to risk angering the thunder god.
Shatner: There are those who believe the curse of
The superstition mountains is both real...
-(thunder crashing) -...And deadly.
As evidence, they point to a curious treasure mystery
That took place in the mountains
Over the course of more than a hundred years.
The story begins with the untimely demise of the peraltas,
A family of prospectors who went searching for gold
In the superstitions in the 1840s.
The peralta family were supposedly the spanish
That came first to mine
In the superstition wilderness.
And they worked several mines in an area where there was gold,
There was silver, and they mined for both.
Jesse feldman: As the story goes,
The spanish peralta family amassed
Crude bullion bars from their mine.
And what I mean by crude, that would be made of gold,
Silver, copper and lead.
And they stored this wealth in a hidden drift underground.
And then, suddenly,
The apache attacked the miners.
The apaches got tired of them being there
And destroying the natural beauty of this place.
They were intruders,
And the apache, in 1848, wiped them out.
Shatner: After the massacre, the apaches reportedly buried the gold
And backfilled the mine in order to appease the thunder god.
But since that time, treasure hunters have not been scared off
By the fate of the peralta family,
Or the supposed curse.
Over the years, thousands of fortune seekers have journeyed
To the superstition mountains in search of the lost gold.
The desire to find the hidden resources,
To find this treasure that history tells us is there,
Is exciting people to this day.
And that sense of possibility and potential,
That there's still more wealth, more prosperity
To be had, is something that
Is really hard to squash.
Shatner: According to some estimates,
At least 600 people have lost their lives
Searching for gold in the superstition mountains.
Many of these people died in bizarre and gruesome ways
That defy explanation,
Perhaps lending credence to the notion
That the mountains are actually cursed.
The most famous of these incidents
Was the death of a man named adolph ruth.
Ron feldman: Back in the 1930s, there was adolph ruth.
He was a treasure hunter, amongst other things.
And he came out here to hunt the actual mine.
And he disappeared.
And after about six months,
They found his head and his body separated.
It became nationally known.
And a lot of people wanted to come out
Looking for the mine because of adolf ruth.
There's good reason to believe that there could be a curse
On the superstition mountains.
A lot of people have died prospecting for gold.
And bodies have been found decapitated,
Which seems like something
That couldn't happen from natural causes,
And something that may have
Some kind of supernatural origin.
In an interesting way,
The stories of native american curses
Are a way of commemorating the dark history of the land.
And acknowledging that
The original inhabitants were forced off of the land
And in many cases killed.
It's about remembering that the present situation
Was arrived at through some dark actions.
Are the superstition mountains guarded by a deadly curse?
Well, if you ask some of the locals, the answer is "yes."
And does that suggest that other seemingly far-fetched
Tales from the wild west could also be true?
Perhaps the answer can be found by examining
Native american legends about a massive flying creature
That is known as the thunderbird.
Shatner: The spirit of the wild west is alive and well
In this small town,
Where saloon doors still swing open,
And horses pull stagecoaches along main street.
Founded in the late 1800s, tombstone embraces its history
When outlaws, gunslingers, and violent shootouts
Were all too common.
Shatner: The gunfight at the o.K. Corral is the most well-known tale
From this wild west boomtown.
But tombstone's past is also riddled with bizarre,
Supernatural stories--
Including tales of strange creatures
Roaming the frontier
That spread like wildfire in the 19th century.
There are a lot of legends that have come out of tombstone,
But there's one very curious one.
In 1890,
The tombstone epitaph reported a story
About two ranchers who saw a giant,
Flying creature in the sky above them.
Chad lewis: The not only were afraid of it,
But apparently, they tracked it down
And killed this creature.
And tried to take a photograph of it sprawled out.
Shatner: According to local lore, a photo of the strange creature
Was indeed taken and even published
In the tombstone epitaph.
But locating the supposed picture
Has proven to be difficult.
In terms of the photograph, there are legions of people
Who remember seeing this picture,
Even into the 1930s and 40s,
Yet no one has ever been able to locate it.
And in fact, the edition of the epitaph
That the story ran in
Didn't have any photographs at all.
Shatner: Although the alleged newspaper photo has never been found,
Over the years, a number of bizarre pictures
Featuring cowboys and a massive winged creature
Have surfaced and can be seen on the internet.
One photograph depicts a group of men
With a giant winged beast.
The creature is winged, but it's not really a bird.
It looks more like a pterodactyl,
Something prehistoric with large, leathery wings
And a large head with two feet hanging down below.
It adds to the mystery of the creature and makes us wonder
What exactly is flying around in the southern deserts?
Shatner: While the images of the winged creature are compelling,
Historians have questioned their authenticity,
And claim that they may have been fabricated
As a result of the fascination people have
With this strange tale from the old west.
Although most variations of the photo seem to be hoaxes,
I think it's weird when you combine all of the things
Of the newspaper encounter,
People swearing that they personally saw the photograph,
And now it's gone.
It only adds more history and wonder to the story.
And I think, in some regard,
It makes it even bigger than it would've been.
Shatner: Is the story of the tombstone pterodactyl just a tall tale?
Or is it possible
That there really was a species of giant flying creatures
That roamed the deserts of the old west?
Perhaps the answer can be found by examining accounts
From native american folklore of a creature known
As the thunderbird.
Thompson: The thunderbird is one of the most widespread, powerful
Creatures and symbols in native american mythology.
It is a gigantic bird, some kind of raptor,
Sometimes with somewhat human qualities.
But it's connected with thunder and with lightning.
Very often, it's flapping its wings
Is what creates thunder, and it shoots lightning
Out of its eyes.
The thunderbird is common in native american tribes
All over the west.
You'll find them on petroglyphs,
On the rocks,
Or you'll find them in totem poles
As a special bird, a special spiritual power
Of protection and support and strength.
That's what the thunderbird represents.
Weatherly: By some accounts, thunderbirds were strictly spiritual beings.
They lived in another world,
And they were frightening but could also, sometimes,
Lend their power to the people.
On other occasions,
They were purportedly real creatures
That could swoop down at any time
And snatch up humans if they so choose.
Shatner: Is it possible that there is a connection
Between the thunderbird and the winged creature
That was reportedly seen near tombstone, arizona in 1890?
For now, the answer is unclear.
But people remain fascinated by the idea that massive winged
Birds really did soar over the american frontier.
Thompson: It's important to remember that
This is taking place in the wild west,
It's taking place when people are looking out for marvels
And becoming aware of native american explanations,
Native american mythology at the same time.
So people were aware that the thunderbird
Was held to be out there.
Which leads us back to the question,
You know, the thunderbird,
Is it a cryptid, like, it's out there somewhere?
Is it simply a deity
That's sort of cobbled together
From abstract notions of what the divine is?
Or is it sort of resulting from people finding,
You know, pterodactyl skeletons and saying,
"wow, there must have been a great big bird here
At some point"?
Or maybe all three.
So this is still a great mystery.
Even though no remains of an actual thunderbird
Have ever been found,
Does the fact that it is such a widespread
And sacred figure in native american lore
Suggest that it did
Or may still exist?
Perhaps.
But there are stories of other strange creatures
From the old west for which there may be tangible evidence.
For instance, there's a cave in the mountains of nevada
Where miners reportedly discovered
The bones of giants.
Shatner: Inside a narrow cave,
Two miners are searching for bat guano,
A key ingredient in making fertilizer.
But as they head deeper into the darkness...
...They make an unexpected discovery.
They find more than 40 human skeletons,
Some of which are abnormally large.
Weatherly: In 1911, giant bones were found in lovelock cave.
Large human skulls
And skeletons that measured
Between seven and eight feet in height,
Which for ancient man would've been rather significant.
Hugh newman: This caused a sensation,
And one of the strange things about the discoveries
In lovelock cave is that the skeletons
Were often found with red hair.
So it does seem like they were a different kind of people
Than the native americans from the area.
Shatner: Although many of the large bones found in lovelock cave
Were unfortunately lost to time, for decades,
A number of skulls were preserved at a local museum.
Newman: Until about ten years ago,
There were four very large skulls on display
Inside the museum.
These were then removed and ceremonially buried.
What's also interesting is that
Over 100,000 artifacts were excavated from lovelock cave.
The strange thing is that many of the artifacts were huge.
Like, you have giant-sized sandals,
Like a 15-inch-long shoe which is size 29 u.S.
Which would fit someone who's about nine feet tall.
And even pieces of clothing which were so big,
It looked as though they were worn by giants.
Shatner: The idea that giant bones were actually found
In a cave in nevada may sound far-fetched to some.
But the truth is that there were many such discoveries
Reported during the wild west.
Thompson: In the southwestern united states,
There's several very strange stories
Of these dead corpses or skeletons
Being found regularly.
In terms of the reports of giants,
This is a compelling motif.
People were fascinated by this idea
Of a giant race that had lived here previously.
And this connects to a lot of biblical belief
That tended to be fairly literal back in the day.
The bible talks about back when there was a race of giants
That lived among the earth.
And so, for many people in the wild west,
When you see some skeletons dug out of the earth
That seem to corroborate this,
This was an affirmation of
Literal biblical beliefs, as well.
Shatner: Is it really possible
That a race of giants once inhabited the old west,
As the numerous discoveries
Reported throughout the 1800s suggest?
And if so,
Was evidence of these giants
Recovered in lovelock cave?
Perhaps a clue can be found by examining the history
Of the indigenous paiute people,
Who have inhabited the nevada desert for centuries.
Weatherly: A woman named sarah winnemucca,
Who was a descendant of chief winnemucca of the paiutes,
Wrote a book in the 1800s and recounted her people's battle
With this race of giants, the si-te-cah.
Now, what's fascinating about this is that
She says that it was an actual battle,
Not part of tribal lore or mythology
But something that actually occurred.
The si-te-cah were red-haired
And lived in the mountains near the paiute nation,
And they were cannibals.
According to the paiutes,
They naturally grew tired of being cannibalized
-And they confronted these giants. -(shouting)
Lewis: A war was started between the giants
And the paiute people.
For three years they battled one another.
The last of the giants
Holed themselves up in the lovelock cave.
And the paiute people stuffed the openings
With a bunch of brush and firewood
And lit the place on fire.
And that was the end of the red-haired, giant cannibals.
Newman: What's also interesting is that,
When the discovery was made in 1911 at lovelock cave,
They also found evidence of extreme burning
Which took place near the entrance to the cave.
So this matches the story almost precisely.
And, again, we have evidence of red hair
Because sarah winnemucca hopkins actually saved some of the hair
And sewed it into a mourning dress,
Which she used when she gave lectures.
And so the story of the paiutes defeating the giants
Then suddenly became a reality.
Shatner: For many, the evidence in support of the paiute story
About the red-headed giants is compelling.
Not only because of what was found in lovelock cave,
But also because there have been reports
Of giant bones being discovered in other places
Throughout the western nevada desert.
Newman: If you go back
And look through the records,
You can find numerous accounts of bones,
Skeletons and giant-sized artifacts
That have been found in this area.
In 1904, it was reported
That an 11-foot-tall skeleton was found.
And then we have accounts in 1931
Of an 8.5-foot skeleton that was reported.
And so the fact is, you have the stories,
You have the skeletal evidence
And you have the artifacts
And even the legends that prove this was
A real story of giants in this area.
Thompson: To be sure, the paiutes believed this to be a historical truth.
People might dismiss 'em as just folklore.
But, again, who's to say that it didn't happen?
Of course there were ethnic conflicts.
Of course there were wars.
And, of course, people tend to remember this.
So this has been a real important part
Of many, many people's historical beliefs
And how they think about their own history.
Was the nevada desert once inhabited
By red-haired, man-eating giants?
Archaeological findings suggest that such a fantastic notion
Is entirely possible.
But not all curious skeletons from the old west
Were located in remote caves.
In fact, some were actually displayed
In traveling carnival shows,
Like the remains of a petrified man who was known as...
Sylvester the mummy.
Shatner: Along the waterfront of the city
Lies ye olde curiosity shop,
A quaint wild west souvenir store.
Inside, tourists can see an extensive collection
Of strange and macabre relics from the american frontier.
The main attraction
Is one of the best-preserved mummies in the entire world,
Who's known as...
...Sylvester.
My great-grandfather opened our store back in 1899, so...
We're 123 years old this year.
And without a doubt,
Sylvester is our biggest,
Most interesting curio.
Sylvester is so perfect.
He's got his mustache
And hairs on his head.
He's probably about two-thirds of the size and weight
That he was when he was living.
And he just inspires curiosity.
We got sylvester in the 1940s.
And when we got sylvester,
His arms were kind of crossed in front of him.
And he has a little hole in his abdomen just above his wrist...
...And a little stain there.
The story we were told was that
-He was shot and died in the gila bend desert... -(gunshot)
...In arizona during the wild west
And just the right chemicals in the sand
And the heat and everything preserved him.
And, today, people come in and gawk at him
From a lot of different countries--
Around the world, even.
He's, uh, really special.
Shatner: While the sight of a perfectly preserved mummy
From the old west may seem puzzling...
...In the 1800s,
Mummies and other strange human remains
Were popular attractions that were commonly displayed
In what were known as...
Dime museums.
The dime museum was basically exactly what it sounds like--
It was a museum that cost a dime.
Although, in some cases, it cost more than a dime.
Inside, you could see all kinds of amazing wonders
And human oddities--
People like the bearded lady.
You'd have strange things from other countries
That were very exotic at the time.
Almost anything odd and unusual.
And, really, at that time in our history,
There weren't other places you could go see that.
You didn't have tv, you didn't have the internet,
You didn't have movies.
If you wanted to see something different,
You went to the dime museum.
And from there, they took all kinds of wondrous attractions
Onto the road, in sideshows and in carnivals.
Thompson: Traveling carnivals were
The premier entertainment of the day.
These would often display the extraordinary,
The exotic,
But, also,
There was sort of a macabre element, too.
One of the things they would even have on display
Is actual desiccated or even slightly mummified corpses
Of wild west people.
And they became a real compelling attraction.
This ranged from mummified remains
To strange things--
Tiny, little pygmy mummies,
Great big giants
And all sorts of other, sort of, oddities or freaks of nature.
Shatner: Why were people in the old west so fascinated
By the sight of macabre and sometimes gruesome displays
Of human remains?
It certainly doesn't seem very respectful to the deceased.
But some historians claim that mummies
And other strange curiosities
Touched on the american spirit of seeking out the unknown.
Mcneill: In this same time of westward expansion,
We see this dawning interest
In carnivals, sideshow attractions, dime museums,
Where you could go and witness for yourself
The truly extraordinary things that the world had to show us.
As much as it may seem exploitative,
As much as it may seem to be making a spectacle
Out of human life,
It's also mirroring this idea
That the world is more wondrous,
More strange than what we experience
In an established, well-populated
Urban center back east.
Hartzman: During this time in history,
You have a lot of european descendants traveling out west.
And they were seeing new things
That no one had ever seen before.
And the stranger, more odd it was,
The more exciting it was to see.
Shatner: Dime museums and sideshow attractions
Lost their popularity in the early 20th century
As the west became more settled.
But, today, more than a hundred years later,
Curios like sylvester the mummy
Continue to entertain the public
And are a link to a bygone era.
Hartzman: There's not much left of the old west you can still go see.
But what's really amazing about these mummies,
Here you actually have a body
That traveled through the old west
As an attraction people came to see,
And you can still see the same body today.
Whatever their life was like,
Their afterlife has been so much longer,
And they continue to bring amazement and wonder to people
From all parts of the world.
The fact that tourists travel to catch a glimpse of sylvester
Shows that these bizarre stories from the wild west
Still hold our enduring fascination.
Which is also the case in aurora, texas,
Where some locals are convinced that,
In 1897,
This small town was visited by a being
From another world.
Shatner: In central texas, about 50 miles east of dallas,
Lies the town of aurora.
With a population of 1,500 people,
Aurora looks like any number of small communities
Located in the region.
But, curiously, every year,
Thousands of tourists from all over the world
Flock to the town's local cemetery.
They come to visit the grave site
Of an extraterrestrial.
The alien is supposedly buried in the aurora cemetery,
And people today leave all sorts of offerings.
(insects trilling)
Everything from tinfoil hats to coins to lottery tickets.
Weatherly: It's fascinating to think that an alien being
Is buried in a small texas town,
And many people have tried to get to the bottom
Of the mystery.
On the surface, it seems simple enough--
Excavate the grave and find out exactly what's there.
However, at some point in history,
The marker for the grave disappeared,
So no one knows exactly where the creature is buried.
Shatner: The story of the so-called aurora incident
Dates back to April 17, 1897,
When the residents of the town reported seeing
A strange, unidentified flying object descend from the sky
And crash in a fiery blaze.
At 6:00 a.M. In the morning,
Something came crashing down in aurora, texas.
It smashed through a windmill on judge proctor's property...
...Killing the lone occupant.
Whatever this craft was,
It was a puzzle for the people.
The pilot was described as being very disfigured from the crash.
They don't give a lot of detailed description
Other than to say that he was not of this world.
They contacted a nearby military base
Who sent a representative down to inspect the scene.
He declared the dead occupant a martian.
The people in aurora decided to give the creature
A christian burial.
It was buried in the aurora cemetery,
Along with some of the debris from the alien craft.
Shatner: Two days after the crash, on April 19, 1897,
The incident was reported in the dallas morning news,
Which has led many researchers to conclude
That this crash did, in fact, take place.
And for more than a century,
Investigators have tried to prove
That the craft actually came from another world
By searching for the body
Of the supposed extraterrestrial pilot.
Hartzman: As far as we know,
The body is still in that same cemetery
In aurora, texas.
In the 1970s,
A couple ufo groups tried to go exhume the body.
But the city denied them the chance
To take the body out so they could investigate it further
And see if it really was an alien from another planet.
Shatner: For now, the truth about the aurora incident
Remains elusive,
Just like countless other tall tales from the wild west
That continue to capture our imagination...
...And inspire historians and researchers to look for answers.
Trimble: The west was mythical.
It was bigger than life.
You have to imagine easterners coming here
And they sat around the campfire at night
And told tall tales.
And there was truth to 'em,
A-a whole lot of truth
That was sprinkled into these stories that were told.
And we don't know where the truth ended
And the tall tale began.
Is there really an alien buried in aurora, texas?
Did giant thunderbirds soar across the frontier?
Could billy the kid have faked his own death?
Well, stories like these definitely make you wonder
Whether the wild west was much stranger
Than the history books tell us.
And as we continue searching for the truth
Behind these legends,
One can only imagine that we'll uncover
Even more bizarre tales from the west that will remain...
...Unexplained.
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