NARRATOR: In 1957, a fisherman was coming in
from a day on the ocean, hoping to outrun
an approaching storm. As he cruised along
Hinchinbrook Island, he saw a column of smoke and
assumed it must be a village where he might find shelter. The man went ashore
to investigate. But instead of finding
sanctuary, he found a mystery. The village was there
with an active fire going, but there was no one
to be found. It was as if
everyone had vanished. Suddenly, he saw a massive
bear-like beast... [ Snarling ] ...which sent him racing back
toward his boat. Was the bear real or the
embodiment of an Inuit legend... the Torngarsuk, or Bear God? While some view this being
as a protector, lore suggests it will unleash
its wrath when displeased. Since then, the area has had seven more sightings
of the beast, but no one from the town
has ever been found. Inside the vast frontier
of Alaska is a mysterious triangle where, each year, 5 out of
every 1,000 people go missing. [ Animal growls ] [ Animal roars ] Three investigators look
for answers -- Jax, a former police officer... Ken, a specialist
in strange phenomena... and Tommy,
an expert on Alaskan legends. Together, they uncover
mysterious sightings and ancient legends, exploring the possibilities
of those who go... --<font color="#FFFF00"> Captions by VITAC --</font><font color="#00FFFF">
www.vitac.com</font> Captioning provided by
A+E Networks The team approaches
Hinchinbrook Island in Prince William Sound. The abandoned town, believed to be a fishing village
of about 70 people, was discovered
near its southeast corner. Guys, what I don't get,
I mean, we've investigated a lot of cases where we've
had individuals disappear. We're talking about
an entire village of people? I mean, what would cause an
entire village to just vanish? It is really strange. I mean, for no bodies
to be left there. Yeah, there's no record
of any type of natural disaster like an earthquake
or a tsunami or anything like that --
volcano. The fisherman claims
he's looking around, you know, sees this large,
white bear. You guys, we're talking about
a -- a village that presumably
was pretty familiar and had lived with bears
for a long time. You know, I think
it's kind of a stretch to say that it's just, you know,
a -- a bear. We're talking about a bear,
we're talking a bear that's big enough
and bad enough and scary enough to cause an entire
village to vanish. I mean, this sounds
exactly like the Inuit legend of the Torngarsuk,
the bear god. NARRATOR: The Torngarsuk legend
describes a giant white bear that can act as either protector
or accuser. As the master of whales
and seals, it was often invoked
by fisherman for a successful outing, and even by shamans
for the curing of illness. But some say
it would prey viciously on those
who disrespected nature. Now, what if we're
just dealing with some sort of exceptional bear,
you know? There's a lot of explanations,
guys, before we get into the, you know, a god bear
or a demon bear. We've got a lot further
to go on this one before we come
to any kind of answers. JAX: Maybe there was a singular
bear with a genetic quirk that allowed it
to grow really large. Evolution allows
for that sort of anomaly. NARRATOR: One such anomaly
has been found in cattle and other animals -- a condition
commonly known as double muscle. It's caused
by a genetic mutation that inhibits
the myostatin protein, which regulates muscle growth, resulting in larger,
more powerful animals. If a bear had this condition, it might come across
looking like a monster. The team arrives
at the landing site where the fisherman
pulled ashore 60 years ago. The reported location of
the village is up in the woods. They remain vigilant. One sighting of this white bear
was reported just two weeks ago by a hunter. Pretty dense brush
out here. JAX: So would this white bear
just be a polar bear? That doesn't really make sense
down here. TOMMY: Maybe it's not
a pure polar bear. They have cross-bred
with grizzlies. NARRATOR: Polar bears are
the largest bears in the world, which makes them the largest
carnivores on land. Males commonly reach
1,500 pounds and can get well over 2,000. But in Alaska, their range
is limited to the north and northwest fringes
of the state. However, cross-breeds
of polar bears and grizzlies have been found in the wild. Could this have led
to a white bear that's comfortable
in warmer climates? Check this out, guys. Oh, yeah.
Look at that. We still got some
structures standing. It's been a long time.
Look at all that growth, Tommy. We got to look for signs
of the bear here, any paw marks, tracks,
scratching the buildings. I agree. We need to be looking
for everything, though, guys. I mean, we got to find out
what happened to this village. NARRATOR:
The abandoned village has shades
of another American mystery -- the lost colony
of Roanoke Island. Established in 1587, Roanoke was the first English
colony in the new world. But when a supply ship
showed up three years later, everyone had vanished. Theories ranged from an attack
by hostile Spaniards to a failed relocation
in search of resources. But these Alaskan natives
were skilled survivalists and had no known enemies,
limiting such theories. Careful now.
There could be squatters or wild animals that
aren't happy to see us. The village has been uninhabited
for nearly 60 years, but relic hunters
and other visitors have cleaned out most of it. We're clear, Tommy.
Coming out. NARRATOR: The team searches
the sparse remains of the settlement. They know the odds
of finding evidence this long after the incident
are slim, but there could be traces
of biological matter that offer some insight. KEN: I pull out my UV light,
hoping that I might get lucky and find some old dried blood
or something, but I'm not seeing anything. You guys seeing anything? Not yet. I'm just seeing a bunch
of broken-down buildings. [ Camera shutter clicks ] This place
is falling apart here. We're clear here. Ken,
we're good to go, buddy. What's the plan? I searched all around. I looked for everything,
you know. I mean, any signs we could
find at all, you know -- bears, people, blood --
and some sign of what happened
to this village. TOMMY:
I think we need to check the perimeter
of the village here. I agree. NARRATOR: As the team
widens their search, Ken breaks out a metal detector. If there are any shallow graves,
there could be jewelry or other artifacts
that might reveal them. [ Beeping ] Leaving no stone
unturned, huh? Man, I'm finding nothing. No signs of remains,
bones -- anything. We pretty much can rule out
plague and famine. I mean, we're so close
to the coastline. All this lush landscape, there's no way people
died of famine. No. And if it was a plague
and people died, there would be remains. Absolutely,
you would see something. -Hey, guys!
-What do you got?! KEN: I just noticed something
on the ground, so I started poking around
over here. You seeing this? -What do you got?
-I mean, look at these. These have definitely been
placed here in a circle. This could mean something. NARRATOR: Ken has found
a small ring of stones. It's unclear whether
its function was ceremonial or survivalist. JAX: I mean, it just kind of
looks like a fire pit to me. You got potential squatters
and maybe even residences here. Can we just dig this up
a little bit and see
what's underneath? -All right.
-We can do that. JAX: What do you got there,
Tommy? That has been buried
a long time. That kind of looks like
a vertebrae, doesn't it? -Yeah, those are bones.
-Right here. -No doubt about it.
-Looks like a fish to me. KEN:
I know from my research that stone circles
have a lot of significance. The Inuit people would make
sacrificial offerings to some of their spirits. Well, I don't know
if these are just a meal or part of an offering. Yeah, it's hard to say. NARRATOR:
Sacrificial offerings are a part of virtually
every known religion, grounded in the principle of bringing the best
of one's bounty to the deity that provided it. But anything less could draw
the god's wrath. Could these fish bones
represent a sacrifice to the bear god Torngarsuk,
ruler of the sea? And could they be from the time when the village
was still populated? Fish is the offering of choice
to the Torngarsuk. So my theory
may have some validity. Perhaps this bear spirit
found this offering was not substantial enough,
and so it, you know, drove the people out
of this area. Well, whatever happened, we need
to bag it up and keep moving. Well, we're definitely
not gonna know what it is till we get it analyzed,
so let's get it to the lab. Keep moving. My guess is that someone passing
through here recently took a break and cooked a fish. Hopefully, a forensics analysis
can tell us for sure. TOMMY: Let's see
what else we can find. NARRATOR: As the day winds down
with no more evidence found, the team heads back to the shore
to meet up with the boat for a ride back to the mainland. JAX: Well, I'm excited to find
out what these bones are. Yeah.
Yeah, it's -- TOMMY: Hey, guys, here's some
building material here. JAX: Look at that. Tommy, you think
that just drifted in or could it be
from the village? Oh, I think it absolutely
drifted in. It's all rounded, it's been on
the beach for a long time. Hmm. Could have been a cabin
or part of a dock. Some barnacles
or something. Look at that buried in there.
It's not a rock. Hey, Ken, check that out. What is this? That's not driftwood. What do you think
could have done that? What's that from? It's old,
that's for sure. Some planking on a boat. Let me see that. That could be interpreted
as teeth marks, right? I see
what you're looking at. -Tommy, what do you think?
-I don't know. All right, well,
if that is a bite, then what could possibly
make a bite that large? Nothing that I know of. Maybe it's not a bite mark. TOMMY: The idea of an animal
attacking a boat doesn't make sense. Most animals will swim away before risking
that kind of confrontation. But I have to admit
that missing chunk does look a lot like
a bite mark. I know that's bigger
than a sea lion can do. How about a shark?
Salmon shark? Salmon shark is not gonna bite
through this thick a plank. I mean, guys, this opens up
a whole 'nother mystery. I'm not qualified
to make a determination as to what this is,
so I think we need to get this
into the hands of an expert. NARRATOR:
The interior of Alaska has vast stretches
unexplored by modern man. What unknown creatures
might be lurking in this enormous expanse? And could they be contributing to the large number of people
that go missing here? A northern legend of a massive
bear god called Torngarsuk seems to be based on a real
animal -- the polar bear. But polar bears don't exist in
the southern part of the state, where a sighting tied this
legend to a vanished village. One possibility is that
the witness saw a Kermode bear, a black bear
with a recessive gene that turns 10% of its
population white. This has earned it
the nickname spirit bear. The problem is Kermode bears
are a small species -- too small to match the testimony
and far too small to drive away
an entire village of natives. The team found some fish bones
at the site and a strangely damaged board that they hope will shed light
on the mystery. Ken and Tommy visit the zoo
to meet with Tim Bertram, an animal expert
who's examined their evidence. Come on in. -Hey, Tim!
-Hey! -This is my friend Tommy.
-Hey, man, good to see you. -Tommy, nice to meet you.
-Hi. -What do we got?
-I got your results in, and what we have here
is a large flat fish. So I did have them
run some tests and the DNA sample came back
that it is a halibut. Well, can you tell us anything
about the age? Unfortunately,
carbon dating of bones of this nature has
a wide margin of error. You couldn't really tell
the difference between a 10-year-old bone
and a 50-year-old bone. My best guess is
it's been weathered and buried
for a few decades. Yeah. Halibut has always been a prized
food fish in southern Alaska. So there's a good chance
it was just somebody's meal. Without knowing the age
of the bones, we can't assume that it was
any sort of offering. So, Tim,
what about the board we found? I mean,
those looked like bite marks. Is there any chance
that those could have been made by some kind of sea creature
or maybe even a bear? It's interesting, because
they do look like bite marks, and they do look like
they're puncture wounds from the canine teeth
of a large carnivore. The combination of canines
and incisors makes it likely that it would be from a mammal
and not from a fish. It could be sea lions. They have very similar dentition
to the bears. Wolves also have
similar dentition. However,
what really strikes me is the distance
between the two canines. The canine teeth
on an adult polar bear are, on average,
about three inches apart. Hmm. Your board actually
has a gap of five inches. That's -- that's a little less
than double the size. Could this bear be twice
the size as normal? Uh, well, if you multiply
the distance across the canine teeth
and extrapolate that, that would indicate a bear
that was perhaps eight times the normal size
of adult bears today in Alaska. NARRATOR: The size difference
of the bite mark is only across one dimension --
width. If the difference
were multiplied across all three dimensions, it would suggest a bear
of unbelievable proportions. Well, that's biologically
impossible, right, Tim? We're not gonna see that. I mean, the bear would
collapse onto itself. -Right.
-I would agree. This could be an anomaly,
it could perhaps be a bear with a disfigured jaw
or something of that nature, or it could be from
a completely different animal. There are extinct bears that do have larger sizes
than today's bears. The short-faced bear is
an example of a Pleistocene bear that grew
to extreme sizes -- larger than today's
biggest polar bears and biggest Kodiak bears. It also had a different
dentition than those bears that had shorter jaws, and they were very powerful,
very muscular. NARRATOR: The giant short-faced
bear was a colossal specimen that once roamed
the Alaskan wilderness. This enormous animal
could stand 12 feet tall and its larger legs enabled it to run at speeds
up to 40 miles per hour. Its short, compressed muzzle
gave it a wider spread of teeth, similar to the mark on the wood. But all signs are
that this bear went extinct about 20,000 years ago. Could there be
a surviving strain living in the wilds of Alaska? Was there any DNA
on the sample or... No, we weren't able to get
any DNA off that sample. Okay. Well, Tim, this has been
great information. Thanks again for your time.
I always appreciate it. NARRATOR: On a quest
to find a more modern incident that might tie
into the bear-god legend, Jax heads to a local dock. He's been told that one of the
captains knows all the stories that have taken place
in the nearby waters. -Hey, Captain Mike.
-Oh, hey, how are you? -Hey, I'm Jax.
-Oh, good! -Nice to meet you.
-Oh, pleasure to meet you. Hey, I won't take
a whole lot of your time, I just got a little interesting
question to ask you. My friends and I, we were out
on Hinchinbrook Island, and we found a piece
of shipwrecked wood that has got what appears
to be a bite mark out of it. Have you ever heard
of any strange encounters near Hinchinbrook
involving animal attacks? Yeah, I do know a guy that,
oh, seven or eight years ago had a bad experience
out in the Sound. He was out fishing in that same
area around Hinchinbrook. And, uh... [ Thump ] ...something hit the boat. And he sees
this massive white paw just grabbing the boat. And tried to get away
real quick, but by the time
he could look again... there's just a little
swish in the water where something was there. When you say "paw," you're
referring to a bear paw, right? Well, he didn't know
what it was, but he -- he described it
like a bear paw. -And that was all he saw?
-That's all he saw. So something would have to be
pretty big to knock that off. It would have to be
pretty substantial, yeah. Huh.
So did you believe the guy? Well, uh, I don't know him
that well, but he seems like
a stand-up guy. Yeah. And just from the look
and the terror on his face when he told me
the story... -All right.
-...I believe he saw something. Well, do you think you could
show me on a map where it was? Yeah, you bet. He said it was right outside
the Cordova Harbor here. Okay. And what is our distance
from the harbor? Well, from the north end
of Hinchinbrook, it's right at 25 miles.
-Hmm. JAX: I don't know if that
fisherman actually saw a bear. But bears are territorial, and this happened in the same
basic territory as the village. So maybe there's something
to this. NARRATOR: Each year
in the Alaska Triangle... thousands of people
are reported missing. In most cases,
it's one or two people at a time who disappear
into this vast wilderness. But what could have caused
an entire village to vanish? Sightings of a large, white bear
have called to mind the Torngarsuk, a bear god
of northern folklore. Could this metaphysical being
be active down here, or is there a more tangible
animal on the prowl? The team starts prepping
for an overnight stakeout. While Tommy secures a bear trap, Jax and Ken meet with
some bear-survival experts... JAX:
This is the place, man. ...just in case
there's a real bear out there. -Hey, guys. How you doing?
-How's it going, man? -I'm Jax.
-Brian. Nice to meet you. -Jax, Clint.
-Nice to meet you, Clint. So what are you guys
doing here in Alaska? Well, we're on an investigation
that we think possibly might be dealing with
an exceptionally large bear. So do you guys want to capture
or kill this animal? Capture, first off so we could
continue our investigation. But the whole idea
is to not die. That's the most important one,
for sure. So I guess the question
I would ask you guys, what is your experience
with -- with firearms? Uh, we're gonna be using
a tranquilizer gun out there, but I always carry
a sidearm. When we meet people with
firearms, we try to shy away from depending
on ballistics. Let's go over here. BRIAN: One point we want to make
about using the firearm, and, Clint, can I have one of
those to work with right there? Okay, when an individual
is in this position and they're defending themselves
from a bear attack, if they miss the bear, they're in almost one of the
worst positions for an attack. And the person now goes
back on their back, and this is now
all open to attack. And that's why we like spray, because it's an all encompassing
wall of pepper and, you know, a deterrence. Do you want us to show you
some bear spray? -Absolutely.
-That would be awesome. Yeah, we got -- we got a lot of
bear spray here at the school. JAX: I am confident
in my shooting abilities, but I know short-range
handgun shots can miss or be ineffective. So it's good to practice
another option. First things first,
grab both hands. You want to aim
at your target, and then you want
to have it high. Your hands
a little bit higher. Right about there.
Good. And then what I want you to do
is simply take your thumb, put it forward,
and pull that safety off. There you go.
Excellent. Now this is your safety is off
and you're ready to fire. Your thumb is gonna go around
this black lever, and let's go ahead
and see what that feels like. And go. -Keep spraying, keep spraying!
-Keep spraying! Bring it down slightly.
Bring it down. There you go, good!
Good. -Keep going, Ken.
-Keep going, dump that thing. -And turn.
-Good job! -Excellent.
-That's how it goes. -Safeties back on.
-Yeah. Using this bear spray
seems easy, but if there's an 800-pound bear
coming at me, that's gonna be some pressure. I could see how you could
struggle with the safety or miss the trigger. And if this bear
is multiple times normal size, then even a perfect shot
might not stop it completely. NARRATOR: The possibility
of a monstrous bear is more than a theory
to Paul Vardell, who had a strange experience
near Cordova in 2010. So I was doing this Saturday
hike near the coast, and the path was kind of up
in the woods. And it gets a pretty decent
breeze in the summertime. As I was hiking along, I smell
this, like, briny ocean smell, which would have made sense
closer to the water, but this far up, it just --
it seemed off to me. I didn't think much of it.
I kept hiking. I come around this corner
in the trail, and up ahead,
there's this rock outcropping. And just over the outcropping, I can see the back of what has
to be this just huge animal. And the first thing that came
to my mind was polar bear, because it was -- it was white. Which makes no sense. There's no way a polar bear
would be this far south. And even a polar bear
is not gonna be that big. And before I really registered
what I was seeing, I hear this low,
deep, like, rumbling growl. [ Growl ] And whatever it was,
dropped down below the rocks. I just froze,
and I sat there for
like two or three full minutes. Eventually, I convinced myself
to kind of walk up around and see if I could see
what this thing was, and by the time I got
up around the rocks, it was gone,
there was nothing there. But in the ground, there were
these huge paw prints. Like, two or three times the
size of a normal bear paw print. I didn't stick around
to find out what it was. I got out of there 'cause anything that big
would eat me whole. NARRATOR:
Armed as well as they can be, the team heads back
toward Hinchinbrook Island to do an overnight stakeout. They brought bait to go
with the trap Tommy's procured. It will be set up as an offering
to the bear god while also serving as a lure
for any real bears. Well, we're gonna set the trap
up up near a tree, 'cause we have to have
an anchor to attach it to so it doesn't get away. Extreme caution out there
because, you know, you step into that trap,
it'll snap your leg right off. It's got teeth on it.
-Oh! KEN: It sounds like we got
all the bases covered. -Yeah.
-I can't think of anything else. Hey, guys. KEN: What's up? You have binoculars? Look in that tree cropping
right there. Where, there? Yeah, that outcropping
of trees right there. That's something -- something
very large and white. I don't see anything. JAX: I don't know if the story
is getting to me, but I'm convinced I saw some
sort of big, white creature out there in the woods. We have to get there
immediately. Hey, guys. KEN: What's up? You have binoculars? Look in that tree cropping
right there. Something very large
and white. Whatever it is,
is in the trees right now. I don't know if the story
is getting to me, but I'm convinced I saw some
sort of big, white creature out there in the woods. We have to get there
immediately. NARRATOR: The team makes
their way toward the tree line. They know it's only been two
weeks since a hunter reported seeing a huge, white bear here,
so they have to be cautious. Hey, guys, I think
I last saw it up this way. Guys, I saw it
right in this area. What's that?
Hold on, Tommy. TOMMY: Oh, yeah.
See the ground? KEN:
Think that's a bear track? I vaguely see
some toes up there. This is more of a heel pad
back here. I don't think it's a brown bear, 'cause you definitely would see
claw marks up there. This track is smeared. I know that the pads
of polar bear feet contain lots
of tiny papillae. They help to create friction
between the foot and the ice. Obviously, the track
is too compromised to see if it had those. Polar bears have smaller,
stubbier claws, more -- more pulled back. Considering how fast this thing,
whatever it was, disappeared, completely vanished, I don't
think we can rule out something
supernatural here. Well, guys, I believe
I saw something here, so I think I need to set up,
stake out. Let's find a good spot
for me to be in this area. Yeah. JAX:
Splitting up for the night will maximize our chances
of seeing what's out here. It sounds risky, but we've had
our bear defense training, so it's worth the gamble. Up here, guys.
There's a clearing up here. Yeah, I think this
is a good spot, guys. KEN:
Great vantage point, man. I got a good vantage
point here, yeah. I can stay in contact with you
guys with the radio, and you guys can head up
to the village. Sounds good.
Sounds good. All right. We'll check in
in a few minutes. NARRATOR:
The team leaves enough gear for Jax to set up an overnight
stakeout in the woods. He pitches a tent and will log
his time here on a video camera. Ken and Tommy
arrive at the village and set up the bear trap
at the stone circle, which they could watch
from nearby structures. KEN: What are we
doing here, Tommy? What's this for? Making a little tripod
to hold the bait. That's rockfish. Tommy places a camera
next to the bait. Looks like it's set, Ken. Let's go to the cabin,
eh? It will provide a live feed
to their laptop, allowing them to get
an up-close look at anything
that approaches the trap. KEN: Preparing for this stakeout
is unnerving. I mean, if there's
an oversized bear out there, I've got to wonder if a
tranquilizer gun and bear spray are gonna be enough. And if it's a bear god,
we might suffer the same fate as the former residents
of this village. NARRATOR: The possibility
of a massive bear on Hinchinbrook Island
is not unprecedented. The test case is just down the
Gulf of Alaska on Kodiak Island, home of the largest brown bears
in the world. Kodiak bears were cut off
from the rest of their species during the last ice age
12,000 years ago. Oftentimes an isolated
population of large carnivores evolves smaller due
to limited resources. But the abundance of salmon
on Kodiak, coupled with the lack
of competition had the opposite effect. Could a similar situation
on Hinchinbrook have caused the same result
for a population of white bears? Long-time Alaskan resident and
pilot Noah Silver believes so, based on something he saw while flying over Hinchinbrook
in 2004. I've lived in Alaska
my whole life, and I fly my plane
to get around. One night, I was flying
through some dense fog and decided I needed to get down so that I could not just rely
on instrument navigation. As I pulled into the clear
along the shore line, I noticed a huge creature. Giant, really. It looked like a polar bear, except for three or four times
as big. Maybe 10 feet or more
at the shoulders. I turned around to get
a better look. But by the time I doubled back,
it was gone. I had once heard of a legend
of a giant bear, and... and to me, now, it's not
a legend, it's -- it's real. NARRATOR:
Several hours into the stakeout, the team has yet to see
or hear anything unusual. Jax scans the surrounding woods
with a thermal imager, looking for any heat traces
that indicate a life form. No signs of scat
or broken branches. The foliage is very dense. I think if there was
a large bear here, there'd be a lot more
broken branches. Hey, Ken,
you seeing anything? KEN:
Nothing yet, brother. Nothing. Grab the thermal camera and have a look
outside here. Keep an eye
on our trap out there. Good idea. [ Sighs ] KEN:
It's a little surprising to me that we haven't seen anything
so far. That fish
is a tempting food source. I mean, I would think
that something would have at least
checked it out. JAX:
All right, it's 0247 hours. I've completed my thermal
imaging around the camp. I've seen no signs of bear or any knocked-down branches
or signs of scat. The temperatures
have really dropped. And it's raining. Trying to warm up here
in the tent for a little bit. Hey, Tommy? TOMMY: Yeah, Jax? Real cold and real quiet. How about you guys? Yeah, same here.
We're not reading anything. All right,
we might be in for a long one. Long one, yes, indeed. [ Creature snarling ] What was that? [ Creature snarling ] What was that? [ Loud snap ] KEN: You heard that? I heard that. I think it came from
the direction of Jax's camp. Here,
I'll give him a shout. No, no, no!
Don't call him. You could potentially
bring something to him, you know what I mean? They hear the walkie go off.
-Got ya, got ya. -Should we go down there?
-We should. -Get the rifle.
-I got the rifle. Lights off. NARRATOR: If the team
is hearing a bear, it's a frightening concern. Bears prefer
to steer clear of humans. If it's coming close,
it could be on the hunt and viewing them as prey. Jax?! Shh. What do you got, man? I don't know. Definitely like a low,
guttural growl sound. I couldn't tell what direction
it came from. It sounded like it was coming
from your direction, that's why we come over. I've done a couple 360 sweeps
all the way through camp, but I didn't see anything. I know I heard something, but there hasn't been a sound
since I got outside the tent. If an animal were still around, the thermal
would have picked it up. Whatever made that noise, it must have been
heading somewhere else. We need to get back
to you guys' trap. Let's get up and see
what's happening there. JAX: Well? Trap's still there,
bait's there. Trail-cam. Yep, trail-cam's clean. No pictures. Everything's undisturbed. This is really disappointing. The night's nearly over and we have nothing
to show for our stakeout. We need to regroup and see
if there's any final play we can make in the time
that we have left. You guys want to head back
to your cabin? KEN: Well, if there was
a bear in the area, it would have definitely gone
for that fish. TOMMY: Sure enough. You know
they're smelling it. Well, unless it was smart
and knew it was a trap. So you're acknowledging that we could be dealing
with something supernatural? That maybe the Torngarsuk
could be a real thing? At this point, I don't
know what to believe. What the crap, guys?!
What happened here, guys?! [Bleep] You guys, there's [bleep]
all over the place. KEN: We did not leave it
like this, man. This has obviously
been ransacked. Man, I am convinced someone is
on this island messing with us. Start accounting
for our gear, man. There's a lot
of expensive stuff here. Here's my night vision. -Computer.
-Computer, still there. Our bags are just
totally ripped wide open. Flipped over. I've got the K2,
I've got GPS, car blaster. All the food's gone. All right, well, bears are
notorious food thieves, right? So are humans. But if it were humans,
you know, look, all our expensive
equipment's here. Hey, it's pretty damp
out there, man. There'd be, like,
footprints or something. KEN: Whatever came in here didn't leave us
any identifying evidence. So could this have been some
kind of metaphysical being maybe sending us a message? You know, guys,
think about it. Maybe this was
the Torngarsuk. I mean, maybe this is
some kind of warning, by taking our food,
it's trying to tell us what -- "Get out of here,
you have no more food"? You can't survive,
something like that? JAX: [ Sighs ]
All right. I don't feel safe. I'm gonna pack up my gear. Whatever's in here
obviously knows we're here. I don't see any evidence
of who -- who came in here. NARRATOR: The team decides
to collect their gear so they can spend the rest
of the stakeout at Jax's tent. They'll be safer as a group if anyone or anything comes
looking for more contraband. Let's get rolling. [ Sighs ] Wait a minute.
Hey, Ken, check this out. Look at that, Jax.
-What is it? It's a white fuzz
or something. KEN: It's hair! NARRATOR: The Alaska Triangle is known for the large number
of people who go missing here. But what could make
the population of an entire village vanish? Could the Torngarsuk, a god in
the form of a giant white bear have driven the villagers away
or destroyed them completely? The team is hoping
to find evidence of this legendary figure or of any real bear
that could have inspired it. Let's get rolling. And they just found
an intriguing clue. Wait a minute.
Hey, Ken, check this out. Look at that, Jax.
-What is it? It's a white fuzz
or something. KEN: It's hair! Or fur or something, man. Is it -- is it, like,
caught in the wood? Okay, well,
what are we looking at in terms of indigenous
animals here? Tall sheep, but that's way
too tall for that. Mountain goat. -Same -- same thing.
-Yeah. Way too --
they're way too high. Maybe this is
your polar bear hair, Jax. We haven't found
any biological evidence at all, so this is
kind of exciting. The lab can check this
out for us. Tommy, you got
that paper bag? KEN: I don't know if this hair
is connected to whatever stole our food,
but it is tangible evidence of something that was
in the structure once. And we need to find out
what it is. I can't identify that. Tommy, you've worked
with polar bear fur. Does that look
anything like it? No. Polar bear fur
is a lot coarser. Um, thicker, and translucent. This is not translucent at all. NARRATOR:
It's a common misperception that polar bear fur is white. Each hair is actually colorless,
with a hollow core that reflects and scatters light in a way that creates the illusion
of whiteness. The same phenomenon
is at play with snow. Each flake is composed of ice
crystals, which are translucent. But in aggregate,
they appear white. What that means is
if this hair is from a bear, it's not a typical polar bear. And we got a whole bunch of it,
whatever it is. Well, let's get that off
to be analyzed. The team heads for Jax's tent
to finish their stakeout, but the rest of the night
remains uneventful. Two days later,
they reconvene in town to discuss the results
of the lab test. -Gentlemen.
-How you doing? Good.
All right. Well, I got something
for you. I was honestly
kind of nervous, 'cause as you know
with hair samples, it's kind of hit and miss. But it turns out
that the hair is human. -Human?
-Yeah. Now, the sample is highly
degraded, it's decades old. Huh. I think the likely reality
is that the hair belonged to someone
who lived in the village, you know, before
everyone vanished. -It's that old, huh?
-Yeah, absolutely, so... -Kind of makes sense, though.
-Mm-hmm. I mean, that's what
they're thinking. Now, obviously,
it didn't match anybody in their database, so... Of course not --
from a sample that old. I wouldn't expect someone
from a fishing village to be inside
any DNA website. Well -- well,
this proves that this hair didn't belong to a polar bear. But we have other clues
we still can't explain. Yeah, I mean, if you, you know,
consider the smeared footprint that we found and that enormous
bite out of the board, that suggests a bear
with a deformed jaw or a bear of potentially
extraordinary size. It kind of fits
the mold of the Torngarsuk. You know,
consider a spirit -- a spirit
who can temper his wrath, and you know, essentially,
he was giving us a -- a warning, he was a protector. So rather than attacking us,
he was, you know, basically just telling us
to get out of there. So...
-So which is it? An exceptional bear, or like you were saying,
maybe a bear spirit? NARRATOR: The team
is unable to prove the existence of a physical being
that would explain these bizarre bear sightings. Could such a creature exist? Genetic differentiation
does show that white bears can be found
in non-polar regions. But would a purely physical
bear, no matter how large, be enough to frighten off
an entire native community? Sightings indicate something is
behind the Torngarsuk legend, whether it's an animal... [ Roaring ] ...or a god, its existence
could be one more reason... Wait a minute.
Hey, Ken, check this out. NARRATOR: ...people continue
to go...Missing in Alaska.
