DESTINATION TRUTH - Ghosts of the Great Wall & Israeli Mermaid

History Channel - Original Air Date: 3/24/10

The Great Wall of China has a grim history, and recent deaths of workers & tourists have some thinking the wall may be haunted.  So, naturally Josh & the DT crew have to go check it out.  After goofing around in Beijing, they head to the "Wild Wall" to start investigating.  They rappel down one section of the wall (Ryder almost falls), and hike to a remote part of the wall to set up operations.  They hear noises and get an odd Flir hit, but Josh theorizes that the "footsteps" being reported are actually rustling birds, too small for the thermal camera to pick up.  Then, Josh feels someone grab his backpack, but there's no one around.  Later, he feels it again, and his backpack recorder -- with a mechanical switch -- is mysteriously turned off.  Other people also have experiences, and one of the team nearly falls off the wall.  As usual with ghost-hunting debriefing, they talk to Jason & Grant from Ghosthunters -- and turn up an EVP (mysteriously in English).  And for once, Josh is a little freaked out by his encounters.

Next, they head to Israel to find a Mediterranean mermaid (with a million-dollar bounty on her head).  Locals claim to have seen and even been touched by the creature.  They kayak around some caves looking for it, with no luck, and then head to Cesarea, location of some sightings to go diving.  Despite a hit on their sonar, and brief glimpse of a large shadow, they find nothing and move on to the main sighting area.  Come night, they patrol and catch something that looks like the silhouette of a head and shoulders on one of their cameras.  A further thermal hits prompts some diving by Josh, but all he finds are ancient ruins and trash.  Analyzing the films, the expert suggests a monk seal, perhaps, though -- as the show notes -- the ocean still holds many secrets.