All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S07E04.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

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.