Original subtitles

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 ]

A vast, coded message In utah's desert...

These images are crazy.

These are on par with Something going on at area 51.

Narrator: ...Russia's crazy Monster experiments...

The goal was to see If telepathic powers exist

And somehow exploit That during warfare.

Narrator: ...And the search For atlantis from space.

Janulis: you've got a visible, Manmade structure

Within this image,

And that creates a smoking gun.

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 ]

June 2014 --

Flying over a remote Utah desert,

Eyes in the sky Capture this image.

Fanara: this is crazy.

In the middle of What looks to be nowhere,

There is a very Purposeful pattern.

Narrator: Further images reveal

Yet more unusual shapes In the desert scrub below.

These patterns come in Different shapes and sizes.

There's one that looks Like a big ice cube tray.

One kind of looks like A wagon wheel.

Morgan: so what possible purpose Could be served

By creating these patterns On the desert

In close proximity To one another?

Narrator: analysts consider If the shapes are a legacy

Of the indigenous tribes Who once ruled these lands.

This area was inhabited By tribes of the navajo nation,

And they use numerous symbols In their culture.

Narrator: Elsewhere, giant symbols Have been found

Carved into the earth.

Some are believed to have had A magical function,

Possibly a form of prayer Or an attempt to communicate

With gods who inhabit the skies.

Some of these symbols Were for protection,

Some of them were For life-giving,

And some were for luck.

So I'm wondering, maybe The things we're seeing here

Could be native american Symbols.

Narrator: yet studies Of utah's indigenous people

Suggest the strange patterns

Aren't some kind Of ancient code.

It's unlikely because They usually put their symbols

Into rock faces, Not on the ground.

*

Narrator: military journalist Carlo munoz

Suspects the patterns May have a sinister purpose

And is traveling To the remote site

To investigate.

Munoz: where we're driving Right now,

We're near One of the u.S. Government's

Most important sort of Training grounds

For chemical And biological weapons.

Narrator: munoz knows that Experimental military testing

Takes many forms

And can leave long-lasting scars On the landscape.

There's got to be Some sort of connection.

I just can't put my finger On exactly what that could be.

Narrator: One notorious utah base Could help shed some light.

It's entirely possible That these symbols are connected

To the dugway proving ground.

The operations that go on At dugway are really top secret.

I mean, these are The types of operations

That you would put maybe on par

With something going on At area 51.

Narrator: declassified records Confirm dugway scientists

Have been conducting clandestine Bio weapons experiments

In the utah desert For almost 80 years.

These include trialing The aerial dispersal of vx gas,

Weaponized mosquitoes,

And fleas infected with The bubonic plague.

Dugway's aerial experiments here

Remain some of The most controversial

In u.S. Military history.

With the high level of activity At dugway proving ground,

It's quite possible That these shapes are related

To what's going on there.

Munoz: could they be targets?

Could they be some sort of,

You know, side effect Of some of these tests?

I don't know.

But we're going to go see What's happening out there.

*

Narrator: the desert road stops Long before the shapes begin.

Alright. This looks about as far As I'm going to be able to go.

*

Narrator: Munoz approaches the location

Indicated by the aerial images,

But finding them isn't easy.

Munoz: you know, you look At the satellite image,

The symbol just pops out.

But here on the ground --

I mean, seeing what I'm seeing,

I could be standing right On top of it

And not even know.

*

[ sighs ]

Okay, you know what?

I think this is it.

You got two paths Going this way.

You turn here, you have the same Exact sort of pattern here.

Turn again, And it's there again.

So this is probably The center of it.

Narrator: from the ground,

The symbol lacks the precision Visible from the air.

Whatever this is,

Munoz doesn't think Military testing can explain it.

I'm not seeing any signs of

[chuckling] Any type Of military activity.

There's no craters or whatnot.

So this is clearly

Not some kind of extension Of a military base.

Narrator: the desert floor Yields some clues.

This is all loose sand As long as I've been walking,

But coming down here, Looking down this path,

This is packed down.

This is almost designed To take a very heavy weight.

*

Narrator: the shape is huge.

Munoz reckons 12,000 square feet.

The plant growth suggests It may be decades old.

Whoever built this thing, They built it to last.

Why would someone do that?

What makes it even weirder Is we know

That there are several other Symbols out here just as big.

*

Narrator: as munoz explores An area to the east,

He sees something in the rock.

*

Well, that's not supposed To be here.

Oh, wow.

[ whirring ]

Narrator: coming up, The utah mystery deepens.

That symbol may have been The "X" on a treasure map.

Narrator: And dancing with the devil.

This is the party that your mom Doesn't want you going to.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

*

Narrator: journalist carlo munoz Is in the utah desert

Investigating a strange group Of symbols

Captured from the heavens.

This was designed, Engineered in a way to last.

I can't figure out Why someone would do that.

*

Narrator: munoz explores The wider area for clues.

Huh.

Well, that shouldn't be here.

Wow.

Narrator: the hole is around 6 inches wide

And appears to go down forever.

Munoz: feeling around the sides,

There are these ridges that Feel like it's been bored out

By some kind of drill.

A hole like this has to be A geological borehole.

This is a technique That mining companies use

To figure out What sort of materials --

Iron ore, gold, something,

If there's anything like that

Underneath hard-rock shells Like this in the desert.

Narrator: munoz thinks the Shapes nearby must be connected.

That symbol May have been similar

To something like The "X" on a treasure map.

The question is, what exactly Were they looking for?

Narrator: munoz turns To aerial images for help.

To the north, he spots

What could be a small, Abandoned mine.

Munoz: if I can figure out

What exactly they were mining Out of this old mine,

Hopefully I can figure out what These symbols out here are for.

Narrator: munoz sets out further Into utah's perilous desert.

*

It was not until The late 18th century

That europeans dared To explore these arid lands.

There it is!

*

Narrator: Beyond the mining huts,

Munoz spots an entrance Into the rock face.

*

Oh, wow.

[ grunts ] Oh.

So, this is the mine.

But it looks like We're a little barred off here.

It's not gonna be able To get in.

Narrator: This can't be a gold mine.

The nearest Known deposits of gold

Lie far to the north And east of here.

*

If you take a look...

[ flashlight clicks ]

...Look how far that goes into The rock face.

[ flashlight clicks ]

I've heard of mines like this,

Kind of carved right into rock.

And it could be a uranium mine.

Narrator: Munoz thinks the presence On the satellite image

Of a small airstrip nearby Supports the theory.

Munoz: airstrips were used to Try and find uranium.

Aircraft could actually Haul these huge geiger counters

Looking for hotspots of uranium

That could potentially Be mined out.

Narrator: historic geological Records confirm

That the area around the mine And strange symbols

Once held abundant reserves Of radioactive uranium.

Mairot: One of the richest deposits In the united states of uranium

Happened to be In this exact area.

It started, like, A completely new gold rush,

But instead of gold, they were Digging up radioactive material.

Newsreader: Today's bonanza is a metal

More precious Than gold or silver.

There's uranium In them there hills.

*

Narrator: the end Of the second world war

Marked the start Of the atomic age.

The u.S. Government needed Radioactive material

To make bombs,

But the uranium craze That followed

Extended well beyond weapons.

[ geiger counter clicking ]

Post world war ii,

Uranium becomes A really hot commodity.

People were saying They could use it to power cars

And planes and trains And everything

From distilling water To preserving meat.

There were so many uses for Uranium that people just thought

It was the answer To all the world's problems.

*

Narrator: to fuel the boom, The u.S. Government offers

$10,000 incentives To amateur prospectors,

And thousands descend on The uranium-rich utah deserts.

Newsreader: indispensable In today's prospector's kit

Is the geiger counter,

For here is the raw material Of atomic energy.

If they would conduct These sort of air-based

Detection tests For uranium plots,

What I could have seen Out in the desert

Could be just The ground version of that,

Just dragging the geiger Counters on the ground

Looking for uranium.

Narrator: Records confirm the shapes Are created

By machines pulling sensors Across the desert

To scan it for uranium.

Different prospectors Try different patterns

To find the most efficient way To locate underground reserves.

It costs a dollar To stake a claim,

And by 1959, There are 8,000 miners

Scouring the utah deserts For the lethal element.

Ruben: it was total hysteria.

Anyone and everyone Who could get to utah

And stake a claim

Could potentially start Their own mine and get rich.

Narrator: by the early '60s, Uranium miners,

Including families With children,

Have unearthed around 9 million tons of uranium ore.

What they don't know is That handling all this uranium

Is like being handed A death sentence.

Fanara: Whenever you mine uranium,

Radioactive dust can be spread On plants, animals.

It could go up the food chain, It could be in water sources.

It can be devastating For generations to come.

Narrator: A study finds that miners

Have an average life expectancy Of 20 years

After they begin excavating,

And 75% of uranium prospectors

Die of lung cancer.

40% of their wives Suffer health problems,

Such as miscarriages And childbirth defects.

You've got children Playing in the mines.

You've got homes built on The heaps of radioactive waste.

It's been known for a long time

That radioactive uranium Has bad health effects,

But the atomic energy Commission

Somehow forgot to mention this

To the prospectors Or the miners.

Narrator: in 1962, The atomic energy commission

Terminates its incentive scheme, And the families return home,

Unaware that they are saturated With the radiation

That will soon kill Many of them.

The patterns they created, Dragging geiger counters

As they search For the lethal mother lode,

Remain visible from the skies.

Munoz: those symbols In the desert, in a way,

Were kind of a -- Kind of a hallmark

Of a really sad story

Of people just doing Anything they could

To find the american dream.

*

[ whirring ]

Narrator: Coming up, sinister experiments In the russian arctic...

Carter: local fishermen have Actually captured

The most odd and strangest Sea creatures imaginable.

Narrator: ...And the lost Civilization of the sahara.

Chamberlain: one of the most Intriguing theories

Is that it's actually atlantis.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

Narrator: august 30, 2018 --

A nasa satellite orbits The russian arctic.

As it passes over The murmansk oblast region,

It captures this In the waters below.

Looking at this image,

You see some really weird Structures -- these hexagons.

You can see how -- How big they are.

They dwarf the size of the dock And the boats there.

*

Narrator: Yet what intrigues analysts

Is the mystery structures' Location.

They sit close to polyarny,

One of russia's bizarre, Sealed-off,

So-called "Closed cities."

This site is Basically top secret.

Nobody can enter or leave

Without the russian government's Knowledge.

This is a closed city.

This is where the russian navy

Launched their newest nuclear Submarines during the cold war.

Every nuclear sub that was Fielded by the soviet union

Got its start here in polyarny.

Narrator: Russian officials claim

That today, The base is only used

For decommissioning Their cold war submarine fleet,

But the mystery shapes Seen from space

Suggest this may not be The case.

Nelson: I have seen structures Like this before.

It seems to me like this is Some sort of marine enclosure,

And usually there Will be animals inside.

Mosher: it could be some Sort of research facility.

If I was trying to hide Something that I'm doing here,

This little bay looks like A nice place to do it.

Narrator: in 2016,

Fishermen working near The mystery structures

Find something weird In the waters.

Carter: Local fishermen in the area

Have actually captured

The most odd and strangest Sea creatures imaginable.

Very strange faces, They appear to be deformed.

Is there some kind of Experimentation going on

With submarines And underwater animals?

*

Narrator: Declassified cia documents

Reveal the range of often Incredible experiments

Carried out on animals Under communism.

The soviet union Made it a practice

To use animals To study parapsychology.

[ dog whimpers ]

Narrator: parapsychology Is the study

Of paranormal Or psychic phenomena.

At the onset of the cold war,

Russia and the united states

Were engaged In this kind of battle

To gain the edge In terms of psychic warfare.

[ button clicks, machine beeps ]

Mosher: the goal was to see If telepathic powers exist

And somehow exploit that During warfare.

[ dogs panting ]

Narrator: Some of the most bizarre And cruel tests on animals

Were carried out At submarine bases

Like the one in the image.

There's one really crazy case Where russia tried to

Explore telepathic powers Using rabbits.

They took a mother rabbit, Separated her from her bunnies,

And put them in a submarine.

They attached electrodes To her brain,

Take her litter of babies, And kill them one by one.

The thought was if there was A telepathic communication,

The mother should somehow know That the baby had died,

And they should be able to Detect that in the brainwaves.

[ rabbit sniffing ]

Clearly, these pens Aren't holding rabbits,

But maybe they're using Some kind of marine mammal

To conduct similar experiments.

Narrator: in 2019,

A strange encounter in the seas Here provides a possible lead.

A fishing vessel was off The coast of norway

When a beluga whale Came right up to it.

Seemed really, really friendly And tame,

And when they leaned Over the side to look at it,

They saw it had This harness on it.

The harness says "Equipment of st. Petersburg."

Now, the harness Is made to house a camera,

But the camera is missing.

[ whale blows ]

Scientists do track Beluga whale occasionally,

But they don't use Harnesses to do so.

So this appears to be the work Of the russian navy.

[ whale blows ]

Narrator: Another incident suggests

Whales are indeed being used By the russian military.

Moran: there was one found In the black sea,

Which is not at all a habitat Where you find beluga whale.

Turns out that whale Had actually escaped

From a russian naval facility Not too far away.

Narrator: image enhancement Increases fears

That the russians Are weaponizing whales.

Kays: it definitely looks Like there's something inside

That's whitish and about The size of a beluga whale.

Narrator: biologist roland kays Reveals that beluga whales

Have physiological connections With submarine technology.

Belugas use sonar to navigate. They echolocate.

Basically, they put out a noise

And then they have This big melon of fat

That helps them hear it And absorb it

And understand Where it's coming from.

[ whale clicks ]

If there's a submarine That's down really deep,

They'll be able to hear it.

Narrator: the beluga's Five inch thick blubber

Also means they can dive To around 3,000 feet,

The reputed operating depth of The latest u.S. Navy submarines.

And their brains are twice As big as a human's,

Making them easy to train.

Schuttler: Beluga whales are among

The most intelligent animals On this planet.

They can even mimic The frequency and rhythm

Of human speech.

Nelson: they would be The perfect thing to use

Because no submarine is going to Think that anything is unusual.

It's just another whale In the ocean.

Narrator: intelligence suggests

That the russian defense Ministry

Also recently paid $26,000

For five bottlenose dolphins.

The nightmare scenario Is that the pens seen from space

Are just the beginning

Of a strange and terrifying New kind of warfare.

*

This is a really big red flag

That moscow may be trying To weaponize these animals.

*

Narrator: coming up, the richest Kingdom you've never heard of...

Along the trade route was The legendary city of gold.

Narrator: ...And inside the 21st Century amphitheater.

It is the most Violent, visceral site

That you could possibly imagine.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

Narrator: April 12, 2019 --

An earth observation satellite Passing over the western sahara

Captures this image Of the richat structure.

Horton: the richat structure Is the most extraordinary

Spiral-like arrangement of rocks

With these brown and blue lines.

I mean, it looks spectacular.

It's hardly surprising

People have called it "The eye of the sahara."

Narrator: since it was First photographed

By gemini iv astronauts in 1965,

The precise origin of The 25-mile diameter structure

Has baffled investigators.

Yet the 2019 image reveals Another mystery

Hidden within Its concentric circles.

In the middle of the picture

Is an almost perfect square

With loops on the corners.

Narrator: the presence Of the unusual lone structure

Baffles archaeologists.

What's really strange is That it's there

In the middle of absolutely Nowhere.

It's in a place that's Pretty inhospitable to life.

There's no arable land.

You're quite a long way

From anything that could be Considered civilization.

Hunt: how can you possibly Survive out here?

Why would you need A structure like this?

Narrator: According to one legend,

The structure is somehow aligned

To the greatest mythical city Of antiquity.

One of the most Intriguing theories

About the eye of the sahara

Is that it's actually The lost city of atlantis.

Narrator: In the 4th century b.C.,

The philosopher plato writes About the lost civilization

Beneath the waves.

Plato's description Of atlantis

Begins with an island In the middle,

And it's surrounded By concentric rings of land.

I can see how looking At the eye of the sahara

Could resemble His description of atlantis.

*

Narrator: atlantis means "The island of atlas,"

And this is a further link With the eye,

Which sits in the country Of mauritania.

The king of atlantis Was known as atlas,

And the king of mauritania Was also known as atlas.

Even before plato, another Historian named herodotus

Made a map of the world,

And right in mauritania, He wrote the word "Atlantis."

And now you've got a visible, Manmade structure

Within this image.

And for some people,

That, to them, Creates a sort of smoking gun.

Narrator: whatever the truth Behind atlantis,

It does seem that In these desert sands,

There was once a great kingdom.

I think the most Likely candidate

Is going to be the mali empire.

They were pretty well known For their trading network,

And these routes pass Through the whole richat area.

Narrator: the mali empire

Extends to almost Half a million square miles.

By the 14th century,

It holds almost half The gold in the world.

Chamberlain: the malian empire Is so wealthy

Because it'd take these precious Resources, gold and salt,

And sell them along These trade routes.

Narrator: at this time, Salt is as valuable as gold.

The wealth accumulated From this trade

Is controlled By emperor mansa musa

Who is considered the Wealthiest man who ever lived.

Along the trade route The malians took

Was the legendary City of timbuktu,

Also known as the city of gold.

You know that your empire Has hit the big time

When you trade through a city Called "The city of gold."

I think the structure We're looking at here

May be an old malian Fortification,

A place to house All the travelers,

The traders, you name it, Passing through this region.

Narrator: yet when archaeologist Mark horton analyzes the image,

He thinks the corners Of the structure

Mean it has A more modern origin.

Horton: there's no point In having projecting towers

Like that for bows and arrows,

But with artillery, With cannon,

Then you could see Why those make sense.

It is actually a defended Outpost of some description

In the age of firearms.

Narrator: horton thinks The defensive construction

Could date from a vicious 19th century campaign

Of military conquest.

Horton: european powers were Trying to create colonies

During what we call "The scramble for africa."

Narrator: until 1870,

Only 10% of africa Is under foreign rule.

Over the next 30 years,

Europe's imperial powers Attempt to expand their empires,

Colonizing 90% of the continent.

It was to do with prestige Coloring great chunks

Of the earth On your national colors.

Narrator: almost 2 billion Square miles of africa,

Including the area Around the eye of the sahara,

Are controlled by the french.

Horton thinks this could explain The structure in the image.

The french Built a series of forts

Across this part of mauritania,

And colonies there Were maintained

By what's known as "The foreign legion."

[ horse whinnies ]

Narrator: the foreign legion

Is a notorious unit Of the french army

Formed in 1831.

The legion served In far-off lands

And offered a new start And anonymity

For thieves, murderers, And others escaping justice.

It was essentially A mercenary army

That anybody in the world could Join up to if they wanted to.

It was a way of escaping Your life.

*

Narrator: Despite their lawless origins,

The legion fights With distinction

In all of france's Major campaigns.

In world war ii, Outnumbered ten to one,

Legionnaires nevertheless Prevent hitler

From capturing the vitally Important suez canal.

Horton: membership of The french foreign legion --

In many ways, It was a sentence of death.

The reward was that, if you Were injured in the conflict,

Then you were allowed To acquire french citizenship.

Narrator: Today, the unit retains

9,000 soldiers from 140 nations

And has recently fought in mali, Mauritania's neighbor.

My theory is that this Particular structure

Might well be a fort or training Base for the foreign legion.

Narrator: but until experts can Examine the site up close,

The strange, lone structure In the desert

Will remain as puzzling as The giant eye that surrounds it.

[ whirring ]

Narrator: coming up, drinking Games with the devil...

Which I'm sure will give you At least the hangover from hell.

Narrator: ...And the mystery Mega structure

At the end of the world.

If there was anybody That could ever have pulled off

An antarctic colony,

It would have been nazi germany.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

Narrator: june 4, 2017 --

Passing over the town Of san basilio de palenque

In the foothills Of northern colombia,

A satellite captures this image.

Kourounis: there's definitely An unusual feature

In this small colombian town.

On the edge is this perfectly Round structure

That is quite large.

It's massive, actually.

Narrator: scale analysis reveals This spherical structure

Has a diameter of 350 feet.

Is it meant To keep something out?

Is it meant to keep Something in?

It's hard to tell.

Narrator: The town's unusual name

Offers a clue To the mystery object's purpose.

So, the term "Palenque" Really refers to

A kind of a walled-off Community,

A stockade of some sort.

Narrator: Historical records provide Further possible connections

Between this town and the weird Structure on the edge of it.

This town had a very high Slave population.

[ man coughing ]

Slaves were kept or corralled, If you like,

In structures Known as barracoons,

Which were circular pens.

[ chains clinking ]

Narrator: Of the 10 1/2 million slaves

Who survived being trafficked From africa,

Less than 4% are Transported to north america.

Analysts learned that between 1564 and 1851,

1 million arrive at a port Near the town in the image.

This area was a place of high Concentration of slave trade.

And it makes you wonder

If this site was maybe One of those slave pens.

Narrator: but the ring In the image it transpires

Appears and disappears.

This is not A permanent structure.

Because this mysterious ring Only appears

For a few weeks each year,

And based on the size of it, Is it possible

That this is linked To some kind of celebration

That happens maybe once a year?

Narrator: africans brought with Them belief in spirit worship,

Which melded with indigenous Pagan beliefs

And then fused With spanish catholicism.

The result was some Truly strange rituals.

In colombia, they celebrate The carnival of the devil,

And it is a six-day party Of debauchery.

Narrator: the streets are filled With a weird, deranged orgy

Dedicated To the lord of darkness.

This is the party that your mom Doesn't want you going to.

Chamberlain: they drink Something called "Guarapo,"

Which is an alcoholic beverage

That I'm sure will give you At least the hangover from hell.

Narrator: the ceremony, It is believed,

Began as a way to keep Two warring communities apart.

There were two conflicted groups In a community,

And each community Had its own catholic parish,

And the catholic priest

Constructed this devil statue In between

To scare members Of both communities

To stay in their own place

And to stop fighting With one another.

Narrator: in 1847, The warring parties unite,

And the priests remove The statue.

The festival celebrates The banishment of beelzebub.

It's ended with this ritual Of taking a devil-like figure

And the devil's companions

And filling them with gunpowder And lighting them on fire,

And they just disappear.

So, is this ring structure

A place where the devil Goes to be burned

And then not to be seen again Until the next year?

Narrator: but there's a problem With this theory.

Taking a closer look At the dates here,

The structure comes up And down in june,

And the festival of the devil Happens in january,

So it can't be that.

[ music plays ]

Narrator: Social media footage emerges

That reveals a bizarre activity Taking place in june

In a ring matching The dimensions

Of the structure Caught by satellite.

It transpires the circle In the image

Is a kind of gladiatorial ring,

But unlike the gladiator Slaves of ancient rome,

The fighters in this ring Are up against vicious bulls.

It involves bulls running Wild within this enclosure.

The young men of the village

Challenge the bull With their bare hands

And try and pin the bull down.

Narrator: in traditional Spanish bullfighting,

Matadors use weapons,

And the animals are often Stabbed and weakened

Before they get in the ring.

But this is a true test Of bravery.

It's bovine fight club With the gloves off.

Munoz: it's basically Guys with flip flops,

Jeans, and t-shirts, you know,

Running on nothing But liquid courage,

Thinking that they're going to Literally grab this bull

By the horns.

Narrator: each bull can weigh

The equivalent Of five refrigerators

And charge At 35 miles per hour.

It's not known how many People have been killed

In this brutal contest.

Munoz: just seeing these guys Go in there

And take on this bull

With really no protection, No nothing --

I mean, it's one of the crazier Things I've seen.

Some people are not so lucky.

Some days, the bull wins.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

Narrator: coming up, Time travel in the antarctic.

Someone has gone to an Enormous effort to create this.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

Narrator: november 19, 2016 --

An earth observation satellite Over antarctica

Captures something In the vast whiteness below.

Nelson: it looks like the sun

Is hitting a whole bunch Of objects here in the snow

And casting a shadow?

Kourounis: This is really unusual.

It's a featureless, Flat part of antarctica,

But yet there's a series Of these triangular shapes

That certainly don't look like They belong there.

Narrator: the mystery structures Lie in an area

Called queen maud land,

200 miles From the north antarctic coast

And one of the most remote, Hostile places on earth.

Yet over the centuries,

Some people have ventured Into this frozen desert.

Antarctica has a deep, Rich history

When it comes to exploration,

Names like scott and shackleton.

Could this be a remnant Of one of these early explorers?

Narrator: records state the First expedition to antarctica

Makes landfall In the early 1800s.

But a strange discovery

At the magnificent Topkapi palace in turkey

Suggests there may have been People here earlier.

Hunt: one of the things Discovered in topkapi palace

Was a map fragment,

And there was An ottoman captain, piri reis,

And he actually made a map.

Narrator: a detail

On the 500-year-old Gazelle skin and parchment map

Baffles experts.

Hunt: if you go down the coast Of south america,

Suddenly appears The antarctic coastline.

The question is, Did piri reis get there first?

Narrator: The map closely depicts

The coast near the satellite Image.

It perfectly parallels The inlets

And the ice shelf of antarctica.

This is pretty astonishing.

Narrator: but the scale Of this structure suggests

That this was not left By a small team of adventurers

Or mapmakers.

To military Historian martin morgan,

Its size and regimented Layout offer clues.

Morgan: someone has gone to an Enormous effort to create this.

If there was anybody That could ever have pulled off

Establishing and maintaining An antarctic colony,

It would have been nazi germany.

They could have done it.

Narrator: german records reveal That in 1938,

The nazis launch an expedition To queen maud land.

It was to plot out Either barriers of an area

That the nazis were Calling "New swabia"

That would be colonized By the germans.

Narrator: The nazis establish a camp,

And using two dornier aircraft,

They mark the outer limits Of their territory

With hundreds of aluminum Swastika-inscribed stakes.

Morgan: they were designed

So that aircraft Could deliver them from flight.

You had an airplane that was Flying over at low altitude,

And someone would drop it.

The weight of the marker was Sufficient to penetrate the ice,

And you would therefore Get a nice straight line

Identifying, "This is the Boundary of german new swabia."

Narrator: yet when analysts Examine the image

Using maxar securewatch Technology,

It reveals something else.

In the 2017 image, there are Two parallel lines,

Roughly 20 objects.

Scrolling forward To the 2019 image,

Now I only see A single line of objects.

And then also as I zoom in, I see very distinctive tracks.

This is an active site.

*

Narrator: randy cerveny Thinks he recognizes

Some of the patterns In the image.

What it looks like is exactly The kind of situation

That I experienced a number Of years ago in antarctica.

We were drilling into the ice Not to extract minerals,

But to actually Extract the ice itself.

We were digging out ice cores.

Narrator: ice cores are Vertical columns of ice

Up to two miles long.

Ice core analysis is one Of the really valuable clues

That we have For piecing together

What the climates of the past Have been like.

Narrator: Antarctic permit records

Confirm this is A german research center.

*

The oldest ice records Taken in antarctica

Extend two million years.

Cerveny: ice forms in layers. We have snow on the surface.

The next year, New snow will fall on top of it.

As we go deep down into the ice,

We're going back further And further into time.

Narrator: as scientists go back Further into antarctica's past,

They discover Something extraordinary.

Antarctica wasn't always Just an ice-bound landmass.

We have periods when actually Antarctica was almost tropical.

Narrator: the studies show That antarctica used to be

Far, far warmer than it is now.

[ insects hum ]

Instead of a barren desert Of ice,

It's teeming with life.

[ dinosaur roars ]

And monsters rule the land.

We have instances that date Back a very long time ago

That indicate That there were even dinosaurs.

Narrator: the structures Captured from space

Are a kind of time machine

Shedding new light On the extraordinary story

Of earth's distant past.

When you're holding an ice core

That dates back Thousands of years,

There's an incredible Sense of history,

And that is kind of A profound experience.

[ whirring ]