EVIDENCE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY

Can you believe it?

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” That famous dictum from astronomer Carl Sagan is at the heart of the TV series The Proof Is Out There, says Sancho, the History Channel show’s executive producer. Here, he details the investigations behind the claims, primarily those with evidence that be examined thoroughly (and that make for entertaining television). “At its core, this book is about anomalous phenomena that have been documented on video, still photography, or audio recordings,” he writes. “But on its deepest level, it is about the human desire for answers, for adventure, and for meaning.” Sancho attempts a balance between believers and skeptics—the crew of the latter includes scientists, engineers, audio/visual professionals, and magicians, each contributing expertise in a variety of fields. Videos, still photos, and audio recordings are subjected to many tests, and the program presents the results. Some are demonstrably fraudulent. Others feature “true believers” who are sincere in what they think they have seen and heard. And still others have evidence that can be validated. Examples include UFO sightings, which became a topic of serious discussion when commercial and military pilots began reporting anomalies seen in mid-flight, peaking in 2017, when video recorded by U.S. Navy aviators was released by the Pentagon. “Almost overnight, it became OK to talk about UFOs in polite company,” the author writes. Not surprisingly, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti feature in these pages; most of the video “evidence” of them has been debunked, Sancho says. Sea monsters (Nessie, the Kraken), the ancient past (El Dorado, Atlantis, Stonehenge), and freaks of physics (wormholes, teleportation, time travel) also come under the microscope. “The world of the unexplained contains multitudes, Sancho writes. “It is a realm of journalistic inquiry; it touches on a broad swath of scientific disciplines. …It is also a world hideously polluted by fakery and fraud.”

An engrossing look into “anomalous phenomena” and investigative attempts to separate fact from fiction.