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Narrator: Five US navy bombers mysteriously disappear

Narrator: Five US navy bombers mysteriously disappear,

while flying over the Bermuda Triangle.

Adam Bunch: The plan seemed pretty straightforward:

a familiar route flown countless times by other squadrons,

and should've been routine.

James Ellis: How does an entire squadron,

followed closely by its rescuers, simply disappear?

Narrator: The tomb of Egypt's notorious Queen Cleopatra,

is lost to the sands of time.

Anthea Nardi: Cleopatra was Egypt's last pharaoh;

maybe the world's first celebrity;

and maybe the greatest queen the world's ever known.

Adam Bunch: Where is Cleopatra's lost tomb?

Narrator: The vast treasures of the Knights Templar

vanish without a trace.

Alison Leonard: On the 13th of October, 1307,

more than 600 Templars were swept up,

and interrogated under torture,

which many of them didn't survive.

James Ellis: Once the Knights were all dead or gone,

very little of their gold turned up, and it still hasn't.

So what happened to the treasures

of the Knights Templar?

♪ (show theme music) ♪

Narrator: The chain of history has many missing links.

Prominent people.

Priceless treasures.

Extraordinary artifacts.

Their locations still unknown...

Lost to the fog of time.

What happens when stories of the past...

become...

Vanished History?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: On December 5, 1945,

five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers

roared off the runway

at Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale.

Under the command of Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor,

the squadron embarked on a routine training mission.

But what began as a simple operation,

would end as one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

Adam Bunch: The plan seemed straightforward:

head east to Hen and Chicken Shoals for bombing practice,

then north over Grand Bahama Island,

and finally southwest back to Florida.

It was a familiar route

from countless times by other squadrons,

and it should have been routine.

A. Leonard: Lieutenant Taylor had more than 2,500 flight hours

and years of experience under his belt,

including extensive combat experience

in the Pacific Theater.

He was the kind of leader you'd trust in any situation.

But even the most seasoned pilots can find themselves

overwhelmed by unpredictable factors,

especially in the treacherous conditions of the Atlantic.

James Ellis: As daylight faded, the radio transmissions

from Flight 19 grew increasingly troubling,

until their final message dissolved into a buzz of static.

(radio static sounds)

By nightfall, all five planes and their 14 crew members

had vanished without a trace.

Along with the twin engine PBM Mariner rescue craft

that had been sent to find them, which carried 13 more men.

So how does an entire squadron,

followed closely by its rescuers, simply disappear?

Narrator: By nightfall, all five planes

and their 14 crew members had vanished without a trace,

along with the twin-engine PBM Mariner Rescue craft

that had been sent to find them,

which carried 13 more men.

The disappearance of Flight 19 wasn't an isolated event.

In the infamous waters of the Bermuda Triangle,

unexplained phenomena and human error,

have long converged,

sparking endless debate about the balance

between mystery and misstep.

Amma Agbedor: Flight 19 solidified

the Bermuda Triangle's reputation

as a place where reality and the unexplained collide.

Over the years, it's become one of the defining stories

behind the speculation surrounding this area,

linked to strange occurrences, navigational errors,

and the disappearances of ships and planes.

Adam Bunch: The pilots knew their aircraft and the region.

Nearly every Avenger had a crew of three Marines

or Navy personnel.

Only one of them had two crew members,

and even the trainees had already logged about

300 flight hours each.

Their flight leader Taylor, had 2,500.

James Ellis: Weather conditions at the start were ideal,

clear skies and calm seas.

Flight 19 took off just after 2 PM,

about 25 minutes behind schedule.

But by 3 PM, they had completed their torpedo runs

at Hen and Chicken Shoals without incident.

Everything seemed to be progressing as planned,

and they were on course to return to Fort Lauderdale

by 5:30 PM.

Narrator: As the squadron prepared to shift

to their next leg, unforeseen challenges began to take hold.

Amma Agbedor: At around 3:45 PM,

a flight instructor picked up a transmission from Flight 19:

it was clear they were lost.

They believed they had veered over the Florida Keys

and into the Gulf of Mexico,

despite being far north, near the Bahamas.

As a result of this misjudgment,

Taylor ordered the squadron northeast,

into the open Atlantic,

putting the flight up to 200 miles off course

and deeper into danger.

Adam Bunch: Over the next two hours,

Flight 19 kept changing direction.

They were desperately searching for home.

More than 20 ground stations scrambled to track them,

but for ages nothing showed up.

Even their IFF transmitter's identification friend or foe,

which should have made them visible,

didn't register or weren't turned on,

so the squadron was completely off grid.

Alison Leonard: By 6 PM, signal antennas

finally located Flight 19,

approximately 75 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale,

showing just how far off course they had flown.

With barely an hour of fuel left,

their chances of survival were fading fast.

In Taylor's final transmission,

just 30 minutes later, the garbled, fading voices

painted a haunting picture of their flight,

lost, out of time, and powerless.

James Ellis: Over the next five days, the Coast Guard

and Navy combed more than 250,000 square miles

of the Atlantic and Gulf.

But their efforts yielded nothing.

No wreckage, no life rafts, no trace at all.

In the end, the search brought no answers,

only more questions.

Narrator: In the endless expanse of sea and sky,

Flight 19 vanished into a realm

where certainty gave way to chaos,

testing the limits of both man and machine.

Amma Agbedor: Lieutenant Taylor's radio transmissions

revealed one potential cause of this tragedy:

navigational disorientation.

He mistakenly believed the squadron had drifted

over the Florida Keys, when in reality,

they were further north, near the Bahamas.

His mistake pulled them off course,

leading them deeper into the vast, unforgiving Atlantic.

Adam Bunch: A little after 4 PM,

Taylor reported that both of his compasses were malfunctioning,

so he had no reliable instruments

and tried to lead his squadron home

by using visual landmarks and instinct.

James Ellis: The Navy's protocol for disoriented pilots

was clear: turn west and fly toward the setting sun.

This fail-safe was ingrained in training,

and designed to guide aviators back to land.

But Taylor, convinced they were over the Gulf of Mexico,

ignored this procedure and directed the squadron northeast,

straight into the open ocean.

Narrator: Radio transcripts show the escalating tension

within the squadron as the trainees

began to question Taylor's decisions.

Amma Agbedor: The situation quickly deteriorated

until it bordered on hysteria.

One pilot was overheard saying,

"If we'd just fly west, we'd get home."

But Taylor doubled down on his error,

which is a phenomenon known as cognitive lockup.

That's when stress narrows focus

and leaders become fixated on wrong assumptions,

despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Alison Leonard: It's hard to believe navigational error

alone explains everything.

Sure, Taylor's misjudgment might have started

the chain of events,

but the complete lack of wreckage,

and the silence from the distress systems?

That hints at something else being part of the story.

Narrator: While human error offers part of the explanation,

unanswered questions linger,

hinting at complications and failures,

that may have turned confusion into catastrophe.

James Ellis: Mechanical issues and communication failures,

may have played a pivotal role

in the disappearance of Flight 19.

Despite pre-flight inspections showing no major faults,

reports of mid-flight malfunctions

painted a different picture.

Navigational aids went silent,

and crucial systems failed to transmit data.

Adam Bunch: Whether the breakdown was because of

mechanical issues or interference,

or just the chaos and stress of the moment,

the result was that the communication

with the outside world was eventually lost,

and the squadron was utterly alone.

Narrator: Among the most puzzling failures,

was the absence of a signal from the

Identify Friend or Foe transmitter.

Alison Leonard: The IFF transmitter,

standard in military aircraft,

would have made Flight 19's location much more visible,

in real time, to ground stations.

But records show it was never engaged.

These systems were highly reliable,

but mechanical strain, electrical surges,

or even operator error could render them useless.

James Ellis: What's really odd is that no distress signals

were ever picked up,

even though all the planes had emergency transmitters

meant to broadcast their location automatically.

They stayed completely silent.

And then there's the PBM Mariner rescue plane,

it had equipment specifically designed

to detect those signals,

but it too vanished without a trace.

Amma Agbedor: While individual malfunctions are possible,

the likelihood of all five planes suffering

the same critical failures at once,

is hard to believe.

It suggests there's more to the story,

and possibly a larger force at play.

Something that intensified their struggle

to navigate and communicate.

Narrator: Mechanical and communication failures

provide part of the picture,

but the true nature of what unfolded,

may lie hidden in the volatile forces

of the sea and sky.

Adam Bunch: One theory is that a sudden storm

could have sealed their fate.

A white squall can strike without warning,

even on clear days,

and by late afternoon the skies had darkened

and conditions were deteriorating.

There was torrential rain and high winds.

Dense cloud cover could have been disorienting

and create potentially dangerous conditions

for low flying aircraft.

James Ellis: By 4 PM, the storm intensified,

with Miami's weather station recording winds of

40 miles per hour at 1,000 feet,

and hurricane-force gusts

of 75 miles per hour

at higher altitudes.

These conditions likely engulfed the squadron,

leaving them little chance of survival.

Amma Agbedor: Adding to the danger was the Gulf Stream.

This powerful current, moving at up to five miles per hour,

would have scattered any debris or survivors

over vast distances.

Even the strongest search efforts would have struggled

against such relentless forces.

Narrator: But the tragedy wasn't confined to Flight 19.

Adam Bunch: The rescue plane sent to find them,

a PBM Mariner, met its own tragic fate,

adding to the mystery.

Less than 30 minutes after takeoff,

the crew radioed the tower, saying they were getting close

to Flight 19's last assumed position.

Not long after that, all contact was lost.

The plane and its 13 crew members

were never heard from again.

Alison Leonard: PBM Mariners, known as "flying gas tanks",

were notoriously volatile,

and prone to catastrophic accidents

in turbulent conditions.

In rough weather, their flexible fuel lines

tended to get loose and leak gas,

which could cause mid-air explosions.

The fact that witnesses described seeing a fireball

and an oil slick where the rescue plane went down

fuels this theory.

Narrator: While we may never know definitively

what happened on that tragic day,

there was a silver lining.

The lessons of Flight 19 helped shape

a safer future for aviation.

Adam Bunch: There were real lessons to be learned.

The tragedy highlighted problems in naval aviation,

such as inconsistent training standards,

excessive corner cutting.

In the 1950s, the big report, the Flatly report

would finally lead to a whole series of reforms,

that transformed flight safety.

Alison Leonard: The Navy's subsequent investigation

into Flight 19 took several months.

The final report described the disappearance

as a tragic convergence of navigational errors

and environmental challenges.

An initial finding of "mental aberration" was later overturned

at Lieutenant Taylor's mother's request,

leaving the investigation's final ruling as inconclusive.

Narrator: The disappearance of Flight 19 stands

as a poignant reminder of the fragile balance

between humanity and nature,

and the unanswered questions that continue to haunt us.

♪♪

Narrator: From the early 12th century CE,

the Knights Templar were legendary, righteous,

and fearsome enforcers,

known throughout Europe and the Levant.

Through their exploits, they reaped enough wealth

to finance holy wars and bankroll kings.

Alison Leonard: The Knights Templar were created

to protect Christians who were making pilgrimages

to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

But in the process of doing that,

they acquired hundreds of castle fortresses,

and enormous "portable wealth",

a great deal of it being gold, or gold coins.

Anthea Nardi: Almost two centuries after

the Order of the Knights Templar was formed,

Muslim warriors determined to drive all Christians

out of the Holy Land, cornered the Templars,

and decimated them in a fierce battle.

The Knights had always operated with the blessings

of the Church and the throne of France,

but when the end came, both turned against them.

James Ellis: The Knights were arrested in Europe

and charged as traitors and heretics;

many were publicly executed,

it was a stunning betrayal!

The vast hoard of gold

and other valuables the Templars had amassed

was supposed to go to the King of France.

But it didn't.

Once the Knights were all dead or gone,

very little of their gold turned up, and it still hasn't.

So what happened to the treasures

of the Knights Templar?

Narrator: The "Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ

and the Temple of Solomon"

were founded in Jerusalem in 1119 CE,

by a French knight.

Eventually, their name was shortened

to "The Knights Templar."

Anthea Nardi: The Templars were supposed to live communally,

like monks, they took strict vows of chastity,

obedience, and poverty.

They wore a distinctive white cloak, indicating purity,

with a bold red cross emblazoned on it.

One of their emblems was two knights

riding together on one horse,

the very picture of poverty and humility.

But the thing is, their operations required resources.

James Ellis: The Catholic Church's doctrine

allowed fighting for "just causes"

like the defense of the Holy Land and the Crusades.

So within a decade of the Templars' formation,

they won recognition from the Pope.

They took land and reaped riches

from their conquests in the Holy Land.

Alison Leonard: By the 1300s they were a true

international military order,

with estates from England to Bohemia.

Ultimately, they owned over 870 estates across Europe.

They even had enough money to build their own naval fleet,

to ship goods that their estates produced,

and for military use.

They had so much money that at one point they were able to lend

France's King Philip IV 400,000 gold florins,

which in hindsight, may not have been a wise thing to do.

Narrator: In April of 1291 CE,

with a company of Templar Knights holed up

in their headquarters in Acre, Jerusalem,

the Mamluk Sultanate's relentless throngs

breached the fortress walls.

And with that, the image of Knights Templar everywhere,

was fatally tarnished.

James Ellis: For France's King Philip IV,

who owed the Templars a great deal of money,

this was a golden opportunity

to not only have his debts erased,

but to get his hands on the Templars' legendary fortunes.

Anthea Nardi: Philip issued a secret order for the arrest

of all Knights Templar throughout France,

on charges of everything from denying Christ and heresy,

to financial improprieties and homosexuality.

And on Philip's urging, the Pope mandated the arrest

of all Templars across Europe.

Alison Leonard: On the 13th of October, 1307,

more than 600 Templars were swept up,

and interrogated under torture,

which many of them didn't survive.

Of those who did survive and were brought to trial,

dozens were convicted and burned at the stake,

including the Grand Master.

By 1312, the order of the Templar Knights

was officially dissolved.

Anthea Nardi: With the order no longer in existence,

Philip IV was freed of his debt,

and free to confiscate the Templars' large treasury.

Philip did get some of their riches, but very little.

Somehow, the Knights Templar had managed to hide, or move,

or escape with much of their portable wealth.

Speculation as to what happened to that treasure

continues to this day.

Narrator: The most obvious place for the Templars

to have kept the bulk of their treasures,

would also have been the hardest place

for anyone to remove it from.

Anthea Nardi: It would make perfect sense

if the Knights Templar had secured their riches

in the main tower of their fortress at Acre,

where they made their last stand against the Mamluk.

The tower was built for protection;

basically, it was a heavily-gated tower

within walls 28 feet thick,

surrounded by a fortress,

inside another fortress.

Alison Leonard: The only catch is that the Templars

were under siege there for weeks by the Mamluks,

who pounded the castle day and night.

And when the Mamluks finally gained entry,

there's no record of their finding a stash of treasure.

So if it had been there,

how could the Templars possibly have gotten it out,

before they were conquered?

James Ellis: In 1994, a resident in the town of Acre

looked into a sewer drainage problem

they'd been having under their home,

and discovered an underground passageway,

cut through the bedrock.

This was a secret tunnel,

running from where the fortress had been at one end,

almost 500 feet eastward,

to the internal anchorage of Acre's port.

Large enough for men to run through with cartloads

of whatever goods they wanted to carry.

Anthea Nardi: The Templars would have been able to smuggle

every last gold coin out of the tower,

while the Mamluk siege raged above their heads.

But if that's true,

if they did get their treasure out through this tunnel,

the question remains, where is it now?

Narrator: Trying to find the Templars' treasure today

is like playing a shell game

that happened nine centuries ago,

with many, many shells.

Alison Leonard: The Templars had a very practical philosophy

about money: keep it moving.

They realized that if they allowed the accumulation

of any large amount of money in any one place,

others had time to find out where it was

and to plan and execute raids to get it.

Wealth was less vulnerable to raids if it was spread out

in many places, and moved frequently.

Anthea Nardi: The Templars had developed a whole network

of underground safe houses they could escape to,

and between these safe houses, they could move

parcels of wealth, especially if they had warning.

Alison Leonard: And they did have warning.

King Philip's "secret order" for the arrest

of the Knights Templar in France

was issued on September 14th, 1307,

a full four weeks before it said

the arrests were to be carried out.

According to contemporary accounts,

the Grand Master arranged for more than

2,000 Knights Templar, and the Templars' treasures,

to be loaded onto 18 ships at the Port of La Rochelle

before the arrests.

James Ellis: Two ships and about 620 Templars,

including the Grand Master stayed behind,

which may have been a self-sacrifice;

an intentional diversion.

Thanks to that, it appears more than 2,000

of their fellow Knights were able to sail away

in the other ships, possibly

taking much of their treasure with them.

Narrator: Some believe the key to finding the treasure

won't be to focus on where the Templars

might have escaped to with it,

but to consider instead the possibility the Templars

may have failed disastrously, in the end.

Anthea Nardi: The Knights Templar and their gold

may have escaped by boat, from La Rochelle or elsewhere,

only to have sunk to at the bottom of the sea.

Countless sailing ships have gone down over the centuries

due to storms or other bad luck...

let alone while making a rushed departure,

overloaded with men and cargo.

James Ellis: In 2016, excavation began on the remains of a ship

found in the Bay of Haifa.

And it was one of those rare shipwrecks

that seems to tell a whole story.

In terms of wood, only bits of the hull and keel,

and planking survived.

Radiocarbon dating indicated that the wood was grown

somewhere between 1062 and 1250 CE.

Alison Leonard: There were ceramics from Syria,

Cyprus, and Italy.

And there were also 30 gold florins,

coins that were minted in the Republic of Florence

in the mid-13th century.

This ship may well have been piloted or commissioned

by the Knights Templar, escaping the Mamluks

during siege at Acre in 1291!

Anthea Nardi: They might have snuck out from

under their fortress via the secret tunnel,

to board a ship waiting in the inner harbour.

The gold florins may have been part of the Templars' treasure

that was being transported.

And perhaps what was paid to the ship's Captain,

as a bribe to help escape the chaos.

Narrator: The Haifa wreck is one ship out of many

that may have successfully left Acre during the siege.

And of the 18 said to have left the Port of La Rochelle

in 1307, none have been located.

James Ellis: It's intriguing.

If some of the Templars did make a successful escape

with their treasure, where might they have ended up?

Plenty of places have been suggested.

Alison Leonard: Carvings in Rosslyn Chapel in Edinburgh,

suggest some Knights Templar may have escaped to Scotland.

Could they have hidden some of their treasure there?

Anthea Nardi: Switzerland's national flag

is the exact reverse of the Knights Templar motif.

It's a white cross, over a red background.

And the beloved Swiss rescue dog

now shares its name with the Templars'

patron Saint Bernard de Clairvaux.

It's known the Templars were active in that area,

around that time.

So some of their gold could have ended up there.

And there are plenty of places still left to look for it.

Narrator: The Knights Templar were a legendary force,

that might not always have fought

with the purest of motives.

The stunning wealth they amassed during their conquests

may well have caused their ruin, before,

like the Knights themselves,

vanishing into history.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: In the year 30 BCE,

in Egypt's capital of Alexandria,

Queen Cleopatra was barricaded behind heavy wooden doors,

surrounded by her greatest treasures,

and the body of her partner, Marc Antony.

She sent a letter to her conquering enemy,

Octavian, with one last request:

that she and Antony be allowed to rest in eternity together.

Anthea Nardi: Cleopatra was Egypt's last pharaoh.

Maybe the world's first celebrity,

and maybe the greatest queen the world's ever known.

She was multilingual, charismatic,

intelligent, educated, and a brilliant strategist.

To the public, she was presented as a goddess,

"The New Isis."

Amma Agbedor: Cleopatra had ruled Egypt

with two of her brothers;

she'd married at least one of them,

and ultimately had both of them killed.

And she'd had children by two powerful Romans:

Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Adam Bunch: Cleopatra died just days after

she sent that final letter.

But the place where she was buried is a mystery.

People have been searching for centuries,

trying to answer one of history's greatest questions.

Where is Cleopatra's lost tomb?

Narrator: Cleopatra VII was born in Egypt,

to a long line of Greek pharaohs.

When she took the throne at 18, in 51 BCE,

the family's dynasty was fading,

but she was determined to turn her fortunes around.

So, four years into her reign,

when Julius Caesar came to Egypt,

she recognized the opportunity.

Amma Agbedor: Cleopatra took Caesar on a week-long

sightseeing tour of the Nile,

and became pregnant with his child.

After Caesar returned to Rome,

Cleopatra gave birth to their son, Caesarion

or "little Caesar."

A powerful, useful diplomatic bond had been formed.

Anthea Nardi: When Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE,

all bets were off.

Cleopatra needed new diplomatic security with Rome.

So when Mark Antony, the controller of Rome's

eastern territories, summoned Cleopatra for a talk,

to gauge her loyalty to Rome,

that was her second opportunity.

Adam Bunch: Cleopatra started having an affair

with Mark Antony,

which was a little bit complicated,

since he still went ahead and married Octavian's sister,

even while having his love affair with Cleopatra.

Anthea Nardi: Mark Antony then went so far

as to give Cleopatra back territories

Rome had previously won from Egypt.

It was all too much for Octavian to take.

It seemed Antony wasn't thinking with his head.

This was a line in the sand that could not be crossed.

And Octavian declared war against Cleopatra.

Narrator: Cleopatra was experienced in battle;

she soon realized they couldn't win against Octavian;

she pulled her squadron out of the fight

and withdrew to the safety of her palace in Alexandria.

Mark Antony fled as well,

leaving his soldiers to continue on their own.

Adam Bunch: This was a major conflict,

a personal grudge match,

with tens of thousands of soldiers on either side,

and hundreds of warships.

Mark Antony's forces had the advantage in numbers,

but it was still Octavian who ultimately won.

Amma Agbedor: In Alexandria, Cleopatra surrounded herself

with all of her greatest treasures

in a beautiful mausoleum she'd had built near her palace.

And then she waited.

Anthea Nardi: Mark Antony threw himself on his sword.

He was carried to Cleopatra's side,

and died in her arms.

Adam Bunch: According to the famous legend,

Cleopatra had a poisonous snake smuggled in

and let it bite her so that she died from the venom.

According to some ancient accounts,

Octavian granted her wish,

and ordered that she be buried with Mark Antony

in splendid and regal fashion.

But, those sources don't tell us where.

Narrator: In the 2,000 years since Cleopatra's death,

nobody has been able to find

Cleopatra and Mark Antony's crypt.

Only in 2004, did one investigator decide

everyone had been ignoring the most important clues.

Amma Agbedor: It would make a lot of sense

if Cleopatra were buried somewhere at the temple complex

of Taposiris Magna,

28 miles west of Alexandria.

"Taposiris Magna" means

"The Great Tomb of Osiris."

A god Mark Antony had been associated with in life,

and archaeologists always knew

there'd been a temple of Osiris at that site.

But in 2005, a new discovery

got everyone's attention.

Adam Bunch: The outlines of a second temple were found

inside the complex: laid out in three rooms,

which is typical for temples dedicated to Isis.

So now, there seemed like there might be temples at this site

dedicated to each the two gods

that Cleopatra and Mark Antony identified with.

Narrator: Within the centre room of this temple to Isis,

known as the "sanctuary",

about 200 gold coins were found,

some, bearing Cleopatra's image.

Anthea Nardi: Beneath the room, there was a 16-foot-deep shaft,

with several underground chambers.

The walls of these chambers still retained

faint traces of paint.

It's possible these cavities were used for

burial or ritual purposes.

And a mask was found, which some have speculated

could have belonged to Mark Antony.

Adam Bunch: In 2022, another tunnel was found,

43 feet underground,

chiseled out of solid rock

and more than three quarters of a mile long.

Along with statues, coins and other artifacts.

And in 2024, the same archeologist found a bust

she believes depicts Cleopatra

as well as coins, that definitely do.

Amma Agbedor: But through all this, no concrete evidence

tied to Cleopatra's burial

has been found at the site.

And that magnificent, long tunnel?

An identical one was found in Greece,

on the island of Samos.

That one was an aqueduct.

And there's no proof that the one in Egypt

ever carried anything but water, either.

Narrator: A hunch had led archaeologists to search

for Cleopatra at Taposiris Magna.

Following the historical record and geological history instead,

led to a more obvious location with a twist.

Amma Agbedor: Cleopatra's palace was in her beloved Alexandria;

she'd built her mausoleum there; she'd died there;

so it made sense she would be buried there.

With its library, and its famous lighthouse,

Alexandria was the largest,

most sophisticated city in the world.

Adam Bunch: Today much of ancient Alexandria is actually

20 feet beneath the surface of the Mediterranean.

So if Cleopatra is buried there,

she wouldn't be underground, she'd be underwater.

Anthea Nardi: In 365 CE,

four centuries after Cleopatra's death,

a massive tsunami, 50 to 100 feet high,

blasted through ancient Alexandria and its palaces.

It killed about 50,000 people,

and buried Alexandria under 80 feet of sediment.

Amma Agbedor: Since the early '90s,

underwater archaeological mapping has uncovered

sections of Alexandria;

piers, and the remains of palace walls;

granite columns;

even a massive stone sphinx!

However, there's been no sign

of Cleopatra's crypt there so far.

Narrator: Some who've sought Cleopatra's tomb believe,

that even with the use of the most advanced

modern technologies,

her tomb may continue to elude discovery,

and possibly, with good reason.

Anthea Nardi: Cleopatra's tomb may simply no longer exist.

It may have been found long ago in antiquity,

then looted, and destroyed.

Or it may have been purposefully dismantled by the Romans,

soon after she died.

We know Octavian wanted to obtain Cleopatra's riches,

and he wouldn't have wanted to risk the public maintaining

too strong a connection with their dead Queen.

Adam Bunch: The truth is, right now, we don't know either way.

And just because Cleopatra's tomb hasn't been found yet,

doesn't mean it won't be.

It could absolutely still be out there somewhere,

waiting to be discovered.

Amma Agbedor: It may still lie at Taposiris Magna;

or under the Mediterranean,

among the ruins of ancient Alexandria.

There are also untested theories it may be

at the Temple of Isis in Philae,

or in the Valley of Kings,

where Tutankhamun was interred.

Or it could be some other place

that nobody's thought of yet.

Anthea Nardi: If there is a silver lining

to the fruitless search for the tomb,

it's that Taposiris was a neglected site

that everyone knew about, but few cared about;

It has now become one of Egypt's

most active archaeological sites,

with hundreds of significant discoveries already made.

And the same is happening under the Mediterranean,

at ancient Alexandria.

So, Cleopatra's influence continues to live on.

Narrator: Queen Cleopatra VII, the New Isis,

who ended her life more than two millennia ago,

continues to impress and inspire.

And it's possible that with the discovery of her tomb,

she'll return one day,

and tell her own story.

♪♪

Narrator: South Africa at the dawn of the 20th century,

was a land teetering on the edge of monumental change.

The discovery of gold transformed

the once quiet Transvaal Republic

into a battleground of wealth and power,

igniting British imperial ambitions.

At the heart of this upheaval was Paul Kruger,

a leader whose vision for his people

collided with the relentless tide

of colonial expansion.

James Ellis: Paul Kruger wasn't just the President

of the South African Republic;

he was the embodiment of Boer independence and resilience.

The Boers, Dutch-speaking settlers from the Cape Colony,

had formed their self-governing republics

to protect their way of life.

His greatest challenge began in 1886,

with the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand area.

Suddenly, this area wasn't just a remote Boer territory,

it was a treasure trove of unimaginable value,

drawing a flood of British and foreign settlers or outlanders,

as Kruger disdainfully called them.

Alison Leonard: To Kruger these newcomers weren't

just immigrants, they were a direct threat

to the Boer way of life and identity.

He steadfastly refused to grant them

voting and political rights.

This exclusion angered the mining elite,

who saw Kruger's policies as obstacles

to their economic ambitions,

setting the stage for an inevitable clash.

Adam Bunch: War broke out in 1899.

It was known it was the Great Boer War back then,

but today historians call it the South African War,

because many Black Africans were caught up in it too.

It was a brutal colonial conflict,

that saw the Boers embrace guerrilla warfare,

attacking British outposts, sabotaging rail lines,

stretching the British troops thin

across the vast terrain,

while the British targeted civilians

with scorched earth campaigns

and concentration camps.

Anthea Nardi: Amid this chaos, Kruger faced a pivotal decision.

How to safeguard the Republic's wealth,

so he and his advisors devised a plan.

Kruger fled South Africa with over $2 million pounds in gold

worth over $500 million today.

But somewhere along the line, the gold vanished,

creating one of history's most enduring enigmas.

So what happened to the Kruger Millions?

Narrator: On June 4, 1900,

Kruger orchestrated a daring plan.

James Ellis: Gold coins, bullion, and unprocessed gold

were removed from the South African Mint

and the National Bank, then packed into wooden crates

and transported on wagons towards

the Delagoa Bay Railway.

By noon, the precious cargo reached Pretoria station,

where a special train awaited,

shrouded in secrecy and protected by armed guards.

Alison Leonard: Kruger's plan was audacious,

to transport the Republic's wealth to Mozambique,

possibly to finance the war effort from abroad,

or to solidify the nation's future after the conflict.

For Kruger, this wasn't simply wealth;

it was the Republic's lifeline in wartime.

Adam Bunch: Somewhere along the way,

some of the Kruger Millions seem to have disappeared.

When British forces took Pretoria,

they found the vaults empty and Kruger gone.

The difference between those two numbers

has sparked speculation, myths and legends

that have fascinated people

for more than a century now.

Narrator: Amidst these tales, one possibility echoes

more persistently than the rest.

The belief that the Kruger Millions never left the land

where they were forged and may lie hidden

within South Africa's vast and rugged landscape.

Anthea Nardi: The idea that Kruger hid the gold

within South Africa is plausible.

Anticipating that the British might intercept the treasure

before it reached Mozambique,

Kruger could have ordered it to be concealed

along the escape route.

The train passed through secluded areas like Machadodorp,

the Blyde River Canyon, the Sudwala Caves

and Waterval Onder, ideal locations for hiding a fortune.

James Ellis: Waterval Onder wasn't just an ideal

hiding place; it became the nerve center

for Kruger's government in exile.

Daily trains connected the site with Machadodorp,

the last town in Boer territory,

allowing crucial war strategy meetings

as the British closed in.

With tunnels and rail links running toward Mozambique,

it was a location well-suited for concealing a fortune.

Alison Leonard: Plus, the security of the area

meant his most trusted advisors had easy access.

You have to wonder if Kruger's men

may have hidden the treasure there,

or if this is just another layer of misdirection.

Narrator: In 1900, a Boer officer named Fritz Duquesne,

known for his cunning and deep-seated

hatred for the British,

is said to have been entrusted with the gold.

Adam Bunch: There's lots of reason not to believe Duquesne.

He was a known con artist, later became a Nazi spy,

and often rewrote his own history.

But some stories claim he led a convoy of wagons

filled with gold, and then along the way,

his men tried to kill him and steal the treasure.

Anthea Nardi: Duquesne caught on to their plan

and managed to foil the assassination attempt.

It's alleged that he later ordered his loyal servants

to bury the gold in a secret location,

possibly near the town of Ermelo.

He was captured by the British shortly after, and exiled,

and the treasure's location remained a mystery.

If this story is true, Duquesne took the details to his grave.

Narrator: Decades later, in 2001,

South Africa found itself gripped by gold fever once again

when Athol Stark, a successful businessman from Ermelo,

became entangled in the legend.

James Ellis: A Zulu family approached Stark

with a proposition: they had found 4,000 Kruger ponds,

which are gold coins bearing Paul Kruger's likeness,

and needed his help to sell them.

After verifying their authenticity,

Stark became convinced that the Kruger Millions were real

and possibly hidden near his hometown.

Alison Leonard: As word spread, treasure hunters flocked

to Ermelo, believing that the coins could be part

of Duquesne's hidden treasure.

The discovery of a buried statue and multiple caches

of coins in the area added fuel to the fire,

and for a moment, it seemed like the mystery

might finally be solved.

James Ellis: But despite extensive searches,

no evidence of the full Kruger Millions was found.

The coins that were discovered were isolated stashes,

perhaps buried by Boer farmers during the war

to protect their savings.

Narrator: Without evidence of a vast, singular hoard,

perhaps the Kruger Millions weren't hidden at all,

and the true fate of the gold

could reveal a different story

about the Boer struggle.

Anthea Nardi: It's possible Kruger intended to use the gold

in a desperate bid to sustain the Republic's fight

against the British.

As conventional warfare became untenable,

the Boers needed resources

to continue their guerrilla tactics.

The gold could have been crucial in paying soldiers,

securing ammunition, and buying essential supplies.

James Ellis: Evidence suggests that significant amounts of gold

were transported to Lourenço Marques in Mozambique.

There, it was exchanged for provisions,

everything from ammunition, to 44,000 bags of flour.

While this certainly supports the idea that some of the money

was spent in efforts to fund the war,

we still don't have records

that account for all the missing gold.

So, if the treasure wasn't entirely consumed

by the war effort, or lost amid the chaos,

could its fate lie in Kruger's most daring maneuver of all?

Narrator: Faced with dwindling options,

Kruger may have devised a bold and final strategy

for the Republic's wealth, an audacious move

that would carry the Kruger Millions

far beyond South African shores.

Alison Leonard: It's possible the Kruger Millions

were smuggled out of Africa

and taken to Europe by Kruger himself,

then hidden within international banking systems.

After the fall of Pretoria, Kruger fled to Mozambique

and secured passage aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Gelderland.

Perhaps Kruger took a substantial portion

of the treasure with him, intending to use it to rally

international support for the Boer cause.

Adam Bunch: Kruger spent his final years in the Netherlands,

and his relationships there could have helped him

get the gold into Europe.

There even seemed to be records of deposits

in Dutch and Swiss banks.

Narrator: The recent discovery of over 900 Kruger coins

found in a Swiss vault, adds credence to this theory,

suggesting that some of the treasure was smuggled abroad.

Anthea Nardi: These coins, minted during

Kruger's Presidency and preserved for over a century,

offer a tantalizing piece of the puzzle.

While it indicates that at least a fraction

of the Kruger Millions made it to Europe,

the quantity found is small compared to

the supposed total value of the treasure.

James Ellis: Kruger's lifestyle in exile was modest,

and upon his death in 1904,

there were no signs of vast wealth.

The gaps in documentation and the secretive nature

of international banking at the time,

make it difficult to verify this theory.

For all we know, Kruger's Millions might still

be stashed away in Swiss Vaults,

waiting to fund another Boer resistance

that never happened.

Narrator: Over a century has passed,

yet the enigma of the Kruger Millions continues to captivate

historians and treasure hunters worldwide.

Alison Leonard: The legend isn't just a tale of lost gold.

It's a story that captures a nation's struggle,

the tangled legacy of colonialism,

and the irresistible pull of a mystery

that refuses to be solved.

Adam Bunch: Whether the tale of lost gold is true or not,

the story is a valuable reminder

of a pivotal moment in South African history,

a brutal war that left tens of thousands dead

and set the scene for apartheid.

Narrator: The mystery of Kruger's Millions endures,

a timeless relic of colonial ambition and resistance,

caught between history and legend.

A haunting symbol of a people's struggle,

it's a reminder that history

is full of secrets,

waiting to be revealed.

♪♪

♪♪