Destination Truth – Hanging Coffins and Kiyik Adam – S05E07

Anything dealing with exposed coffins, especially when those coffins are stacked on top of each other or are simply hanging off a cliff, is going to be a little unnerving. This latest adventure was no exception as Josh and the crew head to Milan to investigate hauntings at the local burial site. A tradition of hanging or stacking the coffins has been practiced for thousands of years. The deceased are carried up the mountain and laid to rest with dozens of others. Over time, those coffins has become worn and exposed with the remains becoming visible to passersby. But the claim is these spirits aren’t at rest and their cries and apparitions can be seen on a regular basis. Are there indeed restless spirits or is there something more earthly going on?

Josh makes the long trek up into the mountains, but not before stopping off to visit the market and talk with the locals. He also spends a little time spinning some pottery and making a disturbingly uncomfortable re-enactment of the pottery scene from Ghost. I’m not sure how I should feel.

But moving on… The team hikes their way into the interior and find dozens of coffins stacked in a cave. They are literally sitting on top of each other with the boards showing obvious signs of wear and decay. So much so, that Richie gives us an accurate account of the contents. I have to say, this seems like an incredibly awkward to get rid of the deceased. Carrying someone up the mountain, then into the cave, then over the river and to the top of the pile? Or as we see later, scale the rock face and bolt the coffin to the wall?

As Josh starts his EVP session and asks for signs of a spiritual presence, the flashlights begin to flicker, then the camera itself goes out. What should we make of this? Is this a sign or a sign of faulty equipment. I hate the “turn off the flashlight trick”, but the team has never done this one before so who knows.

As they ask for more, Josh becomes very unsettled at the sight of what he believes is a black mass right behind the cameraman. He’s so convinced of what he saw, he becomes visibly upset and even makes the comment that he either saw something or was hallucinating. Ironically, right behind the area of the sighting is a coffin. Kind of makes you wonder.

They move on to the next area, which is the location of coffins hanging from the rock face. Josh and Richie get the climbing gear and hoist themselves up. They do an EVP session about 20 feet off the ground, inline with the coffins themselves. What they get in response sounds like the creaking of a coffin lid. Was that the actual sound of someone trying to get out? Or was it just the wind or a change in temperature causing the wood to creak? I tell you this, I would have needed a new pair of pants. A sound like that under those conditions? I would have made a mess.

Although the investigation doesn’t outright give off the greatest evidence, when they get back to Los Angeles, they come across some interesting things. They don’t capture the dark mass Josh saw, but they do capture the creaking. The also discover a lot of the whispering and chatter people hear is most likely due to all the bats that live in the caves. However, when they review their digital pictures of the coffins, strange images appear. The first two contain some really unusual mist formations, but the third shows what looks like an apparition. Overlaid on top of everything else is a woman in profile with a distinct head, arms and facial features. This goes way beyond the usual matrixing. Seriously, what the hell is that? If this had come from anyone else, I would dismiss it as such. But that is a very clear image of what appears to be a person. I’m quite stunned.

So, are there spirits still moving around in this ancient burial site? The bats, the wind, and even the imagination can explain and debunk many of the things people see and hear. But the large mass Josh saw combined with the apparition in the picture have me wondering…

Kiyik Adam

The Kiyik Adam is another variation on Big Foot that inhabits the outer regions of Kazakhstan. Sightings have been on the rise and residents claim there is a 9 foot monster with thick gray fur out in the woods.

More than the investigation, this episode was fun to watch because of the people, their vibrant and elegant clothes as well as their hospitality. Watching Josh with the villagers and playing musical instruments was simply wonderful. I love the way Josh and the team respect other cultures and immerse themselves in it. I wish we could all be a little more tolerant like that.

But that first market they went to was a little unsettling. I guess they do indeed cook every part of the chicken and not every sign with a horse on it is for a pony ride. But hey, not everyone goes to a McDonald’s either.

So the team heads out into the night to see what they can find. They do hear some odd whistling sounds in the night. Witnesses report this same sound. It does sound like an odd whistle, but give it a few seconds and it sounds more like the screech of a bird.

They keep looking around and get a big thermal hit on the edge of the plains. They aren’t able to catch up with it, but something was there.

This investigation doesn’t yield much in the way of evidence and when they do further analysis, they do come to the conclusion that the screeching in the night is more than likely a bird, that the animal across the plain was a large elk or perhaps even a bear. It does seem that what most people are running into is some sort of bear. That would explain the height and the fur. Does that mean the “Big Foot” doesn’t exist? With that much unexplored area, anything could be out there. In fact, multiple “anythings” could be out there.

Too bad this was the last episode of the season. Seems like we waited nearly a year and have to wait again. Oh well, it was a hell of a lot of fun. The hanging coffins was pretty damn interesting, but the episode about Vlad was perhaps the most interesting. Not just because it was about Dracula, but because of the people, the legend, the buildings and paintings they discovered. It seems they just scratched the surface of that story and that area. I would love to see them go back and explore that area some more.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Deep South Paranormal – The Good the Bad and the Ghostly – S01E05
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
• Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
• Destination Truth – Haunted Island Ruins / Moroccan Succubus S04E07
• Destination Truth – Spirits of Tikal and Creature From the Black Lagoon – S05E05
• Destination Truth – Haunted Island Prison/Ucumar – S04E10
• Destination Truth – Spirits of Easter Island – The Moa – S03E15
• Destination Truth – Jungle Temple Ghosts & Namibian Night Stalker – S04E12
• Destination Truth – Ghost Fleet/Japanese River Monster S04E04
• Ghost Asylum – Old Crow Distillery