Mysteries at the Monument

In the quiet community of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania is a massive acorn-shaped sculpture that depicts a mysterious object that reportedly fell from the sky and triggered a storm of controversy and panic. In the downtown district of Wichita, Texas is an unusual structure that was born out of an unforgettable scam and is now believed to be the smallest skyscraper in the world. And while the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California is a modern engineering marvel, it was conceived decades earlier by an eccentric figure who claimed to be the Emperor of the United States.

On display in the charming town of Menahga, Minnesota is a peculiar statue that honors an obscure figure, venerated for his heroic deeds despite his suspicious past. Rising out of the deserts of Phoenix, Arizona is an enchanted eccentric structure created by a father who dedicated his final years to making his child's dreams come true. And the stunning subterranean world in New Mexico known as the Carlsbad Caverns is home to swarms of bats which inspired one of history's most radical weapons of war.

An unusual sculpture of a death-defying creature; a spectacular park linked to a preacher who shocked the world.

A sacred effigy; the first African-American baseball player; statue of a New York mayor.

The University of California, Berkeley is one of the most prestigious institutions in America. But it was also once home to a body of ambitious yet gruesome research, when in the 1930s a scientist fancied himself as a real life Dr Frankenstein. Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida is famous retreat for newlyweds but in the 1940s a bizarre set of large three-toed footprints were discovered embedded in the sand, leading residents and lovers alike to suspect they were being stalked by a giant creature from the depths. Beneath the mushroom shaped dome of Flagstaff, Arizona's Lowell Observatory is a humongous telescope. Its creator shocked the world and shaped the public's perception of alien life when he described the bizarre markings he observed on the surface of Mars.

In the Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY stands a 2½ foot tall slab of granite celebrating Thomas Wiggins, a blind slave - his unique talents became the focus of a custody battle that will leave his freedom hanging in the balance. The Thompson House in Newport, Kentucky is now a thriving live music venue but was also the birthplace of John Taliaferro Thompson, the creator of a controversial invention that would change the landscape of military and criminal warfare forever. In the center of Muskegon, Michigan stands a fourteen-foot high twisted chrome sculpture that describes an incredible tale of invention - when a father creates an odd-looking device for his two young daughters to ride down snowy slopes - it evolves into a device used by millions through the world.

On the cobblestone streets of Boston's historic Beacon Hill district is the Lewis and Harriet Hayden House where a resident daringly played his part in one of the most audacious escapes from slavery of all time. On Hatteras Island North Carolina stands the Cora Tree, legend has it that in 1700 an islander called Cora was accused of being an agent of the devil leading to a horrific witch-hunt which still fills the community with fear to this day. In Holmdel, New Jersey, atop a wooded promontory is seventy-foot long, aluminum horn shaped structure that was made to advance satellite communication in the early 1960s - but this odd-looking device actually changed our understanding of life when it discovered the oldest sound in the universe.

The quiet, quaint city of Milan is peppered with reminders of the once lucrative automotive industry that flourished in southeast Michigan but on the outskirts of town is a two-story Victorian stick-style home that was not financed by the production of vehicles but rather the sweetest of swindles. Considered the beating heart of Granby Colorado, the community's brick town hall was only built six years ago in the wake of a reinforced bulldozer's horrifying rampage throughout the town. Just north of Manhattan's midtown concrete jungle is the green oasis of Central Park with sprawling meadows, winding footpaths, glistening ponds, and thousands of free public benches - but this place of tranquility was once the site of a violent uprising that altered one of the nation's most famous parks forever.

The USS Olympia, the oldest surviving steel warship in the United States, is moored in a marina in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - when the son of a wealthy diplomat is kidnapped in Morocco, the vessel was deployed and a President up for reelection was forced to solve the international incident without risking his reelection campaign. In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a curious and diminutive historical marker pays tribute to the site of a brutal bare knuckle boxing match that changed the course of professional sports forever Founded in 1719, the historic New England town of Litchfield, Connecticut pre-dates the birth of the United States and is rich in history - but in the National Historic District is the home of a man who took a risky idea and turned the tide of the Revolutionary War, ushering in a new era of military strategy.