Destination Truth

Spurred by news reports of SWAT teams searching the jungles of Papua New Guinea for a dinosaur-like beast, Josh travels to the little explored South Pacific island nation to investigate sightings of an Iguanodon near Tinganavudu, a remote village on the island of New Britain. Arriving in the capital city of Port Moresby, Josh meets an anthropology professor who provides photos of the bones thought to be the remains of an Iguanodon. After traveling 495 miles to Tinganavudu and recovering from the local tribe's initiation, Josh discovers that the local who found the skeletal remains from the photos had already sold the bones. Josh and his crew then head to the location of the sightings and surround the area with infrared cameras in the hope of catching some glimpse of the creature. Movement is detected in the middle of the night and Josh tracks something deeper into the jungle but his progress is stopped by impassable swampland. Before returning to the U.S., Josh investigates a second local legend, of a mermaid-like creature called the Ri, which has been reported in the waters off the island of New Ireland. Josh is convinced that the mysterious Ri is actually a type of Manatee called a Dugong and not a mermaid. Back in the U.S., Josh meets with a zoologist who believes that the bones probably belong to a sperm whale, not an Iguanodon.

Josh and his team head to the Khon Kaen province to investigate reports of spooked villagers bringing in professional ghost hunters to track down increasingly active spirits haunting their surroundings. After a dubious capture of a wayward ghost, Josh visits the cemetery believed to be the area's most haunted location. Josh sets up thermal-imaging cameras and a microphone in the cemetery's crematorium. The microphone does pick up a terrifying scraping noise but the cameras do not turn up any ghostly evidence. Convinced they've gotten all the evidence they can, Josh and his team break camp and send the audio evidence to a forensics lab in California. In the meantime, they remain in Northeast Thailand to investigate the legend of the Naga, a serpentine creature said to inhabit the waters of the Mekong River on the border with Laos. After reaching the border city of Nong Khai, Josh meets with several witnesses of the Naga. A local marine biologist tells Josh that it's possible that the witnesses have actually seen a giant catfish. Josh and his crew spend a night on the Mekong, trying to get video of the Naga with no luck. Josh returns to the U.S. to follow up on the ghost evidence. Audio forensics specialists confirm that the sounds recorded in the crematorium are whispering voices. Josh takes the recording to a local translator who says the voices are a warning: "Everybody get out of here."

Intrigued by reports of a Pterodactyl-like creature, Josh travels to New Guinea. Witnesses describe the creature as a carnivorous, featherless bird with a wingspan of up to 15 feet and a defining glow emanating from its torso. Josh meets with a villager, Max, who offers to take him to the cave thought to be the Ropen's home. The expedition finds a small opening near a hillside cemetery believed to be the entrance to the Ropen's nest. After finding a human bone fragment and droppings too big to be from bats, Josh and the crew set up cameras outside the cave's opening. At nighttime, the team captures footage of a glowing orb in the sky and Josh returns to the U.S. to have experts review the video. When both forensics specialists and a zoologist are stumped by what they see on the tape, Josh concludes his investigation believing that something strange is flying over New Guinea at night. Josh then turns his attention to the legend of El Chupacabra in Chile. Upon arrival in Chile, Josh interviews witnesses who claim to have seen El Chupacabra. It was described as a three-foot tall creature with coarse hair, leathery skin and glowing red eyes. It is reputed to be responsible for killing thousands of livestock and it kills by puncturing wound through the jugular vein. Josh and the crew head to where it is believed El Chupacabra lives and position their cameras for overnight observation. Josh finds two hairs on the ground and hears scampering noises. In the U.S. again and after having the hairs examined, Josh is convinced that a natural predator slaughtered the Chilean livestock.

Awash in reports of alleged sightings of a Malaysian Bigfoot, Josh and his crew head to Asia to learn more about this cousin of the American Sasquatch. Most of the sightings have occurred in Endau Rompin National Park on the Malaysian peninsula. Once the crew reaches the location of the recent sighting, Josh spots depressions in the ground and comes across a huge print that shows five toes and he makes an impression of the print for later study. As darkness falls, the guides leave the jungle and the crew sets up cameras while Josh treks deeper into the jungle for more evidence. Suddenly one of the cameras moves and then a laser thermometer detects something while they record a distant growl. Josh decides to return to the U.S. to have the growl recording and footprint cast analyzed. Before he can leave the country however, news of Josh's footprint gets out and Malaysian authorities require that he make a copy of the footprint and leave the original with them. Back in the U.S., a zoo curator and Bigfoot expert are stumped leading Josh to believe that something unusual lives in Endau Rompin. Josh next heads to Buenos Aires where a sea serpent-like Nahuelito has been attracting Loch Ness level attention due to numerous sightings. When a local cinematographer's video of the creature turns out to be less than convincing, Josh gets a closer look by heading to Nahuel Hupai Lake which is thought to be the home of the Nahuelito. A geologist at the site believes that what people are seeing are ripples created by small seismic disturbances underwater which makes more sense to Josh.

Lured by reports of a Loch Ness type monster in South Africa, Josh and the crew set out to uncover the mystery. The Mamlambo, which is said to have the head of a horse, is alleged to have killed seven people, spurring the formation of a task force to hunt it down. After reaching Durban, Josh and the team head for the Mzintlava River, home of the Mamlambo. While setting up camp, a tornado appears to be forming and they must take cover until the next day. During the night, one of the cameras is bumped by something below the surface but no evidence of the Mamlambo is found. Josh ships the footage back to the U.S. for analysis and returns to Durban to look for another South African legend, that of the Tokeloshe, a ghostly, monkey-like creature that gained notoriety when several accused murderers testified that they thought they'd encountered the beast. Josh meets with Zulu spiritual guides who brief him on the Tokeloshe and its eating habits. They tell him the creature appears and disappears like the wind and that the locals don't even like to discuss it out of fear. A black-arts practitioner sends the team to the nearby Kingdom of Lesotho, reportedly the home of the Tokeloshe and sets up a surveillance camp. During the night, one of the bottles of Tokeloshe bait moves mysteriously and the cameras record a cloudlike glow above the same bottle. No more evidence is unearthed so Josh returns to the U.S. to find out that expert analysts cannot decide what caused the glow. A fisheries biologist tells Josh that the footage of the Mamlambo was more likely the work of a crocodile.

Having read reports of a creature similar to a werewolf in Buenos Aires, Josh heads there to investigate El Lobizon. El Lobizon is a human who mutates during a full moon but takes the form of a dog instead of a wolf. This transformation reputedly can happen only to the seventh son in a family with all male children. Josh meets a priest who has baptized hundreds of seventh sons who directs him to a man who possesses DNA evidence in the form of a blood-caked rope allegedly used on the creature. Josh sends the rope back to the U.S. for analysis. Josh then makes his way to a village where Omar, an un-baptized seventh son, lives. That night he sets up cameras and sits Omar in a chair as the full moon rises. Something strange appears on the cameras and a dog like animal races in front of the screen and Omar disappeared. After losing the animal in the brush, Josh returns and finds Omar. Josh decides they have gathered all evidence and they head back to Corri Entes to investigate a dwarf-like creature, called the Pombero. Josh travels into the forest to an abandoned house where a Pombero supposedly lives. He sets up the creature's favorite foods as bait. Josh hears a strange noise that night and returns to the US to find out what the curator makes of the sound. The curator suggests that the noise was most likely the sound of some insect. Josh determines that this is most likely just a myth. Josh becomes more curious when the blood taken from the rope ends up containing human DNA. Josh concludes that his findings are strange, it doesn't prove that a man can transform into a wolf.