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Narrator: In 524 BCE, an army of 50,000 for Cambyses II

set out to conquer Egypt,

only to vanish in the Western Desert.

Amma Agbedor: The sands swallowed Cambyses' ambitions,

leaving behind only questions and legends.

Narrator: The greatest mystery of the Devil's Bible,

the largest surviving medieval manuscript,

lies not in what remains,

but what is missing...

James Ellis: Ten pages, meticulously cut out

and deliberately removed.

What secrets were these pages meant to conceal,

and why were they erased from history?

Narrator: Thousands of hours of secret voice recordings

within President Richard Nixon's administration,

and subsequent erasure of 18 and a half minutes,

results in one of the biggest political scandals of all time.

Adam Bunch: Who erased the tape?

And what exactly were they so desperate to hide?

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: In 524 BCE,

Cambyses II, Persia's conqueror of Egypt,

dispatched 50,000 soldiers from Thebes

into the merciless Western Desert

to silence the Oracle of Amun.

Adam Bunch: Cambyses II was the son of the famous

Persian King of Kings,

Cyrus The Great,

founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Cambyses was named crown prince as early as 539 BCE,

and seems to have served as co-ruler.

But when Cyrus died, his son officially took the throne.

Cambyses reigned from 530 to 522 BCE

and was determined to expand the empire,

carrying on his father's

ambitious campaigns of conquest.

Anthea Nardi: By 525 BCE,

Cambyses had set his sights on Egypt,

attracted by its abundant resources

and strategic importance.

As he marched along the Mediterranean coast,

he secured water supplies

through alliances with Arabian chieftains.

The decisive Battle of Pelusium opened the gateway

to the Nile Delta, and by that summer,

Memphis, Egypt's capital, fell to Persian forces,

marking the start of the 27th Dynasty under Persian rule.

James Ellis: But victory brought defiance.

Many Egyptians viewed Cambyses as a foreign usurper.

One particularly potent symbol of resistance

lay deep in the Western Desert,

the Oracle of Amun at Siwa.

Revered by Egyptians and Greeks alike,

the Oracle was a temple and sanctuary in the Siwa Oasis,

where a priesthood served as intermediaries

between the God Amun and those seeking divine guidance.

It refused to legitimize Cambyses' rule,

a public slight against the new Pharaoh-King.

Amma Agbedor: Determined to crush this affront,

Cambyses dispatched

50,000 soldiers westward from Thebes.

Their mission: to subjugate the Amonians at Siwa

and destroy the Oracle.

Narrator: Greek historian and geographer, Herodotus,

later dubbed "The Father of History",

helped pioneer Greek trade with Egypt.

He wrote detailed accounts about the lives

of prominent kings and famous battles.

Amma Agbedor: But according to Herodotus,

the troops vanished without a trace,

never returning to Egypt nor reaching the Amonians.

So what happened to this massive force?

♪♪

Narrator: The Western Desert, spanning nearly

40,000 square miles across western Egypt and eastern Libya,

is one of the most inhospitable landscapes on Earth.

In this desolate expanse, described by Herodotus

as a place where even powerful armies can vanish,

Cambyses' ill-fated expedition began.

Adam Bunch: Herodotus is our main source for the story.

He writes about the force leaving Thebes, in Upper Egypt,

and stopping at the Kharga Oasis

after a seven days' march.

That much seems to check out.

Thebes and Kharga are about 150 miles apart,

and his timeline matches the estimates for

how long it would have taken to travel across that much desert.

Anthea Nardi: From there, the army continued on a route

toward Siwa, home of the Oracle of Amun.

But no corroborating records detail the exact path

or what truly befell the soldiers of Cambyses.

James Ellis: Siwa was critical.

Beyond its religious standing,

it was a strategic desert oasis

that dared question Persian authority

by refusing Cambyses' legitimacy.

In sending an army across the desert,

Cambyses sought not just conquest,

but symbolic dominance, an attempt to erase

any lingering doubt of his right to rule Egypt.

Amma Agbedor: The Western Desert spared no one.

Reliable water sources were scarce and hidden,

making each new stretch of desert

more perilous than the last.

Without the Arabian chieftains who had once supplied water,

the army moved forward with only limited provisions.

Somewhere between Kharga and Siwa,

the sands swallowed Cambyses' ambitions,

leaving behind only questions and legends.

Adam Bunch: Herodotus gives us a chilling tale.

He says, that as the army of Cambyses' stopped to eat,

a wind whipped up from the south,

"strong and deadly,

bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand".

And that storm swallowed up the troops.

Dunes rose in the place where men had stood

just moments earlier.

Amma Agbedor: But Herodotus' account raises questions.

Could a storm even of such ferocity

obliterate an entire army

of 50,000 soldiers

without a trace?

Experienced armies like Cambyses'

would have been prepared for harsh desert conditions,

and a sandstorm, no matter how powerful,

would likely not have been enough

to overwhelm them entirely.

Narrator: The desert's silence may be masking

not a natural calamity,

but the echoes of an ancient rebellion,

one that toppled an army

and rewrote the narrative of a Pharaoh's conquest.

Adam Bunch: Some historians think that the army of Cambyses'

might have come to an end in battle

against an Egyptian rebel called Petubastis IV.

He declared himself Pharaoh around 522 BCE

and led an uprising against Persian rule.

Anthea Nardi: This theory gained momentum

thanks to the work of a Dutch archaeologist,

who uncovered inscriptions referencing a pitched battle

in the remote Western Desert.

According to his findings, the temple blocks at Amheida,

reveal Petubastis IV possessed enough power and resources

to erect a major monument in honor of the God Thoth,

an undertaking that implies a stable administration

rather than a fleeting revolt.

James Ellis: It was proposed that the "lost army" legend

may have originated as Persian propaganda,

a fabricated sandstorm tale to mask a humiliating defeat.

The evidence points to Cambyses dispatching a large contingent

from Thebes to quash Petubastis IV's rebellion,

in or near the Dakhla Oasis.

Narrator: But instead of returning victorious,

the force vanished from the historical record.

Amma Agbedor: The simplest explanation is that

Petubastis ambushed them, won decisively,

and capitalized on the victory to consolidate his authority.

Adam Bunch: If it's true, that story helps explain

why Petubastis IV appears on

ancient lists of Egyptian Kings,

that his rebellion wasn't just symbolic but successful enough

to secure territory, build temples,

and maybe even briefly rule from Memphis,

which the Persians used as their

administrative capital for the area.

James Ellis: Another possibility is that the

Western Desert itself inflicted a slow,

crushing defeat of Cambyses' army.

Even without direct combat, crossing hundreds of miles

of featureless dunes and sweltering heat

could doom a force of this size.

Amma Agbedor: Rather than taking the coastal path,

where Arabian chieftains had previously provided water,

Cambyses allegedly sent his soldiers southwest from Thebes,

through oases like Kharga and possibly Dakhla,

then onward toward Siwa.

This route required precise navigation and reliable wells,

both of which were in critically short supply.

Anthea Nardi: If the army of Cambyses veered

even slightly off established caravan paths,

they would've lost access to crucial water supplies.

Dehydration, not just sandstorms,

likely sealed their fate.

Narrator: After decades of exploration

across Egypt's Western Desert, a surprising new route

for Cambyses' ill-fated army, was discovered.

James Ellis: This research is pivotal.

Cambyses' army may have veered onto an alternative track

deep within the Great Sand Sea,

bypassing the more established oases,

which might still have been under Egyptian control.

In doing so, the army sacrificed short-term security

for the element of surprise,

hoping to catch the defenders of the Amon temple off guard.

Amma Agbedor: Based on this research,

Cambyses' army must have set out from Thebes,

along a lesser-known corridor,

one that earlier archaeologists

had not examined.

Their geological surveys over these uncharted swaths

of terrain revealed dried-up wells

and fragments of earthenware pottery

matching Persian water pots.

Narrator: Local Bedouin legends of an entire valley,

filled with bleached human bones, fueled suspicions.

Adam Bunch: A discovery was made not far from Siwa

by a pair of filmmakers.

A grave littered with skeletal remains,

which included a horse's bit,

said to have maybe been used by the Persian cavalry.

Some believe it might be tangible evidence

that the forces of Cambyses'

met their end there in the Great Sand Sea.

Anthea Nardi: Scattered bronze arrowheads,

fragments of Persian pottery, and human remains

suggest the soldiers dispersed under brutal conditions,

some seeking shelter behind dunes,

others wandering off in a desperate search for water.

James Ellis: The Western Desert's dunes can bury

artifacts and skeletons for centuries

before revealing them again.

Such intermittent rediscovery explains

why we've only encountered scattered finds

instead of a single, conclusive burial site.

Nature's forces have continuously

rearranged the remnants.

Amma Agbedor: In all likelihood, Cambyses' army didn't vanish

in one massive storm, but gradually disintegrated

in a logistical nightmare.

An episode few ancient chroniclers

saw fit to document in detail.

Narrator: The fate of Cambyses' Lost Army is a haunting mystery,

etched into the unforgiving sands of the Western Desert.

Over 2,500 years later, the desert refuses to yield

the truth of what happened to 50,000 men.

Adam Bunch: The account of Herodotus

is as much a carefully crafted narrative,

as it is a historical source.

The lack of physical evidence raises questions

about how much of his story is fact

and how much is fiction.

Narrator: For now, the legend of Lost Army of Cambyses,

stands as a potent reminder,

that even the grandest armies

are not invincible.

Time, shifting sands, and the unyielding desert

continue to obscure the truth.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: In the shadowy heart of medieval Bohemia,

a colossal manuscript emerged.

A towering compendium of sacred scripture, esoteric knowledge,

and an unsettling portrait of the Devil.

Known as the Codex Gigas, or the Devil's Bible,

it was intended to contain all the world's knowledge.

Alison Leonard: The Codex Gigas is the largest

surviving medieval manuscript.

It weighs 165 pounds,

stands some three feet tall,

and was crafted from the skins of over 160 animals.

Encased in leather and ornate metal,

it aimed to gather every kind of knowledge,

spiritual, historical, medicinal,

even magical, within one binding.

Adam Bunch: The Codex was created in the early 1200s,

a period shaped by the Fourth Lateran Council.

The Church was cracking down on heresy,

books were being destroyed,

scribes were carefully watched.

Producing a manuscript that included

both scripture and magic formulas,

must have been inherently risky.

Anthea Nardi: An inscription on the first page suggests

that the Codex originated at the Benedictine monastery

of PodlaOice in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic.

But this impoverished monastery lacked the resources

for such an ambitious project.

Over centuries, the Codex changed hands.

Purchased, pawned, and prized by collectors

like Emperor Rudolf II,

and seized by Sweden as war booty.

The journey leaves behind more questions than answers.

James Ellis: The greatest mystery of the Devil's Bible

lies not in what remains, but in what's missing.

Ten pages, meticulously cut out and deliberately removed.

This wasn't the result of an accident or decay.

What secrets were these pages meant to conceal,

and why were they erased from history?

♪♪

Narrator: The Codex Gigas is a window into the medieval world,

reflecting a time of religious devotion,

intellectual ambition, and social upheaval.

Over the centuries, it has been prized as a spiritual treasure,

a financial asset, and a source of fascination.

Alison Leonard: Forensic analysis suggests

the Codex was produced by a single scribe

over as many as 20 to 30 years.

This is a lifetime's work, considering the average lifespan

at the time was roughly 30 years.

Its uniform script and illustrations show no breaks

in style and no sign of aging in handwriting.

This consistency defies easy explanation,

and fuels legends that the scribe

achieved the impossible with supernatural help.

Adam Bunch: Legend says the Codex was written by a monk

called Herman the Recluse, who broke his sacred vows

and was condemned to death by being walled up alive.

To save his life, he promised to write a book

that would glorify the monastery

by compiling all human knowledge,

and to do it in a single night.

By midnight, he was so desperate,

he struck a deal with the Devil,

selling his soul in return for finishing the book.

And in thanks, Herman included the Devil's portrait.

Anthea Nardi: The contents of the Codex are fascinating.

Half of its pages contain the Old and New Testaments,

while the remainder overflows with other texts

like Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae,

Josephus' histories, medical remedies,

exorcism rituals, magical formulas,

and lengthy sinful confessions.

It also contains an extensive list of "rarities"

like alchemical and scientific sketches,

and even a 12-page calendar.

Narrator: Among its most arresting images

is that of the Devil himself.

James Ellis: This full-page portrait of the Devil

is unlike anything else in medieval manuscript art.

He's depicted with massive horns, twin tongues,

and crimson claws, draped only in an ermine loincloth,

a fabric worn exclusively by royalty;

this underscores his status as the Prince of Darkness.

Alison Leonard: Directly opposite this infernal figure is

an unsettling depiction of the Heavenly City, empty of life.

This juxtaposition highlights the era's spiritual tension,

pitting eternal salvation against the threat of damnation.

It's interesting to note that these are the only

full-page illustrations in the manuscript,

and part of the reason why the Codex earned its nickname,

'The Devil's Bible.

Adam Bunch: The Codex Gigas is missing pages,

and there are lots of theories about what was on them.

Some people even like to say they might have included

a secret "devil's prayer" with the power to end the world.

Narrator: While tales of occult secrets

and forbidden knowledge persist,

the missing pages may have a far more pragmatic origin.

Anthea Nardi: In medieval Europe,

Monasteries were not only spiritual centers

but also land managers;

they constantly struggled to sustain

their existence financially.

Parchment made from animal skin, known as Vellum,

was incredibly expensive, and by 1295,

PodlaOice Monastery was so desperate for funds

it had to pawn the Codex Gigas just to survive.

It's possible that monks or later custodians,

removed certain pages,

perhaps containing valuable illustrations or rare texts,

to sell individually for much-needed income.

Adam Bunch: By the early 1400s,

Bohemia was engulfed by religious upheaval

that led to the Hussite Revolution.

Monasteries became battlegrounds over ideology,

including the one where the Codex was written,

which was destroyed.

Libraries were raided and books were burned,

for being politically dangerous, denounced as heresy.

Anthea Nardi: If the Codex Gigas contained sensitive material,

prophecies, inflammatory rhetoric,

or ideas challenging prevailing doctrines,

removing select pages could have been a calculated move

to shield its custodians from heresy charges.

Narrator: As speculation swirls around political intrigue

and doctrinal strife, some believe the explanation

is tied to the devilish imagery within these pages,

and that what vanished, may have been too unsettling

to remain on record.

Adam Bunch: Some people have suggested the missing pages

might have been removed because they crossed a line,

that they could have been seen as heretical

or even outright satanic.

The Codex Gigas is famous

for its full-page portrait of the Devil,

directly opposite the image of an empty,

silent Heavenly Jerusalem.

It's an eerie pairing that reflects

medieval obsessions with sin and redemption.

And when you add the exorcism rituals

with magic formulas included in nearby sections,

some wonder if the manuscript might have already been

pushing the limits of what the Church would allow.

A. Nardi: If those missing pages went deeper into demonology,

like detailing unholy invocations,

or even diabolical pacts,

they would've been seen as a serious challenge

to the Church's authority.

Taking them out would have been a quiet way

to keep the Codex within acceptable limits,

to protect both the manuscript and anyone connected to it.

Narrator: The Codex Gigas eventually became part

of Emperor Rudolf II's prized collection in Prague.

The palace was a magnet for philosophers, alchemists,

astronomers, and artists,

and filled with treasures that reflected

Rudolf's profound fascination with the occult, astrology,

and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.

James Ellis: Under Rudolf's reign, Prague became

a Renaissance hub of arts and sciences,

where curiosity and fear intertwined.

His collection brimmed with exotic artifacts

and esoteric texts, pushing the boundaries of knowledge

while walking a fine line

between discovery and the looming threat

of condemnation, in an era of devout suspicion.

A. Leonard: In Rudolf's court, any page explicitly detailing

unholy invocations or demon-summoning rituals

could have invited immediate scrutiny.

Religious authorities and political rivals alike

would have seized upon this kind of material

as evidence of heresy.

Removing these pages may have been a calculated move

to shield the Codex and its guardians,

from the era's harsh consequences

for perceived transgressions.

Adam Bunch: There's no proof the missing pages

had anything to do with satanic worship.

And other surviving sections

do include exorcisms and magical spells.

Medieval depictions of demons were often a warning,

they didn't glorify evil, they cautioned against sin.

The Devil's portrait is unsettling,

it still fits in to that tradition.

But whatever happened with the Codex,

we know that in a world haunted

by real fear of diabolical influence,

some knowledge was thought to be too dangerous to preserve.

Anthea Nardi: Its survival alone is remarkable,

but the real mystery is those missing pages.

Whoever removed them didn't just tear them out,

they did it carefully, leaving no clear evidence behind.

That kind of precision suggests

whatever was on those pages

was incredibly significant.

James Ellis: The Codex Gigas now rests

in Stockholm's National Library.

Advances in modern technology, like digital imaging,

ultraviolet analysis, or even DNA testing of the parchment,

might one day reveal traces of what was lost.

Or even, those new insights might just deepen the mystery.

Narrator: The missing pages leave the Devil's Bible

shrouded in eternal mystery,

their absence a void

where the sum of all knowledge

was once meant to reside.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: June 17, 1972.

in the early hours of the morning,

five men were arrested inside

the Democratic National Committee headquarters,

at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

What first seemed like a botched burglary,

would ignite a political firestorm,

shaking the very foundations of American democracy,

and leading to the first resignation of a U.S. President.

James Ellis: President Richard Nixon was a complex figure,

brilliant, yet deeply paranoid.

His obsession with control and his legacy,

drove him to extraordinary lengths.

To document his administration, he installed a secret,

voice-activated recording system

that automatically captured every conversation

in the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room,

and even at Camp David, the presidential retreat.

Alison Leonard: Among the thousands of hours recorded,

one tape stood out-- not for what was said,

but for what was missing.

This conversation, just 3 days after the Watergate break-in,

recorded a meeting between Nixon

and his Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman,

in what would become one of the most scrutinized

and infamous moments of his presidency.

Adam Bunch: The conversation probably included

critical details about the administration's plans

to handle the fallout,

maybe even evidence of an early cover-up.

But when investigators listened to the tape,

they didn't find answers, instead they found

that it had an 18.5-minute gap.

It had been erased.

Who erased the tape?

And what exactly were they so desperate to hide?

Narrator: The roots of Watergate trace back to 1971,

when a Nixon official leaked the Pentagon Papers,

a 7,000-page classified report

that exposed government deception about the Vietnam War.

(exploding bombs)

It came at a time when public anger and doubt

over the U.S. role in Vietnam was already at a boiling point.

Anthea Nardi: Nixon was so enraged by the leak

that he created a covert unit called the "Plumbers",

aptly named in reference to their job of plugging leaks.

But things escalated quickly, the Plumbers resorted

to break-ins and illegal surveillance,

all in the name of protecting the administration.

James Ellis: On June 17, 1972, five men broke

into the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.

The burglars, dressed in suits,

carried sophisticated recording equipment,

lock-picking tools,

and wads of sequentially numbered $100 bills.

Alison Leonard: It was obvious these weren't petty crooks.

One was James McCord, a security coordinator

for Nixon's reelection campaign,

ironically nicknamed CREEP.

The operation was led by G. Gordon Liddy,

a former FBI agent, and E. Howard Hunt, a CIA veteran.

Adam Bunch: It would prove to be one of the most infamous cases

of political espionage in history.

And as the investigation deepened,

it became clear that the motives behind the break-in

went all the way to the top.

Anthea Nardi: By February of 1973, the U.S. Senate

had formed a committee to investigate the Nixon campaign.

Meanwhile, Nixon and his aides were amid a desperate cover-up

involving discussions of million-dollar hush payments,

using federal agencies to block the investigation,

and coaching aides to lie.

James Ellis: The real turning point came in July 1973,

during the live Senate Watergate hearings,

when Alexander Butterfield, Nixon's Deputy Assistant,

dropped a bombshell.

Nixon had a secret recording system.

This was a major breakthrough.

Those tapes held the potential to prove, without a doubt,

what the President knew about Watergate and when.

Narrator: In 1974, under mounting pressure

from federal investigators,

Nixon released dozens of White House tapes

and thousands of pages of transcripts.

Alison Leonard: One of the key revelations in the

'smoking gun' evidence was tape 342,

a recording of a meeting between Nixon

and his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman.

This was the first time Nixon was recorded discussing

the Watergate break-in, just three days after it happened.

Adam Bunch: Thanks to Haldeman's handwritten notes

from that meeting, we know he and Nixon talked about Watergate

and probably about using the CIA

to thwart the FBI's investigation.

But there's no audio to back it up.

18.5 minutes had vanished,

replaced with an ominous patch of clicks and buzzes.

(tape buzzing)

Narrator: Nixon went to extreme lengths

to keep the tapes hidden,

and after two years of public scrutiny

and growing calls for his impeachment,

President Nixon resigned in disgrace.

President Nixon: By taking this action,

I hope that I will hasten the start

of that process of healing,

which is so desperately needed in America.

Narrator: In a White House gripped by chaos and paranoia,

some believe the answer to the missing minutes

lies not in deliberate sabotage,

but in an unintentional act of loyalty.

Anthea Nardi: Rose Mary Woods,

Nixon's fiercely loyal personal secretary,

claimed she accidentally erased the 18.5 minutes.

According to Woods, she was transcribing the tapes

for prosecutors when the phone rang.

(phone ringing)

In her rush to answer, she said she pressed the wrong button,

which caused her to delete part of the original conversation.

James Ellis: In her grand jury testimony,

Woods explained that when she went to answer the phone,

she reached for the stop button

on the Oval Office's Uher 5000 reel-to-reel recorder,

but instead, she accidentally pressed her foot

into the pedal of the machine,

which would cause it to record over the conversation.

Alison Leonard: To defend her version of events,

Woods reenacted the incident in front of reporters;

in her now-infamous pose, dubbed the "Rose Mary Stretch",

you can see her awkwardly stretching her leg

to press the pedal while leaning far back

to grab the phone behind her.

Narrator: The mechanics of the Uher 5000 recorder in question

cemented the initial doubt many had over Woods's story.

Adam Bunch: The machine didn't even work the way

Woods said it did.

To erase the audio, someone would have to press both

the "play" and "record" buttons at the same time,

You couldn't do that with the pedal.

Anthea Nardi: And the erasure wasn't a single act,

it was done in at least five separate segments.

The idea that Woods could hold such an awkward physical

position for over 18 minutes

made her story virtually impossible to believe.

James Ellis: Woods' explanation was riddled with flaws.

Despite thorough investigations,

there's no evidence she erased the entire 18 and half minutes.

The forensic findings prove this was a deliberate act,

but one that was most likely carried out by someone else.

Alison Leonard: One of the most prominent theories is that

President Nixon or someone in his inner circle

intentionally erased the tape to hide evidence

of a Watergate cover-up.

The timing is key, this was Nixon's first meeting

with H.R. Haldeman after the break-in,

and it likely focused on how to manage the fallout.

If the tape revealed early steps in the cover-up,

it would have been devastating.

James Ellis: Nixon's Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman

was in a prime position to erase the evidence.

Only three days after the conversation

with the missing minutes,

Nixon was recorded ordering Haldeman to tell the FBI

"not to go further into the case--period."

Haldeman was deeply involved in the cover-up

and had every reason to protect both Nixon and himself.

Alison Leonard: Or it could've been others

in the President's inner circle,

like John Ehrlichman, who was instrumental in

creating the "Plumbers" and orchestrated

many of the administration's covert operations.

Or campaign director John N. Mitchell,

who approved the plan for Watergate.

They had similar access and motives.

Adam Bunch: Since Nixon wasn't good with technology,

it does seem unlikely he would have done the erasing himself.

And since there are more than 3,700 hours of recordings,

you have to wonder why his team targeted

just those 18.5 minutes?

James Ellis: One name that often comes up

is General Alexander Haig,

who took over as Nixon's Chief of Staff

after Haldeman resigned.

Haig famously called the erasure the work of a "sinister force";

a cryptic remark that some interpreted as an attempt

to deflect blame or perhaps a subtle nod to internal sabotage.

Alison Leonard: Another possibility points

to an unknown Secret Service agent or a technical staffer,

someone with the access and technical know-how

to manipulate the tapes.

If they believed the June 20 conversation

posed a significant threat,

whether to national security or Nixon's Presidency,

they might have taken matters into their own hands.

Adam Bunch: There have been years of speculation,

but no one's ever been identified

as the "sinister force".

There have been extensive investigations

by the FBI and by Congress,

but no concrete evidence of a "rogue agent".

So it's just one more piece of the enduring mystery

surrounding those missing minutes.

Anthea Nardi: The fallout from Watergate

was unlike anything in American history.

Nixon became the first and only President to ever resign.

The Watergate burglars served time for conspiracy,

burglary, and wiretapping,

while 48 others, including Haldeman,

were convicted of crimes like obstruction of justice,

conspiracy, and perjury.

James Ellis: Watergate set a new tone for American politics;

it led to sweeping reforms

aimed at restoring trust in the government.

The Supreme Court's unanimous decision

to order Nixon to release the tapes,

reshaped the presidency by affirming that no one,

not even the President, is above the law.

That limit on power is just as relevant today.

Narrator: The missing minutes remain one of the most profound

puzzles in American political history.

Despite advancements in technology,

experts have been unable to recover the missing audio.

It's a mystery that remains locked away...for now.

Maybe one day, the right tools will finally bring

those lost moments to light.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: He was the leader of Jesus Christ's 12 disciples

and the first Pope of the Catholic Church.

As such, Saint Peter's sacred remains

have been a precious and revered relic,

kept in the watchful care of the Catholic Church,

and venerated for the better part of two millennia,

less than a thousand feet from where he was martyred.

Amma Agbedor: The first Basilica of St. Peter

was built in the 4th century,

right over the resting place

of the Apostle Peter's remains,

on Rome's Vatican Hill.

The spot for the basilica

wasn't chosen for any other reason,

than that's where Peter's bones were.

James Ellis: The site has been venerated

for about 1,800 years.

For the long succession of Popes,

and any other worshippers fortunate enough

to have the opportunity,

venerating Peter's remains

has been a deeply meaningful practice.

Alison Leonard: But in 1950, Pope Pius XII's

Christmas radio address contained an

"I've got good news and bad news"

kind of announcement.

What the Pontiff said was that,

during the excavations carried out

beneath St. Peter's Basilica some years prior,

"human hones had been found,"

but he said it wasn't possible to say with certainty,

that the bones were Saint Peter's.

Adam Bunch: Catholics had been paying their respects

in the basilica for centuries,

confident the Apostle Peter's remains were nearby.

But if those discovered bones

might have belonged to someone else,

then where were St. Peter's bones?

Narrator: It's believed that sometime

between 54 and 68 CE,

the Apostle Peter came to Rome,

where in the absence of any Christian churches,

he preached in private homes around the city.

This was in the time of Rome's fifth Emperor, Nero,

infamous for his public persecution of Christians.

Amma Agbedor: According to the accounts

of the Roman historian Tacitus,

Christians were killed by burning, or crucifixion,

or being devoured by wild animals,

in front of crowds of a chariot-racing circuit

known as the Circus of Nero,

outside Rome's city walls.

It's believed that around 67 CE,

Peter became one of these martyred victims.

James Ellis: Peter was reportedly buried

in a Roman necropolis, or "city of the dead",

known as the Vatican necropolis.

This site didn't have any Christian significance

at the time; it was merely an area adjacent

to the Circus of Nero, where many Romans were buried.

Alison Leonard: About a century and a half later, in 313 CE,

Rome's then-Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity,

and ordered a great basilica to be built

over the place where Peter's tomb was believed to lie.

Within the basilica, a monument, eventually called

the Trophy of Gaius, was built directly over the tomb.

There was a latticed door that supposedly led

to Peter's remains.

Adam Bunch: The basilica was rebuilt and expanded

about 1,200 years later,

in the 1500s and 1600s,

including the addition of the iconic dome

designed by Michelangelo.

Vatican Hill was completely transformed.

The high altar was built above the Trophy of Gaius

and St. Peter's tomb, and it has stood there ever since,

as a symbol of Christian devotion.

So, according to tradition, there was no reason to question

that the faithful were venerating Peter's

actual remains, until that Papal address in 1950.

Narrator: If Saint Peter's remains are gone

from their original resting place,

some historians believe they may have been lost

about five centuries ago, during a senseless

and traumatic event.

Amma Agbedor: Saint Peter's bones could have been lost

or destroyed in May of 1527,

during the Sack of Rome.

The forces of Charles V,

the "Holy Roman Emperor",

and King of Spain,

hadn't been paid in some time,

so they were angry.

About 20,000 of them stormed into Rome,

looting and pillaging, and indiscriminately murdering

military defenders and civilians alike.

James Ellis: Merchants were ransomed, tortured,

or murdered for their money.

This went on for a month!

But the thing is, the violence also took on

religious overtones.

Many of the attacking soldiers felt a particular hatred

of Catholic Rome and expressed their disdain

with great cruelty.

Alison Leonard: Accounts also say that churches were ransacked

and that relics of Peter and other saints

were trampled and destroyed.

Narrator: But it's the very possibility

that St. Peter's bones were removed long ago,

that gives some modern believers

and researchers hope for the bones' safety.

Amma Agbedor: In the 4th century, at a time when

Christians faced intense persecution,

some followers may have moved Peter's bones

to protect them from theft

or intentional destruction.

And one theory as to where they'd have moved them to,

is the Roman catacombs.

James Ellis: Catacumba comes from two ancient Greek words

meaning "at the quarry."

Rome's first catacombs were just tunnels

dug to quarry volcanic stone.

Once those tunnels were no longer being quarried,

the Christians started using them as underground cemeteries,

and expanded and extended them.

Later, tunnels were dug expressly to be used

as underground cemeteries.

Alison Leonard: It was common for Christians to move relics

to secure locations for their protection,

and the idea that this may have been done

with Saint Peter's bones is

one of the more accepted theories today.

The Chronograph, the Roman calendar, of 354 CE

actually supports this, saying that from 258 CE,

Peter's remains were ad catacumbas "at the catacombs"

and not at Vatican Hill.

Adam Bunch: Rome's catacombs are some of the oldest,

and longest in the world.

There are hundreds of miles of burial tunnels

beneath the city and the surrounding area.

Some have been open to the public,

but many of them still haven't been properly explored,

and there could be even more waiting to be discovered.

So, if Peter's remains are down there somewhere,

they would be very hard to find.

Narrator: But some experts believe St. Peter's bones

may be hiding in plain sight.

Amma Agbedor: It's possible that Saint Peter's remains

have already been found,

and that they've been in the Vatican all along.

James Ellis: In 1939, it was decided

that the Vatican Grottoes,

an ancient complex of chambers and chapels

that lie beneath the floor of the Basilica,

should be opened to the public.

Creating access required some excavation work,

and in the course of that,

workers came across Roman tombs

the ancient Vatican necropolis.

Materials were removed and put into a Vatican warehouse

and forgotten about.

Alison Leonard: As these excavations continued,

a Catholic mystic claimed to have had several visions

in which Jesus told her Peter's remains weren't on Vatican Hill,

but had been interred miles from there,

in the catacombs of Marcillinus and Peter.

Adam Bunch: Years after the excavations began,

a worker who was involved told one of the archaeologists

that some of the materials discovered early on

had been bones, and that they'd been removed

and were now in a Vatican warehouse.

Narrator: The bones were pulled from the Vatican storehouse,

and sent for forensic testing.

Amma Agbedor: The analysis said the bones belonged to one man,

heavy set, who'd been about 60 or 70 years old

at the time of his death,

which matched Peter's approximate age

when he was martyred.

And there were traces of wool,

dyed purple and interwoven with gold thread,

suggesting the bones had been wrapped

with great care, before being interred.

James Ellis: This was enough for the Catholic Church.

By 1968, Pope Paul VI announced officially

that Peter's bones had been found.

So they ended their temporary stay in the Vatican warehouse,

and at the forensic labs,

and were venerated privately, until 2013,

when Pope Francis displayed them publicly

in St. Peter's Square.

Alison Leonard: So it's a neat, happy ending.

As long as you believe that the results of the forensic testing

on the bones were sufficient to prove

the bones really were St. Peter's.

Many experts still have their doubts.

Amma Agbedor: Peter's bones may have been lost to history,

or they may be safe and secure in the Vatican.

But if neither of those is true,

there are still many miles of unexplored,

unexcavated catacombs

that may still hold Peter's remains.

♪♪

Narrator: Until Peter's bones are verified or located,

believers may have their faith tested,

while scientists and skeptics

may keep searching for the truth.

And it's possible both

will one day find

what they're looking for.

♪♪

♪♪