All language subtitles for In.Search.Of.S01E09.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[Zachary Quinto]
The legend of Atlantis.

It's a magical
and terrifying tale

of a highly advanced society
wiped off the map

in a single day.

Tangible evidence
of this ancient civilization
has long eluded explorers.

But could that be
about to change?

Historian Andrew Gough believes he may be closing in on the whereabouts

of the world's most coveted
lost civilization.

I believe it's about
60% historical fact

and about 40% embellishment.

But that 60% points us

towards a certain location.

This is a physical place
on the globe.

However, it's not whereyou think it is.

[Quinto]
If Atlantis were ever found,

it would change everything
we know about our evolution.

It would show that history
has been progressing
in cycles

and not a straight line.

Did this ancient mythical city
really exist?

And can it actually be found?

My search begins now.

My Name is Zachary Quinto.

As an actor,
I've played many
supernatural characters

that blurred the line
between science and fiction.

I'm drawn to the unknown,
the otherworldly,

and those experiences
so beyond belief,

they call everything
into question.

I'm exploring some of
the most enduring mysteries

that continue to haunt mankind
in search of the truth...

wherever it leads me.

For all of recorded history,

Atlantis has reigned supreme
as the holy grail

of legendary
lost civilizations.

The story of Atlantis
has been around
longer than Jesus.

Twenty-three hundred-plus
years, we're still
talking about Atlantis.

That makes it real
in every way possible,

except I can't take you
to the ruins.

[Quinto]
If Atlantis truly is
more than a myth,

then where is it?

Could this ancient empire be hiding in plain sight today?

I'm embarking
on an epic journey
around the globe

to find out for myself
whether Atlantis is real

and can be found
once and for all.

Most of us know Atlantis
as a fable

about a magical city
under the sea.

This idea has been reinforced
throughout pop culture
in movies,

such as
Atlantis: The Lost Empire,

TV shows like
theMan from Atlantis,

and comic books
like theSub-Mariner.

But the real story
is much more mysterious

and may be plausible.

The only written record
of Atlantis
was penned in 360 BC

by the classical
Greek philosopher Plato.

He wrote about an advanced
ancient island empire

that was inhabited
by an isolated

yet highly evolved
race of people.

As the legend goes,
Atlantis was
ultimately destroyed

by a cataclysmic
natural disaster...

and it disappeared
without a trace.

Ever since Plato's account,
the search to find Atlantis

has become
a worldwide obsession.

In the 20th century, the prolific author Edgar Cayce

kept the tale alive
with his detailed prophesies
and visions.

At the same time,
Hitler's Third Reich

spent several years
and countless resources

on a quest to prove
that the Aryan population...

were somehow descendants
of the Atlanteans.

In order to break new ground
on this age-old quest,

I need to start at the place
where the story began--

in Greece.

My guide for this journey
is former U.S. military
intelligence specialist

and Atlantis historian,
Robert Ishoy.

Hey, man. I'm Zach.

Zachary.Nice to meet you.

He's spent decades searching

for the lost island
of Atlantis,

and I've flown halfway around
the world to meet with him

because he claims
to have the key
to finding Atlantis

once and for all.

We only have one historical
true record of Atlantis,

and that was by Plato.Right.

So that's where I started.

I went back to the original writings of Plato

and started my research.

And what did you find?

Plato gave a whole list
of items to look for--Uh-huh.

that I actually have
written down in this book.

I am convinced there is
some truth to it.

So, from his writing,
you're able to draw
51 specific qualities

that the city would've had.That's correct.

[Quinto]
Plato's ancient writings
about Atlantis

have been distilled
into a checklist
of key features

to search for
throughout my journey.

The Atlanteans
were technologically advanced

far beyond
their contemporaries.

An expansionist empire,
complete with
an island headquarters

organized
in concentric circles.

They worshipped
the water god Poseidon

and had a thriving port
on the Mediterranean Sea.

How many people do you think
would have inhabited Atlantis?

I believe it was
a very large empire, actually.

Not just a single island,
but he tells us

it controlled many islands
in other parts
of the Mediterranean.

It may even have rivaled
Ancient Egypt in size.
Mm.

So that's big.Yes.

And how was Atlantis destroyed,
according to Plato?

He says it was destroyed
by an earthquake and flood.

The gods punished Atlantis
because of their imperialistic,
uh, motives.

So this now ties in,
I think, what a lot of people
associate with Atlantis,

which is
that it's underwater.Exactly.

[Quinto]
Robert, I think, has a sense

that there's
a historical reality
to Atlantis.

It is strange that Plato
would write in such detail
about a civilization

and not acknowledge it
as a myth, if it was.

He wrote about
an ancient civilization

that was destroyed
and lost to the sea.

If Atlantis was washed away,

then my quest
to find the ancient empire

must begin in the depths
of the ocean.

But journeying
into this world

is likely to be fraught
with unknown dangers.

So I've enlisted the advice
of experienced experts

like Josh Warren
to guide me along the way.

Josh is an author
and internationally recognized
paranormal investigator

who has seen his fair share
of perilous situations.

Based in the Bermuda Triangle

and only available
remotely via Skype,

he knows all too well
what happens
when adventurers go too far

and get more
than they bargained for.

There are places out there
that just want
to be left alone.

If you tamper with them, you're opening a Pandora's box.

And if there is
an Atlantean-type civilization

that's below the ocean,

don't probe too much,
don't take objects from there.

Because no matter how profound
the discovery may be,

you may still have to pay

a very dire and terrible price.

[Quinto] Despite these ominous warnings,

my quest must continue.

So, with Robert's list in hand,

I'm headed just north of Crete

to the Laconia region
of Greece,

where a mysterious sunken city
may hold new clues.

Archaeologists
named this area Pavlopetri
when they discovered it.

However, there's no written record of what the city was actually called,

nor do we know anything
about its inhabitants.

What we do know
is that this area checks off

many of the key features
described in Plato's writings
about Atlantis.

Notably, archaeologists believe this sunken settlement

was once an advanced and thriving Mediterranean port

that dominated the region
for nearly 2,000 years

before it was
ultimately destroyed
when the massive Thera volcano

erupted on
the island of Santorini
in 2000 BC,

causing powerful earthquakes
and tsunamis in the process.

Experts say this massive
cataclysmic event

was one of the largest
in Earth's history.

Now the mysterious Pavlopetri

remains one of
the only places in the region

where ancient relics
may still lie.

So, now, this is a cemetery
here, right? The remains?Yes.

[Quinto]
So I'm teaming up
with a local archaeologist

to understand more
about how these sunken ruins

might prove Atlantis
was a real empire.

First, understand that
from here to the island,

all this was land.

All the way here.All the way here.

It was a nice village,
say, with streets,

with houses,
with courtyards.

This would've been
a thriving community here.Yes.

So, the impact
of the natural disasters
of this region

could've destroyed
and wiped out whole areas,

as we're gonna see
when we get in the water.Yes. Yeah.

[Quinto]
It's terrifying to think
about how this community

could have been wiped
off the map so quickly.

But there's only one way
to get a closer look
at what's left behind.

Shall we go diving?Yeah. Let's go.

[Quinto]
I'll be throwing myself

in the choppy waters
of the Mediterranean

to see if I can find
any more clues that this

might actually
have been Atlantis.

You know,
I don't really spend a lot
of time in the open water.

I don't love it.
But you have to go
into the ocean

to explore a lot
of these settlements.

[chattering] It's a little scary for me,

but if there's proof Atlantis
existed in these waters,
I'm gonna find it.

But journeying into the past
can come with many perils.

And on top of my trepidation,

Mother Nature has added
a healthy dose of wind,

which means choppy seas--

[Despina]

...making this dive
more treacherous.

Yes.

[Quinto]
Oh, my God.

Okay. Now go.

Now go.

[Quinto]Quinto]
I'm diving into the heart
of the Med

on a dangerous quest
for proof that Atlantis

may have been a real empire.

Yes.

With a colorful list derived
from Plato's ancient writings,

I want to know
if this mysterious
sunken settlement, Pavlopetri,

could hold new clues
to the whereabouts

of the ultimate
lost civilization.

But the great risks
that come with unearthing
ancient civilizations

may put this dive in peril.

[man] Okay. And I'm afraid to see
what we might discover.

Just moments into my dive,
trouble is already erupting.

[man] Be careful.[man #2]
Yes, be careful, be careful.

We're really close!
No, no, no, no, no!

The captain of the boat
has lost control
in the harsh undertow--

Too close, too close, too close!

...and I am helpless
in their path.

[man]
No, no! Too close! Too close!

[man #2] It's okay.[man #3]
It stop. It stop.

[overlapping chatter][man #1]
Okay. O-- Okay. Okay.

[Quinto]
But it seems
the god of the sea, Poseidon,

has decided to spare me today.

Safely away from the dive boats and the power of the currents,

signs of
an ancient civilization
begin to emerge.

Relics of pottery,
a small grave,

and a long stretch of rock
that looks like a wall,
extending several meters--

all traces of a once-thriving
and advanced civilization,

just as Plato described
on our checklist.

As the secrets of Pavlopetri
reveal themselves,

I can't help but wonder,

could these clues help me
prove that Atlantis
was a real place?

What I know for certain

is that whatever
existed here before

has long been destroyed
by great floods

and Mother Nature's fury.

[man]
There we go.

Here.Okay.

It was weird. I mean,
you definitely got a sense

that you were in a place

that was settled
at one point.

And the sheer size
of Pavlopetri

makes me wonder
if it could have been part

of the kind of vast,
sprawling empire

that Plato described.

I was surprised
at how vast it is down there.

I mean,
it's a pretty big ruin.

Right. And that's the thing that is so impressive--

that there was this kind of destruction.

Yes. Atlantis
might be a memory

of real place, of real city
that was submerged.

Right.

After talking to Despina,
you begin to understand

how much natural disaster
affected ancient Greek life.

And Plato wrote of
the civilization of Atlantis

being destroyed by earthquakes
and floods.

So, there are these,
kind of, connectors
that brought me somehow closer

to the idea of Atlantis
as a real place.

But I want to keep searching.
I want to keep looking.

I need to know more.

How exactly does Pavlopetri
fit into the larger
Atlantis puzzle?

The mystery of Atlantis
is massive.

To help me piece it together,

I've asked
Professor Richard Freund
of Hartford University

to help me out.

He's been studying
the lost civilization
for decades

and believes he may have
some key insights.

I am convinced
that they created

an Atlantean civilization
that spread.

In order to have
a civilization,

you have to have
what I call the "mother ship"--

the place
where it all began.

And then you have to have
support cities in the area.

There were all these
different satellites--Interesting.

They all were like 7-Elevens,
all built in the sa--Right.

All built in the same way.So it was almost
this global empire

at the time, right?Right.

It seems like one incredibly
powerful civilization

could have colonized
other parts of the world,

and that the destruction--

the earthquake and the flood that are referred to

as destroying the central power nucleus of this civilization--

could have left all
these satellites out to dry.Right.

[Quinto]
If I'm going to get
closer to the truth,

I need to find the heart
of the ancient
civilization itself.

Pavlopetri offered a few clues,

but now I'm going to a place
with even more in common

with the Atlantis described
by Plato.

I'm heading
to the Palace of Knossos

on the island of Crete,

where I'll be reuniting
with Robert Ishoy.

The impressive palace
was at the heart

of the ancient
Minoan civilization,

once believed to be
nothing more than a myth.

Robert has brought along
a famed archaeologist

who has studied the mysterious
Minoan civilization

and its striking similarities
to Atlantis

her entire career.

They believe
there is evidence here

to suggest that the Minoans
were Atlanteans.

One hundred and 30 years ago,
nobody believed that
these people actually existed.

Wow.They were part of the myth,
part of the legend.

Exactly as we talk today
about Atlantis.

[Quinto]
Like Plato's Atlantis,

the only record
of the Minoans' existence

had been in theIliad,
the ancient Greek epic poem
by Homer,

so the Minoans were considered
fictional characters.

But in the early 1900s,
a British archaeologist,
Sir Arthur Evans,

excavated
the Palace of Knossos,

confirming Homer's story,

and fiction became fact.

So, how advanced
were the Minoans

compared to other civilizations
that were existing
at the same time?

They were even more advanced
than later civilizations.More advanced than people

that came 1,000 years
later than them.[both] Wow.

[Dimitra]
These are the very
first people in Europe

that have very elaborate
architecture,

and the very first
writing system in Europe.

Indoor plumbing.
Drainage system.

You never see that
before the Minoans

on European soil,
in anyplace.
Wow.

[Dimitra]
That makes them the first
advanced civilization in Europe.

[Quinto] But still, archaeologists have been unable

to decipher the Minoans'
ancient writing,

which means that much about
who they were
and how they lived

remains unknown.

They are wrapped
around in mystery,
exactly like Atlantis.

Would you like to see something
really amazing now?Yeah. Of course.

[Quinto]
Could these mysterious people

be the ancient citizens
of Atlantis?

And is it possible
that clues about Atlantis

could be hiding
in plain sight,

in the ruins of another
ancient civilization?

Take a look at this symbol
carved on the walls
of this palace.

[Robert]
Oh, no kidding.

Oh, my goodness.

[Quinto]
Coming up, [Quinto]
I'm in Greece,
on the island of Crete,

where I'm looking among
the ruins of the mysterious
Minoan civilization,

searching for clues
that Atlantis may have existed

in this very spot.

Take a look at this symbol
carved on the walls
of this palace.

[Quinto] Could I be staring at the heart of an ancient empire?

[children laughing]

And were these
advanced Minoan people

actually
the citizens of Atlantis?

[Dimitra]
Tridents carved
all over the place.

Wow. You surprised me
with that.
Oh, yes.

Oh, my goodness.

[Quinto]
So what do the tridents signify?

[Robert]
That's a symbol of Poseidon.Of course.

[Quinto]
Poseidon was the Greek god
of the seas,

who is the key player
in Plato's story.

Poseidon created Atlantis
and blessed it
with many natural gifts

that included abundant metals
and lush flora and fauna.

In turn,
the Atlanteans built a temple
to honor their patron deity

in the center of their island.

Could these tridents signify
the temple that paid tribute
to Poseidon?

There's clear evidence
of Poseidon right here.[Quinto] Wow.

We have it.Amazing.

Inspired by this
incredible connection

to Plato's writing,
I want to dig deeper.

We already know
the Palace of Knossos

was once the heart of the technologically advanced Minoan civilization.

And we know at one time,
the Minoan story
was also considered a myth.

And now we have a connection
to the god Poseidon.

But could we find
even more evidence
that this place

may have actually been
the heart of
the Atlantean population?

So, what is this?

This is one of
the most important symbols
of the Minoan religion--

horns of the bull.

[Quinto]
Throughout the palace,
we could see, everywhere,

how the Minoans paid tribute
to the bull in sculptures
and frescoes,

and what importance
it held in their culture.

They're not worshipping
the animal itself.
We do not have a bull god.

But they're celebrating
the power of the bull.

They do
the bull-leaping game with it.
They play with it.

And then, of course,
they sacrifice it.

[Quinto]
So, what is this room?

[Dimitra] This is
the only lens to the Minoan past
that we actually have.

They left us nothing
in their written language
that we can decipher.

So, this is the only thing
that we can see

and actually get some ideas
of their society

and how they
perceive themselves.

For example,
in this fresco,

you actually see
a Minoan festival in action.

You can see women dancing
in a very slow, solemn way.

Wow. That's so incredible.

I noticed red
and black and white.

[Robert]
Now, those things
are definitely a connection.

Plato clearly states
the Atlanteans
decorated their buildings

in those three exact colors.Wow.

As we walk through this place,
I feel like we see
more and more parallels.

So many things
about the Minoan civilization

line up with Plato's
description of the Atlanteans.

That is amazing to me,
that some civilization
could exist

that's so powerful, so advanced,

and then be wiped out
with no record of it

for thousands of years.

It becomes more tangible,
being here.

I can see how
the civilization of Atlantis

very likely
could have been someplace
that actually existed

and was very akin to the way
the Minoan civilization existed.

But I'm curious
to get Robert's take
on whether Knossos

could be the real Atlantis.

Well, so far, I think
what we've seen today, Zach,

is that we have
a number of things that show
that the Minoan civilization

does have a relationship
to Plato's description
of Atlantis,

as far as the culture goes.

We have the bull cult,
we have the three colors
that are prominent here,

an advanced civilization.

He said Atlantis was
the most advanced civilization
in the world,

and we have that here.

Those things are definitely
a connection.

Now, as far as
the geographical location

and the description
of the island itself,

there's no match.

So, personally,
I don't think
this is Atlantis.

But I am convinced
I have found a location
that matches perfectly.

over finding Atlantis.

Now it's my turn.

I'm using a checklist
based off Plato's
ancient writings

to prove that
this elusive civilization

was a real place...

and perhaps a vast
and powerful empire

with influence
throughout the Mediterranean.

In order to have
a civilization,

you have to have
what I call the "mother ship,"

and then you have to have
support cities...

[Quinto]
Along my journey, leading
Atlantis expert Richard Freund

is helping me stay on track.

So, we started our travels
in Greece, at a place
called Pavlopetri,

which was a really interesting underwater--

Right. ...archaeological site.

We were at
the Palace of Knossos--
Right.

...talking about the Minoan civilization.

How advanced that civilization was.

It felt like there was
this real connectivity
between the two,

and it just further
supports this notion

that maybe it wasn't
just in one place,

but that it had outreached to regions around,

as you call it,
the mother ship.
Right.

[Quinto] The idea that Atlantis may have had far-reaching influence

is a theory supported
by scholars around the world.

And many experts,
such as author Robert Sarmast,

suggest it could
be the missing link

to explain how other great civilizations gained their ancient knowledge.

At a time when the rest
of the world was really
living in abject ignorance

and living
very primitive lives,

civilizations like Egypt
and Mesopotamia

have reading and writing.

They have amazing architecture.

They have music--
musical instruments.
They have art.

They have medicine.
They have surgeons.

There's no explanation
for where these civilizations
got their knowledge.

We still don't know today.

We don't have an answer
for the missing link.

The missing link
is still missing.

But the evidence points
to one story.

They based their civilizations,
their laws, their belief system,

on this very unique island--
Atlantis.

[Quinto]
Whether Atlantis truly is
the missing link,

I, for one, remain convinced
that it can be found.

So I'm headed
to the fabled island
of Sardinia,

off the coast of Italy.

At one time,
this island was home

to the ancient
Nuraghe civilization,

which existed
from the 18th century BC

to the second century AD--

precisely within
the time period

that Plato
drafted his checklist

about Atlantis.

There's no written record
of this civilization anywhere,

but Robert Ishoy has studied
the history of this island

extensively
throughout his career,

and he is convinced
that Sardinia

checks off more boxes
on Plato's list

than any other location
in the Mediterranean.

Could this ancient island
have been
the heart of Atlantis?

Perhaps here
we can find more clues
hiding in plain sight.

Zachary.Robert.

Welcome to
the island of Atlantis.

Good to see you again.You too.

How's it going?Good. Good.

It's beautiful here.Yes.

It's kind of mystic
with the fog.

So, what is unique
about Sardinia?

Why are we here
in our pursuit

for the lost civilization
of Atlantis?

Well, you remember that
checklist I gave you on Crete?I do.

Well, on that checklist,
Plato gives us

a very specific
geographical location--

Uh-huh.
...of the island
of Atlantis.

He says that the island
was surrounded
by a great continent.

And here, we're surrounded
by Spain, France, Italy,

North Africa, and Sicily. Sure. Yeah.

And then he also says
that there was
a chain of violence

to the west of Atlantis.

And here we have
the Balearic Islands.

So, the geographical location
that Plato gives us

matches Sardinia perfectly.Interesting.

We came to this site
because there was

a massive civilization
that existed here--Huh.

...that date back
about 2,000 years BC
and even older.

They refer to it
as the "Nuraghe,"
if I say it right in Italian.

"Nur-ah-gay.""Nur-ah-gay," yes.

What is this?
Uh, it looks like caves.

These are all tombs.Oh.

All alongside
this entire mountainside. Wow.

They brought their dead
up here and built
these elaborate cave tombs.

We don't have
any historical records

of the civilization
that was on this island--

Mm-hmm....so we come
to the grave sites--

Sure....looking for clues.

[Quinto]
Throughout history,

expeditions into ancient tombs

have led
to groundbreaking revelations
about the past.

From King Tut's tomb in Egypt

to the catacombs of Rome,

and the terra-cotta army
in China,

grave sites can provide
a stunning window

into the beliefs and values
of long-forgotten culture.

But disturbing
sacred burial grounds
can be risky.

In 1922,
the Earl of Carnarvon

was one of the first
to enter King Tut's tomb--

a site that many
believed to be cursed
by the ancient pharaohs.

During the expedition,
the earl suffered
from a mosquito bite

that became
severely infected,

and he died two weeks later,

becoming the first
in a long line of explorers

to meet a similar fate.

We're gonna go in,
and we're gonna
look for clues,

because how a civilization
buries their dead

can tell you a lot about their culture.

[Quinto]
Robert has heard
of these caves for decades,

but he has never had access

until now.

Will these ancient,
mysterious caves

help us unravel
the mysteries of Atlantis?

nto] We're looking for signs
that at one time,

these ruins
could have been the heart

of a vast Atlantis empire.

Creepy, huh?

Yeah.

Very elaborate.

They put a lot of effort
into burying their dead.

Yeah. Clearly, there's
something very ceremonial
about it here, right?

That looks charred,

like those are
marks of flames.

Right? That roof?

Yes. It makes you wonder
if they actually did cremations.

I kind of imagine
a body being passed
through here, like this.

Almost like it's going
from one world to another.

So this would be less of a grave
and more of a crematorium
in that scenario.

Oh, that's a good way
to put it. Yes.

And you kind of picture
this front room

as being the ceremony room--Uh-huh.

...where the family or friends
would gather.

Lot of mysteries here.

So, what are
the rest of the tombs
along this ridge like?

Well, the main thing
we're gonna look for
are the petroglyphs,

because petroglyphs
could tell us a lot
about the civilization

and may even connect
this civilization to Atlantis.

[Quinto]
Petroglyphs were used
by prehistoric people

and indicate some of
the earliest forms
of symbolic communication.

They're often confused
with hieroglyphs--

stylized pictures
of an object--

which were developed
thousands of years later.

The earliest known hieroglyphs
appeared in 3200 BC,

whereas some petroglyphs
date back much farther,

more than 30,000 years ago.

I don't see any in here.Uh-huh.

But I think if we
continue looking, we're gonna
find some direct links

to Plato's Atlantis.Great. Let's take a look.

It's amazing.
We have an opportunity

to find
some definitive proof

of an actual civilization
that is Atlantis.

I feel really excited
that we're able to dig deeper.

Right now, Robert and I
are on the hunt

for another
mysterious grave site
that he's only heard about

and has never seen
with his own eyes.

He believes
that this grave site
may contain petroglyphs

that could provide clues
to the real Atlantis.

This is what
we've been looking for.

So, what have we here?

I was told there was
some kind of markings in here,

but I don't know
exactly where they are.

[Quinto]
Some speculate
that this ancient site

may contain an actual written connection to Atlantis.

And Robert's ultimate goal
is to bring in
a team of experts

to analyze the area.

I mean, this looks like
something around here, right?

You know, it does.

Well, there's different
colors here, definitely.

I think you're right.
There's something there.

It's been obscured
by maybe weather
or natural erosion.

I wonder if this
could give us a deeper insight
into where we are

or how it might
relate to Atlantis.I'd like to know what it is.

I just can't make it out
with the naked eye.
Yeah.

Could these
ancient markings

be the key to finding
the empire of Atlantis?

And could it prove
that a technologically
advanced society

existed here in Sardinia?

To get the truth,

Robert is bringing in
Greg Heyworth
and Ken Boydston,

two of the world's
leading experts in
the field of spectral imaging.

Heyworth and Boydston
have recovered several

of the world's
most treasured artifacts,

including
the Dead Sea Scrolls,

and text from a burnt copy
of the Magna Carta

from the 13th century.

They'll be the very first
to attempt to recover
this image

using a multispectral
imaging technique.

We're gonna be using
multispectral imaging,

which is a process
of photographing
in 16 wavelengths,

including UV and infrared.

The idea is to try to see
what we can't see.

To bring out contrast
between these pigments
and the background,

and try to complete
what looks like
some kind of pattern here.

[Quinto] All wavelengths
of light fall into
the electromagnetic spectrum.

The visible spectrum,
which are eyes can detect,

only makes up two percent--
a tiny sliver.

And just tighten
those lasers down.So I'll tighten the laser down.

[Quinto]
Use of infrared and UV lights

can allow cameras to capture
red, green, and blue pigments

that have degraded
beyond what the eye can see,

perhaps allowing us
to uncover new clues
about Atlantis.

This wall has never
been analyzed in this way,

so there is
a strong possibility
of making a discovery.

[Ken]
Sweet. We got picture.[Greg] Okay.

We hope that with
the multispectral technology,

the pigment that we can't see
will actually be visible
in the image,

and we'll have
a more complete image

of the pattern
that used to be there.

Six twenty-five.

Okay, now we're at 700.

Oh, those are looking
really beautiful.

[Quinto]
To be able to find
some definitive proof

of an actual civilization
where Atlantis
might have existed--

that would be
pretty incredible.

See this pattern of three?

It looks like shark's teeth.That's the weirdest thing.

[Quinto]
I feel really excited
that we might see something

that maybe no one's
ever discovered before.

Look at it now.Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

using sophisticated
digital imaging technolo ,

and then analyzing
the data overnight,

Greg and Ken believe
they've found something--What?

...that could alter
the way we look at history
and Atlantis forever.

We did some imaging,
and these are
preliminary results.

Ken can describe
our basic findings.

One of the things that we did
was to combine
those colors together

into a very accurate
representation of the color
that you see on the wall,

and then overlay on that
the various bands--

[Quinto] Mm-hmm. ...with various kinds
of information in them.

And one of the things
we see is that

you see hints of black--Mm-hmm.

...that's kind of obscured
by this white stuff.Mm-hmm.

Well, what we discovered
is that the infrared light

penetrates
this white stuff on top

and clearly reveals
the dark pigments underneath.Oh, yeah.

We're just on the verge
of beginning to separate

the different layers. Right.

[Robert]
Do you have
any indication at all

what type of hieroglyphics
we're looking at?

I don't think
it's hieroglyphics.
I think it's an alphabet.

An actual alphabet. I think it's an alphabet.

[Quinto] What would that mean? [Robert]
Well, there's been no writing

discovered so far
in this ancient culture,

so if they actually
found writing, that's huge. [Quinto] Wow.

To this day, historians
still don't know much

about the Nuraghe civilization
who used these grave sites.

But we know,
from Plato's account,

that the Atlantean population
was highly advanced.

What we really want
to figure out is how complex
these pigments are.

If it is a complex black pigment
which isn't soot,

then it's not
traditionally Neolithic.

This is something
quite more sophisticated.

So this is an indication
that this was a more
advanced civilization?

Yes. If it is writing,
absolutely.

[Quinto]
And confirmation
that these writings

are an ancient,
undiscovered alphabet

might just prove
that the heart of Atlantis

was once here
on the island of Sardinia.

So, then, we've really found
something in our search.
Yes.

The big question is
if we can have it deciphered.

[Quinto]
We won't have
any definitive proof

until Greg and Ken
crunch more data.

In the meantime,
Robert and I will continue
our quest

to uncover the real
location of Atlantis

anywhere we can find it,

and by any means necessary.

Now, there's one more
really important cave
I wanna show to you.
Great.

It's incredible.In the spirit of adventure.

All right.
Let's do it.
I'll follow you.

All right.

Proper cave down there, huh?Yeah. We're gonna--

Is this also a tomb?
Uh-huh.This is a tomb also, yes.

There's some things
I need to show you in here.Okay.

But we're gonna have to crawl
down in there to see them.

[Quinto]
As I stare down
this dark portal to the past,

I'm struck by all the explorers who have come before me

in this elusive quest
to find Atlantis.

So I gotta go down.You do.

All right. Let's do it.All right.

[Quinto]
Will this ancient abyss

bring me closer to proving
Atlantis was real

once and for all?

And where else might
this epic journey lead me?