All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S21E15.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR:
An ancient land known
for unusual phenomena.

LYNN PICKNETT:
From fairies

to weird little creatures

to UFOs,

you name it, England has it.

NARRATOR:
A modern-day hot spot
for UFO activity.

WILLIAM HENRY:
The Ministry of Defence
and the Royal Air Force

are intently collecting data
about strange phenomena.

NARRATOR:
A royal family obsessed
with the unexplained.

GIORGIO TSOUKALOS:
For generations,

that family has had
a high interest in UFOs.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that,
throughout history,

the island of Great Britain

has been a destination
for extraterrestrial visitors?

NICK POPE:
The U.K. is ground zero

for an awful lot
of alien activity.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Over the course of a week,

large unidentified drones
are sighted

and recorded on smartphones at
multiple sites in Great Britain.

Curiously, the incidents all
occur at U.S. military bases.

HENRY: From November 20
through 26, 2024,

a series of unauthorized
drone activities

took place over four U.S.
Air Force bases in the U.K.

These bases are critical to U.S.
military operations in Europe.

And some of the drones
look more like orbs.

POPE:
Now, some of these...

drones or UFOs

or orbs or whatever we want
to call them

were doing strange maneuvers.

And some people thought, "Could
this be extraterrestrials?"

The U.K. Ministry of Defence,
of course,

says there's nothing
to see here.

But they did not find
a definitive explanation.

NARRATOR:
Great Britain
is considered to be one

of the most active
UFO hot spots on Earth,

but government officials
have long insisted

that they are not concerned
about the reports

of strange activity in the sky.

However, ufologists suggest

the British government's
own files

tell a very different story,

one that came to light in 2008,

when the Ministry of Defence
suddenly released its UFO files.

The treasure trove of documents

revealed
that the British government

was far more interested in UFOs
than it was letting on.

The MoD released
60,000 files on the subject.

Which basically backs up
the assertion over the years

that they've been researching

all sorts
of anomalous phenomena.

HENRY:
The Ministry of Defence and
the RAF, the Royal Air Force,

are intently collecting data
about UFOs.

In fact, RAF personnel
are directly involved.

Pilots, radar operators
are sent out

to investigate these sightings,

and it's very clear
that the Ministry of Defence

had taken UFOs very seriously
this whole time.

NARRATOR:
Today, the British
Ministry of Defence

has files on military personnel
encountering UFOs

going back
more than eight decades.

And much like
the 2024 drone sightings,

the most famous occurred
at a Royal Air Force base

where American soldiers
were stationed.

(birds chirping)

-(owl hooting)
-Shortly after midnight,

military personnel
at RAF Woodbridge,

80 miles northeast of London,

detect an anomalous object
on their radar.

It was seen
above the nearby forest

of this air base
at Woodbridge in Suffolk.

And airmen were sent out
in a vehicle to investigate,

and they came across
this clearing

in which was this otherworldly
object surrounded with light.

This object rose up slightly

and then moved backwards
and disappeared.

-(indistinct transmission)
-And then,
over the next few nights,

-more and more sightings
occurred.
-(beeping)

This was an amazing sighting

because, of course, it was
witnessed by the military.

-(indistinct transmission)
-There are probably
several hundred people

who are either direct witnesses
to the UFO

or were involved
in a more peripheral sense.

GRAHAM PHILLIPS:
The whole episode
was written up and recorded

by the deputy base commander,

Lieutenant Colonel Halt.

Now, that's very unusual.

NARRATOR:
The Rendlesham Forest incident

is one of the most discussed
UFO events on record.

But it is only one of many
that have been reported

near British military bases.

In fact,
two other extraordinary events

were witnessed from a base
just three miles

-from Rendlesham.
-(crickets chirping)

On August 13, 1956,

British Royal Air Force officers
stationed at RAF Bentwaters

detected 15 unidentified flying
objects on their radar screen

racing along the coastline.

POPE:
Military jets were scrambled to
try and intercept these things.

At one point, one
of the objects was recorded

at speeds
of around 4,000 miles an hour.

That was way faster than
anything anyone had at the time.

And reliable witnesses,
the pilots,

see them. They're
simultaneously tracked on radar.

At one point, these things
are going in formation,

and then they appear to converge
and form a single object.

NARRATOR:
Just one month later,
the Royal Air Force

tracked another
mysterious object on radar

-in the same area.
-(beeping)

On September 22, 1956,

radar operators at an RAF base

picked up an 80-foot
cylindrical object.

They scrambled jets
to go investigate it.

When the jets arrived,
the object accelerated

at extreme speeds out of sight.

POPE:
This is just the tip
of the iceberg.

You can dip
into the archive of files,

and there's report
after report after report.

NARRATOR:
If the British military

has witnessed
so many unexplainable events,

why has the government
always professed

to have no interest in UFOs?

Ufologists say the answer
can be found by examining

the earliest British military
encounters on record,

which were reported
during World War II.

The crew of a Lancaster Bomber
based at RAF Syerston

reportedly sees a massive,
torpedo-shaped object

during a bombing mission.

DAVID CLARKE:
They were on a bombing raid
on Turin in Italy,

and they saw what they described
as an enormous object.

And it was surrounded
by red lights.

It was about 200 feet
in diameter.

And it seemed
to sort of follow the aircraft.

And they saw it again
after the bombing raid.

NARRATOR:
Files released after the war

indicate
that the Ministry of Defence

received numerous reports
of mysterious flying objects...

...including one witnessed by an
RAF reconnaissance plane in 1944

that allegedly included
photographs.

HENRY:
The pilot and the copilot see

this mysterious metallic object

that seems to be pacing
their aircraft.

It's spherical. It's smooth.

It has no wings.

There is no obvious mechanism

for it to be moving
through the air.

And they take
a photograph of it.

When they get back to the base,

this photograph makes its way up
to the channels

of the Ministry of Defence

all the way to the desk
of Winston Churchill.

ZETTERSTROM:
Files released show
that Prime Minister Churchill

was being briefed on these
encounters during World War II.

He was worried
that any release of information

would lead to mass hysteria,
public panic.

So he covered up every
UFO sighting that happened.

He put a blanket secrecy ban

on reporting on UFOs
for 50 years.

NARRATOR:
While Winston Churchill

wanted to hide UFO sightings
from the public,

he also felt it was important
to study them

and initiated government-funded
projects to do just that.

HENRY:
During the 1950s,
while the British public

is told
"there's nothing to see here,"

the RAF and the Ministry
of Defence

are taking proactive action.

They create the Flying Saucer
Working Party

to document these sightings.

This is immediately followed
by a more serious investigation,

which lasted until 1953,

which also was documenting
these sightings.

DAVID CHILDRESS:
This implies
that the British government

was taking UFO activity
very seriously.

They were studying it,

and they were keeping
what they knew about it secret.

NARRATOR:
While many ufologists suspect

the British government
is still keeping secret

their most explosive UFO files,

civilian research groups
have investigated

thousands
of unexplained incidents.

And some of the most intriguing
occurred in a single town

over the course of a decade.

(crickets chirping)

NARRATOR:
Local resident Mildred Head
is startled awake

by an unnerving noise
coming from above her bedroom.

(banging)

At first, it resembles
tree branches

brushing against the roof tiles,

but it quickly grows
more violent.

It sounded like thousands
upon thousands of tiles

being ripped off
and then thrown back on.

Utterly terrifying.

And, also, there was a vibration
going through the house.

CHILDRESS:
It was like her house
was being pelted

by hailstones or something.

But when she looked outside,
it was a...

you know, a clear sky.

NARRATOR:
The only explanation
Mildred could come up with

for the frightening event

was that the noise
may have been the result

of military testing at
a nearby Royal Air Force base.

That is,
until her neighbor Marjorie Bye

had a strange experience
of her own.

POPE:
The very next day,

Marjorie Bye was going to church

when she was assaulted by
a-a series of strange vibrations

that she felt reverberating
through her body.

And shortly afterwards,

dozens of other witnesses

in and around Warminster
reported the same thing.

It was as if some unseen force

was just taking hold
of people and shaking them.

TSOUKALOS:
Residents of Warminster
reported hearing

humming or droning noises.

They heard whistling sounds.

They saw lights up
in the sky, UFOs.

NARRATOR:
Unable to explain
what they were experiencing,

more than 300 residents
assembled a town hall meeting

demanding answers.

The most disturbing factor
is that many of our townspeople

have been frightened
by unusual sounds.

If tonight we can contribute
something constructive

to the explanation
of these phenomena,

it might be able
to assure these people

you have nothing
to be alarmed about.

NARRATOR:
At a loss for what to call
the various phenomena,

they simply referred to them
collectively as "the Thing."

Eventually, the national papers
took an interest.

People started flocking
to Warminster,

and they would do
nightly sky watches.

And very often, they would see

these mysterious lights
in the sky.

NARRATOR:
Finally, in September 1965,

residents got their best glimpse
of the mysterious Thing.

CLARKE:
There was a classic photograph
of a disc-shaped object

that was taken
by Gordon Faulkner.

And the Daily Mirror immediately
put it on the front page.

Big splash.

And from that point onwards,

Warminster became the place
to go and see flying saucers.

It was the first sort of UFO
hot spot in the British Isles.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that the frightening vibrations,

strange sounds, and unusual
lights experienced in Warminster

were caused
by an extraterrestrial presence?

Some researchers believe

further clues were provided
roughly a decade later

when a mountain village
to the north witnessed

what many suggest was
an otherworldly event.

Llandrillo, Wales.

January 23, 1974.

It's a quiet evening
in this rural community

when residents
are suddenly shaken

by an extraordinary event.

NICK REDFERN:
A number of people
in the area perceived

something anomalous
like a fleet of UFOs.

Now, at the same time that
these strange lights were seen,

whatever they were,

there was an impact
on the Berwyn Mountains.

NARRATOR:
According to residents,

the police and military

showed up just minutes
after the impact.

REDFERN:
We have stories of convoys of
military personnel in the area,

of roads being blocked off by
the military and by the police.

The most controversial story
of all

came from a British military
officer, James Prescott.

Now, according to Prescott,

the military recovered
the remains of a crashed UFO

and a number
of dead alien bodies.

NARRATOR:
Dead alien bodies?

Is it possible
that the impact in Llandrillo

was caused by
an extraterrestrial spacecraft?

And if so, does this lend
further support to the notion

that the strange phenomena

experienced in the nearby town
of Warminster

have an otherworldly
explanation?

As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

the answer is a resounding yes.

And they claim
another high-profile UFO event

provides compelling evidence
that this alien presence

was well-known
to the British government.

Two hikers are just outside

the small Scottish village
of Calvine

when they see something
unusual flying across the sky.

Amazed,
they quickly grab a camera

and snap several photographs
of the object.

HENRY:
This photograph
from the Calvine hills

in Scotland is crystal clear,

it's in color,

it shows this
just magical-looking,

100-foot-long
diamond-shaped craft

that is clear as a bell.

NARRATOR:
The two hikers
brought the photographs

to Scotland's largest newspaper,
the Daily Record,

so they could share
their sighting with the public.

LINDA MOULTON HOWE:
They had six photographs,

and they go
to the local newspaper

to have them published.

And for reasons that are
still not clear to this day,

this Scotland newspaper

calls the Ministry of Defence
in London,

and they are ordered to send
the photos and the negatives

from the newspaper
to somebody in the government.

NARRATOR:
Among the people
who saw the six photographs

was former Ministry of Defence
UFO Investigator Nick Pope,

who was present for classified
briefings regarding the images.

POPE:
The photographs
and the negatives

went to JARIC,

which is Joint Air
Reconnaissance

and Intelligence Center.

This is part
of the intelligence community

that specializes
in imagery analysis.

Their opinion was that
this was not a fake,

these were genuine pictures.

NARRATOR:
The sensational photographs
would remain hidden for decades,

until August 15, 2022,

when Newsweek magazine
published one of the photographs

with the headline,
"'Best' UFO Picture Ever,

the Calvine Photo,
Found After 30 Years Missing."

In 2022, a former
Royal Air Force press officer

named Craig Lindsay
actually came forward

and said that he had
in his possession

a copy of one
of the Calvine UFO photos,

and he decided he wanted
to release it to the public.

NARRATOR:
The Warminster Thing.

The Berwyn Mountains incident.

The Calvine UFO photo.

Is it possible
that otherworldly beings

are somehow attracted
to the British Isles?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining one area
of Great Britain

that experiences UFO sightings
on a near-daily basis.

NARRATOR:
This historic county

is the largest
in the United Kingdom.

Known for medieval abbeys,

Norman castles

and stunning national parks,

the vast landscape here
is also rich

with legends of strange beings,

bizarre lights in the sky

and even UFOs.

Yorkshire is in
Northern England,

and it's a county that is famous

for strange events
going back centuries.

Reports of little people,

mysterious lights up in the sky,

people seeing these strange,
werewolf-like figures,

Bigfoot-type creatures
that come and go.

It's a very strange place.

PHILLIPS:
There is ancient burial mound
in Yorkshire

called Willy Howe.

And back in the 1200s,

a man had been
walking home one night...

...and he saw lights
coming out of this mound.

And he went into the mound

where he saw strange beings.

Fairy folk, if you like.

He claimed to have
seen these inside the mound.

PICKNETT:
England has
a very rich tradition

of fairy folk, um, going back
into the mists of time.

And it's interesting, though,

that the way encounters
with these fairy folk,

or whatever we might call them,
the way they're expressed

is very, very similar
over the years

to descriptions
of encounters with aliens.

NARRATOR:
Reports of mysterious
phenomena in Yorkshire

are found throughout
the historical record,

from ancient times
right up until the present day.

In an effort
to better understand

what has been happening here,

private investigator
Paul Sinclair and his team

began researching and
surveilling the area in 2009.

I originally spent a lot of time

on the East and North
Yorkshire Wolds,

because farmers in the area

reported seeing
the anomalous lights,

the structured-type crafts.

But then I got speaking
to Coast Guard,

fishermen, trawlermen,
people walking the coastline,

and they started reporting
seeing strange anomalous lights,

UFOs, all manner of things.

Going back through the local
archives of the newspapers

reveals that lots and lots
of unexplained phenomena

have been seen
and are reported there.

Not just in recent times,

not just since
I've been researching it,

but going back
decades and decades,

there's a long history of
strange and anomalous phenomena.

Paul Sinclair has been
researching this area

for a very, very long time

and come up with
some remarkable video footage

of lights in the sky, UFOs

and everything else
you could think of.

NARRATOR:
Paul and his team set up cameras
around the cliff tops

along the North Sea
to try and document the objects

seen near the coastline.

During one night in 2020,

what they captured
was particularly intriguing.

It were just a typical night
by the team.

We go up there,
we set up cameras

and we hope that the phenomena
might present.

-SINCLAIR: There!
-And on this occasion, it did.

But these lights, very often,
they're a bright amber color.

Or red, or-or white, and, uh,

the white ones
that you can see in the film

were actually more
of an amber color.

But the lights
present as one light

that doesn't fly from anywhere,

and then it punches
into a multiple

of four, five and six,

switches off.

So, luckily, we managed to film
that little sequence of events

on "Lights Filmed Off Bempton,"

and it's quite exciting
when you do actually see

these unexplained phenomena.

NARRATOR:
Sinclair and his team

have not only captured
strange lights above the sea

but have also documented
orbs of light

submerged below
the surface of the water.

I was walking along
the cliff tops with my friend

and former police officer
Dave Barnes.

And Dave saw the object
rise out of the water.

Stopped momentarily and told me.

I had the camera in hand,
started filming,

I think,
soon as it started to move.

And the entire sequence
of events

lasted about 90 seconds.

So-- and we estimated the speed
to cover six miles in 90 seconds

was about 240 miles per hour.

Now it seems to turn in
and drop into the sea.

SINCLAIR: So we've got an object
that's gone below the surface,

risen from the sea,
traveled six miles

and then gone below the surface.

We have footage of objects

beneath the surface
of the water,

or luminous light
beneath the surface,

and we've no explanation
for that.

We've filmed that
on three occasions.

Paul Sinclair has got,
uh, videos of these UFOs

and lights, you know,
going into the water.

So that makes you wonder,

is there possibly
some underwater UFO base

in Yorkshire that has been there
for thousands of years?

NARRATOR:
Sinclair has catalogued
hundreds of video recordings

featuring similar anomalous
lights and craft in the area.

You have to wonder,
is there something at Yorkshire

or around Yorkshire
that is attracting

these sightings
and making it a hot spot?

Perhaps some kind of a portal

or a gateway that leads
to other locations in the stars.

NARRATOR:
What can account
for the abundance of strange

and perhaps
extraterrestrial activity

that has been reported in
Yorkshire going back centuries?

And is it possible
that there is a connection

to the region's
mysterious earthen mounds?

Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

that the answer can be found

in the ancient stone circles
of Britain.

NARRATOR:
England is home
to many iconic structures

that stand testament
to a once-great empire,

like Buckingham Palace,

Big Ben

and Windsor Castle.

But perhaps the most famous site
in all of Great Britain

is the ancient
megalithic stone circle

known as Stonehenge.

Constructed roughly
5,000 years ago,

the mysterious monument
consists of massive monoliths

that each weigh over 30 tons.

It's an astonishing feat
of engineering,

and exactly how it was built
remains unknown.

NEWMAN:
Stonehenge is unique,

it's perfectly circular,

it's designed with
precision-engineered carving

and astronomical alignments,

and it really stands out

as the kind of symbol
of ancient Britain.

NARRATOR: Stonehenge
is one of more than 1,300

ancient stone circles

that can be found
throughout the British Isles.

But why they were built
remains a mystery.

Some believe the stone circles

were meant to act as calendars
and track celestial events,

but some researchers suggest

they served a far more
profound purpose.

In 1979,
engineer Michael W. Saunders

proposed that Stonehenge
is a cosmic map

that is encoded with advanced
knowledge of our solar system.

TSOUKALOS:
With Stonehenge,
we have a representation

of our entire solar system.

Each circle corresponds
with one of our planets

inside our solar system.

In fact,
in the position of Pluto,

there is a stone monument there.

So, how is that possible?

The ancient astronaut theory
proposes

this knowledge was given
by visiting extraterrestrials

that descended from the sky
in glowing orbs at that time.

NARRATOR:
Do ancient stone circles
like Stonehenge

have a connection
to extraterrestrials?

Curiously, visitors
to these mysterious sites

often report encountering
otherworldly phenomena.

What we find is that
these prehistoric sites

seem to be located
where mysterious lights,

plasma orbs, UFOs,
are seen on a regular basis.

Not just in the modern day,
but historically, as well.

So, it seems very clear
that places like Stonehenge

were constructed
with this phenomena in mind.

In other words,
the ancients may well have built

these monuments
to actually connect

with this type of phenomena

and the intelligences
involved with them.

NARRATOR:
Could Great Britain's
many megalithic stone circles

be somehow facilitating contact
with otherworldly beings?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining
other mysterious circles,

the kind that suddenly appear
in fields overnight.

COLLINS:
Crop circles is a subject

that is very much
associated with Britain.

From the 1980s
through to the present day,

hundreds of them
appear across the country,

most of them focused in the area

around the stone circles
of Stonehenge and also Avebury.

But this is a historical
phenomenon as well.

There are accounts
from the 17th century

of the so-called
"devil circles" appearing.

RICHARD TAYLOR:
In terms of the patterns
themselves,

they've been undergoing
this amazing sort of ramp-up

in sophistication.

You can find these huge,
what they call pictographs,

that span hundreds of feet
across a whole field

and feature multiple components,

and they're arranged
with mathematical precision.

NARRATOR:
While some crop circles
are man-made,

many defy such
a simple explanation.

NARRATOR:
Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest that the phenomena

reported at stone circles,

along with modern
crop circle accounts,

provide evidence that Britain
has long been a place

of alien visitation.

TSOUKALOS:
The fact that you have
Stonehenge,

you have the Warminster Thing...

TSOUKALOS: ...you have the
events happening in Yorkshire,

to me, indicates
that something is going on,

and it's been going on
for thousands of years,

and our ancestors misinterpreted
these visitors as gods.

They were not gods,
they were just space travelers.

NARRATOR:
Are the many modern-day reports

of UFOs and other strange
anomalies in Great Britain

connected to alien contact

that first happened
thousands of years ago?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes,

and they believe
further evidence lies

within the historical records

of the royal family.

NARRATOR:
Thousands gather
outside Westminster Abbey

to receive their newly
crowned queen, Elizabeth I.

Queen Elizabeth's
monarchy will be

one of the most consequential
in England's history,

and mark the beginning
of the British Empire.

Throughout her reign,

she will rely heavily
on the counsel

of her trusted advisor
who chose this coronation date,

a famous astrologer
and alchemist named John Dee.

PHILLIPS:
John Dee told her
to build up the navy, she did.

He said that they should
start to expand

into North America,
which they did.

Basically, his advice
to Queen Elizabeth

began the British Empire.

Now, apparently,
the advice didn't come from him.

He said it came from "angels."

COLLINS:
John Dee would communicate
with angels

coming through
and delivering messages.

And not just simple messages
but a whole cipher system

of, like, this sort of angelic
alphabet was brought through.

CHILDRESS:
You have to wonder,
were these angels

perhaps extraterrestrials?

And these extraterrestrials
were encouraging Britain

to colonize the entire planet?

NARRATOR:
Could it be that John Dee

received guidance
from extraterrestrial beings

who were directing the course
of the British Empire?

For ancient astronaut theorists,
it is a compelling possibility,

especially when considering
that, throughout the history

of the British royal family,

numerous otherworldly encounters
were recorded,

like a curious entry found
in the 19th-century diary

of Prince Albert.

Prince Albert was the consort
of Queen Victoria,

probably one of the most famous
British queens of all time,

and he went on the record to say
that he had seen strange lights

dancing around in the skies.

We didn't have
the term "UFO" then,

but it's a UFO sighting.

This is UFOs
by royal appointment.

NARRATOR:
Prince Albert's grandson,
Prince George V,

also recorded a very
unusual sighting in the sky.

POPE:
On June 11, 1881,

Prince George, who would later
become King George V,

saw a UFO
from a Royal Navy ship,

and he actually recorded this
in the ship's log.

Two other vessels
also witnessed this,

and signaled across, you know,

"C-Can you see
these lights as well?"

So, this was seen
from multiple angles,

and it was there for some hours
and then, eventually,

it disappeared.

NARRATOR:
The accounts of Prince Albert
and Prince George V

are just two
of many strange encounters

associated with members
of the British monarchy.

And the royal family has
maintained an interest in UFOs

and the unexplained
right up to the present day.

When Prince Philip, the husband
of Queen Elizabeth II,

passed away in 2021,

it came to light that he had
a lifelong fascination

with otherworldly phenomena.

POPE:
Prince Philip was
extremely interested in UFOs,

clearly believed in them.

He actually sent his royal
equerry, Sir Peter Horsley,

to interview a number
of UFO witnesses.

NARRATOR:
Why has the royal family

maintained
such a strong interest

in potentially
extraterrestrial phenomena

for so many generations?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

one of the British monarchy's
most mysterious traditions.

May 6, 2023.

Thousands of people
line the streets of London

to watch as King Charles III

travels to Westminster Abbey
for his coronation.

The private ceremony
is rich with ancient traditions

dating back thousands of years,

and involves mysterious relics,
like the Stone of Destiny,

believed to connect the new king

to his divinely granted
authority.

PICKNETT:
King Charles III was crowned

sitting on a throne
that incorporated

the Stone of Destiny,
or the Stone of Scone,

which is a very
ancient tradition,

and all British monarchs

have been crowned
sitting on-on that.

Now, there are all sorts
of incredible,

mysterious, romantic rumors

about where the Stone of Scone
comes from.

COLLINS:
According to some accounts,

it had been brought
from the Middle East,

and was originally
the stone pillow

that the biblical figure Jacob

had actually rested his head on
and fallen asleep

and seen the angels

moving between Earth
and heaven on a ladder.

TSOUKALOS:
What is this connection here?

Is it possible that this stone

was part of an event
long, long ago

where a first contact scenario
happened with extraterrestrials,

and this is why this stone
retains such power?

And by power, I don't mean

that the stone itself
is powerful

The story behind it is powerful.

NARRATOR:
Could it be
that this ancient stone

that has been used
in coronation ceremonies

for hundreds of years

symbolizes a connection
between the British royal family

and otherworldly beings?

And if so, might the rise
of the British Empire

have been part
of an alien agenda?

NARRATOR:
Today, the United Kingdom

controls 14 small
overseas territories,

in places like Bermuda
and Antarctica.

But Great Britain
was once the center

of history's largest empire.

POPE:
The British Empire
was one of the greatest,

perhaps the greatest empire
the world has ever seen.

The map was largely colored red
with all our colonies.

HENRY:
By the 19th century,

the British Empire was so vast

and covered so many time zones

that it was
always daylight somewhere.

This gave rise
to this famous saying,

"The sun never sets
on the British Empire."

NARRATOR:
At its height in the 1920s,

the British Empire
ruled over 400 million people

and had territories
in 24% of the world.

Its global reach was unlike
anything that had come before.

But the heart
of this vast empire,

the island of Great Britain,

shares at least
one thing in common

with the power centers
of the ancient world:

an unusually high number
of encounters with UFOs

and other strange phenomena.

It's interesting
that when we look back

at the world's
greatest empires--

the Egyptians, the Greeks
and the Romans--

these were places where there
were records of encounters

with otherworldly beings
and supernatural energies.

And this is true
of Great Britain as well.

Maybe it's just my bias,
because I'm English,

but it does seem to be
a particular hot spot

for all manner
of anomalous phenomena

from fairies to ghosts

to aliens to UFOs.

You name it, England has it.

NARRATOR:
Could it be more
than mere coincidence

that this island that is home
to so many mysteries

gave rise to an empire
that spanned the globe?

Human history is about

the rise and fall of empires,

beginning with the Sumerian,
the Mesopotamian empire,

running through Egypt,

Greece,

the Roman Empire,

all the way up
to the British Empire.

And in all of these instances,

you find a remarkable,
consistent fact:

these empires were influenced
by extraterrestrials

who had a hand
in the rise of the empire

and the stability of the empire.

POPE:
What interest could aliens have

in establishing
the British empire?

It comes back to the point
that extraterrestrials

seem interested
in human society.

Look at all the UFO hot spots,

all the classic encounters,
and so many of them

revolve around
ancient civilizations.

Not necessarily individuals,
but civilizations.

As if extraterrestrials
have an agenda.

TSOUKALOS:
So, what is
the underlying connection here?

Your guess is as good as mine.

But we definitely know

that this contact is not new.

And in the case of Britain,

it's been going on
not for hundreds of years

but for thousands of years.

NARRATOR:
Does Great Britain's
rich history

of unexplained phenomena

reveal that it has long been
a place of significance

for otherworldly visitors?

Could it be that,
thousands of years ago,

Britain's ancient stone circles
were built to mark sites

of contact
with extraterrestrials?

And might this interaction
be continuing to this very day?

Perhaps this island
of ancient mysteries

and modern UFO activity

will be the place
where we will one day

be reunited
with our alien ancestors.

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