All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S07E02.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
They're watching you.

More than 4,000 satellites
Circle the earth.

Every day, they uncover new,
Mysterious phenomena

That defy explanation.

[ beeping, distorted music ]

Apocalypse california.

This place is just
Completely desolate.

I've never seen anything
Like this before.

Narrator: the devil turns up
Among the dunes.

Chamberlain:
What is it doing here?

That's a mystery
We got to explore.

Narrator: and the weird red dot
From another star system.

This area is sometimes called
The bermuda triangle of space.

Narrator:
Baffling phenomena.

Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

[ beeping ]
[ camera shutter clicking ]

[ whirring ]

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

**

[ frequency warbles ]
[ whirring ]

**

July 2019.

An aerial survey of california's
Sierra nevada mountains

Captures something worrying
In the landscape below.

If you look at this area
On a wider scale,

There's forest everywhere.

But then what stands out
Is this patch

Of nothing.

Ruben:
There are no straight lines,

So it's not like
It's been cleared for anything.

The trees are just kind of dying
In this one spot.

Narrator: trees often die

From forest fires
Or bug infestations.

But this patch of dead trees
Looks different.

The image is analyzed further

Using maxar securewatch systems.

We can go back in time
With our imagery

And look at data that was
Collected decades ago.

So if we go back to 2002,

And if we jumped to 2019, today,

We can see that there's been
A significant change

Over time in this area.

Narrator: switching to infrared
To highlight vegetation growth

Confirms a powerful force

Is decimating large swaths
Of california forest.

Something is spreading
From this one area

And killing the trees.

We're talking about
Maybe thousands.

What could be possibly
Causing this?

Narrator: geologist nick pollock
Is heading to the site

To investigate.

What worries him is
The location of the dead trees.

We're not sure
What's causing it,

But we do know
That it's located on the edge

Of one of the largest volcanic
Complexes in the united states

Called
The long valley caldera complex.

Narrator:
The long valley caldera

Is a 200-square-mile
Super volcano

That sits under
The sierra nevada mountains.

From the skies,
All appears peaceful.

But beneath these forested
Slopes lie 240 cubic miles

Of roiling
2,000-degree-fahrenheit magma.

Pollock:
Well, I think because of where

These tree patches are situated,

It may have something to do
With volcanic gases

That are emanating up from the
Magma chamber deep underground.

Narrator:
Over 700,000 years ago,

The long valley super volcano
Erupts

With 2,000 times
The force of that

Which destroyed
Mount st. Helens.

It wipes out life
Across much of north america,

Reducing the landscape
To smoking ash.

The eruption was enormous
And very deadly.

It wreaked havoc
Over thousands of miles.

Narrator: pollock hopes
The weird tree deaths

Could shed light on the mystery
Of whether this massive volcano

Will unleash
Its destructive forces again.

Pollock: what's alarming
About these satellite images

Is that the patch
Is actually getting bigger,

Which suggests to me
Ongoing activity,

Something that's continuing
To grow in size and severity

And continuing to kill off
These trees.

**

Narrator: pollock reaches
The edge of the dead zone.

From here on in,
He must be careful.

So, if my hypothesis is correct
And these are volcanic gases,

I'm gonna put this gas mask on

Because these gases
Could be deadly.

**

Yeah, this place is just
Completely desolate.

I've never seen
Anything like this before.

Narrator: whatever killed
These trees appears to have

Also totally stripped
The soil of life.

Pollock: we're in the middle
Of a forest.

I would expect there
To be some kind of shrubs

Or moss on the ground,
But there's nothing.

Narrator: but something
With pollock's volcanic theory

Doesn't stack up.

Pollock:
If this is volcanic gases

Causing this forest to die off,

I would expect to see
Some sulfur component,

But there's nothing that smells
Like rotten eggs,

Which we normally associate
With sulfur gas.

**

Narrator:
Pollock considers if a different

Odorless killer is to blame.

Pollock: the next gas that

Might possibly be able
To do something like this

To a forest is carbon dioxide.

[ beeping ]

The reading is normal here --
356, 355.

So at least that tells me
I'm pretty safe

To take off my gas mask.

Narrator: pollock knows that co2
Is heavier than air.

So when I set the instrument
Here on the ground,

I'm still reading levels

That are within normal range
For the atmosphere.

But if we were to
Just dig into the ground...

[ fast beeping ]

...The levels are going up
Super quickly.

Over 9,000.

They're almost maxing out
The instrument.

These levels are crazy.

Narrator:
Just a few inches down,
Levels of the toxic gas

Are 25 times greater
Than at ground level.

There's so much gas
Trapped in the ground here.

I can't believe it.

And all we basically did
Is scrape the surface here.

I have to imagine
That where these tree roots are,

The co2 levels
Could be even higher.

Narrator: co2 is plant food,
Great for trees and shrubs

When it's in the air,

But poison when it's this
Concentrated in the ground.

It's a little bit
Counterintuitive

Because they take up co2
From the atmosphere

Through their leaves
And into their cells.

But when co2 is in
Too high of an abundance

Near the root systems,
It actually inhibits the roots

From taking up
Other important nutrients,

Which is probably what's causing
The death of all these trees.

Narrator:
A growing dead zone suggests

Increasing amounts
Of toxic gases

Are rising
Through the earth here.

And for a supervolcano
Of this size,

That could be
Seriously bad news.

The story starts below
The surface here

Where the magma chamber sits.

And it has me really worried
It could be a ticking time bomb.

**

Narrator: coming up --

Magma mountain's
Exploding lake...

Pollock:
It flows downhill,

Suffocating any humans or life
Within its path.

Narrator: ...And africa's
Billion-dollar oil bandits.

They build refineries out
In the middle of nowhere.

This is big business.

**

**

Narrator: geologist nick pollock
Is in california

Studying an alarming dead zone
Of trees spotted from space.

What worries him
Is that the ghost forest

Sits on one of the world's
Biggest supervolcanoes.

I'm almost certain that
The gas killing these trees

Is volcanic in origin.

And seeing those carbon dioxide
Measurements

Up in the tree-kill area has me
Really worried about this lake.

Narrator: pollock fears the lake
Next to the dead trees

Could be absorbing vast amounts
Of the volcanic co2.

Pollock:
If the same carbon dioxide

That we see up there
Is leaking underneath the lake,

It's gonna continue
To get enriched and enriched

In carbon dioxide until --
Boom! -- it pops.

Narrator: a giant bubble of co2
Emerging from a lake

Might sound harmless,

But it is anything but.

Lake nyos in cameroon,
A lake very similar to this,

Absorbed all of
That carbon dioxide,

And there was a big explosion
From the center of the lake.

And an entire village
Was decimated.

Narrator: during the night
Of august 21st, 1986,

A seismic event triggers
The release

Of up to 300,000 tons
Of carbon dioxide

Trapped in lake nyos.

A massive, invisible, odorless
Cloud of the gas

Erupts from the lake
And rolls across the land,

Suffocating 1,700 people
And thousands of animals.

**

If the lake is absorbing co2
Like at lake nyos,

A sudden trigger,
Something like an earthquake,

Could cause a similarly
Catastrophic event

To occur here.

Narrator: yet, when pollock
Tests the water,

It reveals relatively low levels
Of carbon dioxide.

**

He heads off in search
Of further signs

Of volcanic activity.

Since there was no sign of any
Down near the tree-kill area,

I decided to hike up
Further onto the mountain.

Narrator: on the higher slopes,
He spots a fumarole,

A volcanic opening
In the earth's crust.

You can see the gases

Coming up from within there,
Right over there.

And even from this distance,
I can already smell the sulfur,

So it must be pretty strong.

**

This is about as close
As I want to get.

The temperature that vent
Is probably at least

200 or 300 degrees fahrenheit.

Narrator: yet, the presence
Of sulfurous gases here

Confuses pollock.

Pollock:
It's kind of weird to me

That they're coming out
Of the fumarole here,

But that I didn't see
Any evidence for them down below

Where the trees
Were being killed off.

Narrator: it's as if
This sleeping supervolcano

Is slowly waking up,

And pollock wonders
What might be causing it.

Knowing the seismic history
Of the area,

This place has a history
Of earthquake swarms.

Narrator:
An earthquake swarm is a rapid
Succession of seismic shocks.

One such swarm hits the mountain
In 1989,

The year the forest
Starts dying.

Pollock: so that suggests to me
That those earthquakes opened up

Pathways to the surface,
Bringing massive amounts of co2

That ultimately killed off
Those trees.

Narrator:
The growing number of dead trees
Here could suggest gas pressure

In the 240-cubic-mile
Magma chamber is increasing.

The nightmare scenario
Is that future swarms

May trigger the release
Of massive clouds of gas

Down onto the highly populated
Areas below.

With each earthquake
That happens here,

Another vent opens up for more
Of these gases to escape.

Because it's so dense,
It flows downhill,

Potentially suffocating
Any humans or life

Within its path.

**

Narrator: yet, the satellite
Image and seismic data

Point to an even more
Troubling scenario.

Increasing emissions of volcanic
Gases and earthquakes swarms

Are warnings
Of volcanic eruptions.

And if the supervolcano
Hidden under these mountains

Goes off, it would make
The most violent eruptions

In recent times
Look like child's play.

Dull: when we see
A sudden die-off of trees,

It tells us that something
Is definitely wrong,

And it's probably related
To the magma chamber below.

Narrator:
The growing patch of dead trees

Could be the first indication
That the fiery giant hidden

Under the sierra nevada
Mountains is slowly awakening.

It's not a matter of if

But when something may happen
To the volcano.

**

Narrator: coming up --

The mystery of
The serpent of the sands...

Hunt: it's clearly
A serpent-like feature.

There's nothing else
It can resemble.

Narrator:
...And the strange blob

That's messing with spacecraft.

Brensberger: this phenomenon
Is actually moving,

And we don't exactly know why.

**

**

Narrator:
January 24th, 2017.

An orbiting camera passing
Over the desert sands

Of mauritania, west africa,
Captures this image.

This is a really remote area,
But there's this snake.

We are in one of the most
Inhospitable places on earth.

So what is this
Giant snake-like thing?

That's a mystery
We got to explore.

Narrator:
Local geological records
Offer a possible clue

To the origin
Of the slick serpentine streak.

There's one substance
That's dark, black,

And found in abundance
In west africa.

Could we be seeing an oil spill?

Narrator: the sahara holds
Large oil reserves.

Pipes carrying thousands
Of barrels of oil a day

Crisscross its sands.

There are no official records
Of any leaks

On the day the image was taken.

But there is another
Possible explanation.

There's stories of oil pipelines
Being broken, tapped into.

Could this be
Some illegal operation

That we don't know about?

Certainly it's not unheard of.

There are instances
All the time.

Narrator: oil theft is rampant
Across africa.

In the nearby niger delta,
Highly organized gangs

Bribe pipeline operators
To tap and siphon off

Up to 10% of all oil production.

This way, they steal more than
$1 billion of oil a month.

Some places, 2,500 gallons
A night, employing 400 people.

They even build refineries
Out in the middle of nowhere

That illegally take the oil
And process it into diesel fuel.

This is big business.

Narrator: the gangs often
Process the crude oil

By heating it with naked flames
In huge pits

Before condensing it.

In october 2018,

A blaze caused by
This so-called oil bunkering

Kills 200 people
In south nigeria.

Countless more deaths
Go unreported.

And the toxic runoff
Devastates the landscape.

This oil can easily
Spill into rivers and creeks.

From above, one of these oil
Spills might look pretty much

Exactly like what we're seeing
In this image.

Narrator: analysts look closer
At the image

For signs of oil piracy.

If that's what's going on here,
You would expect to see

Some sort of infrastructure --
Roadways or buildings

Or even the pipelines
Themselves.

There's nothing.

Narrator: archaeologists have
A different theory.

This snake figure actually
Reminds me

Of something I've seen before.

Hunt: in ohio is the world's
Largest serpent-like feature.

It's 1,300 feet long,
3-foot high,

And it just winds all the way

Along the landscape
At brush creek.

Narrator: thought to date back
Around 2,000 years,

The exact purpose of ohio's
Great serpent mound is unclear.

Graves found nearby suggest
It could have fulfilled

A spiritual function.

And it's just one of
Many serpentine effigies

Constructed by civilizations
Throughout history.

The reverence given to snakes
Through human history

Is actually astonishing.

The serpent is a symbol that
Has a great deal of resonance

Across many, many
Worldwide cultures.

Is this another example of
That kind of ritual structure?

Narrator: around the world,

Snakes have been variously
Worshipped as gods of evil,

Death, and as phallic
Or solar deities.

There's something really deep
And important going on here

In the human association
Of meaning and the snake.

Narrator: historical records
Confirm snake worship

Is prevalent in west africa.

Hunt: you can hardly encounter
A tribe in africa

Whose ethnography and lore
Does not involve

Some kind of snake mythology.

Narrator: mystical reverence
Of the snake in africa

Dates back 70,000 years,

Tens of thousands of years
Before the dawn of civilization.

In parts of africa
As late as the 18th century,

Those found guilty of killing
A snake were sentenced to death.

Today, some societies
Worship them

As part of the ancient religion
Vodun,

Forerunner to the voodoo
Practiced today

In haiti and louisiana.

People across africa
Carry legends

Of the world having been formed
From a snake,

And the snake is associated
With the image of a rainbow

That sometimes spreads
Across the heavens.

Narrator: analysts consider what
African desert civilization

Could account for
Such a symbol in the sands.

I'm immediately struck
How it looks almost identical

To an egyptian hieroglyph.

Narrator:
In egyptian magic,

Set, the god of chaos,

Is sometimes represented
By a serpent.

He is also
The god of the desert.

Egypt has snake effigies.

Why should there not be one
In the sahara?

Narrator:
Historical records show that

Egyptians arrive in mauritania
Around 600 b.C.

One theory is that they leave
An indelible mark

In the shape of this enormous
Tribute to a serpent god.

Seeing this snake-like
Ground feature

Reminds me of
The egyptian pantheon of gods.

It's clearly
A serpent-like feature.

There's nothing else
It can resemble.

Narrator: a legacy of
An ancient civilization,

Or a freak natural feature
In the sands?

For now, the origin
Of the serpent of the sahara

Remains a mystery.

**

Coming up --
The terror from outer space...

We would look just like mars --

No water,
Completely desolate.

Narrator: ...Then history's
Weirdest funeral parlor.

Birds would come
And pick away at the flesh

And just leave
The dry bones exposed.

**

**

Narrator: hundreds of miles
Up in the atmosphere,

Nasa satellites' infrared
Cameras scan our planet

For heat anomalies,

Like wildfires or volcanoes.

But on july 14th, 2017,

The suomi npp
Passing over the atlantic ocean

Finds something highly unusual.

Pepper: my first thoughts are,
"Is it real?

Is this some sort of figment
Of imagery

That's in the camera
On the satellite?"

This is a perfectly circular
Red dot

In the middle of the ocean.

It doesn't make sense.

Narrator: data checks confirm
This is no error.

Major:
This is an infrared image,

So these have to be
Sources of heat.

But what's strange is that
There's one out in the middle

Of the atlantic ocean.

Narrator: 1,000 miles from land
In cold ocean,

Something appears to be burning.

**

Patel: the location of
This anomaly is actually on

A pretty popular shipping route
Between africa

And south america.

So this could potentially be
A fire on a ship.

Narrator: maritime records
Confirm numerous container ships

Do catch fire every year.

But a burning vessel
Can't explain the weird image.

There is no evidence that
This is a ship that caught fire.

There's no s.O.S. Call.

So there must be something else

That's causing
This thermal anomaly.

Narrator: the mystery deepens
When reports emerge

That craft orbiting near
The red dot

Display bizarre
Electrical malfunctions.

Phoenix:
Astronauts who have been on

The international space station

Have reported that
Their laptops have been fried

While passing over this area.

And some have even said
That they've witnessed

Kind of strange imagery,
Like shooting stars

Or unexplained light.

Narrator: satellites, too,
As they pass over the red dot

Suffer damage to their systems,

Sending them hurtling
Out of control.

This area is sometimes called
The bermuda triangle of space

Because of the effects that
We see on manmade instruments

When they pass over this area.

Maybe this red dot actually
Comes from something

That might be in the atmosphere.

Narrator: atmospheric studies
Above the anomaly

Reveal something disturbing.

What we're seeing happening is
Energetically charged particles

Coming closer to the earth.

About 120 miles
Above the surface,

There is essentially
A radiation hotspot.

Narrator: normally, earth is
Shielded from deadly cosmic rays

By a force field
Generated by our planet's

Spinning iron-and-nickel core.

Lucky for us earthlings,

We are shaded
By this magnetic field

That not only blocks
That radiation

But literally funnels it
Into the poles.

We owe our lives
To the earth's magnetic field.

There is a tremendous amount
Of radiation in outer space,

And that magnetic field protects
Us from this cosmic radiation.

Narrator: the satellite image
Indicates the force field

Is failing above
The south atlantic.

Here, radioactive space rays
Pummel orbiting craft.

More cosmic rays are able
To get lower and lower

Into the atmosphere
Than they would otherwise be.

The intense radiation that is
Associated with cosmic rays

Can overload the instrument

So that it detects it as a flare
Or as a blast of light.

And that's what we're seeing
On this particular image.

Narrator: so far, scientists
Have been unable to explain

What's cracking
The earth's defensive shield.

But what they have established

Is that the hole is spreading,
Fast.

Brensberger:
Researchers are measuring,

And this phenomenon is actually
Moving northward and westward,

And we don't exactly know why.

Narrator: as we become more
And more reliant on satellites

In our daily lives,

The future effects of this hole
Could be catastrophic.

If this happens somewhere
Major and metropolitan,

Like washington, d.C.,

It's going to cause
Major problems

For how we communicate,
How we navigate.

Today, we are very reliant
On satellite technology

To provide us with location
Information and cellphones,

And basically all of the things
We do on a daily basis

Depend on electronics.

So the effect is really kind of
Uncharted territory for us.

Narrator: as our magnetic
Defenses are breached,

It's not just our communications
Systems that will be fried.

Phoenix:
We're going to see the space
Station becoming uninhabitable

And higher incidences of cancers
All around the world.

Pepper: the real fear is that
If our magnetic field went away,

Because it not only shields us
From these solar rays

But it also protects
Our atmosphere

From being literally
Stripped away,

If that happened,
We would look just like mars --

No water,
Completely desolate.

**

Narrator: coming up --
The mob moves to swampland...

Al capone did own an illicit

Dancing-and-drinking
Establishment in the everglades.

Narrator:
...And the nazis up to no good.

There's the very real
Possibility that this is

An example of construction
During the third reich.

**

**

Narrator:
October 30th, 2017.

Eyes in the sky
Over the florida everglades

Spy something down below.

It's this completely
Remote area,

But there are perfect squares
In weird, random spots.

It almost looks like somebody

Cut out pieces
Of the everglades.

Narrator: much of this
1 1/2 million acres

Subtropical swampland
Is inaccessible

And uninhabitable.

Perhaps the shapes'
Remoteness is a clue.

Patel: it's not anywhere that
People will regularly visit,

So it could be a good place
To hide something.

Ruben: the squares kind of look
A little bit like

The foundations of buildings
That once were there.

Chamberlain: building in a swamp
Is extremely difficult.

This would have to be someone
Who was really motivated

By being undiscovered.

Narrator: one potential
Candidate stands out.

Al capone did own an illicit

Dancing-and-drinking
Establishment

In the everglades.

It makes sense that maybe
He would have a neighboring site

To produce the goods
He was trying to sell.

[ car horns honking ]

Narrator: al capone's
Bootlegging empire

Was built on prohibition.

For decades, america's
Female-dominated

Evangelical temperance movement
Campaigned against alcohol.

And in the 18th amendment,
Their sober views became law.

The amendment actually
Didn't stop it from being made.

It just turned it into
A giant underground industry

For any would-be gangster.

[ gunfire ]

[ people talking indistinctly ]

Narrator: when al capone,
Or "Scarface,"

Becomes mafia boss
Of the so-called chicago outfit,

He builds its bootlegging
Operation into a huge business,

Netting him $60 million a year.

Ruben: in his famous line
That he would always say is,

"I'm just a business man

Giving the people
What they want."

Narrator: despite having 60%
Of cops on his payroll,

In 1928, capone is declared
Public enemy number one.

He escapes chicago for a
Secluded mansion on miami beach,

And, according to locals,
He starts up

A bootlegging operation
In the everglades.

If you're gonna manufacture
Illegal alcohol,

You better put it someplace
No one's ever gonna look.

And the middle of the everglades
Is a perfect spot.

Narrator: but other analysts
Think the isolated shapes

Have a different origin.

When I see these squares,

They almost look like
Fenced-off pens.

Trophy hunters come
From all over the world

To bag alligators.

Sometimes hunters
Will fence off areas

To make sure that there are
Animals to be hunted.

Narrator: a vast population
Of 200,000 gators

Live in these swamps.

In florida,
Alligators are ubiquitous.

You will see them everywhere.

You'll see them on the roadside.

You'll see them congregating
In the marshes.

Narrator: every year,
The florida wildlife commission

Grants licenses to keep
The population under control

And to deal with dangerous
Rogue gators.

Alligators can be a particularly
Difficult animal to hunt.

A lot of times,
They're underwater,

So we can't see them that well.

Also, they have
Really amazing senses,

So they can even pick up on
Vibrations of footsteps.

Narrator: there is a method
Of animal slaughter

Known as canned hunting,

Whereby animals are ushered
Into a pen or sealed area,

Which makes them easy prey.

Essentially, it's like
Shooting fish in a barrel.

Chamberlain: oftentimes,
Something is done to the animal

So it's not quite equal footing.

Maybe they're given
A tranquilizer.

It's really not a fair fight.

You're not hunting animals
Out in the wild, per se.

Narrator: yet, scale analysis
Indicates these shapes

Are 900 feet across.

Patel:
These squares are massive.

This area just seems too big
For a canned hunt.

Narrator:
Close analysis of coloration

Around the shapes
Provides more clues.

The muted brown colors in them

Almost remind me of burning.

Most people wouldn't think of
Wildfire in the everglades,

But I think this could be
Controlled burns.

Narrator: scientists are
Fighting an invasion,

Not of gators or gangsters,

But of grass.

One of the problems
With the everglades

Is this invasive species.

And best way
To get rid of invasive species

Is to burn down
That part of the everglades.

Narrator: florida
Water-management records reveal

A particularly destructive weed

Spreading like a plague
Through the everglades.

One of the species that's really
Prevalent is the cattail.

It's a long, narrow plant

That kind of chokes off
Some of the other vegetation

That is in the area.

Narrator:
Scientists are waging war

Against this one
Super-strong species of grass.

And, in desperation,
They've turned rambo.

Well, they will go out
In helicopters.

And then they'll go out
On boats,

And they'll light it on fire

And let it burn.

Narrator: in a combined aerial
And ground-based assault,

Teams of scientists blanket
The swamp with herbicide

And with fire.

Helicopters, flame throwers --
These scientists are

Declaring war
On these invasive species.

**

The strategy, to some people,
Might seem,

Well, we're causing more damage.

But what we are seeing
Is regrowth

Of some of the native vegetation
Back into those areas.

Dennie: cattails are
Extremely flammable.

It burns very quickly.

And many of the hardwood
Materials are left behind,

And they flourish
Once the fires pass through.

Narrator: the legacy of this
Strange form of swamp warfare

Is visible from space.

This is a game of
Man versus the cattail.

Hopefully man will win.

[ helicopter blades whirring ]

**

Narrator: coming up --

The lost civilization
Of the seas.

And is this
All that's left of them?

**

**

Narrator:
June 22nd, 2017.

An orbiting camera passing
Over the german coast

Captures this shape
In the north sea.

Kourounis: this is unlike any
Island I've ever seen before.

It's shaped a bit like
A horseshoe crab.

Bellinger: it looks almost
Die-cast or stamped,

Like the ridges around the top
Of a bottle cap.

Horton: the fact that it's
Obviously so close to sea level

Makes one think that either
It's being submerged by the sea

Or has emerged from the sea.

Narrator:
For archeologists,

The structure's shape and
Coastal position offer clues.

A few years ago,
The rather curious monument

Was actually found
Off the north coast,

And it looked very similar
To this.

Narrator: the so-called
4,000-year-old sea henge

Emerges from a beach
In norfolk, england, in 1998.

Consisting of 55 oak trunks
Scarred with axe markings,

Excavations suggest
It once played host

To macabre
Ancient death rituals.

This might be
Part of the process

Of what's called excarnation...

[ birds cawing ]

...Which is to expose
The dead body to the air,

And the birds would come
And pick away at the flesh

And just leave
The dry bones exposed.

Is it possible that
This central platform

Was also employed
For excarnation?

Narrator: if this is
A similarly ancient monument,

Discoveries on the seabed
Near here

Could explain who built it.

Fishermen back in
The 19th century were

Trawling up crazy things --

Antler points
And fishing spears.

Horton:
These trawlers have dredged up
A whole series of stone tools,

So we know that people
Were living in the area,

Even though
It's now below sea level.

[ thunder crashes ]

Narrator:
A seismic scan of the seabed
Around the mystery structure

Confirms that 12,000 years ago,

It was a vast, fertile,
18,000-square-mile plane...

...A drowned world
Known as doggerland,

Once the home of tribes
And stone-age beasts.

[ beast roars ]

We have these fabulous myths
Of drowned civilizations

Across cultures
And throughout time.

And, of course,
Atlantis comes to mind.

But in the case
Of this submerged land mass,

The reality is more fascinating
Than fiction.

Paul: did these mesolithic
People of doggerland

Make this circle?

And is this
All that's left of them?

Narrator: yet, military
Historian martin morgan

Thinks the structure
Has a more modern origin.

My first instinct is that
This is a military structure

Because I'm used to seeing
Military architecture

On coastal areas
On small islands like this.

Narrator: for morgan, there is
Only one likely candidate.

There's the very real
Possibility that this is

An example of construction
During the third reich --

Nazi germany.

The germans would construct
Massive

Anti-ship seacoast
Defense batteries.

Perhaps this is one of those.

Narrator: the island is off
A stretch of coast

Once heavily defended by
A giant wall built by the nazis,

The 2,000-mile atlantic wall.

It stretches up
And includes this area

Because the germans
Were concerned that the allies

Would conduct an amphibious
Landing in northern europe.

Narrator: 260,000 people
Construct the atlantic wall

Using 1.2 million tons of steel,

17 million cubic feet
Of concrete --

The equivalent of
15 dodger stadiums.

This falls right sort of
In the middle of all of that.

And so it would make sense that
This was a fighting position

Of the so-called atlantic wall.

Narrator: scientist kelsey ellis
Believes the structure

In the image
Is indeed manmade,

But it has been built to fight
A different kind of battle.

I've seen something
Like this before.

It reminds me of an island
That was artificial

And has a similar
Circular structure.

Narrator:
The north sea is considered
Among the most dangerous seas

In the world,
And not just to ships.

When I see this
Artificial island in an area

That's threatened by rough seas,
It makes me feel like

It was put there
To prevent coastal erosion.

Narrator:
Studies suggest over 12,000
Miles of european coastline

Are at severe risk of erosion.

We have reports
That some of the waves

That we've seen in the north sea
Can be over nine stories tall.

Well, if you have
A nine-story-tall wave

Hitting into something,

There is gonna be damage done
To that something.

Narrator:
The germans, it seems, are now
Fighting a war against the sea

And building strange structures
To do it.

The key to the artificial island
Is the circular feature

That you see in the image.

It's keeping the whole island
In place

And keeping sand
From being washed away,

While also collecting sand
From the tides.

What's great about this is that
We can use this technique

In other places where islands
Are at risk to coastal erosion.

Narrator:
In america in 2005 and 2012,

Hurricanes destroy almost
1 1/2 million homes

And claim nearly 2,000 lives.

Artificial islands like this one
Could be a solution.

Whether they're in the north sea

Or along the coast
Of north america,

Is that they act
As a protector layer.

Islands such as these not
Only save millions of dollars

But also help protect people
And save lives.

**