All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Ultimate.Evidence.S01E01.Beyond.Nazca

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
When skeptics say to me,

"Where is the proof that
extraterrestrials ever came

and visited our planet?",
I tell them

to look no further than the
desert soil at Nazca in Peru.

I have always been fascinated
by the fact that here

can be found literally hundreds
of ancient geoglyphs

depicting everything
from birds and fish

to humanoid figures and even
elaborate geometric symbols.

But what's even more bizarre is
that they are done on a scale

so large
that they can only be seen

from up high in the sky.

But who made these symbols?

And who were they meant for?

Certainly not people here
on the ground.

And there were no airplanes
hundreds of years ago.

At least not that we know of.

TSOUKALOS: People have been
studying the Nazca Lines

ever since their discovery
over 80 years ago.

To date, over 1,000 different
images have been identified,

and, amazingly,
new ones are still being found.

On a recent visit to Peru,
I chartered a plane

to fly over the Nazca Lines

with fellow ancient astronaut
theorist, David Childress.

And although we had viewed them
from the sky

several times before, we'd both
spot new shapes and figures

we had never seen.

Look, look,
over there, over there!

DAVID CHILDRESS:
Okay, that's a good one.

TSOUKALOS:
In August of 2014,

pilot Eduardo Herrán Gómez
de la Torre

spotted several Nazca Lines
that had never been seen

by anyone in modern times.

Strong winds and sandstorms
uncovered an unidentified bird,

a figure
that resembles a llama,

and a 196-foot-long snake.

For me, Nazca is not just
a mystery but a clue,

one piece in a giant puzzle
that offers not just evidence

but proof.

NARRATOR:
Southern Peru, 1927.

While hiking in the foothills
of the arid Nazca Desert,

archaeologist Toribio Mejía
Xesspe discovers what appears

to be a large network
of ancient roads

carved into the earth.

Years later, as airplane travel

to the region
becomes more frequent,

aerial flyovers reveal
nearly 100 other designs

in the nearby landscape.

Known as geoglyphs,

they depict animals, flowers,

and even
a mysterious human-like being.

Scattered over
a nearly 200-square-mile area,

these lines and figures
have become collectively known

as the Nazca Lines.

NICK REDFERN:
The Nazca Lines consist

of these massive drawings,
or carvings,

if you like, on the ground.

Everything
from geometric symbols, lines,

to animals, um, fish, birds.

But the intriguing thing
about them is, you know,

number one, they're massive,

and they can really only
be seen properly from the sky.

There are
over 800 straight lines.

There are over 70 animal
figures. There are over

150 geometrical shapes.

JASON MARTELL: We have glyphs
of different figurines

on the ground.

We have these intricate lines
and what appear to be runways

spread all around the desert.

Some of these actually show
mathematical diagrams

built thousands of years ago,

which really raises
the question: why?

M.J. EVANS: There's an enormous
amount of unanswered

and perhaps unanswerable

questions
that arise from the phenomena.

NARRATOR: The largest of the
figures is nearly 1,000 feet,

or the size
of three football fields,

while the longest line extends
almost nine miles.

According
to mainstream archaeologists,

these mysterious earth drawings
were created by the Nazca,

an ancient people
that flourished in the region

between the first
and eighth century AD.

The lines were formed
by the careful removal

of the reddish
iron oxide pebbles

that make up
the desert surface.

Once exposed,
the underlying dirt,

which contains high amounts
of lime,

hardened and was resistant
to erosion.

But why did the Nazca people
feel it necessary

to make these elaborate and
massive drawings in the earth?

What purpose
were they intended to serve?

And why were they designed
in such a way

that they could have only been
seen and appreciated

from the sky at a time

when aircraft
didn't even exist?

The only place
you can see them above

is that somehow
you're floating in midair.

TSOUKALOS:
It has been suggested

that whoever inhabited
the Nazca Plateau,

that they had access
to some type of balloon flight,

so that they could appreciate

what they had created
on the ground.

If the Nazca population
had access to balloon flight,

the Spanish chroniclers
would have most certainly

recorded that in their reports.

But there is not a single word
that describes

that the Nazcans had access
to hot air balloons.

They would have written that
down, but they didn't,

so it didn't exist.

COPPENS: By default,
we're in the bailiwick

of highly advanced
terrestrial technology,

and that is really
the anomaly of the Nazca Lines.

They really are easy to make,
when you look at it,

because
it is only really removing

the top layer of a surface.

But the magnitude
of the figures

is what makes this
such a complex undertaking.

CHILDRESS: Many of the lines
at Nazca go for miles,

perfectly straight
through the desert.

There are various trapezoids
and spirals

and other glyphs that are

so large that the surveyors

would need some direction
from the sky.

And this is where aliens

or some kind of people
with flight had to be involved

with the creation
of the Nazca Lines.

LINDA MOULTON HOWE: I was
in Peru for a month in 1987.

I went with a pilot
over the plains of Nazca.

The first pattern
that the pilot said,

"Well, let's aim for that long

six-mile triangle."

And there have been
laser surveys done,

and it is remarkably accurate,
this triangle.

And it looked
like something had pressed

the whole ground down
at least 24 inches.

How would you press down
a six-mile-long

perfect triangle
into the desert of Nazca?

What kind of technology
can do that?

Not the feet of ancient people.

NARRATOR: How could
the ancient people of Nazca

have created
such massive geoglyphs

without the capability
of flight

or the use of advanced tools?

Might these mysterious lines

have actually been created
with the help

of otherworldly beings,

as ancient astronaut theorists
believe?

The fact that these designs
can only be seen from above,

from the sky, is an indication

that they were used
as navigational markers

for the gods
when they were actually here.

So the question then becomes,
you know,

were they drawn in this way
as navigational markers

for the gods to actually fly
their vehicles in?

TSOUKALOS: Let's assume for
a moment that extraterrestrials

sent down some type

of an unmanned craft,
like a rover

that we have on Mars right now,

that is collecting samples

and is driving
around a desert plateau.

It, of course, leaves behind
some type of tracks.

And then the natives
who just witnessed this

would look at each other
and say,

"Wow. We were just visited
by God."

When in reality,
no such thing happened.

NARRATOR: Modern-day historians
and anthropologists

believe the Nazca people
were one of several ancestors

of the Inca civilization,

the largest empire
in pre-Columbian America.

In the 13th century,

the Inca Empire thrived
in the Andes mountain region

of South America.

According to legend,

the mysterious
Incan creator god Viracocha

commissioned the Nazca Lines
and glyphs in the remote past.

HUGH NEWMAN: And these were said
to be created

by the Viracocha himself,

who was the great teacher god
of the Andes.

And so where he came from
is still a mystery.

He could've been from Sumeria.

He could've been connected
somehow with the Anunnaki.

No one really knows.

But the same legends
and the same stories

of these great gods

appear throughout the world,

especially all the way
through the Americas.

NARRATOR: Could the lines
and glyphs of Nazca

really have been the work
of the Inca god Viracocha,

as their legends suggest?

If so, what was the purpose

of carving these strange
geoglyphs into the earth?

Perhaps the answers
can be found

by taking a closer look

at one of Nazca's
most mysterious figures,

one that has become known
as El Astronauto.

TSOUKALOS: When I was in Nazca
recently with David Childress,

we had local historians
take us

to the site of one of
the most mysterious formations,

the Sun-Star and Cross glyph.

It's not just ancient astronaut
theorists who believe

that extraterrestrials
may have been responsible

for the remarkable glyphs
found at Nazca,

but many of the native people
who live here today

believe it, too.

They're also convinced that
the area has been a hot spot

of UFO activity,
even to this day.

Here and around Nazca
and Paracas,

do you sometimes see, um, UFOs,

some light, luz,
light in the sky?

He doesn't know what it is.

It's incredible to think

that there may still be
extraterrestrials

visiting this part of the world
even today,

but what's even more incredible

is that the world
only started paying attention

to the Nazca region
less than 50 years ago,

when researcher
Erich von Daniken determined

that the Nazca Lines
were evidence

for what became known
as the ancient astronaut theory.

NARRATOR:
Switzerland, 1968.

Researcher and writer
Erich von Daniken

publishes his first book,
Chariots of the Gods?

In it, he introduces
the revolutionary notion

that the Nazca Lines were
created by the Nazca people

after witnessing
extraterrestrials

using advanced technology

and a sophisticated knowledge
of mathematics.

Erich von Daniken
was one of the first

to actually do aerial flyovers
of the Nazca region

and was one of the first
researchers to not only look

at the diagrams
on the plain floor

but also in the hills of Nazca.

We find
intricate mathematical diagrams

that have never been documented
before.

ERICH VON DANIKEN:
When you fly

over the desert,
you see down gigantic lines.

Seen from the air,

they give you
the imagination of airstrips

because they start abruptly,
end abruptly.

Sometimes they cross.

They look like airstrips.

COPPENS:
When Erich drew the comparison

as to how this looks
like a network of runways,

it is to draw
a visual comparison

to what they look like
from above.

They are not runways.
They would not support

the weight of anything
physically landing there.

KEN STORCH: Some theorize
that they were runways.

Uh, I don't believe that
for a moment.

Hell, I was in the Air Force
for six years,

and none of the aircraft
that we had would be capable

of landing on that as a runway.

Uh, I think it's more
of a attention-getter.

You can see 'em from space.

So I think
that it's a, uh... a signal.

NARRATOR: In the more than four
decades since the publication

ofChariots of the Gods?,

Erich von Daniken's
controversial theories

concerning the Nazca Lines
have continued

to spark widespread study.

Some scholars, after
discovering curious patterns

in the numerous designs,

suggest that the Nazca Lines
might actually be one

of the earliest known examples
of applied geometry.

MICHAEL DENNIN: They were
interesting geometric figures.

They could draw a figure,
and then they could envision

making it even bigger.

You're making angles,
you're approximating distances,

and that innate skill of us
to deal with geometry,

I think, translates
to our earliest art forms.

BARA: It's interesting
as you look at these designs

on the plains of Nazca,
some of them

have very, very interesting
relationships

to the skies overhead.

There's a very famous glyph
of a spider

with one leg
that extends way, way out,

and if you take that
and flip it

into sort of
a mirror situation,

what you can plainly see
is that the spider is meant

to represent the constellation
of Orion,

and the spider's leg,
the extension,

is meant
to represent the star Sirius.

So whoever put these designs
on the plains of Nazca

understood the same thing

that all of the other
ancient cultures before them

understood,
which is that there's

some critical importance to
understanding Orion and Sirius

and their relationship
to the Earth.

NARRATOR: But could the Nazca
figures really have had

a more profound purpose?

Some ancient astronaut
theorists believe

they were created as a means
of communicating messages

to the gods,

messages that may have
also included a plea

for them to return.

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe the mysterious figure
known as El Astronauto

could hold a clue
to the Nazca mystery.

TSOUKALOS: You have a figure
that looks like E.T.,

with the big eyes
and the big head,

and one hand is pointing
to the sky

and the other is pointing
to Earth,

as if it was some type
of a message,

"Hey, something happened here.

We were visited
by beings from above."

NARRATOR: Is the mysterious
figure known as El Astronauto

evidence of an extraterrestrial
visitation in the distant past,

as some researchers believe?

And if so,
might this suggest a reason

why extraterrestrial visitors
may have landed at Nazca

in the first place?

VON DANIKEN:
We send scientists

from the University of Dresden
to Nazca.

They measured
the magnetic field,

and they found a change
in the magnetic field

under some of the lines.

And also,
we measured the conduction,

electricity along the lines,

and right next to it,
the ability to conduct currency

was 8,000 time higher
on the lines.

And they found that eight feet
below one of these lines,

the magnetic field
definitely changes.

So we have the result.

There is something
in the ground,

but we don't know what it is.

NARRATOR: Is it really possible
that something in the earth

might have attracted an
otherworldly species to Nazca?

Could it have been an outpost

for a mining operation
of precious metals?

Or perhaps minerals needed
for rocket fuel?

MARTELL: It's been said that
if any extraterrestrial wanted

to come to Earth,

Nazca would be a great place
for them to land.

Nitrates and various things
that we use

in our modern propulsion
are found in abundance.

Maybe it's possible that
extraterrestrials were aware

of this location
as an energy source,

and ancient man left
these depictions and runways

as a way to entice those beings
to come back.

We find that the Nazca
civilization was placed

in nitrate-rich environments.

They had no purpose
for these nitrates.

The question might be
whether nitrate was indeed

of importance to the people
who came to this area,

maybe in prehistoric times.

Maybe an extraterrestrial
civilization

somehow had a purpose
for this nitrate.

With any visit
or with any project,

the time arrives
when something is finished.

And that is why some
of these contacts had ended,

because the extraterrestrials
went on to different places.

CHILDRESS:
So why would extraterrestrials

be coming to Nazca?

Some of the lines at Nazca

are going
straight through the Andes.

The lines themselves
directed you farther east.

NARRATOR: But if Nazca was used
as an ancient mining site

by extraterrestrials,
might there be evidence

of other, similar sites
around the globe?

According to ancient astronaut
theorists, there are,

and they can be found hundreds
of miles away

at the ruins
of another lost civilization.

NARRATOR:
Western Bolivia.

400 miles east
of the Nazca Plain,

near Lake Titicaca,

lay the ancient ruins
of Tiahuanaco.

According to archaeologists,

this ancient city
was the capital

of the Tiahuanaco culture

that thrived
more than 1,000 years ago.

But ancient astronaut theorists
believe

that Tiahuanaco
is also the place

where the mysterious Nazca
Lines seem to be pointing to.

But if so, why?

When we consider
the Nazca Lines in Peru,

we have to consider them
in their context.

They're not isolated phenomena.

There might not be
other examples

exactly like the Nazca Lines,

but they would be embedded

in a larger, ritualized

or ceremonial landscape
that might include

other famous places
from ancient cultures

such as Tiahuanaco.

TSOUKALOS:
At Tiahuanaco, we can

find hundreds of glyphs.
We can find faces.

We can find carvings of all
sorts of different things.

NARRATOR:
According to legend, Tiahuanaco

was created as a tribute
to beings called sky people,

under the direction
of Viracocha,

the Inca god linked to Nazca.

But might these sky people

be the same extraterrestrials

who helped create
the Nazca Lines

thousands of years ago?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

the answer is yes.

Nazca, in a sense,

is really a way station
along the coast of Peru.

There's an indication there
that once you arrived in Nazca

with your airship, the lines
themselves directed you

into the Andes
to the giant megalithic cities

of Tiahuanaco and Pumapunku.

NARRATOR:
But is there other evidence

of an extraterrestrial
presence at Tiahuanaco?

Evidence that may
give us insight

into the true nature
of the ancient aliens

who allegedly visited Nazca
in the remote past?

NEWMAN: There are many
connections between

the Nazca culture
along the west coast of Peru

and the inland cultures--
the Andean cultures

of Tihuanaco,
Pumapunku and Cuzco.

All throughout this area,

they found evidence of these
unusual elongated skulls

in all these different places,
not just in one area.

And so it seems like

they were the builders
of these sites.

NARRATOR: Found in numerous
gravesites in the region,

these elongated skulls
have a cranial capacity

25% larger than human skulls.

But where did they come from?

You will find academic critics

who will say it was because

there were some Incas

who wrapped their baby's heads

in some kind of blankets
or cloths

to make them grow long--
a kind of cosmetic procedure.

There's a lot of argument
on the other side

that there is not
one single piece

of cultural evidence

that the Incas
ever bound the heads.

So you've got a conflict there
among archaeologists

even looking
at the Peruvian heads.

NARRATOR: But if there
is no evidence of the skulls

being created
by means of binding

or other man-made means,

then how can they be explained?

Could there be another--

perhaps more extraterrestrial--

explanation?

Might they be evidence
of some kind

of human-alien hybrid race?

A race that not only
lived in western Peru

but who may have also inhabited

ancient Egypt?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

the answer is a profound yes.

And they also cite a link
between the people of Nazca

and the god Viracocha.

NEWMAN:
What's most interesting

is the fact that Viracocha

was also said to be the builder
of all these sites.

So was he part of the race
of the elongated skull people

that came to this land
and built all these

amazing megalithic temples
as well as the Nazca Lines?

NARRATOR: What is perhaps
as mysterious as the origin

of the elongated skulls

is the fate
of the Nazca people.

According to most
archaeologists, both Nazca

and Tiahuanaco
were suddenly abandoned

at about the same time

approximately 1,000 years ago.

Those civilizations,

I think, are connected
to what was going on

in the Peruvian desert

with the Nazca.
To what extent,

I don't think we know.
There's not enough information

that has been gleaned from
those, uh, civilizations,

but they both disappeared

around the same time

for whatever reasons.

CHILDRESS:
There was some shift

in the earth right then,

either some massive earthquake
that even caused

Lake Titicaca to flood

the whole area.

Or perhaps it was some kind of

cosmic war between
the extraterrestrials.

But once the mining center,
the, in a sense,

the capital of this area was
destroyed

and no longer functioning,

Nazca became this backwater

where nothing was really
happening anymore.

And it was during
that period, probably,

that many of the lines

were drawn and the figures,

trying to attract

the extraterrestrials.

TSOUKALOS: Now, while
many elongated skulls

are undoubtedly
the result of head binding,

conventional archaeologists
are too quick

to jump to the conclusion
that head binding

is the explanation
for all elongated skulls.

I recently got the chance

to see some of the elongated
skulls unearthed

in Peru at the Paracas
History Museum.

And let me tell you,
these skulls are

truly bizarre.

I can't say for certain

that these skulls
are of alien origin,

but they definitely
gave me the chills.

But just as elongated skulls
are not unique to Peru,

neither are the ancient
formations that were made

to be seen from the sky.

Some of them can be found
much closer to home,

even in the United States.

NARRATOR:
Pleasant Hill, Ohio. 1848.

The Smithsonian Institute
surveys

a 1,350-foot-long,

three-foot-high effigy mound

built in the shape
of a coiling serpent.

Like the lines
and geoglyphs of Nazca,

this reptilian motif,

known as the Serpent Mound,

can only be seen
from high above the earth.

CHILDRESS:
Similar to Nazca,

what we have
with these earth mounds

is that they're put into

easily recognizable symbols.

But unless
you're looking at them

from some altitude,

they don't look like anything.

CLIFFORD MAHOOTY:
In the Native American legend,

we call it

the plume serpent,
which is probably

the same as, uh,

Quetzalcoatl
down in the tribes in Mexico.

The-the plume serpent theory

is probably related
to something

that came from the sky.

It came from the
extraterrestrial territory.

Serpent Mound and other places

of what the Indians used to

call places of worship

are very important
to study these things.

There are certain things
that are connected

for the well-being
of the planet,

whether it be
the magnetic system,

whether it be the ley lines,

whether it be observance points

from other worlds

that existed here before.

NARRATOR: According to
historians and anthropologists,

an indigenous
Native American culture

called the Fort Ancient people
built the mounds

nearly 1,000 years ago.

But, if so, why?

Serpent Mound is an
extraordinary site.

It is one of the most important
sites in North America.

It's almost as if somebody
is trying to point out

that for anybody
passing from above,

he or she or it
is about to approach

a site of importance.

NARRATOR: Why would a so-called
primitive people

have constructed
a massive earthwork

that, like the geoglyphs
and lines in Nazca,

went unnoticed and undetected

by those on the ground
for hundreds of years?

Perhaps a clue can be found

in the fact
that the Serpent Mound

was constructed on the edge
of a meteor crater

that was formed approximately
300 million years ago.

Coincidence?

Or was the mound's proximity
to a meteor site

intended to mark the presence
of a very rare

and precious element
often found in meteors--

iridium?

DENNIN: Iridium has great
conductive abilities.

It's one of the rarest elements
we have, and it tends to be

concentrated in unique areas
for two reasons.

Either a meteorite crashed
at some point in the past...

or volcanic activity
and lava flow.

Looking at locations
like the Serpent Mound in Ohio

and various other sites, we see

some type of energy source
that either was powering

these locations
or is still offering

some type
of energy source today,

like iridium and other
exotic elements.

And if extraterrestrials
are aware of these locations,

were they tapping into
this energy?

The concentration of iridium
on that site is ten times higher

than what would be expected.

Serpent Mound
is some kind of memorial

to the presence of another
world involved in mining

of this iridium
at some point in the remote

or maybe not-so-remote past.

There's even
gravitational anomalies

such as you get
at the Serpent Mound in Ohio

which has magnetic
and gravitational effects.

And it can really affect
your consciousness.

A whole preponderance of
possibilities that these sites

were built on these
particular spots.

NARRATOR: Could
the Serpent Mound be a marker

where extraterrestrial beings
mined iridium

as an energy source,

as some ancient astronaut
researchers believe?

And if so, might there
be a connection

between energy
in the ground here

and that found
in the Nazca plain?

Perhaps more clues can be found

by examining
the mysterious crop circles

discovered
throughout the world.

TSOUKALOS: One of the most
puzzling formations

to be found in Peru
is an ancient site

on the Cajamarquilla plain

known as the Band of Holes.

Located about 100 miles
from the Nazca Lines, there is

a seemingly deliberate pattern
formed by over 5,000 holes

of varying dimensions and
depths dug into the earth,

running north and south
for almost

two miles
along a mountain range.

Like the Nazca Lines,
the Band of Holes

can only be appreciated
in its entirety

from high above the ground.
But what does it mean?

While some say
it represents a serpent,

others claim it may have
been used as some type of

human-to-alien
communication system.

Early humans would build fires
in the stone-lined holes,

following a precise numeric
code in order to send signals

to alien ships flying overhead.

Now, while I'm still
not certain

what to make of it,
the Band of Holes

does appear to be
yet another example

of an ancient formation
designed as a message

to be seen from above.

And this is also true of another

recently discovered phenomenon:

crop circles.

NARRATOR:
Wiltshire, England, 1978.

Here, in this
tranquil countryside

90 miles west of London,

strange crop circles
begin to appear overnight

in fields of wheat and corn.

Like the geoglyphs
found at Nazca,

the designs
are geometric shapes

seen only from above.

MARTELL: Crop circles--
they are described

as some type of energy ball

that whizzed through the field
and all of a sudden

there's this intricate diagram.

We also have to wonder if

extraterrestrials potentially
were involved in Nazca,

maybe they're also trying
to get us messages today

through crop circles.

LEVITON:
There is a correlation

between the ancient glyphs

and the modern crop circles
in that they're both

being presented to the earth
from what we would call

star peoples using
a higher technology.

NARRATOR: Mainstream scientists
have yet to acknowledge

an extraterrestrial
connection to crop circles.

But ancient astronaut theorists

remain convinced
that there is more here

than what meets
the skeptical eye.

While some crop circles
are undoubtedly

the work of farmers and others

trying to pull off a hoax,

many cannot be explained
so easily.

They appear to be made
too quickly,

too perfectly.

Some magically appear
within a few hours,

accompanied by strange lights
in the sky.

Could there be a connection

between these unusual shapes

and the mysterious designs

found at Nazca?

REDFERN:
Now, people suggest

that crop circles are made
by either extraterrestrials

or some sort
of non-human intelligence,

some sort of non-human entity

that's possibly
trying to give us a message.

If we draw the parallel between

the crop circles
and the Nazca Lines,

one, yes, is made in, like,
a sandy desert-type terrain,

the other's made in corn,

but the actual designs
are somewhat similar,

and maybe even the message
is a similar one,

but it's just been upgraded
for a new era

and a different country.

In the past, we set the
communications in stone.

And what's happening
now, today,

in fields all over the world,
but especially in England,

the crop circles
are so much more complex

than the designs at Nazca,
and there definitely

seems to be some sort
of communications taking place.

Somebody is trying
to communicate with us,

and we are too stupid to
understand the communication.

One morning,
you have a simple circle

in a crop field.

Now, the humans think,
"Okay, circle,

it happens by the wind or by
animals overnight or whatever."

We all are too arrogant,

so we don't try
at communication.

NARRATOR: Is there really
a profound connection

between the Nazca Lines
and crop circles,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

And might they contain messages

that we have yet to decode?

If so, what are they

trying to tell us?

Perhaps answers can be found

by examining other equally
strange geoglyphs,

recently discovered

after nearly 2,000 years.

NARRATOR:
2011, the Middle East.

Satellite
and aerial photography

reveals high numbers
of mysterious stone wheels

carved into the earth

in Syria, Saudi Arabia,

and Jordan.

First discovered in 1927,

these stone circles
are believed

to number in the thousands,

and date back
more than 2,000 years.

Ranging in size from 80

to more than 200 feet in width,

ancient astronaut
theorists believe

these designs
fit a global pattern.

Thanks to Google Earth,
we now have a vehicle

by which we can see
some of these glyphs.

They're being called
Nazca-like phenomena.

I think we are opening
the first page of a chapter

that deals with glyphs

and structures
which can be seen

from the air.

MARTELL: It's not only
at Nazca that ancient man

was trying to communicate
to the heavens,

but around the world we are
finding new monuments and glyphs

that raise the question:

was there a connected
geodetic presence of sites

that the extraterrestrials used
to navigate around our planet?

NARRATOR: What is the purpose
of the strange shapes

and geoglyphs found at Nazca

and all over the world?

Were they used
as navigational markers,

intended to guide
space travelers?

Or might they contain

a more profound message
for humanity?

In 1972,

cosmologist Carl Sagan stated

that if an extraterrestrial
intelligence

exists in the universe,

the means of contact
would be mathematics.

If you think about this
as communication,

as Carl Sagan
was quoted as saying,

it is certainly true
that this would be the way

we'd probably have to start.

A circle is a circle,
and that's

just a universal feature
of geometry.

And it would be the same

no matter where you were
in the universe.

NARRATOR: Is it possible

that otherworldly beings have
been using basic mathematics

and geometry in an effort
to communicate with us?

And might the proof of this be
found in the many geoglyphs

at Nazca
and throughout the world?

Could mankind
have been receiving

extraterrestrial messages
for hundreds

and even thousands of years?

Messages that have gone unread

and undeciphered
right before our eyes?

COPPENS: What we have
in the Nazca culture

is something
which our ancestors knew

that what they were making was
gonna have a lasting effect.

Hundreds of years afterwards,
it is still there.

And it might be very ironic
to realize

that they were shouting out
for the deities,

saying, "Please come down
and visit us."

And that 100 years later,

the Nazca Lines
have become the billboard

for the ancient alien theory,

whereby they really
are interpreted as, indeed,

a landing place
for the deities.

And so we might find that
across time and space

and culture, really the core of
the message of the Nazca Lines

is maintained, even though

maybe slightly placed
in a different context.

When you look at
some of the glyphs at Nazca,

they would seem to be
just simple things.

Animals and figures
and things like that.

But then other of the figures

and the lines seem to be
so incredibly complicated.

Mathematical, and
they're-they're following

energy lines.

So there seems to be
a much deeper meaning

in all of the figures
and the lines,

and where they're going
and why they intersect.

But we can't figure it out.

TSOUKALOS: Is it possible,
as ancient astronaut

theorists suggest,
that the lines

and geoglyphs of Nazca

are part of a worldwide
communications network?

Or might it be some form

of alien communication intended

not for us but for someone

or something not of this world?

Perhaps Nazca's
many strange shapes

and symbols serve as pieces

to an elaborate puzzle
or an invitation

for other alien visitors
to return.

One thing is certain:
the Nazca Lines are,

for me, proof that
extraterrestrials

not only exist, but that
they have been coming here

and influencing mankind's

history for thousands of years.

It's something I don't
just believe, I know.

And I'm convinced we're
getting close to finding

the ultimate evidence that not
even the skeptics can ignore.