NARRATOR: On this episode of "Destination Truth"...
Now, this is what I'm talking about!
NARRATOR: ... Josh's team bashes through the dunes of Namibia
to investigate a sand-covered town
that locals claim is haunted.
[ Gasps ]
I swear, someone is breathing in my ear.
Who is in here with me?
NARRATOR: Next, Team Truth braves Panamanian rapids
in search of an unknown, slimy creature
making international headlines.
It looked like nothing I'd quite ever seen before.
In flooded caves, is the team hunting a monster,
or being hunted themselves?
[ Screaming ]
Hold on!
GATES: I'm Josh Gates.
In my travels, I've seen some unexplainable things
and I've done some things I can't quite explain.
Now, I've pulled together a team armed
with the latest technology in the search for answers
to the world's strangest mysteries.
I'm not sure what's out there waiting for me,
but I know what I'm looking for — the truth.
Throughout history, man has faced off against nature
in pursuit of prosperity.
Such is the story of the abandoned ghost town
of Kolmanskop in remote southern Namibia.
In 1908, German colonists founded Kolmanskop
after discovering diamonds in the earth below.
Today, the decaying remains of Kolmanskop
are overflowing with sandy dunes
from an unforgiving desert determined
to take back the land.
The town has been uninhabited for over half a century,
but according to recent news reports,
an unexplained presence has emerged from the sand.
Residents of neighboring Luderitz who have dared
to explore this ruined village have returned
with terrifying tales of encounters
with unexplained noises,
and even physical contact, with unknown entities.
During the diamond era, life in Kolmanskop
was dangerous and even deadly.
The miners endured brutal working conditions,
and many perished in the intolerable heat.
Are these the restless souls that have blown in with the sand
and allegedly haunt this ghost town?
My team and I prepare to travel to this inhospitable boom town
gone bust.
We boarded a plane in Los Angeles
and knocked out a 9,500-mile,
20-hour-long flight
to the Namibian city of Swakopmund.
Maybe it was the jet lag, but this town definitely
didn't feel like Africa.
Something about this doesn't feel quite right.
Where did you fly me, Josh?
I feel like we're in, like, Bavaria.
Ya.
The strange architecture is attributed to the Germans,
who colonized Namibia at the turn of the last century.
good thing I packed my lederhosen.
GATES: Rex took the opportunity to stock up
on some hot German fashions.
Oh, my god.
That's nice.
What's amazing is, the worst part of it
is your actual goatee.
[ Laughter ]
Rex, you got a little something right here.
You just keep missing it.
One of the great joys of traveling
is sampling unique street food.
Hello.
However, the definition of "food"
is known to vary from country to country.
There's no way I'm breaking caterpillar with you.
Okay. Let's just get crazy.
One by one, my team choked down the lumpy larva
until it was Allie's turn to dig in.
Mm. It's good.
I'd have another.
I wish it came in a combo.
It's an American thing.
Oh, my god.
GATES: We traveled on to talk with a local resident
who hiked through Kolmanskop
and felt a palpable presence there.
And so, you think Kolmanskop is a haunted place?
While the team secured supplies for the journey ahead,
Rex and I hopped in a plane to scout out Kolmanskop
in advance of our night investigation.
To reach the sand-covered site, we flew more than 500 miles
from Swakopmund to the southern village of Luderitz.
Our flight path took us over Namibia's
aptly named Skeleton Coast.
Heavy fog and a jagged coastline make this one
of the most deadly seafaring routes in the world.
As evidence, the beaches are littered with the remnants
of over 1,000 shipwrecks trapped in the shifting dunes.
Upon reaching Luderitz, our tiny plane banked east.
In just a matter of moments, we were flying over
the abandoned ghost town of Kolmanskop.
After surveying the village from above, we had hoped to land
and send the plane back for the rest of the team.
However, unpredictable weather conditions threw a wrench
in our plans.
Since landing at Luderitz wasn't an option,
we had to turn the plane around
and fly all the way back to Swakopmund, where my team
and I would have to make the entire journey in a 4x4.
Without the benefit of a plane, it would take more than 12 hours
to traverse the brutal Namib Desert,
where daytime temperatures can exceed 150 degrees.
Well, Rex and I took a beautiful flight,
and the good news is that, it's a very scenic drive.
The bad news is that, it's a very long distance.
After endless driving through the bleak desert landscape,
Ryder was getting a little antsy in the back seat.
Look at that, wild ostriches,
one of the fastest animals in the world.
RYDER: I don't think they're that fast.
Ryder, stop trying to race every animal in the world.
You are not faster than an ostrich.
I bet Ryder is faster than an ostrich.
Let me out of this car.
Show you what I can do.
♪♪
Ready?
♪♪
No! No! No!
Those ostriches are fast.
[ Exhales loudly ]
Just need to catch my breath.
GATES: Our long day on the road came to an end with our arrival
in the coastal village of Luderitz.
Wasting no time, we track down a local woman
who claimed to have seen
a ghostly apparition in Kolmanskop.
And what did she look like?
Describe her for me.
And do you think it was a ghost?
We met with another local resident who had a tale
that she was eager to share.
Do many people spend the night at Kolmanskop?
Nobody?
Despite her ominous warning, we forged ahead to investigate
the unusual happenings of Kolmanskop.
With deserts on every side, we decided to travel there
in some vehicles a little more appropriate for the task.
Now, this is what I'm talking about!
♪♪
Okay. We're here.
Just before nightfall, we arrived at Kolmanskop,
which has to be seen to be believed.
Massive drifts of sand engulf the entire city,
infiltrating buildings
and consuming some structures altogether.
With the sun setting behind the dunes,
we race to set up our base camp.
We centered our operation in an abandoned building
to protect our gear from the intrusive sand and wind.
We then placed four IR cameras in some of the village's
most notorious hot spots,
including the barracks, the hospital
and the mining offices.
Rex for Tony. Infrared camera three is up.
Locking it down.
Motion-activated trap cameras
were then deployed along the main thoroughfares.
Two teams would split up to investigate the site,
while Tony would remain at base camp
to monitor the surveillance equipment.
Look at this. I got Jael, Ryder and Allie.
This is, like, my dream team.
I got all my ladies.
This is like Josh's Angels.
This place is an investigator's dream.
It's, like, so many buildings.
Usually, you just go investigate one of these.
GATES: Looks like one of the big houses.
It's the resident of the store's manager.
Now, if that doesn't look haunted, I don't know what does.
The structure looks pretty sound from the outside.
Let's try the front door.
Oh, my God.
All right, you two check out upstairs.
Allie, let's check down the halls.
ALLIE: All right.
JAEL: Let's go slow.
It looks like it gets worse as we go up.
Hello?
GATES: It just goes on and on, room after room.
I don't know why. I just get a strange feeling in here.
I think this is a good place to take out the Trifield Meter.
Yeah, good idea.
Okay. I'm getting a good base reading.
Just let it settle.
This is a good spot to use that
'cause there's no electricity anymore.
There's no machinery whatsoever.
If there's any kind of electromagnetic energy,
that'll definitely pick it up.
This is really creepy in here.
Hey, hey, hey.
Come look at this.
This Trifield's going crazy right now.
Look at it. - Oh, my god.
It's definitely picking up some sort of electromagnetic field
right in here.
Whoa!
Oh, my god! What was that?
Come look at this.
This Trifield's going crazy right now.
Look at it. - Oh, my god.
It's definitely picking up some sort of
electromagnetic field right in here.
Whoa!
Oh, my god! What was that?
Guys, where are you?
ALLIE: Josh, did you hear that?
What?
It sounds like there's someone outside.
There's nobody out here.
Might've been a piece of debris or something just kicked by.
Let's make our way to the next building. It's over here.
We'll get inside, get some shelter from the wind
and continue to search.
The school should be down here.
Folks say they hear weird noises in the school,
definitely high on our list to check out.
Whew, I just got the willies in here.
Be a great spot for an EVP session.
This is an EVP session.
Erin, Josh, Jael, Allie, and Kyle present.
Is anybody here?
I have a device here that measures low frequencies.
Can you make the lights on this machine go off?
If there is a presence in this room,
please repeat this sound.
[ Banging ]
RYDER: Did you just hear that?
Yeah. I heard it.
The geophone's picking it up, too.
[ Gasps ]
Oh. Oh. I heard it again.
It seems to really be responding to what you ask.
That's kind of scary, Ryder.
If there is a presence here...
can you show yourself?
Are you okay, Ryder?
Yeah. I'm just having a little trouble breathing.
We mean no harm.
We just want to know if you're here.
I don't feel good.
What's wrong?
It feels like, just, something's closing around my lungs.
Okay. Let's get you out of this room.
Let's get back. - Her heart's racing.
Ugh.
Stay right there.
Are you okay? Whoa.
Are you okay?
I can't take this off, can't take this off.
Here.
Take it off.
ALLIE: Maybe we should get her outside.
Ugh.
This place is kind of crazy.
Are you okay?
- Yeah. - Do you need your inhaler?
I don't think so, anymore.
Ugh. - You just needed some fresh air.
It felt like, like, a fist was closing over my lungs.
Are you okay now?
I feel better now that I'm out of that room.
I just need to take it slow for a while.
Okay. Let's do this.
Let's leave the digital audio recorders running in there.
Yeah.
Let's get her back towards base camp.
This looks like the old hospital.
What is this, stairs?
CHRIS: Yeah, looks like a bit of a trapdoor.
Down we go.
Looks like a basement down here.
I wonder if this is where they took the bodies.
Maybe this was the morgue.
Let's do an EVP session down here.
All right. Rex, we got no wind, no openings down here.
We're completely closed in.
If we catch anything, it's not one of us.
Is there anybody here with us?
If you are here, can you give us some sort of sign?
[ Unexplained noise ]
That's footsteps.
It's right above us.
Watch your head.
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God. - What is it, Rex?
There was a person right there, right here by this window,
and they're gone.
Did it just start bleeding?
GABE: All right. I want to get you back to base camp.
No, I'm okay. I just...
I know. I know. I know. But I'm worried about you.
Let's just sit you down.
Yeah. I just need some water.
GATES: I think this is the butchery.
Let's check this out.
This is the freezer room that we've heard about.
Meat hooks.
This is definitely the freezer room.
They say that people have a bad vibe in this room,
and I can feel it right now.
It feels weird in here.
I think we should do some isolation sessions in here.
I agree.
GATES: Tony rigged various cameras inside the butchery,
where locals have reported the most paranormal activity.
I would conduct the first 30-minute isolation session
while the rest of the team gathered at base camp
to monitor the footage.
I'm in. The door is shut, and I am going dark.
Copy that. Starting your clock now.
It looks pretty quiet in there.
Yeah.
Hey, Josh. Are you okay?
No. The room just smells sort of musty, a little bit hot.
It just feels like a tomb in here, really silent.
Okay, Josh, your time is up.
We're gonna come get you.
Yeah, please do. It is not comfortable in here.
Is there anyone in here with me?
She's looking around, probably trying
to get her eyes to adjust.
Ryder, I swear, I feel like something
may have just whispered in my ear.
It was, like, a breath.
Okay. Try to reset for a second and see what happens.
[ Gasps ]
She's out. She's out.
Oh, there it was again.
Did it sound like a man's voice?
Yes. And it's really freaking me out.
I'm gonna try to settle for a moment,
but I don't know how much longer I have in here.
Okay. Copy that.
Just settle up, and we're right here.
Who is in here with me?
I swear, someone is breathing in my ear.
All right. I'm headed over right now to pull you out.
I'll be right there. - Thank you.
GATES: After letting a very relieved Jael out of the butchery
and with the sun nearly on the eastern horizon,
the team and I rendezvoused at base camp,
assembled our gear,
and started the trip back to Los Angeles,
where we would analyze our findings.
We started by offloading and analyzing
our motion-activated trap cameras.
We had trap cameras, obviously, set up all over Kolmanskop.
The one thing we got of interest is this.
This is a sort of "before" photo,
and then, a couple of seconds later, we get this.
- Wow. - That's a lot brighter than just a dust particle.
Of course, the first thing I think is that,
"Well, maybe it's a flashlight,
you know, from somebody on the team."
But there's no shape of anyone behind it.
It's just floating there. - Nothing happens before this.
Nothing happens after. So, I don't think
we can conclusively say this is paranormal,
but I think we can call it abnormal.
You know, we don't readily have an explanation for this,
and I don't think it's a member of our crew.
We spun back the footage of Rex's visual encounter.
Oh, my God!
- What is it, Rex?
There was a person right there.
GATES: But unfortunately, our cameras didn't see what he saw.
His subsequent bloody nose was difficult to evaluate.
Well, there's no way to know if this happened
just from stress of the occurrence.
But because a lot of people reported physical effects
being in this area,
it's possible that it is paranormal.
But I would say it's inconclusive.
GATES: Also, Ryder and Jael each had intense experiences
during our investigation.
For Ryder, the night took a physical toll.
I don't feel good.
What's wrong?
It feels like, just, something's
closing around my lungs.
The most important thing, obviously, is that you're okay.
But from an evidence point of view,
the question becomes, what can we do with this?
Could this just be because we're in this
incredibly dry, dusty place?
I have asthma, and I've had it for a very long time,
but this was not an asthma attack.
It really felt as though something was
compressing my lungs.
This was the first time I literally felt like
some forces were working against me.
GATES: For Jael, the sound of voices seemed to fill the air
during her isolation session.
It just kind of felt almost like a warm sort of breeze or wind
that was going past the left side of my head.
It was distinctly a whisper.
Well, so, what we did is, we went back
right before your reaction
and we amplified the audio
to see if we could hear what you heard.
Give a listen.
Who is in here with me?
Oh, my god!
What we did is, we went back right before your reaction
and we amplified the audio
to see if we could hear what you heard.
Give a listen.
JAEL: Who is in here with me?
[ Indistinct whispering ]
- Oh, my god! - Wow.
That's really scary.
I remember that, distinctly, it was a male voice.
Unfortunately, we can't decipher what it says,
but it really sounds like speech.
It sounds like somebody's whispering in your ear.
Well, I'm really glad that there's corroborating evidence
because, you know, I definitely heard something.
And I'm just glad that we were able to record it.
[ Indistinct whispering ]
Jael, this proves that you're not a crazy person.
[ Laughs ]
Well, I think you're a crazy person
for locking me in a butcher's freezer.
It proves that, too. It proves both of those things.
Great. That's a great point.
It's a great point.
GATES: Namibia is a place where time seems to stand still.
Its cities are relics of a colonial age
and along its barren coast,
ships are forever frozen on their course.
But there is no place on Earth where the sands of time
can be so literally observed
as in the slowly sinking city of Kolmanskop.
Its residents, though long turned to dust,
are still seen...
- Oh, my God! - ... felt...
It feels like, just, something's closing around my lungs.
and heard.
There's more exploration to be done here,
but for those so inclined to make the journey,
be sure not to stay too long
or you, too, might find yourself buried by sand
and trapped in time.
In the remote Panamanian village of Cerro Azul,
a group of boys had a terrifying face-to-face encounter
with a slimy, hairless beast that emerged
from a riverside cave near where they were playing.
When the creature aggressively advanced at them,
the terrified boys hurled rocks in self-defense,
killing the beast.
They took photos of the creature
and ran home to tell their parents.
When they returned to the river, the animal had washed away.
Dubbed "the Cerro Azul Monster,"
the photos found their way online
and spawned a heated debate about the creature's origin.
Was it a mutation, an undiscovered species,
or, perhaps, even an alien?
Using the boys' photographs and eyewitness descriptions,
we created this 3-D
animation of the Cerro Azul Monster.
The animal is entirely hairless with smooth, slimy, opaque skin.
The lack of pigment could be a result of its habitat
in nearby caves.
The creature walks on all fours
and its compact, muscular body packs extreme strength
into a small package.
Just 3 feet in length,
the diminutive creature's massive claws
are its primary defense.
The sharp talons seem perfectly designed to rip flesh from bone.
With the local community demanding answers
about the Cerro Azul Monster,
I was eager to determine what this creature was
once and for all. So, we assembled a team
and prepared for the sweltering Panamanian jungles
in search of this mysterious and unidentified beast.
Our trip began in Los Angeles with a brisk 1,900-mile
flight south to Panama City.
♪♪
On the bustling streets of the capital,
locals commonly commute in outrageous multicolored buses,
and I used my finely crafted skills of negotiation
to commandeer one all for ourselves.
Okay, guys, I found a ride! Let's go!
Josh, did you steal this?
Just get in the bus. No questions.
- What'd you do with the kids? - The kids are fine.
Everybody, just get in the bus. Here we go, guys.
I might have stolen this bus.
With the fuzz possibly on my trail, we hit the road.
Unfortunately, the memories brought on
by riding in a refurbished school bus
sucked the crew into a nostalgic time warp.
[Singing] Patty cake, Patty cake Baker's man.
Hey! I saw that!
I can see you in this mirror. I will pull this bus over.
You understand me?
Erin Ryder, in your seat, please, facing forward.
God, it's like driving a bunch of children around.
The crew fell back in line as we reached our first stop.
In need of supplies for the journey ahead,
we ventured into the city's central market.
♪♪
Panama City, Panama hat.
I feel like Hannibal Lecter.
Ryder, how's your Spanish coming?
- Bueno. - Really?
Hit me with something. What do you got?
Quiero mayonesa en mi pello.
That means you want mayonnaise in your hair.
Maybe I do.
Why don't you just stick with this?
Back on the road, we motored on towards Cerro Azul,
stopping briefly for a minor obstacle —
the Panama Canal.
Arguably the greatest engineering feat
in human history,
this 50-mile-long man-made channel
divides the Americas
and links the world's largest oceans.
In these massive locks, boats are lowered 85 feet
to match the water level of the Pacific.
This critical passage is used to transport everything from food
and oil to middle-aged dudes who like to hang out in Speedos.
Put some pants on, buddy.
Back on the bus, we headed to our next destination.
I arranged a meeting with Dr. Tony Coats
from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
He was quick to highlight that, millions of years ago,
Panama was filled with unusual animals
when North and South America smashed into one another.
This cavalcade of animals went from South America to the north,
and about the same number of families
went from North America to the South,
which literally changed the world.
And new species are being discovered all the time.
With so much biodiversity here, I wanted to ask the doctor
what he thought of the photos of the Cerro Azul Monster.
What did you think you were seeing?
Well, it looked like nothing I'd quite ever seen before,
and it's sort of perplexing.
Do you think it's possible that the people in Cerro Azul
have seen an undiscovered animal?
I'd have to say it's possible.
Doing geology of this part of the world,
I've spent a lot of time living with the Embera.
The Embera are the Indians
that occupy the eastern part of Panama.
So, if you go in the field
and you want to know where
species X or species Y is located,
ask an Embera hunter,
and they know.
I took the doctor's advice and planned to visit
the Embera people to learn
if they were familiar with this unique animal.
But before I could seek them out,
we first travel to the small town of Cerro Azul,
where the monster was discovered.
Once we arrived, we tracked down the boys
who killed the creature
to hear about their terrifying experience.
[ Speaking Spanish ]
Do you think it was trying to attack you?
[ Speaking Spanish ]
After hearing their story,
one of the boys led us to where they encountered the creature.
However, when we near the area, he pointed us on,
not eager to go any further.
Down here?
Okay.
Gracias. - All right, guys, this is it.
Upon reaching the river basin, we split into two teams
and canvas the area,
looking for any trace evidence of the animal or any caves
that could provide a suitable habitat.
Hey, guys! I think I found the cave!
Come here!
Gates, how'd you get down there?
I'm a world-famous explorer, Rex.
Ryder, can I get that thermal imager?
How did you get over there?
I keep telling people, I'm a world-famous explorer.
It's tough to get anything on the thermal.
It's so humid here.
It looks like it definitely goes back.
It's just hard to tell how far.
All right, Ryder, you should be able to read me from there.
Yeah? - Yeah.
I'll try to squeeze in as far as I can.
I'm using the thermal. I can see it goes back further,
but I definitely can't squeeze through there.
It's real narrow.
Yeah. I think it's worth it to go look and see
if there's another entrance, a better opening.
Unable to gain access to the narrow caves,
we decided to try to enter this network of passages
from their opposite side.
Just to the north of Cerro Azul lies
the neighboring Chagres National Park.
This massive 300,000-acre preserve
of dense, tropical rain forest
is a virtually untapped world of extreme biodiversity.
Locals believe the mysterious creature may live here,
undetected by man for thousands of years.
Chagres is also the home to the Embera Indians,
who live isolated from the modern world.
I wanted to reach their remote, tribal village,
and there was only one way to get there.
Here we go! All right, everybody, hang on!
The Chagres River leads directly into the heart of the jungles,
but navigating these fast waters
full of deadly swirling eddies
and class-five rapids wasn't without risk.
We weren't on the river long before we found ourselves
short one cameraman.
- We lost Kyle! - Oh, my God!
Kyle! - Kyle's out!
- Kyle! - Kyle!
Kyle managed to negotiate his way through 400 yards
of raging river before reaching shore.
With the entire team safely back in the boat,
we followed the river to the shores
of an Embera Indian village.
Leaving our rafts behind, we hiked in
and were greeted by members of the tribe.
WOMAN: Hola.
GATES: Bien. Y tu?
Fortunately, one of the tribe's chiefs
was willing to speak with me about the Cerro Azul Monster.
I was surprised to learn that the Embera have told tales
of this creature for generations.
[ Speaking Spanish ]
GABE: He has heard of the Cerro Azul,
and what he thinks it is is a rare, undiscovered animal.
There's another village closer to here
where his friends and family live,
and they have seen it and heard it.
And how big is it?
[ Speaking Spanish ]
It's very small, about the size of a child.
GATES: We thanked the Embera for their help and set out
on foot further into the national park.
After several hours of hiking through the thick jungle,
we were nearing the sightings area
the Embera chief told us about.
Unfortunately, we'd have to get across one significant obstacle.
Okay, that's not good.
Okay. Let's get that length of cable broken out.
We'll get the harnesses, the pulley.
I'll try to get a line across. We'll get it tightened up.
We'll send the crew and the gear over that way.
Yeah? - Yeah. - Yeah.
I took the plunge and fought my way across the raging river.
When I reach the other end, we rigged up the zip line.
Okay! It's secure!
And with the sun having set and darkness upon us,
we started ferrying the team and our gear across.
RYDER: You got it, Allie!
GATES: Once on the other side, we hiked on to a forest clearing
to set up our base camp.
The team placed four IR cameras around the camp
to establish a perimeter.
We also assembled a triangular configuration
of three motion-activated sensors
that would create a virtual fence around the camp
and alert us if anything breached the perimeter.
Our tech manager, Tony, would monitor all this gear
from base camp and radio us if he saw anything unusual.
We have a really interesting opportunity, tonight,
to follow up on what is a legitimate mystery.
We know that something came out of this water.
Something came at these kids.
They photographed it. That's all on record.
We're looking for material remains tonight,
anything that could help us decide
what it is that these kids saw
and whether or not there could be more of them out there.
There is a possibility there's something unknown here.
I'm gonna lead a team tonight with Ryder and Allie and Kyle.
We're gonna see if we can find those caves
that the Embera told us about
that lead over to Cerro Azul.
Chris, why don't you head out with Rex and Gabe?
All right, guys, let's get to work.
We got a long night.
This rain forest is unbelievable,
just so, so massive.
Kind of makes you feel small.
GATES: The actual canopy must go up at least 80, 90 feet.
The forest is just so dense.
Whoa! Stop! Stop! Stop!
Back up! Back up! Back up!
GATES: The forest is just so dense.
Whoa! Stop! Stop! Stop!
Back up! Back up! Back up!
That's a pit viper, very venomous!
Oh, my God.
Right in the middle of the trail.
Always snakes.
It's always snakes.
Okay.
Let him through the trail.
[ Unexplained animal noise ]
You hear that?
Yeah.
What is that?
[ Unexplained animal noise ]
It definitely sounds like an animal.
What is that?
That doesn't sound too far away, either.
I don't have it on the thermal.
There's a clearing up here.
We should get out the parabolic dish
and see if we can pick up something else.
All right. Come on.
Definitely opens up over here.
Look at that.
You can see the whole river from up here.
Let's see if we can figure out whatever it was we just heard.
[ Unexplained animal noise ]
Josh, I hear it again.
- Hey. You got it? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What'd it sound like?
It Sounds like howling.
It's definitely coming from down by the water.
Do you have a clean recording of it?
I definitely have it, but it sounds like it's going away a little bit.
We should head down. - Yeah, let's do it. Come on.
Where did that come from?
GABE: Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Something moving in the tree,
in the tree right there.
You see anything, Rex?
REX: I don't see anything.
I mean, there are monkeys here,
so it could've been a monkey, but...
It was something big enough to move a large branch.
REX: Well, we know this jungle is pretty much
coming alive with activity.
So, let's keep our eyes peeled, see what else we can find.
All right.
GATES: Definitely running water, looks like a river.
Careful. It's kind of slick in here.
All right. We know this thing was spotted
coming out of the river, so let's just keep
following this upstream, see where it leads.
Oh, hold on. I got something on the thermal.
Oh, see how it goes up there?
RYDER: Yeah, it's like a huge cavern.
Yeah, we've got a cave here. Look at this.
Yeah, this thing goes way back.
Let's get those torches broken out, Ryder,
see if we can light this thing up a bit.
All right, guys,
this cave system is basically leading directly toward
the smaller caves we found in Cerro Azul.
So, if some sort of creature came out of that cave,
it stands to reason it might've come from here.
I see a couple of small fish, some crabs in the water.
Yeah. Where there's small fish, there's something eating them.
Water coming in from the surface.
Unbelievable.
Okay.
No more torches.
Let's go back to flashlights.
Oh, guys, look at this.
- What is it? - It's a fish.
It's been ripped in half.
See that? - Yeah, it looks like some kind of a catfish.
Well, something's eating fish down here.
All right. Let's keep moving.
Well, we've got lots of creepy-crawlies,
and we got lots of bats.
RYDER: Ugh, I hate bats.
No sign of the Cerro Azul Monster yet.
It's getting really deep in here, guys.
Ugh. I am freezing right now.
It's just about — Oh, no, there it is.
Oh, boy.
That is refreshing.
Whatever these kids saw, I don't see any evidence
of something that large living down here.
[ Screams ]
RYDER: What? What?
Something just touched my leg!
[ Screams ]
RYDER: What? What?
Something just touched my leg!
[ Chatter ]
Back up! Back up!
Back up where? There's nowhere to go!
Settle down. Settle for one second.
My heart's beating a mile a minute.
The water's settled down. I don't see anything.
Look around. See if you can figure out what it is.
Oh, you guys, there are creatures down here.
I don't even know what that is.
It's a cave scorpion.
What? Come on.
They bite.
Starting to get tight in here, guys.
This is basically the end of the line.
Let's back it up, head back toward the surface, yeah?
RYDER: Good idea.
I do not feel safe anywhere in this cave right now.
All right. Bats — check.
Scorpion — check.
Me leaving — check.
[ Alarm beeping ]
Base camp to anyone, I have a perimeter alarm going off.
Is there anyone nearby?
Rex for base camp. We're pretty close.
Which one's going off?
Rex, zone three.
It's about 600 yards west of camp.
Copy that, Tony. We're on our way.
Keep an eye on those infrared cameras.
Watch your step. Watch your step.
Keep your eyes peeled, Rex.
It could be somewhere in this area.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Something set off our perimeter alarm very slowly.
You got to be kidding me.
Rex for Tony.
Yeah, we think we found
what set off the perimeter alarm.
We have a pretty good-sized sloth down here.
TONY: Copy that.
Do you want me to take a picture?
- Yeah. - I won't shine this in your eyes.
Don't worry. I know it's bright.
I know.
CHRIS: I don't think you'll scare it away.
It's a sloth.
Okay. Let's go.
Yeah, this trail's basically disappearing.
It's just mud.
- It's like glue. - I know.
Oh, what is that?
- Ew. - What is that?
It looks like some kind of a slime.
It looks really viscous.
Whatever left this, I think, left it pretty recently.
They say the Cerro Azul Monster is slimy.
That's definitely some sort of slime.
Let's bag and tag it.
This is some serious "Ghostbusters" ectoplasm.
I'll tell you that.
Oh, I'm gonna throw up.
GATES: With the sun nearly on the horizon,
we headed back to base camp and packed up our gear.
We'd then travel back to Los Angeles
and analyze our evidence.
Though our night in the rain forest
was replete with strange sounds...
- Hear that? - What is that?
and close encounters... Whoa!
Ah! What?
Something just touched my leg!
we didn't make contact with anything definitive.
The excretion we collected from the forest floor
yielded no DNA for analysis.
And so, we turn to the original images
of the Cerro Azul Monster and to Mike D.,
Hawaiian-shirt aficionado and former curator
of the Los Angeles zoo.
This creature certainly does look strange.
It absolutely looks strange.
When you first look at it, it really looks odd
because there's no fur on it.
It's got a face that reminds one of ET,
and it almost looks somewhat human-like to a degree.
However, there is a dead giveaway —
the claw right down here.
Right over the lip of this rock,
we do see what looks like a really pronounced claw.
Sloths are the only animals that have claws that are like that.
They're almost like fingers.
So, based on these photographs, I think it's a sloth —
a sloth with no hair.
And in fact, during our overnight investigation,
we actually found this sloth in a tree.
Certainly, you know, though this is covered in fur,
there are some comparison points here.
Lots of comparison points.
Number one, long limbs,
distended belly, and then, the face.
You've got real small eyes, small nose holes,
and then, of course, the giveaway
is, certainly, the claws.
And that's what sloths are known for, is their claws.
Mike went on to explain that the animal's
otherworldly appearance and hair loss
could be explained by mutation or disease,
and that many in the press were quick
to jump to conclusions.
Everybody wants an explanation for whatever it is,
and there are still animals that we have not discovered.
Panama is a curious crossroads.
It both divides continents and connects oceans
and once served as a land bridge
for the greatest wildlife migration in history.
Its jungles are difficult to penetrate,
populated by hearty natives,
and teeming with deadly serpents and strange species.
Is it any wonder that people believe
that this could be a place of monsters?
But the truth is often simpler than it appears,
and some of the most dangerous monsters
are the ones that reside in our imagination.