All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens S21E02 The Top Ten Mysterious Monoliths

NARRATOR: A 500-ton monument

that appears to hover
above the ground,

giant statues said
to have been created

with advanced technology

and ornate pillars that depict
otherworldly visitors.

Throughout the world,

enormous stone monuments

have stood for
thousands of years,

and many are said to have
an otherworldly connection.

Now Ancient Aliens
is taking a look back

at ten of the most mysterious
monoliths we've investigated,

towering standing stones

that point to extraterrestrial
intervention on planet Earth.

♪ ♪

Across the globe,

there are towering
stone monuments

that date back
thousands of years.

They're called monoliths,
and there are more than 50,000

of these mysterious
standing stones

that often weigh tens
or even hundreds of tons.

But how were they built,
what purpose did they serve

and why are so many of them
associated

with stories of
otherworldly beings?

We start our countdown

with the tallest stone
in England,

which also happens
to be a hot spot

for strange hovering orbs.

At number ten on our countdown
of mysterious monoliths:

the Rudston Monolith.

NARRATOR: Rudston, England.

At the north end of this
quaint village in Yorkshire

stands a 12th-century
parish church

that is famous
throughout the region.

Not because of the church itself

but because of an
ancient monolith

that towers above
the church cemetery.

The Rudston Monolith

is the tallest standing
stone in Britain.

Currently, it is
25 feet in height,

and it weighs 40 tons.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists
believe the Rudston Monolith

dates back to at least 2000 BC.

And according
to local historians,

the giant standing stone
has been associated

with strange phenomena
in the area for centuries.

TIM BRENNAN: We have reports
of high strangeness

in the region dating back
to the tenth century.

We have accounts
of lights in the sky,

intelligent light forms

that seem to have a purpose
and a will of their own.

DAVID CHILDRESS:
So you have to wonder,

is the Rudston Monolith there

because of all these
strange effects?

Or perhaps the Rudston
Monolith itself

is helping create some
of these effects?

NARRATOR: Could this
ancient monolith

be a magnet for
unusual phenomena?

And if so, how?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

there may be a connection
to the fact

that the Rudston Monolith
stands at a convergence point

of what are known
as "ley lines."

Ley lines are identified

when numerous significant
ancient sites line up

in perfectly straight lines.

And researchers have found
that along these ley lines,

there are strong
Earth energy currents.

CHILDRESS: The Rudston
Monolith, apparently,

is at a junction
of three ley lines.

And there's an energy
associated with these.

It's a subtle energy,
but it's there,

and it can be amplified
by these standing stones.

HUGH NEWMAN: The ancients
knew what they were doing.

They were placing these stones
in specific spots

and it would affect the energy.

But were they working
with other beings to do this?

You have to ask
these kind of questions,

because why would they do it?

COLLINS: It seems as
if it was the result

of some kind of contact
with entities,

perhaps even extraterrestrials.

One of the most remarkable
things I've ever seen

is a giant monument in
the countryside of Japan

that is one of the largest
and oldest monoliths

anywhere on Earth.

And what's even more intriguing

is that ancient lore claims
that this massive stone

was carved to resemble a ship
that flew through the sky.

Number nine on our countdown:
the Ishi no Hoden monument.

NARRATOR: Takasago, Japan.

This small city
just west of Osaka

is home to one of the most
extraordinary wonders

of the ancient world,

a colossal monolith
called Ishi no Hoden,

or "the Floating Stone."

Standing 18 feet tall,

21 feet wide and
almost 24 feet thick,

the Ishi no Hoden is
estimated to weigh 500 tons,

making it one of the largest
monoliths on Earth.

In 2017,

Giorgio Tsoukalos traveled
to the Oshiko shrine

to investigate the
colossal monolith.

He is joined by fellow
ancient astronaut theorist

Takeharu Mikami.

[speaking Japanese]

TSOUKALOS: Wow.

It's gigantic.

I-I want to--
I need to walk around.

I mean, I had no idea
how massive this is.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists have been
unable to date its construction,

but according to Japanese mythology,

the Ishi no Hoden could be
more than 16,000 years old.

The massive monument
is made of volcanic tuff

and was carved in place
out of the surrounding bedrock.

Its name, "Floating Stone,"
comes from a unique feature

that can be seen
under the huge rock.

[speaking Japanese]

So, you want to just
look down below here.

[Mikami speaking Japanese]

TSUKAMOTO: It looks
like it's floating

over the water.

TSOUKALOS: It really does.

NARRATOR: But what
interests Giorgio the most

is what the monolith
is said to represent.

[speaking Japanese]

TSUKAMOTO: So, this monolith
is said to be related

to one of the first gods

that descended from
the heavens to Japan,

and he is said to have traveled
over the country

on a-a sky ship made
out of a giant rock.

TSOUKALOS: So, what you're
telling me is that there is

an ancient Japanese legend
that speaks of a deity

flying around in the sky

with a gigantic vehicle
made of stone?

- [speaks Japanese]
- Absolutely.

TSOUKALOS: The fact that
they used this water mirror

underneath this stone
to show as if it is hovering

and floating in the air,

to me, is one of
the smoking guns

by our ancestors

to show that these things
were actually in the sky.

Our next mysterious monoliths

are an instantly recognizable
symbol of ancient Egypt.

They are the most perfectly
carved stones in existence,

and some of the largest as well.

But what most people don't know
is that these towering pillars

were seen as points of contact
with the gods.

At number eight on our list:
obelisks.

NARRATOR: Thousands of years
ago, the people here produced

some of the most enduring
monuments on Earth,

including massive pyramids,
elaborate temples

and some of the largest
monoliths ever created,

called obelisks.

The Egyptian obelisk
is one of the most unique

pieces of architecture
in ancient Egypt.

Every obelisk you look at,

it is geometrically perfect.

They were always
made of granite,

and they were four-sided,

and towered upwards

and eventually ended
in this perfect pyramid.

NARRATOR: Most obelisks are
between 70 and 100 feet tall,

and they can weigh
over 100 tons.

But what compelled the Egyptians

to carve such perfect monoliths
in the first place?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by taking a closer look

at the unique properties
of this stone.

CHILDRESS: Obelisks, they're a
piece of crystalline granite,

and within the granite
is quartz crystal.

So, obelisks themselves are,
in a sense, a crystal tower.

It's an antenna.

And any antenna
can receive a broadcast

and it can give a broadcast.

NARRATOR: Could it be that
4,000-year-old obelisks were antennas?

Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

the writings of the ancient
Egyptians themselves

support this idea.

According to hieroglyphic records
known as the Edfu texts,

a 130-foot-tall obelisk

once stood at Abu
Gorab in Memphis,

where the people could
commune with the gods.

TSOUKALOS: Abu Gorab was known
as the "Place of the Gods."

And what's so
interesting is that

most mainstream Egyptologists

are actually saying that
we know it as a place

where the ancients connected
with divine energies.

The ancient astronaut
theory is suggesting

that ancient Egyptians
were in direct contact

with those extraterrestrials.

I find it fascinating that
many of the monoliths

we've investigated
on Ancient Aliens

are covered in
symbols or writing

that point to an
otherworldly connection.

One of the most compelling
examples of this

can be found in an ancient
Mayan city in Honduras.

At number seven on our list

of the top ten
mysterious monoliths:

the stelae of Copán.

NARRATOR: This ancient site,
located deep in the jungle,

served as one of the most
important city centers

of the Maya civilization.

At the peak of its power
in the 9th century AD,

the kingdom of Copán
had a population

of at least 20,000 people,

and covered an area of
over 100 square miles.

Copán is a classic Maya city

that sits at the far eastern
edge of the Maya world.

Most of the Maya world
is built out of limestone,

and a lot of those limestone
monuments have now melted.

But Copán's sculpture,

because it's in volcanic tuff,
is beautiful.

It's deep relief
and still very visible.

NARRATOR: Among the most remarkable
carvings discovered at Copán

are the more than 80 monolithic
statues known as "stelae."

DAVID CHEETHAM: The most
fantastic part of Copán

is the carved monuments
which are carved in the round.

They're not what we call
plano-convex,

like a slab with a, you know,
low-relief carving.

These are carved in a sort
of a Michelangelo way,

in the round, and they're
absolutely fantastic.

BARNHART: Copán is
full of big stelae

that that stand ten,
12 feet above

the surface of the plaza.

They are single
monolithic stones carved

with all sorts of hieroglyphs
and images of rulers.

NARRATOR: The most
well-known of Copán's stelae

were built during
the 43-year reign

of the ruler Uaxaclajuun
Ub'aah K'awiil,

better known by the
nickname 18 Rabbit.

DAVID SEDAT: On one of
the stelae of Copán,

18 Rabbit portrayed himself

as the foremost
patron god of Copán,

the all-encompassing
god K'intay Ahau.

And on the stelae,

he basically gives a
dissertation on the cosmos.

TSOUKALOS: For all
intents and purposes,

18 Rabbit is depicted
like modern-day astronauts.

You see tubes,
you see weird boxes,

you see weird canisters
and tanks, you see boots,

It looks more technological
in origin.

NARRATOR: Does the
monolithic statue

of 18 Rabbit commemorate
the Maya's interactions

with extraterrestrials?

As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

the answer is a resounding yes.

The Maya, in their own words,

tell us that the founders
of the Mayan civilization

were, in fact, star beings

that had come down
in the distant past.

CHILDRESS: It would seem that

these gods of the ancient Maya
were real physical beings,

and they were interacting
with the Mayans,

giving them knowledge,

and were really
instrumental in creating

this advanced culture
in Central America.

2,500 miles south of Copán,

high in the Andes mountains
of Bolivia,

is a massive doorway carved
from a single piece of stone.

It stands near one of
the most extraordinary

ancient sites on the planet,
called Puma Punku.

And carved into the
monolithic doorway

are strange, winged beings
that, from the perspective

of an ancient astronaut
theorist like myself,

clearly represent
extraterrestrial visitors.

Number six on our countdown:
the Gate of the Sun.

NARRATOR: While searching for the
southern capital of the Inca Empire,

Spanish conquistador
Pedro Cieza de León

comes upon a mysterious site,

a vast, abandoned city near
the shore of Lake Titicaca

that the locals call Tiahuanaco.

The ruined city
contains temples,

huge megalithic structures

and vast ceremonial buildings.

Tiahuanaco was huge.

It spanned for miles and miles

and had a population of perhaps
as many as 20,000 people.

NARRATOR: Among Tiahuanaco's
most impressive ruins

is a terrace mound
called Puma Punku,

containing dozens
of stone blocks

cut with extraordinary
precision.

And at the opposite end
of the complex,

at the entrance to a
large, sunken plaza,

stands a giant carved doorway
called the Gate of the Sun.

Cut and shaped from a
single andesite stone,

the massive monolith is ten
feet tall, 13 feet wide

and weighs more than ten tons.

ALEXEI VRANICH: The Gate of the
Sun is the icon of Tiahuanaco,

if not for all of South America.

And it is an amazing sculpture

that's carved with some
very elaborate iconography.

WILLIAM HENRY: It features
the Inca god Viracocha,

who's the god of creation,
who's portrayed

as a sort of a humanoid figure
with rays coming off his head.

NEWMAN: Viracocha was

the primary deity of the Andes,

going back many
thousands of years.

He was thought to be the founder
of all the ancient sites

we see in Peru
and Bolivia today,

including Tiahuanaco, Cuzco,
Sacsayhuamán,

Machu Picchu and many others.

NARRATOR: When
European explorers

rediscovered the monolithic
doorway in the 19 century,

it was lying flat on the ground
and broken into two pieces.

Today, it stands
where it was found,

but many archaeologists believe

this is not its
original location.

BARNHARDT: It's standing
there, and we all know

it's not where it used to be.

Its architecture and the
way the stone is cut

in these right angles,

the only other place
in all of Tiahuanaco

that we see that is Puma Punku.

TSOUKALOS: Puma Punku is one
of the most enigmatic places

on planet Earth.

Some of the stone blocks
are over 100 metric tons,

at an altitude of
almost 13,000 feet.

And the legend is

that this place was built
by the so-called gods.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that Puma Punku

was built by otherworldly
beings, as legend suggests?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and believe further clues
can be found

by taking a closer look at
the depiction of Viracocha

carved on the Gate of the Sun,

and the strange beings
that surround him.

TSOUKALOS: Viracocha

is flanked with
48 winged beings.

Now, why would these beings

have wings attached to them?

Well, because our ancestors
try to signify flight.

What I think is depicted

on the Gate of the Sun is a
type of a celestial pantheon,

suggesting that whoever came
and imparted knowledge

at Tiahuanaco and Puma Punku

were beings that had
a celestial connection,

meaning they came from the sky.

We're nearly halfway through
our countdown

of the top ten
mysterious monoliths.

And while the monuments
we have investigated so far

are tall standing stones,

archaeologists have also
discovered monoliths

that are perfectly round.

At number five:
the stone spheres.

NARRATOR: Zavidovici, Bosnia.

2016.

Archaeologist Dr. Sam Osmanagich
and a small team of researchers

are hiking along the Bosna river

when they spot what appears
to be an enormous stone sphere

hidden in the forest floor.

We started clearing it,
realizing

that it was huge.

Monumental in size.

Once we cleared
almost all of it,

we've done the measurements.

It is more than three
meters in diameter.

The specific weight: 37 tons.

So, this was the largest stone
sphere discovery in the world.

NARRATOR: While the giant stone
sphere in Bosnia is impressive,

it is not unique.

HENRY: From Kansas
to Kazakhstan,

we find these stone spheres.

Some of them are massive,

and the key thing that
links all of them

is this incredible mystery
about how were they created,

why were they created,

and ultimately, what
is their purpose?

NARRATOR: What compelled
ancient people

to create monoliths
in the shape of spheres?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest clues can be found

by examining a discovery

made deep in the jungles
of Central America.

In the 1930s,

workers in Costa Rica found
hundreds of giant stone spheres.

NEWMAN: About 300 have
been discovered so far.

Some of them are huge,

between eight and nine
feet tall and wide.

They look like they're
created in a machine.

NARRATOR: Archaeologists believe

that the Diquis civilization
carved the spheres

with simple stone tools.

And they are thought to be
at least 1,000 years old.

But just what purpose
did they serve?

ESTEBAN CARRANZA: We do not know the
original location of most of the spheres.

You start to wonder,
what if we could

go back in time and see
the exact location

of all the spheres,
what would they show?

Would they show a pattern?

Would they show
a constellation map?

Would they be like
the Nazca Lines,

like a pattern that you could
only see from above?

NARRATOR: How and why
Costa Rica's monolithic spheres

were created has been
lost to history,

but ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

that local legends
reveal a connection

to otherworldly beings.

HENRY: One very interesting explanation
for the Costa Rica spheres

is that they were created
by Tará, the God of Thunder,

who used some sort
of a blowpipe to shoot

these spheres out of the pipe in
order to push back hurricanes.

Ancient astronaut theory says

that within legends like this,
there's often a kernel of truth.

And so, you have to wonder,
is this a calling card

from some
extraterrestrial entity,

a sky god, Tará, with
some sort of message?

The fact that our
ancestors created

such perfectly round spheres
is truly fascinating.

And even more intriguing
is a collection

of huge monoliths that
are not only round,

but are also carved with
mysterious human features.

At number four
on our countdown

of the top ten
mysterious monoliths:

the colossal heads.

NARRATOR: Tres Zapotes, Mexico.

1938.

Smithsonian archaeologist
Matthew Stirling

makes a remarkable find.

He discovers a
colossal stone head

buried in the ground.

Over the next few years,

16 more heads are discovered

partially buried at four
locations in Mexico,

including ten in San Lorenzo
and four in La Venta.

These monolithic statues
are carved from basalt

and vary in height
from nearly five feet

to over 11 feet tall,

the largest weighing
approximately 50 tons.

Archaeologists believe
the stone heads are

some 3,000 years old and
were created by the Olmecs.

The Olmecs, uh,
they're often called

the mother culture
of Mesoamerica.

They are the first
complex culture

of any size and significance
in that part of the world.

NARRATOR: For decades,
archaeologists assumed

the colossal stone heads
were carved

to honor important figures
in Olmec society.

But just who they depict
has been the source

of debate among researchers.

The controversy is that many
of the beautifully carved

statues and stelae seemed
to show African men.

JETT: They appear to be
not native to the New World.

But are native to
sub-Saharan Africa.

This is not scientific,

uh, physical anthropology,
but just the appearance

of these things, uh,
is pretty suggestive.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the Olmec stone heads

are a record of ancient visitors

who traveled thousands
of miles to Central Mexico?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

these monoliths might serve
a more profound purpose.

And as evidence,
they point to research

done by a team of
scientists at Harvard,

Yale, and MIT that revealed

the colossal stone heads

have unusual
magnetic properties.

WILLIAMS: The Olmec...

were craftsmen at finding these
magnetic fields in basalt rock.

And they would actually
hunt down large stones,

take it back and
carve it into heads.

And they were so precise
with knowing

where the magnetic fields were

that they actually carved
around these anomalies.

CHILDRESS: When we look at how
the ancients were selecting

certain stones
that were magnetic

or had certain energies,

we wonder how they could know

about all of the properties
of these stones.

Are they getting
this information

from extraterrestrials?

NARRATOR: Could it be
that the ancient people

of Mesoamerica
received instructions

to sculpt these
giant basalt heads

from extraterrestrial visitors?

But if so, why?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

they may have been designed
for data storage.

CHILDRESS: Certain
stones like basalt

hold a magnetic field

and can be magnetized.

A basalt stone
could actually act

like a hard disk for a computer.

JASON MARTELL: When we look at
how we store information today,

we have to understand

that an extraterrestrial
civilization

might approach this
from a different angle.

So is it possible
that extraterrestrials

have embedded ancient
sacred knowledge

in statues or in monuments?

And if we were able to
extract this information,

there could be a wealth
of information ready,

waiting at our fingertips.

Running through the countryside

of northwestern France are
thousands of standing stones

that are aligned in
perfectly straight rows.

And while their purpose
is unknown,

some believe they were part

of a long-lost technology.

At number three
on our countdown

of the top ten
mysterious monoliths:

the Carnac Stones.

NARRATOR: On the northwest
coast of France

lies the most famous
and mysterious collection

of ancient standing stones
found anywhere in the world.

Stretching across an
astonishing two miles

of rolling countryside,

more than 3,000
giant monoliths

are organized
in neat formations.

They are collectively known
as the Carnac Stones.

The megaliths of Carnac
in Brittany a-are just amazing.

Some of them stand
about 30 or 40 feet tall.

There's multiple avenues of
stones going right over hills.

No one's really worked out
exactly what their purpose is.

These are arranged in
four huge alignments.

Some of them are
in parallel lines.

Some of them are fan-like.

NARRATOR: Archeologists
believe the monoliths

were erected more
than 6,000 years ago,

making them older than the
Great Pyramid of Egypt

and the stone circles
of Great Britian.

But just why the stones
are in such precise alignments

remains a mystery.

KATHLEEN McGOWAN: One of the most
interesting is the alignment of Ménec.

When viewed from above,
we can see

these 11 almost-perfect
parallel lines

that stretch out
for almost a mile.

So the Ménec alignment
is so pristine

and created with
such perfection,

we can't even imagine
how it would've

been done in ancient times.

We have to wonder what
these lines were for.

TSOUKALOS: I think in Carnac,
our ancestors did not know

what they were creating.

The entire region has
over 4,000 stones.

Somebody told our ancestors
why to move it there,

and above all, how
to move it there.

Carnac, at some point,

was an extraterrestrial
hot spot.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the
position of the Carnac Stones

was directed by
extraterrestrial visitors,

as ancient astronaut
theorists suggest?

Perhaps clues can be
found by examining

a discovery that may point
to these mysterious monoliths

having served an
energetic purpose.

CHILDRESS: In 1992,
a French engineer

named Pierre Méreaux did
a study of the Carnac Stones.

And what he found was that

the stones were aligned
and placed over areas

that had quartz fissures.

The standing stones themselves
are also made of quartz.

And if there are quartz
crystals within the stone,

those crystals can actually
be vibrating and storing energy.

NARRATOR: Today quartz is used
in watches, speakers

and computer storage systems.

Is it possible that
the Carnac Stones,

with their high quartz content
and strategic placement,

had some kind of
technological function?

TAYLOR: It's really interesting
that these stones

are standing in just
the right locations

where you could create
a phenomena like this.

You can store

and create
electromagnetic energy

in these types of stones.

Somebody understood something
about the quartz in the ground,

the standing stones
and the fault line.

It's too big of a coincidence

for them not to have
understood that.

NARRATOR: Were the
Carnac Stones created

to be part of an
electrical grid?

One that was designed
by extraterrestrial visitors

to tap into the natural energy
produced by the Earth?

If so, what exactly

were they using the energy for?

Energy can be amplified
by these standing stones.

And it can be emitted, as well.

Much like we use antennas,
and towers,

radio towers and
things like that.

We have to wonder,
does it have to do

with extraterrestrials
and spacecraft?

TSOUKALOS: What if
somebody came here

who has been around
longer than us

and has figured out
how to harness

the energy of the planet

through use of standing stones?

The stone rows
in Carnac, Brittany,

to me, are a calling card.

It's a message that somebody
was here in the past,

and they were our teachers.

Thousands of miles off the
coast of South America

is a tiny island in
the South Pacific

where hundreds of
massive stone statues

stand guard on the shoreline.

Archaeologists believe
that these sentinels

could be more than
800 years old.

But just whom they depict,

and how they were
moved into place,

is an intriguing mystery.

Number two on our countdown:
the Moai of Easter Island.

NARRATOR: More than 2,000
miles off the coast of Chile,

a rocky island rises
from the ocean.

Called Rapa Nui by the locals,

it is best known
as Easter Island,

due to the fact that Dutch
explorer Jacob Roggeveen

discovered the island
on Easter Sunday, 1722.

As recorded in the ship's log,
Roggeveen and his crew

were astonished by what
they saw along the shore.

"We noticed certain remarkably
tall stone figures.

"These stone figures caused
us to be filled with wonder,

"for we could not understand how
it was possible to erect them.

"Some of these statues
were a good 30 feet in height

and broad in proportion."

Known as the moai,

more than 1,000 of these
monolithic statues

are scattered across
Easter Island's grassy cliffs.

BAHN: The statues on Easter
Island, which we call moai, are

one of the great archeological
wonders of the world.

They are unique.

And we believe that, overall,

they carved something
like 1,000

of these moai over
some centuries.

You don't realize that
they're really buried

right up to their chest.

And that these statues are two,
three times as large

as we can see because most
of them is below ground.

Many of the statues,
they're oftentimes

sort of sideways, looking up.

NARRATOR: Most moai stand
between 13 to 20 feet tall,

but some reach as
much as 30 feet high.

According to archaeologists,

the native Polynesian
inhabitants of Easter Island

constructed the moai between
the 12th and 17th centuries AD.

Why did these people
go to such great effort

to build these giant statues?

No one else in Polynesia
was doing that.

When you talk to the people
of Easter Island today,

the Rapa Nui people,

they say that they were
doing them to honor

certain important ancestral
Areeki, or rulers.

These moais are images
of great ancestors.

NARRATOR: As far as ancient
astronaut theorists are concerned,

these monolithic figures

aren't just depictions
of ancient rulers,

but visitors from another world.

HENRY: The thing
about these moai

is that they have
these very strange faces,

very elongated.

They don't look quite human.

They're humanoid, but
they're somehow different

than ordinary humans.

They look almost alien
in appearance.

And you have to wonder, what
do they ultimately represent?

ERICH VON D ÄNIKEN: You cannot
exclude that they are representation

of celestial ancestors.

We have all these statues

and the faces of the statues

do not look like the
Easter Islanders.

The statues they created,
they look like robots,

with long narrow noses
with narrow lips.

They have nothing which compares
the Easter Island people.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the
moai depict extraterrestrial beings

who were once present
on Easter Island?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and suggest these visitors

also helped in the erection
of the giant statues.

According to the local
Rapa Nui people,

their ancestors possessed
a type of divine energy

called "mana" that allowed them
to levitate the moai.

The king was given
the gift of mana

from the great creator god,
Makemake.

Mana is a magical energy,

and it seemed to be capable
of extraordinary feats.

And the king used
the power of mana

to command that the great
stone statues walk.

In my opinion,
mana was some type

of extraterrestrial technology

that allowed these stones

to be levitated into place.

We're heading towards
the number one entry

on our countdown of
the most mysterious monoliths.

And some consider
these standing stones

to be the most enigmatic
on Earth.

We've reached number one
on our countdown

of the top ten
mysterious monoliths.

And this collection of
massive standing stones

has baffled historians
for hundreds of years.

It's a neolithic monument
that some believe

has a profound connection
to the cosmos.

At number one: Stonehenge.

NARRATOR: The neolithic
monument known as Stonehenge

has dominated the landscape here
for no less than 5,000 years.

This iconic stone circle

consists of an outer ring
of 30 monoliths

topped by connecting
horizontal lintel stones.

And within this ring

are five even larger
stone arches.

NEWMAN: Some of the stones at Stonehenge
weigh between 50 and 70 tons.

Some of the stones
are even heavier.

So how could you have
moved these into place?

If we go to the traditions
of ancient England

about how the stones were moved,

we know that there
were stories of Merlin

somehow levitating the stones
all the way from Ireland.

NARRATOR: Merlin? The powerful
wizard of British mythology?

According to some researchers,
Merlin was not only real,

but a figure who was
not of this world.

McGOWAN: The great 20th-century
French philosopher

and historian, Jean Markale,

wrote over 40 books
on the Celtic traditions.

And was adamant that Merlin

was an incredibly powerful
otherworldly being.

And in a number of the legends,

Merlin brought the understanding
of how to utilize these stones

in some extraordinary way
in terms of technology,

communications, energy.

NARRATOR: Could the
legend of Merlin

really be the story
of an ancient alien visitor?

One who helped to build the
mysterious Stonehenge monument

for some kind of
technological purpose?

The point is that the
standing stone formations

that we find all around
the world

are pieces of the puzzle,

of the ancient astronaut theory

that, long ago, we received
visits from outer space,

and we were visited
by none other

than our first teachers
on planet Earth.

NARRATOR: But if Stonehenge really
was of extraterrestrial design,

the question remains,
what purpose

might this megalithic
stone circle have served?

According to some ancient
astronaut theorists,

the site might have been
a portal to another world.

CHILDRESS: Archaeologists
now are speculating

that the blue stones

that are part of the
Stonehenge complex,

they are a type
of black-blue dolerite

that has very bright nodes
of quartz in them.

NEWMAN: So you have
electrical qualities

when the quartz
is kind of crushed,

and then you have
magnetic qualities as well,

within the same stone.

So this could have been
used to manipulate

earth energy currents.

CHILDRESS: You have to
wonder if it's a way

to create a special portal area.

It's got a special energy,

perhaps being
manipulated and created

by these megalithic structures.

What is it that compelled
ancient people

to construct enormous
standing stones

across the globe?

It's a question that ancient
astronaut theorists

believe has an
extraterrestrial answer.

And whether they were used
as energy sources,

or as signals to be
seen from above,

or even as points of contact
with otherworldly visitors,

the more we learn about
the ancient monoliths,

the closer we will come
to revealing

the truth about our
alien origins.

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