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WILLIAM SHATNER:
Atlantis, a legendary utopia,
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and a model for urban
efficiency.
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The city of the future.
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And then one day it was gone.
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According to the ancient
Greek philosopher Plato,
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it was the glittering capital
of an advanced civilization,
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and then, suddenly, it vanished
from the face of the earth.
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Some believe it was
destroyed by an earthquake,
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others are convinced that
it sunk into the sea.
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And then there are those
who believe
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it rose up off the ground
and went...
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But was it only a myth?
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Or did the so-called lost
continent of Atlantis
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really exist?
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Well, that is what we'll try
and find out.
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♪ ♪
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SHATNER:
Within this modern city stands the ruins of a citadel
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that was once the center
of ancient Greece.
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The ancient Greek civilization
lasted
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for more than three centuries.
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The Greeks developed
a sophisticated culture,
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which had a profound impact
on Western politics,
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science and philosophy.
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One of the best known
Greek philosophers was Plato,
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who wrote more than 20
important philosophical texts,
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known as "dialogues."
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RIC RADER:
Plato was doing his major writing
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in the fourth century BCE.
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And Plato's works are
very serious,
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very sober philosophical
reflections
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on major, major questions.
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He is really the most
important philosopher
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in the Western world.
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RICHARD FREUND: For most
of Western civilization,
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Plato is the basis for
our thinking and philosophy.
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But he's also partially
historian.
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And his work is still used
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in order to identify
the way life was in antiquity.
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SHATNER:
Of all the influential writings of Plato,
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the one that is perhaps
the most fascinating
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and the most mysterious
is his account
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of a lost civilization
that existed centuries before
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the rise of ancient Greece...
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Atlantis.
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Atlantis is a very important
story in Western imagination.
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In the year 359 before
the Common Era,
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Plato, the great philosopher,
told a story
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about a continent,
a large island,
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out in the Atlantic Ocean,
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and it became
a very powerful nation.
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It was home to
a fabulous civilization
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that began as the byword
for justice and compassion.
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It had a huge navy
that it used to travel
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from place to place
around the Mediterranean.
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ANDREW COLLINS:
Plato tells us in his dialogues
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that the information came from
a famous statesman
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who visited Egypt
by the name of Solon
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a few centuries before.
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SHATNER:
Plato wrote that Solon traveled to northern Egypt
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and entered a sacred temple
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dedicated to the Egyptian
goddess Neith.
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Within the temple was a column
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completely covered with
hieroglyphics
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on which the history
of Atlantis was recorded.
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Egyptian priests told Solon
the story of
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this lost civilization,
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which predated the Egyptians
themselves.
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The Egyptians would recount
the story of Atlantis
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as a major, major part of where
their civilization came from,
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where they got a lot
of their knowledge.
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This was a very advanced
and technological civilization.
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And Plato is reporting this
as a very, very important story
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for the ancient Egyptians.
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Pretty much like the next day
after Plato writes this,
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people start debating
whether or not it was true.
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Did Plato mean this
as a fictional story,
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or was Plato talking about
a historical occurrence?
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SHATNER:
While it may sound like the stuff of fantasy,
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in his dialogues
Timaeusand Critias,
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Plato provides a wealth
of detail
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about what many believe
was a very real island nation.
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HUGH NEWMAN:
Plato described Atlantis as being a huge landmass,
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potentially in
the Atlantic Ocean.
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One of the main design specs
of Atlantis was
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this huge area at the center
of the main city of Atlantis
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that had concentric circles of
land and canals.
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It had a canal coming out
that went to the sea,
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and a great port was
built there.
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YOUNG:
The concentric circles of navigable canals
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suggest a well-planned
early marina.
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It is strongly oriented
to the sea.
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In the temple on the acropolis
at the center of Atlantis,
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there is a statue of Poseidon,
the creator god of the place.
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And he's got winged horses;
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a chariot with horses
that can fly.
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So there is also a transcendent
dimension implied.
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SHATNER:
But if such a transcendent, awe-inspiring place
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actually existed,
what happened to it?
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According to Plato,
the Atlanteans angered the gods
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with their pride,
what the Greeks called "hubris."
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- [thunder crashes]
- And you definitely don't want to do that.
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YOUNG:
Atlantis got more and more vain,
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more and more abusive
in their hubris.
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A kind of arrogance
that was saying, "We are gods."
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That vanity of thinking that we
are as important as the gods
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tends to upset the gods,
and then the downfall comes.
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The downfall that is in every
Greek tragic play
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is the same thing.
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People of great privilege
are brought down.
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[thunder crashing]
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PICKNETT:
Atlantis disappeared
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in a day and a night
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due to some natural catastrophe,
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and ended up under the waves.
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YOUNG:
The gods came and destroyed the whole place.
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The people were killed,
the navy was destroyed,
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all in a day.
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And Atlantis sinks into the sea.
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FREUND:
When Plato talks about this catastrophic destruction
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of Atlantis, I have to
take him seriously.
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And the people would say, "Oh,
it's just a metaphor, Atlantis."
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Every metaphor has at its base
a nucleus
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of historical information.
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So even if he fictionalized it,
even if he elaborated it,
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at its nucleus,
it's a real historical place.
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SHATNER:
Obviously, the best way to prove whether or not Atlantis exists
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is to find it.
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And rediscovering
mythological cities
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isn't as far-fetched
as it might sound.
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Other than the myth of Atlantis,
the other great myth was
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the existence of Troy,
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a city that rivaled the Greeks
in power.
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We know about the Trojan horse,
we know about Helen of Troy,
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we know about Achilles.
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SHATNER:
For centuries, scholars scoffed at the notion
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that Troy was a real place.
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That is until amateur
archaeologist
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Heinrich Schliemann went
looking for it in 1871.
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And believe it or not,
Schliemann found Troy.
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Pretty much where Homer said
it would be.
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KAKU:
And that spawned a whole industry
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of trying to find
other ancient cities.
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But I think it also
raised false hopes
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that we would find Atlantis
the same way we found
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the city of Troy.
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It may not be so easy.
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SHATNER:
The modern search for Atlantis was kicked off
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back in the late 19th century
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by a rather curious
amateur scientist
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named Ignatius Donnelly.
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CHRISTOPHER BADER:
Ignatius Donnelly wrote a book
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called Atlantis:
The Antediluvian World
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back in 1882.
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And this was a book that really
brought Atlantis out of
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Plato's fables and into
modern consciousness.
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He said Atlantis really existed,
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really did have advanced
technology.
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SHATNER:
For Donnelly, researching the story of Atlantis
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became such an obsession
that he even went so far
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as to claim that
he knew precisely
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where Atlantis would
one day be found.
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YOUNG:
Ignatius Donnelly said Atlantis was in
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a very specific place
in the Atlantic Ocean,
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that it sank,
and that the Azores,
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the islands out there off Spain,
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are the tips of the mountains.
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Now we have good undersea
exploration.
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We can go down and see
the heavy silt
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that is at the ocean bottom
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that took millions of years
to build up.
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It couldn't have been
a civilization that sank
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a few thousand years ago.
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So he was wrong.
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But Ignatius Donnelly
advanced the idea
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that Atlantis may have
physical history to it.
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SHATNER:
Many researchers believe that the best way to find Atlantis
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is to look for it
where Plato said it was located.
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FREUND:
Plato gives us very specific geographic locations
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for where Atlantis was.
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He says it's by the Pillars
of Hercules.
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And the pillars were
actually two mountains,
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one located at
the Rock of Gibraltar,
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and the other located
in Morocco.
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And these two rocks were
the Pillars of Hercules.
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So he's putting it in
a very specific location
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that every single reader
knew about.
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SHATNER:
Does the key to rediscovering Atlantis
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lie in exploring the area
near the Pillars of Hercules,
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or what today we call
the Strait of Gibraltar?
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Perhaps the answer
can be found by examining
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the findings of a team
of archeologists
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who believe that the lost city
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is buried in Spain.
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SHATNER: In southern Spain,
just a few miles off the coast
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of the Atlantic Ocean
lies Doñana National Park.
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Considered to be one of
the finest biological reserves
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in the world, the park
is filled with marsh wetlands,
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sand dunes
and many forms of wildlife.
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But in recent years,
archaeologist Dr. Richard Freund
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has come to believe
that this marshland
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hides a profound secret:
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the remnants of Atlantis.
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FREUND: We started our work
with the Spanish archaeologists
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in Doñana Biological Park.
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It's one of the largest marshes
in all of Europe,
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about 250 square miles
of just marsh.
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The most important thing
about Doñana
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is it's located right next
to the Strait of Gibraltar.
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This is the area
where Plato says Atlantis was.
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So, archaeologists in Spain
started to look
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in Doñana Biological Park.
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And they invited us to come...
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...with our geoscience team
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to see if we could
narrow down the search
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using electrical
resistivity tomography,
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ground-penetrating radar
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and other geoscience.
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SHATNER:
The archaeologists hoped
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that underground scans
would reveal the presence
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of the ruins of Atlantis
buried underground.
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The results
of the underground scans
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showed that there were
distinct changes, or "breaks,"
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in the density and conductivity
of the soil.
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Richard Freund claims
that these breaks
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indicate the location
of underground stone walls.
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FREUND:
We were able to look through the different layers
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and identify what we thought
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were the markings
of the ancient city walls,
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concentric circles
that one can see
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using electrical resistivity
tomography,
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where they were
below the surface.
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Where the ancient city
might have been.
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Then, we did core samples
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that went down into the dirt
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30, 40, 50 meters
below the surface,
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00:13:29,620 --> 00:13:33,931
and it told us
there was organic matter
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that dated back
to about 5000 BCE,
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some of the most ancient remains
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in this now close
sedimented marsh.
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00:13:46,103 --> 00:13:48,793
So, now we have
the concentric circles,
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we have dating, so we know
that this is probably the area
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00:13:52,965 --> 00:13:56,793
where Atlantis was centered.
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SHATNER:
But if there are circular structures
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00:14:01,517 --> 00:14:05,413
beneath the mud at Doñana,
how did they become buried?
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According to Freund,
the marshes were once the site
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00:14:08,965 --> 00:14:11,448
of a large bay,
and the island of Atlantis
247
00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:13,551
sat in the middle of it.
248
00:14:13,655 --> 00:14:16,103
He theorizes that,
at some point,
249
00:14:16,206 --> 00:14:20,068
an earthquake
and a tsunami struck.
250
00:14:20,137 --> 00:14:24,310
- [people screaming]
- The island sunk into the bay,
251
00:14:24,379 --> 00:14:29,620
and mud eventually covered
the lost city.
252
00:14:29,724 --> 00:14:33,896
FREUND:
Plato seems to be describing, in the destruction of Atlantis,
253
00:14:33,965 --> 00:14:37,551
an earthquake
with a major mega-tsunami
254
00:14:37,620 --> 00:14:40,172
that basically inundated
255
00:14:40,241 --> 00:14:44,206
the entire island
with dirt and stone
256
00:14:44,275 --> 00:14:46,931
and they were not able
to get all the people out.
257
00:14:47,034 --> 00:14:50,586
It was a catastrophic event,
258
00:14:50,689 --> 00:14:57,241
and that catastrophic event
should be recorded in the marsh.
259
00:14:57,344 --> 00:15:00,206
SHATNER:
Incredibly, Freund also claims
260
00:15:00,310 --> 00:15:02,620
to have found
evidence underground
261
00:15:02,689 --> 00:15:05,379
not just of the structures
of Atlantis
262
00:15:05,482 --> 00:15:09,965
but of the cataclysm that
supposedly destroyed the city.
263
00:15:10,068 --> 00:15:12,620
It just so happens that
in the middle of the circle
264
00:15:12,689 --> 00:15:16,344
where the walls
of Atlantis were located,
265
00:15:16,413 --> 00:15:22,103
there was a consistent
methane layer in the marsh.
266
00:15:23,482 --> 00:15:25,655
SHATNER:
But why is the presence of a layer of methane
267
00:15:25,724 --> 00:15:29,241
in the Doñana marsh
a significant find?
268
00:15:29,344 --> 00:15:34,862
Well, methane is a gas made up
of carbon and hydrogen.
269
00:15:34,931 --> 00:15:38,034
And in other studies,
archaeologists have concluded
270
00:15:38,137 --> 00:15:40,241
that the detection
of methane in soil
271
00:15:40,344 --> 00:15:44,379
can indicate the presence
of large numbers of dead bodies
272
00:15:44,448 --> 00:15:46,137
buried underground.
273
00:15:46,206 --> 00:15:49,827
And Richard Freund believes
that his discovery
274
00:15:49,931 --> 00:15:52,965
of a significant amount
of methane at Doñana
275
00:15:53,068 --> 00:15:57,689
means that the bodies of
the Atlanteans are buried there.
276
00:15:57,793 --> 00:15:59,620
40 feet below the surface,
277
00:15:59,724 --> 00:16:02,448
suddenly to find
this sealed layer,
278
00:16:02,517 --> 00:16:07,275
this is what confirms
not only the date,
279
00:16:07,344 --> 00:16:11,551
the time, but what happened
to most of the people.
280
00:16:11,655 --> 00:16:14,827
Humans, animals, agriculture
281
00:16:14,931 --> 00:16:18,137
had been sealed
and disintegrated.
282
00:16:18,241 --> 00:16:22,241
And that is one of the
indicators, the methane layer.
283
00:16:22,310 --> 00:16:26,620
SHATNER:
Does Richard Freund's discovery of a methane layer
284
00:16:26,689 --> 00:16:30,620
beneath the Doñana marshes
suggest that Atlantis,
285
00:16:30,689 --> 00:16:34,689
and the Atlanteans themselves,
are buried there,
286
00:16:34,758 --> 00:16:36,655
waiting to be found?
287
00:16:36,758 --> 00:16:40,206
It's an intriguing possibility.
288
00:16:40,275 --> 00:16:43,517
However, since the Doñana marsh
is a wildlife reserve,
289
00:16:43,586 --> 00:16:46,655
the archaeologists
are not permitted to dig there
290
00:16:46,758 --> 00:16:48,310
to try and prove their theory.
291
00:16:50,241 --> 00:16:53,000
But Freund
and the Spanish archaeologists
292
00:16:53,103 --> 00:16:56,206
were determined to keep
searching for answers.
293
00:16:59,068 --> 00:17:01,827
So, they sent underwater divers
to investigate
294
00:17:01,931 --> 00:17:03,275
the nearby ocean floor
295
00:17:03,344 --> 00:17:07,275
where they found
extraordinary evidence
296
00:17:07,344 --> 00:17:11,172
that an ancient city
once existed in this area.
297
00:17:11,275 --> 00:17:13,551
FREUND:
What they were able to discover
298
00:17:13,620 --> 00:17:16,793
was there were massive walls,
299
00:17:16,862 --> 00:17:20,413
all in the area
right off of the coast.
300
00:17:20,482 --> 00:17:25,000
You have to wonder
"Where did they come from?"
301
00:17:25,103 --> 00:17:27,931
So, what we were able
to piece together
302
00:17:28,034 --> 00:17:32,137
is this came from a major city
on the coast.
303
00:17:32,206 --> 00:17:37,275
And that city is,
most likely than not, Atlantis.
304
00:17:38,413 --> 00:17:41,000
SHATNER:
Is it possible that Richard Freund
305
00:17:41,068 --> 00:17:43,931
has found the site
where Atlantis was located,
306
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,758
finally proving that
this lost civilization
307
00:17:48,827 --> 00:17:51,482
was, in fact, real?
308
00:17:51,586 --> 00:17:54,965
FREUND:
The most mysterious thing about Atlantis
309
00:17:55,034 --> 00:17:59,896
is everybody knows
that it was destroyed,
310
00:17:59,965 --> 00:18:04,896
and yet most people
are looking for evidence
311
00:18:04,965 --> 00:18:07,551
that it wasn't
completely destroyed.
312
00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:12,586
In my opinion,
this site in southern Spain
313
00:18:12,655 --> 00:18:15,172
is where Atlantis was.
314
00:18:15,275 --> 00:18:17,896
SHATNER:
Richard Freund believes he is on the cusp
315
00:18:17,965 --> 00:18:21,344
of uncovering
the ruins of Atlantis,
316
00:18:21,413 --> 00:18:24,103
but his theory faces
stiff competition
317
00:18:24,206 --> 00:18:26,344
from those posed
by other researchers.
318
00:18:26,413 --> 00:18:29,172
In fact, there are some
who argue that Atlantis
319
00:18:29,275 --> 00:18:32,068
was located at another site
320
00:18:32,172 --> 00:18:36,620
that is roughly 100 miles west,
in Portugal.
321
00:18:36,689 --> 00:18:39,413
And according to the man
who discovered that site,
322
00:18:39,482 --> 00:18:44,000
it fits virtually every clue
left by Plato,
323
00:18:44,068 --> 00:18:49,103
in a way no other place on earth
can possibly match.
324
00:18:57,344 --> 00:18:59,103
SHATNER:
British resarcher Peter Daughtrey
325
00:18:59,206 --> 00:19:04,241
publishes a book titled
Atlantis and the Silver City.
326
00:19:04,344 --> 00:19:08,000
In it, Daughtry argues
that if Atlantis existed,
327
00:19:08,103 --> 00:19:10,448
the best way to find
its location is to take
328
00:19:10,551 --> 00:19:15,379
a much closer, more detailed
look at Plato's writings.
329
00:19:15,448 --> 00:19:18,344
Daughtrey has been
exhaustively studying
330
00:19:18,448 --> 00:19:21,482
Plato's dialogues for decades,
331
00:19:21,551 --> 00:19:25,068
and is confident
that he has found enough clues
332
00:19:25,172 --> 00:19:29,413
to solve the mystery
of Atlantis.
333
00:19:29,482 --> 00:19:33,068
When I analyze Plato, and in
the second dialogue, Critias,
334
00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:34,689
it gave an awful amount
of detail.
335
00:19:34,758 --> 00:19:38,344
In fact, there are 100 clues,
but about 40 of them
336
00:19:38,448 --> 00:19:40,206
you couldn't hope to possibly
find today
337
00:19:40,275 --> 00:19:43,310
because they would have
all gone a long time ago.
338
00:19:43,379 --> 00:19:46,551
So I distilled it down
to just 60 clues
339
00:19:46,655 --> 00:19:48,724
that we could reasonably hope
to match today.
340
00:19:48,827 --> 00:19:53,379
SHATNER:
When Daughtrey drilled deeper into Plato's writings,
341
00:19:53,448 --> 00:19:56,965
he concluded that Atlantis
wasn't located
342
00:19:57,034 --> 00:19:59,655
along the coast of Spain,
343
00:19:59,758 --> 00:20:03,551
but rather, the idyllic
Algarve coast of Portugal.
344
00:20:03,655 --> 00:20:06,931
DAUGHTREY:
When I'd finished researching the 60 clues,
345
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,551
all 60 fit with this area.
346
00:20:09,620 --> 00:20:12,655
One of the few crops
he speaks of in detail
347
00:20:12,758 --> 00:20:15,655
is-is chestnuts,
sweet chestnuts.
348
00:20:15,758 --> 00:20:18,413
That's one of the evocative
smells in the Algarve.
349
00:20:18,482 --> 00:20:21,620
And the sweet chestnut
was endemic in Portugal,
350
00:20:21,724 --> 00:20:23,241
and, well, Iberia.
351
00:20:23,310 --> 00:20:25,034
He also said
it had another clue,
352
00:20:25,103 --> 00:20:27,827
which was great wealth.
353
00:20:27,931 --> 00:20:30,655
Well, that area
of southern Portugal
354
00:20:30,758 --> 00:20:32,827
was one of the wealthiest areas
355
00:20:32,931 --> 00:20:35,344
for precious metals
in the world.
356
00:20:35,448 --> 00:20:37,827
Phoenicians were there trading
357
00:20:37,931 --> 00:20:40,517
with the Algarve
for the precious metals.
358
00:20:40,620 --> 00:20:43,724
In fact, at one stage,
so much silver
359
00:20:43,793 --> 00:20:46,241
had been taken
by the Phoenicians
360
00:20:46,344 --> 00:20:49,103
from this region
of southern Portugal
361
00:20:49,206 --> 00:20:52,344
back to Babylon,
the bullion market crashed
362
00:20:52,448 --> 00:20:54,586
because there was so much of it.
363
00:20:55,655 --> 00:20:59,103
SHATNER:
But what about the biggest clue of all?
364
00:20:59,206 --> 00:21:03,793
Didn't Plato say
that Atlantis was an island?
365
00:21:03,896 --> 00:21:07,482
DAUGHTREY:
A lot of people were looking for an island,
366
00:21:07,586 --> 00:21:10,551
and the word that Plato used,
the ancient Greek word,
367
00:21:10,655 --> 00:21:13,413
was nêsos,N-E-S-O-S.
368
00:21:13,482 --> 00:21:17,620
In actual fact, the Greeks
had three definitions
369
00:21:17,689 --> 00:21:18,931
of the word nêsos.
370
00:21:19,034 --> 00:21:20,689
One was an island.
371
00:21:20,793 --> 00:21:22,103
The other was a big estuary
372
00:21:22,172 --> 00:21:24,793
with mudflats
and rivulets of water.
373
00:21:24,862 --> 00:21:26,862
And the other one
was a peninsula.
374
00:21:26,931 --> 00:21:29,931
And right outside
the Straits of Gibraltar
375
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,344
you got the Iberian Peninsula.
376
00:21:32,448 --> 00:21:35,068
So that had been bedeviling
the search for Atlantis
377
00:21:35,172 --> 00:21:36,862
for a long time, people
were looking for an island.
378
00:21:36,965 --> 00:21:38,241
It probably wasn't an island.
379
00:21:38,344 --> 00:21:42,206
SHATNER:
But if the land, the nêsos, of Atlantis
380
00:21:42,275 --> 00:21:44,448
is located in southern Portugal,
381
00:21:44,551 --> 00:21:47,172
where exactly
is the capital city?
382
00:21:47,275 --> 00:21:48,758
The one
with the concentric rings,
383
00:21:48,862 --> 00:21:52,275
the massive harbor
and the temple of Poseidon?
384
00:21:52,344 --> 00:21:54,724
DAUGHTREY:
I turned to the clues for the city,
385
00:21:54,827 --> 00:21:57,172
which were 18 of the 60 clues,
386
00:21:57,275 --> 00:21:59,275
and they're very precise
and detailed.
387
00:21:59,344 --> 00:22:04,275
Plato said that the capital city
was less than a kilometer wide.
388
00:22:04,344 --> 00:22:06,862
It had mountains at the back
of it, it was on a flat plain.
389
00:22:06,965 --> 00:22:12,206
It was encircled by three rings
of water and two of land,
390
00:22:12,275 --> 00:22:16,793
and the outer ring of water
was a big harbor.
391
00:22:16,862 --> 00:22:18,965
SHATNER:
As Daughtrey searched,
392
00:22:19,034 --> 00:22:21,241
he found only one place
in the region--
393
00:22:21,344 --> 00:22:23,241
or for that matter,
in the world--
394
00:22:23,344 --> 00:22:28,275
that fits every single one
of his 18 clues.
395
00:22:28,344 --> 00:22:31,655
And to his surprise,
that place was a city
396
00:22:31,758 --> 00:22:33,758
that is located in Portugal,
397
00:22:33,862 --> 00:22:39,620
not on the bottom of the ocean,
nor buried under layers of mud:
398
00:22:39,724 --> 00:22:43,758
the old Portuguese town
of Silves.
399
00:22:43,862 --> 00:22:46,551
This ancient city,
400
00:22:46,655 --> 00:22:49,310
in the Algarve region
of southern Portugal,
401
00:22:49,413 --> 00:22:51,206
is set on the Arade River,
402
00:22:51,275 --> 00:22:55,000
which links inland Portugal
to the open ocean.
403
00:22:55,068 --> 00:22:57,931
DAUGHTREY:
Silves town itself is just less than a kilometer wide.
404
00:22:58,034 --> 00:23:01,620
One of Plato's clues was that
405
00:23:01,724 --> 00:23:04,137
it was only nine and a quarter
kilometers from the sea.
406
00:23:04,241 --> 00:23:06,724
The river that runs past Silves
407
00:23:06,827 --> 00:23:08,379
and goes, you know,
out to the sea,
408
00:23:08,448 --> 00:23:10,586
it's exactly nine
and a quarter kilometers.
409
00:23:10,655 --> 00:23:14,103
Plato said that they built
the buildings
410
00:23:14,172 --> 00:23:16,724
from white, black and red rock.
411
00:23:16,793 --> 00:23:19,275
In fact, if you go to Silves
now, you can see the pavement
412
00:23:19,379 --> 00:23:22,310
is in white, black
and red stone.
413
00:23:22,379 --> 00:23:26,586
Plato said there was a palace
at the top of the island.
414
00:23:26,655 --> 00:23:28,793
And Silves,
there's an old castle there,
415
00:23:28,862 --> 00:23:30,275
the biggest in Portugal.
416
00:23:30,379 --> 00:23:33,206
The current castle
is on a brow of a hill
417
00:23:33,275 --> 00:23:34,862
that is the same
land measurements
418
00:23:34,931 --> 00:23:37,241
as he gave for the palace.
419
00:23:37,310 --> 00:23:39,206
So all these clues
match to the city.
420
00:23:39,275 --> 00:23:40,758
There couldn't be two of them.
421
00:23:40,862 --> 00:23:43,413
And it really is the final
clincher, if you like,
422
00:23:43,517 --> 00:23:46,724
that that was where
Plato was talking about.
423
00:23:46,827 --> 00:23:50,172
SHATNER:
According to Peter Daughtrey,
424
00:23:50,275 --> 00:23:52,344
the city that is now
called Silves
425
00:23:52,448 --> 00:23:55,448
was at the center
of a vast empire that stretched
426
00:23:55,517 --> 00:23:58,655
to include the area
of the Doñana marsh,
427
00:23:58,758 --> 00:24:02,448
so it's entirely possible
that both he and Richard Freund
428
00:24:02,517 --> 00:24:06,793
have uncovered remnants
of Atlantis.
429
00:24:07,931 --> 00:24:09,655
But questions remain.
430
00:24:09,758 --> 00:24:12,137
For instance, if Atlantis
was a far-reaching,
431
00:24:12,206 --> 00:24:17,068
seafaring nation that traveled
throughout the Mediterranean,
432
00:24:17,172 --> 00:24:20,413
then how come
no ancient artifacts
433
00:24:20,517 --> 00:24:23,793
from their civilization
have ever been recovered?
434
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,413
Well, a recent discovery
435
00:24:27,517 --> 00:24:31,379
may have finally revealed
the ancient artifacts
436
00:24:31,448 --> 00:24:34,862
that archaeologists
have been searching for.
437
00:24:41,827 --> 00:24:44,758
Marine archeologists
recover dozens
438
00:24:44,862 --> 00:24:47,517
of mysterious metal bars
439
00:24:47,586 --> 00:24:52,241
from an ancient shipwreck
on the seafloor off of Sicily.
440
00:24:52,344 --> 00:24:56,586
Metal bars that, incredibly,
match the description
441
00:24:56,689 --> 00:25:00,655
of a metal that was said to be
treasured by the Atlanteans:
442
00:25:00,758 --> 00:25:02,793
orichalcum.
443
00:25:02,896 --> 00:25:06,586
NEWMAN: One of the mysteries of
Atlantis that Plato talked about
444
00:25:06,689 --> 00:25:09,620
was a type of metal
called orichalcum.
445
00:25:09,724 --> 00:25:12,034
This has been a big mystery
and a big debate,
446
00:25:12,137 --> 00:25:15,724
you know, for many decades
about what this really is.
447
00:25:15,793 --> 00:25:17,620
FREUND:
The archaeologists said,
448
00:25:17,689 --> 00:25:21,482
"We want to know if this
is really orichalcum."
449
00:25:21,586 --> 00:25:24,586
So I sent a geoscientist
450
00:25:24,689 --> 00:25:27,310
with an X-ray
fluorescence machine
451
00:25:27,413 --> 00:25:30,206
that basically can
tell me the content
452
00:25:30,310 --> 00:25:34,172
of that metal
without destroying the sample.
453
00:25:34,275 --> 00:25:39,586
And what he discovered was
it had all the characteristics
454
00:25:39,689 --> 00:25:42,896
of what orichalcum
traditionally had.
455
00:25:42,965 --> 00:25:45,517
It had zinc, it had lead,
456
00:25:45,620 --> 00:25:48,931
it had copper, it had tin.
457
00:25:49,034 --> 00:25:53,689
And these are all materials
that made orichalcum so famous.
458
00:25:54,551 --> 00:25:57,827
Could the very existence
of orichalcum
459
00:25:57,896 --> 00:26:01,655
really be tangible evidence
that Plato's fabled
460
00:26:01,724 --> 00:26:04,551
lost continent actually existed?
461
00:26:04,655 --> 00:26:08,931
There are many who believe
the answer is yes.
462
00:26:09,034 --> 00:26:11,862
But does that suggest
that Atlantis was located
463
00:26:11,931 --> 00:26:16,379
somewhere off the coast
of Spain, in Portugal, perhaps?
464
00:26:16,482 --> 00:26:19,241
Or could it have been
somewhere else?
465
00:26:19,344 --> 00:26:23,896
Somewhere that few people
would ever imagine?
466
00:26:28,758 --> 00:26:33,275
SHATNER:
Dayton, Ohio, November, 1923.
467
00:26:33,379 --> 00:26:36,275
Edgar Cayce,
an American psychic and healer,
468
00:26:36,379 --> 00:26:39,241
famous in the early 20th century
469
00:26:39,310 --> 00:26:41,586
for his ability
to see into the future,
470
00:26:41,689 --> 00:26:45,896
has a profound vision
while in a self-induced trance.
471
00:26:45,965 --> 00:26:49,379
- [babbling]
- But on this particular occasion,
472
00:26:49,448 --> 00:26:53,482
Cayce's vision
was not of the future
473
00:26:53,586 --> 00:26:55,965
- but of the distant past.
- [mumbles]: Atlantis.
474
00:26:56,034 --> 00:26:59,000
SHATNER:
He saw Atlantis.
475
00:26:59,103 --> 00:27:01,724
But the Atlantis that Cayce saw
476
00:27:01,827 --> 00:27:04,862
did not resemble
an ancient city.
477
00:27:07,137 --> 00:27:12,448
Edgar Cayce talks about Atlantis
in his psychic readings
478
00:27:12,517 --> 00:27:16,517
as being a place
of high culture.
479
00:27:16,586 --> 00:27:20,517
Civilization beyond
even what we have today.
480
00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:23,344
They had everything
from crystals
481
00:27:23,413 --> 00:27:25,586
that could affect
your healing in the body
482
00:27:25,689 --> 00:27:29,034
to death rays, even airships.
483
00:27:31,172 --> 00:27:32,310
BADER:
He described Atlantis
484
00:27:32,413 --> 00:27:36,413
as a place of a much greater and
much more advanced technology
485
00:27:36,482 --> 00:27:39,344
than either Plato
or Donnelly claimed.
486
00:27:39,413 --> 00:27:42,103
He claims that they were able
to levitate
487
00:27:42,206 --> 00:27:43,586
and have psychic powers.
488
00:27:43,689 --> 00:27:46,137
The downfall of Atlantis,
according to Cayce,
489
00:27:46,241 --> 00:27:50,827
was that Atlantis had developed
giant crystal death rays
490
00:27:50,896 --> 00:27:54,379
and there was an internal
civil war on the island,
491
00:27:54,448 --> 00:27:56,689
that during that war,
the crystal death rays
492
00:27:56,758 --> 00:28:02,206
were set off and sunk the island
beneath the waves.
493
00:28:02,275 --> 00:28:05,172
SHATNER:
Giant crystal death rays?
494
00:28:05,275 --> 00:28:11,448
As strange as it sounds,
that is what Cayce said.
495
00:28:11,517 --> 00:28:15,482
Researchers believe that one way
to test his incredible claims
496
00:28:15,586 --> 00:28:17,931
is to look for the ruins
of Atlantis
497
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,034
where Edgar Cayce
thought it was located.
498
00:28:21,103 --> 00:28:25,034
Cayce said that Atlantis wasn't
centered near the Mediterranean,
499
00:28:25,103 --> 00:28:27,000
as most people believe,
500
00:28:27,068 --> 00:28:30,655
but rather, on the other side
of the Atlantic Ocean.
501
00:28:30,724 --> 00:28:33,896
PICKNETT:
Edgar Cayce described Atlantis
502
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,965
as being just off
the coast of Cuba,
503
00:28:37,034 --> 00:28:40,586
and there is some
quite persuasive research
504
00:28:40,655 --> 00:28:44,896
about, um, Atlantis
actually being off Cuba.
505
00:28:46,862 --> 00:28:49,896
COLLINS:
In September, 1998,
506
00:28:49,965 --> 00:28:55,827
I went to Cuba and I hired
the help of a local archeologist
507
00:28:55,931 --> 00:28:58,724
who was able to take me
out to these caves.
508
00:28:58,827 --> 00:29:04,724
We found a veritable Sistine
Chapel of the ancient world.
509
00:29:04,793 --> 00:29:08,965
Seven chambers full
of the most incredible rock art
510
00:29:09,068 --> 00:29:12,724
showing these weird
concentric circles
511
00:29:12,827 --> 00:29:15,896
that were a complete mystery
to the archeologists.
512
00:29:15,965 --> 00:29:19,206
It was almost as if
I had a eureka moment,
513
00:29:19,310 --> 00:29:24,241
and I realized that this could
be the key to finding Atlantis.
514
00:29:24,344 --> 00:29:27,413
SHATNER:
In addition to archaeological evidence
515
00:29:27,517 --> 00:29:30,724
linking Cuba to Atlantis,
researchers argue
516
00:29:30,827 --> 00:29:33,275
that there is also
historical evidence,
517
00:29:33,379 --> 00:29:36,758
in the form of accounts
written by Spanish explorers
518
00:29:36,862 --> 00:29:39,517
in the 16th century.
519
00:29:39,620 --> 00:29:44,103
In 1552, a Spanish historian
520
00:29:44,172 --> 00:29:49,620
by the name
of Francisco López de Gómara
521
00:29:49,724 --> 00:29:55,413
actually wrote that when
the Spanish did arrive in Cuba,
522
00:29:55,482 --> 00:29:57,896
they found
that the indigenous peoples
523
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,137
had a tradition
that once all of these islands
524
00:30:01,206 --> 00:30:03,655
were one huge continent...
525
00:30:04,931 --> 00:30:07,793
...that had been broken apart
526
00:30:07,896 --> 00:30:10,482
by the waters
during a great cataclysm
527
00:30:10,551 --> 00:30:13,931
and split apart into the islands
528
00:30:14,034 --> 00:30:16,103
and the cays that we see today.
529
00:30:16,965 --> 00:30:19,344
SHATNER:
According to geologists,
530
00:30:19,413 --> 00:30:20,931
such a cataclysm did take place
531
00:30:21,034 --> 00:30:23,517
in the Atlantic Ocean,
near Cuba,
532
00:30:23,620 --> 00:30:26,310
more than 10,000 years ago.
533
00:30:26,379 --> 00:30:28,448
During the last ice age,
534
00:30:28,551 --> 00:30:33,172
sea levels were about
400 feet lower.
535
00:30:33,275 --> 00:30:36,931
Many of today's islands were
joined into large landmasses;
536
00:30:37,034 --> 00:30:41,137
island continents,
you might say.
537
00:30:41,206 --> 00:30:44,586
Then the ice began to melt,
creating sudden surges
538
00:30:44,655 --> 00:30:48,655
in ocean levels called
meltwater pulses.
539
00:30:50,206 --> 00:30:53,310
One particularly violent pulse
wreaked havoc
540
00:30:53,413 --> 00:30:57,310
on coastlines and islands
everywhere.
541
00:30:57,379 --> 00:31:00,758
Meltwater pulse 1B.
542
00:31:00,862 --> 00:31:05,689
Some people think that
meltwater pulse 1B took place
543
00:31:05,793 --> 00:31:09,310
precisely when Atlantis
was supposed to fall.
544
00:31:09,413 --> 00:31:12,000
Now, of course,
this is a theory,
545
00:31:12,068 --> 00:31:14,896
'cause we're going back
10,000 years.
546
00:31:14,965 --> 00:31:17,482
Some people have claimed
that perhaps it was
547
00:31:17,586 --> 00:31:20,000
the sudden meltwater
being released
548
00:31:20,068 --> 00:31:24,137
that caused the flooding
which destroyed Atlantis.
549
00:31:24,206 --> 00:31:28,206
Plato tells us that Atlantis
was somewhere
550
00:31:28,275 --> 00:31:30,241
out in the Atlantic Ocean.
551
00:31:30,310 --> 00:31:31,827
But where, exactly?
552
00:31:31,931 --> 00:31:37,482
Is it possible that Atlantis
awaits discovery
553
00:31:37,551 --> 00:31:39,689
off the coast of Cuba?
554
00:31:39,758 --> 00:31:41,758
I actually think
the answer is yes.
555
00:31:43,965 --> 00:31:46,655
SHATNER:
If Edgar Cayce was right, and the ruins of Atlantis
556
00:31:46,724 --> 00:31:49,068
can be found in the ocean
near Cuba,
557
00:31:49,172 --> 00:31:53,068
then is it also possible
that Atlantis possessed
558
00:31:53,172 --> 00:31:56,758
incredibly sophisticated
technology, as he described?
559
00:31:56,827 --> 00:31:59,103
Perhaps even technology
560
00:31:59,172 --> 00:32:03,241
that is more advanced
than our own.
561
00:32:03,344 --> 00:32:08,206
Airships, levitation,
psych powers.
562
00:32:08,275 --> 00:32:10,379
Sounds like something
out of science fiction,
563
00:32:10,482 --> 00:32:13,068
until we remember that,
according to Plato,
564
00:32:13,172 --> 00:32:16,379
Atlantis was created
by Poseidon,
565
00:32:16,482 --> 00:32:20,689
the Greek god of the sea,
and ruled by his children.
566
00:32:20,793 --> 00:32:22,655
And there are some
who believe that
567
00:32:22,724 --> 00:32:26,344
those same Greek gods
were actually
568
00:32:26,413 --> 00:32:29,068
extraterrestrial visitors.
569
00:32:29,137 --> 00:32:32,758
But that's all too far-fetched
for rational minds
570
00:32:32,862 --> 00:32:35,034
like ours to accept.
571
00:32:36,413 --> 00:32:38,724
Or is it?
572
00:32:46,517 --> 00:32:50,068
SHATNER:
Standing in the center of the National Archaeological Museum
573
00:32:50,137 --> 00:32:53,172
is an ancient statue
that is referred to as
574
00:32:53,275 --> 00:32:55,689
Poseidon of Melos.
575
00:32:55,758 --> 00:32:59,517
Dated to the second century BC,
576
00:32:59,620 --> 00:33:02,344
it depicts the Greek god
Poseidon who,
577
00:33:02,413 --> 00:33:06,275
according to Plato, was both
the ruler of the sea
578
00:33:06,379 --> 00:33:09,344
and the founder of Atlantis.
579
00:33:11,827 --> 00:33:15,655
We hear from Plato
that the gods drew lots
580
00:33:15,758 --> 00:33:18,689
and divided up the world
into areas
581
00:33:18,793 --> 00:33:20,620
that they would be
responsible for.
582
00:33:20,689 --> 00:33:24,931
And Poseidon receives an island,
583
00:33:25,034 --> 00:33:28,379
and he finds a human woman
on the island,
584
00:33:28,448 --> 00:33:29,827
falls in love with her,
585
00:33:29,931 --> 00:33:32,551
and they have five sets
of twins.
586
00:33:32,620 --> 00:33:37,103
And the firstborn of the first
set of twins he names Atlas,
587
00:33:37,206 --> 00:33:40,586
and he makes him
the king of Atlantis.
588
00:33:40,689 --> 00:33:43,482
So the island is named for
that Atlas,
589
00:33:43,551 --> 00:33:45,689
as is the Atlantic Ocean
590
00:33:45,793 --> 00:33:48,517
in which the island
was situated.
591
00:33:48,586 --> 00:33:51,275
The original inhabitants
of Atlantis,
592
00:33:51,344 --> 00:33:54,517
the Atlanteans themselves,
because they are
593
00:33:54,586 --> 00:33:58,586
the descendants of a god,
they are like gods themselves.
594
00:33:58,689 --> 00:34:01,931
They're not gods
on the level of Poseidon,
595
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,586
but they are endowed with
supernatural powers of sorts.
596
00:34:06,689 --> 00:34:11,310
BURDORFF:
They have the best technology, they have the most resources,
597
00:34:11,413 --> 00:34:15,000
they have civilization
crafted by a god
598
00:34:15,103 --> 00:34:18,103
for their greatest benefit.
599
00:34:18,172 --> 00:34:23,206
SHATNER:
Were the Atlanteans really supernatural beings
600
00:34:23,310 --> 00:34:26,724
with advanced technology
who descended from a god?
601
00:34:26,827 --> 00:34:30,896
Sounds like a wild fantasy.
602
00:34:30,965 --> 00:34:34,275
But, just like the rest
of the Atlantis story,
603
00:34:34,344 --> 00:34:37,793
it begs the question:
is there any way
604
00:34:37,862 --> 00:34:40,517
that it could possibly be true?
605
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:46,275
Plato said the Atlanteans were
the children of the gods.
606
00:34:46,344 --> 00:34:48,793
They were hybrid beings.
607
00:34:48,862 --> 00:34:51,482
They were part human, part god,
608
00:34:51,586 --> 00:34:55,103
where the gods have created
this race of beings.
609
00:34:55,206 --> 00:34:58,655
Many people have long believed
that this story is true,
610
00:34:58,724 --> 00:35:00,034
but they weren't really gods,
611
00:35:00,137 --> 00:35:02,068
they were actually
extraterrestrials,
612
00:35:02,172 --> 00:35:04,655
and they mated with
human females
613
00:35:04,724 --> 00:35:06,413
and created a hybrid race.
614
00:35:06,482 --> 00:35:10,724
This is a story that has
all kinds of hallmarks
615
00:35:10,827 --> 00:35:13,862
of genetic engineering
and the influence of
616
00:35:13,965 --> 00:35:16,965
an extraterrestrial
with this technology.
617
00:35:17,068 --> 00:35:19,379
It sounds like quite
a far-out idea,
618
00:35:19,482 --> 00:35:23,344
but there's a lot of analogies
in myths
619
00:35:23,413 --> 00:35:25,413
that don't really make sense
unless you look at it
620
00:35:25,517 --> 00:35:28,586
- from a technical perspective.
- [thunder crashes]
621
00:35:28,689 --> 00:35:30,689
HENRY:
In Plato's dialogues, he makes it clear that
622
00:35:30,793 --> 00:35:34,379
Atlantis is a place
of genuine history.
623
00:35:34,448 --> 00:35:37,068
So what the story is
actually telling us
624
00:35:37,137 --> 00:35:40,310
is that there were
actual beings that came to Earth
625
00:35:40,413 --> 00:35:44,965
and influenced human affairs
by creating hybrid offspring.
626
00:35:47,862 --> 00:35:50,586
SHATNER:
Extraterrestrial hybrids.
627
00:35:50,689 --> 00:35:53,068
If this fascinating theory
is true,
628
00:35:53,172 --> 00:35:55,413
could it be that
the advanced technology
629
00:35:55,517 --> 00:35:59,482
associated with Atlantis
was brought to Earth...
630
00:35:59,586 --> 00:36:01,620
from another world?
631
00:36:01,724 --> 00:36:05,000
And perhaps more profoundly,
if the Atlanteans
632
00:36:05,103 --> 00:36:07,482
descended from
extraterrestrials,
633
00:36:07,586 --> 00:36:13,068
could it be that
they didn't just disappear,
634
00:36:13,172 --> 00:36:15,689
but actually went home?
635
00:36:17,310 --> 00:36:19,620
One of the big problems
of Atlantis
636
00:36:19,689 --> 00:36:21,931
is where is it?
Where did it go?
637
00:36:23,206 --> 00:36:25,000
There's so many places
around the world
638
00:36:25,068 --> 00:36:28,103
that Atlantis is said
to have existed:
639
00:36:28,172 --> 00:36:33,827
Antarctica, the Mediterranean,
Cuba and other places.
640
00:36:33,896 --> 00:36:36,275
One of the ideas is that
it actually was
641
00:36:36,344 --> 00:36:39,896
some kind of spaceship
that lifted off
642
00:36:39,965 --> 00:36:43,172
and then would go and land
in another location.
643
00:36:43,275 --> 00:36:45,206
So many of the stories
we often find in Greek myths
644
00:36:45,275 --> 00:36:49,379
do talk about these stars
falling from the sky
645
00:36:49,448 --> 00:36:52,344
and creating these islands
in the ocean.
646
00:36:52,448 --> 00:36:56,827
So Atlantis could have actually
took off and left Earth.
647
00:36:56,931 --> 00:37:01,241
HENRY:
Cultures all around the world talk about humans deciding
648
00:37:01,310 --> 00:37:03,103
to ascend or leave the planet
because of
649
00:37:03,172 --> 00:37:04,517
an impending cataclysm;
650
00:37:04,620 --> 00:37:07,000
a coming apocalypse,
like a great flood
651
00:37:07,068 --> 00:37:09,413
or a cataclysm of that nature.
652
00:37:09,517 --> 00:37:12,310
And this is what we might be
seeing in Atlantis,
653
00:37:12,379 --> 00:37:14,344
where they know
this cataclysm's coming,
654
00:37:14,413 --> 00:37:18,068
and they decide it's time
to move into the stars.
655
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,517
SHATNER:
Atlantis a spaceship?
656
00:37:23,586 --> 00:37:25,965
It's an audacious theory.
657
00:37:26,034 --> 00:37:27,931
Which, perhaps,
is what you must expect
658
00:37:28,034 --> 00:37:29,931
when an entire continent
vanishes
659
00:37:30,034 --> 00:37:31,655
from the face of the earth.
660
00:37:32,965 --> 00:37:37,586
But... did Atlantis
really leave no trace?
661
00:37:37,689 --> 00:37:42,551
Or, in fact, could there be a
reflection of the lost continent
662
00:37:42,620 --> 00:37:44,000
in the modern world,
663
00:37:44,068 --> 00:37:45,413
and in the last place
664
00:37:45,482 --> 00:37:50,034
anyone would expect to find it?
665
00:37:55,241 --> 00:37:59,068
SHATNER:
Orlando, Florida. 1966.
666
00:37:59,137 --> 00:38:01,689
Only months before his death,
667
00:38:01,793 --> 00:38:06,620
Walt Disney announces his
most ambitious project to date.
668
00:38:06,724 --> 00:38:08,724
DAVE BOSSERT:
In 1966,
669
00:38:08,827 --> 00:38:13,620
really one of the last things
that Walt talked about publicly
670
00:38:13,724 --> 00:38:18,172
was his designs for EPCOT,
671
00:38:18,275 --> 00:38:24,310
which stands for Experimental
Prototype City of Tomorrow.
672
00:38:25,758 --> 00:38:29,068
And he had been amassing
property
673
00:38:29,137 --> 00:38:32,482
in the Orlando area of Florida
for a number of years
674
00:38:32,586 --> 00:38:35,275
before he finally made
this announcement.
675
00:38:35,379 --> 00:38:38,206
SHATNER:
In the years following Disney's death,
676
00:38:38,310 --> 00:38:40,896
the EPCOT project moved forward.
677
00:38:40,965 --> 00:38:42,965
But without Disney's
personal guidance,
678
00:38:43,068 --> 00:38:45,448
his ambitious plans
were scaled back.
679
00:38:46,586 --> 00:38:48,137
In his original vision,
680
00:38:48,241 --> 00:38:51,103
EPCOT was to be
not just a tourist attraction,
681
00:38:51,172 --> 00:38:53,620
but an actual city,
682
00:38:53,689 --> 00:38:56,862
a place where thousands
would live and work--
683
00:38:56,965 --> 00:38:58,827
a utopia.
684
00:38:58,896 --> 00:39:01,448
BOSSERT:
The designers, the Imagineers,
685
00:39:01,551 --> 00:39:03,482
Walt Disney,
were all looking to see
686
00:39:03,551 --> 00:39:07,103
if they could create
this utopian society.
687
00:39:07,206 --> 00:39:10,379
And you have to remember,
as they were designing this,
688
00:39:10,482 --> 00:39:15,206
there was the cultural upheaval
of the 1960s starting to go on.
689
00:39:15,275 --> 00:39:17,586
SHATNER:
But there's one thing
690
00:39:17,689 --> 00:39:20,137
few people know about EPCOT.
691
00:39:20,241 --> 00:39:22,551
Both Disney's original design
692
00:39:22,620 --> 00:39:25,551
and the version
that was ultimately built
693
00:39:25,655 --> 00:39:29,000
resemble,
to a remarkable degree,
694
00:39:29,103 --> 00:39:31,931
Plato's description of Atlantis,
695
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,448
right down
to the concentric rings.
696
00:39:36,379 --> 00:39:40,344
So, with EPCOT,
you had this center core,
697
00:39:40,448 --> 00:39:42,137
which would have been
the office buildings
698
00:39:42,241 --> 00:39:44,103
and live industry,
699
00:39:44,172 --> 00:39:46,275
and you had
these concentric rings
700
00:39:46,379 --> 00:39:48,517
that radiated out from that,
701
00:39:48,586 --> 00:39:52,827
with greenbelts separating
different areas,
702
00:39:52,931 --> 00:39:57,448
and this is very similar to
the description that Plato gave.
703
00:39:57,517 --> 00:40:00,551
And instead of greenbelts,
they were waterways.
704
00:40:02,344 --> 00:40:05,896
SHATNER:
Was Walt Disney creating a modern-day Atlantis,
705
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,172
perhaps without
even realizing it?
706
00:40:08,275 --> 00:40:10,275
BOSSERT:
No one really knows
707
00:40:10,379 --> 00:40:13,379
what were those thoughts
that floated through his head
708
00:40:13,448 --> 00:40:17,034
about the lost city of Atlantis.
709
00:40:17,137 --> 00:40:19,000
What was he thinking about it?
710
00:40:19,103 --> 00:40:20,827
What did he believe?
711
00:40:20,896 --> 00:40:22,551
We'll never know that.
712
00:40:22,620 --> 00:40:26,000
I firmly believe
that if Walt Disney
713
00:40:26,103 --> 00:40:28,482
had lived another 20 years,
714
00:40:28,586 --> 00:40:32,896
we may have seen
his vision of EPCOT
715
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,689
really be a modern-day version
716
00:40:35,758 --> 00:40:38,172
of the lost city of Atlantis.
717
00:40:39,896 --> 00:40:41,310
♪ ♪
718
00:40:41,379 --> 00:40:43,793
McNEILL:
The idea of a utopian society
719
00:40:43,896 --> 00:40:47,655
has always captured
imaginations.
720
00:40:47,724 --> 00:40:51,310
And the way that this
intentionally planned community
721
00:40:51,379 --> 00:40:55,931
was conceived and designed
and executed
722
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,758
speaks to the power
723
00:40:58,827 --> 00:41:02,310
of those models of utopian
societies that have come to us
724
00:41:02,379 --> 00:41:05,448
out of antiquity and tradition.
725
00:41:05,517 --> 00:41:08,275
Whether it's actually
still there to be found,
726
00:41:08,379 --> 00:41:11,068
or whether it's been
so badly destroyed
727
00:41:11,137 --> 00:41:13,172
that no evidence of it remains,
728
00:41:13,241 --> 00:41:15,448
what's really happened
to Atlantis, we don't know,
729
00:41:15,551 --> 00:41:18,275
but I think one day
we'll find evidence of it.
730
00:41:21,068 --> 00:41:23,310
Could an advanced civilization,
731
00:41:23,379 --> 00:41:27,931
with technology
beyond our wildest dreams,
732
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,689
have existed here on Earth
thousands of years ago?
733
00:41:32,620 --> 00:41:35,379
It's certainly
a compelling notion.
734
00:41:35,448 --> 00:41:39,793
But maybe Atlantis
was always meant to be a myth,
735
00:41:39,862 --> 00:41:43,931
a utopian city that
was conceived as an elusive goal
736
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:45,965
for mankind to achieve,
737
00:41:46,068 --> 00:41:49,517
like Camelot or Shangri-la.
738
00:41:49,620 --> 00:41:52,137
In any case,
if Atlantis did exist,
739
00:41:52,241 --> 00:41:54,448
let's hope that
someday we find it.
740
00:41:54,517 --> 00:41:57,586
It would be a shame
if all those legendary wonders
741
00:41:57,689 --> 00:42:01,793
stayed hidden
and those secrets remained...
742
00:42:01,862 --> 00:42:03,724
unexplained.
743
00:42:03,827 --> 00:42:06,413
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