1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,490 [MUSIC PLAYING] 2 00:00:02,490 --> 00:00:18,460 3 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:20,850 NARRATOR: This professor stalks a monstrous ape man 4 00:00:20,850 --> 00:00:23,475 in these shadowy forests, but is there 5 00:00:23,475 --> 00:00:25,363 really a wild man in Russia? 6 00:00:25,363 --> 00:00:29,720 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,880 What awful calamity befell the people 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,100 of Greenland's Viking villages? 9 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:36,375 Did unknown forces kill their colonies? 10 00:00:36,375 --> 00:00:39,060 11 00:00:39,060 --> 00:00:41,480 And can a monster have survived in the depths 12 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:44,610 of this Swedish lake for 900 years? 13 00:00:44,610 --> 00:00:46,565 This man believes he saw it. 14 00:00:46,565 --> 00:00:51,090 It must be the lake monster. 15 00:00:51,090 --> 00:00:52,990 What else? 16 00:00:52,990 --> 00:00:55,540 NARRATOR: Mysteries from the files of Arthur C. Clarke, 17 00:00:55,540 --> 00:01:00,110 Author of "2001" and inventor of the communications satellite. 18 00:01:00,110 --> 00:01:03,180 Now in retreat in Sri Lanka, he ponders the riddles 19 00:01:03,180 --> 00:01:05,397 of this and other worlds. 20 00:01:05,397 --> 00:01:07,882 [MUSIC PLAYING] 21 00:01:07,882 --> 00:01:31,005 22 00:01:31,005 --> 00:01:31,738 [TRAIN HORN WHISTLING] 23 00:01:31,738 --> 00:01:41,678 24 00:01:41,678 --> 00:01:44,630 ARTHUR C. CLARKE: We're taking the morning train to the hills 25 00:01:44,630 --> 00:01:46,840 in the heart of Sri Lanka. 26 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:48,810 This journey is an old tradition from the days 27 00:01:48,810 --> 00:01:50,940 of the British Empire. 28 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:55,680 Every year as the tropical heat grew unbearable in Colombo, 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,860 the British headed up this line in search 30 00:01:57,860 --> 00:02:01,640 of the healthier, cooler climate 6,000 feet up 31 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,320 in the hill country. 32 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,655 From railway carriages like this one 33 00:02:05,655 --> 00:02:08,850 they could watch the wonders of the local landscape-- 34 00:02:08,850 --> 00:02:13,450 mountains, rocks, and waterfalls and the lush green terraces 35 00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:15,570 of the tea plantations. 36 00:02:15,570 --> 00:02:18,770 As they climbed up and up, they noticed changes. 37 00:02:18,770 --> 00:02:21,680 Dry plains turned to fertile pastures, 38 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,220 flowers bloomed that would have withered on the coast. 39 00:02:25,220 --> 00:02:27,420 The turbulent weather of the tropics 40 00:02:27,420 --> 00:02:32,570 gave way to the soft, temperate breezes of an English summer. 41 00:02:32,570 --> 00:02:37,360 So what better place for me to take a cool look at mysteries 42 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,075 from our world's far north? 43 00:02:39,075 --> 00:02:41,450 [MUSIC PLAYING] 44 00:02:41,450 --> 00:02:47,150 45 00:02:47,150 --> 00:02:49,780 NARRATOR: The land mass of the old Soviet Union 46 00:02:49,780 --> 00:02:54,410 made up 1/6 of the surface of the Earth. 47 00:02:54,410 --> 00:02:57,910 For years, imminent biologist Valentin Sapunov 48 00:02:57,910 --> 00:03:00,510 has been traveling to its remotest corners 49 00:03:00,510 --> 00:03:02,800 on the track of the elusive Russian Wildman. 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,510 51 00:03:05,510 --> 00:03:08,211 He's searching for any traces of the ape-like creature's 52 00:03:08,211 --> 00:03:08,910 presence. 53 00:03:08,910 --> 00:03:11,800 54 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,380 This tree is very interesting. 55 00:03:14,380 --> 00:03:19,240 As far as I know, there is no one animal 56 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,330 in this region that is able to make 57 00:03:23,330 --> 00:03:25,900 such a damage for the tree. 58 00:03:25,900 --> 00:03:31,080 I think that while man looked for insects, 59 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,140 it's a very typical food. 60 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:39,590 I am not sure that it as the result of action of wild men, 61 00:03:39,590 --> 00:03:41,510 but maybe it is so, maybe. 62 00:03:41,510 --> 00:03:44,596 63 00:03:44,596 --> 00:03:47,570 NARRATOR: After each expedition, Sapunov returns 64 00:03:47,570 --> 00:03:49,960 to his base in St. Petersburg. 65 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:55,060 His travels have yielded weird and tantalizing trophies. 66 00:03:55,060 --> 00:04:01,030 This is footprint that we detected of wild man. 67 00:04:01,030 --> 00:04:04,710 Studying footprints of wild man, we 68 00:04:04,710 --> 00:04:08,560 may suggest many ideas about its image, 69 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,070 about its biological construction. 70 00:04:11,070 --> 00:04:14,395 And according to our data, it has 71 00:04:14,395 --> 00:04:19,970 weight from 200 to 300 kilograms and height 72 00:04:19,970 --> 00:04:21,990 from two to three meters. 73 00:04:21,990 --> 00:04:25,040 74 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:30,760 This piece of tree was cut by me and my friends 75 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,880 near St. Petersburg in the forest of Karelian Isthmus. 76 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,260 And as far as we understand, this tree 77 00:04:38,260 --> 00:04:41,400 was marked by wild man. 78 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,590 You may see the horizontal line. 79 00:04:44,590 --> 00:04:51,380 That was made by somebody having strong fingernails. 80 00:04:51,380 --> 00:04:54,520 NARRATOR: But Sapunov claims the only creature known to science 81 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,280 that could have made such marks is a gorilla. 82 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,470 As far as we know, there is no gorilla in Leningrad district. 83 00:05:01,470 --> 00:05:07,340 That's why I am sure that this tree was damaged by wild man. 84 00:05:07,340 --> 00:05:11,500 NARRATOR: This hair is said to come from a wild man. 85 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:13,500 From evidence like this, Sapunov has 86 00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:17,040 made models of what he thinks a wild man couple looks like. 87 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,550 88 00:05:20,550 --> 00:05:24,270 Through detailed examination of the wild man's footprints, 89 00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:27,430 Sapunov has worked out how he walks. 90 00:05:27,430 --> 00:05:31,310 He thinks the creature normally travels on two legs and moves 91 00:05:31,310 --> 00:05:34,280 at about 10 kilometers per hour. 92 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,350 But he says it's capable of an alarming 70 93 00:05:37,350 --> 00:05:38,722 kilometers per hour. 94 00:05:38,722 --> 00:05:48,150 95 00:05:48,150 --> 00:05:51,530 Professor Sapunov has built up his picture of the wild man 96 00:05:51,530 --> 00:05:57,460 from interviews with the lucky few who claim to have seen it. 97 00:05:57,460 --> 00:05:59,690 Igor Radimov was a medical officer 98 00:05:59,690 --> 00:06:02,340 at a now deserted army base in the forests 99 00:06:02,340 --> 00:06:04,400 outside Saint Petersburg. 100 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:06,440 While the base was active, the soldiers 101 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,570 reported frequent sightings of the wild man. 102 00:06:09,570 --> 00:06:11,880 It was even known to peer in through the windows 103 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:13,390 of the barracks. 104 00:06:13,390 --> 00:06:16,520 Radimov believes the stories because he, too, 105 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,730 had an unnerving encounter. 106 00:06:19,730 --> 00:06:21,190 INTERPRETER: Well, the first thing we saw 107 00:06:21,190 --> 00:06:24,060 was this huge shadow. 108 00:06:24,060 --> 00:06:28,390 As he came closer to the light, his front was sort of lit up, 109 00:06:28,390 --> 00:06:30,450 illuminated. 110 00:06:30,450 --> 00:06:32,360 Because of this we could make out that he was 111 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,800 covered with light gray fur. 112 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:35,590 It was rather glittery. 113 00:06:35,590 --> 00:06:39,200 114 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,720 The soldiers said they had noticed the palms of his hands 115 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,800 were dark and he had some dark stripes on his belly. 116 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,196 117 00:06:48,196 --> 00:06:50,770 I was reminded of his screams when I visited 118 00:06:50,770 --> 00:06:52,840 the zoo with my daughter. 119 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,220 I heard sounds coming from the monkey house 120 00:06:55,220 --> 00:06:58,310 where the baboons and orangutans are kept. 121 00:06:58,310 --> 00:07:00,430 They were the same as our wild man made. 122 00:07:00,430 --> 00:07:10,340 123 00:07:10,340 --> 00:07:12,090 NARRATOR: A metro station in Saint Petersburg 124 00:07:12,090 --> 00:07:15,060 is the starting point for Sapunov's latest 125 00:07:15,060 --> 00:07:16,740 forensic foray. 126 00:07:16,740 --> 00:07:19,110 Olga Zachesova is convinced that she 127 00:07:19,110 --> 00:07:22,670 met the wild man in the forests outside the city. 128 00:07:22,670 --> 00:07:25,642 She is taking Sapunov to show him where it happened. 129 00:07:25,642 --> 00:07:34,498 130 00:07:34,498 --> 00:07:36,958 [MUSIC PLAYING] 131 00:07:36,958 --> 00:07:42,640 132 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,590 INTERPRETER: Now, Valentin Borisovich, 133 00:07:44,590 --> 00:07:49,090 we're coming close to the place where I met the wild man. 134 00:07:49,090 --> 00:07:51,030 I'll show you precisely. 135 00:07:51,030 --> 00:07:53,310 I'll put you exactly on the spot where he stood. 136 00:07:53,310 --> 00:07:58,210 137 00:07:58,210 --> 00:08:00,660 [MUSIC PLAYING] 138 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:07,390 139 00:08:07,390 --> 00:08:12,710 Valentin Borisovich, now we're almost standing on that place. 140 00:08:12,710 --> 00:08:14,960 Yes, not almost. 141 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,170 he was standing there where you're standing now. 142 00:08:17,170 --> 00:08:20,540 143 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:25,070 This creature was about three meters tall. 144 00:08:25,070 --> 00:08:30,840 It had very beautiful fur which looked a bit like a bear's fur 145 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:32,415 but was very thick. 146 00:08:32,415 --> 00:08:35,479 It was shining with gold and was well combed. 147 00:08:35,479 --> 00:08:38,900 148 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:42,470 His head was rectangular shaped, looking 149 00:08:42,470 --> 00:08:43,519 very similar to a bucket. 150 00:08:43,519 --> 00:08:48,450 151 00:08:48,450 --> 00:08:51,950 Valentin Borisovich, here is something I do at home. 152 00:08:51,950 --> 00:08:54,090 Perhaps it will help you to imagine what I saw. 153 00:08:54,090 --> 00:08:57,140 154 00:08:57,140 --> 00:09:00,670 His eyes were a reddish color. 155 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:04,340 He had almost no neck, massive shoulders. 156 00:09:04,340 --> 00:09:08,360 I could feel that he was frightened of me. 157 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:09,900 And I was scared of him. 158 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:16,190 159 00:09:16,190 --> 00:09:18,420 NARRATOR: But Sapunov's determination 160 00:09:18,420 --> 00:09:21,260 overcomes all fears. 161 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:23,340 However long it takes to catch a glimpse 162 00:09:23,340 --> 00:09:26,220 of his mysterious quarry, his need to find 163 00:09:26,220 --> 00:09:28,764 the truth for science burns on. 164 00:09:28,764 --> 00:09:35,740 165 00:09:35,740 --> 00:09:37,860 Greenland is one of the most inhospitable 166 00:09:37,860 --> 00:09:39,470 countries in the world. 167 00:09:39,470 --> 00:09:42,440 Lying on the Arctic Circle, it is covered in ice 168 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,260 except for the coastal edges, which can support crops only 169 00:09:46,260 --> 00:09:49,310 in the short Arctic summer. 170 00:09:49,310 --> 00:09:50,730 It was here that in the Middle Ages 171 00:09:50,730 --> 00:09:53,710 Viking explorers landed and settled. 172 00:09:53,710 --> 00:09:55,940 At their peak, the two colonies had 173 00:09:55,940 --> 00:09:59,830 4,000 people, 16 churches, two monasteries, 174 00:09:59,830 --> 00:10:01,520 and their own bishop. 175 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,160 They farmed the land, and for 500 years 176 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,280 the communities thrived. 177 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,485 But suddenly, at the end of the 14th century, 178 00:10:09,485 --> 00:10:12,270 the colonists disappeared. 179 00:10:12,270 --> 00:10:14,420 Today the only evidence of their existence 180 00:10:14,420 --> 00:10:17,160 is the stones of the deserted houses 181 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,826 alongside mass graves of some of those who lived there. 182 00:10:20,826 --> 00:10:23,082 [MUSIC PLAYING] 183 00:10:23,082 --> 00:10:29,510 184 00:10:29,510 --> 00:10:34,370 In Copenhagen, Denmark, forensic anthropologist Nils Lynnerup 185 00:10:34,370 --> 00:10:38,930 has examined more than 450 Norse skeletons from Greenland. 186 00:10:38,930 --> 00:10:40,800 The evidence he has found suggests 187 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:42,570 that they had been forced to abandon 188 00:10:42,570 --> 00:10:44,870 their usual food supply. 189 00:10:44,870 --> 00:10:47,710 We surveyed all the Norse material and evidence 190 00:10:47,710 --> 00:10:51,360 for a diet change can perhaps be found in these very strange 191 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,770 bony growths which we find in the jaws of the Norse, 192 00:10:54,770 --> 00:10:57,620 especially in the later settlement period. 193 00:10:57,620 --> 00:11:00,150 And according to some new interesting research, 194 00:11:00,150 --> 00:11:04,160 these bony growths could be caused by a predominantly 195 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,590 marine diet-- that is, they lived more and more 196 00:11:06,590 --> 00:11:09,650 off fish and sea mammals. 197 00:11:09,650 --> 00:11:12,020 NARRATOR: The evidence suggests the settlers could not 198 00:11:12,020 --> 00:11:13,255 make a living from the land. 199 00:11:13,255 --> 00:11:16,380 200 00:11:16,380 --> 00:11:19,580 Other parts of the skulls told Lynnerup that their health 201 00:11:19,580 --> 00:11:20,850 was declining. 202 00:11:20,850 --> 00:11:25,310 He found more and more instances of middle ear disease. 203 00:11:25,310 --> 00:11:28,630 We tried to compare the results from the early settlement 204 00:11:28,630 --> 00:11:31,370 period with the results from the late settlement period, 205 00:11:31,370 --> 00:11:33,710 and this seemed to indicate an increase 206 00:11:33,710 --> 00:11:36,270 in the frequency of middle ear disease 207 00:11:36,270 --> 00:11:38,910 in the late settlement period. 208 00:11:38,910 --> 00:11:42,120 And this could perhaps point to a general decline 209 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,140 in health conditions. 210 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:46,160 I think we're looking at a reversal 211 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,870 of the colonization situation. 212 00:11:48,870 --> 00:11:52,890 In the 15th century we know that Iceland and also Norway was hit 213 00:11:52,890 --> 00:11:56,035 by the plague, which left a lot of land available 214 00:11:56,035 --> 00:11:58,960 and probably this tempted a lot of the Norse 215 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,270 in Greenland to move back to Iceland or Norway. 216 00:12:03,270 --> 00:12:05,760 NARRATOR: Lynnerup's results speak of an increasingly 217 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,970 intolerable life in these spartan homesteads, 218 00:12:08,970 --> 00:12:11,630 but they do not explain the complete disappearance 219 00:12:11,630 --> 00:12:13,330 of the colonists. 220 00:12:13,330 --> 00:12:15,030 Archaeologists searching for clues 221 00:12:15,030 --> 00:12:17,610 have turned to every discipline of science. 222 00:12:17,610 --> 00:12:19,480 From beneath the buildings they have taken 223 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,290 soil samples for analysis. 224 00:12:23,290 --> 00:12:25,950 The Vikings covered their floors with layers of straw, 225 00:12:25,950 --> 00:12:28,360 which became deeper every year. 226 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,830 From one of the last inhabited farm houses, 227 00:12:30,830 --> 00:12:34,160 samples have been taken from different levels. 228 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,180 Entomologist Peter Skidmore studied 229 00:12:36,180 --> 00:12:38,310 flies taken from the floor. 230 00:12:38,310 --> 00:12:43,930 He found the unhatched pupa of one called [INAUDIBLE]. 231 00:12:43,930 --> 00:12:46,880 There was no way this could have survived in Greenland 232 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,600 without human assistance. 233 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,810 It would appear in areas where there were huge concentrations 234 00:12:51,810 --> 00:12:54,950 of human or dog excrement. 235 00:12:54,950 --> 00:12:59,100 It breeds also in the darkest sort of environments. 236 00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:02,340 It won't breed in light conditions. 237 00:13:02,340 --> 00:13:06,680 So what it's telling us about the actual environment 238 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:12,600 is that it was nice and warm, a bit smelly, but cozy. 239 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:14,480 NARRATOR: Skidmore then turned to the flies 240 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,470 taken from the top layer of the floor. 241 00:13:17,470 --> 00:13:20,390 The next sample, that was taken from the bedroom, 242 00:13:20,390 --> 00:13:23,900 indicated a stark change. 243 00:13:23,900 --> 00:13:26,310 [INAUDIBLE] virtually disappeared. 244 00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:30,200 Its place was taken by another fly, [INAUDIBLE]. 245 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:35,850 It would indicate not so much excrement as actual decaying 246 00:13:35,850 --> 00:13:37,550 corpses, possibly human. 247 00:13:37,550 --> 00:13:41,540 So briefly, the bottom level is nice and cozy bedroom, 248 00:13:41,540 --> 00:13:43,830 the top level something terrible has happened. 249 00:13:43,830 --> 00:13:48,400 The temperature has dropped and this fly, a carrion feeder, 250 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,140 corpse feeder, has taken over. 251 00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:54,295 NARRATOR: Skidmore concludes the Norse died in their beds. 252 00:13:54,295 --> 00:13:57,025 253 00:13:57,025 --> 00:14:00,190 Well, Mark, you ready to go in the freezer again today? 254 00:14:00,190 --> 00:14:01,780 Yeah, it's a lot of fun. 255 00:14:01,780 --> 00:14:04,660 NARRATOR: Scientists agree that living conditions in Greenland 256 00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:05,540 worsened dramatically. 257 00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:08,270 258 00:14:08,270 --> 00:14:11,430 Glaciologist Paul Mayewski believes that he 259 00:14:11,430 --> 00:14:13,890 knows exactly what happened. 260 00:14:13,890 --> 00:14:15,920 In the heat of the New Hampshire summer 261 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,090 he spends his working day at temperatures 262 00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:22,120 of minus 15 degrees in a giant refrigerator 263 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:23,440 in the university car park. 264 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:31,960 265 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,230 These tubes contain ice cores collected 266 00:14:34,230 --> 00:14:35,960 from all over the world. 267 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,930 They have recorded almost every change in the planet's climate. 268 00:14:39,930 --> 00:14:43,990 Mayewski's team have taken specific cores from Greenland. 269 00:14:43,990 --> 00:14:46,860 Working in the most inhospitable conditions, 270 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:50,510 the drill penetrates nearly two miles into the ice cap 271 00:14:50,510 --> 00:14:54,420 and brings to the surface a tube of frozen history. 272 00:14:54,420 --> 00:14:56,810 Encased in the cores are particles from the air 273 00:14:56,810 --> 00:15:01,140 of ancient times that speak volumes to science. 274 00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:04,710 The expert eye can detect faint layers in the cores. 275 00:15:04,710 --> 00:15:07,780 Each one represents a single year's snowfall. 276 00:15:07,780 --> 00:15:11,420 So every piece of ice can be precisely dated. 277 00:15:11,420 --> 00:15:13,640 By doing a series of analysis we can describe 278 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:15,400 the environment at that time. 279 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,490 For example, we know by looking at the oxygen isotopes 280 00:15:18,490 --> 00:15:20,230 for that period of time that conditions 281 00:15:20,230 --> 00:15:22,240 were considerably colder than they had 282 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,120 been in the previous decades. 283 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,550 We know that the sea ice extent, number two, 284 00:15:26,550 --> 00:15:30,120 was much greater than it had been in previous decades 285 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,110 and we can verify this with our measurements of chloride. 286 00:15:34,110 --> 00:15:37,360 So detailed is the analysis that even tiny particles 287 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,570 of potassium were detected. 288 00:15:39,570 --> 00:15:41,430 Mayewski knows these could only have 289 00:15:41,430 --> 00:15:44,140 come from around the Himalayan mountains. 290 00:15:44,140 --> 00:15:46,500 So the icy Arctic winds had swept 291 00:15:46,500 --> 00:15:49,590 much further south than before. 292 00:15:49,590 --> 00:15:53,770 The cold air mass that normally sits over the high Arctic 293 00:15:53,770 --> 00:15:56,340 was significantly moved farther southward, 294 00:15:56,340 --> 00:15:58,720 plummeting much of the Northern Hemisphere 295 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,470 into colder conditions throughout the year 296 00:16:01,470 --> 00:16:03,640 than it would have been in the previous decades. 297 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,840 Immediately following, within the next several years, 298 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,230 the climate began to get milder again 299 00:16:09,230 --> 00:16:14,040 and it stayed milder for about 50 to 70 years. 300 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:19,780 Suddenly, however, around AD 1400 to 1410, 301 00:16:19,780 --> 00:16:23,810 conditions became significantly colder and this part 302 00:16:23,810 --> 00:16:26,800 of the Northern Hemisphere plummeted into one 303 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:28,930 of the coldest periods that it had experienced 304 00:16:28,930 --> 00:16:31,650 over the last 12,000 years. 305 00:16:31,650 --> 00:16:33,510 NARRATOR: The timing of these cold spells 306 00:16:33,510 --> 00:16:36,155 corresponds with the years when the two Norse settlements 307 00:16:36,155 --> 00:16:38,490 in Greenland disappeared. 308 00:16:38,490 --> 00:16:41,115 Mayewski believes they were frozen out of existence. 309 00:16:41,115 --> 00:16:43,670 310 00:16:43,670 --> 00:16:45,800 It's highly probable that the Norse 311 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,280 settlers would have no longer been able to till their fields. 312 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,285 They probably wouldn't have been able to go into the ocean 313 00:16:51,285 --> 00:16:52,130 to fish. 314 00:16:52,130 --> 00:16:53,600 But chances are because they were never 315 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,480 see him again they did die in the cold period 316 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,060 that finally marked the beginning 317 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:02,980 of the Little Ice Age. 318 00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:05,510 NARRATOR: Even at its best, life in Greenland 319 00:17:05,510 --> 00:17:07,250 must have been grim. 320 00:17:07,250 --> 00:17:11,500 Nils Lynnerup wonders if there's another intriguing puzzle. 321 00:17:11,500 --> 00:17:14,440 Well, I think that the main question about the Norse 322 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,470 is not, why does the Norse disappear from Greenland, 323 00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:20,109 it's rather, how did the Norse manage to stay 324 00:17:20,109 --> 00:17:22,130 on in Greenland for 500 years? 325 00:17:22,130 --> 00:17:26,079 326 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:27,819 ARTHUR C. CLARKE: I wonder if the disappearance 327 00:17:27,819 --> 00:17:31,480 of those colonies is the earliest case of an advertising 328 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:33,580 campaign going wrong. 329 00:17:33,580 --> 00:17:35,820 As we've seen, Greenland is an icy, 330 00:17:35,820 --> 00:17:38,630 bleak, and inhospitable place. 331 00:17:38,630 --> 00:17:41,200 Legend has it that it was given its name to make 332 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,140 it sound more attractive. 333 00:17:43,140 --> 00:17:46,600 Perhaps the Norse settlers woke up one day and realized 334 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:47,330 they'd been conned. 335 00:17:47,330 --> 00:17:51,140 336 00:17:51,140 --> 00:17:54,730 NARRATOR: The sunrise is late over Lake Storsjon in Sweden. 337 00:17:54,730 --> 00:17:58,051 Its waters are bitterly cold even in summer and many meters 338 00:17:58,051 --> 00:17:58,750 deep. 339 00:17:58,750 --> 00:18:01,700 340 00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:04,310 The lake is said to harbor a massive monster 341 00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:07,700 unknown to science. 342 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:11,370 Olle Mattsson collects eyewitness reports. 343 00:18:11,370 --> 00:18:14,480 Gote Perssen recalls walking by the lake with his girlfriend. 344 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,430 345 00:18:18,430 --> 00:18:21,490 INTERPRETER: Then she suddenly screams, the big monster. 346 00:18:21,490 --> 00:18:24,910 So then I look down and about 10 or 15 meters away from me, 347 00:18:24,910 --> 00:18:28,170 I can see this long monster swimming towards the shore. 348 00:18:28,170 --> 00:18:31,235 The size of the monster, about five to six meters. 349 00:18:31,235 --> 00:18:33,840 350 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,536 The first time you see the monster you get a little shock, 351 00:18:36,536 --> 00:18:37,235 you start shaking. 352 00:18:37,235 --> 00:18:41,910 353 00:18:41,910 --> 00:18:43,980 We followed the monster along the shore 354 00:18:43,980 --> 00:18:45,830 and we ran up a hill so we could see where 355 00:18:45,830 --> 00:18:47,000 it was going all the time. 356 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,670 357 00:18:49,670 --> 00:18:52,810 It followed the shore and then by the jetty 358 00:18:52,810 --> 00:18:56,120 it turned and went back out into the lake. 359 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:59,510 We could see it come up and we could see three humps as well. 360 00:18:59,510 --> 00:19:02,250 361 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:05,910 It lasted about 20 minutes and we could 362 00:19:05,910 --> 00:19:08,660 see the monster all the time. 363 00:19:08,660 --> 00:19:10,770 I know what I've seen and nothing can 364 00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:13,230 convince me otherwise anyway. 365 00:19:13,230 --> 00:19:17,650 I believed it before, but now I'm completely sure. 366 00:19:17,650 --> 00:19:19,265 There is something down there. 367 00:19:19,265 --> 00:19:22,990 368 00:19:22,990 --> 00:19:26,530 The town of Ostersund sits right on the lake's edge. 369 00:19:26,530 --> 00:19:30,070 Olle Mattsson is curator of the local museum. 370 00:19:30,070 --> 00:19:32,750 He has discovered that reports of the lake monster 371 00:19:32,750 --> 00:19:34,880 date back for centuries. 372 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:39,190 There is even one on this ancient rune stone. 373 00:19:39,190 --> 00:19:42,690 The rune stone is about 800, 900 years old. 374 00:19:42,690 --> 00:19:46,470 And here you can see the monster. 375 00:19:46,470 --> 00:19:49,650 Here are the eye and the head of the monster 376 00:19:49,650 --> 00:19:52,710 and here the snake, or the monster, 377 00:19:52,710 --> 00:19:57,610 goes around the stone and back to the tail. 378 00:19:57,610 --> 00:20:01,930 And he has a tail in his mouth. 379 00:20:01,930 --> 00:20:04,730 NARRATOR: The runes say that when they are interpreted, 380 00:20:04,730 --> 00:20:07,330 the monster will appear in the lake. 381 00:20:07,330 --> 00:20:10,300 They were first understood in the 16th century 382 00:20:10,300 --> 00:20:12,895 and there have been reports of the monster ever since. 383 00:20:12,895 --> 00:20:18,900 384 00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:22,670 Stig Nilsson and his wife saw what looked like three car 385 00:20:22,670 --> 00:20:25,130 wheels in the water when they were driving 386 00:20:25,130 --> 00:20:28,400 over a bridge across the lake. 387 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,720 We saw it about a half minute. 388 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:38,590 It looked like three car wheels rolling after one from us. 389 00:20:38,590 --> 00:20:43,360 It was about 100 meters from the bridge and about 390 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,480 30 meters from the shore. 391 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,620 Both my wife and I were sure that it 392 00:20:48,620 --> 00:20:53,580 most be the lake monster. What else? 393 00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:57,200 394 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,000 Olle Mattsson knows of hundreds of sightings such as this. 395 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,040 Each one is shown by a dot on this map of the lake. 396 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,330 397 00:21:07,330 --> 00:21:08,950 There are photographs which appear 398 00:21:08,950 --> 00:21:11,410 to show an enormous creature in the water. 399 00:21:11,410 --> 00:21:13,785 [MUSIC PLAYING] 400 00:21:13,785 --> 00:21:18,060 401 00:21:18,060 --> 00:21:21,040 A fishing boat recorded a huge underwater shape 402 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,180 with its sonar equipment. 403 00:21:23,180 --> 00:21:26,810 People thought it must be the monster. 404 00:21:26,810 --> 00:21:30,770 It's one of the-- the evidence is not so common thing. 405 00:21:30,770 --> 00:21:36,880 But the evidence together really shows that there 406 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,700 is something in the lake. 407 00:21:39,700 --> 00:21:41,620 NARRATOR: Danish zoologist Lars Thomas 408 00:21:41,620 --> 00:21:43,810 began his studies of the Storsjon monster 409 00:21:43,810 --> 00:21:45,920 hoping to believe in it. 410 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,210 One famous report came from two girls 411 00:21:48,210 --> 00:21:51,200 who were frightened into a tree by a monster they 412 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,750 said had huge bat-like ears. 413 00:21:54,750 --> 00:21:57,520 There's been about 30 sightings where people have described 414 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,990 the years, have compared them to kind 415 00:21:59,990 --> 00:22:02,640 of very big, wide bat wings. 416 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,860 And that sounded very strange to me 417 00:22:04,860 --> 00:22:07,490 because most other lake monsters haven't got any ears at all. 418 00:22:07,490 --> 00:22:09,570 In my mind, this points to the fact 419 00:22:09,570 --> 00:22:13,490 that the Storsjon monster is, in fact, sightings of moose. 420 00:22:13,490 --> 00:22:17,150 Not many people realize that moose are excellent swimmers. 421 00:22:17,150 --> 00:22:19,810 The two moose behind me have actually-- 422 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:20,840 they're Swedish moose. 423 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,210 They have swam across from Sweden to Denmark. 424 00:22:24,210 --> 00:22:27,640 And at the narrowest place there's five kilometers 425 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,280 of sea with a very strong current, 426 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,010 and that takes a very strong swimmer to cross that. 427 00:22:33,010 --> 00:22:34,338 But this one did. 428 00:22:34,338 --> 00:22:36,828 [MUSIC PLAYING] 429 00:22:36,828 --> 00:22:40,820 430 00:22:40,820 --> 00:22:45,030 I think that the big whitish ears of the monster 431 00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:50,760 is, in fact, this, the antlers of the moose. 432 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,860 Because when you see they look-- they are white, 433 00:22:53,860 --> 00:22:55,930 they have spikes all along the edges, 434 00:22:55,930 --> 00:22:59,780 and they could look like very peak whitish bat wings. 435 00:22:59,780 --> 00:23:02,180 The fact that the Storsjon monster has ears looking 436 00:23:02,180 --> 00:23:05,860 like this and the Storsjon is located in an area of Sweden 437 00:23:05,860 --> 00:23:08,710 with a very big population of moose 438 00:23:08,710 --> 00:23:11,170 makes it in my mind very likely that the Storsjon monster 439 00:23:11,170 --> 00:23:12,820 is, in fact, a swimming moose. 440 00:23:12,820 --> 00:23:15,270 [MUSIC PLAYING] 441 00:23:15,270 --> 00:23:19,200 442 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,960 NARRATOR: Lars Thomas' theory may well explain at least some 443 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,480 of the sightings on the lake's surface, 444 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,410 but that has been at least one underwater meeting. 445 00:23:27,410 --> 00:23:35,260 446 00:23:35,260 --> 00:23:38,470 Karl-Arne Karlsson ran a commercial diving firm. 447 00:23:38,470 --> 00:23:44,200 448 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,190 He was deep in Lake Storsjon making repairs to a water pipe 449 00:23:48,190 --> 00:23:51,950 when he came face to face with a huge creature over 3 meters 450 00:23:51,950 --> 00:23:53,000 long. 451 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,880 He describes it as having a hook on its head 452 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:57,980 and a long tongue which seemed to flick 453 00:23:57,980 --> 00:24:01,470 in and out as it breathed. 454 00:24:01,470 --> 00:24:04,230 I'm very sure about what I saw. 455 00:24:04,230 --> 00:24:11,290 He had a hook and like a snake tongue 456 00:24:11,290 --> 00:24:21,260 and I think he's breathing and the snake tongue moved. 457 00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:24,360 NARRATOR: Karle-Arne has told fish experts of his meeting. 458 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:26,950 He says that none of them could tell him of any creature 459 00:24:26,950 --> 00:24:31,860 that big that could live in such deep and cold wates. 460 00:24:31,860 --> 00:24:36,430 Before I see the great monster I don't believe it. 461 00:24:36,430 --> 00:24:42,180 But now after I believe it's some mystery in the lake. 462 00:24:42,180 --> 00:24:46,620 463 00:24:46,620 --> 00:24:49,250 After all my years of studying the monster 464 00:24:49,250 --> 00:24:52,020 I believe it's something in the lake. 465 00:24:52,020 --> 00:24:55,270 We don't understand what it is, but I know there is something 466 00:24:55,270 --> 00:24:58,115 in the lake we can't explain. It's a mystery. 467 00:24:58,115 --> 00:25:01,300 468 00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:03,710 ARTHUR C. CLARKE: These northern mysteries, like all the others 469 00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:05,800 in our series, will continue to make 470 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,770 me wonder but nothing could induce me to go 471 00:25:08,770 --> 00:25:11,420 and investigate them in person. 472 00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:13,750 After 40 years in the heat of Columbo, 473 00:25:13,750 --> 00:25:17,590 I'm even finding the hill country uncomfortably cold. 474 00:25:17,590 --> 00:25:19,440 So I'll settle for mysteries I can 475 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,920 investigate in the sunshine. 476 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:26,080 Then they can send shivers of enjoyment down my spine and not 477 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:27,990 shivers of cold. 478 00:25:27,990 --> 00:25:30,740 [MUSIC PLAYING] 479 00:25:30,740 --> 00:26:00,767