The History Channel

Ever since the military started using sophisticated airplanes, they have sought ways to build an aircraft that can fly undetected, maneuver like a helicopter and fly like a jet. The Nazis were the first to pursue the idea of building a disc-shaped aircraft. After the war, the Americans, Canadians and Russians all were able to build aircraft similar to the German prototype, perhaps based on the concepts smuggled out by German engineers. This episode looks at top secret flying saucer designs of the Air Force, with specific dates, times and locales of flights that may point to the real explanation behind the many UFO sightings beginning in 1947, and why the saucer design was abandoned for stealth technology.

If ancient aliens visited Earth, what was their mission, and is there evidence that points to when they will return? Ancient Sumerian tablets describe an alien race, known as the Anunnaki, who came to Earth to mine for gold. Egyptian hieroglyphs depict hybrid creatures that were part man, part animal. Mysterious crop circles and unexplainable crystal skulls are thought to contain messages that man has yet to decipher. Strange evidence may exist in multiple cultures throughout history suggesting that aliens came here to explore, excavate raw materials, experiment on human beings, and even for pure conquest.

Is it possible that sightings of alien beings or UFOs may actually be evidence of time travelers from the future? And might ancient astronauts actually be time travelers from our future? Scientists explore the theoretical possibility of time travel. How can it be achieved? And what might people from 10,000 years in the future look like?

On October 26, 1994, the U.S. government made their first official acknowledgement of Area 51. Six months later, nearly 4,000 acres of previously public land surrounding the base were closed. Now, over a decade later, satellite photos reveal new buildings, towers and runways finishing construction. Secret flights with blacked-out windows bring passengers from Las Vegas. And security surrounding the perimeter of the base is tighter than ever. The team heads to the epicenter of UFO and military conspiracy theories to visit new vantage points, speak with former base employees, and search the skies above America's most top-secret facility.

Ever since the military started using sophisticated airplanes, they have sought ways to build an aircraft that can fly undetected, maneuver like a helicopter and fly like a jet. The Nazis were the first to pursue the idea of building a disc-shaped aircraft. After the war, the Americans, Canadians and Russians all were able to build aircraft similar to the German prototype, perhaps based on the concepts smuggled out by German engineers. This episode looks at top secret flying saucer designs of the Air Force, with specific dates, times and locales of flights that may point to the real explanation behind the many UFO sightings beginning in 1947, and why the saucer design was abandoned for stealth technology.

Meteors, comets, and asteroids cross the solar system to offer clues about our planet and universe. Can they destroy civilizations? Did they wipe out the dinosaurs? Have they brought life to our planet? And when will the next one hit? Aided by elaborate animation and live-action footage, we learn what these mysterious space rocks really are and imagine what likely happened 65-million years ago, when an object plowed into the Yucatan Peninsula. We see how certain spectacular meteor falls advanced our understanding of what they are and the danger that they pose. We talk to leading experts--astronomers and geologists including David Levy and Carolyn Shoemaker, co-discoverers of the Shoemaker-Levy comet that fell into Jupiter in 1994. And we talk to NASA scientists about recent missions to asteroids and comets and speculate on ways to move Earth-threatening asteroids and comets out of our way. Because it isn't a question of if but when the next deadly impact will take place.

For years, people have claimed to have had direct, personal contact with an alien. In this episode of our series, the team tracks down several people who claim to have had such contact. They'll also work along side medical and scientific professionals to try and discover what, if anything, really happed to these people.

NASA has been exploring space for decades, and there are persistent reports that the agency has uncovered surprising information about UFOs. The team speaks with former astronauts, employees and engineers, and delves into NASA videos to see if the space agency knows more than it is letting on.

J. Edgar Hoover ran the FBI for almost 40 years and was America's most respected, and feared, lawman. Author and historian David Eisenbach digs into Hoover's buried secrets to reveal that Hoover was also a neighborhood peeping tom, a sexual blackmailer, and created the world's first Gay Spy Ring.

Pablo Escobar was Colombia's king of cocaine, a man his own government was afraid to touch. But he also violated the dead, set fire to millions in cash to keep warm and actually helped the US hunt down Osama Bin Laden. Outspoken historian David Eisenbach probes the world of narcotrafficking and uncovers things you didn't know about Escobar.

Mormons built a politically powerful religion based on family, faith and clean living. But they also built Las Vegas, they owned brothels, and they copied some of their rituals from the Freemasons. These are just some of the secrets author and Historian David Eisenbach uncovers.

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were Washington's first couple with a New Deal. But historian and author David Eisenbach reveals that the Roosevelts' marriage was a political arrangement of epic proportions. FDR had a long-running affair with his wife's secretary, and Eleanor was a closet lesbian in love with a female news reporter.

Deep in the Rust Belt the white collar and blue collar divide has shaped our cities and our states. How did this rivalry change the way we all bring home the bacon?

It's a rivalry that tears us apart every four years, but how did our nation divide into red states vs. blue states, and what happens to the states caught in the middle?

Best-selling author Brad Meltzer and his Decoded team examine claims that John Wilkes Booth actually escaped to freedom after murdering President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The "official" version of events says federal agents cornered Booth and killed him just days after the assassination. But Brad and the team uncover glaring inconsistencies in that 150-year-old account: Why did the authorities hide Booth's body from public view? Why was Booth autopsy's conducted in complete secrecy in the cramped confines of an ironclad gunboat? Searching for answers to these and other troubling questions, the team finds startling evidence that strongly suggests Booth may indeed have lived into old age without ever facing punishment for his crime.

An era of seeming bliss turns into a period of total political disenfranchisement. Plain-spoken Harry Truman becomes president after FDR dies in office and presides during the last days of WWII. He also ushers the US into the Atomic Age and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman is followed by the hero of D-Day, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike's grandfatherly image and "hidden hand" politics are replaced by youth and charisma when John F. Kennedy is elected. Assassination thrusts Lyndon B. Johnson into office and Vietnam drives him out. After Richard Nixon resigns in disgrace, Gerald Ford tries to heal a wounded nation. Defining moments include the dropping of the first atom bombs, containment of communism, the Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, man on the Moon, JFK's assassination, Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the first presidential resignation.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

First see a demolition team preparing to sink a barge to create an artificial reef--they stay onboard while detonating and are sent flying! Next a small plane carrying a grandfather and grandson is on fire on the runway and then the oxygen tanks explode. Watch as the Iranian embassy in London, being held by terrorists, is stormed by the SAS. Then parents in Atlanta witness the absolute horror of their children's nursery school explode a target of the infamous bomber Eric Rudolf. Finally a motorcycle race through the streets on the Isle of Man ends in a spectacular crash--see footage from three angles, including two pov cams.

Meteors, comets, and asteroids cross the solar system to offer clues about our planet and universe. Can they destroy civilizations? Did they wipe out the dinosaurs? Have they brought life to our planet? And when will the next one hit? Aided by elaborate animation and live-action footage, we learn what these mysterious space rocks really are and imagine what likely happened 65-million years ago, when an object plowed into the Yucatan Peninsula. We see how certain spectacular meteor falls advanced our understanding of what they are and the danger that they pose. We talk to leading experts--astronomers and geologists including David Levy and Carolyn Shoemaker, co-discoverers of the Shoemaker-Levy comet that fell into Jupiter in 1994. And we talk to NASA scientists about recent missions to asteroids and comets and speculate on ways to move Earth-threatening asteroids and comets out of our way. Because it isn't a question of if but when the next deadly impact will take place.

For years, people have claimed to have had direct, personal contact with an alien. In this episode of our series, the team tracks down several people who claim to have had such contact. They'll also work along side medical and scientific professionals to try and discover what, if anything, really happed to these people.