Original subtitles

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

Hundreds of satellites Showing us the world

Like we've never seen it Before.

Objects and phenomena Which defy explanation.

I can't believe this. This can't be.

Narrator: a moving island Appears in the south pacific.

Brittany: This thing is really big.

It's the size Of a small country.

Narrator: a city Lost beneath the waves.

If this were atlantis,

Then it would be the greatest Archeological discovery

In history.

Narrator: and could this Be the tomb of genghis khan?

Mark: we just Couldn't believe our eyes.

It was just extraordinary.

Narrator: baffling phenomena, Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

February 2013.

An atlas v rocket Carries

Nasa's state-of-the-art Landsat 8 observation satellite

Into earth orbit.

11 months After its deployment,

The orbiter captures This weird image

High above the waters Around an island

Off the coast Of south korea,

Called sisan-ri.

This is strange.

You don't expect to look At the ocean

And see a giant barcode Staring back at you.

Roland: When I first saw this image, I was really confused.

I wondered, "What on earth Could cause this pattern?"

Narrator: the peculiar patterns Cover a vast area

Comparable to the size Of san francisco.

When you realize the scale,

It's really hard to think Of what it could be.

Is it something natural? Is it something man-made?

Narrator: There are few natural phenomena

That are capable Of visibly affecting

Such large areas of sea.

Rob: I think the first thing That you have to consider

Because it's in the ocean is, Could it be marine life?

Now, we know That you can see

Large groups of animals In the ocean

From a satellite image.

Narrator: every year, Billions of sardines

Spawn off the coast Of south africa

Creating giant patterns

Which are visible From high altitude.

The seas Around south korea

Are home to much larger, Stranger life forms.

This area is known to attract The nomura jellyfish,

Which is A giant jellyfish --

Six feet long, Can way hundreds of pounds.

Narrator: Nomura jellyfish can grown To the size of a small car.

They gather In such large numbers

That they've been known To capsize 10-ton fishing boats.

Could the mystery pattern

Be a swarm of these Giant gelatinous monsters?

Rob: we're used to looking For patterns in nature.

And usually, In the ocean,

They're swirling, They're more fluid.

But this Is not like that.

Seth: now, the problem With this theory

Is marine life Doesn't play along

With these Neat geometric shapes

That we're seeing In front of us.

Only leaves One possibility --

It's man-made.

Narrator: if these mystery Patterns are man-made,

Then what could they be?

Perhaps the volatile history Of the region

Could provide a clue.

There's a lot of animosity

Between north korea And south korea.

So they're still In a state of war,

And they have Border incidents.

Given the location,

Right there Next to north and south korea,

You have to wonder,

Is this some sort Of military operation?

Narrator: four years Before the image was taken,

North korean forces allegedly Torpedoed a south korean warship

And shelled An inhabited island.

Could The mysterious pattern

Be part of some kind Of south korean defense system?

Mark: I would say That this image

Is some sort Of a shallow-water sonar array.

Normally, They put those in deeper water.

But a passive sonar array Might be used

Against diesel submarines In shallow waters.

Narrator: Sonar arrays use the fact

That sounds can travel Vast distances through water

To identify Possible threats.

They can be laid In vast networks

Stretching for miles Below the surface

Or towed in long lines.

Mark: A passive listening array

Simply listens for all sorts Of sounds in the ocean.

And it can pick up Submarines, ships,

Even type torpedo Being fired by the sound.

Narrator: defense analysts Believe that south korea

Has acquired a new generation Of sonar arrays.

But the shallow coastal waters In the image

Would be A highly unusual location

To deploy them.

Seth: the problem With the listening device theory

Is you're dealing With shallow waters

With lots of noise And fishing boats.

The signal-to-noise ratio Would be off,

And it wouldn't make Much sense

To put surveillance Equipment here.

Narrator: The mystery pattern

Is not, it seems, an array Of underwater listening posts.

But continuing tensions In the region

Could still hold the key to Identifying the mystery shapes.

A good thing to do Is a look to the past, and say,

"What images from history

Have we seen That look like this?"

And the first thing That comes up --

Underwater mines.

Narrator: During the korean war,

Sea mines accounted For every single ship

Lost by the u.S. Navy.

Today, america takes The ongoing danger of mines

So seriously that it conducts Exercises of the korean coast

Specifically To combat the threat.

To be effective, Sea mines are often placed

In large formations

That make it really hard for Ships to navigate through them.

And than kind comes to mind When you look at these pictures.

Narrator: if the shapes In the image are mine fields,

They're part of a network Built on a scale

Unprecedented in The history of human conflict.

But closer analysis Does not support the idea.

Amanda: in my opinion, These are not naval mines.

Naval mines Would be far too small

To see From a satellite image.

Narrator: due to the intense Military interest in the region,

Analysts Are able to call upon

A huge number of Historical images of the area.

They reveal a clue to the riddle Of the mysterious pattern.

The date of this image is key To unlocking this mystery

Because when you look At the same image in november

As opposed To february or may,

You see a dramatic difference In the pattern.

That's very common within Agricultural environments.

Narrator: it turns out That the shapes in these images

Have less to do with armageddon And more to do with agriculture.

Seth: we spoke to people Who visited the region.

They told us what it was -- It's seaweed farms.

When you think about it,

Of course That makes perfect sense.

It's an orderly formation, It's seasonal.

It answers All of our questions.

Roland: farmers Plant the seaweed in the water

Just like they would Plant crops on land.

And they come back later And harvest

It to sell to restaurants And stores around the world.

Narrator: edible seaweed Is a huge industry in asia.

It's a viable, Innocent explanation

For the mystery pattern.

But is everything As it seems?

There are various ways Of camouflaging mines.

You can camouflage sea mines To look like seaweed.

You can camouflage Almost anything.

Narrator: One thing is certain --

This will not be The last mystery

In the waters Around korea.

Satellites Detect an usual pattern

In the remote Mongolian steppes.

Nick: I've never seen Anything on that scale

Anywhere in mongolia That I've been.

Someone went to a lot Of effort of make these things.

What for?

Narrator: the strange structure Lies in the birthplace

Of world's Most ruthless warlord --

Genghis khan.

Narrator: 2014 --

The worldview-2 satellite

Captures high-resolution images Of the vast mongolian plains.

For archeologists like Mark horton, they're gold dust.

Every time a new set of imagery Becomes available

We scour it For archeological information.

Narrator: His inspection

Reveals Something totally unexpected.

Mark: we just couldn't Believe our eyes.

It was just extraordinary.

Narrator: at the end Of an area of eastern mongolia

Known as the kherlen valley Lies a strange array of shapes.

Nick: I've never seen Anything on that scale

Anywhere in mongolia That I've been.

Narrator: a central structure, 50 feet wide,

Appears surrounded by Nearly 100 uniform pock marks.

Nick: I don't know whether They're mounds or depressions.

Whatever they may be, It doesn't look natural.

Someone went to a lot Of effort of make these things.

What for?

Narrator: The satellite image

Shows some kind of facility Near the structure,

Which could offer a clue To who might have created it.

Mongolia is riddled with mines. Further down the valley,

There is one of the largest Coal mines in the world.

Narrator: Could the unusual marks

Be the spoil heaps Of mining complex?

Upwards of $50 billion worth Of resources

Are believed to exist With mongolia.

We should call it Mine-golia.

Narrator: but The kherlen valley structures

Don't match the size and shape Of modern mining works.

Alan: They're not big enough.

They're not In the right orientation.

It just doesn't make sense.

Clearly it's not A modern mine.

Narrator: the location Of the site in deepest mongolia

Provides the biggest clue To the people

Who might have Constructed it.

The kherlen valley Is what they refer to

As the hearth Of the mongols.

So this is very much Their homeland.

Narrator: the mongol empire Exploded into history

800 years ago

Led by merciless warlord Genghis khan.

Nick: genghis khan

Was the greatest mongolian Who ever lived.

It's as simple as that.

He was a superb warrior, A great tactician,

And he put together The largest land empire

The world has ever known.

Narrator: The khan conquered

Over 12 million square miles Of land,

Sweeping across The russian steppes

At the head of An unstoppable army of horsemen.

The key asset that The mongols had was the horse.

The horse was the most Extraordinary war machine.

Narrator: these warrior horsemen Built only one true city --

Karakorum, the ritual capital Of the mongol empire.

In general the mongols Didn't really build cities.

They were a nomadic people

That relied Upon horse and stock.

They lived in tents.

Altaweel: so that's Why it's probably difficult

To find mongol settlements

Because nomadic populations tend To leave few remains behind.

Narrator: if the weird pattern Is not a mongol settlement,

Then what is it?

Archeologist Erdene myagmar

Investigates the site On the ground.

She discovers That the central feature

In the satellite image Is a vast collection of rocks.

Erdene: This is amazing.

This is much bigger Than we thought.

Narrator: ground level Inspection reveals

The gory purpose of the Surrounding formation of shapes.

We have bits of horse Buried in these pits...

...Which almost certainly had Been for sacrificial purposes.

Narrator: if horse bones Really have been placed

In the pits Around the mound,

They could only serve One purpose.

Archeologist mark horton

Has seen this pattern Many times before.

So we know there's This huge central mound.

It's a burial site.

Narrator: the satellite has Photographed an ancient tomb.

And the scale Of the scared site

Suggests that a very Powerful person is buried there.

The bigger mound, The more important the person.

Mark: whoever Was buried there

Would have been subject To the most enormous ritual,

Most enormous expense.

Narrator: the location Of such an enormous mound

In the center Of the mongolian heartland

Raises the staggering Possibility

That satellite images Might have revealed

The hidden tomb Of genghis khan.

Mark: finding the tomb Of genghis khan

Would be the greatest Archeological discoveries

Of our generation.

Nick: the potential for riches In genghis khan's tomb

Are extraordinary.

You think of it -- it's The world's largest land empire.

The riches That must have been plundered

And the riches That might be inside this tomb

Boggle the mind.

Narrator: but the very size Of the mound

Contradicts Khan's dying wish.

We know that genghis khan, When he died,

He did not what his grave To be known.

So most likely, his grave Would have been a simple grave.

Narrator: Khan went to great lengths

To ensure his burial site Would not be found.

Nick: the people Who build his tomb,

So the story goes, Were all murdered.

And then just to make sure, The soldiers who murdered them

Were also murdered

Because they didn't Want any word to escape

Of the location Of genghis khan's tomb.

So it's very, very unlikely That you're going to find it.

It's an area half The size of western europe.

You're literally Looking for a pin.

Narrator: the idea that This could be the tomb of khan

Takes another blow When excavations in the region

Unearth bronze artifacts.

They suggest that the site Was originally built

2,000 years Before khan's time.

Mark: we think That this particular monument

Belongs to The late bronze age,

Which is maybe About 1,000 to 1,500 b.C.

Narrator: but genghis khan Was master of deception.

Could the burial mound Be part of an elaborate ploy

To fool his enemies?

Altaweel: It doesn't mean genghis khan Is not buried there.

He could have repurposed, Essentially,

These mounds For his burial site.

It may have been A way to trick people.

Narrator: until The tomb is excavated,

No one can be sure Who is buried there.

A satellite captures an image Of a massive object

In the middle Of an open ocean.

Whatever it is they found, It wasn't there before.

It just appeared Out of nowhere.

Narrator: the thing is More than 200 miles long,

And it's moving.

This thing is really big.

It's the size Of a small country.

We really need to know What is going on here.

Narrator: august 1, 2012.

As a passenger jet travels Above the pacific ocean

Almost 500 miles from The new zealand coast,

The pilot spots something In the water below him.

The pilot Looks out the window

And sees what looks Like a giant island

In the south pacific.

Narrator: the pacific Holds around 25,000 islands.

The plane is nowhere Near any of them.

This is supposed To be open ocean.

There shouldn't be anything Visible other than water

For hundreds of miles.

Narrator: investigators

Immediately consult scans Of the area

Taken by Nasa's terra satellite.

Recent images confirm There suspicion.

Something has materialized In the middle of nowhere.

Whatever it is they found Was not there before.

It just appeared Out of nowhere.

Where would it Have come from?

What actually Are we looking at?

Narrator: whatever the thing is, However it appeared,

It's more Than 200 miles long.

The scale of this Is enormous.

This is the size Of small country.

Narrator: when analysts Compare the coordinates

Of the pilot's sighting With the latest satellite image,

They discover Something disturbing.

This object Appears to be moving,

And islands don't move.

Narrator: Investigators' calculations

Show the thing now spans An area bigger than israel.

And the massive anomaly seems to Be heading towards australasia.

Worst-case scenario

Is that this giant floating mass Actually makes landfall.

And who knows what damage It could cause if that happens.

We need to know where it Came from and how it got there.

Narrator: all The world's great oceans

Merge with the seas Around antarctica.

Each year, This frozen continent

Sheds more Than 150 billion tons of ice,

Much of it floating north Towards the pacific ocean.

We have learned that ice does Indeed break off in huge chunks

Off of antarctica.

Back in march in 2002, For example,

A chunk of ice The size of rhode island

Broke off and actually Floated out into the ocean.

Narrator: Giant collapsed ice shelves

Have been spotted off The coast of new zealand before.

But never one this big Or this far north.

George: the water in that part Of the south pacific,

Even though it might feel cold To you and I,

Ice is not gonna survive Very long there.

Narrator: sea temperature data Of the area

Confirms That the pacific enigma

Cannot be some kind Of supersized iceberg.

There's just now way That an ice island

Is gonna make it That far north.

Narrator: further nasa images Of the enigma

Reveal that not only Is it moving,

It also appears To be changing shape.

This discovery prompts another Theory about its true nature.

One thing that it might be Is an island of garbage.

In the pacific, There's something known

As the great Pacific garbage patch.

And it's a collection Of our waste.

Narrator: The great pacific garbage patch

Is actually Two gigantic areas of debris

That cover thousands Of square miles of ocean.

These godzilla-sized Drifting refuse dumps are fed

By a giant rotating current Called the north pacific gyre.

Rob: because of the way The gyre works,

It's spinning

And basically pulling all Of the trash into the middle.

So whenever you get Into one of these gyres,

Nothing will get out.

Narrator: could the anomaly be A massive morphing trash vortex?

Like the Pacific garbage patch,

It constantly changes shape And location.

But scientists Are not convinced.

Rob: I've actually been To investigate

The great Pacific garbage patch.

Most of it Are little pieces of plastic,

Little pieces of trash, Floating under the ocean.

So it doesn't really match What we're seeing in this image,

It's probably not that.

George: the pieces Of the garbage in the patch --

They're way too small.

They wouldn't show up On a satellite image.

Narrator: the anomaly moves Relentlessly towards land.

The pressure to work out What it is

And where it came from Builds.

Like all geologic Investigations,

It really comes down To getting a sample to analyze.

Someone really needs to get A piece of this material.

Narrator: On august 9th,

A full week After the initial sighting,

The new zealand navy Dispatches a ship

To study The strange phenomenon.

The ship goes To investigate,

And what they find is something That's 300 miles long

And 30 miles wide.

And the captain Reports that it's

The strangest thing He's ever seen.

It's a unique And bizarre thing to witness,

And it looks like mud Or some kind of dirt.

This skin, This mass of rock,

Just floating on the surface Of the water.

Narrator: The concept of a giant mass Of rocks moving across the ocean

Seems to defy The laws of physics.

But the navy's examination Of the sample

Proves that's Exactly what it is.

The weird stones Are pumice,

Type of Light-weight rock formed

When undersea volcanos Eject lava into the water.

When pumice is formed, The volcanic eruption

Injects a lot of gas bubbles Into the lava.

And they get trapped Inside the rock.

It becomes buoyant And floats to the surface.

Narrator: The giant anomaly is, in fact,

Billions and billions Of individual pumice stones

Floating across the ocean Like a country-sized raft.

If there's enough pumice All gathered in one spot,

It can look Like a solid island.

But it's not.

Narrator: the final challenge For investigators

Is identifying the source Of the pumice island.

Turning again To satellite data,

They come across this image Taken above an undersea volcano

Known as The havre seamount.

It clearly shows a plume of Smoke moving to the northwest.

And below it, the birth Of the pacific enigma...

...The biggest raft In the world.

Brittany: It's amazing that a volcano

More than 2,000 feet Under the ocean

Could pump out enough rock To cover a major american city.

And without Satellite imagery,

We never Would have seen it.

Narrator: a scientist Analyzing satellite images

Of ancient marshlands

Spots signs Of enormous structures

Buried beneath the mud.

The appear to be man-made, But what are they?

And who made them?

Narrator: are they evidence Of a lost biblical city

Or of something Even bigger?

Is this truly The site of atlantis?

Andrew: If this were atlantis,

Then it would be the greatest Archeological discovery

In history.

Narrator: 2003 --

A german researcher Is using satellite images

To search for evidence Of lost civilizations

Around the mediterranean.

As he scans A wildlife preserve

On the southern Spanish coast,

He spots what he believes Are giant rings

Hidden beneath The sandy marshes.

You have to focus, But when you do,

You see what appears To be concentric circles.

Narrator: the image Comes to the attention

Of physicist and amateur History rainer kuehne.

As he studies it In more detail,

He notices what appear to be Large rectangular structures

Near the center of the circles.

I saw two rectangles.

One was 250 meters In length.

The other one Was much larger.

Narrator: to find out What is in the image,

A team of scientists heads To the site to investigate.

Geoscientist dr. Philip reeder Is one of them.

Part of the analysis Of that image

Is what's called Ground truthing.

So you actually go to that place And you see what's there.

Narrator: the wildlife preserve Is a national park,

Where excavation Is prohibited.

To solve the problem,

Reeder turns to A state-of-the-art technique

Called electro-resistivity Tomography, or e.R.T.,

Shoots Pulses of electricity

Into the ground Beneath the earth's surface.

And then the materials Then reflect

That pulse of electricity Back up

To paint a picture Of what's beneath the surface.

Narrator: the e.R.T.

Creates a kind Of ghost image of the site.

The hard data seems to confirm Kuehne's hunch.

A series Of massive circular structures

Appear to be buried just inland From the spanish coast.

The fact that the analysis Of the image

Indicated That there was something

Beneath the surface Is truly exciting.

And it makes you want To determine exactly

What is down there.

Narrator: If circular structures

Are concealed Under this marshy coastline,

Then who built them?

For some investigators, The first clue

Comes from the writings Of the greek philosopher plato.

When we see The concentric circles,

We're reminded Of plato's account

Of the lost city Of atlantis.

For he describes it As having circular harbors.

Philip: based on Plato's interpretation,

Could this be the location Of where atlantis existed?

Narrator: the problem With the atlantis theory

Is that very few experts

Believe the legendary city Existed at all.

Rainer: I think It was not a real place

Because plato Described atlantis

As larger than africa And asia together.

Narrator: Countless researches

Have attempted To locate atlantis.

Many now believe that plato May have simply made it up.

The thing about plato Is you have to realize

He got all his information Secondhand.

Do we really Take him seriously?

Philip: I don't know If atlantis is real

Or just a figment Of plato's imagination.

But I feel that There is something there.

Narrator: investigators must Dig deeper into the past

For clues To who built the structures.

One comes from the bible.

In it's pages, They discover references

To a lost city Famed for it's riches

Called tarshish.

Andrew: According to the bible,

Tarshish is A legendary trading center

That provides Gold and silver, exotic spices

All across The mediterranean.

Narrator: Many of the bible's clues

To the location of the city Of tarshish are vague.

But intriguingly,

At least one ties it to the site In the satellite image.

According to the scriptures, Tarshish lay beyond

The pillars of hercules,

Which was an old reference And common reference

To the rock of gibraltar.

Andrew: The straits of gibraltar

Connect spain With north africa,

And it's just beyond gibraltar That we find our image.

Narrator: The location of the image And the fabled city matches up.

Are circular structures In the image

Just a small section Of a vanished biblical city?

Dr. Reeder and his team Search the site

For physical evidence To back up this theory.

The initial results Are disappointing.

Philip: the pottery That was found in the area,

Once it was dated,

Indicated that it was From a much newer time

Than you would expect For tarshish

As it's mentioned In the bible.

Narrator: the discovery Of the newer pottery fragments

Suggest the site isn't as old As investigators thought.

But the bible offers A possible explanation

For this discrepancy In the book of isaiah.

James: "Overflow thy land As a river,

Oh, daughter of tarshish.

There will be A girdle no more."

And what that clearly means Is that a flood is coming,

And there will be nothing To contain the flood

And that the city Will destroyed by a flood.

Narrator: did A giant biblical flood

Cover the site depositing A layer of new material

On top of the treasures Of tarshish?

Evidence from the site seems To lend weight to the theory.

Drilling holes Into the doñana plain

Indicated that there was A layer of sand

Beneath the landscape there.

And this layer of sand

Could indicate That there was a tsunami.

Andrew: what would that do To any archeological evidence?

It would wipe it out.

Narrator: Could an underwater volcano Have created a massive tsunami

That destroyed The legendary city of tarshish

And buried its riches?

And could tarshish and atlantis Be one in the same?

What's frustrating for me Is that there's three things

That tie this site To atlantis.

It's just beyond The pillars of hercules,

There's circular harbors,

And it was destroyed By a cataclysm.

But yet We can't excavate.

I can't think Of another site

That more perfectly fits The description of atlantis.

The problem is We'll never know.

Narrator: A huge slash scars the ground

Of the world's Biggest sand desert.

It looks like something Has crashed into the ground

At high velocity.

Narrator: just what is hiding Under the sands of the sahara?

We have something In the middle of nowhere,

And we don't know What it is.

Nobody knows what's going on In this area of the sahara.

Narrator: January 20, 2005.

A quickbird observation Satellite

Monitoring the remote saharan Region of ouargla in algeria

Captures An intriguing image.

When you look at Satellite images of the sahara,

It's vast, vast, vast expanses Of almost nothingness.

Here you see something -- Something different,

Something unusual -- Peeking out of the sand.

It doesn't make Much sense.

Narrator: investigating The mystery shape on the ground

Is not an option.

Algeria's long civil war Official ended in 2002.

But ongoing skirmishes Make large areas

Of the country's desert interior A no-go zone.

George: as a country, algeria Has been in a state of lockdown

For many years.

We don't really know a lot About what's going on in there.

Because of that, We rely on satellite imagery

To see and notice Any changes that happen there.

Narrator: the first clue To the mystery shape's origin

Comes from the shapes Of the shadows around it.

But close analysis Of the image

Suggests this is No freak of nature.

George: What is this thing?

The geometry of it

Certainly does not look like Anything that naturally occurs.

It's certainly man-made.

I mean, you don't see anything Like that in nature.

I don't know what it is.

Narrator: when investigators Study the mysterious shape,

They notice lines stretching out To either side of it.

The prompts some to suggest That it could be

The wing and fuselage Of a plane buried in the dunes.

The shape of what's going on Sort of

Looks like What you would imagine

If a plane Were to hit the sand

And then slide Down a sand dune.

Looks like something Has crashed into the ground

At high velocity.

Narrator: historical records of Aviation accidents in the region

Offer some support For the crash theory.

In 2014, there were two plane Crashes in this desert,

Giving some plausibility To the idea that, yes,

Planes do crash here, And maybe this was one of those.

Narrator: but there are Crucial differences

Between this image and those Of known desert crash sites.

Once an object like a plane Hits the ground,

It shatters In the forward direction

And opens up like a fan

And goes splattering out Into all directions forward.

We don't see that here At all.

Narrator: investigators Enhance the image

To search for more clues To the shape's origin.

They discover That the wing-shaped outline

Is just one side Of a rectangle

That surrounds The giant tube.

You can see a faint image Of a rectangle

Around This main shape here,

Suggesting That humans built it.

But what's it for?

It's in the middle Of the desert.

Narrator: the people who live in This region of the sahara

Are nomadic tribes Like the tuareg and bedouin.

They live in tents

Or semi-permanent Circular dwellings

That look nothing Like the mystery shape.

But in recent times,

Other peoples have occupied This remote area of the desert.

The french tested Their nuclear weapons

In this part of the desert

In the '60s and '70s.

Could their nuclear testing

Be connected to the images That we see today?

Narrator: in 1960,

France became the fourth Global nuclear power

When it detonated A 70-kiloton bomb

In the algerian sahara.

It was the first of a long Series of massive explosions

That rocked the desert Over the next six years.

I believe they had 13 or 14 tests

That were underground,

One of which was A big, big problem

Because It leaked radiation.

And it was responsible For radiating a whole area

And hurting A bunch of people.

Narrator: before conducting Their tests,

The french built two known Test bases in the sahara.

But none Of the acknowledged test sites

Are close to the site Photographed by quickbird.

The nearest French nuclear tests

Were miles and miles And miles away.

And despite the shape Of this formation,

There's no evidence there's Actually any buildings there.

Pavelec: Probably not base of any sort.

And besides that, Above-ground nuclear testing

Would have obliterated any signs Of anything in this area.

Narrator: The nature of the 2005 image

Remains a mystery For several years.

But in 2011,

New images of the region Shed light on the mystery.

Fast-forward A few years,

And we find Another satellite image

That looks like quite different From the original.

You can see that there's Some type of buried pipeline

Or demarcation zone.

Narrator: the new images

Show what appears to be A rectangular compound

Rising out of the sands.

George: the evidence In this image suggests

That there is an oil or gas Exploration site

That is now fully completed In that exact same spot.

Narrator: the new data makes it Clear that the 2005 shape

Was the foundation For a new drilling site

To extract oil From deep below the sahara.

It's now an oil rig,

And that makes it Kind of obvious

What we were seeing before.

We were seeing A piece of a pipeline

Jutting out of the sand Surrounded by what is probably

A protective fence Separating the area.

Narrator: today,

This rig is just one Of dozens that have appeared

In this hostile corner Of the sahara desert.

George: when you think Of the sahara desert,

The first thing That comes to mind

Is an endless expanse of sand And really nothing else.

But in reality, there are A lot resources in there

That are buried under that sand That have a lot of value.

Narrator: The original image

Was a kind Of snapshot in time --

The instant when one of the most Desolate regions on earth

Was about to be conquered By man.

As a brutal civil war Tears syria apart,

United nations satellites

Keep watch for signs Of crimes against humanity.

Isis is taking control Of the region

With just enormous suffering By the local population.

Narrator: in the heart Of the conflict zone,

Isis destroys An ancient site,

A temple they believe Is dedicated to the devil.

What is an ancient temple Dedicated to satan

Doing in the middle Of the syrian desert?

Narrator: may 2015 --

Across central syria,

Government forces Are in retreat.

The coalition of terror Known as islamic state

Seizes the ancient city Of palmyra.

Katharyn: palmyra has always Been strategically important.

It has attracted The roman army.

It attracted mark antony.

It attracted The assad regime

That encamped there For a long time.

And now It's attracted isis.

Narrator: the u.N. Puts the world heritage site

Under Satellite surveillance.

Susan: when we first heard That isis had taken palmyra,

We were very concerned That we were going to see

The complete destruction Of the site

Because we had seen That in other areas

That isis controlled.

Narrator: the focus Of isis' attention

Is the 2,000-year-old Temple of baal.

This is a magnificent temple Set in a huge sanctuary.

It's about twice The size of vatican square.

Narrator: the very existence Of the structure

Is an affront To their beliefs.

With respect to isis, the temple Of baal presents a real problem,

A double whammy, If you will.

Firstly, it's a false god According to islam,

So that's not good.

But even more importantly,

It represents beelzebub, Who is the devil,

Who is completely the enemy Of their one true god.

Narrator: centuries ago, Both muslims and christians

Believed Baal was a fallen angel,

Expelled from heaven Along with an army of demons --

Satan personified.

For isis, A temple to baal

Is like a monument To the antichrist.

In september 2015,

Satellite imagery confirms The u.N.'s worst fears...

...Isis has wiped The temple of baal

Of the face of the earth.

For them, it was A temple to satan.

But to the ancient peoples Who lived in this city,

Baal was no devil.

He was their god of gods, Possessing many faces,

One of which had power Over storms and agriculture.

His massive temple complex In the heart of palmyra

Was a symbol Of the wealth and power

Of this desert city Perched on the border

Between the roman And persian empires.

Palmyra was a trading hub At the crossroads

Of ancient civilizations, And it just kept growing.

Narrator: now islamic state's Act of destruction

Has focused world attention On the city.

And the wealth Of satellite images

Offers archeologists Investigating its history

A new perspective.

Satellite imagery Gives us a bird's-eye view

Of human settlements

And their broader Environmental realities.

You can see things You can only spot from space.

Hendrik: In the case of palmyra,

It enabled us To understand better

Its relationship To the landscape

In ways that would have been Impossible from the ground.

Narrator: archeologists Have an opportunity

To answer a fundamental question About ancient palmyra.

How did a city as large As palmyra survive in the desert

2,000 years ago?

Narrator: the desert city Must have faced problems

With water and food.

If you have A population to feed,

You're going to need To create that food.

And to support Your agricultural needs,

You're going to have To have an irrigation system

That will supply water To create the crops.

Narrator: palmyra Was fed by a water source

Called the efqa spring

That was active Until the 1990s.

The but the spring Could never have sustained

A population Of 100,000 people.

We know palmyra Was a relatively large town

In the middle Of the desert.

It's hard to imagine A spring like that

Could actually sustain Such a large population.

If the efqa spring Could not supply water

To such a large city,

Where else was It getting its water?

Narrator: satellite imagery Can provide a clue

To how the city Got the water it needed

To grow into the vast metropolis That built the temple of baal.

Altaweel: Satellite images often enable Us to see the larger landscape.

So in the areas of palmyra, We don't just see pure desert.

We also see arid steppes.

Narrator: arid steppe Is a kind of rocky grassland --

A halfway house Between desert and prairie.

Altaweel: these arid steppes Do have rainfall

At some times Of the year.

They often have little River valleys,

These wadis That we call them.

Narrator: wadis are channels Resembling riverbeds

Carved into the ground By rain.

In these deserts, Rain is rare.

But when it comes, It's sudden and it's heavy.

The word "Wadi" simply Means a valley or a stream.

These are quite dramatic In areas with very high

But very short-term Concentrations of rainfall.

So rain Over a week or so

Might strip down Steep-sided valleys

And then just flow off Into aquifers

Deep below the landscape.

Narrator: images From the landsat satellite show

A huge network of wadis to The north and west of the city.

But for palmyra To expand to a size

That could have supported The temple of baal,

It would have needed a system To bring water in from afar.

Further satellite images Reveal a complex system

Of water channels and Underground canals called qanats

Directed toward the city

From almost 20 miles Across the desert.

What we're seeing Are access holes

Of features That are called qanats.

Qanats are Underground irrigation features

That transport water From higher elevation

To lower elevation.

Qanats are quite extensive In the near east.

They are found In places like turkey, in iran,

Mountainous regions with valleys That need irrigation.

Narrator: in the years prior To the temple's destruction,

Archeologists Digging palmyra

Discovered the remains of The water distribution system.

There is -- Or at least there was --

A magnificent Marble water tank

That was connected To a complex series

Of underground canals.

There's also evidence

Of a sophisticated series Of water pipes.

Narrator: This ingenious engineering

Was ultimately enabled The people of palmyra

To build one Of the wonders of the world.

The secret Of palmyra's success

In terms Of water management

Was long-term engineering, Development over centuries,

And for that you need The political will,

The military peace,

And the economic background That could really exploit this.

Andrew: If anyone in ancient palmyra Ever asked the question,

"What did The romans do for us?"

The answer was In the water they drank

And the food they ate.

Narrator: The city reached its peak

In the third century a.D.

When it even challenged The might of the roman empire

Before the romans Brought it down.

After that, the golden city Slowly crumbled into decline.

Today, the temple of baal Is gone forever.

Any army of killers Stands guard

Over the site Of its destruction.

But the evidence Of their crimes

Can still be seen From space.