Destination Truth - S03E08 - Werewolf-Arica Monster

Destination Truth - S03E08 - Werewolf-Arica Monster
Airdate 10/28/09

The Mission: Romania, home to rolling green hills, unparalleled architecture

and the notorious werewolf. The legend of the half man, half beast monster has

existed for centuries and while most scoff at the notion that the mythic figure

is a reality, others swear it's real. Recently, villagers in the small Romanian

town of Brad, unearthed a human corpse, removed its heart and drank the blood

as part of an archaic ritual to ward off werewolves. Tasty.



The Adventure: The team heads out on a European adventure to get to the bottom

of an age-old legend. They first arrive in the city of Bucharest where Josh

speaks to a professor who's an expert on all things werewolf. Under the

professor's instruction, the team takes a train 170 miles to the province of

Sibiu. They then stake out a cave where locals claim the team will find traces

of the beast. While in the cave, Josh makes a chilling discovery of human

remains. They also find what appears to be fur.



From there, the group descends to the forest floor to set up base camp in the

area that's referred to as "werewolf country." Josh first scans the area with

the flir thermal imager and spots a figure. He runs in the direction of a shape

yet when he reaches the area he doesn't see it. In another part of the woods,

Jael and Bicha hear strange noises coming from nearby trees. As they continue

to survey the area, they find footprints that are larger than a hand. The team

makes a cast of the footprints to analyze later in LA and as they're packing up

something goes howl in the night. And since the team doesn't want to be dinner

for a hungry beast, they pack up and head back to the states.



The Findings: Once they arrive home, Josh shows the footprint cast he made to

mammologist Jim Dines. Dines confirms that the footprints are NOT from a common

wolf because they are too large. But not so fast grasshopper— he also believes

that another larger animal, like a bear, could have made the footprints.



So it seems that there's lots of room for misidentification and for now the

legend of the werewolf has been neither confirmed nor shot down with a silver

bullet.




[Atacama Desert, Chile]
The Mission The Atacama Desert is 50 times drier than California's Death Valley

making it virtually impossible for life forms to survive there. Yet people say

they've seen a dinosaur like beast keeping pace with their cars. And if this is

true, this pre-historic relic from the past may not be extinct after all.




The Adventure: The team first flies to Antofagasta, Chile and then drives north

to the town of Arica, the desert outpost where many witnesses have seen the

creature. This area is so desolate that it's actually been compared to the

moon. To get more perspective on the case at hand Josh and Jael talk to

eyewitnesses who swear they've seen the Arica monster. Most people say they've

seen the beast in the Pampa Ancha section of the desert, which is east of

Arica. If any creature were to survive there, they'd need water and a food

source. The team hops on ATVs to look for tracks and other remains of the

creature. And in 120-degree weather, the mission proves to be no easy feat.



Shortly into their investigation, Josh spots a line of tracks in the hillside

and huge footprints. The team makes a casting to analyze later back and head

quarters then suit up for the mission before nightfall. After setting up base

camp, Josh and the crew position infrared cameras in various positions of the

canyon's rim. Sharra monitors the cameras, while the others look for shelter,

caves and nests that may belong to the Arica. While investigating, Josh gets a

hit on the flir camera and the figure appears to be hundreds of yards high in

the ridge. Josh and Jael go hunting to look for the creature. Meanwhile Rex and

Gabe follow another path and hear the sounds of rocks falling near their heads.

Clearly, something in this desert doesn't want to be discovered.



Later on, Josh and Jael discover a paw that looks as if it's been of its been

eaten or ripped off of its owner. Jael also discovers fresh feces near the

embankment. These discoveries tell us a couple of things. 1. There is in fact

something living within this desert. 2. The creature has no problems digesting

its prey.



During the later part of the evening Josh, Mike and Rex hear a noise so they

all go to investigate where the sounds are coming from. The creature is faster

than they are, tears through the bushes and past the stream. Could a predator

really have cheated extinction for millions of years?



The Findings: Back in LA, Josh speaks with a world-renowned paleontologist who

confirms that the cast from the footprint is from a dinosaur, yet this

footprint could have been made millions of years ago. He suggests that the

creature people are seeing is a rhea and the DNA taken from the feces belong to

the South American fox. This evidence confirms that dinosaurs were present

within this desert yet nothing more than their fossils still live on today.




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