Original subtitles

NARRATOR: A sea monster of unimaginable proportions.

- The sheer scale of this thing is unbelievable.

It's like no living creature I've ever seen.

NARRATOR: An enormous human face set in stone.

- We're talking a feat of engineering on par with the

Great Pyramids.

NARRATOR: A giant footprint cast millions of years before the

dawn of humanity.

- This may be one of the biggest discoveries of our time.

NARRATOR: And a gigantic sinister-looking star shines

in the strangest place.

- Who on Earth put this thing here, and why did they do it?

NARRATOR: Everywhere we look on our planet, there's evidence of

the past.

In nature, in buildings, in relics.

Each holds a mystery that technology now allows us to see from above.

What new secrets are revealed?

Our world is full of big mysteries.

Some so large they can only be described as giant.

These enormous enigmas lie waiting to be solved by a view from above.

In the Canadian Badlands of Southwestern Alberta, one

such giant mystery reveals itself.

- Once a subtropical paradise, this dry, rocky landscape is now

home to the world's largest deposit of dinosaur bones.

NARRATOR: While giant creatures roamed the region millions of

years ago, in 2005, satellite images revealed a much larger giant

hidden in this barren landscape.

- Now this is quite unusual.

The closer you look, you start to see a shape form like a face.

- It looks to be the bust or portrait of an indigenous man

wearing a traditional headdress.

- It is absolutely uncanny how much this looks like a human figure.

I mean, it's all there. Eyebrows, eyes, nose, chin, mouth, a neck.

- Who or what is this? And why is it here?

NARRATOR: Stretching half a mile long and over a thousand feet

wide, this figure is known as the "Badlands Guardian".

- Is this a natural formation or was it created by someone?

- Those who have studied this figure note the incredibly accurate

proportions found in the face.

If this is a geophysical anomaly, it's uncanny.

- This thing is massive.

To construct something like this would take a tremendous

amount of planning, effort, and skill.

NARRATOR: Can a closer look from above reveal any more information?

- First of all, I think the position is really fascinating.

Its central axis aligns perfectly with due north, and the face

itself is looking directly to the west.

- This undeniably looks like a human head and headdress.

So the real mystery is how did it get here?

NARRATOR: Since the beginning of time, humankind has etched

their likeness onto the earth's surface.

From prehistoric petroglyphs carved into rock walls to

large-scale geoglyphs scattered across the globe.

- This is an ancient practice that's been carried through to

modern times to commemorate great leaders, freedom fighters,

former kings, and dynasties.

NARRATOR: Could the Badlands Guardian be a similar

tribute, created in the image of a once important person?

And, if so, by whom?

- The Badlands Guardian was discovered in an area that

has traditionally been the home to members of the Blackfoot people.

- The Blackfoot people have lived in and protected a vast

territory that extends from the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta

and Saskatchewan, all the way down to the Yellowstone River in Montana.

- Some say the face represents an important figure in Blackfoot

legend, known as Napi, which means the "Old Man".

He's a spiritual being believed to be responsible for shaping

the world in which the Blackfoot people live.

NARRATOR: So is the badlands guardian a giant homage built

to honour Napi?

- If this giant feature was indeed human-made, it represents one

of the largest known effigy earthworks in the world.

- The immense amount of organized labour required to craft a

human form in these hills would be astounding.

We're talking a feat of engineering on par with the Great Pyramids.

- To put it into perspective, Mount Rushmore, which was started

in 1927, took over 400 workers 14 years to complete.

And it's not even half the size of the Badlands Guardian.

- You'd think the creators of something this large would

leave traces behind, signs of tools or nearby settlements, but no

such evidence exists.

NARRATOR: Is that because those who were responsible weren't from

around here?

A search for connection leads to a seemingly unexpected

discovery almost 4,000 kilometres south, in Mexico City.

- This is Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor, whose memory has

come to embody Indigenous nationalism in Mexico.

His image is found in statues, artworks, and even coins.

- Many have noted the striking resemblance between these

depictions and the Badlands Guardian.

- Is the Badlands Guardian a depiction of the eagle-headed

Cuauhtemoc or is this a wild, crazy coincidence?

NARRATOR: Perhaps the answer to this mystery lies surprisingly close.

Just over 3 kilometres to the northwest, a view from above

uncovers something else astonishing.

- The Badlands Guardian doesn't appear to be an anomaly,

because it isn't alone.

- It looks like the Badlands Guardian has company.

- The second figure is the exact same size and in the exact

same orientation as the Badlands Guardian.

- Two giant figures within two miles of each other.

Can this honestly be a coincidence?

- And while the Guardian has been compared to the Aztec emperor

Cuauhtemoc, it’s been noted that his friend also bears resemblance

to depictions from Mesoamerica culture.

- If you look at the headpiece worn by this figure, it almost

looks like a dragon or a snake.

- It does resemble images we see of headdresses representing the

Mesoamerican deity Quetzalcoatl, who's depicted as a feathered

serpent.

NARRATOR: Could the Badlands Guardian and his friend be

depictions of Mesoamerican figures?

And if so, how did they end up as far north in what is now Canada?

- There's a vast distance between these two places and there's

virtually no evidence of Aztec influence existing in the

land in between.

Surely there's something else at work here.

NARRATOR: Perhaps a clue may be found at another site, almost

5,000 kilometres away, in Russia's remote Magadan Region.

Where a view from above reveals two more giant figures emerging

from the landscape below.

- Once again, we see two faces that look as though they were

carved into the terrain.

- They look like they're whispering to each other, or maybe even

kissing.

- This looks like a Picasso painting of two people coming together

for a close embrace and a kiss.

It's all right there, the lips, the eyes, the nose, what more

could you ask for?

- The Magadan Region is one of the least populated areas in Russia.

And just like the Alberta Badlands, it's a desolate landscape.

You know, mostly a mountainous desert with some forest and tundra.

- So what exactly are we seeing here?

Have these figures been sculpted into the land or is this a

natural formation? What's going on?

- This might be an example of what's known as false faces.

- False faces, or "face pareidolia", is the human mind's tendency

to see human faces in inanimate objects.

- So our brains are hardwired to seek out and recognize human faces.

It's this evolutionary side-effect, and it's part of the reason for why

we tend to anthropomorphize things and see faces everywhere we look.

- This is why we talk about the "Man in the Moon" or when images

came back from Viking 1's trip to Mars in 1976, people were

amazed by the so-called "Crown Face".

- And that's what these kissing faces are, a trick that the

mind plays on itself.

- In fact, these faces in Russia were discovered by an

AI-algorithm that was designed to scan Google satellite images

for anything that resembled faces.

And it found several examples.

So, in essence, the program was designed to mimic face pareidolia.

- And that's what we're experiencing when we see the

Badlands Guardian and his friend.

NARRATOR: So what can explain the uncanny physical likeness of

the Badland Guardian?

- The Canadian Badlands were formed during the end of the last

ice age as glacial meltwater carved out these slopes and valleys

in the clay rock and soil.

- The Badlands Guardian and his friend are both natural

drainage features created through years of erosion.

NARRATOR: And together they provide one of the world's best

examples of face pareidolia.

But even more astonishing is what closer view from above reveals.

- The Guardian's face and headdress are actually concave features

defined by the surrounding ridgeline.

They go in, not out.

- So in fact, what we're experiencing isn't only a

case of face pareidolia, it's also an example of "hollow-face

illusion", another one of our brain's tricks, where we perceive

concave features, say in a backwards mask, as a normal convex face.

- Even though it may only be a giant illusion created in our

minds, the Badlands Guardian is a sight to behold.

And one that can only be seen with a view from above.

NARRATOR: From the Badlands of Alberta, Canada,

to the western coast of France another giant lies in wait.

This one, a colossal skeleton.

- What is it?

And how did it end up on this shore in France?

- I've never seen a skeleton this large.

- It sure doesn't look like any creature I know of.

- Are these the remains of an undiscovered prehistoric

animal or a living species that we've just never encountered before?

- Whatever it is, it looks absolutely terrifying.

NARRATOR: Measuring 130 metres in length, is it possible that a

creature this size could have gone undiscovered until now?

- Is the reason we've never seen anything like this because it

lived deep under water?

- It's estimated that 90% of ocean species have yet to be classified.

There are lots of animals out there that we don't know about.

- So is it possible that this is some type of undiscovered

aquatic species?

- The Earth's oceans and other waters have produced some of

the largest creatures ever known: giant sharks, whales, and

squids, and some that are only rumoured to exist, like

Scotland's infamous Loch Ness Monster.

- Is this what we're seeing, evidence of some giant sea monster?

NARRATOR: Sea monsters are the stuff of folk tales, but like many good

myths and legends, is there a kernel of truth somewhere to be found?

- There is a type of sea creature that may be related.

Eels are sometimes called the devil of the sea because they can

grow to large sizes.

- Eels have been around for over 65 million years.

There are more than 800 species in the world.

- Most have very few natural predators, so some eels can

live up to 20 years and grow to enormous sizes.

- The biggest eel in the world is known as the European conger

and they can be found in the Atlantic Ocean, up around

Norway and Iceland, as well as the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

- One of the largest European congers on record measured

almost 10 feet long and weighed 350 pounds.

And while that's massive for an eel, it's still nowhere near the

size of what we're seeing in the satellite images.

NARRATOR: So if this creature isn't an eel, what is it?

- This skeleton looks more like some sort of snake.

NARRATOR: Of the more than 3,000

species of snakes on the planet, perhaps the biggest and

baddest of those alive today can help identify this mysterious form.

- Snakes, like all reptiles, are cold-blooded. They're exotherms.

- And a snake this size would have probably required a much

warmer climate than that offered by the North Atlantic.

NARRATOR: Snakes grow their biggest in warmer climates like

Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America, and only just

recently the Florida Everglades.

- The Everglades is home to one of the world's largest species

of snake. The Burmese python.

- Burmese pythons have been known to grow as long as 20 feet and

to weigh up to 200 pounds.

- These are ambush hunters and constrictors that squeeze

their prey to death.

- And if they don't have any natural predators of their own, these

snakes can grow to take over entire environments.

This is exactly what's happened in the Everglades.

- These snakes are taking over the Everglades.

In certain areas, they've decimated anywhere between 90 to 99% of

the area's fur-bearing mammals.

That's things like rabbits, raccoons, possums, and even deer.

- They've become an invasive species.

By some estimates, there are somewhere between a 100,000

and 300,000 of these snakes living in the Everglades.

- But the strange thing is Burmese pythons aren't native to the

area, they come from Southeast Asia.

- So how did the Burmese Python come to dominate the area?

- The explanation is two-fold: exotic pets and extreme weather.

- Miami has been known as a centre for trade in exotic pets, and

dealers would import these snakes from Asia by the thousands.

- Part of the theory is that some of these snakes were released

into the wild by their owners who may have realized they'd

bitten off more than they could chew.

- But it's believed that the major cause was a massive hurricane

that hit Florida in 1992 called Hurricane Andrew.

- Some reports blame Hurricane Andrew for destroying an

exotic snake breeding farm in Florida, which reportedly

allowed the snakes to escape and breed out in the wild.

- Now, over three decades later, these giant snakes have

become a big problem.

NARRATOR: Snake hunters use drones to locate and remove the

elusive pythons.

- These Burmese pythons are some of the largest known snakes, and

left to run rampant they'll grow in numbers and physical size.

But these snakes don't reach anywhere near the scale of

what's been found in France.

NARRATOR: Perhaps a clue to this immense serpentine skeleton

lies in the homeland of another infamous gigantic snake?

- If we're gonna talk big snakes, we have to turn our attention to

the pound-for-pound heavyweight champion of the snake world,

the green anaconda of South America.

- The green anaconda is truly a giant snake.

Females can weight over 500 pounds and grow to lengths of 30 feet.

That's almost as long as a school bus.

- Primarily aquatic, anacondas are apex predators, meaning they

prey on almost anything they can manage to overpower,

including fish, birds, a variety of mammals, and even other reptiles.

- Even at its largest, the green anaconda only approaches a

length of 30 feet. Our French serpent is over 10 times longer!

- So despite their fearsome reputation, their enormous

size, and their impressive skeleton, we're still no closer to

identifying what we see off the coast of France.

NARRATOR: Could the secret lie hidden in the past?

In an ancient, mythical creature known to the people who share

the Amazon with the anaconda?

- One of the most legendary monsters in the Amazon rainforest is

Yacumama.

- The Yacumama is said to be a hundred feet long and she

consumes anything that passes within a hundred steps.

- Now this definitely sounds more like it.

I mean, Yacumama is at least closer to the right size.

- So the next question is, does this legend suggest the actual

existence of a far larger and more powerful snake?

- Or maybe we're looking in the right place, but we're just

not the right time?

NARRATOR: Perhaps the skeleton in France represents a creature

that is not only much bigger, but much older too?

Almost 8,000 kilometres to the southwest, in the arid plains of

Northern Colombia, lies what could be the most important clue yet.

- This is Cerrejon, a gigantic open-pit coal mine.

And in 2009, this is where researchers made an

incredible discovery.

- This may be one of the biggest discoveries of our time.

What they found were fossilized vertebrae of the largest known

snake in the world, a creature that lived 58 to 60 million years ago.

They call it Titanoboa.

- Based on the size of the vertebrae they found, they estimate

that the size of this snake was well over 40 feet.

That's nearly twice as long as the biggest snakes alive today.

- Titanoboa would have weighed as much as 20 people, something

in the neighbourhood of 2500 pounds.

- The name Titanoboa comes from the Greek word titan and boa,

because it's believed to be related to the modern boa constrictor.

- And like the boa constrictor, Titanoboa would've squeezed its

prey to death with an estimated 400 pounds of pressure per square inch.

Talk about a big squeeze.

- A snake that large would certainly have been a titan of its

time, eating everything from fish to entire crocodiles.

NARRATOR: While Titanoboa stalked the tropics of South America,

could another giant snake have once slithered across the European

continent?

- So if a snake this large were to have lived anywhere, it

would've needed a wet and hot tropical environment.

- Incredibly, there's evidence to suggest that in the time of

Titanoboa - that's like 60 million years ago - the area that is

now France was a tropical rainforest.

- Researchers found amber deposits near Paris dating back 55

million years. And that amber is similar to what you'd find in trees

from the Amazon rainforest.

- And this amber also contained fossilized plants and animals

that you'd expect from a tropical environment.

NARRATOR: If France looked more like the Amazon 55 million years ago,

could this enormous European snake be related to the great Titanoboa?

- We know that Titanoboa cerrejonensis existed, albeit

around 60 million years ago, but the only fossilized evidence we

have puts the gigantic snake at just under 50 feet in length.

What we see here off the coast of France is way bigger.

- So if this isn't the fossilized skeleton of a Titanoboa, what is it?

NARRATOR: Another titanic serpent skeleton, this time half-a-world

away in Australia may hold the key to cracking the mystery.

- In 2015, a giant skeleton on display in

Brisbane, Australia, makes massive waves.

- Social media users began circulating this photograph

of a skeleton purported to be that of a Titanoboa.

- And it looks an awful lot like the one found on the shores of France.

- But as we know, you can't believe everything you read on the internet.

As it turns out, this wasn't a Titanoboa, or even a real skeleton.

It was a work of art.

- So it's a sculpture by Chinese-French artist

Huang Yong Ping, who's known for all sorts of large installations,

many of which are of animals.

- In 2012, Yong Ping made another public art installation he

called "Serpent D'Ocean," or "Ocean Snake".

And he just so happened to install it on the coast of France.

- It's a monumental sculpture made of aluminium, measuring nearly

425 feet in length.

- It represents the twisting skeleton of an immense

imaginary sea serpent.

- Completed in 2012, it's a beautiful piece of modern art.

- The serpent to the ocean is a monumental sculpture, and

okay, so it's not an actual skeleton, but it is a nice reminder

of the amazing creatures that have once slithered around on our planet.

There's a lot of art out there I don't really care about, but

this one is great.

This truly is a masterpiece.

- It's a piece of art that can certainly be admired from the

shore, but its elegance and sheer size is even more impressive

when viewed from above.

NARRATOR: From the western shores of France to the wildlands of

South Africa, a view from above uncovers giant questions that

could challenge our understanding of humanity.

East of the city of Johannesburg lies the province of Mpumalanga.

Where a view from above of its vast wooded plateaus reveals a

giant relic from the past.

A mysterious imprint preserved in the Empuluzi Batholith granite.

- What is this depression in a rock that's essentially out in the

middle of nowhere?

- To some people this looks like the remains of a big footprint.

- It's a foot with five toes, a perfectly formed left foot,

heel and arch, just over one metre in length.

- This thing is huge. It's well over a metre in length.

Like four times the size of a normal adult's foot.

So if you do the math, this would have had to belong to someone

who's around seven metres tall.

- That's like stacking four average-sized adults on top

of each other. I mean, it seems impossible.

- It almost does look like mud oozed up between the toes and was

pushed up by the foot of a giant.

What is this really? And how and when did it get there?

- We call it "Goliath's Footprint".

The local folklore is that it is the footprint of Empuluzi of the

Anunnaki, which in fabled history is a race of giants.

According to the legend Empuluzi was running to her lover.

And as she was running, she stepped into the soft volcanic ash

and her footprint stayed behind.

It's perfect in every single aspect from the toes, the shape of

the foot, the shape of the heel, the shape of the arch, it is the

perfect impression of a woman's left footprint.

- The legend of Empuluzi makes for a good story and neatly

explains how a giant left behind a single, huge footprint, but

how can any of this be true?

NARRATOR: Prodigious in size and strength, few comparisons

capture the imagination more than the all mighty giant.

- If you look at legends from anywhere in the world, you

get all kinds of stories about these formidable warriors and their foes.

- We've all heard of Jack Spriggins scrambling down the magic

beanstalk to escape the ferocious giant.

- In Chinese mythology, the primordial Pan Gu is said to

have created the entire universe.

- One of the most famous foes of ancient Greece is the giant,

one-eyed, cave-dweller Cyclops.

- These ideas had to come from somewhere.

Is there a semblance of truth to these larger-than-life characters?

- It seems like a pretty big leap, but it wouldn’t be the first time

we’ve seen these kinds of oversized footprints around the world.

NARRATOR: Giant footprints can be found on virtually every continent.

Can any of these help provide insight into what we're

seeing in South Africa?

Roughly 6600 kilometres to the northeast on Sri Lanka's

Delft Island lies a possible match.

- This horizontal impression is about one metre long and it

looks like a right footprint of a human, but it's just way

bigger than normal.

- It looks like we found the right foot to Empuluzi's left.

Locals believe it's the imprint of Hindu God, Hanuman or Lord Shiva.

- Could these footprints just be human-made tributes to Gods

or other deities?

NARRATOR: So is this foot human-made?

- Could Goliath's footprint have been chiselled and carved out

by prehistoric humans who lived there?

- Giant carvings and statues of larger-than-life figures was

- and still is - an extremely popular way to portray great

leaders and even gods.

NARRATOR: So what clues can these other super-sized characters offer?

- One of the coolest finds in archaeology is the elbow and

three-fingered hand of Hercules in Amman, Jordan.

- It stands about 12 metres high, and it's one of the biggest

marble statues ever crafted by ancient tools.

NARRATOR: But marble is much easier to craft than the exposed

stone of Empuluzi.

- If Goliath's footprint was carved into the granite, wouldn't we

expect to see chisel marks, sharp edges, and file impressions?

- We have asked ourselves many, many, many times whether

somebody could have chiselled this.

But when you look at this, this is granite.

Granite is a very, very hard rock.

It is almost impossible to chisel this granulated granite.

And there's no marks.

NARRATOR: So if human hands aren't responsible for this perfect

footprint - what is?

- So are we supposed to believe that giant people once walked the

Earth and left one footprint?

NARRATOR: A remarkable discovery in India may offer crucial

physical proof that giant humans once roamed the earth.

- Apparently, there was exploration in northern India that

supposedly uncovered these huge skeletal remains of phenomenal size.

- Inscriptions found nearby described the remains as a

race of giants mentioned in the Hindu epic poem the

Mahabharata, written around 200 BCE.

NARRATOR: The ancient poem is considered one of the longest

ever written, and its description of giants only fuels speculation

about the huge skeletal remains.

- Superhumans are said to be very tall, very big, and very powerful.

So they can put their arms around a tree trunk, and without any

effort, completely uproot it.

NARRATOR: The skeleton appears big enough for such feats of

strength, but the giant skeleton has since been outted as a hoax.

- It certainly looks real, but the photo placed third in a

competition to create a fake archaeological discovery.

- Actually, what it is, is it's a really clever superimposition

of a human skeleton over the beastly remains of a mastodon.

- If you look closer, the giveaway is a digging man holding a

yellow-handled shovel without a spade on the end.

NARRATOR: The goliath footprint does not suffer from the same

accusations of being a prank.

Although, how it was made remains unknown.

Perhaps there's a scientific basis behind the timeless

perception that much bigger people once existed.

- Could a genetic mutation explain some of the larger-than-life

characters we know from the past?

NARRATOR: Nearly 10,000

kilometres away in Northern Ireland, there may be a clue.

- Researchers traced an unusual cluster of gigantism in

Mid Ulster to a specific gene.

About one in 150 people carry a genetic mutation to the AIP gene.

- This leads to an overproduction of growth hormone in childhood,

and that excess causes the bones and the muscles and other organs

to grow bigger than usual.

- The AIP gene related to Gigantism was actually found in several

Irish families.

- They're all distantly related to the Irish giant Charles Byrne.

In the 1700s, Byrne was a very famous show giant, 'cause he

stood at an absolutely whopping 7 foot 10 - that's tall.

- The highest proportion of giants in the entire world is

thought to cluster in that one small part of Northern Ireland.

NARRATOR: But Ireland is far away from Mpumalanga and there's no

evidence to suggest the two places have a close genetic connection.

- In the last few hundred years, people with known gigantism

peaked at around nine feet tall.

The owner of Goliath's footprint would have to be twice that height.

So how do we explain it?

NARRATOR: A clue may lie much closer to Empuluzi.

A 5,000-year-old find in Egypt suggests that here an extreme

level of gigantism may have once existed.

When in 1988, Swiss explorer Gregor Sporri announced the discovery of a

15-inch mummified finger.

That's almost four times longer than the average adult finger.

- Based on the proportions, this finger would have to belong

to someone who is over five metres tall.

NARRATOR: A figure of this stature is certainly closer to the

proportions of the goliath footprint.

Could it be the farther back in time we go, the bigger the people were?

- The AIP gene variant has only been traced back a few thousand

years, so we don't yet know if it was present in Ancient Egypt,

much less in Empuluzi millions of years ago.

- Humans that were much larger than average have always been

among us, but it doesn't necessarily mean Goliath's footprint was

created by one of them.

NARRATOR: So what is the secret of this mysterious footprint?

Another hint lies yet again in Northern Ireland.

Here, in County Antrim, is a place where some believe giants

once lived, and the proof they say is right under foot.

- Irish lore tells of the giant Finn McCool created the causeway

by tearing up great chunks of the coastline and hurling them

into the sea. Who would have put them there if not a giant?

NARRATOR: But unfortunately for true believers, the causeway's

connection to giants is in name only.

- Scientists are confident that the causeway was created by

natural volcanic activity between 50 and 60 million years ago,

which means not by the hands of giants.

NARRATOR: Since the giant's causeway can be explained by natural

geological forces, does that mean similar natural causes are

behind the nearly anatomically perfect footprint in South Africa?

- What could have created something that looks like a giant

footprint on the sheer side of a rock face?

- Geologists are absolutely convinced that this imprint

was not left here by any living being.

NARRATOR: For geologist and anthropologist

Dr Robert Schoch the idea of giants seems all too fantastic.

For him, the answer is written in stone.

- You don't find fossils in granite.

You don't find footprints in granite.

Why? Because granite is what we call an igneous rock.

It's a rock that forms from a molten state of rock.

- Which means the granite here formed deep underground.

- So how are you going to get a footprint in a magma chamber

ten kilometres below the surface of the Earth?

- It's difficult to imagine any sort of footprint or fossil

surviving that kind of process.

NARRATOR: That's because it can't.

- The Goliath footprint really is an anomaly.

It may have partially formed when the granite rock was brought

to the surface through this geological process called

uplift eventually reaching the Earth's surface in its

more-or-less present vertical position.

- And then through natural geological processes over

hundreds of millions of years,

it erodes, it crumbles and it leaves the impression of what

could be interpreted as a footprint.

I think it is incredible and it's wonderful, and I'm not

surprised that people recognize this as looking like a footprint.

But I'm 100% convinced that it is a natural phenomenon.

End of story.

- Visitors come from far and wide to leave coins in Empuluzi's

heel, in exchange for health and good fortune.

- People say this is a place where a spiritual force comes out of

the earth.

- A site like this can be incredibly important and that is

absolutely independent of whether that footprint is a genuine

footprint from a genuine giant or if it's simply a natural feature.

- The natural wonders our Earth is capable of forging are truly

marvellous.

- And thanks to a view from above we’re able to see and fully

appreciate the gigantic beauty and mystery that surrounds us.

NARRATOR: From the wildlands of South Africa to the vast

expanse of Central Asia, a view from above reveals another giant mystery.

Nestled in a remote corner of the landlocked nation of

Kazakhstan, satellite images reveal a chilling oversized symbol

etched into the Earth's surface.

- It's unmistakable. There's no way you could miss it.

- It looks like we have a star, but wait, there's a circle

surrounding it.

- It looks like it's a giant pentagram.

- This thing is enormous!

- But what exactly is it and why is it here?

NARRATOR: And what will a view from above reveal?

- A pentagram is a five-pointed star that can be drawn with one

continuous stroke, and this one measures more than a thousand

feet across.

- The first thing I notice about this pentagram is that it's

surrounded by a circle.

And a pentagram inside a circle is sometimes known as a

"pentacle", a symbol that's used in paganism.

It's a symbol of unity and protection.

NARRATOR: Have satellites uncovered a place of prayer or ritual?

What else can a view from above show us?

- If you look at the orientation of the pentagram in relation to

the earth's longitude and latitude, it appears to be upside down,

or what is known as an inverted pentagram with two points

facing up and one point facing down.

- An inverted pentagram is often associated with evil or

satanism, especially in popular culture.

- These upside-down pentagrams are commonly drawn with the head

of a goat inside and are referred to as "the Sigel of Baphomet".

- Baphomet is a sort of demon figure. He's half-human, half-goat.

- But aside from it appearing upside down according to the

cardinal points on the map, there's no other reason to think that

this symbol is satanic in origin.

- So what is it?

NARRATOR: Approximately 300

kilometres to the south, in Kazakhstan’s Turgay Region, another

startling discovery from above leads us down another strange path.

Satellite images reveal more mysterious giant symbols

scattered across the landscape, known as geoglyphs.

- Several of these symbols seem to be geometric shapes made up

of connecting dots.

- The largest is a giant square with a diagonal criss-cross.

- Another almost looks like a giant three-pronged pinwheel etched

into the dirt.

- Now the incredible thing is before they appeared on Google Earth

in 2007, these earthworks were completely forgotten.

- Although these ancient symbols were revealed through modern

mapping technology, researchers are still trying to ascertain how

many actually exist throughout Kazakhstan.

Some estimates run as high as over 200 geoglyphs.

- But the big question is, what are their origins?

And what might they tell us about the giant pentagram?

NARRATOR: The purpose of these earthwork geoglyphs remains unknown.

They may have been used as sanctuaries, territorial

markings or to track the movement of the sun.

And their age is equally elusive.

- It's believed that these geoglyphs range in age from

Kazakhstan's Iron Age, about 3,000 years ago, to as far back as

the Neolithic period, 10,000 years ago.

NARRATOR: Is the giant pentagram one of these ancient geoglyphs

left undiscovered for thousands of years?

- It is possible, because as we know, the pentagram is a very

old symbol dating back at least 5,000 years.

- The pentagram was used in the Liangzhu culture of China, as

far back as 3,000 BCE.

- And some of the oldest pentagrams have also been found on

ancient artifacts from Mesopotamia in what is now Iraq.

- Kazakhstan is relatively close to these other ancient

civilizations, so it’s conceivable that the symbol may have made

its way to this region.

NARRATOR: Perhaps an answer lies with a bird's-eye view of another

giant pentagram half-way across the world, in a place few would expect.

- If you look at the core of Washington, DC,

from above, you'll notice its streets don't form a simple

grid like you might find in every other American city.

- What you find instead are these diagonal avenues that are all

branching out from various intersecting points.

- Starting at the White House, if you trace a line up the

avenue towards Dupont Circle, then down to Mount Vernon Square,

across to Washington Circle, up to Logan Circle, then back down

to the White House, it forms a giant pentagram.

NARRATOR: Is this pentagram a mere coincidence?

Some sort of geometric accident?

Not everyone thinks so.

Some attribute its existence to an ancient brotherhood.

- There's a secret society known as the Freemasons and its

members are alleged to include everyone from British Prime

Minister Winston Churchill and Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of

Sherlock Holmes, to Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower,

and George Washington, the first president of the United States.

- And like so many groups before them, the Freemasons adopted

the pentagram as one of their symbols.

- Individually, Freemasons are known to have played a part in

building and designing much of the capital, and that includes

George Washington who actually appointed the engineer who

originally drafted the plan for the city.

NARRATOR: Did the Freemasons plan to incorporate a giant pentagram

into the framework of the US Capital?

And could the pentagram found in Kazakhstan be the work of the

same secret society?

- Given the vast distance between Washington, DC,

and Kazakhstan, any connection seems remote.

And, as far as we know, the Masons didn't have a significant

presence in Kazakhstan until relatively recently.

So a more probable and closer influence would be from the

former Soviet Union capital of Moscow.

NARRATOR: Where just a short distance from the city centre

satellite images reveal some now familiar symbols.

- Once again, you see what looks like pentagrams.

- They appear to be decorating the roofs of buildings, and

nearby, you see what resembles a pentagram in pavement.

- What is this place?

NARRATOR: Could these symbols hold the key to solving the

mystery in Kazakhstan?

- This area is home to an army base and something called "Patriot

Park", a military theme park opened by Russian president

Vladimir Putin in 2016.

- The complex covers more than 33 square miles and can

apparently host up to 20,000 guests per day.

Rather than thrill rides, there are these firing ranges and

visitors can interact with grenade launchers and Russian tanks.

- But what about these stars?

- The five-pointed star has long been part of Russian

symbolism and architecture.

- The symbols started to appear in the early 20th century.

Now, those five rays represent the five continents, which it was

hoped would soon unite under the banner of communism.

- And this star was prominent throughout the Soviet Union

- Over the past hundred years, the star has remained a symbol of

the state in Russia and of its ruling ideology.

- And that's why you see these stars in places like Patriot Park.

NARRATOR: Is this what we're seeing in Kazakhstan?

A holdover of Soviet symbolism -

a vestige of its former influence in the region?

- Kazakhstan used to be under the rule of the Soviet Union, and

still has close ties to Russia.

NARRATOR: A closer look from above reveals something scattered

along the lines of the pentagram.

Trees.

- Was this some sort of lakeside park?

- What these tree lined pathways show is exactly that - what

remains of a Soviet-era patriotic park.

- By the looks of it, the park hasn't been in use for a long time.

- It's not known who built the park or when it stopped being

maintained, but it was clearly designed around the Soviet star.

- I think this just tells us the power of symbols and how

different vantage points can give us different stories depending

on where you see them.

NARRATOR: A once-proud park now an overlooked remnant of a bygone era

- all but forgotten if it weren't for a view from above.

From a sculptured serpent that harkens back to a prehistoric

giant, to huge human-like features etched in stone, to an

imprint that defies the odds, and a colossal symbol of power and

evil, the view from above provides new perspectives and a chance

to answer some of the world's most enormous questions.

Subtitles by Sky Access Services