Beyond Belief - Season 2, Episode 11 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] caution the show you're about to see is headed for disaster beyond belief fact or fiction
hosted by jonathan frakes [Music] we live in a world where the real and the unreal live side by side
where substance is disguised as illusion and the only explanations are unexplainable can you separate truth
from fantasy to do so you must break through the web of your experience and open your mind to things beyond
belief talk of disaster is very much with us in these times one day we're discussing the sinking of
great ships the next we're contemplating comets headed toward the earth but disasters like most things depend on
your perspective some people look at this drawing and see a high mountain safe from harm while others see a tunnel
spiraling down into an endless abyss our stories in this show all deal in some way with disasters or
their consequences some of the stories are inspired by actual events while others are totally
made up we'll give you the answers at the end of our show and one suggestion when evaluating whether they are true or
false take your perspective from the mountaintop at all costs avoid having tunnel vision
cheers salute score whatever the language whatever the culture there's always a toast to good times a
design for celebration these life-affirming rituals are important because they give us hope for
the future and recognize triumphs over past adversities charles and gwen chandler have good
reason to celebrate they're alive due to the strangest of circumstances let's join them now in their celebration
the party is about to begin it was the spring of 1937. charles and gwen chandler loved traveling with their
good friends the delaney's philip and margaret they'd seen much of the world together
gwen and charles couldn't think of anyone else they'd rather celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary with
i'd like to propose a toast here's to smooth sailings and happy landings here and i would like to propose another
toast to 22 years of wedded bliss may you have 22 more at least here i can't believe it was 22 years ago
we never did get to take our dream honeymoon the one we had was fine ah yes this mystery honeymoon are you ever
going to tell us what actually happened to make you change your plans it's just that what happened is so
unbelievable that we decided a long time ago to keep it between ourselves come on
charlie spill the beans tell us the story we've got the time it's more than just a story philip it
really happened charlie it's fine gwen we were young and so much in love we were married the day before
and we were scheduled to leave for europe on the most wonderful honeymoon imaginable
[Music] we were sailing late in the day so that we could sleep late that morning
remember how we both woke up at the same moment yes we figured all we had was a bit of
packing to do and we'd be off i'll never forget when we tried to get out of bed so what happened well this is when it
becomes a little strange as we attempted to get out of bed we couldn't separate our hands
that was when we noticed that our wedding rings had fused together what that's the most absurd thing i've ever
heard of we told you it was unbelievable well rings don't just fuse then how is that even possible
no one could explain how it happened but it certainly was fate that it did happen
[Music] no matter what we did we couldn't get our hands apart they were locked in place
why didn't you just slip them off oh we tried to our fingers were so swollen they
wouldn't budge [Music] we finally had to call a jeweler to our hotel room but he was at a loss he'd never seen
anything like it he wanted to be very careful about not damaging the rings or our hands
by then we were very worried that we were going to miss the departure of our ship
but what did we do we couldn't even get out of our nightclubs wow that's an amazing story well it gets
even more amazing philip you won't believe what happened next after sending for just the right tools
the jeweler was finally able to cut us free of the rings so you made it to your ship it's a
fabulous story it's not finished yet we rushed to the dock but we were too late our ship had sailed we missed it by
minutes oh that is the saddest story i've ever heard it was the luckiest thing that
ever happened to us you see the ship that we were set to depart on was the rms lusitania
six days later it was torpedoed and sunk almost 1200 people died that is incredible these are the lucky
rings we wear them every day you can see where they were cut apart oh it it truly is a miracle
well i would like to propose another toast to the luckiest people in the world our best friends
the chandlers oh indeed oh look everyone's going to the observation deck we must be getting ready to dock
look at that view it's absolutely spectacular i can't believe i'm not the slightest bit airsick
now what city do you suppose that is that must be lakehurst new jersey oh good we'll be
docking this has been such an incredibly smooth ride i can't believe we left frankfurt two
and a half days ago an amazing way to travel much more relaxing than my ship i can't wait to see this part of america
we're taking a car to new york tomorrow look that man down there has a microphone they must be broadcasting the
land game i have one last toast here's to this great airship the hindenburg here
it's practically standing still now they've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship
and uh has been taking a hold up down on the field by a number of men it's starting to rain again as the plane
had uh slacked up a little bit it burst into place well this is the one of the worst
catastrophe that the world is a terrific great ladies and gentlemen of smoking and flames now
all the humanities all the best baby garages i do i never talked about i i can't not make this development
[Music] students of history know that the hindenburg a luxury dirigible exploded upon its arrival in new jersey
one of the most infamous air disasters of all time killing almost one half of the passengers on board
charles and gwen chandler who had escaped the fate of the lusitania leaped out of the frying pan and into
the fire is this cruel joke based on an actual event or have we ignited an explosion of lies
we'll tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show next a swap meet is visited by a
mysterious stranger on beyond belief fact or fiction [Music] have you ever visited a flea market swap
meet or garage sale to run a successful booth takes a combination of desirable merchandise
a positive attitude and an irresistible charm elmo p middleton had much to offer in
all those departments but despite all this you might say his business was a disaster
the local swap meet was a place where we used to go to browse and shop for bargains but this week we were going to
operate our own booth it was part of the plan i had to get some extra money that
would help my daughter molly go to the state university the swap meet had been closed for about
a month since the earthquake and there were still aftershocks going on but at 8am
all the people were arriving just like a regular sunday my daughter molly is the best daughter a
parent could ever wish for she worked hard throughout high school with one goal in mind
college that was her dream to go to a good school somewhere and make me proud as if she hadn't done that already
[Music] as any parent will tell you college education isn't cheap tuition books room and board and with a
small scholarship it's way more than i can afford my late husband marv was a good man he always provided for
his family but his insurance only covered so much my job just gets us by i didn't have a
lot to sell at this market but i was determined to go home with some money for molly's education
[Music] molly was preoccupied all the time i knew she was worried and anxious about
what her future choices were going to be [Music] at the start of the day we just couldn't
seem to interest anyone in anything we had to offer molly turned on all her school
schoolgirl charm but nothing seemed to be helping we have been here for three hours and we
haven't even sold a lampshade mom the day is not over yet i don't know honey this may not have
been one of my best ideas can i help you all you got here is just a bunch of regular junk i don't see
anything special in the whole line you want to sell that old station wagon i could use something to haul my stuff
in no thanks we needed to haul our stuff have it your way but i wouldn't count on having a big day
well thank you so much [Music] mom i've been thinking maybe i should put off going to college for a little
while get a job make some money it's no big deal really you are going to go to college
we'll find a way [Music] [Applause] [Music] that was when we first saw him the man
in the model t [Music] hello hello hello hello the name is middleton elmo p middleton yes purveyor
of unusual and rare merchandise did you feel that feel what well that tremor actually i didn't feel anything well
maybe next time the back of his truck was loaded with an amazing assortment of things
he didn't waste a moment and unloaded quickly as he did i kept wondering who was this strange man and what was he
doing in northridge another question that kept haunting me was why didn't he feel the earth tremor
we all felt hello anything you see you like anything you'd like you see come on folks take a
gander how much uh how much would that grandma put how much you got looks awfully new probably fake i know
everything you see here is a genuine article mister okay how much how much you got
well how much were those old books how much you got look mister i'm trying to buy something here
give me a price how much you got how about you mister how about you guys see how much you got ladies
no matter what people asked for mr middleton would repeat those same words everybody felt insulted by his questions
so nobody bought anything [Music] it's a lovely lamp isn't it yes how much would a lamp like that cost
how much have you got oh i couldn't buy anything we're here trying to sell stuff
too i know isn't everybody [Music] uh molly how'd you know my name you really love
this lamp don't you yeah but like i said i couldn't buy anything how much money you got in your pocket
three dollars sold the beautiful little lady [Music] enjoy molly told me later that she wasn't sure
why she gave the man her three dollars there was just something about him that she liked and trusted
mr middleton wait you forgot your chest it belongs to you molly it comes with the lamb
[Music] what a strange man yeah but nice yeah mom look at this oh my gosh i don't believe it this was
from the titanic this could be worth [Music] a million thoughts were racing through
my head oh molly molly's great grandfather was one of the passengers lost on the titanic
he had a handlebar mustache too just like mr middleton his name was marvin l jergens
[Music] oh my god molly this was your [Music] great-grandfather's the titanic artifacts proved to be
authentic and paid for molly's college education but who was elmo p middleton was he
really the spirit of a long-lost relative of the jurgens family or was he just an old man who had a soft
spot for a struggling mother and daughter but then how did he come into possession
of relics from the titanic is this story of unexpected treasures based on actual event
or are we swapping the truth for more lives we'll tell you whether this story is
true or false at the end of our show next a strange dream of disaster haunts a reporter
on beyond belief fact or fiction today news reports travel at lightning speed around the world and back again at
the flick of a switch but at the turn of the century the last century that is news came by way of the telegraph like
this jack hogan is a reporter who needs a good story but the only one he can come up with is
in his dreams those dreams are about to become nightmares so it was a monday morning in 1883 and i
couldn't find a story to save my life it wasn't my fault that nothing much was happening in the world that day
as i looked around everybody else seemed to have a story or were they just trying to impress old
man trapwell the managing editor work work work here hey when i click any clock clickity clack that's
the way to go roy wally listen when i was a young reporter back in north york we didn't have modern machines like that
keep it up for him you need a new ribbon for your typewriter hogan or is this some other
reason why you're just sitting there staring what is the last thing no sir i i just i i can't find a story
that's ridiculous my boy a good reporter can find a story anywhere now you look out
the window that's philadelphia one of the biggest cities in the country show some initiative son
yes sir at that moment i hated my job i hated philadelphia and i hated the way trapwell said
initiative jack want to grab a drink oh no not tonight thanks wally i think uh i'm just gonna wait around for the late
wire copy see if anything interesting comes in okay jack see you tomorrow nothing came in over the wire that night
i really needed to find a story but i was exhausted i laid down on the couch closed my eyes
for a minute and fell right to sleep [Music] [Music] my dream was so vivid and real that i
decided to write it all down i thought maybe i could sell it as a short story look at mark twain
he didn't do so bad and he started out as a reporter too i wrote of a beautiful tropical island
called pralipe it began as an idyllic day in paradise natives fishing and swimming in the shallow surf suddenly
the ground began to shake violently and then it happened an entire mountain exploded in a
cataclysmic volcanic eruption the eruption set off a monstrous tidal wave which killed thousands in its path
the words just poured out of me and in less than an hour i had finished my story
i was spent reliving my dream had drained all my energy all i wanted to do was go home and get
some sleep i made the mistake of leaving my work of fiction in the typewriter [Music]
the next morning i slept in copy boy made his usual rounds which meant stopping at my desk for any
late copy [Music] mr trappo read the story that the copy boy mistakenly grabbed off my desk
the more he read the more excited he became this could be the biggest scoop in years
joey [Music] tell george i want this in the early edition and let me know the minute that
jack hogan comes [Music] congratulations what are you talking about congratulations jack your story is sweet
from the country what it's our scoop we printed it first what story is this your story about the
volcano erupting on that island of probably what oh mr trapwell that uh that story that's uh that's not true
what do you mean it's not true it was uh a dream i had and and i i wrote it all down i was gonna sell
it as a short story but uh you're gonna have to print a retraction can't bring a retraction i can't print a
retraction i've become a laughing stock i know but it never happened there was no volcano
i could cheerfully break your neck hogan do me a favor if i ever say the word initiative to you again don't listen to
me [Music] mr trapwell had no choice but to prepare the retraction he was about to send it out over the
wire when a report came in about unusually high waves hitting the coast of california hey joey bring me
back that copy another report followed the first twin he told of a cataclysmic event that had
taken place somewhere in the indian ocean throughout the day there were more reports of giant swells hitting mexico
and the coast of south america somebody get me jack hogan the last thing i needed was
another reprimand about pralip uh you wanted to see me mr trapwell come on in well your initiative paid off son
your dream was true what are you talking about there was a volcanic eruption in the straits of sunday yesterday
happened on an island called krakatoa just west of job still going on there are reports of
tidal waves coming in from all over the world i i don't believe it it's krakatoa
uh-huh but the natives the natives call it pralapay was jack hogan's psychic did he actually
have a premonition of the volcanic eruption or was it just a dramatic coincidence if
so how could he have dreamed the original name for krakatoa a name so obscure he couldn't have
possibly known it beforehand is this story of the scoop of the century real or is it something that we dreamed up
we'll tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show next a pleasure trip turns into a voyage
into terror on beyond belief fact or fiction a flight on an airplane can be a great
escape from the pressures of the world especially if you're traveling for pleasure you can avoid the phone and the
facts if you choose to and simply make yourself at home high above the cares of the world beth
mcguire is going on vacation she's flown many times before to europe asia and beyond
but she's about to take off on a trip where the final destination is beyond belief
[Music] i couldn't believe i was finally getting on the plane it was a vacation i had dreamed about
for a long time a whole week in tahiti no phones no late meetings just me lying on a white sand beach in
the south pacific drinking pina coladas hi you're in row 3b thanks that's 2a ma'am ma'am the first class section is
up here first class i i didn't pay for first class hmm well you must have been upgraded well
that's funny nobody said anything when i checked in this must be your lucky day yeah must be
the trip was off to a great start i'd never been upgraded before and here i was in first class
ma'am i'm sorry you're in the wrong seat 3b is the aisle seat oh i'm sorry i didn't
realize it's no problem if you prefer the window i don't mind sitting on the aisle uh
um no thank you uh i'm fine here it's weird i tried to put the fact that i didn't really belong in first class
out of my mind all i wanted to do was enjoy the experience all kinds of new things were happening
to me like a personal visit from the pilot are you enjoying the flight so far oh
yes i am i have never flown first class before and it is great it's always a good idea to keep your
seat belt fastened you never know when we might hit a small pocket of turbulence
thank you that was nice of him excuse me oh the captain didn't didn't you see him no i didn't
well he was right there at the time it seemed a little strange but looking back that all makes sense to me now
this is the captain just wanted to let you know that we're about an hour away from beginning our descent into oahu
international airport we have a two-hour stop over there before we continue on to
haiti after the captain's announcement the oddest feeling came over me i was suddenly very anxious
tense why were those passengers looking at me and smiling it was as if they knew what i was
feeling and were trying to reassure me it only added to my nervousness i just couldn't shake the anxiety i was
so uptight attention all passengers please return to your seats at once what was happening to me oh
excuse me did the captain's announcement mean that we're beginning our descent into oahu early what
announcement i didn't hear any announcement oh come on what are you talking about
didn't you hear the captain tell everyone to get back to their seats just now no i didn't but
but i heard it in the bathroom it must have been out here too it wasn't i mean if he made the
announcement why is everybody still walking around the cabin [Music] are you all right uh yeah i'm fine i'm
i'm just having a very strange flight experience a lot of people have a fear of flying
yeah well i don't i love to fly well i just try and relax we'll be there pretty soon
[Music] tighten your seatbelt [Music] i felt that the stewardess was communicating with me telepathically
warning me to buckle up i thought about telling the man next to me but i knew he had heard enough of my
strange fears [Music] i looked for the man seated next to me but he was gone a mechanical malfunction tore a door
loose and ripped a gaping hole in the body of the plane the fuselage and roof had been ripped
off the aircraft i was holding on for dear life a handful of passengers including beth
maguire miraculously survived that flight but the four rows of passengers in front of
beth were lost as was the passenger in the seat next to hers a seat she almost took a series of mysterious
circumstances led beth to the right seat at exactly the right time was there some
angelic force with her throughout the flight in fact other surviving passengers told
of similar stories to beths was there a band of angels at work here or simply a band of writers
we'll tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show next a young girl trapped beneath the
ground and a rescue that's beyond belief weather forecasting is no longer a guessing game the satellites that watch
over the earth's atmosphere are able to predict meteorological disasters well before they occur
the ability to project tornado watches and hurricane warnings have saved thousands of lives but there are always
people who are still victims people like little louisa she was playing in the basement when the storm
hit now she's trapped and her life hangs on the whims of fate luis's favorite words are buenos dias
spanish for a good day but a good day is the last thing louisa is happy a tornado ripped apart homes and a local
high school as it cut a 10 mile swath across southeast texas yesterday the twister struck without warning
during powerful afternoon thunderstorms at least eight people are dead sixty injured and dozens are still reported
missing according to the texas emergency management agency all right let's go here we go
ray okay we can do this now all right let's go all right it's been 24 hours since the storm hit but rescue teams
here are still hopeful that they might find some survivors still buried beneath the rubble that was
once their homes this is wanda lopez knsc news live [Music] hey guys we've been scouring the area for
survivors for the past 14 hours i just about given up hope of finding anyone else alive when i first heard the
faint sound of a child crying hello is there somebody down there is there anybody down there
maybe it's nothing skiff we've been at this a long time now hey maybe you're right
wait wait wait wait we got one sounds like a kid i hear you honey i hear you oh what's
your name i am louisa all right luisa now don't you worry we're gonna get you out of
there she must be trapped in the basement help me please i am hungry i'm so tired luisa listen honey my name is skip
a sweetheart i need you to be a brave little girl and hang in there for me okay i'll try what do you think
oh it's too risky to dig straight down we'll collapse the whole thing on her we're gonna have to go in at an angle
it's gonna be slower but it's the best way all right listen we're coming to get you luisa won't take long
let's get moving guys we gotta get her out of did something hit there head yes it's
bleeding please get me out of here all right honey we'll get you out of here i promise
what are we doing it's going slow well listen try and speed it up she's got a head injury
so tired i want my grandpa i know it's gonna be okay luisa now try and stay awake for me okay honey
louisa it was urgent that i keep luisa awake she might have had a concussion and i didn't want her to slip into a
coma i didn't know how old she was so i talked about anything i could think of is this your house louisa louisa is this
where you live answer me honey i want my grandpa oh is this your grandpa's house
yes my mommy went away every morning my grandpa wakes me up all happy and says buenos dias louisa i wish i could hear
him now i know honey i know it won't be long it won't be long just hang in there for me
sweetheart louisa come on stay awake honey talk to me luisa louisa anyone on this channel yeah paulie this
is skip over here on albrecht road listen i got a little girl named louise and she's trapped in the debris of her
house she keeps asking for a grandfather now look you gotta find him and try and get him over here soon as
possible all right all right you call me back just as soon as you find out anything
all right i'll be waiting for you that was wrong we need another hour i ran into a ton of
concrete down there all right let's just do the best you can i'll try and keep her awake all right
lisa lisa honey can you hear me lisa the center called back but the news wasn't good
luis's grandfather's body was found yesterday a victim of the tornado are you sure
all right yeah got it lisa lisa please wake up and talk to me honey come on luisa
can you hear me roger i can't get a response i'm afraid we're losing her we're digging as fast
as we can skip it's going to take time all right lisa please honey come on talk me sweetheart
[Music] buenos dias grandfather [Music] yeah where the heck's that coming from i don't know luisa continued to hear her
grandfather's voice calling out buenos dias louisa it was the only thing that kept her
awake until we finally broke through and pulled her out bravery mixed with tears is the theme of
the day a miraculous rescue just occurred of a little girl who was buried for 48
hours in the rubble that was once her hope [Music] my grandfather's parrot pedro where's grandpa
buenos dias luisa buenos could this story have really happened is it possible that a parrot could give a
young girl the will to live in the delirium of her fear could louisa have imagined it was her late
grandfather's voice or did the grandfather somehow transfer his spirit to the parrot in order to save his precious
granddaughter is this story totally made up or is there truth buried here in the rubble
coming up we'll find out which of our stories tonight were fact and which were fiction when beyond
belief returns let's take another look at our stories and find out which ones are fact
and which ones are fiction what about the story of the unlucky couple who survived the lusitania
only to celebrate aboard the hindenburg you see the ship that we were set to depart on was the
rms lusitania six days later it was torpedoed and sunk almost 1200 people died that is incredible these are the lucky
rings we wear them every day you can see where they were cut apart oh it truly is a miracle
well i would like to propose another toast to the luckiest people in the world our best friends
the chandlers the the tale of these fated passengers really happened no we made it up
let's see a glimpse of the story of the strange man at the swap meet [Music] it's a lovely lamp isn't it yes
how much would a lamp like that cost how much have you got is this plot of the couple who found treasures in a most
unexpected way based on an actual event no this one was invented by a writer let's look back at the news reporter who
had the premonition of a volcanic explosion was it true or false well your initiative
paid off son your dream was true what are you talking about there was a volcanic eruption in the
straits of sunday yesterday happened on an island called krakatoa just west a job
still going on there are reports of tidal waves coming in from all over the world
was this story based on a real event yes it's true [Music] how about the story of the woman who
seemed to be watched over by angels on an ill-fated flight ma'am i'm sorry you're in the wrong seat
3b is the aisle seat oh i'm sorry i didn't realize it's no problem if you prefer the window i don't mind
sitting on the aisle uh oh no thank you uh i'm fine here it's weird you think that this was based
on a similar event you're right it was what of the story about the little girl kept alive by the words buenos dias
how did you judge that louise honey come on talk to me sweetheart [Music] buenos dias
you hear that yeah where the heck's that coming from i don't know is this saga of a parrot
who saves a girl's life inspired by an actual event not this time it's fiction so how was your judgment did you guess
them all right or was your score a disaster and did our show on disasters demonstrate that truth and fiction
are almost inseparable or perhaps our stories like the great disasters of our time
are truly beyond belief i'm jonathan friggs join us for more stories on beyond belief fact or fiction
[Music] [Applause] you

This episode features the following cases: Bon Voyage; The Man in the Model T; The Scoop; Angel on Board; Buenos Dias.

Brief Summary

This episode features miraculous survival stories linked to disasters, including a couple's near miss with the Lusitania and a girl's rescue after a tornado.

Key points

The Fused Wedding Rings. Charles and Gwen Chandler's wedding rings fused together, leading to a miraculous escape.
A Titanic Connection. Molly discovers a lamp from the Titanic, linking her family to a tragic past.
A Dream Becomes Reality. Jack Hogan's dream of a volcanic eruption turns out to be true, leading to a major scoop.
First Class Experience. A passenger reflects on their first time flying first class, feeling out of place yet excited.
Anxiety in the Air. As the flight progresses, the passenger becomes increasingly anxious, sensing something is off.
Miraculous Rescue. A little girl trapped in rubble hears her grandfather's voice, keeping her awake during a tense rescue.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was the luckiest thing that ever happened to us.

6:08WatchJan 13, 2021

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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