"Strange Visitors" Season 1 Episode 2

The episode "Strange Visitors" first aired on April 24, 1977 . It was written by Robert Long and Deborah Blum and produced by .

Nimoy starts out this episode by declaring there are men in any civilization looking to take risks. He then makes reference to "Mystery Hill" in New Hampshire. Living not for from there I now want to go check it out! A little research by me reveals the more contemporary name, "America's Stonehenge". I have heard of this site and have wanted to visit it for a long time.

(America's Stonehenge)

After this "teaser" Nimoy begins to talk about how little is known about the first humans and how interesting what few things they left behind are. He then gets into the "Stone ruin near New Salem". He claims that in the past year new evidence has surfaced that advanced civilzations existed in the New World much earlier than previously thought. Being a historian I know this to be true. Historians assumed Native people were primitive. This would have been true for even the most educated people in 1977. This more old fashion view comes up again when Nimoy says, "whatever their common origin might have been, the old and new worlds peoples had little in common." Recent scholarship in 2015 suggests this statement to be false. Only in the last twenty years or so  recently have historians recognized the evidence from Cahokia and similar places, as evidence that these Native people were actually part of quite advanced civilizations. Cue the stereotypical footage of Native Americans singing and dancing! It is the seventies after all , so I guess we cant be too shocked that this is what they decide to show while talking about Native Americans.

But Nimoy is talking about "Mystery Hill" specifically...

Nimoy tells us about Robert Stone from Boston who bought the land on which "Mystery Hill" exists. His goal was to preserve it for study and for tourism. Professor Hans Holzer (who also wrote and produced this episode) is shown talking with Stone while looking at the stones at "Mystery Hill".

Apparently Holzer is a "noted author and student of antiquity" (did i mention he wrote the episode?). Nimoy tells us Holzer is trying to answer the questions "Who passed this way? and why?"

Nimoy next narrates while we look at images from stone dwellings in the American Southwest and from Medicine Wheel in Montana. He explains the similarities, but points out the stark differences. Conclucing these cannot be the same people who built Mystery Hill. Nimoy tells us, "The very lack of a settlement area, breaks the tie to Mystery Hill."

Nimoy then compares some of the structures at Mystery Hill to structures found in Europe from Medieval times. He explains that Professor Holzer believes that in the center is what remains of a temple. Maybe a link to the great cities of central Europe? Nimoy disucsses the evidence that Leif Erricson made landfall in North America, but not near New Hampshire. Nimoy makes a brief digression into other explorers form Europe that made their way to North America. "Did the strange visitors who built Mystery Hill arrive from the East by ship?" You may have noticed there have been a lot of questions in this episode and very little answers!

(stereotypical reference to Columbus)

Charcoal has been discovered at Mystery Hill and Nimoy is quick to let us know that through the process of Radiocarbon dating, the age of this material can be determined.

(creepy image of scientist conducting the Radiocarbon dating)

The results are interesting. They determine that it is at least 3000 years old. That means the fire that produced the charcoal was lit "a thousand years before the birth of Christ". We still don't know who lit the fire though!

Shifting gears to astronomy now! We see some interesting stones that seem to align with the location of the sun durng different seasons. Now we begin to see why the name of Mystery Hill today is "America's Stonehenge". Nimoy mentions the Druids and Stonehenge in England. The similiarities are discussed. In the "darkened recesses of Mystery Hill" a chamber was discovered  known as the Oracle Chamber. Professor Holzer has seen this type of grotto before. Chambers like this were discovered among the ancient ruins of the peoples of the Mediterranean. Nimoy points out Holzer needs more evidence to advance his theory that these cultures were connected.

Now we are introduced to Harvard archaeologist Barry Fell. Mr. Fell claims that Basques, Celts, and Phoenicians all came from Europe to North America. A quick search of Fell's wikipedia page reveals "His writings on epigraphy and archaeology are generally rejected by those mainstream scholars who have considered them."

Niomy then spends some time talking about the Phoenicians and Minoans and showing us some ancient artifacts associated with these people. The theory is that maybe as a result of fishing explorations they stumbled onto North America, and then later developed a culture there. This happened either because they couldn't get back home or some other unknown reason. Fell shows some carvings to try and show how similar they to the carvings at Mystery Hill.

(The "G Stone" inscription is claimed to be similar to carvings found on the island of Crete)

So this is the evidence and Nimoy seems convinced. In his typical dry fashion he tells us, "when one looks around one could imagine they are on the island of Crete if not for the yankee accents and smell of pine needles." Yeah those are the only differences!

In closing, Nimoy compares the supposed journey from Europe to North America by "Bronze Age peoples" to a voyage humans may make one day to the stars. Shout out to his Star Trek fame? You bet! Nimoy reminds us that Mystery Hill may be evidence that Europeans came to North America long before the birth of Christ. "Much of what those strange visitors new may be lost to us forever".

While I have no doubt that advanced civilizations existed in North America, I remain unconvinced it was because of Europeans getting lost fishing and showing up on the shores of New Hampshire! I
m not really sure what this episode tells us other than there are some really old, strange and cool stones in New Hampshire?

I'm still waiting for something a little more intriguing and with a bit more evidence! Bring on Bigfoot!

You can watch this episode "Strange Visitors" below.

"Other Voices" Season 1 Episode 1

At the beginning of each episode in this season we learn that the series producer is Robert L. Long and the executive producer is Alan Landsburg.

The episode "Other Voices" first aired on April 17, 1977 . It was directed by H.G. Stark and written and produced by Roz Karson.

The theme of this first episode (which aired when I was two years old) is to explore the possibility that plants respond to human thoughts. I think it's important to keep a few things in mind as you watch this episode. Remember, it is the 70's and it was in fashion for people to think way outside the box. It also means the 60's are not that far from being over and so many people are still thinking about things like levels of higher consciousness and the impact of hallucinogenic drugs on peoples perceptions of the world. This should be in the back of your mind as you watch each episode, as there is definitely some weird vibes form this show at times that can be a bit difficult to relate to in the 21st century. For me, this is the charm this show holds! I also think it's important to keep in mind that this is the first episode. As is the case with many programs, the first few episodes are not as good as later shows that are made once a series has found its niche and gotten into a routine with a formula that works.

Keeping these things in mind, I would say this was an "ok" episode. I love the voiceover at the beginning, "This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. The producer’s purpose is to suggest some possible explanations but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine.” I'm not sure if this happens at the start of every episode or not, but its interesting that perhaps they were concerned enough about criticism to put this little disclaimer right at the beginning. I have to admit the "sound" Nimoy talks about at the beginning is a bit disturbing. I couldn't help but crack a smile when Nimoy explains that the sound may be evidence that plants may be able to communicate. It is somewhat ridiculous perhaps, but the idea of plants reacting to humans is not as strange as research chemist Vogel would like us to believe. Are you a green thumb or a brown thumb?

Is it really all that surprising that plants have sense and can respond to stimuli? Maybe it was in 1977? Does anyone else think this is basically High School Biology? At any rate Nimoy's voice and tone have a magical way of conveying a sense that whatever he s talking about is mysterious and maybe a little scary. I was disappointed to see that Rock Music killed the plants! They are obviously no judge of good music. Kendal Johnson and his "electrical photography" felt a little bit like nonsense to me. I think that segment is some of that "60's psychadelic" left over influence I mentioned in my first post. I couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Johnson spent a little too much time in Berkeley just 10 years earlier from when this episode was made.

(Kendal Johnson)

So yes it was a little weird and maybe even corny in places, but I didn't get the sense it was all that crazy of a theory. I t was almost like the producers were trying to make it more "trippy" and bizarre than the theory actually is. Its almost like the producers were thinking, "Plants react to stimuli and here is the evidence. But let's make it a little more bizarre by mentioning the electricl photography and some other weird experiments, and play some trippy music and show some psychadelic images."

Nimoy is awesome as usual in this episode. He dryly comments with no sign of skepticism or enthusiasm, "For whatever reason, the experiment fails. Perhaps Baxter has performed it to often? His reaction may not have been genuine?" You think?

The experiment at the end with yogurt was interesting. He connected a lie detector to the yogurt to see if it was lying I guess? Baxter tells us there is a reaction and so I guess the yogurt was lying? At least until the bacteria is killed by antibiotics, than the lying stopped. Baxter concludes that even the simplest living things have feelings!

So it wasn't my favorite episode by any stretch, but I found it interesting just because of Nimoy and the weird 70's vibe.


If you haven't seen it yet, you click on the video below to watch "Other Voices"

"In Search Of... " Launch

Leonard Nimoy tragically passed away just a few days ago. This man had a profound influence on my childhood and my life through the various roles he played in shows like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Nothing he did captured my interest more than the syndicated series "In Search Of... "! And so I launch this blog dedicated to his memory and his life work. The goal is to watch each episode of that famous series that aired form 1977-1982 and then discuss our thoughts here in this blog. I plan to watch an episode every week or two and then post my thoughts here. Others are encouraged to post your own analysis and praise or criticism of each episode. The good news is that each and every episode is available to watch on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLft0vOv0DuPV_h3wzWFzFsCYVTDA2Aru2

You can post your comments and discuss your thoughts on each episode by scrolling to the end of each post and looking for "Post a Comment". You can enter your comments in the box. You will need to be logged into Google (or some other connected account) in order to post a comment. You may need to create an account before you can post a comment.

So let's relive the wonders of this show starting with my next post!!