All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S01E05.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator: eyes in the sky,
Watching us from space,

Hundreds of satellites
Showing us the world

Like we've never seen it before,

Capturing images which
Are breathtaking but bizarre

Of objects and phenomena
Which defy explanation.

What is that?

Narrator:
A great scar on the desert.

Is this a clue in the hunt

For the last wonder
Of the ancient world?

Podany:
It's entirely possible

The hanging gardens
Were not in babylon,

That we've been looking
In the wrong place.

Narrator: a blazing inferno
Devouring communist north korea.

It's like the whole southeast
Of the country is on fire.

Narrator: or is this literally
A smokescreen?

If this regime is preparing for
War, this is serious business.

Narrator:
And have satellites captured
A deadly fuming supervolcano

Close to the ruins of pompeii?

Man:
There are only a few scenarios

That are capable of causing
Complete human extinction.

The eruption of a supervolcano
Is one of them.

Narrator: baffling phenomena
Seen from space.

What on earth are they?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

October 2005,

Western canada.

Lynn hickox is navigating

The desolate plains
Of the alberta badlands.

But as she drives,
She gets hopelessly lost.

Hickox: my grandson was really
Interested in dinosaurs,

And I knew there was
A dinosaur museum in alberta.

And so, I went on
A mapping program.

Narrator:
Lynn's mapping program

Links to a series of satellites
300 miles high.

These beam a constant stream
Of images to the earth below.

Scrolling through
These satellite pictures,

She scans the area around her.

It's a 21st century map

Of barren slopes, canyons,
And ravines.

But as she looks
At the satellite images,

She sees something incredible.

It was a face. It just sort of
Really popped out.

This is an amazing structure.

You look at it. You're certain
It's been created by man.

The dimensions, the detail --
They're exquisite.

Really? I mean, it's absurd.

I was, like, "Wow."

Narrator: from ground level,
It's impossible to make out

The huge head
In the satellite image.

Her only point of reference
Is a modern gas well,

Which she uses
To find the rest of the head.

Over here, to the west,

Would be the features
That make up the face.

Narrator:
The head is vast.

From the forehead to the chin,
It measures 2,000 feet,

And it's 1,300 feet across.

Unable to understand
What she's looking at,

Lynn posts the image online,
And it goes viral.

Experts attempt to explain it.

Geologist alan lester
Is among those

Who think the head
Was formed naturally.

The myriad and countless ways in
Which planet earth gets eroded

Are very likely to generate
Images just like this one.

And this is a really nice
Example of erosion

In sedimentary rocks that are
Alternatingly hard and soft.

The hardest regions produce
The higher areas,

And the soft regions
Produce the lower areas.

Narrator: the head looks almost
Too lifelike to be natural.

But there are some experts
Who argue

That it's just our brains
Playing tricks.

Hohler: the brain is hardwired
For recognition of faces.

So this one is a great example,

Because it is a structure
That can be seen from far away.

And it has some specific,
Pleasing characteristics.

The eyes, the nose, and
The mouth are very important,

So, a nose centered
In between the eyes

And a mouth below the nose.

That's the way that the mind
Wants to see a face.

Narrator:
But there's something else
That makes this head puzzling.

It seems to be wearing
Some kind of complex headdress.

The facial features

Closely resemble those
Of a native american.

And the location of the head

Is right in the middle
Of the alberta badlands,

The ancient
Sacred hunting grounds

Of the native american
Blackfoot tribe.

I'm astounded
By how similar this looks

To an indian
With a headdress on.

Narrator: more remarkable still
Is the name of the nearest town.

It's called medicine hat.

This is a translation

Of the ancient
Blackfoot indian word saam,

Which is the complex
Eagle-feather headdress

Worn by medicine men.

Saam, or medicine hat,

Is not a common place name
Among native americans.

Could it be
That ancient tribal peoples

Were aware of the giant head?

Some locals are convinced

That there is some kind
Of native american connection

And have called the head
The badlands guardian.

Treffrey deerfoot is a real-life
Native american medicine man.

[ grunts ]

[ shouts ]

Deerfoot: I asked the old people
About badland guardian image,

Then, the elders were saying,
"You know, our ancestors,

"They knew about it.

They knew of that image
Long ago."

Narrator: but if the image
Is only discernible

From high above the earth,

How did ancient tribal americans
Know it was there?

Could it be that it was they

Who carved the head
Into the landscape?

In native-american culture,

A medicine man
Was not a tribal doctor.

He was more like a high priest
Who had special powers

And who communicated
With the gods.

Deerfoot:
This is the place where our
People go in the next life.

So this whole area within
This place is very sacred to us.

Native americans believe that
Nature was filled with spirits,

Both friendly and malign,
To be feared and worshipped.

But among
The gods they worshipped

Were beings whom they believed

Came from the stars
And lived in the sky.

They called them
The above people.

They undoubtedly
Had a special relationship

With the sky god for the moon
And the sky god for the sun

And all the other major planets.

Narrator: did the blackfoot
Or some other ancient tribe

Carve out this image?

Were they trying to communicate

With the mysterious
Above people?

Could somebody
Have physically gone in

And chiseled out this face?

Narrator:
It wouldn't be the first time

An ancient people has carved
Huge symbols into the earth.

There isn't a continent on earth

That doesn't have
An ancient glyph in its land,

Such as the nazca lines.

Narrator: but geoglyphs
Like the nazca lines

Are relatively simple structures

Which could easily have been
Formed using ancient tools.

if this is man-made,
it's a project far beyond

The primitive glyphs
We already know about.

It's a complex,
Three-dimensional carving

Over a vast area.

The face is 30 times the size

Of the individual heads
Carved into mount rushmore,

A project that took
14 years to complete

With 20th-century equipment.

But if this head
is not the work of humans,

If ancient native americans

Did not carve it
Out of the landscape,

The question remains,
How did they know it was there?

Gough: clearly, this is way
Before satellite technology.

But somehow, they had a way

Of seeing what was on the ground
From above.

Narrator: this has led
To some strange theories.

Gough:
I believe it was a man-chosen,
Shaman-chosen structure,

Where their shamanistic,
Hallucinogenic experiences

Allowed them to see these images

From their out-of-body
Experience.

Narrator: most scientists
Would reject the idea

Of shamans
Looking down from above.

Many geologists remain convinced

That this is
A natural phenomenon.

But for many,
This satellite photograph

Of the badlands guardian
Remains a mystery.

You know, seeing the image
Of the medicine man,

It's a bit shocking,
Even for a scientist.

Woman:
I love that image.

This geologic feature that
Looks like a native american

Knocked my socks off.

Narrator: an immense
And mysterious cloud of smoke

Hovers over north korea,

A country ruled by the most
Tyrannical communist regime

In the world.

It's extraordinary.

You can't even see the land
Through the smoke.

Narrator:
Is this a natural disaster,

Or are they trying
To hide something?

Pope: a smokescreen
Is tried and tested.

It's been around for centuries,
But that's because it works.

Narrator: april 2014.

As nasa's aqua satellite
Passes over east asia,

Its cameras capture this image.

This is no cloud.

It's a giant blanket of smoke

Emanating
From communist north korea.

It's not just covering
Half of north korea,

But it's coming out
To the sea of japan, as well.

So that's why we all noticed it
On satellite footage right away.

Narrator: the cloud covers
An area of 8,000 square miles.

Nasa moves in for a closer look.

It deploys modis,

The moderate resolution
Imaging spectroradiometer.

This camera sees the world
In infrared,

And it reveals
Areas of ferocious radiation

Beneath the smoke.

The infrared cameras

Can see the actual fires
Themselves and all the flames,

And invisible light cameras

Can see the smoke trails
That they leave behind.

Narrator:
Are these spontaneous wildfires?

It seems unlikely.

Wildfires break out

After periods of intense heat
And drought.

But the image
Was taken in april,

A time of year when north korea
Is relatively cold.

Could the fires be the result
Of field burning,

A primitive technique
Used by farmers

With no fertilizer
Or herbicides?

Pope: on this scale,

It's like the whole southeast
Of the country is on fire.

Narrator: but crop burning
Takes place after harvest,

Not in the spring.

Is there
A more sinister explanation?

Communist north korea

Is ruled by one of the most
Barbarous regimes on the planet.

The regime in north korea
Is horrendous.

It's a brutal,
Totalitarian dictatorship.

The supreme leader
Rules almost as a god.

[ crowd cheering ]

Narrator: communist regimes
Have often maintained control

Outside the towns by spreading
Fear through the countryside.

Is this the cause of the smoke?

Is the regime instilling terror

By burning villages
And destroying farmland?

There is another theory

Which has been put forward
By military analysts.

Pope:
Is it possible that a country

That is in some respects
So high-tech

Could use a very basic tactic
Like a smokescreen?

I think it's quite possible.

Narrator: the north korean
Regime is well aware

That u.S. Surveillance
Satellites

Are keeping watch from space.

Baker: north korea
Is probably the best reason

Why satellite imagery
Is so important.

You've got a closed,
Very repressive society

With a very large military and
A building nuclear capability.

Narrator: a smokescreen
Is usually a metaphor.

Is the real thing
Being employed here

To conceal the tactical movement
Of nuclear weapons?

The logical question is,
"What are they doing down there?

What don't they want us to see?"

Narrator: the blanket of smoke
Is covering an area

Just above the border
With south korea.

There is, in effect,
A cold war taking place

Between north and south.

At the end of the korean war
In 1953,

A demilitarized zone
Was established

Along the 38th parallel
To keep the two armies apart.

Schneider: north korea made
On a very routine basis

Threats to turn
Their neighbor's capital cities

Into a sea of nuclear fire.

Narrator:
The smoke hangs in the air

Long enough to cover the
Movement of troops or missiles.

When the smoke disappears,

Satellites scan
The area beneath.

But their cameras find
No obvious signs

Of weapons or men
Close to the border.

But missiles can be camouflaged,
And troops can be hidden.

If the smoke in this image
Was generated

To hide something
From u.S. Intelligence,

It seems to have succeeded.

We use all sorts
Of high-tech ways

To perhaps mask
What we're doing,

But a smokescreen --
Well, it's tried and tested.

It's been around for centuries.
But that's because it works.

Narrator: a satellite snapshot
Of moon-like terrain.

It's not a landscape that you
Would expect to see on earth.

Narrator: but this isn't
The surface of the moon.

It's italy.

Have satellites discovered
A doomsday supervolcano?

It's flexing its muscles
And getting ready to explode.

Narrator: a satellite
Is orbiting the earth,

Collecting high-resolution
Images and other data.

This will be combined
With radar readings

To create a three-dimensional
Picture of the planet.

When the satellite
Passes over italy,

It picks up something strange.

It's not a landscape that you
Would expect to see on earth.

Narrator:
The moon-like landscape
Covers 60 square miles.

Further analysis of the image

Reveals over 20
Crater-like depressions.

The smallest
Is 1,300 feet across.

The largest, 2.7 miles.

But the mystery deepens
At ground level.

Stories of animals
Spontaneously dropping dead.

There are legends
Of this smell of death.

Narrator:
There are local reports

Of creatures suddenly dying
For no apparent reason.

Birds falling from the sky,
Dogs found dead in caves.

According to local folklore,
The area in this satellite image

Has been associated with death
Since roman times.

The reports center around
The italian city of pozzuoli.

Could there be a connection
Between the unexplained deaths

And the moon-like terrain
Captured by satellite?

The satellite has recorded this
Very strange-looking landscape

Because, essentially,
These people are sitting

And living
In a very large volcano.

Narrator: the size and structure
Of moon-like terrain

Has raised concerns
Among geologists.

This is no ordinary volcano.

Man:
There are only a few scenarios

That are capable of causing
Complete human extinction.

The eruption of a supervolcano
Is one of them.

Narrator:
Local journalist silvia pepe
Is searching for evidence

That pozzuoli might be sitting
On a supervolcano.

First, she investigates a cave

Where dogs are said
To have been found dead.

[ pepe speaking italian ]

Narrator: she tests the air
With a naked flame.

The fire is quickly snuffed out.

There is gas here,

Enough to kill any dog tempted
To venture into the cave.

Lester: it's probably associated
With sulfur gases --

Sulfur dioxide,
Hydrogen sulfide.

Narrator: alarmingly,
Pepe finds more poisonous gas

Bursting from cracks
And potholes.

And there's not just gas.

[ pepe speaking italian ]

Narrator:
Volcanologist dr. Brittany brand

Thinks the heat and the gas
Is a sign of something worrying.

It's kind of
A constant signature

Of an active magma reservoir
At depth.

Narrator:
But there's one sure sign,

And that's when the surface
Of the earth begins to move.

A magma reservoir
Is so powerful,

It pushes the ground up
As the magma swells,

And the ground sinks
When it recedes.

Local diver salvatore maione

Has noticed such changes
In pozzuoli.

[ speaking italian ]

Narrator: in fact, the movement
Of land here

Has claimed a whole ancient
City, dragging it into the sea.

This is pozzuoli's atlantis --

Streets, statues, plazas,
And buildings.

This 2,000-year-old roman city
Has been sucked beneath the sea.

Pockets of sulfuric gases
Still bubble around it.

Brand: the fact that the ground
Has been inflating, swelling,

And deflating since roman times

Suggests that it is
A very active system.

Narrator: on the ground,
There are clues all around --

The dead animals,
The foul-smelling gas,

The sunken city.

The moon-like terrain
In the satellite image

Makes sense of all of them.

Typically,
When we think of volcanoes,

We think of these tall peaks or
Cones.

But there are other types
Of volcanoes

That form huge depressions
In the ground.

We call these calderas.

What you get when you have
A very big volcanic eruption,

The magma chamber
Beneath the volcano is emptied,

And the top of the volcano
Collapses down

To form this circular,
Bowl-shaped feature.

Narrator: this picture of a
Caldera looks remarkably similar

To the depressions
Captured by satellite.

But that's just one caldera.

The satellite image suggests

The magma chamber
Has erupted many times,

Creating over 20 craters.

That raises
One terrifying possibility --

A supervolcano.

Rampino:
A supervolcano is able to have
A very large magma chamber

That fills up with magma

And then is released
In one big event.

Narrator: the human cost

Of a supervolcano in this area
Would be immense.

There are as many as 700 million
People in the kill zone.

But how realistic is the threat?

For sure, it's gonna happen
Again in the future.

Brand: a super eruption would be
The ultimate geologic hazard.

It's a catastrophic eruption

Of a tremendous amount
Of explosive magma.

Narrator:
If this is a supervolcano,
Then satellites will be vital

In monitoring the rise and fall
Of the surface.

Lester: volcanic eruptions
Have precursor signage.

They have doming and tilting
Of the entire region,

Which we can determine
From satellite imagery.

Gas emissions are also
Recognizable from satellites.

When we're dealing
With supervolcanoes,

Satellites can be part
Of the early warning system.

Narrator: and some believe the
Warning signs are already there.

It's flexing its muscles
And getting ready to explode.

Narrator: this top-secret image,
Recently declassified,

Shows a 60-mile scar
On the earth

Which may solve
A 3,000-year-old mystery.

This could be a clue
That this was

Part of one of the seven wonders
Of the world.

Narrator: could this satellite
Image reveal the whereabouts

Of the hanging gardens
Of babylon?

Narrator: researchers analyze
A top-secret image

Taken 50 years ago
And recently declassified.

What they see
Has huge implications

For our understanding
Of the biblical world.

Could this image lead us

To the greatest lost marvel
Of antiquity --

The hanging gardens of babylon?

Huston:
The hanging gardens of babylon

Are one of the great wonders
Of the ancient world,

One of the seven wonders
Of the ancient world,

And the only one that really has
Never been positively identified

On where it was.

Narrator:
The 50-year-old satellite image
Covers northern iraq,

Close to the borders of turkey,
Syria, and iran,

An area today
Wracked by violent conflict.

What it captured
Half a century ago

Was a gigantic winding channel
Cut into the desert.

The 50-year-old photograph
Thrills modern scholars.

Some of them dare to believe
That this could be a clue

To the final lost wonder
Of the ancient world --

The hanging gardens of babylon.

Researchers
Only have the photo at all

Because of a 1960s spy-satellite
Program code-named corona.

Baker:
The corona satellite program

Was born out of the early days
Of the cold war.

It was a whole new way
Of gathering information,

And it was critical
To the times.

Narrator: in the '60s, iraq had
Close ties to the soviet union.

U.S. Spy satellites extensively
Photograph the middle east.

Those images reveal
A landscape from the past,

A picture
Hidden from modern satellites

By half a century of farming,
Building, and warfare.

Altaweel:
Since this time period,

A lot of these archaeological
Features have been plowed up,

Destroyed by, essentially,
Human activity.

A lot of these features
Are now gone.

Narrator:
But what could account

For the line in the desert
Captured from space?

Could it be the result
Of earthquake damage?

There are seismic faults
In the region,

And earthquakes can create
Fissures on the earth's surface.

But this scar in the ground

Looks too long
To be a natural fissure.

What's more, the line
In the landscape is too regular.

It's the same width
All the way down.

This looks man-made.

Could this be a groove
Worn away in the landscape

Of some long-forgotten
Trade route?

Altaweel:
This is not a road.

Roads tend to be more straight,

Often do not follow
The contours of the landscape,

And are not usually
Nearly as wide.

Narrator: the line more closely
Resembles a waterway.

I think this is a canal.

Narrator: if this is a canal,
Then it's a big one.

Researchers
Examine more corona images

And trace a canal network
Going south

From the zagros mountain
60 miles into northern iraq.

But why would anyone build
A 60-mile-long canal

In the middle of the desert?

Altaweel: this could be a clue
That these gardens existed,

Essentially because
It was so massive.

It brought
A huge amount of water.

It was certainly of a scale

That demonstrates
This was not a simple project.

Narrator: this canal trench is
Huge, even by modern standards.

The suez canal in egypt,

Which was considered
A marvel of modern engineering,

Was 25 feet deep
When it was built.

Parts of this channel
Are twice that depth.

In places, this canal network
Is 300 feet wide.

This is epic engineering.

Whoever built
This spectacular canal

Was fabulously wealthy
And powerful.

This is not a ditch
Dug by farmers.

This waterway was feeding some
Magnificent city in the desert

And, potentially,
A wonder of the ancient world.

Huston:
The hanging gardens of babylon

Were reputed to be
Part of a magnificent palace,

Where this palace was on the
Water or a canal,

And yet the gardens were
Suspended above and in the air

And watered in elaborate ways
That were unique to the time

And had trees and plants
And flowers

That were so spectacular, people
Came from all over to see them.

Narrator: the fabled
Hanging gardens of babylon

Were said to be as awe-inspiring
In scale and beauty

As the great pyramids of egypt.

But the gardens
Would have devoured

An estimated 300 tons of water
Every day.

It would've taken
A canal this big.

But there's one problem --

Babylon is 300 miles south,

On the eastern bank
Of the euphrates river.

Archaeologists
Have spent centuries

Searching for any remains
Of the ancient gardens there,

To no avail.

Some scholars have begun
To doubt they ever existed.

This giant, ancient canal
Captured from space

Cannot have fed
The legendary hanging gardens...

Unless the hanging gardens
Were not in babylon after all.

Podany:
It's entirely possible

The hanging gardens
Were not in babylon,

That we've been looking
In the wrong place.

Narrator:
There are many references

To the spectacular hanging
Gardens in ancient texts.

But the curious thing is,

None of these references
Actually come from babylonians.

Podany: there's no reference
In any babylonian text

To a hanging garden

Or anything that could've been
A hanging garden.

Narrator: but if the hanging
Gardens weren't in babylon,

Where were they?

At the time when the gardens
Were said to exist,

There were two great imperial
Powers in ancient mesopotamia.

There were the babylonians,
And there were the assyrians.

The assyrians were masters
At water management.

They were building canals,
Aqueducts, dams, weirs.

They were controlling water

In a way that had never
Been done before.

Narrator:
Could it have been the assyrians
Who build the hanging gardens?

Podany:
The hanging gardens of babylon

Was a name that was given to
The hanging gardens much later,

At a time
When the greeks and romans

Often confused
Assyria and babylonia.

Narrator: if we trace this
Winding network of waterways

Down through
Ancient mesopotamia,

It heads directly
For another great city,

A city to rival babylon
In wealth and majesty --

The ancient assyrian capital
Of nineveh.

Altaweel: the corona image
Potentially points

To the hanging gardens
Actually being at nineveh,

Because we see
This massive feature

Bringing water
To the city of nineveh.

So that certainly suggests to us

That nineveh could be a likely
Site for the hanging gardens.

Narrator:
But this is a dangerous region,

Too dangerous for an extensive
Archaeological excavation.

[ men shouting indistinctly ]

Until that happens,

This satellite image
From the past

Is our most tantalizing clue

In the hunt
For the one remaining

Undiscovered wonder
Of the ancient world.

A glowing blue vortex
In the south atlantic ocean.

A whirlpool
The size of an entire state.

Now, that's pretty scary.

Narrator:
Whatever it is, it looks big,
And it looks dangerous.

You wouldn't want to be
Anywhere near that in a boat.

Narrator: december 26, 2011.

Nasa's terra satellite

Passes high
Over the south atlantic ocean

And captures this image.

It appears to be a giant
Whirlpool of glowing blue light.

I've seen
Ocean whirlpools before,

But I've never seen anything
On this scale before.

Who or what
Is actually making this site up?

You can't believe
That this is actually something

That exists for real
In the ocean.

Narrator: the whirlpool,
Or whatever it is,

Is located 500 miles
Off the coast of south africa.

And it's huge, stretching
As far as a 100 miles.

Nelson:
The image seems to indicate

A whirlpool
The size of an entire state.

Now, that's pretty scary.

Narrator:
If it is a whirlpool,

It's thousands of times bigger
Than any recorded,

Generating awesome power.

Countless tons of water
Racing in a deadly spiral.

You wouldn't want to be
Anywhere near that in a boat.

Narrator: the most powerful
Ocean vortices are terrifying.

A super vortex on this scale

Would devour the world's biggest
Ocean liners in an instant.

But it's not just the scale
That's astonishing analysts.

Why is this thing,
Whatever it is, glowing blue?

Nelson: one possible reason
That you might be able to see

This phenomenon
In the photograph

Is because this ocean vortex

Has sucked up millions upon
Millions of microorganisms,

Otherwise known
As phytoplankton.

Narrator:
Phytoplankton are organisms
That emit a bright, blue light.

But phytoplankton
Are tiny creatures.

For them to create
A glow this big this bright,

There would have to be trillions
Upon trillions of them

Caught in the walls
Of the vortex.

Oceanographer ryan abernathy
Says that for that to happen,

The vortex would have to be
Acting the same way

As a black hole.

[ doorbell buzzes ]

Just like light is trapped

Within the event horizon
Of a black hole,

It's been proposed
That there's a border

Around the edge
Of some of these eddies

That really acts
To trap material

And keep it stuck inside.

Everybody knows
Black holes take in light.

They don't let it go.

But the reason for that

Is that it's kind of this
Spinning, heavy thing in space

That's sucking in all the mass.

Narrator: just as black holes
Suck in light,

Ocean vortices trap matter...

In this case,
It would seem, glowing matter.

Everything in these
Ocean vortexes are trapped.

So, they're spinning,

And you have millions of
Billions of gallons of water

Carrying plankton, debris,

And they're moving across oceans
From continent to continent.

And nothing gets out.

Narrator:
But it's just a theory.

No one has seen anything
Quite like this before.

A massive ocean vortex,
If that's what it is,

Can be created by an earthquake
On the ocean floor.

On march 11, 2001,
A magnitude 9 earthquake

Takes place 43 miles
Off the coast of japan.

The result -- one of the biggest
Tsunamis ever recorded.

Waves 130 feet high
Pummel japan's mainland,

Creating deadly whirlpools
Along the coast

Which suck fishing boats
Down beneath the waves.

But these whirlpools are tiny

In comparison to the glowing
Monster captured on satellite.

And no tsunami or earthquake

Has been recorded
Off the coast of south africa.

The blue spiral of light
Caught on satellite camera

Looks like something
From a sci-fi movie.

Analysts have not encountered
Anything quite like this before.

It looks too big
To be a whirlpool.

There have been no recorded
Earthquakes in the area,

And there are no unusual
Weather reports

From shipping in the region.

The blue vortex
Remains a mystery.

Strange mounds
In the egyptian desert

Are photographed from space.

It's possible
It could rewrite history.

Narrator:
Have satellites discovered
The lost resting place

Of a great and mighty pharaoh?

Narrator: 2012.

Maiden, north carolina.

Amateur archaeologist
Angela micol

Is examining satellite images
Taken over egypt,

Looking for anything
Out of the ordinary.

Micol: I have been looking
For archaeology from space

Since about 1997.

And with the use
Of satellite imagery,

You can see a site
In a completely new perspective.

Narrator: that perspective comes
From the quickbird satellite.

From high above egypt,

It photographs an area of desert
20 miles west of the river nile.

6,000 miles away
In north carolina,

Angela is scanning
Satellite images,

Mile upon mile of
Scorched desert sand and rock.

Then she sees something.

Micol:
I was just amazed,

Because I knew that I had
Something very special,

And I knew that it's possible
It could rewrite history.

Narrator: the satellite has
Captured a series of mounds

Rising from the flat
Desert floor.

Micol: two larger mounds
Of a similar size,

And then you see two smaller
Mounds of a similar size.

And this doesn't really
Occur in nature.

From space,
It looks very planned.

There is a possibility that what
We are looking at with this site

Is a very eroded
Potential pyramid.

Narrator:
A number of ancient pyramids

Have been discovered
By satellite,

But not on this scale.

The largest is 300 feet wide,
Comparable in size

To the pyramids at giza,
Wonders of the ancient world.

And that's not
The only similarity.

At giza, the larger pyramids

Are aligned diagonally
With smaller structures.

This layout is repeated in the
Mounds in the satellite image.

Micol: there could be
A lost pyramid complex in egypt

That no one even knows about.

Narrator:
Could satellites have revealed
Something totally unknown

To egyptologists
Working on the ground?

The image causes a sensation,

Receiving worldwide
Media attention.

But the experts are cautious.

It requires
A lot more investigation

Before you can just say, "It's
A mound," or, "It's a pyramid."

Narrator: many geologists too
Have expressed caution.

Not every pyramid-shaped rock
Is a pyramid.

I see the image,
And I see a natural process

Which has carved the landscape
Into a striking feature.

I don't think that's man-made.

[ car horns honking ]

Narrator: but then, in cairo,
New evidence comes to light.

Two collectors of antique maps,

One of them a former advisor
To the egyptian president,

Revealed the existence
Of historic maps

Which make reference to pyramids
At the exact same site.

Micol: they claim
That they do have proof

That they are pyramid sites.

Narrator: determined
To explore the mounds further,

Micol contacts
A researcher in egypt,

Who travels to the site
To investigate.

He returns
With extraordinary footage.

The shaky video shows two mounds
Protruding from the desert,

But it seems there are also
Cavities and shafts and tunnels.

Gough: what's exciting

And lends a lot of credence
To the satellite images

Is that the on-site exploration
Has found shards of pottery

And other physical,
Man-made evidence

That would lead you to believe

That this was
An inhabited, sacred site.

Narrator:
The ancient egyptians were here,
But are these pyramids?

Moser: the peak
You can see in the image

Certainly looks suggestive,

But it's not clearly
Delineated enough

To make any firm conclusion.

Narrator:
if these are pyramids,

They've either been
Heavily eroded by the desert

Or else partially destroyed.

But why?

There's a long history of trying
To eradicate people from memory.

Gough: one famous example
Of an attempt to airbrush

A very legendary pharaoh
From history

Is akhenaton.

Moser: akhenaton reigned
3,500 years ago.

He was a religious revolutionary

Because, instead of worshipping
The whole pantheon

Of egyptian gods, he decided
To replace them with only one --

Aten, the sun disk.

And in doing so, he caused a lot
Of rupture to egyptian society.

And as a result of that,
When he died,

People were very quick to erase
His memory from history.

Narrator: as recently as 2014,
Archaeologists discovered

A previously unknown
Egyptian king.

Could this be the pyramid

Of some other great pharaoh
Erased from history?

What we might have here is an
Example of the new civilization

Wanting to airbrush
The old civilization,

Wrap it up,
Close it down, hide it.

Narrator:
Angela micol is convinced

These are pyramids that have
Been deliberately destroyed.

The site seems to be
Completely covered over.

There is almost, like,
A cement type of concretions

Which are all over
The surface of the site.

Narrator: archaeologists
Are still to be convinced.

Moser: if it is a pyramid
Out there on its own,

Not connected to anything else,
It seems unlikely to me.

Narrator:
Micol is now raising funds

For a full archaeological
Expedition.

She is setting out to prove
That these are indeed pyramids

And to explore their secrets.

Micol: who knows what kind
Of knowledge we could gain

Just from being able to open a
Site no one's been near before?