- This is a rare photograph of what's thought
to be a salawa beast.
Police tracked it down after it attacked dozens
of people.
- They know what you have eaten, they know
if you're pregnant, they know, also, in which kind
of state you are.
- It seems that the devil is trying to alert the people
that something bad is going to happen.
- Do dolphins have healing powers and
what's the truth in an evil legend about a devilish
creature?
Animal X investigates the weird world of animal mystery.
First, we track down a strange animal that has terrorized
Cairo suburbs.
- Egypt, a place of ancient mysteries.
Its carvings and powerful monuments hold the secrets
of our past, from the beginning of recorded time.
Now, this land of myth and legend is gripped by
a new mystery.
One of a terrifying beast, reported to have injured
dozens of people in ferocious, nighttime attacks.
Its name, the salawa, or female ghoul.
Animal X went to the banks of the Nile in Cairo to
speak to the victims of this bizarre stalker.
We traveled by road to the district of Quatamaya,
some 38 kilometers away.
Surrounded by desert, the township is extremely isolated,
its residents live in impoverished conditions.
They carry the scars of their encounter with the salawa.
A creature described as looking like a dog or wolf,
but with supernatural powers.
This young girl saw the animal eating garbage on the
street.
Without provocation, it turned, ran over and attacked her.
This boy was standing outside watching his father
work on a car.
He says a strange creature appeared from out of
nowhere and bit him on the leg.
And this woman tells how her nephew was attacked.
He was walking to a local shop when he encountered
an odd looking beast.
It bit him on the face and he was rushed to the hospital.
Putting together and accurate description of the salawa
is difficult.
Witness accounts vary.
Some say it's black and white.
Others, black and brown.
However, many agree it looks out of proportion,
with longer legs at the front or back,
and it has an elongated snout.
No one knows why it attacks with such ferocity,
and for no apparent reason.
Victims have described how the animal has the ability
to jump high in the air and even change shape.
Ghostly qualities which reflect its local title,
female ghoul.
So, where does a creature like this come from?
Could it possibly have paranormal powers?
Those who've delved into Egyptian mythology believe
the salawa may have been around before.
Thousands of years ago.
Dr. Mohammad Sala links it to the ancient god of evil,
Safe, who, like the salawa, is capable of changing form.
- This is the god of fear, the god of rage.
The god of confusion, the god of evil, and so on.
And I think this had been preserved in the minds of
the Egyptians, especially outside of the big towns
and cities, in this form, and so, when they saw it,
they thought salawa.
- There is another prevailing theory,
that the salawa is a modern day version of this
mythical animal, the jackal headed god, Anibus.
Not only does it fit some descriptions of the salawa,
it has eerie connections with death and the afterlife,
as the god of embalming, Anibus would inhabit ancient
tombs, protecting the dead.
This is a rare photograph of what's thought to be
a salawa beast, killed in the town of Armant,
300 kilometers south of Cairo.
Police tracked it down after it attacked dozens
of people.
They have their own theories.
The Cairo police chief says, in his opinion,
the salawa is a rabid dog bred with hyenas or jackals.
It has long legs because it has adapted to the desert
conditions, and an elongated snout means it can search
for food in difficult places.
While authorities have been quick to dismiss
villagers' superstitions, they have taken the
beast very seriously.
In Quatamaya, a task force was organized after
23 people were attacked in just two weeks.
Police advised terrified residents to stay indoors
while they searched the area.
While officers waited, guns at the ready, the salawa
was on the hunt for another victim, this time
not on the street, but inside one of the villager's homes.
Its target, the Mohammad family, who ironically had done
what the police had said and stayed indoors.
The mother, Nadia, says it was about 11 o'clock when
she heard something at the front door and
went to investigate.
Nadia says the beast looked like a ghost.
It appeared to have no bones in its body.
It was able to jump high in the air and it was
terrified.
When she tried to push it back out the front door,
it elongated, like elastic.
What followed was a terrifying ordeal.
After attacking Nadia, the beast went for her daughter,
Saida, then her two other children.
Eventually, Nadia and Saida managed to stun the animal
by hitting it repeatedly over the head with a plank
of wood.
Saida says when her father came home, he insisted they
finish the animal off.
He got a rock and hit it over the head, but incredibly,
the beast's bones would not break.
The family then took the salawa outside and tried
to burn it.
They drenched in gasoline and waited.
Four hours later, its flesh still hadn't burned.
Officers came and took the animal's body away
for forensic examination.
Authorities announcing, that was the end of the matter.
But is it?
They admit they cannot honestly say how many more
of these creatures exist, and where they'll strike next.
- Often, a weird animal appears evil,
and an encounter may have tragic results.
In this next story, we look at creatures
whose nature is conspicuously good.
Dolphins have long been the friends of travelers,
but now there's new evidence that they also have
weird powers.
- We've spent years scouring the universe
for extra terrestrial intelligence, listening for
alien voices.
A never ending search for creatures with mysterious powers.
But intelligent non-human life has already made
contact with us.
Creatures capable of communicating, changing our lives,
even unlocking the darkest secrets of our minds.
Dolphins are believed to be the most intelligent
marine mammal.
They often choose to come from the deep to interact
with humans.
Can these enigmatic creatures look inside us to
unlock secrets to human healing that we are yet
to discover?
Many believe so.
All over the world, people have reported miracle
healings after swimming with dolphins.
Everything from learning disabilities to cancer and AIDs.
Among those who have reported miraculous results
from dolphin therapy, is a couple from New South Wales,
Australia.
- They're usually pretty easy to find, yeah, yeah.
- Today they're talking two people out
for a therapeutic swim with the dolphins.
- For example, a young, drug addicted who,
you know, after the dolphins, just stopped everything.
Smoking, drinking, taking drugs.
- This mysterious mammal's understanding
of us goes much deeper, right inside our bodies.
The large melon shaped bump on the forehead
generates their sonar.
It sends sounds or clicks through the water,
which bounce back off any object they encounter,
giving them an incredible three dimensional picture
of everything around them.
Their sonar can even penetrate inside an object,
so that when they look at humans, they are seeing
something like a medical CAT scan of our insides.
- They can use a sound and look at you with a sound,
zap you, and get back music or get a full picture
of you, not just the outside, but also the inside,
so they know what you have eaten, they know if
you're pregnant, and they also pick up your emotional,
they know, so, in which kind of state you are.
- Studies of their neural activity show
that dolphins produce mainly pheta brain waves.
In humans, that equates to a highly intuitive,
almost euphoric state of mind.
Perhaps dolphins are able to actually pass on
their brain waves, transfer the euphoria to their
human playmates during a swim.
It sounds too incredible to believe, but science
is putting this bizarre theory to the test.
After swimming with the dolphins, participants can
go into the holy grail of mind states,
producing that elusive theta brain wave.
The theta state gives us a deep feeling of well being
and helps our healing processes.
A similar experiment in Mexico has produced incredible
results.
Highly stressed brain activity, shown in red on the
left screen, was totally transformed after a dolphin swim,
replaced by a much calmer state, shown in the right
with theta activity in purple, at the back of the brain.
- They were really making a connection.
- This eye contact, it was, this dolphin was definitely
knowing me.
Completely in an instant, I felt.
And that's still there.
- One day, it may be that these marine
medics will be able to communicate their diagnosis
directly to us.
- Dr. Dolphin may definitely be a thing of the future.
I mean, I think it's very likely that dolphin assisted
therapy is going to continue to be applied to a number
of different diseases.
- If many animals exhibit strange powers,
the very existence of others seems unlikely.
After the break, we examine the evidence for an evil
creature, the Jersey devil.
- Such as there's Bigfoot out there and there's
all the other different legends, the most famous
legend that the United States has is the Jersey devil.
- Welcome back to Animal X.
There are many legends of strange creatures,
but few supported with as much eye witness
testimony as this one.
For many years, it has terrorized a quiet corner
of the United States to cover place in American folklore.
- From the pinelands of New Jersey,
on the east coast of America, comes a tale of one
of the most extraordinary creatures ever recorded.
More than 2,000 people have reported to have seen it.
It's terrorized towns, and caused factories and schools
to close down.
Some claim it's simply a mythical beast, born of local
superstitions and folklore.
Others say the weight of evidence is just too great
to dismiss the existence of an animal or supernatural being
that's become known as the Jersey devil.
Animal X traveled to Leeds Point, New Jersey, to investigate
this fascinating entity, that's been around now
for more than 270 years.
This wild, wooded region offers a perfect setting
for such a mystery, with its desolate wind swept marshes
and rambling old houses, it's easy to conjure up images
of the supernatural and strange, otherwordly creatures.
The precise origins of the Jersey devil remain
shrouded in mystery.
Without written records, it's hard to work out where
history ends and folklore begins.
In each case, though, it's said to be a woman
who gives birth to the beast.
One of the earliest birthdates, and among the most
graphic, involves Mother Leeds.
The story goes that during a violent thunderstorm
in 1735, she went into labor.
At her bedside, reluctant women from the local community.
The candle lit room had an air of unease.
Mother Leeds was supposedly a witch who indulged
in sorcery.
There were even claims that the child's father was
the devil himself.
As the child was born, there was a sigh of relief.
It wasn't a demon as the women expected.
But suddenly, the baby changed form.
The women watched in horror as its body elongated
into a serpentine shape, whose replaced feet
and its face coursing into a long, bony structure
of a horse's head.
Bat wings sprang from its shoulders, and it began to grow
larger.
With its thick, forked tail, it's said to have beaten
everyone in the room, including Mother Leeds.
Then, with an ear piercing shriek, it flapped
its wings, flew up the chimney, and off into the night.
Over the decades, many people say they've seen a
devil flying by or stalking the forest.
While it's never attacked a person, it's been
blamed for killing countless farm animals and pet dogs.
- I believe that such as there's Bigfoot out there,
and there's all the other different legends,
the most famous legend that the United States has
is the Jersey devil.
- Harry Leeds considers it his job to
keep the spirit of the Jersey devil alive.
After all, he's an 11th generation direct descendant
of the Leeds family that sailed out from Leeds, England,
in the 1600s.
He says he's not afraid of the creature, and believes
it's a force of good rather than evil,
and it's a mystery as to how the Jersey devil
has managed to survive for so long.
Harry says, according to information handed down
over the years from his family, Mother Leeds had made
a wish that her 13th child be a devil,
but he says there's no proof she was a witch.
Legend has it that this is the house where the demon
child was born.
Today, there's little left of the old building.
- You can see the roof has collapsed in the basement, here.
And this is where the devil originally
flew out a chimney, as you can see, there's some
bricks in here where the old chimney was.
And there they are, right there.
You notice the lumber and everything here is
all deteriorated now.
- Harry believes that increased recent
sightings may mean something.
- It seems that the devil is trying to alert the people
of something bad that's going to happen.
The devil is, like I say, he's very knowledgeable,
he gets around, he knows what's going on.
- Could the Jersey devil be a harbinger of doom?
Certainly, reported sightings of the beast have
increased just before catastrophic events.
He's been seen on the eve of shipwrecks and at
the outbreak of five wars.
His appearance has also said to have preceded the outset
of bad weather.
Incredibly, some even claim to have glimpsed the devil,
just before hearing news of an electional change of
government.
So, what does this legendary creature look like?
Over the years, he's taken a variety of guises.
Images have been drawn up based on the many
eye witness accounts from people, including
police officers, government officials,
and local businessmen.
Nothing approaches the magnitude of sightings that
occurred in 1909, when the Jersey devil was reported
in 30 different towns over a week long period.
Hundreds of people say they saw the beast flying
or on the ground.
People barricaded themselves indoors,
schools and factories closed as posses scoured
the area, to no avail.
A $100,000 bounty was put on the creature's head,
and officials, together with scientists, tried to
come up with answers as to what this mysterious
animal might be.
Some suggested it was a prehistoric reptile
from the Jurassic period.
Then, came the most vivid and lengthy appearance
of the week.
A couple say they saw this creature for a full 10 minutes,
walking along the roof of their shed in the early
hours of the morning.
Interest in the Jersey devil now reached fever pitch.
Hoaxes followed of its capture, as people talked
of witnessing a real, live jabberwocky, a reference
to author Lewis Carol's mythical monster.
- A lot of the descriptions actually resemble
some of the jabberwock artist's renderings,
the bat wings and so forth come across.
- As time passed, and the Jersey devil remained
uncaptured, this God-fearing community, again, turned to
the Leeds family legend for answers, believing the
monster must have evil, supernatural powers,
and be a manifestation of the devil.
- People of that time believed strongly that the devil
manifested on Earth, in these different, what they call,
prodigies.
Children being marked by Satan with some deformity of
some sort as punishment for the sins of the fathers.
That was not an uncommon belief.
- And you don't have to go far to find
those who firmly believe that the Jersey devil is still
out there.
Somewhere.
- Mostly, the people think the thing just go off
in the woods and maybe killed a few things,
and it disappeared in the woods and died.
But the legend just kept on going.
- He's around, you better believe it.
- This waitress claims a friend saw it
one night.
- She's riding down this road, she sees something,
but she keeps going, she hits her gas.
The next day, she comes in, shaking, and she swears
it was the Jersey devil, because the thing stood
like seven and a half feet tall, I'm sorry,
red eyes, and everybody said it was a raccoon,
it was a deer, she swears it was a Jersey devil,
stuck its head on this little long road,
out of the marshes, out of the weeds, and just
stared at her and just watched her go by.
- Whatever your verdict on this extraordinary
tale, it's true to say that over the decades,
something very strange has scared a lot of people here.
Could there really be a devil in their midst?
- It's said there are stranger things
in heaven and Earth than we can think of.
- This is the gods of fear, rage,
confusion.