The UnXplained

Strange rituals in secluded compounds,

esoteric symbols with cryptic meanings

and blood oaths that last a lifetime.

For centuries,

secret societies have been operating in the shadows,

influencing our culture,

shaping our world in ways we can only imagine.

These mysterious groups are often rumored

to practice chilling rituals,

and to communicate using secret codes

and strange symbols.

While the notion of a covert,

oath-bound brotherhood is intriguing,

could the claims that have been made

about these secret societies be real...

or mostly mythical?

Well, that is what we'll try and find out.

While revelers enjoy

Halloween festivities across the city,

tucked away out of sight,

a group of men prepare a deadly serious

initiation ritual.

Michael Franzese is about to become a member

of America's most infamous criminal secret society--

the Italian-American Mafia,

or as its members call it-- La Cosa Nostra.

I don't like to use the term "Mafia"

here in America.

In America, it's really "Cosa Nostra."

I grew up in the life.

You know, my dad was the underboss

of the Colombo family.

I was 24 years old when I got inducted.

It was Halloween night, 1975.

I was called into a room late at night.

Stood in front of the boss, held out my hand,

took a knife, cut my fingers,

some blood dropped on the floor.

He took a picture of a saint, lit it aflame,

put it in my hands.

And he said, "Tonight, Michael Franzese,

"you are born again into a new life,

"into Cosa Nostra.

"Betray your brothers, and you will die,

"burn in hell like this saint is burning in your hands.

Do you accept?"

"Yes, I do."

And that's how it started.

La Cosa Nostra wants

to make money and amass power.

I would say they are the deadliest criminal

secret society in American history.

To join the Mafia, you have to be pure Italian,

and secrecy is the norm.

You're told you can join this organization,

and you'll make all sorts of money, you'll be protected.

But at the same time, if you reveal any secrets,

you're going to be killed.

The dangerous secrets

that La Cosa Nostra keeps revolve

around criminal enterprises like

gambling,

drug trafficking,

counterfeiting

-and murder. -(siren wailing)

It's been estimated that at the height of their power,

their crimes earned them billions of dollars every year.

So how did this criminal, secret society

become so powerful?

The Mafia really starts to sort of

come together in New York City in the 1920s,

and there's a few factors as to why.

Number one-- prohibition,

because banning alcohol instantly turns

corner-street thugs

into very wealthy, powerful gangsters.

The underworld realizes

Americans are still gonna want to drink,

and they will be the ones to supply the alcohol.

So, it becomes an enormous, lucrative opportunity

for gangsters.

In the early 1900s,

the guys started migrating

from Sicily into the United States.

And before prohibition, we were just a bunch of guys

preying on each other,

trying to do these petty street crimes

and being thugs.

Well, those guys figured out,

"Hey, alcohol. People want to drink.

We're gonna make 'em happy."

We were good at giving people what they wanted

when they couldn't have it.

New York state alone,

there were 36,000 speakeasies,

just to give you an idea of how lucrative this was.

And so, now we start to get organized

because no organization is anything without money.

Prohibition turned common thugs into kingpins,

and created an opportunity

for La Cosa Nostra to get organized.

ED McDONALD: By the 1930s,

Lucky Luciano and some other, uh, powerful gangsters

formed themselves into a commission.

They decided that it would make sense

if these gangsters were organized,

organized into families.

They designated five people to be the heads

of five families in New York.

And other people were designated to be the leaders

of families in other parts of the country.

Lucky Luciano comes up with the structure

of the Mafia as we know it today.

You have a hierarchal structure.

You have a boss, underboss,

capo, which is like middle management.

Capo is in charge of roughly ten soldiers

who do the actual grunt work.

Underneath the soldiers are associates.

An associate can be anybody

who just happens to help the Mafia.

And this really is the birth

of the American Mafia as we know it.

A strict hierarchy meant

that only the bosses would know

all the details of La Cosa Nostra's

criminal operations.

And to show their loyalty,

all members of the family would be required

to take a powerful oath...

of secrecy.

People-- they don't understand what the oath is.

They think once you come into that life,

well, you're taking an oath to lie, steal, cheat, kill.

Now obviously as part of that life,

you know, those things happen, but that's not what the oath is.

The oath of omertà means silence.

We're not even supposed to admit that the life exists.

We're not supposed to talk about it.

If you violate policies and rules,

you can have serious consequences.

McDONALD: Omertà was critical to the success of the Mafia.

In order to stay alive,

in order to stay active, in order to stay powerful,

you can't have your members going out and talking

to other people about what you're doing.

And so, you have a code of silence.

People were adhering to omertà

because they were afraid that if they violated the code,

they would be killed.

If your mother is sick and dying,

and you're at her deathbed,

and the family calls you to service,

you leave your mother, and you come and serve the family.

The family comes before anything.

You have to think that way.

So, unfortunately, you know, you make a mistake,

it could be your best friend that pulls the trigger on you.

During my 20 years in that life,

unfortunately, I've seen things like that.

While authorities have known about the existence

of La Cosa Nostra since the 1950s,

the power

of this criminal enterprise has faded with time.

But is the loyalty and commitment

to the secret society still strong?

McDONALD: There are still organizations,

there's still five organized families in New York,

but they simply don't have the power

or the impact that they had.

The bosses, the leaderships of the families,

have been convicted time and time again,

going back to the 1980s.

The question, is it possible

that there will be a resurgence of the mob?

I don't think we'll ever see the La Cosa Nostra

as effective or as powerful as it once was,

but we don't know.

One can only speculate.

We used to be front page news.

We had a lot of control in this country

for almost 100 years,

under some very difficult conditions.

We had connections right into the White House, 100%.

Is it the same as it used to be? No way.

But it's not going away in my lifetime,

just take my word for it.

The future of La Cosa Nostra is a matter of debate,

and as powerful as they once were,

their influence pales in comparison

to another secret society,

one that helped orchestrate the very founding

of the United States.

In the historic neighborhood of Shockoe Bottom,

there is a two-story structure known as "Masons' Hall."

Originally dating back to 1785,

it's the oldest meeting place in the United States

for a secret society known as...

the Freemasons.

Freemasonry is the world's largest, oldest