Original subtitles

Narrator: They're watching you.

More than 4,000 satellite Circle the earth.

Every day, they uncover new, Mysterious phenomena

That defy explanation.

[ beeping, distorted music ]

The strange symbol in the woods.

Holy moly, that is crazy.

Oh, wow.

I have no idea what this is.

Narrator: Bowel trouble in paradise.

It smells so bad that It's like decomposing bodies.

Narrator: and the island That disappeared.

Faylor: How is that possible?

It's okay to lose your car keys, But who loses an island?

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 ]

September 27, 2018.

Orbiting hundreds of miles Above belgium,

An earth observation Satellite spies this down below.

Nelson: holy moly.

I mean, we're looking At a forest

Which has what looks like A perfect triangle cut into it.

There doesn't seem to be Any obvious reason

For it to be there.

It's bizarre.

Narrator: Archaeologist klint janulis

Is traveling to belgium

To investigate the weird, Hidden triangle.

But what has drawn him here Isn't just the photo from space.

It's a second aerial image Of the site

Obtained by remote Sensing technology

Known as lidar.

Janulis: lidar is fantastic.

Technology gives us The ability

To peer through the forest,

The canopy and the leaves.

In peering through that forest,

You see something That's just enigmatic.

Wawro: this is interesting.

I mean, really, it looks Like the ace of spades

Sitting right In the middle of it.

This is clearly A massively constructed feature

On the landscape.

Narrator: what's more, it's not The only giant structure

Hidden in pockets of forest In these parts.

Each is similarly shaped

And measures Thousands of square feet.

Janulis: It's really confusing.

You've got very precise Structures of massive size.

I haven't seen anything That's shaped like this.

**

Narrator: the images guide Janulis to an area

Southeast Of the ancient town of naamua,

Established 2,000 years ago By the celts.

This has got to be it.

**

Narrator: according to the data, The massive symbol

Should lie in the wooded area Across the field.

**

The thick forest suggests That whatever is under here

Has lain hidden for many years.

**

Oh, wow.

Holy smokes.

Wow, this is massive.

This looks like an old moat, But it's not.

I have no idea what this is.

**

Narrator: whatever this thing Is, it's huge and sunk

Deep into the ground.

This is a massive wall.

**

Narrator: the ditch Is around 800 feet long

And 26 feet wide

And appears to form the outline Of the triangle in the image.

Janulis: The entire length is paralleled

By the biggest concrete wall I think I've ever seen.

Narrator: a section of the wall Draws janulis' eye.

Holy cow. Look at this.

These look like pockmarks From some sort of explosion.

Some of these are half a foot To almost a foot deep.

This has to be the result Of artillery fragmentation.

I can see what's going on here.

This is definitely a fort.

Narrator: yet the design of this Fort is highly unusual.

Unlike traditional Fortifications,

It has a low profile

And much of it appears To be buried underground.

The only way to access it is

To climb over the raised Bank of earth

And descend into a giant ditch Lined with gun ports.

Janulis: if you make it To the top of the lip

Of this defensive wall

And you manage To get down in here,

This whole place would have been A massive death trap.

This is a kill zone.

Narrator: the fort hidden in The ground here is enormous.

And the aerial images suggest There are another eight nearby.

Janulis: To build so many of these

Would have been Incredibly expensive.

Talking about a country The size of maryland.

Building fortification Systems that would have

Cost them the equivalent Of the u.S. Space race.

Why? How and who?

Narrator: The wall offers more clues.

Janulis: this concrete does Tell us one thing.

It rules out really anything Before 1850, 1860.

We don't see rebar, we don't see Steel rods sticking out.

That tells me that this is Early concrete construction.

So I suspect we're Talking late 19th century.

So this was built During the time

Of king leopold ii

Narrator: King leopold ii ascends

To the belgian throne in 1865.

He begins to construct A number of massive,

Expensive fortifications, Earning him the nickname

The builder king.

King leopold of belgium Is terrified

That he's gonna Be invaded by france,

By germany, by somebody.

And so he decides to build A whole set of defensive forts

To try and protect himself.

This fort construction, It's not only unprecedented,

It's also really expensive, But leopold's got a plan

Because he's got his greedy eye On his african colony,

The congo.

Narrator: leopold's african Colony is covered

With unmapped, Disease-ridden jungle,

But its jungles contain Something of immense value

To the continent of europe As it attempts to industrialize.

Horton: These forests contain rubber.

Rubber is required

For all sorts of Industrial applications.

So he established a way To extract congolese rubber

On a massive scale.

Narrator: to extract Large quantities of rubber,

Leopold subjugates the entire Congolese population

And sends tens of thousands Into the jungle

To tap its trees for The highly valuable commodity.

Janulis: and they basically use Slave labor

And some of the most Horrific tactics

We've seen in human history.

Narrator: in order to maximize Rubber production

And leopold's wealth,

Belgian officials give Strict production quotas

To each village.

But if people can't meet These ridiculously large quotas,

They're going to pay for it With their lives.

And leopold actually creates An african army

To act as his death squad.

Narrator: during a campaign Of unspeakable horror,

The death squads are instructed To collect a severed hand

From every person they kill.

There's any number Of horrific

Imperial actions Around the world.

But what happened in The belgian congo is the worst.

Narrator: historians estimate That 10 million congolese die

At the hands of leopold's men.

The atrocities inspire The book "Heart of darkness,"

The basis for the film "Apocalypse now."

Janulis: the amount of wealth That was being generated

Through these brutal tactics Is what led to the construction

Of massive fortifications Like this.

Narrator: this fort, it appears, Was built on blood and terror.

Yet as janulis Continues to explore,

He discovers its twisted History doesn't end there.

Whoo. Look at this.

Holy crap.

Narrator: coming up, Inside the terror fort...

Not the best place In the world to die.

Narrator: and the world's Smelliest tsunami.

Dr. Schuttler: this is a tide Of filth that is so large,

It can be seen from space.

**

Narrator: drawn by this strange Aerial image,

Klint janulis is in belgium.

He's discovered a series Of huge 19th-century forts

Swallowed by forests.

**

Whoo. This is a long tunnel.

Look at this.

Holy crap.

**

Narrator: the triangular Structure visible from space

Conceals A subterranean labyrinth

Of heavily fortified Tunnels and rooms.

Okay. Oh, look at this.

This is basically A cannon mount.

Oh, boy. That's a view.

Narrator: this fort and others Nearby were financed

By the brutal oppression And murder of millions

In the rubber plantations Of the congo.

Yet janulis discovers There's another chapter

To this stronghold's Dark history.

Oh.

German writing on the walls.

Left, right. links, rechts.

This is a belgian-built Fortification

Taken over by the germans.

And this smacks Of world war I.

Narrator: historians confirm That at the dawn of world war 1,

A 750,000-strong german force

Invades belgium And moves south towards france.

Wawro: so in august of 1914, Here come the germans.

The vast majority of the german Army wheels through belgium

To try to strike toward paris

Into the rear of the french army On the frontiers.

Narrator: To attack the french army

Before it can muster Its defenses,

The german forces must quickly Neutralize the forts

In the aerial images.

As the german army Advances towards them,

The belgians are gonna Feel pretty secure

Because they've got Their fantastic ring of forts.

They're state-of-the-art. They're bristling with guns.

Narrator: the belgian generals Believe their forts,

Some of the first in the world To be made from concrete,

Can fend off The invading germans.

Silbey: the belgians think They're ready.

It turns out they're not.

The forts had been designed To deal with the artillery

That existed In the 19th century,

But guns had gotten larger And larger,

Firing heavier And heavier shells.

The big bertha, the german gun That was used against

The belgian force, Fired a shell the size of a man.

Wawro: once the germans are able To bring up

The really heavy siege Artillery,

Then these forts have no hope.

Because now the germans Stand back

And they pulverize These fortresses from afar.

[ explosion ]

Walters: they're literally Sitting ducks.

They disintegrate very, Very quickly.

These are forts that are meant To save belgian lives,

But actually they end up Becoming death traps.

**

Narrator: the german guns forced The belgian troops deeper

Into the underground forts,

Where they die In their thousands.

**

Janulis: the whole place is Dark, damp, noisy.

Every round hitting is shaking Your body,

And you can't breathe.

Not the best place In the world die.

Narrator: after five days Of heavy bombardment,

On august 25, 1914,

The belgians surrender And the german forces

Continue their march Towards france.

Yet this still buys the rest Of europe crucial time

To prepare for The advancing war machine.

Janulis: We defeat the germans,

But I don't think That would have happened

Had it not been For the belgian resistance

Buying time For the rest of europe

To get ready For that horrible, ugly war.

Narrator: King leopold's forts,

Born using blood money From genocide in africa,

Helped to halt the spread Of another form of tyranny.

Walters: many german commanders Look back,

And they believe that they lost The first world war

In the first two months.

And that's partly because The forts of belgium

Played such a large part In that defeat.

Wawro: the forts and the men Who sacrificed themselves

Defending these forts do serve A real purpose

And their lives Were not lost in vain.

**

Narrator: coming up, The mystery of the cia

And the missing island Of riches.

Mairot: it's so weird. You have An island that's not on maps.

It simply doesn't exist.

Narrator: and the lost tomb Of the witch queen.

Dr. Bellinger: when she died, Hundreds volunteered

To sacrifice themselves To join her in her tomb.

Narrator: september 19, 2018,

430 miles above the North carolina coastline,

Nasa's landsat 8 spacecraft Captures this image.

We're looking at A nice stretch of coastline.

What looks like sand, Green trees,

But then this deep-red Substance.

It's kind of creepy.

It looks like There's pools of blood.

It's mixing with This blue sea color.

It is so bizarre.

Narrator: the swirling blobs Of blood-red water

Cover 150 miles of coastline.

Mallory lindsay has a theory.

This looks to me like a natural Phenomenon known as red tide.

It's made up of tiny organisms Named phytoplankton

That come together And create this big, red cloud.

It can be very toxic To humans

And also very harmful To the local wildlife as well.

Narrator: But something doesn't stack up.

Dr. Schuttler: red tides happen Along the coast,

But they're usually More in the ocean.

You can see the reddish color Coming from the rivers

Out into the ocean.

It must be something else.

Narrator: other analysts suspect The eerie swirls are man-made.

The red coloring From this runoff

Is really the telltale sign Of some sort of pollution.

Either from a mining operation

Or from industrial waste.

Narrator: Worldwide, industries dump

400 million tons Of heavy metals, chemicals,

And sludge into waterways Every year.

The daldykan river in siberia,

Which is considered The most polluted waterway

In the entire world,

Actually turned a similar Bright-red color

Due to chemical runoff from A nearby metalworks facility.

Narrator: that metalworks Facility sits in norilsk,

A city so polluted,

It's known to pump out More sulfur dioxide

Than all of france.

If the satellite image Has captured a toxic spill

On american soil, It's on a biblical scale.

Whatever is happening here Has not just impacted one river.

Every single tributary that I see flowing into the ocean

Are all colored With this reddish tone.

Narrator: tracking the satellite Images upriver,

Analysts discovered Dozens more red blobs

Scattered across Nearby farmland.

Reports from local residents Provide a lead.

People complain Of a horrible stench.

And that's a clue because This part of the carolinas

Is known for their giant, Industrial-sized pig farms.

[ pigs squealing ]

Dr. Schuttler: Could this red coloration

Have something to do With these hog farms?

Narrator: analysts learned that North carolina's pork industry

Is worth $2.9 billion.

The state's farms are Packed snout to snout

With 9 million pigs.

North carolina has Thousands of hog farms.

They are the second In the country

For producing pork.

Narrator: To produce all this pork,

The hogs need to be fattened For slaughter.

Ruben: pigs are omnivores.

They can and will eat Pretty much anything.

They can even digest Human bone.

This is why pigs Are sometimes in mobster movies

As a convenient and organic way To get rid of dead bodies.

Narrator: yet analysts suspect The aerial images are connected

To another Of the hog's orifices.

In a hog farm,

The waste falls from the pigs Through a slatted floor

Where it runs off into a lagoon.

These lagoons are Disgusting cesspits,

And one feature then That really makes them stand out

Is the bright-red color.

They kind of look like pools Of pepto bismol.

The red color comes From the anaerobic bacteria

That are feasting on The nutrients in the pig feces.

Narrator: each pig produces Around 2 tons of poop per year.

Unsurprisingly, these lagoons Of vivid excrement

Aren't popular with the locals.

The residents who live there Say it smells so bad

That it's like Decomposing bodies.

I mean, it ain't just The smell, a funky smell.

It's something That you can't tolerate.

You stay out here, You got to get away from it.

Narrator: yet hog farms have Existed here for many years.

The mystery remains

Of how they've turned The entire coastline

From azure blue To pig-poop red.

Data from weather satellites Provides a clue.

In the images leading up To this point

Where we see this pollution,

The whole area Is masked in clouds.

These clouds formed As a part of hurricane florence.

Narrator: five days before The satellite image is taken,

The category-1 hurricane slams Into north carolina.

90-mile-per-hour winds Drenched 20,000 square miles

With 8 trillion gallons Of rain.

This is a catastrophe For the carolinas.

The hog waste overflows And heads straight downstream.

Narrator: Fueled by the deluge,

2.2 million gallons of the red Muck streams towards the coast.

This pig waste goes Everywhere. You can't stop it.

Narrator: the horror deepens When local news agencies

Report the carcasses of more Than 5,000 pigs killed

By the storm are floating In the putrid water.

This is a tide of filth That is so large,

It can be seen from space.

Narrator: locals fear it's just A matter of time

Before the toxic lagoons Are breached again

And a fresh fecal tsunami Washes up in paradise.

Dr. Schuttler: these lagoons are A ticking time bomb.

Tropical storms and hurricanes

Are not a rare occurrence In this area.

We don't know the exact Consequences of this pig waste

In the ocean, But it can't be good.

**

Narrator: coming up, The strange tale

Of mexico's vanishing island.

This is really weird. There's nothing there.

It's just water.

Narrator: and mystery shapes In the desert.

Dr. Pepper: it's almost looks Like a starry background

With constellations.

Narrator: august 2009,

A satellite orbits Over the bermuda triangle.

As it moves southwest Over the gulf of mexico,

It captures an image Which bemuses analysts.

This is really weird because There's an island

That's clearly visible On maps of this region.

But when I look at the satellite Image, there's nothing there.

It's just water.

Narrator: the bermuda triangle Is known for reports

Of strange disappearances Of planes and ships.

But analysts confirm That here the entire island

Of bermeja has vanished.

It's very interesting.

On the map, we have an island.

On the satellite image, That island is gone.

How is that possible?

It's okay to lose your car keys, But who loses an island?

Narrator: firsthand accounts Of the island

Date back hundreds of years

When explorers First discovered it.

Chamberlain: in some of The earliest descriptions

In the 16th century,

This island is described As flaming red,

Which leads me to think Maybe it was a volcanic island

Because sometimes Volcanic islands appear

And then are swallowed up By the ocean.

Narrator: Others doubt this.

Dr. Schuttler: This island shows up on maps

For the last Several hundred years.

So if it were a newly formed Volcanic island,

It would have disappeared A long time ago.

Narrator: following the island's Apparent vanishing act,

Some mexican Government officials issue

An extraordinary claim.

Rumors began to circulate

That the disappearance Of this island

Is actually a cia plot To gain greater access

To the resources around there.

Narrator: a mexican senator Publicly declares

The island's disappearance

Is connected To a high-stakes battle

Over billions of dollars of oil.

The location where This island is supposed to be

Is actually near something Called the doughnut hole,

Which is an area Of the gulf of mexico

That is teeming with oil And natural-gas reserves.

Narrator: international law

Gives countries The right to drill for oil

200 nautical miles Off their coast.

In the gulf of mexico, Multiple sovereignties overlap.

With mother lodes of oil And gas up for grabs,

Every contested inch Is worth millions.

Bermeja may be Small and uninhabited,

But for mexico, it's crucial

Because it extends Mexico's territory,

Making its slice of the doughnut Hole a lot larger.

Narrator: But with the island gone,

Some fear the u.S. Can muscle in On the subsea oil reserves.

A disappearing island Sounds ridiculous,

But it's actually deadly serious

Because the boundary mark Has to be renegotiated

And the u.S. Is afforded A much greater stake

Of the doughnut hole.

And that naturally made people Very angry and suspicious.

Narrator: The mexican government

Scours over 300 square miles of ocean

For evidence that the cia has Secretly blown up its island.

Moran: if this island Were destroyed,

You would expect to see a fair Amount of debris in the water.

But there's nothing there.

Narrator: analysts search For a logical explanation

To explain the island's Strange vanishing act.

Faylor: it's possible that this Is a phantom island,

An island that does not And has never existed.

Narrator: phantom islands have Their genesis in the race

To explore the new world, 500 years ago.

At the dawn of the age Of discovery,

Explorers from different nations

Battled to establish Trade routes

And lay claim to new lands.

Chamberlain: in the 1500s,

People were going out Into the world,

Into areas far unknown, Putting yourself at risk,

Putting others' lives at risk.

Narrator: As pioneers such as magellan,

Da gama and cabot

Race to establish sovereignty Over the new world,

The need for accurate maps Becomes paramount.

But cartographers On these early voyages

Must rely on Rudimentary instruments

To plot their discoveries.

Chamberlain: Hundreds of years ago,

If you were going To make a map,

It is a grueling process.

Because of this, Lots of mistakes were made.

And some of those Carried over throughout time.

Narrator: yet historians reveal That while some islands

Are mapped by mistake,

Many others are done So willfully.

Walters: explorers -- they're Not necessarily rich men at all.

So what they need Is a really wealthy patron

To finance their adventures.

If you're a benefactor,

You're going to want To see something for your bucks.

Narrator: Many of these benefactors

Are european royal families.

With many voyages Costing millions of dollars

In today's money, cartographers Are under enormous pressure

To map new discoveries For their investors.

Imagine being An early explorer.

You don't find anything. Someone's paying for this trip.

So why not just draw On a little island

And write their name On a map on this island

That probably doesn't even Exist?

And then say, "Look what I found for you."

It's a good way To finance a trip.

Narrator: studies suggest

That between the 15th And 18th centuries,

Cartographers log hundreds Of phantom islands.

Most were removed decades ago.

This one remained And many others

Could still be out there Invisible from space.

**

Coming up, Nature's bulldozers.

Dr. Kays: it's amazing

That even though this species Lives underground,

That we can still see it From space.

Narrator: And japan's secret catacombs.

It looks like it's a doorway Into the earth.

Narrator: June 9, 2017.

Satellites passing over desolate South australian outback

Capture this strange pattern.

This almost looks like A starry background with lines

To connect these constellations.

You can see all of these Giant patches of bare earth.

And then they're All connected to each other.

When you take a closer look, You can see little dark spots.

It looks like There's holes in them.

Narrator: the mystery feature Sits in the nullarbor plain --

A 100,000-square-mile expanse Of barren bedrock.

This is the middle of nowhere, Miles from where anyone lives.

It's very dry, It's very inhospitable.

So the question is who or what Is making these holes and why?

Narrator: this region contains The largest block

Of exposed limestone On the planet.

Dr. Dennie: The nullarbor plain is renowned

For being one of the most Mineral-rich places on earth.

So perhaps these Are exploratory holes

Where people have dug Down into the ground

Looking for gemstones or metals.

Narrator: but analysts using Maxar's secure watch technology

Have ruled this out.

Joyce: I don't see the presence Of any equipment.

This leads me to believe That this is not mining activity

And may be created By something else.

Narrator: Biologist roland kays wonders

If a structure To the north offers a clue.

Bigger than the state Of new hampshire,

The 6-million-acre wide Anna creek station

Is the largest cattle ranch In the world.

Australia has some huge Livestock operations

With cattle and sheep

Migrating out Over the landscape.

Looking at the path Connecting all these holes,

The first thing I think of is Maybe these are watering holes.

Narrator: with 26 million Head of cattle,

Cows outnumber people In australia.

The country produces more than 2 million tons of beef per year.

That's like a steak Equivalent in size

To six empire state buildings.

Dr. Kays: they've got things Like helicopters,

Remote-control aircraft And even gps

To keep track of these cattle Over these really large areas.

But the main limitation Is water.

So the stockmen drill holes In different areas

Around the ranch

Where they can pump up The water with electric pumps

And then make it available To the cattle.

Narrator: Other analysts are unconvinced.

The only problem With that idea is that generally

We'd have one water source And all the trails would be

Leading to this one place.

Whereas here, what you're seeing Is many different points.

Seems to me it's got To be something else.

Narrator: experts dial up The magnification.

Dr. Dennie: When I look at the image,

I see these circular areas

Have light-colored patches Around them,

And I wonder if maybe This wasn't created

By some sort of A burrowing animal.

Nelson: These individual holes

Are actually connected With paths,

Which indicate social animals

Because of the connections Between them.

And the only animal I can think of

In this part of the world

That fits that description Is the wombat.

Narrator: these lands are home

To the southern Hairy-nosed wombat.

Nelson: they're the largest Burrowing animal in the world,

And they're perfectly Adapted for digging.

Narrator: their powerful claws Are capable

Of extending their tunnels By up to 3 feet per day.

It's nature's bulldozer.

They have developed These humungous arms,

So they can rip Through the dirt.

They're literally tilling up Everything around them.

Dr. Schuttler: these light Patches in the dirt

Were created from the wombat Burrowing into the hole

And pushing the dirt out.

Narrator: Working in teams,

Wombats excavate A complex network of tunnels

Hundreds of feet long...

...And create The constellation-like pattern

Visible from space.

Nelson: wombats are actually Nocturnal,

Feeding and digging during The nighttime hours.

They're very social, but they Have very particular habits

And they will always use The same path.

And that's why You're seeing these lines

In between the burrows.

Narrator: they may be number one At digging,

But it's at number twos that They really come into their own.

Wombats have an unusual way Of marking their territory.

A lot of animals Will use pee or poop.

A wombat is able To pump out cube-shaped feces.

How bizarre is that?

And a great benefit of that Is it doesn't roll away.

Narrator: And their cube-pooping Rear ends can multi-task.

One of their primary defenses Is actually a hard rump.

It's mostly made Out of cartilage.

And when the wombat Is threatened,

It will go into the burrow But keep its rump sticking out

To block the hole From the predator.

And because it's so tough,

The predator has a hard time Grabbing onto it.

Narrator: The wombats' armored rear end

Is an effective deterrent.

High-resolution images Suggest there could be

Up to 17,000 miles of tunnels Here

Containing a million animals.

It's amazing that even though This species lives underground

And only comes out at night,

That we can still see it From space.

**

Narrator: coming up, the battle To save the living god.

Janulis: The plan was going to be

Probably The largest military operation

In the history of the planet.

Narrator: January 31, 2017.

Passing north of tokyo, japan,

A satellite captures an image Of an unusual structure

In the landscape.

This thing sticks out Like a sore thumb.

It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Paul: this shape is so Distinctly keyhole-shaped,

It almost looks like It's a doorway into the earth.

Narrator: analysis reveals The mound is over 400 feet long

And is 35 feet high.

This is engineering on A gigantic, monumental scale.

Narrator: the structure's Raised profile

And apparent age offer clues.

Walters: when I see an elevated Structure like this,

I'm kind of thinking,

"Is it a kind of military Fortification, a bunker?"

[ rapid gunfire ]

Dr. Hunt: We know in world war ii,

The japanese were involved With putting a lot of bunkers,

Sometimes for weaponry, Sometimes for ammunition depots.

Narrator: Yet its scale suggests

That this is no ordinary War bunker.

Janulis: During world war ii,

The japanese had plans To evacuate the royal family

And high levels of society To underground bunkers

And locations where they could Fight to the bitter end

If the americans invaded.

Narrator: as world war ii draws To a close,

A vast american armada Of 42 aircraft carriers,

24 battleships And 400 destroyers

Prepared to inflict The killer punch on japan.

The plan to invade mainland Japan called operation downfall.

It was going to be probably The largest military operation

In the history of the planet.

[ camera shutter clicking ]

Narrator: Fearing an imminent invasion,

The japanese government launches Operation ketsu-go,

Or decisive.

Operation ketsu-go calls For the construction

Of a huge bunker To shelter the emperor

And the mobilization of the Entire population to protect it.

Janulis: Children, women, old men,

Everybody was being taught And armed

In ways in which they Could kill any allied soldier

That set foot on that island.

The entire country Was being turned into a base

And every citizen, a soldier.

Narrator: 10,000 people work on Constructing hirohito's lair.

Janulis: If you look at this structure,

It makes sense that it's somehow Related to that final

Last-stand defense.

Narrator: yet archaeologists

Think the mound's Distinctive shape

Points to an early period In japanese history.

Dr. Bellinger: There's a clue here.

This keyhole shape Is very significant

In a certain time In japanese culture.

During the third century In japan,

There were a series of tombs Developed

That had a keyhole shape.

The keyhole shape Is a representation of power

And authority in japan.

Narrator: Known as kofun tombs,

These burial mounds contain The remains

Of the japanese elite.

The largest are 1,300 feet long.

Dr. Hunt: they're massive.

You have some that are larger In their spatial configuration

Than the great Pyramids of egypt.

Narrator: Historical texts reveal

That the japanese construct Kofun on an epic scale.

Between 300 and 550 a.D.,

160,000 Of these giant keyhole tombs

Appear across japan.

You can really get An understanding

Of how complex it was To build these.

The interior is not simply A hole dug into the earth.

This is an entire structure Underground.

Narrator: archaeologists hope The kofun and the image

Could help solve one of The enduring mysteries

Of japanese archaeology --

The resting place of one Of japan's most powerful

And feared rulers -- Himiko, the witch queen.

She occupies an absolutely Legendary spot

In popular culture.

She's known on a first-name Basis by everyone.

It's like oprah or madonna -- Himiko.

Narrator: according to legend, Himiko lives in a vast fortress

Attended by 1,000 female servants.

Dr. Bellinger: When she died, it is said

That hundreds of these retainers Volunteered

To sacrifice themselves To join her in her tomb.

To find her tomb would be Like finding the tomb

Of nefertiti in egypt.

Narrator: however, japanese Royal protocol forbids

Digging at any potential Regal sites.

For now, the final resting place Of the witch queen

And who or what else is buried Here must remain a mystery.

Horton: so little search has Been allowed to take place.

We're missing Such a great opportunity

To really get to grips

With the origins Of japanese civilization.