All language subtitles for The UnXplained S06E03 Secrets of Ancient Structures 1080p HULU WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Massive structures that are visible from space.

A vast kingdom
built in the clouds.

And sprawling stone cities

precisely aligned
with the stars.

Scattered across the globe
lie mysterious ruins

that are buried
in sand-swept deserts,

perched atop towering mountains

and shrouded under the cover
of dense jungles.

These ancient structures stand

as ghostly landmarks
from the past,

their true history
seemingly erased

by the relentless march of time.

Can modern archaeology
unravel the enigma

of how and why
these wonders were built?

Well, that is what
we’ll try and find out.

♪ ♪

Titan II rockets
lift the Gemini IV

spacecraft into orbit.

Astronauts James McDivitt
and Edward White circle

the Earth 62 times in four days,

famously achieving
the first-ever

spacewalk by an American.

As part of their mission,

the astronauts take
hundreds of photos

that offer an unprecedented
view of our planet.

But one particular picture
attracts attention

because it shows a structure
that looks like

a massive eye

sitting in the middle
of the Sahara desert.

KAREN BELLINGER:
The astronauts spotted something

that looked like an enormous,
30-mile-wide circular shape,

which had a center

surrounded by concentric rings
of stone and sand.

And it looked just like
a giant eye

from all the way up in space.

Hence, it came to be known
as the Eye of the Sahara.

SHATNER:
More than 50 years after the Eye of the Sahara

was revealed to the world,
it remains a fascinating enigma,

and a striking sight to behold.

Locals call it
the "Qalb ar-Risat"

or the "Richat Structure,"

and this unique formation

has raised more questions
than answers.

JIMMY CORSETTI:
The Richat Structure is located off the coast

of northwest Africa in
the middle of the Sahara Desert.

This formation is considered
to be a geological feature

that is volcanic in nature.

However, there is
still scientific mystery to it.

For example,
what’s so wild about this site

is its spectacular fashion
of concentric circles

which are total anomalies.

The Richat Structure
is truly one of a kind

in that we don’t see anything
like it anywhere else on Earth.

SHATNER:
While the Eye of the Sahara continues to puzzle experts,

in recent years,
a remarkable new theory

about this mysterious structure
has been presented.

It’s believed that this location
could have once been the site

of a fabled island kingdom
that has never been found:

the legendary
Lost City of Atlantis.

ANDREW COLLINS:
The story of Atlantis

comes down to us from
the Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato describes Atlantis
as a huge island,

and he says that on this island

was this incredibly
advanced civilization.

Atlantis had been founded
by the gods themself.

By Atlas, and before that,
Poseidon.

And it was ruled over by
the descendants of these gods.

TOK THOMPSON: Atlantis is
a compelling mystery to us

because it’s been a part
of our western society

for a long, long time
and yet we’ve never found it.

Now, recently,
it’s been suggested that

the Richat Structure, also known
as the Eye of the Sahara,

uh, might be a contender
for this.

Not many people normally

locate Atlantis in the Sahara.

Um, but that’s not as
far-fetched as it might sound.

When you think of
the Saraha now,

you think of just vast sand,

but it used to be
a very lush, green environment.

CORSETTI:
With recent scientific studies,

we now know
that the Sahara Desert was

a tropical paradise
up until 5,000 years ago.

It had some of
the largest network

of rivers ever known to exist.

It had the largest freshwater
lake ever known to exist,

which is Mega Lake Chad.

There is evidence of sea life.

Mollusks have been found in
and around the Richat Structure.

There are massive salt deposits,

which is evidence
that the ocean had once settled

and later evaporated there.

So the Sahara Desert,
as we see it today,

and the area
around the Richat Structure

is simply not what it was
in prehistoric times.

SHATNER:
Even if the Eye of the Sahara was surrounded by water

in the ancient past,
there are numerous locations

that have been proposed
as the site of Atlantis.

So what makes this place
such a compelling candidate?

Many believe
a clue can be found

in Plato’s writings
about Atlantis.

THOMPSON:
According to Plato, Atlantis was

technologically advanced,
it was well fortified.

And it was a series
of concentric rings,

sort of a super island,
a super state.

Atlantis was said to be made up
of concentric circles,

which matches what you see

at the Eye of the Sahara
precisely.

This truly unique resemblance
of concentric circles

is a massive similarity
that can’t be ignored.

SHATNER:
In addition to concentric rings,

researchers have found many more
striking similarities between

the Eye of the Sahara and
Plato’s description of Atlantis.

CORSETTI:
Atlantis was said to have an opening to the sea at the south.

Which is also what you see
at the Richat Structure.

Anyone that looks at it
from satellite imagery

can see clear evidence

that there is an opening
at the south.

And not only that,
evidence of a drainage,

that water had flowed
right through it.

But the similarities
don’t end there.

Atlantis was said
to be made up of red,

black and white color stone,

which is another
precise similarity

you see at the Richat Structure.

Atlantis was said to have
mountains to the north.

And it just so happens
that there is a massive

mountain chain to the north
of the Richat Structure

called the Atlas Mountains.

Which just so happens
to share the same exact name

of the very first
king of Atlantis.

Atlas.

SHATNER:
The sheer number

of similarities
between Plato’s description

and the Eye is compelling.

But some believe
that even more evidence lies

not just in Greek texts

but also in a curious map
from Ancient Rome.

This map was created by the
Romans’ very first geographer,

whose name was Pomponius Mela.

And what’s so interesting is
that on Pomponius Mela’s map,

in northwest Africa,

it annotates Atlantis
precisely in the same location

that you would find
the Richat Structure.

And so
the more that we research,

the more information
that comes to light,

it suggests that
the Eye of the Sahara is indeed

the long-lost location
for Atlantis.

SHATNER: But if the Eye
of the Sahara was really

the site of Atlantis,
then it begs the question

what happened
to the ruins of the city?

Because no remnants
of ancient buildings

have ever been found
at this location.

Some believe the answer
may lie in Plato’s account

of the fall of Atlantis.

Plato describes this
amazing, sophisticated city.

And yet the more they acquired,
they were not satisfied.

They kept reaching,
kept reaching,

until, according to Plato,

they incurred
the wrath of the gods.

COLLINS:
The god Zeus decided that he would destroy Atlantis

in one night and a day

through earthquakes and floods.

And Atlantis then sank
beneath the waves

somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

What’s interesting is
that the Eye of the Sahara

is approximately 250 miles
inland off the Atlantic Coast.

And what’s so fascinating
is that when you look at it

from space,
you can see clear evidence

of catastrophic water erosion,

these massive striations
that anyone can see.

This shows that a force of water
that goes far beyond

anything we ever thought
was possible

bulldozed right
over the Eye of the Sahara,

going from east to west

to the Atlantic Ocean,

which matches
that Atlantis was said

to have been destroyed
in a cataclysmic water event.

So, if the ruins of
Atlantis were to be found,

it’s going to be
off the Atlantic coast.

If Atlantis was a real thing, if
we perhaps discover it someday--

which we may, of course--
we could learn a lot from that.

It would change our, uh,
knowledge about the past.

The story of Atlantis,
this Sahara civilization,

could be almost an origin story
for human civilization.

Certainly in
that part of the world.

SHATNER: The striking aerial
view of the Eye of the Sahara

continues to evoke Plato’s
description of the fabled city,

and inspires
further investigation.

But in Southern Peru,

there’s another
mysterious structure

that can only be properly
appreciated from the sky,

because it was built

nearly 8,000 feet
above sea level.

SHATNER:
Perched precariously on a mountaintop

nearly 8,000 feet
above sea level

lies an ancient city
that looks like

it’s floating in the clouds.

Built around 1450 AD,

this curious engineering marvel

stands
as the crowning achievement

of the Inca Empire,

and is known as Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu is
a technological marvel.

For one thing,
it’s a fairly good-sized city,

and it was built at
an incredibly high elevation.

And it’s sculpted
into the mountains.

It takes a bit of time
to even get up there.

EDWIN BARNHART:
The moment you walk in, you think to yourself,

"How did anyone build this

on top of sheer cliffs?"

It’s a perilous journey.

The mountainside is
straight up and down.

And so, after climbing
up to this huge height,

you see that
the buildings themselves

seem to blend
into the landscape.

As an archaeologist
who has worked on sites

around the world
and seen incredible

engineering achievements,

Machu Picchu
kind of blows it all away.

We’re talking massive,
multi-ton stones

shaped and moved into place

and they fit together perfectly.

And this mountain site
somehow was transformed

into an enduring city

and survives 500 years later in

absolutely perfect condition.

SHATNER:
Perhaps the greatest mystery of Machu Picchu

is why did
the ancient Incas choose

to build a sprawling city

in such an inaccessible
mountain location?

HYLAND:
The Incas had an incredibly sophisticated culture.

We know that in the Inca Empire,
when a building was built,

it had to be made strong
in the spiritual world

as well as
in the physical world.

As you walk through,
you can see how the Inca artists

echoed the shapes
of all the mountains

in the construction
of Machu Picchu,

in honor
of the mountain gods around it.

On the other hand,
just saying that

only tells us a little bit.

There is still
a huge amount of mystery

about what Machu Picchu was for.

SHATNER:
Some believe that Machu Picchu’s true purpose may be connected

to the great ruler
who ordered its construction,

Emperor Pachacuti.

Machu Picchu was built
by the Emperor Pachacuti,

who’s known
as really the founder

of the imperial phase
of the Inca state.

One thing to remember
is that in the Inca Empire,

the emperors con--
were considered divine.

They were considered like gods.

And when an emperor died,
his body was mummified.

And it was treated
as if he was still alive,

so that their worship
could continue.

And so after Pachacuti’s death,

his family would still go
and use Machu Picchu.

And we believe
that when they did so,

they brought the mummified body
of the emperor with them.

SHATNER:
Did Emperor Pachacuti build Machu Picchu

to be a sacred site
in the mountains,

where his mummy could rest
for all eternity?

It seems like
a reasonable theory,

but there’s just one problem.

Pachacuti’s remains
have never been found.

However, in recent years,

some have suggested
that the emperor’s mummy

may be hidden
in a secret chamber

at Machu Picchu.

In 2010,
a French engineer by the name

of David Crespy

was doing some measuring work

within the city of Machu Picchu.

And he noticed
what was quite clearly

a doorway, blocked up by stones.

And it clearly
was blocking the entrance

into some kind of chamber.

He reported it immediately
to the authorities

and people have suggested
that this might well be

the entrance
into some kind of tomb.

We could be looking
at a royal burial.

So is it the tomb of Pachacuti?

Now, they did more tests
and more scans,

and they found what appeared
to be gold-lined steps

going down into this area.

They wanted to push forward
and excavate this,

because this would have been,
without a doubt,

the most important discovery
ever found at Machu Picchu.

But then, apparently,

the Peruvian government have
kind of put a block on it

and stopped
the progression of this.

Because they were concerned
if it was dug into,

it may collapse.

SHATNER: Are Pachacuti’s
mummified remains,

and with them,
the secrets of Machu Picchu,

concealed in this chamber?

For now, the answers may lie
behind a stone wall.

But perhaps there’s another way

to solve the mysteries
of Machu Picchu.

Although the Inca did not leave
behind any written records,

they did encode information

in strange threads
that are known as quipus.

HYLAND:
Quipus are twisted cords that redefine what writing is,

because some of them are
incredibly complex

with hundreds of pendants,
dozens of colors,

and they have knots
that represented words,

and they were read
syllable by syllable.

If you’re in an empire,
like the Incas,

where people spoke many, many,
many different languages,

if you have a writing system
or a communication system

that is not tied to speech,
but uses symbols, uses ideas,

then people
who speak different languages

can come together
and understand those records.

Now, what’s really mysterious

is that there were
narrative quipus.

And, supposedly, these narrative
quipus had biographies.

They had poems.
They had histories.

They served as letters.

The Incas would have used quipus

during the construction
of Machu Picchu.

If we could decipher them,

quipus could give us insights
into that whole process.

That could really unlock the
mysteries of the Incas for us.

Could untangling messages
encoded in intricate rope knots

reveal the true purpose
of Machu Picchu?

For now, the quest for answers

about this mountain kingdom
continues.

But there’s
a Native American structure

that stands in New Mexico

which experts believe
may be even more baffling.

Because its secrets

were written in the stars.

SHATNER: In the stifling deserts
of northwest New Mexico

lies a ten-mile-long rugged
expanse called Chaco Canyon.

The landscape consists
of high mesas,

sandstone cliffs
and arid flatlands,

giving the impression
that humans would never

inhabit this remote area.

Which is why it’s so surprising
that within this desert

lie the ruins of what was once
an ancient Native American city

that was centered
in the heart of Chaco Canyon.

Chaco Canyon is
considered a marvel

of engineering

because
it’s a desert landscape.

It’s a pretty, uh,
secluded location.

Materials had to come
from a long way off.

We really don’t know
why they decided to build there.

The time period for
the occupation of Chaco Canyon

starts around 500 AD.

And it goes all the way up to...

we’re told, 1070 AD,

and Chaco Canyon is
one of the largest structures

of the ancient people
that were put on the planet.

BELLINGER:
The builders of Chaco Canyon

were the Ancestral Puebloans,

a prehistoric
Native American group

centered around
the southwestern United States.

Unlike many of
their Native American neighbors,

who maintained a traditional,
nomadic lifestyle,

the Pueblo people built

an astonishing,
quasi-urban settlement

centered around Chaco Canyon

in a set of 75 or more sites

housing up to 5,000 people.

So why choose

this location so specifically?

SHATNER:
It’s hard to imagine why the Ancient Puebloans

decided to build a grand city
in the middle of the desert.

But some believe
that a clue lies in the fact

that the structures
in Chaco Canyon

were painstakingly
and perfectly oriented

with the cosmos.

The celestial alignments
at Chaco Canyon

are absolutely amazing.

These guys built structures

aligned with the stars.

With the Sun and the Moon.

And we don’t understand
a lot of it.

But that tells me that there was

a very religious significance
to these structures.

SHATNER: Was Chaco Canyon
built in a harsh desert

for spiritual,
instead of pragmatic, reasons?

It’s a fascinating theory,

but perhaps the bigger mystery
of this ancient city

is not why it was built
but rather...

why it was abandoned.

Because
in the 12th century AD,

the people of Chaco Canyon
just disappeared.

THOMPSON: This whole area
of the Ancestral Pueblo groups

had grown
into these great big structures,

and yet, suddenly,
they are all abandoned.

And this happened
very, very quickly.

A big question is why?

Uh, we don’t know,
but whatever it was,

it was dramatic,
it was drastic--

in some cases, almost overnight.

People sort of leaving meals
and getting out.

And so we know that the great
city-state was abandoned,

but what we do not have is
sort of a written record

of what these people were
thinking or believing.

COLLINS: What happened to
the inhabitants of Chaco Canyon?

Well, we know they left behind
some incredible monuments,

but what we also know
is that this same area

is absolutely steeped
in paranormal phenomena.

Mysterious lights
have been seen there.

Other types of electromagnetic
energy have been reported.

And is it possible, therefore,

that these energies
are something

that the Chaco Canyon people
actually experienced?

SHATNER: Was the abandonment
of Chaco Canyon

somehow connected
to paranormal phenomena?

It may sound farfetched to some.

But according to former

U.S. Special Operations Officer
David Morehouse,

the government actually
studied bizarre anomalies

in Chaco Canyon
during the 1980s.

I was the only Special
Operations Combat Arms Officer

ever assigned to a CIA, DIA,

Director of
Science and Technology

Special Access Program.

It was code-named Sun Streak.

The United States government
orchestrated the program in 1987

to investigate the source
of anomalous phenomena

which was
ascending and descending

over the Chaco Canyon area.

So we decided to keep a vigil
over the night sky.

And one night, at exactly
0100 in the morning,

directly above Pueblo Alto,

something was happening
in the night sky.

It was like looking at the
translucent surface of water.

But hanging in the sky
in an oval shape.

It seemed to bend the light
of the stars behind it.

And then, after a short time,

approximately
18 to 20 minutes...

it was just gone.

Chattering
amongst ourselves, uh,

about what we just witnessed,

we described this
as opening and closing.

And perhaps that is a jump

well outside
any scientific reasoning.

But it is simply how
it felt and looked to us.

That doesn’t happen
without something unexplained

facilitating the event.

We called it a portal or
a vortex, uh, that very night.

SHATNER:
Could there really be a portal in Chaco Canyon,

as David Morehouse claims?

And if so,
might that explain why

the inhabitants of this desert
city mysteriously vanished?

Perhaps further clues
can be found by examining

a curious rock carving
in Chaco Canyon.

DOVER:
In Chaco Canyon, there’s a place called Fajada Butte.

The butte rises
almost like a monolith

out of the desert landscape.

And near the top of this butte

is a petroglyph

that’s carved into the rock.

And this petroglyph’s
actually quite large.

It’s a circular spiral.

The spiral itself, actually,
is a sign of migration

into a different dimension.

So, we’re thinking
that that could be

re-interpreted as, uh,
a portal, also.

It’s very possible
that the builders

of Chaco Canyon
may have traveled

through a portal
to a different dimension.

Because they disappeared
mysteriously.

MOREHOUSE:
There was something unique about this place,

and there had to be some sort of
an interaction with something.

Enough to draw an entire
civilization of people there.

Enough to cause these people
to draw spirals into rocks.

Based on my observations,
my interpretation is that

a portal exists in Chaco Canyon.

Is there an inter-dimensional
portal at Chaco Canyon?

To understand both
the site’s mysterious origins

and strange
modern-day phenomena,

we still need
to dig deeper for the truth.

And the same could be said

about a structure
in the jungles of Indonesia

that looks like
an ordinary mountain peak,

but is actually...

the ruins of a giant pyramid.

SHATNER:
In the countryside of this lush, tropical island

located in the Indian Ocean,

lies a mountain that,
from a distance,

looks no different from
any other peak in the region.

But close examination
of the mountaintop reveals

a series
of ancient stone terraces

that are littered with
thousands of megalithic blocks.

This intriguing site

is known as Gunung Padang.

Gunung Padang has
all these remarkable

kind of hexagonal basalt columns

as part
of the entire construction.

Hundreds of
thousands of them, in fact.

Each of the stones,
they weigh up to about

a third of a ton each.

They make up the foundation,
and they’re also placed

in certain configurations
at the top.

There’s something very
powerful about this place.

It was only really rediscovered

by farmers
over the last few decades.

It’s almost untouched.

It’s like it hasn’t been known
about for thousands of years.

It makes you wonder who could
have done this and when.

SHATNER:
The thousands of stone blocks

strewn atop Gunung Padang
are a perplexing sight.

It’s hard to imagine
what structure

they could have been part of,
or what purpose they served.

And the origin
of these curious ruins

has long been
shrouded in mystery.

But in 2013, archaeologists
excavating the mountain

discovered that the truth
about this mysterious site

is hidden beneath
layers of dirt and rubble.

COLLINS:
A team of experts did drilling, they did radar surveys,

and they did
radiocarbon testing.

And what this revealed
is that beneath the site

that is visible today,
which includes a number of

incredible stone settings
and rock mounds,

is something
even more incredible.

We now know that this site

does actually conceal beneath it

a massive pyramid complex.

NEWMAN: Gunung Padang is really
like a step pyramid

buried in stone and earth.

The evidence suggests
this is extremely ancient

and it’s
a very, very important place.

The revelation
that Gunung Padang is actually

the ruins of a massive pyramid
made headlines around the world.

And in recent years,
further investigation

of the site has been led
by geologist Danny Hilman.

Danny and his team believe

they have uncovered evidence
of a hidden chamber.

SHATNER: The discovery of
numerous chambers

buried underground

has added
to the mystery of Gunung Padang.

But the most
significant discovery so far

is that this structure might be

the oldest pyramid ever built.

SHATNER:
Ancient Egypt’s Pyramid of Djoser has long been

considered
the world’s oldest pyramid.

But based on
Danny Hilman’s research,

Gunung Padang’s buried pyramid

could be 10,000 or
even 20,000 years older.

If Gunung Padang is
a 20,000-year-old pyramid,

it would place
an hitherto undiscovered culture

at the heart of Indonesia.

And it would completely
disrupt our understanding

of the evolution of human
technology around the world.

If Gunung Padang was really
built 20,000 years ago,

then our ancestors were far more
advanced than we commonly think.

And further evidence
of surprising ancient technology

can be found
at a mysterious temple complex

in Bolivia called Puma Punku.

The site contains stone blocks

that were carved so precisely

some believe they were cut
not by man but rather...

by machine.

SHATNER: Spanish explorer
Pedro Cieza de Leon leads

a group of conquistadors
through the Andes mountains

when he stumbles upon the ruins
of a vast, abandoned city.

The astonishing site
contains numerous temples

made out of massive stones.

Though its builders disappeared
long before the Spanish arrived,

locals call the city Tiahuanaco.

BELLINGER:
Tiahuanaco is an elaborate example of skill in stonework.

Spanish conquistadors,
in their chronicles,

described it specifically.

It was wondrous, as they said.

And it consisted of
gateways and windows

carved from
single blocks of stone.

They just could not imagine
how it was created.

SHATNER: Ever since
Spanish explorers discovered

the awe-inspiring ruins
of Tiahuanaco,

archaeologists have been eager
to unravel its mysteries.

In the 20th century,
modern excavations revealed

the enormous scope
of this ancient metropolis.

BELLINGER:
Tiahuanaco was the city capital

of a powerful,
pre-Hispanic empire

that dominated the south Andes
between around 500 to 900 AD.

The Tiahuanacans were
a really advanced civilization.

Looking at the stonework today,

it would have been an incredibly
time-intensive, laborious task

without power tools.

And yet, they managed it.

SHATNER: The most mysterious
ruin at Tiahuanaco

is a terrace platform
called Puma Punku.

Scattered across the site
are enormous stone blocks,

each carved
with such laser-like precision

that we still don’t know

how they were
so perfectly fashioned.

BARNHART:
There are places all around the world that have megaliths,

giant stones,
but Puma Punku in particular

has stones that are
not just multi-ton stones.

But they are carved
in such a way where

you couldn’t even slip a piece
of paper between the stones.

And it’s a mystery how exactly

they were able
to put these stones

together like
they were little Lego blocks.

The craftsmanship
is really far superior

to anything
that we have seen before.

How did they stack them up?

How did they work with them?

They had something
that we no longer have.

SHATNER:
How did ancient people

manage to craft enormous stones

with such precise angles

and intricate patterns?

The answer may lie
in a curious story

from Tiahuanaco mythology.

NEWMAN: In the traditional
creation stories of Puma Punku,

it’s said that
the great god Viracocha created

a race of giants
from the mud or earth,

and then controlled them
and gave them consciousness.

And they created and built
the sites in the area.

If you go to
the museum at Puma Punku

and museums in the area,

you see these gigantic,
elongated skulls on display.

And it makes you wonder
if these were classed as giants

by the native inhabitants.

And when you go to Puma Punku,

the traditions of giants
really resonate when you see

the size of some of these
stones in the construction.

SHATNER:
The largest stone block at Puma Punku

weighs 144 tons.

Whether the myth
is fact or fiction,

to move such an object

would certainly be a giant task.

And according to legend, giants

also had a part to play

in the destruction
of Puma Punku.

NEWMAN:
According to the traditions, the giants

became out of control,
cannibalistic,

terrorizing
the local inhabitants.

And so the creator god Viracocha

had to completely
destroy them by a flood.

And when you go to the site
today, you can see that

it almost looks like
a tidal wave or tsunami

has been wiped over the land,
and knocked these giant stones

around like Lego blocks.

And scattered them
at vast distances.

And so it looks like
something happened

which just took out
the whole site

and all the inhabitants
of the area.

SHATNER: For centuries,
the truth about Puma Punku

has been shrouded
in myth and folklore,

leaving many to wonder
if its full history

will ever be unraveled.

But then, in 2018,

French geopolymer scientist
Joseph Davidovits

published
a fascinating new study

in which he theorized
that the stones at Puma Punku

were not carved
and moved into place

but rather molded together.

He did what archeologists
had never done.

He looked at the stones
of Puma Punku

under a microscope.

And what he saw
was that they weren’t

just regular basalt.

They were actually polymers
of varying things

that were glued together.

And that shouldn’t
have happened in regular,

naturally-occurring stones.

So he theorized
that they were created

in a kind of ancient cement.

Turned into big molds.

And that they were
put together in forms.

They weren’t carved.

They were created
to fit together.

SHATNER:
Have modern archaeologists

finally solved
the mystery of Puma Punku?

It appears
that only time will tell.

But technology is
providing new insights

into many other ancient
structures around the world.

Like a curious series of ruins

that were recently found

in the middle
of the Arabian desert.

SHATNER:
In this arid region,

located in the Arabian Desert.

summer temperatures average
more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit

during the daytime.

The landscape is
a desolate expanse

of jagged rock formations

and smoldering volcano fields.

But incredibly, in 2017,

archaeologists analyzing
satellite images of this desert

discovered the ruins
of more than 400

ancient, man-made structures.

A recent aerial survey
using Google Earth,

a relatively new technology,
has identified

huge formations

of piles of stones
that are in odd shapes.

They look like keyholes

or kites.

And there are hundreds of these,
and they’re rather large.

Some of them are as much as

a kilometer in size.

It’s been suggested
that they could be

as old as 9,000 years.

But to date, we don’t know
what their purpose is.

This area is
literally dangerous.

It’s inhospitable.

And why these features
were built there

remains somewhat of a mystery.

NEWMAN:
What’s also interesting is these various configurations.

Some people say
they look like gates.

But we find other designs.

We find abstract motifs.

We find symbols

that can’t be explained.

So, who would have constructed
these in such a remote region?

They may have been
made specifically

for a purpose
we just don’t know.

SHATNER:
Archaeologists continue to try and unravel the mystery

of these strange formations
in the Arabian desert.

But what’s undeniable
is that modern technology

is both revealing
ancient structures

and providing new clues
that could finally shed light

on the secrets
they have held for centuries.

It’s really exciting
that satellite imagery

is available
to the general public

and not just to scholars.

This whole new generation
of archeologists

can sit at home
and do the same kind

of reconnaissance that experts
can do over a site.

It’s a game changer.

THOMPSON:
Another big technology is lidar.

Lidar’s... a way you can map
the ground and the terrain,

and it can peer
through, uh, the vegetation.

So in places where there’s a
heavy overgrowth of vegetation,

it has uncovered vastly more
archaeological monuments

than we knew was there.

So we’re absolutely on the verge

of a huge opening up
of archeological discoveries.

This is really going to help us
to understand

the vast complexity
of human civilization

and our story here on Earth.

Was the Eye of the Sahara
the location of Atlantis?

Is Gunung Padang
the oldest pyramid ever built?

And how were the massive blocks

at Puma Punku
so perfectly fashioned?

Perhaps further examination
of these ruins with new,

cutting-edge technology
will one day reveal the answers.

But until then,
the mystery of both

wondrous ancient structures

and the civilizations
who built them, will remain...

...unexplained.

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