All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S09E05.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

They're watching you.

More than 5,000 satellites
circle the Earth.

Every day,
they uncover new

mysterious phenomena
that defy explanation.

Revealed from the skies,

the mystery of the Louisiana
swamp castle.

My God, just look at it.
It's incredible!

NARRATOR:
The 100,000-square-mile cipher.

These patterns
stretch everywhere,

from Texas
to North Dakota.

NARRATOR: And Russia's deadly
mega chasm.

It's said that it can
actually suck in aircraft.

NARRATOR:
Baffling phenomena.

Mysteries from space.

What on Earth are they?

**

**

**

The seemingly endless bayous
of southern Louisiana,

thousands of square miles
of marshlands,

home to gators, birds,

and not much else.

MORGAN: This area could not be
more inhospitable.

This is not a place that

is inclined towards
sustaining human life.

NARRATOR:
Yet despite this,

a satellite image taken
on January 10th, 2019,

has uncovered mysterious
evidence of human activity

in these swamps.

Looking at the image,
I'm seeing two different

structures here.

To the right, there's sort of
a string of boxes or blocks.

The other structure is really
unusual and kind of surprising.

It looks like
the top of a rook,

like a giant chess piece
in the water.

It's unnerving to think
about what's missing

from this picture.

There could be an entire town
under the water.

What happened here?

NARRATOR:
What's drawn Martin Morgan

to this site is that,
officially,

there has never been
a town in these marshlands.

But clues
suggest otherwise.

That's not natural.

You can totally tell --
it's a road.

Look at that.

This is a bit eerie.

**

NARRATOR: The abandoned road
leads Morgan to the set of

structures at the eastern side
of the river mouth.

It's just up ahead here.

This thing is incredible.

It's even bigger
than it looked

in the satellite photography.

NARRATOR: A line of concrete
ruins stretches

for some 300 yards
along the shore.

Behind them are concealed

hundreds of poles driven deep
into the lake bed.

MORGAN:
This was a massive facility.

Somebody with money,
lots of it,

paid to have this built.

That suggests, to me,
government money.

NARRATOR: Morgan thinks
the structures bear

the hallmarks of a secret
military installation.

MORGAN: Judging by the age,
these could be seven

or eight decades old.

That's dropping
all of this right into

the time period of
the second World War.

This thing is amazing.
Look at this.

NARRATOR: While much of
the structure has long

since rotted away or been
destroyed by hurricanes,

clues to what drew
the military

into these swamps do remain.

MORGAN: All down the line of
these platforms,

there are iron rings.

These are gun mounts.

The fact that you've got
all these gun platforms

lined up like this

makes me think that
I might be looking at

an anti-aircraft
training center.

NARRATOR: Declassified military
records confirm

that these sinking ruins
were once a secret

World War II training base
called Shell Beach,

and it played a key role
in tackling a catastrophic

shortcoming in America's
defenses at the dawn

of World War II.

During World War II,
the American forces,

particularly the Navy,

had this sort of sense
of invincibility.

Now that is an image
that's vastly

different to what the state of
the U.S. military was

just as the country was
entering World War II.

NARRATOR: When Japanese fighters
and dive bombers

devastate Pearl Harbor,

U.S. battleships are
ill-prepared

to defend themselves.

It's a mistake the Navy
vows never to repeat.

PAVELEC: When we get involved
in the war after

Pearl Harbor,
the U.S. military

has to begin
a crash training program

to get sailors trained up to
shoot down enemy airplanes.

NARRATOR: With Nazi U-boats
and planes also threatening

America's shores,

the Navy starts transporting
rookie gunners into

the Louisiana swamp

to teach them the art of
anti aircraft warfare.

PAVELEC: Shooting across
the lake would have

provided a nice field of fire,

and pilots would actually fly
target planes to

be shot at to get practice
against live targets.

NARRATOR: 40% of the recruits
are volunteers,

many of them fresh
from high school.

After just eight weeks,
they are sent to fight

fascism in Europe

or to join the Pacific Fleet
and experience

the hell of naval combat.

MORGAN: Men who trained here
would ultimately be on board

ships that are fighting off
waves of Japanese

suicide aircraft.

NARRATOR: During the first few
months of the war,

U.S. anti-aircraft gunners
shoot down 56 enemy planes.

Within three years,
they are bringing

down almost 20 times
that number,

thanks in no small part
to these weird ruins

in the Louisiana Bayous.

MORGAN: Just think about
how critical this was.

I mean, in many ways,

it was facilities like this
that produced

the final victory in
the second World War.

NARRATOR: The decaying
World War II facility

sits just 400 yards

from the larger sunken
structure in the image.

It could be a barracks
for the training center,

but that doesn't
make any sense.

How would you move people
back and forth?

NARRATOR: Up close,
the mystery deepens.

Look at this thing.

This looks like what a castle
I drew as a kid looked like.

If we were in Europe,
I'd go,

"That's definitely a fort."

But we're not in Europe.
Were in Louisiana.

NARRATOR: There are other
forts on the U.S.'s

Southern coastline dating
from the Civil War.

But this is unlike
any of them.

MORGAN: The forts are very
low profile.

But this thing, it's just
looming up out of the marsh.

It's incredible.

To really get to the bottom
of what this structure is,

I'm gonna have to get on shore
and walk around it.

NARRATOR: Coming up, breaking
into the swamp castle.

MORGAN:
My God, look at this thing.

I mean, it's like
a cathedral in here.

NARRATOR: And the 1,000-year-old
monks of New Hampshire.

If true, there was
a settlement here

well before Columbus.

NARRATOR: Drawn by strange,
isolated structures

revealed from space,

historian Martin Morgan
is braving

the alligator-infested
swamplands of Louisiana.

Almost there.

Almost there.

NARRATOR:
25 miles from New Orleans,

a semi-submerged fortification
sits next to the ruins of

a World War II training camp.

My God,
look at this thing.

This is
absolutely spectacular.

NARRATOR: To Morgan,
the structure's medieval design

is unprecedented.

**

**

I mean, it's like
a cathedral in here.

**

I have never seen
anything like this.

This is unique.
This is one of a kind.

NARRATOR: The crumbling walls
suggest the swamp fort

likely dates from
the early 1800s.

This structure clearly
belongs to the era before

the introduction
of rifled artillery,

because in the era of
rifled artillery,

this thing would not have
stood a chance.

NARRATOR: The middle
of the 19th century

witnesses the arrival of
rifled barrels,

revolutionizing
the power, range,

and accuracy of artillery.

Brick fortifications
are replaced

with low-profile concrete ones,

which can better withstand
the apocalyptic

onslaught of this new
generation of weapons.

There are very obvious signs

that this structure
is falling apart.

I don't think
it's safe to be in here.

NARRATOR: Morgan now believes
that the fort has its

origins in a momentous event
in early American history.

MORGAN:
If I'm right about this fort,

it's built because of
the War of 1812.

During that conflict,
the British attacked American

cities like Baltimore,
Washington, D.C.,

and then
New Orleans itself.

[cannons blasting]

NARRATOR:
The War of 1812 is both

the first conflict waged by
the newly independent

United States,

and the last time enemy
soldiers successfully

invaded American soil.

WALTERS: The British-American
War of 1812

is sometimes even called

a second war of independence.

Interestingly enough, one of
the key turning points

of the war was actually fought
around New Orleans basin.

NARRATOR:
In the early 19th century,

Britain is still trying to
control its former

colony by restricting trade
and supporting

Native American rebels.

But what finally pushes the U.S.
into war was the practice

of impressment,

the capturing of American
sailors and forcing them to

work on British ships.

MORAN: The Americans are
naturally angry at

this blatant disregard of
the sovereignty of

American ships.

HYMEL: It's a black eye to
the fledgling government,

and that's just
not gonna sit right.

NARRATOR: On June 18th, 1812,
President James Madison

signs the order to do battle

with a nation whose warships
outnumber his by 30 to 1.

Despite the overwhelming
firepower of the British Navy,

actually, the Americans
do quite well.

HYMEL: But while the new United
States is having victories

at sea, it's on the land
that they're facing defeat

after defeat against
the king's troops.

NARRATOR: In 1814,
after capturing Detroit,

Washington D.C., and burning
the White House to the ground,

the British turned their
attention to New Orleans.

PAVELEC: New Orleans is
vitally important.

If the British
can take New Orleans,

they control shipping in
and out of the center

of the United States.

NARRATOR:
On December 23rd, 1814,

50 British ships steal through

the waters to the north
of the fort,

towards the American vessels
protecting New Orleans.

PAVELEC: The British race in
and catch

the Americans unprepared,

and they're overtaken very
quickly and very easily.

MUNOZ: By winning that battle,
the British were effectively

allowed to set up
a beachhead

for a larger assault
on the city of New Orleans.

NARRATOR: The British now
believe New Orleans is

there for the taking,

but they haven't counted
on the defensive prowess

and determination

of the man tasked with
defending the city,

General Andrew Jackson.

HYMEL: Andrew Jackson pieces
together vagabonds and pirates,

as well as regular army troops,

and they defend the line that
the British just can't break.

PAVELEC: The army stand behind
what they will eventually call

the Jackson line,
and the British suffer

horrendous losses
and have to retreat.

NARRATOR: The battle
for New Orleans proves to be

the last major engagement
of the war,

and its hero, General Jackson,

goes on to become the seventh
president of the United States.

Stung by how close
their new nation had come

to being conquered,
the U.S. military

shores up defenses
around the city

by building the swamp castle
revealed from the skies.

That would mean that this fort
was constructed with

the thought in mind that
some other foreign power,

maybe even the British again,
would attack using the same

method as was used
in late 1814.

NARRATOR:
The fort is a ghostly relic

of America's early struggle
for freedom.

A century later,
when terror once again

threatens these shores,

the military turns to
the Louisiana bayous to conduct

vital training
for its World War II troops.

Today, both structures are
being swallowed by the swamps

they were built to
help protect.

HYMEL: And it's kind of amazing
that you've got these two

structures within spitting
distance of each other that

were developed

because the United States
was under threat

from a foreign power.

NARRATOR: Coming up,
attack of the black blizzard.

This must have been hell
on Earth.

NARRATOR:
And an invisible killer

stalks Africa's elephants.

This is really shocking.

These look like full-grown,
healthy elephants,

and they're just laying
there dead.

NARRATOR:
July 2010.

An aerial survey scans
the state of Nebraska,

the heart of America's
agricultural breadbasket.

What we're looking at here
is clearly farmland,

but there's something
strange about this farmland.

RUBEN: There are miles
of these dark lines.

It looks like bits of
tic-tac-toe boards just

kind of cut up and scattered
all around the landscape.

NARRATOR:
Closer analysis reveals

the mystery patterns
appear to be rows of trees,

but what's really weird about
them is how much of the country

they cover.

As I zoom out,
I can see that these

patterns stretch hundreds
of miles,

from Texas to North Dakota.

Maxar's SecureWatch software
reveals the rows

extend 100,000 square miles
across six different states.

These patterns not only cover
a huge part of the country,

but also,
as I look back in time,

I can see that these patterns
were here decades ago.

NARRATOR: The giant rows of
trees first appear on

maps of the Midwest
during the 1930s,

providing a clue to
their extraordinary history.

The 1930s area haunting
memory for people

that live in this part
of the world.

HEIMLER: What we find when
we look at the historical record

is that these trees
were planted to stave off

a severe natural disaster.

NARRATOR:
The disaster has its origins

70 years earlier
in the 1860s,

when President Abraham Lincoln
signs the Homestead Act,

offering anyone a 160-acre
plot of public land

in the Midwest
for a few dollars.

Wave after wave of people
take the bait,

turning more than 80 million
acres of native prairie

into farmland.

If there's one thing
that's in every American's

blood from the beginning of
the nation,

it's they wanted
to push west.

And so something like 500,000
families, in a mass exodus, took

the government up on this,
went out,

and settled in the Midwest.

[cannon blasts]

NARRATOR:
During World War I,

yet more prairie is converted
to crops as farmers answer

the call to win the war
with wheat.

There's this desperate need
for food from Europe, for

the rest United States,

and it's a real boom.

But with every boom,
there's a bust.

NARRATOR: When the conflict
ends, wheat prices plummet,

forcing desperate farmers to
tear up yet more prairie to

grow extra crops.

And worse is to come.

In the early 1930s, one of
the largest droughts in

1,000 years set in upon
this part of North America.

That drought caused
all of the tilled land

to essentially dry up
and degrade.

NARRATOR: With no
deep-rooted prairie grass

left to hold it in place,

winds lift the bone-dry
soil skywards,

creating apocalyptic dust
clouds 10,000 feet high.

The result is what's
called the Dust Bowl.

RUBEN: People were shoveling
dust like it was snow.

The eroding soil
created these colossal,

hellish dust storms called
black blizzards that would

block out the sun
for days at a time.

HEIMLER: It was truly
massive in scale.

It actually enshrouded
the Statue of Liberty,

and ships at sea in
the Atlantic Ocean

were covered with dust.

NARRATOR:
The suffocating dust fills

the lungs of the farmers
and their families,

killing around 7,000 and making
half a million people homeless.

With the Midwest
facing economic collapse,

President Theodore Roosevelt
hatches a plan that gives rise

to the vast rows
of trees in the image.

Roosevelt's first idea was to
plant a huge swath of trees

1,000 miles wide

that stretched all
the way from the Canadian border

to the Mexican border.

The trees would theoretically
create a buffer so that

the wind couldn't pick up
these storms,

and the tree roots would keep
the soil in its place.

NARRATOR: But Roosevelt's plan
was astronomically expensive

and would take 12 years
to implement.

There was no way that was
gonna happen,

but why not, instead,

just try to be a little more
minimalist about it,

and that's what they did.

RUBEN: The idea was that whole
series of these smaller walls

of trees would go around
individual farms,

creating what was called
the Shelterbelt.

NARRATOR: The so-called
Great Plains Shelterbelt project

mobilizes thousands
of laborers made

unemployed during
the Great Depression,

who plant 200 million trees
across the Midwest.

RUBEN: The project turns out
to be an enormous,

unprecedented success that not
only blocks the dust storms

but also returns fertility
to the land.

HEIMLER: It's hard to remember
another time in history when

the federal government
intervened in such a decisive

and successful way.

NARRATOR: Eight decades later,
the remnants of this

audacious plan remain,
revealed from the skies.

RUBEN: It's amazing that for all
of our technological advances,

the best idea to fix this was
just planting a lot of trees.

And who knows? These weird
linear forests might still

be visible hundreds of years
from now.

NARRATOR: Coming up,
the mutant elephant killer.

This could potentially jump
across the species barrier

into humans.

NARRATOR: And journey to
the center of the Earth.

It looks more like
it belongs in sci-fi

than on our planet.

NARRATOR: A NASA Earth
observation satellite scans

the 6,000-square-mile Okavango
Delta in northern Botswana.

This vast wetland system is
a sanctuary for

more than 2,000 species of
plant and animal.

Yet in May 2020, scientists
conducting an aerial survey of

the region discover that
this oasis of life has become

a place of death.

SCHUTTLER:
This is really shocking.

There are dozens,
even hundreds,

of dead elephants.

NARRATOR: The grisly scene
continues for mile after mile.

More than 350 giant carcasses
litter the ground.

It doesn't look like
any predators attacked them.

These look like full-grown,
healthy elephants,

and they're just
laying there, dead.

You can also see that their
tusks are still intact,

which is very strange.

Normally the tusks
are removed, because

poachers have gone after
these elephants.

Whatever killed them is
something unseen.

And that, to me,
is even more scary.

NARRATOR: Biologists examine
the aerial images for

clues to the cause of
this carnage.

NELSON: The one thing
you see is that all of

these elephants are dying near
or around watering holes.

So maybe there's something in

the water that's killing
these elephants.

NARRATOR:
Local newspapers provide

more possible evidence.

We know that villagers
who have come into conflict

with elephants have poisoned
them with cyanide in the water.

NARRATOR:
Over the past 100 years,

the African elephant
population has plummeted from

10 million two 400,000.

Studies suggest that
the animals have

retained a collective memory
of this slaughter,

[elephant trumpeting]

and they're wreaking their
revenge on local villagers.

[elephant trumpeting]

They kill hundreds of people
in Africa a year.

We are looking at one of
the largest land mammals to ever

walk the Earth --
it can easily,

and they do,
stomp and gore people.

[elephant trumpeting]

Maybe the carnage
that we're seeing has

something to do with
the nearby villages.

NARRATOR: Other analysts
think toxins are

indeed present
in the water holes,

but natural rather than
man-made ones.

These water holes have
a brilliant color to them,

which leads us to suspect that
there may be cyanobacteria

looming in these.

It creates toxins
called cyanotoxins

that, in high enough
concentration in the water,

will be deadly to anybody
or anything that drinks it.

NARRATOR:
Satellite images reveal

that prior to the mass deaths,

the Okavango had experienced
three years of extreme drought,

concentrating bacterial
toxins in

the watering holes into
a lethal soup.

Yet there are problems
with this theory.

When you look at the images
and the surrounding area,

you don't see the carcasses of
any other large mammals.

You would see dead giraffes,
buffaloes, hippos,

but there's nothing like that,
so it can't be poisoning.

NARRATOR: Eyewitness accounts
deepen the mystery.

Locals reported that
the elephants were walking

around in circles,

looking very disoriented
before they collapsed.

This means there could be
something neurological,

some sort of impairment going
on in their brains.

NARRATOR: Weighing in
at around 11 pounds,

elephant brains are the largest
of any land animal

and have three times
as many neurons as humans.

They can use tools,

have been shown to
demonstrate humor,

compassion, and self-awareness
and also understand

different languages.

MOSHER: But this also
makes them susceptible

to neurological disorders
and diseases,

so it could be that something
has infected them or affected

their brain in such a way to
cause this strange behavior.

NARRATOR:
Scientists have identified

several viruses that can attack
the brains of large mammals,

such as elephants.

One possible suspect is
encephalomyocarditis.

SCHUTTLER: This virus is spread
by rodents and rats,

and it attacks the heart,

and then it causes
neurological symptoms

and rapid death.

NARRATOR: The virus has never
before killed so many elephants

so quickly.

The nightmare scenario
is that the aerial images

are evidence of a new strain
unknown to science.

SZULGIT: If this large number of
elephants died of a virus,

we need to think about
the idea that this virus could

potentially jump across
the species barrier into humans.

NARRATOR: Diseases that can jump
between species, known as

zoonoses, are one of
history's greatest killers

From the Great Plague to
the Black Death, Ebola to Covid,

they have claimed hundreds of
millions of lives.

Today, experts calculate that
60% of

emerging infectious diseases
originate in animals.

MOSHER:
One thing's for sure.

These diseases are becoming
more prevalent,

and it's not good news
for anybody.

NARRATOR: Officials continue
to hunt for who or what

is killing the giants of
the Okavango.

Elephants face huge problems.

Now they're facing
a new threat.

So no matter what it is, we got
to get to the bottom of this.

NARRATOR: Coming up,
the $17 billion treasure hunt.

This is where
the Soviets hit pay dirt.

NARRATOR: And decoding
Mystery Hill.

Why would someone create
this structure out

in the middle of
the woods like this?

NARRATOR:
June 26th, 2016.

The GeoEye-1 satellite scans
a remote town in

eastern Siberia.

This is really one of

the most amazing satellite
images I've ever seen.

There's this enormous crater
in the middle

of the Earth.

NARRATOR:
A hole 1,700 feet deep

and 4,000 ft wide

punctures he town,
a wound in the Earth

the width of 15 city blocks.

RUBEN: The hole is so large
and so deep,

it said that it can actually
suck in aircraft.

It looks more like it belongs
in sci-fi than on our planet.

NARRATOR: Analysts study
the massive chasm in detail.

KOUROUNIS: Zooming in,
we can see these concentric

ridges that lead all
the way down to the bottom,

and that tells me that this is
likely a gigantic

open pit mine.

NARRATOR: The nightmarish void
is a colossal diamond mine,

but it isn't just its scale
or city center location that

puzzles experts.

I don't see any activity
or machinery being used.

The bottom of this hole
is flooded.

That suggests to me that some

kind of disaster
has happened here.

NARRATOR: Local media reports
confirm that this mine

has indeed become a place
of death,

and it's a tragedy that was
decades in the making.

The story begins in 1950 when
the Communist invasion of

South Korea,
sponsored by the Kremlin,

provokes
an international crisis.

The Soviets are supplying
the North Koreans with MiG

fighter jets, NATO ends up

imposing sanctions
against the USSR,

and this forbids the sale of
any defense items to

the Soviet Union, and that
actually includes diamonds.

NARRATOR:
The sanctions are devastating

to the USSR, because it
desperately needs industrial

diamonds to help it recover
from the catastrophic fallout

of World War II.

RUBEN: If you want to drill
for oil or gas,

you need diamond-tipped
drill bits.

If you want
precision machines,

you need diamond-tipped
cutting blades.

No diamonds means
they can't rebuild

their industrial strength
and therefore their economy.

NARRATOR: The sanctions
infuriate Soviet dictator

Joseph Stalin...

...who dispatches
expeditions to

locate a homegrown
diamond supply.

In 1955, after years
of searching,

geologists find promising
deposits in the icy wastelands

of Siberia.

KOUROUNIS:
But in this part of the world,

it's one thing to know that
you've got diamonds in

the ground.

It's another thing entirely to
get them out.

NARRATOR: In eastern Siberia,
winter lasts for seven months,

and temperatures plummet
to minus 40 Fahrenheit.

This place is so cold
that oil freezes,

car tires get brittle
and break.

They have to use jet engines
to fog permafrost

so that it can dig a little
bit easier.

On the flip side,
when things do thaw out,

it becomes a huge mess.

It's muddy, it's swampy,

the equipment
sinks into the ground.

Buildings can sink
into the ground.

NARRATOR: Despite
these extraordinary challenges,

over the following decades,

the diamond mine becomes
the biggest and most productive

on Earth.

This enormous,
unsightly hole in

the ground is where
the Soviets hit pay dirt.

At one time,
this mine was

producing over 10 million
carats a year.

I mean, that's just
an incredible amount of

precious gems.

NARRATOR: The mine is named
Mir, Russian for peace.

Yet much of the $17 billion
worth of diamonds excavated

here helps
line the pockets

of corrupt officials
or finance the Soviet

war machine.

By the 1990s,
the mine is deep enough to fit

the Empire State Building inside
it with room to spare,

leading to the stories of
aircraft disasters that persist

to this day.

There are no fly zones

over this hole,
because helicopters that

would fly over it
would kind of

get sucked in by air moving
down into and out of

this giant pit.

NARRATOR: As the hunt for
diamonds goes deeper still,

the miners are forced to dig
a six-mile-long labyrinth

of tunnels under
the base of the pit,

and disaster strikes.

More than 100 men are working
underground when, all

of a sudden, the mine floods,
and water traps them.

It breaks through
like a tidal wave.

And eight of the miners
are actually killed.

NARRATOR: The tragedy brings
the Mir mine's epic 60-year

journey towards the center of
the earth to an end,

leaving the apocalyptic void
visible from space.

KOUROUNIS: After the disaster,

the mine is closed, kind of
a watery memorial to those

who lost their lives there,

but also to the rise and fall
of the Soviet Union.

NARRATOR: Coming up, did Irish
monks discover America?

MORGAN: Maybe they sail up
a river in New Hampshire,

and they build this monument
to mark their arrival.

NARRATOR: July 12th, 2014.

Eyes in the sky over
New Hampshire capture

a pattern in a wooded area
far below.

HEIMLER: It's very strange.

In the middle of the forest,

we see -- looks like different
lines that are jutting out

in all different directions.

NARRATOR:
The mystery symbol's spokes

are each around
2,000 feet long.

BELLINGER: The lines are very
straight and symmetrical,

and they meet
at a center point.

From an archaeological
standpoint, that points

to a ceremonial
or a ritual function.

NARRATOR:
Images taken at ground level

seem to confirm this theory.

The site is actually
a series of

walkways and standing stones
that are massive.

It looks like they are
concentrated on the east

and the west,
so that makes me wonder,

do they mark out some kind of
celestial alignment?

NARRATOR: Astronomically
aligned stones are not unique.

But this is New Hampshire,
not prehistoric Britain.

Why would someone
create this structure out

in the middle of the woods
like this?

NARRATOR: Local land records
dating from 1937

offer the first clues.

They refer to the site
as Mystery Hill.

We know that this site was
properly examined for

the first time in the 1930s
by William Goodwin.

HEIMLER: William Goodwin was
an amateur archaeologist,

and he was obsessed with
finding evidence in

the Americas of European
arrival before Columbus.

NARRATOR: As Goodwin
excavates Mystery Hill,

he unearths a series of
structures that he believes

predate Columbus
by several 100 years.

He claims that some of them
resemble ancient Irish stone

huts called clochans,

which were often used
by monks.

Goodwin believed that
these stones were, in fact,

the last refuge of some Irish
monks called the Culdees.

That was an incredible theory,

because what would a group of
Irish monks be doing in

New Hampshire?

NARRATOR: The claims are
highly controversial,

but further discoveries appear
to lend weight to

the idea that this site has
an ancient Irish connection.

Of all the finds that are most
enigmatic at Mystery Hill,

one of them is a stone granite
slab weighing about 4.5 tons.

BELLINGER: It's similarly
constructed and shaped to

the stone wedge burial
chambers used by the Celts.

NARRATOR:
According to most academics,

the first Europeans to reach
North America were the Vikings,

led by the Norse explorer

Leif Eriksson
during the 10th century.

But what Goodwin imagines,
however, is maybe 300 years

before that,
the Culdee monks arrive,

and they sail up a river
in New Hampshire,

and they build this monument
to mark their arrival.

NARRATOR: Legend has it that
the first Irishman to reach

North America was St. Brendan
in around 512 AD.

While many consider this
a myth, tantalizingly,

some Native American religions
bear striking resemblances to

Protestant
and Catholic beliefs,

and the first North American
Vikings referred to parts of

the U.S. as Irland it Mikla,

or Greater Ireland.

HUNT: There are some Norse
sagas that

talk about traveling
west of Iceland,

where they came across
Christians who were baptizing.

Maybe there's an element of
truth to these Culdean monks.

NARRATOR: Yet when
archaeologists are brought

in to further excavate
the site,

establishing a direct
connection to

the Culdean monks proves to
be impossible.

They find that William Goodwin
probably altered some of

the landscape himself,

rebuilt some of
the stone structures.

HEIMLER: He said he was
putting them back in their

original locations,

but how did he know
their original locations?

NARRATOR: Many academics have
since dismissed

Goodwin's research at
Mystery Hill

and also claimed that
the stones were

shaped by farmers
in the 19th century.

But to others,
the weird site uncovered from

the skies holds more secrets
yet to be revealed.

I wish we could put a closer
finger on who built this place.

But Mystery Hill, unfortunately,
remains a mystery.