WEBVTT - S04 Episode 21 Extra: Echoes in a Shallow Bay

0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:14.960
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra the final episode of season four

0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.720
<v Speaker 1>with me Richard McClain Smith, where for the weeks in

0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.560
<v Speaker 1>between episodes we look at stories and ideas that, for

0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.400
<v Speaker 1>one reason or other, didn't make it into the previous show.

0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.800
<v Speaker 1>In the last episode, The Weight Under, we learned about

0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.120
<v Speaker 1>a series of strange events that apparently plagued a number

0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:36.159
<v Speaker 1>of residents of the Newport housing development just outside of Houston,

0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.919
<v Speaker 1>Texas in the nineteen eighties. The events, which ranged from

0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.400
<v Speaker 1>alleged to supernatural activity to general feelings of oppression and malaise,

0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.840
<v Speaker 1>were said to have been so incessant that many residents

0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.720
<v Speaker 1>were ultimately forced to move, often at a considerable cost.

0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.280
<v Speaker 1>When it transpired, the development had been partially built over

0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:01.680
<v Speaker 1>an unofficial graveyard known as Black Hope Cemetery. Many of

0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.640
<v Speaker 1>those affected were left wondering if that had in some

0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.399
<v Speaker 1>way been a trigger for all that had taken place.

0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.080
<v Speaker 1>It is a compelling idea, and one that is routinely

0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:16.880
<v Speaker 1>played out in many a successful horror story. Certainly, whatever

0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:21.120
<v Speaker 1>we believe about the supposed supernatural consequences of disturbing a grave,

0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.759
<v Speaker 1>there are few of us who wouldn't feel a little

0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.759
<v Speaker 1>uneasy at the prospect of unwittingly digging up someone's final

0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.640
<v Speaker 1>resting place, or indeed living above it. And yet we

0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:38.759
<v Speaker 1>might ask why all of us will die. And even

0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.240
<v Speaker 1>for those who believe we are somehow more than a

0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.080
<v Speaker 1>bundle of cells and flickering synapses, and that something else

0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:49.280
<v Speaker 1>awaits us beyond this mortal realm, there are few who

0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.720
<v Speaker 1>consider the preservation of the body or its final resting

0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:57.440
<v Speaker 1>place to have any significant bearing on that. But then again,

0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:08.799
<v Speaker 1>death has never really been about the dead. In September

0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:14.080
<v Speaker 1>twenty thirteen, cave divers Rick Hunter and Stephen Tucker set

0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:17.880
<v Speaker 1>out to explore the Rising Star cave system, located thirty

0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.520
<v Speaker 1>miles northwest of Johannesburg in the Fossil Homonid site of

0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.360
<v Speaker 1>South Africa. The region is so named due to the

0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.760
<v Speaker 1>propensity of ancient hominid fossils, particularly those belonging to Homo

0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.560
<v Speaker 1>sapiens and our closest relatives that have been found there.

0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.600
<v Speaker 1>Having made it about sixty meters in and thirty meters

0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:42.480
<v Speaker 1>down through a series of hair raisingly narrow passages, jagged

0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:46.760
<v Speaker 1>rock faces, and stalagmite chambers, the men paused to take

0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.840
<v Speaker 1>some video footage. Not wanting to get in the picture,

0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Tucker dropped into a small crack by the back wall,

0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.079
<v Speaker 1>only to find it was a little deeper than he'd

0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:01.519
<v Speaker 1>first assumed in tree. To find out just how deep

0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:05.359
<v Speaker 1>it was, Tucker continued dropping into it through a passage

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:09.120
<v Speaker 1>as narrow as eight inches in parts, until finally, at

0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:13.840
<v Speaker 1>about fifteen meters down, he hit the bottom, Turning to

0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:17.160
<v Speaker 1>find the space opening up below him, Tucker soon found

0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.160
<v Speaker 1>himself in an entirely new section of the cave that

0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:25.120
<v Speaker 1>had never been mapped before, as recounted by Jamie Shrieve

0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.239
<v Speaker 1>for the National Geographic with Hunter joining him soon after,

0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.320
<v Speaker 1>Tucker made a quick sweep of the chamber with his

0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:37.320
<v Speaker 1>head torch and drew back in astonishment. The floor was

0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:42.800
<v Speaker 1>littered with fossilized bones, many of which looked to be human.

0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Realizing the potential of their find, the cavers took photos

0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.080
<v Speaker 1>of their discovery that eventually made their way to eminent

0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:57.480
<v Speaker 1>paleoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger of the University of Fittworter Strand

0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:03.120
<v Speaker 1>in Johannesburg. However, as Berger and his team soon discovered

0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.040
<v Speaker 1>the bones weren't human at all, nor did they belong

0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:12.440
<v Speaker 1>to any of our direct ancestors. Instead, they concluded they

0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.960
<v Speaker 1>were in fact the bones of an earlier offshoot of

0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.840
<v Speaker 1>the Homo genus, which had never been seen before. They

0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:24.039
<v Speaker 1>later named it Homo nilledi, after the local Sotho word

0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:29.520
<v Speaker 1>for star. In twenty seventeen, the fossils were found to

0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:34.560
<v Speaker 1>be roughly two hundred and fifty thousand years old. Despite

0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.599
<v Speaker 1>all of that, however, as Page Madison noted in a

0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:41.760
<v Speaker 1>twenty seventeen essay in Aon magazine, it is arguable that

0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.599
<v Speaker 1>what was most shocking about the discovery was not the

0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.320
<v Speaker 1>age of the fossils, or that they belonged to a

0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.840
<v Speaker 1>previously unknown species, but rather the location in which they

0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:56.919
<v Speaker 1>were discovered. Considering how deep and inaccessible the chamber is,

0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.960
<v Speaker 1>not to mention its complete lack of natural it is

0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:05.720
<v Speaker 1>highly unlikely that homeowner Leddie lived there. Taking into account

0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.800
<v Speaker 1>that there were no signs of predation, no sign that

0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:11.919
<v Speaker 1>the bones had dropped into the chamber from above, no

0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.159
<v Speaker 1>evidence that water had carried them into the chamber, and

0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.800
<v Speaker 1>the fact that the bones had accumulated over time, the

0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:23.200
<v Speaker 1>team were left with one startling conclusion the bodies had

0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:27.120
<v Speaker 1>been deliberately placed there After death by other members of

0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:33.480
<v Speaker 1>the community. Are you always taking care of your family?

0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.200
<v Speaker 1>Do you often take care of others and not yourself.

0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.479
<v Speaker 1>Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make

0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.400
<v Speaker 1>time for you you deserve it. Teledoc gives you access

0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.039
<v Speaker 1>to a licensed therapist to help you get back to

0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:50.400
<v Speaker 1>feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc,

0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.640
<v Speaker 1>you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video.

0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.440
<v Speaker 1>Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven

0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:01.240
<v Speaker 1>am to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed

0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:05.840
<v Speaker 1>sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely,

0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:09.159
<v Speaker 1>or you might be struggling with a personal or family issue,

0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:14.880
<v Speaker 1>teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches,

0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.760
<v Speaker 1>so they make it easy to change counselors if needed.

0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:22.880
<v Speaker 1>For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers.

0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.159
<v Speaker 1>Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash

0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:33.839
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com

0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:43.000
<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained Podcast. Though some have cautioned against the hypothesis,

0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.240
<v Speaker 1>there is good evidence to suggest that the Rising Star

0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:51.600
<v Speaker 1>homeowner Leddy discovery is in effect the first ever known graveyard,

0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.640
<v Speaker 1>as Page Madison also noted in aon This is hugely

0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:02.000
<v Speaker 1>significant since mortuary rituals reveal, as Aison says, a capacity

0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:06.799
<v Speaker 1>to think symbolically, in other words, the capacity to understand

0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:11.600
<v Speaker 1>things in the abstract, and ultimately the capacity for imagination.

0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.520
<v Speaker 1>Assuming that our ancestors were operating at a similar level

0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.880
<v Speaker 1>of sophistication at the time, it could also be that

0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:24.120
<v Speaker 1>this discovery marks the beginnings of our ability to tell stories,

0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:29.240
<v Speaker 1>a feat of cognitive gymnastics that many believe sets us

0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.360
<v Speaker 1>apart from other animals. With the emergence of our ability

0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.280
<v Speaker 1>to tell stories also comes the beginnings of our search

0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:41.880
<v Speaker 1>for meaning and our endeavor to comprehend ourselves and the cosmos.

0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.000
<v Speaker 1>In turn, we find these stories and ideas that we

0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:51.480
<v Speaker 1>tell each other reflected in our mortuary rituals, and as such, paradoxically,

0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.080
<v Speaker 1>we reveal a great deal about our philosophies and ways

0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:59.080
<v Speaker 1>of life through our relationship with death and our rituals

0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:04.920
<v Speaker 1>for the dead. From ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs laden

0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.840
<v Speaker 1>with jewels and trinkets to take to the afterlife for

0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.960
<v Speaker 1>the select few to plague pits or the mass graves

0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.000
<v Speaker 1>of a wartime atrocity, to the notion of consecrated ground

0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:20.320
<v Speaker 1>or a so called pauper's grave. To eco friendly bio

0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.680
<v Speaker 1>urns or the option to be blasted into space, to

0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.840
<v Speaker 1>the simple scattering of a loved one's ashes across a

0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:39.439
<v Speaker 1>favorite beach. There is much to discern about human life. Personally,

0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.320
<v Speaker 1>I've never been particularly drawn to the great search for meaning,

0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:47.079
<v Speaker 1>and feel indifferent as to whether our existence means anything

0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:51.120
<v Speaker 1>or not. For me, if it has to mean anything,

0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.880
<v Speaker 1>it is the fact that we were here at all,

0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.240
<v Speaker 1>that all of us, no matter for how short of

0:08:57.280 --> 0:09:03.160
<v Speaker 1>a time or whoever or whatever we were, existed. And

0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.320
<v Speaker 1>although on a personal level I have opinions about how

0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.840
<v Speaker 1>we should or shouldn't live, on a cosmic level, I

0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.079
<v Speaker 1>don't believe there is such a thing as right or

0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:16.160
<v Speaker 1>wrong human behavior. All of it, from those actions and

0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.679
<v Speaker 1>thoughts we consider to be abhorrent and monstrous to that

0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:24.199
<v Speaker 1>which we might call saintly or good, is human, and

0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.680
<v Speaker 1>all of it tells the story of what it means

0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.000
<v Speaker 1>to be human. To be able to think in the

0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.320
<v Speaker 1>abstract gives us the ability to go a little further

0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:39.559
<v Speaker 1>than simple reflexive primal tendencies. These also serve a purpose,

0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:44.160
<v Speaker 1>of course. However, it is this abstract ability that caused

0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.920
<v Speaker 1>such consternation to the residence of the Newport subdivision in Texas,

0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:51.600
<v Speaker 1>and why the remains of the dead are never just

0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:56.240
<v Speaker 1>flesh and bones to us. With Black Hope Semmetry being

0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.920
<v Speaker 1>a resting place for descendants of black slaves, what pain

0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.400
<v Speaker 1>the Newport residence more than anything was that they had

0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.800
<v Speaker 1>inadvertently become entangled in a lineage of injustice for a

0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.200
<v Speaker 1>community who, not, even in death, were afforded the dignity

0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:15.800
<v Speaker 1>that so many others are granted. It is often written

0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:20.160
<v Speaker 1>that the Black Hope Cemetery was a forgotten cemetry. It

0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.640
<v Speaker 1>was not. It was remembered by the relatives and friends

0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.560
<v Speaker 1>of the people buried there, and by others who were

0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:29.640
<v Speaker 1>local to the area before the housing development was built

0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.560
<v Speaker 1>over it. And you too now know it was there.

0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.439
<v Speaker 1>And though graves and headstones might be useful markers, regardless

0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.720
<v Speaker 1>of how well they or the remains within are maintained,

0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.680
<v Speaker 1>all of them will one day be lost to time.

0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.520
<v Speaker 1>All we really have, then, of the truth of our

0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:57.280
<v Speaker 1>existence are the stories we tell. I find the overuse

0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.240
<v Speaker 1>of the word storyteller a little tiresome. Individuals or brands

0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:05.080
<v Speaker 1>even like to label themselves as such, because in truth,

0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.760
<v Speaker 1>we are all storytellers, each of us carrying the story

0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.480
<v Speaker 1>of the human race and the story of all life

0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.480
<v Speaker 1>that we share this planet with as it hurtles through

0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.120
<v Speaker 1>space at almost half a million miles per hour about

0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:23.440
<v Speaker 1>the Milky Way. The only question is in so far

0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.240
<v Speaker 1>as we can influence how our story is told, If

0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.480
<v Speaker 1>many years from now, it were one day to be

0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.480
<v Speaker 1>found and read by someone else, what would we want

0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:41.200
<v Speaker 1>it to say? You've been listening to Unexplained Season four.

0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:48.840
<v Speaker 1>We will return in the spring. If you enjoy Unexplained

0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:50.959
<v Speaker 1>and would like to help support us, you can now

0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.800
<v Speaker 1>do so via Patreon to receive access to add three episodes,

0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.120
<v Speaker 1>discount or merchandise, as well as brand new video and

0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.760
<v Speaker 1>audio content exclusive to pay two members. Just go to

0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.400
<v Speaker 1>patron dot com, forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up,

0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.040
<v Speaker 1>or if you'd like to make a one time donation,

0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.320
<v Speaker 1>you can go to Unexplained podcast dot com forward Slash support.

0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:16.520
<v Speaker 1>All donations, no matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated.

0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:21.280
<v Speaker 1>Unexplained the book and audiobook featuring ten stories that have

0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.280
<v Speaker 1>never before been covered on the show, is now available

0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:28.400
<v Speaker 1>to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble,

0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:33.720
<v Speaker 1>and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including

0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.839
<v Speaker 1>the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith.

0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.600
<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts,

0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.839
<v Speaker 1>and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts

0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.520
<v Speaker 1>or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show.

0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:48.200
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like

0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.640
<v Speaker 1>to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast

0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:56.520
<v Speaker 1>dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at

0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:08.640
<v Speaker 1>Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Now, it's time

0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.640
<v Speaker 1>to take care of yourself. To make time for you,

0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:16.040
<v Speaker 1>teledoc gives you access to a licensed therapist to help

0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.960
<v Speaker 1>you get back to feeling your best. Speak to a

0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:23.440
<v Speaker 1>licensed therapist by phone or video anytime between seven am

0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:27.520
<v Speaker 1>to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc

0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:31.920
<v Speaker 1>Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the

0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:36.119
<v Speaker 1>app or visit teledoc dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast

0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:41.560
<v Speaker 1>Today to get started. That's t e ladoc dot com,

0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.239
<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained podcast