History's Greatest Mysteries - Season 1

With over 7,500 hours investigating the D.B. Cooper mystery including analyzing evidence, interviewing witnesses, reading 20,000+ pages of FBI case files and exploring important locations, top D.B. Cooper expert, Eric Ulis, believes that he's found the true location where Cooper landed during his daring dive. Ulis has also assembled a team of specialists to explore the untouched Washington backcountry, federally restricted (wildlife refuge) land, to hunt for the missing evidence Cooper left behind. In addition, armed with new leads regarding the identity of Cooper, Eric works closely with a retired FBI agent as they set their sights on a living person of interest who could very well be the infamous D.B. Cooper as they attempt to solve the only unsolved skyjacking in United States history.

For 108 years, a dust-covered box has remained hidden in a British manor house and may contain evidence that will rewrite the most famous maritime disaster in history. This box contains the personal notes of Lord Mersey, the respected British jurist and politician charged with investigating the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The HISTORY(R) channel has secured permission to open it - a first in history. The box contains information about the Titanic's voyage including new context on fatal mistakes allegedly made by the captain and crew.

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to Antarctica but soon after arrival, Shackleton's ship - The Endurance - was destroyed by shifting glaciers, and he was tasked with leading his 27 men across the tundra, on an epic struggle for survival. Shackleton's battle against the odds and his unfailing commitment to bring all his men out alive turned him into a legend that still inspires today. The Endurance is as illustrious as the Titanic, yet it has remained lost for over a hundred years. Its final resting ground remains as one of the greatest polar mysteries. Now, the HISTORY(R) channel follows a new ground-breaking expedition heading back into the frozen seas to hunt down the last piece of the story: Shackleton's lost ship. Led by maritime archeologist and shipwreck expert, Mensun Bound, this expedition is the result of two years of planning and over $250 million spent in cutting edge technology as they set out to break through the ice and locate this holy grail of shipwrecks.

Twelve days after the assassination of President Lincoln, history records that Booth suffered a fatal gunshot wound while resisting arrest. Today, the Booth family believes this to be untrue. The family believes he faked his death, reunited with his wife, going on to marry again under an assumed name, eventually revealing his true identity in a series of clues. Investigators now have access to 60 boxes of materials at Harvard University, marriage certificates, what is believed to be the will of John Wilkes Booth and other rare documents that could speak to the mystery, and for the first time, use DNA to prove or disprove that Booth escaped his death.

The series follows the grandchildren of Major Jesse Marcel, the first person to investigate the wreckage. The investigation is being led by Ben Smith, a former CIA operative. The family believes Major Marcel was forced by the U.S. government to deny he ever saw a UFO. The family possesses a diary found in the belongings of Major Marcel, which may contain coded clues to the truth of what happened at Roswell. The investigation follows a compelling trail of evidence that leads from the Roswell crash site to new revelations that key U.S. Army officers believed it was truly a UFO incident. We will also attempt to decode the diary for the first time.

A former CIA operative's investigation into the Roswell crash arrives at a critical moment when the mysterious journal found among the possessions of Major Jesse Marcel undergoes a crucial test. As a US Army intelligence officer, Marcel was the first government official at the crash site. Investigator Ben Smith is taken to a secret location believed to be the real resting place of the airborne object, as a local archeologist finds evidence that a military cleanup may have taken place. A leading code-breaker continues his attempt to decipher the journal which may be written in a home-brewed code and contain hidden information about what happened at Roswell. And witnesses describe a series of bizarre events surrounding the now legendary crash, while an incredible new technology attempts to read words on a 70 year old photograph that may hold clues to the mystery: Did an extraterrestrial spaceship crash at Roswell?

Investigator Ben Smith travels to Jesse Marcel's hometown on Louisiana's Gulf Coast to speak with family members who reveal information that supports Marcel's story of a government coverup. Smith speaks with Leslie Kean, the investigative journalist who broke The New York Times story about a clandestine U.S. government program to investigate UFOs. Smith also digs deeper into the mystery of the journal as he studies writing samples to determine if the journal might have been written by one of Marcel's fellow officers who later claimed he was ordered to oversee the military's coverup. Back in Marcel's hometown, Smith meets with a man who swears Marcel confided in him about alien bodies-- something Marcel had never mentioned to the press or family. As the results come back from soil, metal and forensic handwriting analysis, Smith shares his findings with the Marcel grandchildren.