All language subtitles for America.Unearthed.S04E02.Alien.Artifacts.HDTV.x264-CRiMSON

[ Stones tapping ]

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[ Energy crackles ]

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[ Energy crackling ]

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[ Warbling ]

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WOLTER: The history that we were
all taught growing up is wrong.

My name is Scott Wolter,
and I'm a forensic geologist.

There's a hidden history in this
country that nobody knows about.

There are pyramids here,

chambers, tombs, inscriptions.

They're all over this country.

We're gonna investigate
these artifacts and sites,

and we're gonna get
to the truth.

Sometimes, history
isn't what we've been told.

♪♪

[ Insects chirping ]

♪♪

I'm deep in the jungles
of Veracruz, Mexico,

hunting for evidence
of a lost civilization

that could predate the oldest
known Mesoamerican culture

by over 5,000 years.

This is a perfect
habitation site

for ancient cultures.

But this quest
goes deeper than that.

I've seen artifacts
that suggest

the civilization
I'm hoping to prove existed

had contact with aliens.

WOLTER: Oh, my God.
Look at this.

Well, there's
a figure here,

and it's got a face.

It's got a body.

Does this look alien
to you?

BENITEZ: Well, to me,
they do look like aliens.

Oh, yeah.
It's very clear.

I know it sounds crazy,

and at first,
I didn't believe it myself.

There's no denying that Mayans,

who built amazing structures
at places like Chichén Itzá,

have a legend of a
serpentlike god called Kukulkan

who descended from the sky

as well as advanced technology
we struggle to comprehend.

But are ancient aliens
really part of their history

or the history
of their ancestors?

That's what I'm here in
the Mexican jungle to find out.

The whole reason I'm here
is because two days ago,

a man with
something extraordinary

showed up at my lab.

♪♪

♪♪

Scott, you're gonna
love these.

Well, Mark, your e-mail
was rather cryptic.

Must be good,
whatever you've got.

Well, you tell me.

♪♪

This is a statue
with...

a pointed head?

Look at the eyes.

That looks alien.

Yes.

♪♪

You know what?
Look at that.

That's
a little spaceship.
Yep.

Mark, what is this?

I believe that these depict
contact with aliens.

Are you kidding me?
No.

I-I-I-I don't even know
what to say.

I've never seen
anything like this.

Well, I've saved
the best for last.

♪♪

What the hell is this?

There's indigenous people
praying,

planets, meteorites,

but on the other side,
we have a scene that's carved.

This has a Mesoamerican
feel to it,

like Aztec or Mayan,

but I'm not really sure.

Where did you
get these?

They come from
Ojuelos de Jalisco in Mexico.

Okay.
I need to see this.

Turn on the monitor,
will you?

Okay.

Where in Mexico
did you find these?

Ojuelos de Jalisco
is in Central Mexico,

right in there.

WOLTER:
You realize that --

I mean, to some people,
this will sound crazy.

So, what we need to do

is bring some science
to the equation

and look very carefully
at these artifacts

to see if we can get
some hard facts

to back up your claim.

I'm gonna get
my microscope out.

Let's start there.
Okay.

I've always known Mark

to be a collector
of authentic artifacts,

but I'm not sure
what to think about these.

If it wasn't someone like him
bringing them to me,

I'd think there's no way
these have a chance

of being anything
other than a hoax.

Okay.

You see
those grooves?
Uh-huh.

You can see where
they carved the grooves,

and there's dirt
in the grooves,

but I'm not seeing any
weathering features on the rock.

These came
out of the ground, right?

I saw them come out of
the ground with my own eyes.

Well,
that would explain

why I'm not seeing
any evidence of age

because
if they were buried,

they could sit there
till the end of time

and they won't change.

Okay, let me show you
something, Mark.

Do you see this area
right here,

this little thin strip?
Right.

This material is
some type of adhesive.
Okay.

If it's organic-based,
we could do C-14 testing.

We could date it.

WOLTER: C-14 testing

measures the radioactive decay
of organic material

to determine how old it is.

It's high-tech
and highly accurate,

and it should be able
to tell me

if Mark's artifact
is ancient or modern.

Well, it is organic,
and I've had it dated.

You've already
had it tested?
I've had it tested,

and you aren't gonna
believe the results.

Okay, I just sent you
the results.

Alright.
Let's take a look here.

♪♪

University of Arizona.

♪♪

What?

7609 to 7520?

That's 9,500 years ago.

That's right.

I mean, if this test result
is right,

this represents
a culture

that predates any
Mesoamerican culture by a lot,

I mean,
by thousands of years.
I agree.

And not only that,

a culture that interacted,
apparently, with aliens.

Yes.

This is a pretty
extraordinary claim,

and we're gonna need
extraordinary proof.

So, what I think
we need to do

is we need to replicate
this result.

I'd like to take
another sample of this glue

and test it,

and if we get another
similar date,

boy, it's on now.

♪♪

Science is about
repeated results.

That's why testing this again
is so important.

Well, Mark, I'll send this off
right away,

but it's gonna take
a couple weeks at least

for us to get
the test results.

In the meantime,

I need to find
one of these artifacts myself.

Well, there's
no active digs

going on
in Ojuelos de Jalisco,

but there's a group
of treasure hunters

that call themselves
JAC Detectors

that are pulling out
similar artifacts

out of caves right now.

♪♪

These are the kind of things
they're finding.

♪♪

WOLTER: Look at this.

This piece here looks
very similar to that one.

I mean, we got the alien.
We got spaceships.

We got the
indigenous people here

making an offering
of corn.

It could have been made
by the same culture
that made this one.

It could be.

Where did you say
this was again?

Deep in the jungles
of Veracruz.

Looks like I'm going
to the jungle, baby.

♪♪

♪♪

I hop a flight to Mexico

and connect
with Fernando Benitez,

a cultural adviser,

to help me reach
the remote jungle outpost

where the treasure hunters
are finding alien artifacts

like Mark's.

If I can find a similar artifact
in context

and it produces
the same C-14 date

that Mark got with his find,
it could prove the existence

of an ancient, undiscovered
Mesoamerican culture.

It's very lush here.

Yeah, this is the
Veracruz moist forest.

The jungle here
is very big.

It's around 69,000
square kilometers.

You know, that would be about
25,000 square miles.

That is huge.

I want to know,

what do you know about
any cultures in this area?

Well, the Olmecs were
all around this area.

There's a bunch
of archaeological sites.

The Olmec are the oldest known
major Mexican civilization.

They first appeared
around 1600 BC

and faded out around 350 BC.

They produced
countless pieces of art,

but they are most well-known
for their colossal head carvings

in the city of Tres Zapotes.

And something else
they invented -- rubber balls.

I know that there's
an archaeological site

around here in Veracruz,
which is called El Manatí,

and it's the earliest site
of the Olmecs.

Well, the most famous thing
they found there --

It was
these wooden figures

with long skulls
and almond eyes.

So, elongated heads.

Well, the Mayans were known
to take their children

and intentionally
put straps on their heads

to elongate them.

It was a symbol
of status and beauty.

Were the Olmecs
known to do that?

No. No, the Olmecs were
not known for doing that.

But yet, here we have
these artifacts,

these dolls
that were found,

and they have
elongated heads.

The question is, why?

It kind of sounds like aliens,
doesn't it?

It sounds like aliens
to me.

The suggestion that the Olmec
encountered aliens is explosive,

but if the C-14 data

from Mark Russell's artifact
is correct,

I might be looking
at evidence of alien contact

even 3,000 years earlier.

If I'm lucky,

the mysterious artifacts
the JAC Detectors are calling

"the Jada Stones"

will give me
even more evidence I need

to change the history books.

Buenas tardes.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Nice to meet you.

How are you?

[ Speaking Spanish ]
Good to meet you.

Guys, I have to tell you,
this place is fantastic.

I mean, I'm a geologist.
I see beautiful rocks here.

You got conglomerates.
You got lava.

This is your base camp?

BENITEZ: This is the place
where they get together

before going to the caves
and to the jungle.

WOLTER: Okay. Well, I'd love
to see some artifacts.

Where do they
want us to go?

[ Conversing in Spanish ]

This way?
Okay.

[ Man speaking Spanish ]

♪♪

WOLTER: Look at that.
That's amazing.

WOLTER:
I'm visiting treasure hunters

who claim to have found
artifacts depicting aliens

deep in the jungles
of Veracruz, Mexico,

but in this case,
I'm not yet convinced

that seeing is believing.

Interesting.
Now, this is beautiful stone.

BENITEZ: It is.
Yeah.

Where did these
come from?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

They found them in the caves
around here in the jungle.

So, was this buried,

or did they wash out,
or did they excavate?

How did they find them?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Some of them
were just there.

Some of them were
in the side of the river,

and some of them
were, like,

deposited directly in cracks
on the cave.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

He says it could be
from the Totonacas,

and in
the other hand,

it could be from
different cultures.

So, we don't really know
the age.

WOLTER:
The Totonac civilization

thrived in Veracruz
for thousands of years

before fading out
in the 16th century.

They built cities,
mastered agriculture,

and developed
an advanced economy.

But before that,

Fernando tells me they inhabited
the caves in this jungle.

Did early Totonacas
encounter alien beings

and leave behind artifacts
depicting their experience?

♪♪

I got to be honest --

The artifacts
from Mark Russell

and the ones being found
by JAC Detector

don't resemble
known Totonacan art.

But it's possible

they were produced by an even
earlier, undiscovered culture.

What do they
think they are?

I mean, what do they think
that they found?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

BENITEZ: Well, he thinks that
looking into the history,

like our ancestors,
they used to offer --

always offer things
to the gods, offer things.

So, we believe
it's an offering.

Who are the gods
in this case?

Who are they making
the offerings to?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

WOLTER:
The treasure hunters tell me
the shocking story of the cave,

where they found
these artifacts.

According to local legend,

an alien ship crashed into
the cave thousands of years ago.

Totonacas discovered the ship

and worshipped
the otherworldly beings

that emerged from the cave
as gods,

carving stone relics

like the ones
the treasure hunters found

as tokens of respect.

Who have you shown
these artifacts to?

Any scientists
look at these yet?

No.
No?

No.
I'm the first?

Primero.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

BENITEZ:
They have invited

the National
Institute of Archaeology.

Oh, really? Okay.
But they denied to put
an eye on it.

Too controversial?
Too controversial.

I'm all about
studying these.

I have no problem
studying them.

But what would
really be important

is if you could take me
to these caves,

and if I could find
an artifact myself.

So, the cave is in
that direction --

two to three hours,
very difficult and dangerous.

Hmm.

Well, if you guys
can make it,

I can make it.

Lead the way.
Let's go.

Vamonos.
Okay, vamonos.

WOLTER: The jungles of Veracruz
are home to 100-foot-tall trees

fed by over
60 inches of rain annually.

There are rare Amazonian birds
living here

alongside more
dangerous predators.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Fernando,
what is this?

BENITEZ:
A print of a jaguar.
Of a jaguar?

A jaguar, yeah.

Muy grande.
[ Speaking Spanish ]

It's a big one.

Yeah.
It's big.

Probably a male...
Probably a male.

...because of the size.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

BENITEZ: They attack
as an ambush,

and their bite
is so strong,

it can even
break skulls.

A human skull?
A human skull.

So, he's going
this way?

We're expecting
he's going this way.

Okay.
Let's go this way.

Perfecto.

Let's be careful,
and let's open the eyes

in case
we see other ones.

I mean, how big
would that thing be?

Like...
Come on.
Like, big. You saw.

It's, like, probably
kind of the size of
your hand, I'd think.

WOLTER: A jaguar with a paw
the size of my hand?

Not something I want
to run into.

But the creatures out here
are amazing.

WOLTER: Beautiful.
BENITEZ:
It's really beautiful.

Yeah.

As beautiful as she is,
we got to keep rolling.

♪♪

♪♪

So, this is
the cave.

So, this is where legend says
a ship crashed, right?

Yes. Yes, yes.
Okay.

And you can see
it has kind of the shape.

Right, yeah. Well...

yeah, it kind of looks
like a spaceship.

But when
I look here

and I see the way
this is weathered out,

this is a perfect
habitation site

for ancient cultures.

Well, maybe we'll find
some evidence inside.

Let's go.
Let's go upstairs.

Okay.

♪♪

As I climb into the cave,

I come face-to-face
with something I didn't expect.

♪♪

Oh, my God.
Look at all this.

♪♪

WOLTER:
I'm in Veracruz, Mexico,

looking for
proof of contact

between a lost civilization
and alien beings.

And I'm wondering
if it's right in front of me.

Oh, my God.
Look at all this.

BENITEZ: Wow.

♪♪

This is
a figure here.

This is an eye.
This is a head.

Arm is like this,
and the body here.

Here's the nose here.
Yeah. Yeah.

This is a mouth.

The hand. Yep.
The hand.

And the foot's
over there.

Does that kind of look
like an alien?

Very clear, it looks like.
Totally.

What about those little holes
all around there?
Oh, yeah.

Now, these holes
over here...
Are those natural?

No, those definitely
aren't natural.

Let me -- Let me
show you something.
Okay.

So, you see
how these markings --

they're very shallow,
very sharp...

BENITEZ: Uh-huh.
...sharp grooves?

Even these have,
you know, great detail.

Right.

I don't like that.

I don't like
what I see here.

I've examined countless
ancient inscriptions,

and one thing
they all have in common

is their edges are worn down

by centuries of exposure
to the elements.

The edges of these carvings
look sharp and crisp,

which can be a telltale sign
they're not very old,

certainly not
thousands of years old

like Mark Russell's artifacts
appear to be,

if his C-14 test results
are correct.

I mean, I'm not liking that.
They look modern.

Okay.

There's more work
that I want to do.

I want to take a look
with the microscope,

but I also want to
talk to you privately.

Is there any way
you could ask them

to just be occupied
for a little bit,

maybe back up
a little bit?

Just so
you and I can...

For sure.
Okay?

Yeah, for sure.
Alright.

[ Benitez speaking Spanish ]

Muchas gracias.

WOLTER: These carvings
might be a modern hoax.

It doesn't happen often,

but sometimes people
fake archaeological discoveries

for attention or even profit.

I may have to ask the treasure
hunters some tough questions,

but first, I need
to take a closer look

for evidence
of modern manufacture.

So, you see the groove
right here?
Right.

You can see the organic
material here on the sides.

We got this
green mold,

but it's not
in the grooves here.

I don't see anything.
Do you?

Nothing.

WOLTER: This is
on the outside,

but in the groove,
I see nothing.

And that means that...

It's not old.
...it's not old.

Yeah.
At least, that's my opinion.

If these carvings
were authentic,

I would expect to see
the same organic material

growing outside
of the carved lines

inside the carved lines,
but I don't.

These things --

I don't even think
they're 100 years old.

BENITEZ:
Oh, that fresh?
Yeah.

Not even
100 years old?

Not this stuff.

Should we see what else
they have to show us?

Yeah, definitely.

I'm not letting those
modern carvings discourage me.

Even if they are a hoax,
that doesn't mean

the rest of what the
JAC Detectors want to show me

isn't real.

The evidence I'm looking for
could be just around the corner.

♪♪

Okay.

This is pretty,
pretty tight.

[ Grunts ]

♪♪

Ah. Alright.

So, here's
a carving right here.

[ Benitez
speaking Spanish ]

This is the one
he wanted to show us.

Well, there's
a figure here,

and it's got a face.

It's got a body.

Does this look alien
to you?

Well, to me,
they do look like aliens.

Oh, yeah.
It's very clear.

And it's got a spiral-like
pattern on the chest,

and it's got,
like, a big --

Oh, those are arms?
Those are arms.

Yeah,
they're raising up,

and then he's got something
in his right hand,

almost like a sun.

Oh, look, and there's
another one here...

Oh, there is
another one.
...quite similar,

with the same
spiral on his chest.

And his same
arms going up.

Do you see the --

It's like a -- like a ball
with rays coming out.

Exactly.

And this has the same
sort of a spiral symbol.

As I look
at these carvings,

they don't look Mayan,

they don't look Olmec,
Toltec, Aztec.

They don't look like
anything I've ever seen.

Is it possible

that they actually
predate those cultures?

I'm skeptical of that.

WOLTER: The only way to answer
that question is with science,

and I have an idea for a test

that I think will tell me
what I need to know.

Did the artifacts
that we look at,

did they come from
this cave?

Yes.
Okay.

Oh, way up there?

That was the area
where they found them.

So, they came
from up there?

Way up in there.

You know what
I would like to do,

is I want to
take a sample

of some of the dirt
around here,

where you
found these artifacts.

I have a reason
for wanting to do that.

I think the dirt in this cave
might tell me

just how old the artifacts
the treasure hunters showed me

really are,

but I won't know for sure
until we get back to base camp.

If the artifacts were really
left deep in this crevice,

the same dirt should be on the
artifacts as I'm finding here.

That sample's collected.

The treasure hunters tell me

they have searched
every square inch of this cave

for artifacts,

and they think they've found
all it has to offer.

But they reveal there's another
cave deeper in the jungle

they haven't yet searched.

That's music to my ears.

An unexplored cave means
it hasn't been tampered with,

and any discoveries
we make there

have a higher chance
of being authentic.

Guys, this is --

looks like
an interesting area, okay?

Let's fan out and
check every hole you can --

every crevice --

with your
flashlight, okay?

But if you find something,
don't touch it, okay?

Call me over.
We'll collect it properly.

Alright.
Let's go.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

♪♪

♪♪

Did you find something?
Do you see something?

Hey, Fernando.
BENITEZ: Yeah?

[ Conversing in Spanish ]

♪♪

Look at this.
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I see.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Conversing in Spanish ]

You see that?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Hey, guys.
This looks man-made.

♪♪

♪♪

Hey, guys.
This looks man-made.

WOLTER: If this object
is man-made, that's huge.

It could be evidence

that this cave was used
as a domicile by ancient people,

and there may be
more relics nearby.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

You got something?

Si.

♪♪

Alright, guys,
what do you got?

Let's see it.

Oh, those
are scratches.

BENITEZ: Looks like
some marks there.

That's what they found.

Man-made for sure.

Oh, yeah.
Look here.

Actually, these carvings
do look very similar

in the sort of squares.

They look a lot like
what we saw in the
previous cave, right?

Yes, pretty much.

♪♪

Yeah, this is
like a bowl.

So you think this bowl
was man-made as well?

Hard to tell,
but, you know,

they seem to have
pulled back here.

They may have created
that bowl intentionally.

These carvings
are very interesting.

I'm not really sure what culture
could have made them.

Could they be Mayan or Olmec?
I don't know.

I don't know
if they're that old,

but they've been here
a while.

These are
more convincing to me

than the ones
we saw before.
Okay.

These could be 100 years
or 1,000 years.

I don't know.

But we see nothing

in the way of artifacts
like you guys found, right?

Not yet.

We should probably
sift that whole thing.

♪♪

Maybe there's
an artifact here.

Alright.

That looks like rock.

What about that one?
Yeah.

This one here?

I think that's rock.

I think that's rock.

Oh, that's pottery.
See the curve?

See how it's curved?

Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you can actually see
the firing difference --

the color change.
Okay.

That's
definitely pottery.
Wow.

So, this is
a habitation site.

There were people here.

These carvings
and this bowl here,

this reminds me
of a site

that was used
for ritual purposes.
Okay.

So, maybe
the ceramic --

something was
put in a vessel,

placed in here.
Okay.

But I think our work
is done here.

But we've
got some pottery.

We've got some
amazing carvings here,

which are great.

And most importantly,
we have an artifact.

So, let's go back
to base camp.

We'll take a look
at everything

and see what we have.

♪♪

WOLTER: Looking closely
at what we found,

I definitely have something
to say to the JAC Detectors.

Well, first of all,
I just want to say

it was a really good effort
out in the field today.

You did a great job.

I'm real happy
with the way it went.

The pottery.

This pottery is
definitely man-made, okay?

I cannot tell you
the culture that made these.

An archaeologist
must do it.

I don't know if it helps us
that much, either,

but it's interesting,
for sure.

The carvings
at the second site

looked really good to me,

definitely
man-made carvings.

I just don't know
how old.

Could it go back
to an ancient culture?

Not sure,
probably not,

but definitely man-made,
definitely interesting.

This artifact that
we pulled out of the cave

has what appear to be
man-made lines here,

but I don't think
it's at all related to these.

Unfortunately, there's
no organic material

that we can
pull out to date,

but it's interesting,
for sure.

Okay. Now, the carvings
in the first cave --

I have to say,
I'm not very impressed.

I can't say with total certainty
how old they are,

but they don't seem
old to me,

and they seem
a little contrived.

♪♪

While Fernando explains
how skeptical I am

that this is ancient or
proof of ancient alien contact,

the treasure hunters look
surprised and disappointed,

but they want the truth, and
I'm going to give it to them.

Remember this sediment

you said came from
those three recesses?

I collected this
to show you.

If you look, that's not
the same sand, right?

Mm-hmm.

I mean, if this was found
in that site,

this would
look like this.

It doesn't.

So, this doesn't appear to
have come from this site,

or this was from a different
site and put in there.

But these definitely
do not match.

Alright?
Okay.

Here's where it
gets interesting.

Especially
on this artifact,

when I look close
at the carvings,

I see things
that bother me.

I'm gonna show you.

I'm gonna take a close-up
of this area right here.

I'll just
snap a picture.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Okay.
Let's take a look.

So, this is that area
on that artifact,

but when
we blow it up...

and look,
do you see these lines?

You can see
those scratches are parallel

all the way across.

Looks like
it's been machined,

like a Dremel tool
going all the way across.

Everything is uniform.

An old carving
shouldn't have that.

WOLTER:
The parallel lines in this
carving are a dead giveaway

that this was carved
by the spinning head

of a modern rotary tool.

If it had been carved by hand
in the ancient past,

there would be noticeable
imperfections in the work,

but there aren't.

[ Speaking Spanish ]
You see it?

Something done by hand
wouldn't look like that.

I think these were made
in recent times,

and here's
the final clue.

Okay?

You want to look
at this piece like this,

but when you
turn it like this,

here's what I see --

U-F-O.

Do you see it?
Mm-hmm.

Now, this may be
a coincidence,

but maybe not.

I'm going with
maybe not.

To me, I see evidence
of modern manufacture,

so maybe people
in the last 50 to 100 years

made these and brought them
as offerings.

That's possible,

but these things are not
thousands of years old.

I'm convinced of that.

I was hoping
to come here

to find evidence
of some ancient culture

going back
many thousands of years,

but unfortunately,
we didn't find it.

If this is
a folly or a joke,

I don't think
you guys did it.

I think you found
somebody else's joke,

unless there's something
you haven't told me yet.

WOLTER:
Here's my conclusion.

To me, I see evidence
of modern manufacture.

These things are not
thousands of years old.

I'm convinced of that.

And if this is
a folly or a joke,

I don't think
you guys did it.

I think you found
somebody else's joke,

unless there's something
you haven't told me yet.

[ Speaking Spanish ]

Gracias, Scott.

BENITEZ: They really appreciate
all of this, you know,

because this is
what they wanted.

They wanted to know,
"What was this?"

and they appreciate
that you came

and that you gave
them an answer.

You're welcome.
My pleasure, guys.

Even though
I didn't have any luck

finding an authentic
alien artifact in Veracruz,

I'm still looking forward

to seeing the results
of the C-14 sample

I took from
Mark Russell's artifact.

If my sample comes back with
the same results as his test,

it could mean he's the owner
of a 7,000-year-old artifact

that will shatter
the archaeological record,

and it might even prove
that aliens exist.

♪♪

In the meantime,

I'm traveling back home
to show Mark's artifacts

to an expert
in Mesoamerican cultures

named Ed Barnhart

to see if he can shed some light
on who might have made them.

Here's the first one.

Well...definitely see
the resemblance

to movie-style aliens.

Yeah.
Odd,
leaf-shaped eyes.

I don't know.

There's really
not a lot

that I could identify
as Mesoamerican.

Take a look at that.

[ Laughs ]

Well, if there's anything
that's consistent

in Mesoamerican art,
it's their love of symmetry.

Symmetry is definitely
not something this artifact has.

This has such an interesting,
organic look to it

that I can't imagine any Maya
doing something like that.

Alright. Well,
let's try one more here.

This is
pretty interesting.

There's something
a little different on here.

If you look
at the face,

there's some
interesting script.

One thing that stands out
right off the bat

is that people in Mesoamerica
tend to write from up to down

and in either
pairs or columns.

But this doesn't have
any column order.

Instead, it has more of a
right-to-left writing.

Swing and a miss, huh?
Alright.
[ Laughs ]

Well, Ed, I'd like
to show you a picture,

if you don't mind.

This is more
three-dimensional.

It actually comes off
the surface of the piece,

but this is
an inset piece,

and there's actually
glue along here.

This glue
is organic-based.

Really?
Yes.

I showed Dr. Barnhart
the results of the C-14 test

Mark Russell performed
on this tablet,

and he's just as shocked
by the date of 7500 BC as I was.

Whoa.
That's incredibly old.

That's -- That's reaching right
back into Paleolithic times.

That's amazing.

The organic material
should not survive that long.

There's not even a hint

of any kind of organized society
at that point.

Is it possible maybe
this is a culture

that we really
don't know much about?

That is
entirely possible.

I think that especially out
in Western and Central Mexico,

we have
a lack of archaeology.

These dates --

is there any way they could be
faked in your mind?

I mean, it's within
the realm of possibility.

You could take
some very old material

and put it
in the binder

if you were determined
to create a false artifact

and trick a test
like this,

but you'd have to know
it was that old.

You'd probably have
to get an archaeologist

who had already found
a site that old

that knew how to get
access to that material.

Do you think an archaeologist
would do that?

Certainly,
I wouldn't.

Now, I remind you that
you've got one date here,

and at the moment,
I call it an anomaly.

This is not a pattern.

You need to find a pattern
if you're going to prove this.

Absolutely, and that's why we've
taken some samples

from this piece,

and I've sent them off
for C-14 testing,

and I can't wait
to get the results back.

It should happen anytime.

I never stop being amazed

at the rich, cultural history
of Mesoamerica.

That's why it's so critical

I verify the results
of Mark Russell's C-14 test.

If the artifact he showed me
is truly 9,000 years old,

it will represent
a new unwritten chapter

in Mesoamerican history,

and that's not a book we can
rewrite without ample proof.

So, I need to be sure.

That's why I wanted to repeat
the C-14 dating of his artifact,

and today, I finally get
the results of my test back.

[ Laughs ]

Hey, Scott.

Mark, how you doing?
Good to see you, pal.

I had a very interesting time
with the JAC Detectors.

I did go in the caves,
I saw the carvings,

and I saw
their artifacts,

and I have to say,

I really wasn't
very impressed.

I don't know
how old these are.

All I know is, is that
in my opinion,

they're not old.

The other thing
that I did recently

was I talked
to a Mayan expert,

and I showed him
some of the artifacts

that I got from you,

and he said these things
don't look like anything

that came out of the known
cultures that he's studied.

And that might not be
a bad thing

because these had to have
come from a culture

that existed prior to...

A time before.

...the Olmecs, the Mayans,
the Toltecs.

So, that's
where we're at.

And you might recall
that we collected a sample,

sent it off...

...and here are
the test results.
Hmm.

The initial test result

that you got from
the University of Arizona

was about 7500 BCE.

If these results are even close
to what you got,

I mean,
this will completely

blow up the historical
narrative of North America

as we know it today.

Are you ready to
take a look?

Yes.

♪♪

Okay, Mark.
Okay.

Here we go.

You ready for this?
Okay.

♪♪

You ready for this?
Okay.

9240 years BP --

before present.

That's fantastic.

9,500 years ago
from today.

Read this and make sure
I'm not mistaken.

[ Exhales sharply ]

Is that what it says?
That's what it says.

9240,
plus or minus 30 BP.

Before present.

That's almost exactly
what you got before.
Yeah.

Do you know
what this means?

That means
history's changed.

I mean,
this is just crazy.

Ah.
Hold on a sec here.

Let's go look at this piece
for a second over here.

Take a look at this.

Okay, this is where you guys
took your sample, right?
Right.

Okay,
around the eye,

and I took mine
under the mouth here,

and we got virtually
the same results.

9,500 years ago.

So, you know
what that means?

You have an incredible
artifact here,

or somebody
had to fake this.

The only way something
like this could be faked

is if an archaeologist
went to a known site,

collected 9,500-year-old
material,

created an adhesive,

and then
created the artifact.

Off the top of my head,

I'm not even sure what sites
you could go to

that would have
that kind of material,

and would an archaeologist
do that?

I don't -- I just
can't imagine it.

And if they're genuine,
it changes the timeline.

[ Chuckles ]
It changes everything.

I'm glad you brought up
the timeline.

Let's put this
into perspective.

WOLTER: If this artifact
truly dates to 7200 BCE,

it predates the Inca,
the Maya, the Olmec,

any Mesoamerican culture
by 5,000 years or more.

Whatever culture
created this

existed at the dawn
of the Archaic period.

Archaeologists believe there
were primarily hunter-gatherers

around at that time,

but clearly, this artifact
is more advanced than that.

Archaeologists are gonna
put these artifacts

into the Archaic period.

I think they're gonna have
to rename that period

because there's nothing
archaic about these artifacts.

Clearly these people
are advanced.

Look at the
beautiful artwork.

We've got these
strange symbols

that we don't even know
what they are.

I mean, this is a high
advanced culture.

And let me ask you this.

Is what we're seeing
depicted here

contact between these
ancient cultures and aliens?

Yes.

To me,
there's no doubt.

You don't have
any doubt, do you?
No.

But you realize as amazing
as these results are,

people aren't
gonna believe it.
No.

They're gonna say,
"This is impossible."

This is
just the beginning.

We have a lot more
work to do.

As excited as I am,

I still have a lot
of investigating to do

before I can be 100% certain

Mark's artifact is authentic.

As I've said before, this is
an extraordinary claim,

so it needs extraordinary proof.

But for now,
I can't help but wonder --

Maybe the truth isn't out there
after all.

Maybe it's right here
in front of me.

If you have a mysterious
artifact or site I need to see,

I want to know about it.

Go to travelchannel.com/
americaunearthed.