All language subtitles for Phantom.Signals.Series.1.6of6.Omen.of.the.Pharaohs.Wail.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

Narrator: A satellite detects
intense flashes

In the atmosphere.

Detect what they refer to
as a double flash.

Narrator: Is this evidence
of a nuclear blast?

Well, maybe we should be looking
hard at other possibilities.

Narrator: Search and rescue
responds to an s.O.S. Signal,

But finds no plane crash
in sight.

What triggered this signal

When the aircraft itself
didn't actually crash?

Narrator: Two massive statues
emit a mysterious singing.

You were blessed by the gods
if you heard the singing.

Narrator: Were they an omen,
or something else?

Endless streams of data,

Information bombarding
the planet from within

And from the furthest stretches
of the universe.

What messages do
these phantom signals hold?

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

September 22nd, 1979 --

Atomic energy detection
satellite vela 6911

Records a pattern
of intense flashes

Over the indian ocean.

Vela's sister satellites
detect nothing at all,

And the u.S. Government
is reluctant

To even acknowledge the event.

The vela incident
is September 1979,

When an array of satellites,

An american satellite system
called vela,

Detect what they refer to
as a double flash,

Which is a signature
of a nuclear device

Detonated somewhere
in a 1,000-mile radius

Of an island
called prince edward,

Which is
a south african-owned island,

Without authorization.

This flash was not picked up,
or at least not reported

By any of the other instruments.

On the earth,

This is a series
of seismometers,

Hydrophones,
infrasound monitors,

And radiation detectors
that monitor for any type

Of explosive blast in the earth,
in the water, in the air,

Or any radiation released
from a nuclear explosion.

We also have detectors in space,

Satellites that are monitoring

For the characteristic flash
of a nuclear explosion.

Delaney: The vela satellites
were launched in the '60s,

When everybody was sort of
a little on edge

About nuclear testing

And the possibilities
of nuclear war.

The aim of the exercise
was to keep an eye on each other

As well as the other upstarts,
shall I say --

The other countries
that were vying

For nuclear weapon capability --

To make sure that everybody

Was staying honest
to these treaties.

Dr. Kislenko:
Very importantly,

There are
international treaties,

In particular the 1963
partial test ban treaty,

Which prohibits
atmospheric tests.

So there's obviously a lot of
concern about this double flash

That appears out of nowhere.

Narrator: Since deployment,
the vela system

Accurately detects every known
atmospheric nuclear test,

Establishing itself
as a highly reliable technology

To be able to detect
nuclear blasts today,

It's pretty darn easy.
But remember, in the '60s,

We didn't have very many
satellites up there.

Satellites orbiting the earth
weren't particularly common.

And that's why vela
was created with this dedicated

Intention of monitoring
for nuclear blasts.

The u.S. Eventually launched
six pairs of satellites

Over about a 10-year period.

We generally put
telecommunication satellites out

About...
Oh, roughly speaking,

35,000 kilometers
from the center of the earth.

The vela satellites were in
a very, very high orbit --

Something like
100,000 klicks out,

So they could see
the entire planet at a glance.

And they were bristling
with gamma ray detectors,

X-ray detectors,

Bhangometers,
or bhangmeters,

To pick up the flash

That is associated with
an atmospheric nuclear blast.

And so it's sitting there
just waiting

For that intense burst
of double light.

Narrator: But how could these
bhangmeters on the satellite

Be constantly monitoring
the entire earth

For a burst of light?

Bhangmeter is basically
just a light detector.

It doesn't take an image,
so it's not like a camera,

But it is able to detect
low light level intensity.

And remember, if you're
100,000 kilometers

From the earth,
then, you know,

The signal that is coming up
is going to be modest

And it's going to be very brief.

So these are instantaneous
type detections.

It's the one that will probably
alert you first to the existence

Of an atmospheric nuclear blast,
but it is part of a suite

To determine the yield,
where it came from, and so on.

Narrator: Is this
a nuclear detonation?

Or could it be a false positive
with a nuclear bomb signature?

The vela incident was a flash
that was reported,

Observed at only one satellite.

None of the other sensors
picked up

A consistent measurement
of nuclear testing.

Dr. Kislenko:
That doesn't discount the fact
that it could have occurred,

Because satellites at that point

Are often projected
to view other things.

They're looking
at weather patterns,

They're looking at other targets
on the same satellite system.

So it's not out of the realm

That some of
the detecting devices on vela

Are picking up the test
and others aren't.

Mckinnon: Anytime you only have
a signal picked up by one thing,

There's always a question of,
is it the equipment

Or is it the signal?

Most people's
first reaction was,

Oh, it's got to be
a nuclear blast.

But a lot of the other
collaborating signals

Weren't being detected, and so
it became a bit of an anomaly

And people began
to sort of question

Whether or not
there were other things

That could generate
that double light signature.

Mckinnon: It could have been
something local that interfered

With that particular satellite,

Or there could have been
human, political reasons

Where we don't actually know
what all of the data is

Because only some of it
is being reported.

Dr. Kislenko:
There isn't corresponding
evidence from other quarters.

Or I should say, at least
there's no evidence

Of being detected
in other quarters.

Not all of the records
are necessarily complete.

Delaney: The satellite isn't
necessarily continually

Transmitting to earth.
They're scanning for events.

And the moment
they detect an event,

Then they are starting
to transmit back to the earth.

Narrator: The signal comes
from a remote location

Somewhere near
the prince edward islands,

Nearly 1,000 miles from
south africa's southern coast.

The u.S. Air force
sample the fallout

Over the detonation site
for several days

And find no evidence
of radioactive debris.

Where did the signal come from?

And what could have caused it?

Just like the seismic signature
of a nuclear test

Can be confused with that
of a conventional explosion,

The flash can also have a couple
of different characteristics

That look very similar.

Is it a small flash off
of a piece of space debris

Very close to the satellite?

Is it the flash of
a particular type of lightning

High up in the atmosphere?

Or is it the larger intensity
flash of a nuclear weapon

Closer to the ground?

So there's a whole raft of other
confirming attributes

Associated with
an atmospheric test.

In the atmosphere, of course,
you've got shockwaves.

Surface-based
or ground-based facilities

Will be listening into
the atmosphere

And looking
for seismic impressions.

But the vela satellite
is sitting there looking

For light, gamma rays, x-rays.

Narrator: So, if vela was
designed to detect

Both nuclear energy
and intense flashes,

What type of event was
the satellite picking up?

Mckinnon: A nuclear explosion
and a conventional explosion

Create very similar
seismic patterns.

The only real difference
is if a nuclear explosion

Is so large,
it's bigger than an explosion

That we could create
with conventional weaponry.

A characteristic flash
of a nuclear explosion

Is very different
than the more fiery growl

Of a conventional explosion.

Narrator: Ruling out
the possibility

Of a misinterpreted signal,

Researchers and experts
need to exhaust every scenario

Before concluding the worst.

Dr. Kislenko:
The carter commission,

Which is largely staffed
by scientific experts,

Their chief conclusion is that
it probably was an anomaly --

It was basically a mistake
made by the system.

The system is aging by that
point, so they point that out.

It's likely there was
some sort of malfunction.

Delaney: The vela satellites,
they were designed

For 18 months',
two years' worth of life.

But most satellites,
of course, tend to live

Much longer than that.
Some of the vela satellites

Actually lasted a dozen years.

So they worked very, very well.

Dr. Kislenko: They talk about
things like light from the sun

That may have set
the system off.

They also talked about
a micro meteor

That may have hit it and,
you know, dislodged the system

And therefore got
a false report.

Meteors flying into
the earth's atmosphere --

Not a particularly
unusual event.

To have collisions
with satellites,

That's a little bit rare.
A vela satellite

Is only, at most,
a few meters in diameter.

Micro meteors, you know,

Passing through
our volume of space...

Space is big.
[ chuckles ]

That's really
the bottom line to it.

Narrator: With other
possibilities dwindling

And the very likely scenario

That the vela satellite's
detection of this double flash

Was from a nuclear detonation,

New evidence reports

Come in from an unlikely source.

[ alarm buzzing ]

There was a little bit,
I believe,

Of radioactive fallout
that australia detected.

Dr. Kislenko: Radioactive tests
did take place in australia,

In southern australia, in sheep,
and they all of a sudden

Have a kind of
abnormal level of iodine,

Which is one of the triggers,
one of the effects

Of a nuclear detonation.

Narrator: The likelihood
that this is

Anything other
than a nuclear test

Is now almost ruled out.

The immediate reaction from the
vela satellite is deconstructed

Over the next couple of months
by various agencies --

Intelligence
and regular government agencies.

And they initially
come to the conclusion

That it indeed probably was
an unauthorized nuclear test.

That's even before they get to

The next very important question
of whodunit.

Narrator: Should authorities be
investigating other countries?

Delaney: You can't discount
the politics of the day,

The tension, if you will,
with other countries,

Including, obviously,
the soviet union.

There was politics
that sort of suggested,

Well, maybe we should be looking
hard at other possibilities.

Narrator: 1979 --

A vela satellite records
a pattern of intense flashes

Over the indian ocean.

Dr. Kislenko: An array
of satellites called vela

Detect what they refer to
as a double flash,

Which is a signature
of a nuclear device.

Narrator: Officials
quickly snap into action

To determine the source
of this nuclear signature.

So what the americans do is
several things.

They call in all kinds
of different testing

That they've had,
other satellites in space

To see whether
they've picked it up.

There's all kinds of
acoustic devices in the ocean,

Which are principally aimed
at soviet submarines

To detect their movements.

There's an ionospheric
testing station in puerto rico,

Amongst other places,
that picks up ionic waves.

The american air force
flies a couple of dozen missions

Over the alleged area
of the detonation.

There's all sorts of tests
that follow

In just a couple of months.
If it is a nuclear detonation,

There's actually a list
of likely culprits,

Which the americans
went through in sort of,

You know, descending order.
So, the russians,

But there's no evidence
anywhere else

In a very highly
monitored situation.

India, which had nuclear
capacity and had admitted it.

Pakistan -- there's virtually
no evidence

That they were
technologically capable

Of launching a strike that far.

France, which was
rather notorious

In the sense
that it had not signed

The 1963 test ban treaty,
along with china.

But again, very little evidence
on either of those parties

To suggest that they were
capable of it.

So it leaves you
with basically israel,

Which almost everybody in
the world knew was developing,

If not already in possession
of nuclear devices.

Narrator: Initially pointing
towards a nuclear detonation,

The ensuing
government investigation

Bafflingly concludes otherwise.

So this commission, after
a few months, reports back

That it's likely that vela
was not a nuclear detonation.

Their chief conclusion is that
it probably was an anomaly,

It was basically
a mistake made by the system.

It goes against the initial
evidence compiled

By both american intelligence
and defense in the area.

Narrator: Despite six months
of investigation,

The results of the official
investigation

Claim no atomic activity
took place.

Lack of specifics in the
presidential panel's explanation

Of a zoo event
is suspect.

The zoo event is,

It was an event
that was not associated

With an atmospheric
nuclear blast,

But was something
in the menagerie, if you will,

Of other cosmic types of events.

Vela satellites, because
of their great sensitivity

To both x-rays and gamma rays,

Weren't just responsible
for looking down.

If you had a gamma ray burst,

Which we now know are very
common throughout the universe,

And they were actually impinging
on the vela satellites

As early as about 1967.

So they were trying to attribute
the vela detection

To be something
of a more cosmological nature.

Narrator: Regardless
of the panel's conclusions,

Experts who believe vela 6911
detected nuclear energy

Aren't exactly dissuaded
by the evidence to the contrary.

You have some americans,
including some fairly prominent

Scientists in the united states,

Who say, "well,
let's be careful.

You've concluded
that there's no evidence,

Going against the evidence
that we first had,

And why?"

So they start to suspect

That there may be
political motivation.

One of the likely culprits in
the test is their ally israel.

And the fact that israel
would knowingly, wantonly,

And without telling
the americans

Conduct a very, very illegal
atmospheric test

Is, of course,
really disturbing.

Narrator: If the signs all point
to a nuclear explosion,

What would motivate the u.S.
Government investigation

To conclude otherwise?

What seasons would they have
to cover up

Another country's
possible nuclear test?

The fact that the vela satellite
could not confirm categorically

That was an atmospheric blast,
it sort of suggested,

Well, maybe we should be looking
at other possibilities

Other than a nuclear test.

Dr. Kislenko: A lot of people at
the time, they start to question

That official determination,

That over time,
that question, right --

Whether or not it was
a nuclear test --

Hasn't gone away.

Narrator: What corroborating
evidence exists

That this was, in fact,
a nuclear bomb?

Dr. Kislenko:
So, carter's diaries,
which were kept secret

For a very long period
of time --

He himself in 2010
released his memoir.

And in his own handwriting,

He basically says that "more and
more of my scientific community

Are privately convinced that
it was an israeli nuclear test."

So despite the findings
in 1980, inconclusive,

The conspiracy theory
has gained momentum over time.

Narrator:
Years later, in 1994,

Convicted soviet spy
dieter gerhardt claims

The flashes were
a joint weapons test

Between israel and south africa

Code named operation phoenix.

A soviet agent
who actually had infiltrated

South african military command,
he revealed

That this was indeed
a nuclear test by the israelis

From a russian
intelligence perspective.

Narrator: So, where does this
nuclear mystery sit today?

Most conspiracy theories
lose momentum over time.

They get debunked by experts,
by documents, by details,

By all sorts of things.

The vela incident is almost
reversed, that over time,

Especially the last couple
of decades,

There seems to be more
scientific and expert opinion

That this probably was indeed
a rogue nuclear test.

Delaney: We weren't certain
of the September '79 event

Being a nuclear blast,

But there was a pretty
strong suspicion it was.

And when you look at all of
the differing testimonies

Over the ensuing 40 years --

And lots of people have looked
back at that incident --

I think the general consensus

Is that it probably was
a nuclear blast.

Dr. Kislenko:
There remains a possibility

That somewhere there was a
corresponding piece of evidence

That we haven't yet seen,
but for the most part,

It appears that it was
an anomaly

In a very obvious sense,
unique to vela.

We'll find out more as more
and more documents come true,

But the weight is now
shifting away

From denial and sort of
"this is an accident"

Towards the plausibility of this
actually being a nuclear test.

Narrator: With no smoking gun

To conclusively tie israel
to the 1979 vela incident,

It remains a fascinating chapter
in the cold war

Where space and
geopolitical intrigue overlap.

November 2013 --

A boeing's s.O.S. Signal
alerts the canadian military.

They immediately launch
cormorant helicopters,

Divert aurora aircraft, and
place another boeing on standby.

Air search and rescue
scour the area

Of annapolis valley,
nova scotia,

For the distressed plane.

A british airways boeing 777
takes off from halifax airport

Heading for atlanta.

Very shortly thereafter,
the communications technology

With respect to aviation
picks up a signal

That says
this aircraft has crashed.

Probably an air traffic
controller's worst nightmare

Is getting that
piece of information

That something like a crash
is happening.

Narrator:
But when search and rescue
arrive at the site,

They find nothing
but green fields.

There is no aircraft.

Narrator: The canadian military
responds to an s.O.S. Signal

From a british airways
boeing 777 passenger plane

With hundreds on board.

Arama: Well, in a plane crash
and search and rescue,

What's the procedures
in terms of protocols

For communication devices?

You better have a backup
to the backup to the backup.

If an s.O.S. Signal
gets output by a plane,

Whether it be a mayday
or an automated signal,

It's really, really important.

Dr. Adve: You should have
communication

With a ground station,
and this should include

Things like your latitude,
your longitude

You know, where you are,
your speed,

Heading, bearing --
those kinds of things.

Then we scramble a bunch
of search-and-rescue aircraft --

Aurora aircraft,
cormorant helicopters --

And start searching
for this aircraft.

Narrator: But it's the emergency
position radio beacons

That provide clues to where
a downed plane can be located.

Sparling: Basically,
an emergency beacon

Has been activated,

Suggesting that
the aircraft has crashed.

Dr. Adve: The plane will
transmit a fairly strong signal

So it can be seen by radar
that is monitoring the airspace.

Sparling: It's probably
just sending out,

"here's my plane
identification number.

I'm in trouble."
that's it.

It's not probably sending out
a lot of other information.

We want it really simple,
really precise.

"I have problems.
Here's my signal.

You guys figure out where I am,
come and save us."

Dr. Adve:
Plane is assumed to be flying
along a very specific direction.

And so if you get a beacon
from that space,

You know things are okay.

There's probably multiple people
receiving this signal

And they probably have to think
about, each have different jobs

And how to deal
with that signal.

It's not the person

Who's receiving the
emergency signal's job

To question
whether it's right or not.

They have to react.

Narrator: Rescue crews dispatch,
anticipating the worst.

Their search comes up empty.

Commercial aircraft fly

On a very, very carefully
designed trajectory

And any deviations from that
are very quickly noted.

They keep an eye on it
just to make sure

That you're staying
along that corridor.

Arama: If we're looking at how
search and rescue would search

And find a signal,

In two years, things have
changed drastically.

The types of equipment
they're using

Is 10 times better already.

Automatically,
they can triangulate,

'cause almost every
smartphone now

Has not only gps built-in,
but some satellite capability.

And they can triangulate
your latitude, longitude.

Narrator: In a twist of fate,
the dispatched rescue teams

Learn the plane landed safely
in atlanta, georgia.

Nonetheless, search and rescue
got activated and actually

Started participating
in an active search.

Dr. Adve:
The plane can't just appear
and it can't just vanish.

Sparling: We have hundreds
and hundreds of lives at stake.

Once we determine
the plane is safe,

I want to know where
that signal came from.

I want to know how we got
this emergency warning.

Narrator: Theories swirl

As to how the plane broadcast
the false mayday signal.

So the first thing I would do
as an investigator

Is kind of look at the chain
of communications --

How it came to me,
how it was reported.

Make sure that the way
it was reported

Was not some human error,
that somebody didn't say,

"oh, we got this signal --
it must be this,"

And hit a button
and initiated this whole thing.

And then if the human element
isn't involved,

Then start looking
at the computers,

The electronic systems,
the radio signals, et cetera,

To see if something spurious
may have triggered all of that.

So it's not something that we'd
expect to normally be activated.

It would take either an active
effort on part of the pilots,

Who would be aware
of its purpose

And what it would do,

Or some type of failure
in the aircraft.

And that wasn't reported
in this case either,

Which makes it, again, unusual

Because, again, that device
is transmitting

In a really specific
frequency range

And to have a false detection
is pretty unusual.

It doesn't happen very often.

In north america,
the search and rescue spend

Millions and millions
of dollars every year

In training,
upgrading equipment.

So whenever we're designing
emergency communication systems,

We do not want spurious signals,

Because they complicate things
should there be an emergency.

The fact that this does happen
is really unusual

Because we've taken that
into account

In the design of this component.

Narrator: With a possibility
that the signal was not caused

By human or computer error,

Is someone maliciously
impersonating

A distressed plane?

Narrator: The canadian
military respond

To an s.O.S signal
from a british passenger plane

With hundreds on board.
Search and rescue scour

The area where the plane
supposedly crashed,

Only to learn that even though

The s.O.S. Continues
to transmit,

The plane has landed safely
at its destination point.

Is someone hacking the plane's
communication system

To send the false s.O.S.?

As a forensic engineer,
we get to investigate

A lot of different things,

And sometimes we get
to investigate situations

That may not have been
the occurrence of random events,

But intentional acts.

Narrator: What can investigators
tell from the equipment?

Was this an intentional
cry wolf

Or simply a mechanical anomaly?

As a forensic engineer, one of
the things we look at a lot

With respect to how
things fail and break

Is does the fracture surface,
the actual broken thing,

Tell us a story?

All telecommunications
basically, you know,

If there's no hard wire,
rely on radio signals.

And there's a huge range
of frequencies

That radio signals can use.

But with respect to an emergency
beacon on an aircraft,

It would send a radio signal
on a very specific wavelength,

And that signal would be
picked up

Either by ground-based equipment

Or possibly by geostationary
satellites in space.

So, gps is basically
triangulation.

It's a very, very
sophisticated way

Of triangulating your position
with respect to four satellites.

Sparling: So, the signal will
get relayed to a satellite,

To a ground base station,

And then communicated
to a network

That would pick up
that signal and say,

"hey, we've had an incident.

Something's happened
to this aircraft."

Dr. Adve: Any transmission
is a radio signal.

You would try to find
an s.O.S. Signal

By trying to find where you're
getting the strongest reception.

Okay, let me move
in this direction,

And is my signal
getting stronger?

Yes, it's getting stronger.
Good.

And then, you know,
it's find it that way.

Sparling: It's such a localized
single event.

So there's a lot that goes into
those investigations,

And the sooner you can get
experts there to investigate,

The better
the data is going to be.

Narrator:
The hunt for answers

Leads investigators
to a small, unassuming

Grocery store
in the annapolis valley.

Sparling: The information
in this case was pretty slim,

But there's a suggestion that
a cctv security camera system

Sent out a spurious signal.

Narrator: April huntley, a
supervisor of the grocery store

At the time, may be able to shed
some light on this situation.

I was at work one day and
a couple government officials

Showed up at the store I was
working at, avery's farm market,

And they told us
that there had been a signal

Sent out from our store
that matched an s.O.S. Signal

That a plane had crashed
in the area.

They walked around the store
with a bunch of equipment.

They had the antenna raised up

Trying to locate where
the signal was coming from.

What likely happened is somebody
went out with some

Radiofrequency
detecting equipment

And triangulated a spurious
signal to this cctv equipment

And determined that somehow
it may have sent out

A spurious signal that triggered
the emergency beacon.

Huntley: But the plane
that was apparently sending out

The distress signal
actually flew over our area,

But landed safely in the place
it was supposed to land.

They located
the source of the signal,

Which ended up being,
I guess, our security system.

Sparling:
That's a little bit unusual.

I mean, normally,
a wireless camera system

Wouldn't emit frequencies
in the right range

To interfere
with the emergency beacon.

Normally, information
sent by the cctv wouldn't match

With what the emergency beacon
would be expected to send out.

Every electronic device
that sends a radio signal

Sends it in a very specific
frequency range.

If we didn't give each device
very specific signal ranges,

They would interfere
with each other.

You don't want somebody's
cordless phone at home

On the same frequency
as your cell phone.

Otherwise, all your signals
are going to get jumbled

And you're not going to be able
to hear anything.

About 10 years ago or more,

You weren't allowed
to use a cellphone on a plane,

And that was because
there was always a concern

That a cellphone may malfunction
and interfere

With the radio communications
equipment on the aircraft.

We're so concerned about
guarding these frequencies,

We won't even allow
devices into aircraft

That have a very remote
possibility of interfering

With those signals.

Narrator: But turning
the digital camera off

Doesn't stop the signal.

Normally, anything like that,

As long as you disconnect
the power, unplug everything,

And it should cause
the signal to go away.

I mean, there's nothing
sending out a signal anymore.

Is it possible that there was
a malfunction in the cctv camera

And the electrical wiring
in the house

Acted as the antenna

That transmitted the system?

It's possible.

Normally, if you do get
a crossed connection

To a building's wiring system,

It usually results in damage
to that system.

So there's a possibility
that something got crossed up

And a larger signal went out.

Narrator:
But experts must be certain

That this is the result
of unusual circumstances,

Or else lives may be at risk
on a distressed flight.

Narrator: An s.O.S. Signal
without a crashed plane...

They did realize
that the aircraft

Eventually made it
to atlanta safely.

...Gets traced back

To an unassuming convenience
store's security cameras.

Huntley: There had been a signal
sent out from our store

That matched an s.O.S. Signal

That a plane
had crashed in the area.

Narrator: Could this
s.O.S. Signal be the result

Of multiple
remarkable coincidences?

Radio expert josh nass
sets up an experiment

Using the same components
as the store in nova scotia.

We decided that a decent
experiment would be to source

A similar cctv system like
the one in the grocery store,

Running one camera with "b"
and "c" wire stretched around

As though it could
possibly function as an antenna.

Now, this unit
is not malfunctioning.

We don't see
any spurious emissions.

It's possible, though, that
the grocery store's cctv system

That April worked at

Could have had a malfunctioning
power supply,

Which could have been
putting out spurious emissions

While still functioning

In its primary role
as a cctv television system.

If an item is malfunctioning,

It will not only display spurs
in its normal operation,

But we'll see big surges
when you turn off the unit

And turn the unit back on.

Looks like nothing is displayed.

Let's turn the unit back on
and see what happens.

I don't see anything
on the spectrum display.

It is possible that the cctv
system at the grocery store

That April worked at
was malfunctioning.

It could be putting out rfi,
radio-frequency interference,

And it could be powerful enough

That sensitive listening devices
for direction finding

Could have been
mistakenly picking it up.

What could have also happened
was someone nearby maybe

Would have maybe
maliciously been putting out

An emergency beacon tone.

Narrator: Are the mechanisms
behind these signals

So easily interchangeable?

There's no technological reason

Why you couldn't build
a system like that.

These are all very
well-defined systems.

Everybody uses them.

But an s.O.S. Signal has a very
well-defined structure,

And it's essentially impossible
to re-create that structure.

You can interfere with
an s.O.S. Signal on a plane,

But it can't be confused
for an s.O.S. Signal on a plane.

Sparling: Normally with
a cctv camera system,

We have a very low power output.
We're not putting out

A hugely intense radio signal,
and normally, you know,

You'd want it to go
200, 300, 400 feet at most.

How it gets picked up
is really unusual.

It just shouldn't have the range

To trigger
another piece of equipment.

It should be very local signal,
that cctv.

Yeah, it could inadvertently
get boosted,

But it'd be a really, really
unusual situation.

There'd have to be
an internal failure,

And it'd have to be a very
specific internal failure.

So, is it possible? Yes.

Is it likely? Probably not.

We've developed protocols
in society as engineers

To stop this from happening.

Maybe the canadian government
has that information,

But unfortunately, with what's
been made publicly available,

We don't know
what the outcome was.

Narrator: Although both
technologies have been created

To ensure human safety,

They are interacting
in ways we never anticipated.

Even today, this misread signal
remains a mystery.

West of luxor, egypt,

Two massive colossi
are all that remain

Of the tomb of one of egypt's
most powerful pharaohs --

Amenhotep iii, whose reign ended
over 3,000 years ago.

These monuments hold an
ancient mystery.

Centuries ago, one of them sang.

Mckinnon:
The story I heard about
the singing colossi of memnon

Is that they were
these beautiful carved statues

Which under just
the right conditions

Would produce a harmonic noise,

That you could hear them
sing to you.

I can't even imagine
what that'd be like,

To go here and to hear
this eerie singing sound.

Groves:
It's an interesting story,

The singing colossi of memnon,

Because it only happened

For maybe 200, 250 years.

So it's a very brief period
in egyptian history,

Which we know spans
5,000-plus years.

Narrator: What could these
unknown sounds be?

Were they a blessing, an omen,

Or something else entirely?

It sounds like a story
of the rocks actually talking.

You would think that
there's something mystical,

Something godlike
that's happening here.

Narrator: The colossi
were unparalleled

In size and splendor --

Representations
of the great pharaoh,

Each carved from a single block
of quartzite stone.

The colossi originally were
built to sit at the entrance

Of amenhotep iii's
mortuary temple.

And the temple was massive.

It was the largest structure
in egypt,

Even larger than
the great pyramid of giza.

And they were upwards of 65 feet
high, each one of them.

You can imagine being a person

Walking past these absolutely
colossal statues of amenhotep

And representing him
as the god on earth.

Narrator:
The mystical sounds started

Over 1,000 years after
the colossi were built,

At long after
amenhotep iii's mortuary temple

Have been ravaged
by floods and earthquakes.

It came from the colossi
to the north.

But only at sunrise.

Groves: This is where
the stories start coming out

That the statue would sing.

There was a sound that had
emanated from within the statue.

The stories sort of dictate

That it could be a sound
like a lyre string breaking.

Early morning, dawn,
the sun coming up --

This was when this phenomena
was said to occur.

Narrator: Amenhotep iii,
like all the pharaohs of egypt,

Was considered divine
in life and death.

During his reign,

He was associated with
the sun deity, aton,

Who it was believed
amenhotep merged with in death.

Because this otherworldly sound
only happened to dawn,

Was this
the once-mighty pharaoh,

Now a solar deity,

Returning to the ruins?

On some mornings,
the singing didn't happen.

And so you were somewhat
blessed by the gods

If you happened to go
and heard the singing.

That means the gods were
speaking to you.

Narrator: Word soon spread
of the luck bestowed

On those fortunate enough

To have the statues
sing to them.

Being the possibility
that it's an oracle speaking

Or singing to them, going there
with maybe their thoughts

And their wishes
and their prayers,

And hoping that they might be
able to put something forth.

In that time, there was
no reasonable explanation.

It had to be the gods speaking.

Groves: And so the statue became
a real hub

For tourists to flock to,

To see if they could
receive a message.

Narrator: Seekers come from
all parts of the ancient empire

To find blessing.

One of the challenges
with this type of mystery

Is it happened a long time ago.

There are no recordings.
It doesn't happen anymore.

So it's not like we can go there
right now and hear them singing.

And what we really have today
is those very few writings

By some greek, some roman,

Speaking of the phenomena
of the time.

Narrator: The first written
record comes from the geographer

And greek historian strabo
in 20 b.C.

Inscriptions left at the base
of the statue

Indicate whether the singing
was heard or not.

90 are still legible today.

Certainly, strabo, he went
and he recorded his time there.

Now, his story is
a little bit uncertain

Because it says
that the statue sings,

But we're not sure
did he actually hear it sing.

He doesn't actually
admit to himself hearing it,

But he says people he spoke to
heard the sound.

But certainly,
other people did go,

They did write about it.

Narrator: By the time
strabo visits the oracle,

Egypt has become part
of the greco-roman empire

And the memory of amenhotep iii
is almost forgotten.

The colossi take on
a new greek identity --

Memnon, one of the heroes
of the trojan war

And the son of eos,
goddess of the dawn.

What they did was they took
their story of the battle

Between memnon, who was
an ethiopian king,

Against achilles.

And achilles killed memnon,

And so his mother cried
every morning at dawn.

When the greeks were there,

They took that story
of memnon's death

And attached it to the statue.

Narrator:
For the next 200 years,
people come from all over

For a chance to be blessed
by the oracle's song.

So, you just sort of think of it
as much the same

As the vatican today.

Narrator: Among the seekers
over the centuries

Are several roman emperors,

Including septimius severus
in 199 a.D.

He had heard
the greek stories

Of this amazing oracle statue,
and he wanted to go

And he wanted to hear
this voice.

Narrator: Septimius
had successfully

Brought the roman empire
peace and prosperity

After a long period of unrest.

To cement his legacy,

He wants the blessing
of the great oracle.

Groves: And when he got there,
he heard nothing.

And so now severus
doesn't get his result,

And he decides
his way to appease the gods

Was to rebuild the statue
to its former beauty.

So he actually had
builders come in,

And they cut blocks
and they put them back up on top

To try and replicate
the south statue.

Narrator: But septimius severus
is not blessed

By the mystical singing.

In fact, the statue
never sings again.

And after the statue
was repaired,

It sort of destroyed
the beauty of the phenomenon.

Narrator: What was meant as
a gift to incur a blessing

Seemed to cause the spirit
of the oracle to vanish forever.

Dr. Proctor: But because
there are so many testimonials,

There has to be
something happening.

So there's something there.

The question is,
what's happening?

And that's what's fun
about being a geoscientist.

You get to be the detective
to figure out what's going on.

Narrator: Almost
two millennia later,

Geoscience shines a light
on this ancient phantom signal.

One of the key clues
to this mystery

Is that the singing is only
happening in the morning.

And so what does that tell us
about the conditions

To enable this to happen?

Mckinnon: You can find
just the right rock,

Just the right frequency,
and move it just the right way.

It will make noise.

Narrator: For over 200 years,

The mammoth colossi
of amenhotep iii

Produced mysterious,
otherworldly singing

That is simultaneously
attributed

To the long-dead pharaoh

And one of the heroes
of the greek legend

Of the trojan war -- memnon.

You can sort of step
back in time and imagine

That these colossal statues,
these huge, beautiful statues

That already were
an attraction unto themselves,

But now you have one
that's singing.

♪♪

Narrator: The singing colossi
take on a new life

As an oracle
in the ancient world,

Fueled by the twin beliefs

That the voice is the spirit
of a long-dead pharaoh

And the greek goddess
of the dawn -- eos.

So, what's going on?

Narrator: Perhaps
we could find clues

In the few written accounts
that exist.

One of the key clues
to this mystery

Is that the singing is
only happening in the morning.

And so what does that tell us
about the conditions

To enable this to happen?

Everything in this world has
this perfect frequency

Where it will resonate.

If you're on a swing
and you go back and forth.

You'll find a rhythm
and you'll start going into

That reinforcing cycle.

Rocks are the same.

You can find
just the right rock,

Just the right frequency,
and move it just the right way.

It will make noise.

There may have been a frequency,
a natural frequency

That the statues wanted
to vibrate at,

And that frequency
was probably excited by wind

Or some type of vibration
that was picked up

And then converted
into a frequency

Which was audible to people.

Groves: We know that the
phenomenon of the voice itself

Or that sound emanating

Had to do with the earthquake

Because it didn't sing prior.

There was no record of it

When it was amenhotep's
full statue

Of it never making a sound.

Narrator: The first
written account came

From the greek historian
strabo in 20 b.C.,

Just seven years after
the destructive earthquake.

Is it actually possible

For a freak natural event
like an earthquake

To turn this statue
into a giant wind instrument?

Mckinnon: Once they cracked,
it changed the shape

And it changed the acoustics.

Suddenly, we had an accidental
geological instrument

Where the player was the wind.

Just like you can blow across
a flute or a pipe

And get those
perfect moments of a clear note

Coming through,
the wind blowing just right

Through the crack
could cause it to sing.

Dr. Proctor: Imagine this --
when you have a crack

That overnight,
dew forms in that crack.

And then as the sun rises,

Not only does that statue
heat up,

But the crack starts to heat up.

And then an interesting thing
happens in the morning,

Is that because of the
differential in temperatures,

Wind begins to blow.

And so you have just the right
combination coming together

For the wind to come in
through that moist crack

And whistle.

An example of this

Is when you lick your lips
and whistle.

[ whistles ]

Just the right orientation,

Just the right amount
of moisture,

Just the right conditions
to have a singing statue.

Narrator: But then why
did the singing just stop?

Mckinnon: The colossi of memnon
no longer sing.

They've been repaired, so
the crack isn't there anymore.

And maybe,
somewhere along the way,

They got shifted on how exactly
they were aligned.

Sparling: When you change
the mass of an object,

You change the frequency
which it vibrates at.

Narrator: Roman emperor
septimius severus,

Looking for a blessing
from the oracle,

Repaired the north statue

To bring it back
to its former glory.

But in so doing, he silenced it.

And after
the statue was repaired,

There's really no record.

Narrator:
The song may have ended,

But as with so many
strange signs,

The memory of its melody
lives on

Through the historic
witness records

Of what they heard.