All language subtitles for What On Earth Series 7 Part 10 Hunt for Atlantis 1080p

Narrator:
They're watching you.

More than 4,000 satellites
circle the earth.

Every day, they uncover new,
mysterious phenomena

that defy explanation.

[ beeping, distorted music ]

a vast, coded message
in utah's desert...

These images are crazy.

These are on par with
something going on at area 51.

Narrator: ...Russia's crazy
monster experiments...

The goal was to see
if telepathic powers exist

and somehow exploit
that during warfare.

Narrator: ...And the search
for atlantis from space.

Janulis: You've got a visible,
manmade structure

within this image,

and that creates a smoking gun.

Narrator:
Baffling phenomena.

Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

[ beeping ]
[ camera shutter clicking ]

[ whirring ]

captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

[ frequency warbles ]
[ whirring ]

June 2014 --

flying over a remote
utah desert,

eyes in the sky
capture this image.

Fanara: This is crazy.

In the middle of
what looks to be nowhere,

there is a very
purposeful pattern.

Narrator:
Further images reveal

yet more unusual shapes
in the desert scrub below.

These patterns come in
different shapes and sizes.

There's one that looks
like a big ice cube tray.

One kind of looks like
a wagon wheel.

Morgan: So what possible purpose
could be served

by creating these patterns
on the desert

in close proximity
to one another?

Narrator: Analysts consider
if the shapes are a legacy

of the indigenous tribes
who once ruled these lands.

This area was inhabited
by tribes of the navajo nation,

and they use numerous symbols
in their culture.

Narrator:
Elsewhere, giant symbols
have been found

carved into the earth.

Some are believed to have had
a magical function,

possibly a form of prayer
or an attempt to communicate

with gods who inhabit the skies.

Some of these symbols
were for protection,

some of them were
for life-giving,

and some were for luck.

So I'm wondering, maybe
the things we're seeing here

could be native american
symbols.

Narrator: Yet studies
of utah's indigenous people

suggest the strange patterns

aren't some kind
of ancient code.

It's unlikely because
they usually put their symbols

into rock faces,
not on the ground.

♪

narrator: Military journalist
carlo munoz

suspects the patterns
may have a sinister purpose

and is traveling
to the remote site

to investigate.

Munoz: Where we're driving
right now,

we're near
one of the u.S. Government's

most important sort of
training grounds

for chemical
and biological weapons.

Narrator: Munoz knows that
experimental military testing

takes many forms

and can leave long-lasting scars
on the landscape.

There's got to be
some sort of connection.

I just can't put my finger
on exactly what that could be.

Narrator:
One notorious utah base
could help shed some light.

It's entirely possible
that these symbols are connected

to the dugway proving ground.

The operations that go on
at dugway are really top secret.

I mean, these are
the types of operations

that you would put maybe on par

with something going on
at area 51.

Narrator: Declassified records
confirm dugway scientists

have been conducting clandestine
bio weapons experiments

in the utah desert
for almost 80 years.

These include trialing
the aerial dispersal of vx gas,

weaponized mosquitoes,

and fleas infected with
the bubonic plague.

Dugway's aerial experiments here

remain some of
the most controversial

in u.S. Military history.

With the high level of activity
at dugway proving ground,

it's quite possible
that these shapes are related

to what's going on there.

Munoz: Could they be targets?

Could they be some sort of,

you know, side effect
of some of these tests?

I don't know.

But we're going to go see
what's happening out there.

♪

narrator: The desert road stops
long before the shapes begin.

Alright. This looks about as far
as I'm going to be able to go.

♪

♪

♪

narrator:
Munoz approaches the location

indicated by the aerial images,

but finding them isn't easy.

Munoz: You know, you look
at the satellite image,

the symbol just pops out.

But here on the ground --

I mean, seeing what I'm seeing,

I could be standing right
on top of it

and not even know.

♪

♪

[ sighs ]

okay, you know what?

I think this is it.

You got two paths
going this way.

You turn here, you have the same
exact sort of pattern here.

Turn again,
and it's there again.

So this is probably
the center of it.

Narrator: From the ground,

the symbol lacks the precision
visible from the air.

Whatever this is,

munoz doesn't think
military testing can explain it.

I'm not seeing any signs of

[chuckling] any type
of military activity.

There's no craters or whatnot.

So this is clearly

not some kind of extension
of a military base.

Narrator: The desert floor
yields some clues.

This is all loose sand
as long as I've been walking,

but coming down here,
looking down this path,

this is packed down.

This is almost designed
to take a very heavy weight.

♪

narrator: The shape is huge.

Munoz reckons
12,000 square feet.

The plant growth suggests
it may be decades old.

Whoever built this thing,
they built it to last.

Why would someone do that?

What makes it even weirder
is we know

that there are several other
symbols out here just as big.

♪

narrator: As munoz explores
an area to the east,

he sees something in the rock.

♪

well, that's not supposed
to be here.

Oh, wow.

[ whirring ]

narrator: Coming up,
the utah mystery deepens.

That symbol may have been
the "x" on a treasure map.

Narrator:
And dancing with the devil.

This is the party that your mom
doesn't want you going to.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

♪

narrator: Journalist carlo munoz
is in the utah desert

investigating a strange group
of symbols

captured from the heavens.

This was designed,
engineered in a way to last.

I can't figure out
why someone would do that.

♪

narrator: Munoz explores
the wider area for clues.

Huh.

Well, that shouldn't be here.

Wow.

Narrator: The hole is around
6 inches wide

and appears to go down forever.

Munoz: Feeling around the sides,

there are these ridges that
feel like it's been bored out

by some kind of drill.

A hole like this has to be
a geological borehole.

This is a technique
that mining companies use

to figure out
what sort of materials --

iron ore, gold, something,

if there's anything like that

underneath hard-rock shells
like this in the desert.

Narrator: Munoz thinks the
shapes nearby must be connected.

That symbol
may have been similar

to something like
the "x" on a treasure map.

The question is, what exactly
were they looking for?

Narrator: Munoz turns
to aerial images for help.

To the north, he spots

what could be a small,
abandoned mine.

Munoz: If I can figure out

what exactly they were mining
out of this old mine,

hopefully I can figure out what
these symbols out here are for.

Narrator: Munoz sets out further
into utah's perilous desert.

♪

it was not until
the late 18th century

that europeans dared
to explore these arid lands.

There it is!

♪

narrator:
Beyond the mining huts,

munoz spots an entrance
into the rock face.

♪

oh, wow.

[ grunts ] oh.

So, this is the mine.

But it looks like
we're a little barred off here.

It's not gonna be able
to get in.

Narrator:
This can't be a gold mine.

The nearest
known deposits of gold

lie far to the north
and east of here.

♪

if you take a look...

[ flashlight clicks ]

...Look how far that goes into
the rock face.

[ flashlight clicks ]

I've heard of mines like this,

kind of carved right into rock.

And it could be a uranium mine.

Narrator:
Munoz thinks the presence
on the satellite image

of a small airstrip nearby
supports the theory.

Munoz: Airstrips were used to
try and find uranium.

Aircraft could actually
haul these huge geiger counters

looking for hotspots of uranium

that could potentially
be mined out.

Narrator: Historic geological
records confirm

that the area around the mine
and strange symbols

once held abundant reserves
of radioactive uranium.

Mairot:
One of the richest deposits
in the united states of uranium

happened to be
in this exact area.

It started, like,
a completely new gold rush,

but instead of gold, they were
digging up radioactive material.

Newsreader:
Today's bonanza is a metal

more precious
than gold or silver.

There's uranium
in them there hills.

♪

narrator: The end
of the second world war

marked the start
of the atomic age.

The u.S. Government needed
radioactive material

to make bombs,

but the uranium craze
that followed

extended well beyond weapons.

[ geiger counter clicking ]

post world war ii,

uranium becomes
a really hot commodity.

People were saying
they could use it to power cars

and planes and trains
and everything

from distilling water
to preserving meat.

There were so many uses for
uranium that people just thought

it was the answer
to all the world's problems.

♪

narrator: To fuel the boom,
the u.S. Government offers

$10,000 incentives
to amateur prospectors,

and thousands descend on
the uranium-rich utah deserts.

Newsreader: Indispensable
in today's prospector's kit

is the geiger counter,

for here is the raw material
of atomic energy.

If they would conduct
these sort of air-based

detection tests
for uranium plots,

what I could have seen
out in the desert

could be just
the ground version of that,

just dragging the geiger
counters on the ground

looking for uranium.

Narrator:
Records confirm the shapes
are created

by machines pulling sensors
across the desert

to scan it for uranium.

Different prospectors
try different patterns

to find the most efficient way
to locate underground reserves.

It costs a dollar
to stake a claim,

and by 1959,
there are 8,000 miners

scouring the utah deserts
for the lethal element.

Ruben: It was total hysteria.

Anyone and everyone
who could get to utah

and stake a claim

could potentially start
their own mine and get rich.

Narrator: By the early '60s,
uranium miners,

including families
with children,

have unearthed around
9 million tons of uranium ore.

What they don't know is
that handling all this uranium

is like being handed
a death sentence.

Fanara:
Whenever you mine uranium,

radioactive dust can be spread
on plants, animals.

It could go up the food chain,
it could be in water sources.

It can be devastating
for generations to come.

Narrator:
A study finds that miners

have an average life expectancy
of 20 years

after they begin excavating,

and 75% of uranium prospectors

die of lung cancer.

40% of their wives
suffer health problems,

such as miscarriages
and childbirth defects.

You've got children
playing in the mines.

You've got homes built on
the heaps of radioactive waste.

It's been known for a long time

that radioactive uranium
has bad health effects,

but the atomic energy
commission

somehow forgot to mention this

to the prospectors
or the miners.

Narrator: In 1962,
the atomic energy commission

terminates its incentive scheme,
and the families return home,

unaware that they are saturated
with the radiation

that will soon kill
many of them.

The patterns they created,
dragging geiger counters

as they search
for the lethal mother lode,

remain visible from the skies.

Munoz: Those symbols
in the desert, in a way,

were kind of a --
kind of a hallmark

of a really sad story

of people just doing
anything they could

to find the american dream.

♪

[ whirring ]

narrator:
Coming up, sinister experiments
in the russian arctic...

Carter: Local fishermen have
actually captured

the most odd and strangest
sea creatures imaginable.

Narrator: ...And the lost
civilization of the sahara.

Chamberlain: One of the most
intriguing theories

is that it's actually atlantis.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

narrator: August 30, 2018 --

a nasa satellite orbits
the russian arctic.

As it passes over
the murmansk oblast region,

it captures this
in the waters below.

Looking at this image,

you see some really weird
structures -- these hexagons.

You can see how --
how big they are.

They dwarf the size of the dock
and the boats there.

♪

narrator:
Yet what intrigues analysts

is the mystery structures'
location.

They sit close to polyarny,

one of russia's bizarre,
sealed-off,

so-called "closed cities."

this site is
basically top secret.

Nobody can enter or leave

without the russian government's
knowledge.

This is a closed city.

This is where the russian navy

launched their newest nuclear
submarines during the cold war.

Every nuclear sub that was
fielded by the soviet union

got its start here in polyarny.

Narrator:
Russian officials claim

that today,
the base is only used

for decommissioning
their cold war submarine fleet,

but the mystery shapes
seen from space

suggest this may not be
the case.

Nelson: I have seen structures
like this before.

It seems to me like this is
some sort of marine enclosure,

and usually there
will be animals inside.

Mosher: It could be some
sort of research facility.

If I was trying to hide
something that I'm doing here,

this little bay looks like
a nice place to do it.

Narrator: In 2016,

fishermen working near
the mystery structures

find something weird
in the waters.

Carter:
Local fishermen in the area

have actually captured

the most odd and strangest
sea creatures imaginable.

Very strange faces,
they appear to be deformed.

Is there some kind of
experimentation going on

with submarines
and underwater animals?

♪

narrator:
Declassified cia documents

reveal the range of often
incredible experiments

carried out on animals
under communism.

The soviet union
made it a practice

to use animals
to study parapsychology.

[ dog whimpers ]

narrator: Parapsychology
is the study

of paranormal
or psychic phenomena.

At the onset of the cold war,

russia and the united states

were engaged
in this kind of battle

to gain the edge
in terms of psychic warfare.

[ button clicks, machine beeps ]

mosher: The goal was to see
if telepathic powers exist

and somehow exploit that
during warfare.

[ dogs panting ]

narrator:
Some of the most bizarre
and cruel tests on animals

were carried out
at submarine bases

like the one in the image.

There's one really crazy case
where russia tried to

explore telepathic powers
using rabbits.

They took a mother rabbit,
separated her from her bunnies,

and put them in a submarine.

They attached electrodes
to her brain,

take her litter of babies,
and kill them one by one.

The thought was if there was
a telepathic communication,

the mother should somehow know
that the baby had died,

and they should be able to
detect that in the brainwaves.

[ rabbit sniffing ]

clearly, these pens
aren't holding rabbits,

but maybe they're using
some kind of marine mammal

to conduct similar experiments.

Narrator: In 2019,

a strange encounter in the seas
here provides a possible lead.

A fishing vessel was off
the coast of norway

when a beluga whale
came right up to it.

Seemed really, really friendly
and tame,

and when they leaned
over the side to look at it,

they saw it had
this harness on it.

The harness says
"equipment of st. Petersburg."

now, the harness
is made to house a camera,

but the camera is missing.

[ whale blows ]

scientists do track
beluga whale occasionally,

but they don't use
harnesses to do so.

So this appears to be the work
of the russian navy.

[ whale blows ]

narrator:
Another incident suggests

whales are indeed being used
by the russian military.

Moran: There was one found
in the black sea,

which is not at all a habitat
where you find beluga whale.

Turns out that whale
had actually escaped

from a russian naval facility
not too far away.

Narrator: Image enhancement
increases fears

that the russians
are weaponizing whales.

Kays: It definitely looks
like there's something inside

that's whitish and about
the size of a beluga whale.

Narrator: Biologist roland kays
reveals that beluga whales

have physiological connections
with submarine technology.

Belugas use sonar to navigate.
They echolocate.

Basically, they put out a noise

and then they have
this big melon of fat

that helps them hear it
and absorb it

and understand
where it's coming from.

[ whale clicks ]

if there's a submarine
that's down really deep,

they'll be able to hear it.

Narrator: The beluga's
five inch thick blubber

also means they can dive
to around 3,000 feet,

the reputed operating depth of
the latest u.S. Navy submarines.

And their brains are twice
as big as a human's,

making them easy to train.

Schuttler:
Beluga whales are among

the most intelligent animals
on this planet.

They can even mimic
the frequency and rhythm

of human speech.

Nelson: They would be
the perfect thing to use

because no submarine is going to
think that anything is unusual.

It's just another whale
in the ocean.

Narrator: Intelligence suggests

that the russian defense
ministry

also recently paid $26,000

for five bottlenose dolphins.

The nightmare scenario
is that the pens seen from space

are just the beginning

of a strange and terrifying
new kind of warfare.

♪

this is a really big red flag

that moscow may be trying
to weaponize these animals.

♪

narrator: Coming up, the richest
kingdom you've never heard of...

Along the trade route was
the legendary city of gold.

Narrator: ...And inside the 21st
century amphitheater.

It is the most
violent, visceral site

that you could possibly imagine.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

narrator:
April 12, 2019 --

an earth observation satellite
passing over the western sahara

captures this image
of the richat structure.

Horton: The richat structure
is the most extraordinary

spiral-like arrangement of rocks

with these brown and blue lines.

I mean, it looks spectacular.

It's hardly surprising

people have called it
"the eye of the sahara."

narrator: Since it was
first photographed

by gemini iv astronauts in 1965,

the precise origin of
the 25-mile diameter structure

has baffled investigators.

Yet the 2019 image reveals
another mystery

hidden within
its concentric circles.

In the middle of the picture

is an almost perfect square

with loops on the corners.

Narrator: The presence
of the unusual lone structure

baffles archaeologists.

What's really strange is
that it's there

in the middle of absolutely
nowhere.

It's in a place that's
pretty inhospitable to life.

There's no arable land.

You're quite a long way

from anything that could be
considered civilization.

Hunt: How can you possibly
survive out here?

Why would you need
a structure like this?

Narrator:
According to one legend,

the structure is somehow aligned

to the greatest mythical city
of antiquity.

One of the most
intriguing theories

about the eye of the sahara

is that it's actually
the lost city of atlantis.

Narrator:
In the 4th century b.C.,

the philosopher plato writes
about the lost civilization

beneath the waves.

Plato's description
of atlantis

begins with an island
in the middle,

and it's surrounded
by concentric rings of land.

I can see how looking
at the eye of the sahara

could resemble
his description of atlantis.

♪

narrator: Atlantis means
"the island of atlas,"

and this is a further link
with the eye,

which sits in the country
of mauritania.

The king of atlantis
was known as atlas,

and the king of mauritania
was also known as atlas.

Even before plato, another
historian named herodotus

made a map of the world,

and right in mauritania,
he wrote the word "atlantis."

and now you've got a visible,
manmade structure

within this image.

And for some people,

that, to them,
creates a sort of smoking gun.

Narrator: Whatever the truth
behind atlantis,

it does seem that
in these desert sands,

there was once a great kingdom.

I think the most
likely candidate

is going to be the mali empire.

They were pretty well known
for their trading network,

and these routes pass
through the whole richat area.

Narrator: The mali empire

extends to almost
half a million square miles.

By the 14th century,

it holds almost half
the gold in the world.

Chamberlain: The malian empire
is so wealthy

because it'd take these precious
resources, gold and salt,

and sell them along
these trade routes.

Narrator: At this time,
salt is as valuable as gold.

The wealth accumulated
from this trade

is controlled
by emperor mansa musa

who is considered the
wealthiest man who ever lived.

Along the trade route
the malians took

was the legendary
city of timbuktu,

also known as the city of gold.

You know that your empire
has hit the big time

when you trade through a city
called "the city of gold."

I think the structure
we're looking at here

may be an old malian
fortification,

a place to house
all the travelers,

the traders, you name it,
passing through this region.

Narrator: Yet when archaeologist
mark horton analyzes the image,

he thinks the corners
of the structure

mean it has
a more modern origin.

Horton: There's no point
in having projecting towers

like that for bows and arrows,

but with artillery,
with cannon,

then you could see
why those make sense.

It is actually a defended
outpost of some description

in the age of firearms.

Narrator: Horton thinks
the defensive construction

could date from a vicious
19th century campaign

of military conquest.

Horton: European powers were
trying to create colonies

during what we call
"the scramble for africa."

narrator: Until 1870,

only 10% of africa
is under foreign rule.

Over the next 30 years,

europe's imperial powers
attempt to expand their empires,

colonizing 90% of the continent.

It was to do with prestige
coloring great chunks

of the earth
on your national colors.

Narrator: Almost 2 billion
square miles of africa,

including the area
around the eye of the sahara,

are controlled by the french.

Horton thinks this could explain
the structure in the image.

The french
built a series of forts

across this part of mauritania,

and colonies there
were maintained

by what's known as
"the foreign legion."

[ horse whinnies ]

narrator: The foreign legion

is a notorious unit
of the french army

formed in 1831.

The legion served
in far-off lands

and offered a new start
and anonymity

for thieves, murderers,
and others escaping justice.

It was essentially
a mercenary army

that anybody in the world could
join up to if they wanted to.

It was a way of escaping
your life.

♪

narrator:
Despite their lawless origins,

the legion fights
with distinction

in all of France's
major campaigns.

In world war ii,
outnumbered ten to one,

legionnaires nevertheless
prevent hitler

from capturing the vitally
important suez canal.

Horton: Membership of
the french foreign legion --

in many ways,
it was a sentence of death.

The reward was that, if you
were injured in the conflict,

then you were allowed
to acquire french citizenship.

Narrator:
Today, the unit retains

9,000 soldiers from 140 nations

and has recently fought in mali,
mauritania's neighbor.

My theory is that this
particular structure

might well be a fort or training
base for the foreign legion.

Narrator: But until experts can
examine the site up close,

the strange, lone structure
in the desert

will remain as puzzling as
the giant eye that surrounds it.

[ whirring ]

narrator: Coming up, drinking
games with the devil...

Which I'm sure will give you
at least the hangover from hell.

Narrator: ...And the mystery
mega structure

at the end of the world.

If there was anybody
that could ever have pulled off

an antarctic colony,

it would have been nazi germany.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

narrator: June 4, 2017 --

passing over the town
of san basilio de palenque

in the foothills
of northern colombia,

a satellite captures this image.

Kourounis: There's definitely
an unusual feature

in this small colombian town.

On the edge is this perfectly
round structure

that is quite large.

It's massive, actually.

Narrator: Scale analysis reveals
this spherical structure

has a diameter of 350 feet.

Is it meant
to keep something out?

Is it meant to keep
something in?

It's hard to tell.

Narrator:
The town's unusual name

offers a clue
to the mystery object's purpose.

So, the term "palenque"
really refers to

a kind of a walled-off
community,

a stockade of some sort.

Narrator:
Historical records provide
further possible connections

between this town and the weird
structure on the edge of it.

This town had a very high
slave population.

[ man coughing ]

slaves were kept or corralled,
if you like,

in structures
known as barracoons,

which were circular pens.

[ chains clinking ]

narrator:
Of the 10 1/2 million slaves

who survived being trafficked
from africa,

less than 4% are
transported to north america.

Analysts learned that between
1564 and 1851,

1 million arrive at a port
near the town in the image.

This area was a place of high
concentration of slave trade.

And it makes you wonder

if this site was maybe
one of those slave pens.

Narrator: But the ring
in the image it transpires

appears and disappears.

This is not
a permanent structure.

Because this mysterious ring
only appears

for a few weeks each year,

and based on the size of it,
is it possible

that this is linked
to some kind of celebration

that happens maybe once a year?

Narrator: Africans brought with
them belief in spirit worship,

which melded with indigenous
pagan beliefs

and then fused
with spanish catholicism.

The result was some
truly strange rituals.

In colombia, they celebrate
the carnival of the devil,

and it is a six-day party
of debauchery.

Narrator: The streets are filled
with a weird, deranged orgy

dedicated
to the lord of darkness.

This is the party that your mom
doesn't want you going to.

Chamberlain: They drink
something called "guarapo,"

which is an alcoholic beverage

that I'm sure will give you
at least the hangover from hell.

Narrator: The ceremony,
it is believed,

began as a way to keep
two warring communities apart.

There were two conflicted groups
in a community,

and each community
had its own catholic parish,

and the catholic priest

constructed this devil statue
in between

to scare members
of both communities

to stay in their own place

and to stop fighting
with one another.

Narrator: In 1847,
the warring parties unite,

and the priests remove
the statue.

The festival celebrates
the banishment of beelzebub.

It's ended with this ritual
of taking a devil-like figure

and the devil's companions

and filling them with gunpowder
and lighting them on fire,

and they just disappear.

So, is this ring structure

a place where the devil
goes to be burned

and then not to be seen again
until the next year?

Narrator: But there's a problem
with this theory.

Taking a closer look
at the dates here,

the structure comes up
and down in June,

and the festival of the devil
happens in January,

so it can't be that.

[ music plays ]

narrator:
Social media footage emerges

that reveals a bizarre activity
taking place in June

in a ring matching
the dimensions

of the structure
caught by satellite.

It transpires the circle
in the image

is a kind of gladiatorial ring,

but unlike the gladiator
slaves of ancient rome,

the fighters in this ring
are up against vicious bulls.

It involves bulls running
wild within this enclosure.

The young men of the village

challenge the bull
with their bare hands

and try and pin the bull down.

Narrator: In traditional
spanish bullfighting,

matadors use weapons,

and the animals are often
stabbed and weakened

before they get in the ring.

But this is a true test
of bravery.

It's bovine fight club
with the gloves off.

Munoz: It's basically
guys with flip flops,

jeans, and t-shirts, you know,

running on nothing
but liquid courage,

thinking that they're going to
literally grab this bull

by the horns.

Narrator: Each bull can weigh

the equivalent
of five refrigerators

and charge
at 35 miles per hour.

It's not known how many
people have been killed

in this brutal contest.

Munoz: Just seeing these guys
go in there

and take on this bull

with really no protection,
no nothing --

I mean, it's one of the crazier
things I've seen.

Some people are not so lucky.

Some days, the bull wins.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

narrator: Coming up,
time travel in the antarctic.

Someone has gone to an
enormous effort to create this.

[ whirring ]

[ whirring ]

narrator: November 19, 2016 --

an earth observation satellite
over antarctica

captures something
in the vast whiteness below.

Nelson: It looks like the sun

is hitting a whole bunch
of objects here in the snow

and casting a shadow?

Kourounis:
This is really unusual.

It's a featureless,
flat part of antarctica,

but yet there's a series
of these triangular shapes

that certainly don't look like
they belong there.

Narrator: The mystery structures
lie in an area

called queen maud land,

200 miles
from the north antarctic coast

and one of the most remote,
hostile places on earth.

Yet over the centuries,

some people have ventured
into this frozen desert.

Antarctica has a deep,
rich history

when it comes to exploration,

names like scott and shackleton.

Could this be a remnant
of one of these early explorers?

Narrator: Records state the
first expedition to antarctica

makes landfall
in the early 1800s.

But a strange discovery

at the magnificent
topkapi palace in turkey

suggests there may have been
people here earlier.

Hunt: One of the things
discovered in topkapi palace

was a map fragment,

and there was
an ottoman captain, piri reis,

and he actually made a map.

Narrator: A detail

on the 500-year-old
gazelle skin and parchment map

baffles experts.

Hunt: If you go down the coast
of south america,

suddenly appears
the antarctic coastline.

The question is,
did piri reis get there first?

Narrator:
The map closely depicts

the coast near the satellite
image.

It perfectly parallels
the inlets

and the ice shelf of antarctica.

This is pretty astonishing.

Narrator: But the scale
of this structure suggests

that this was not left
by a small team of adventurers

or mapmakers.

To military
historian martin morgan,

its size and regimented
layout offer clues.

Morgan: Someone has gone to an
enormous effort to create this.

If there was anybody
that could ever have pulled off

establishing and maintaining
an antarctic colony,

it would have been nazi germany.

They could have done it.

Narrator: German records reveal
that in 1938,

the nazis launch an expedition
to queen maud land.

It was to plot out
either barriers of an area

that the nazis were
calling "new swabia"

that would be colonized
by the germans.

Narrator:
The nazis establish a camp,

and using two dornier aircraft,

they mark the outer limits
of their territory

with hundreds of aluminum
swastika-inscribed stakes.

Morgan: They were designed

so that aircraft
could deliver them from flight.

You had an airplane that was
flying over at low altitude,

and someone would drop it.

The weight of the marker was
sufficient to penetrate the ice,

and you would therefore
get a nice straight line

identifying, "this is the
boundary of german new swabia."

narrator: Yet when analysts
examine the image

using maxar securewatch
technology,

it reveals something else.

In the 2017 image, there are
two parallel lines,

roughly 20 objects.

Scrolling forward
to the 2019 image,

now I only see
a single line of objects.

And then also as I zoom in,
I see very distinctive tracks.

This is an active site.

♪

narrator: Randy cerveny
thinks he recognizes

some of the patterns
in the image.

What it looks like is exactly
the kind of situation

that I experienced a number
of years ago in antarctica.

We were drilling into the ice
not to extract minerals,

but to actually
extract the ice itself.

We were digging out ice cores.

Narrator: Ice cores are
vertical columns of ice

up to two miles long.

Ice core analysis is one
of the really valuable clues

that we have
for piecing together

what the climates of the past
have been like.

Narrator:
Antarctic permit records

confirm this is
a german research center.

♪

the oldest ice records
taken in antarctica

extend two million years.

Cerveny: Ice forms in layers.
We have snow on the surface.

The next year,
new snow will fall on top of it.

As we go deep down into the ice,

we're going back further
and further into time.

Narrator: As scientists go back
further into antarctica's past,

they discover
something extraordinary.

Antarctica wasn't always
just an ice-bound landmass.

We have periods when actually
antarctica was almost tropical.

Narrator: The studies show
that antarctica used to be

far, far warmer than it is now.

[ insects hum ]

instead of a barren desert
of ice,

it's teeming with life.

[ dinosaur roars ]

and monsters rule the land.

We have instances that date
back a very long time ago

that indicate
that there were even dinosaurs.

Narrator: The structures
captured from space

are a kind of time machine

shedding new light
on the extraordinary story

of earth's distant past.

When you're holding an ice core

that dates back
thousands of years,

there's an incredible
sense of history,

and that is kind of
a profound experience.

[ whirring ]