DESTINATION TRUTH - Haunted Forest & Alux

SyFy Channel - Original Air Date: 9/9/09

Josh and crew start the new season looking for a haunted woods in Rumania. On their way, they encounter strange locals (as usual) and unreliable machinery -- including an airplane that loses its roof in mid-air! I'm not too impressed with the photo "proof" the team is showed by local experts, but once they get to the woods, things really start hopping. They set up trap cameras, and stake out the place in teams. The woods are supposed to be filled with strange lights, voices, and people getting sick for no reason. Almost immediately, they begin seeing lights from the trees -- but quickly rule out the lights being from their own group. They can't track the lights down, but do find the mysterious "haunted" bare circle in the woods, where nothing grows, and take soil samples. They soon spot a light moving through the treetops but, again, can't track it down. So, they poke around, sit in the circle, and do EVP sessions. But when Evan does a session, he's suddenly "yanked" out of the circle, seeming to fly into the darkness and landing several feet away. Not only that, but his body has fresh scratch marks under his clothes. Then Rex suddenly gets sick. Even when reviewed later, the events of the night seem strange, perhaps even uncanny. The soil sample doesn't turn up any reason why things shouldn't grow there. Then Josh visits Jason & Grant from Ghost Hunters, and asks their opinion of some EVP anomalies -- moaning, giggling, etc. Because of the outdoor setting, Jason & Grant say there could be explanations -- the camera traps caught only dust, but the strange light in the forest seems unusual. The footage of Evan looks like he's been yanked out of his seat, and the GH guys say that scratches happen "a lot" in paranormal investigations. Josh remains skeptical of the lights and noises, but the Evan encounter remains unexplained.

Next, the team heads for Mexico to look for the Alux -- a small aggressive humanoid with dark fur. A Yucatan professor says that 95% of the locals believe in the creature, a fact testified to by the shrines built (even under highway underpasses) to the monster, and the fact that one couple blames the monster for their child's disappearance. After a brief detour to indulge in Carnivale, the team moves into the back country in search of the Alux. Cave diving, they find some bones, but no monster. Finally, they reach a shaman, who claims the Alux are in the area tonight. Blessed by the shaman, they set up base camp, ring it with cameras, and sweep the area. They find snakes, spiders, scorpions, a scary cave, and more bones, but no Alux. They collect the bones (non-human this time) and head back to the US for analysis. Turns out to be goat (or cow) and chicken bones, and Josh concludes that the Alux is likely an enduring myth.

Despite the lack of Alux, DT is of to another fine start, with the usual mix of engaging and adventurous characters. I'll be looking forward to new episodes every week.