All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S03E01.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator: they're watching you.

More than 4,000 satellites
Circle the earth.

Every day, they uncover new,
Mysterious phenomena.

Some defy explanation.

Kourounis: bam. This sticks out
Like a sore thumb.

It must be something
Very big or very bad.

Narrator: something lurks in
The waters off new zealand.

If it's some kind
Of sea monster,

I sure as heck don't want
To own a villa here.

Narrator:
An altered image conceals
A deadly secret.

Why would someone tamper
With this image?

What are they hiding?

Narrator: mysterious spirals
Scar the peruvian desert.

Horton: could be some way of
Going down to an underworld.

Narrator: baffling phenomena,
Mysteries from space --

What on earth are they?

[ camera shutter snaps ]

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

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

May 2014.

An undeclared war
Rages in the ukraine.

The conflict attracts
The attention of military

And civilian satellite image
Analysts all over the world.

One unusual picture
Arouses fears of a deadly threat

In the country's vast,
Dark forests.

It looks like some
Kind of badly drawn,

Neolithic chalk carving.

What I see is a large area
That is whited out.

But I'm not sure as to
Exactly what it is.

Narrator:
The image comes from an area
Of central ukraine

Near the border with belarus.

The white shape
Looks artificial,

But it's in a patch
Of isolated forest.

The closest buildings
Belong to a ghost town

Devoid of human life.

This is one of the most
Contaminated place on earth.

In 1986, this area was
Close to the site

Of a devastating
Nuclear accident

When the chernobyl
Atomic power plant exploded.

man: the most feared condition
in the field of nuclear energy

has finally happened.

There was an explosion
Followed by this nuclear fire

Burning for 10 days.

Narrator: many chernobyl
Cleanup personnel,

Known locally as
"The liquidators,"

Died from radiation poisoning.

Nearby towns were evacuated
To escape the radioactive gasses

Spreading across europe
In poisoned wind.

The radiation poisoning
After an atomic blast

Or nuclear bomb

Is very similar to
The radiation poisoning

From a nuclear meltdown
Like at chernobyl.

Narrator: nuclear investigator
Tim mousseau considers

The theory that the white patch
In the forest

Could be the result
Of radioactive fallout.

The fallout was really patchy.

And so you actually
See this quiltwork

Of radioactivity
Throughout the area.

Porges:
Trees near chernobyl actually
Turned red and then died off.

Maybe that's what's
Happened here.

Mousseau: there were
So many dead trees,

And many of them
Were so radioactive

That they ended up
Taking some of these trees

And burying them
Under the ground.

Narrator: but there's a problem
With the theory --

The color of the ground.

Radiation poisoning
Doesn't explain to me

Why the area's turned white.

It would be very unlikely
That you would see a patch

That looked like
This particular image.

This was done
With precision and order.

The lines are
Perfectly straight.

Narrator: expanses of brilliant
White ground seen from space

Can be telltale signs

Of large-scale
Mining operations.

One of the most commonly mined
White materials is phosphate.

White phosphate mines
Do create this white,

Reflective, metallic sheer,

And in fact,
There have been white

Phosphate mines in ukraine.

Narrator: phosphorus is
A key ingredient

In advanced fire weaponry.

The ukrainian military
Has been accused of using it

Against russian separatists
In 2014.

But examination
Of the wider area

Beyond the white mark

Suggests that mining
Is not the answer.

When you look more closely
At the image, you realize

That there's actually
No mining infrastructure.

Porges: if it was a mine,
You'd see mining trucks

And other mining machinery,
But we're not seeing that here,

So what else could it be?

Narrator: close examination
Of the white areas of the image

Shows signs the photo
Has been tampered with.

There's a blotchy
Sort of white pattern,

As if someone has taken
White paint and dabbed it.

Driscoll: you really cannot see
In any detail,

No matter how far
You zoom in or out,

What it possibly is.

Porges: why would someone
Tamper with this image?

What are they hiding?

Narrator: high-definition
Satellite images

Are now so widely available,

They can pose a threat
To national security.

The security services
Of many countries

Respond to the threat

With a process
Known as redaction.

Images of sensitive locations
Are modified before

They're uploaded
To online mapping sites.

The white blotches
Might be evidence

That the ukrainian government
Has something to hide.

All governments
Regularly do this.

They will take
The original satellite data

And they will alter it.

It keeps enemies
From being able

To specify points of interest.

Narrator:
Intelligence sources suggest

That many redacted
Satellite images

Conceal military
Installations.

Driscoll: this looks just like
A lot of the redaction

That's done over
Any military facility.

Narrator:
The situation on the ground
In ukraine is highly volatile.

Russian-backed separatists
Have annexed crimea.

Keeping military installations
From enemy view

Makes strategic sense.

Kourounis:
Clandestine military bases
Are often seen tucked away

In remote parts of forests.

Narrator: analysts scour
The rest of the image

For possible signs
Of military activity

But find none.

Pavelec: there don't seem to be
Enough roads or rail lines

Or even an airfield
For it to be

A substantial military base.

Narrator: research into
Historical image archives

Produces an unredacted photo
Of the same area.

The older photograph reveals

What is hiding beneath
The white blotches.

It's a massive parking lot,
But why is it there?

You see choppers and trucks
Parked in the clearing.

What could be
So special about them

That somebody wanted them
Scrubbed from the image?

Narrator: the deserted roadways
Of chernobyl

And the nearby town of pripyat
Offer a clue.

Kourounis: it's like
A post-apocalyptic scene

From a video game.

The buildings are in place.

The school is in place.

The amusement park
Is in place,

But there's no cars,
No trucks, no buses.

They've all been removed.

The soviet government
Knew that they had thousands

And thousands
Of irradiated vehicles,

And the last thing
That they wanted

Was people taking
These contaminated cars

And trucks and driving them
All over the soviet union.

They were simply parked
In the middle of the forest

And a big fence
Put around it

And "Keep out" signs put up.

Narrator:
The white blotches mask
The deadliest parking lot

On the planet,
Where over a thousand

Irradiated vehicles
Have been left to rot.

The metals themselves
Can't be washed off.

These will be very dangerous
For thousands of years to come.

Narrator:
The lethal threat posed
By the radioactive vehicles

Is supposed to be contained,
But security is lax,

And potentially deadly
Radioactivity

Is spreading beyond
The containment area.

People scavenge these vehicles
For metal or parts

Or whatever to be able
To sell them

On the black market
Or to recyclers.

Driscoll: people were coming in
And stripping off car parts

And selling them off.

That would be disastrous
To the ukrainian economy.

It'd be disastrous
To their environment.

Narrator: it's likely
The ukrainian government

Redacted the image
To conceal the location

Of the contaminated metal from
Other would-be scavengers.

Driscoll:
I believe in the redaction
Of satellite imagery.

You know, I don't believe
It to be censorship.

When you want to protect
Your critical infrastructure

And blur it out,
I'm all for it.

Narrator:
The worldview-2 satellite
Passes over arizona.

It picks up a strange
Pattern of spots

Leading towards
The grand canyon national park.

Porges: it looks like the ground
Has some sort of infection

Like chicken pox.

These spots
Really are bizarre.

What in the world could cause
The earth to get spots?

Narrator: february 2016.

Flying 500 miles over arizona,

The worldview-2 satellite
Captures

What appears to be
An infected landscape.

What in the world could cause
The earth to get spots?

Narrator: the regular spacing
Of the pockmarks

Suggests they could be
The result of human activity.

This wild part of arizona
Has a long history of bandits,

Outlaws, and buried treasure.

Porges:
This is the old wild west.

There are so many stories
Of bandits burying their loot.

Has someone been out
Looking for buried treasure?

Narrator: in arizona,
One notorious outlaw

Was famous for burying his loot
Out in the desert.

His name was roy gardner.

Trimble: roy gardner was
A very famous guy at the time.

They called him the houdini
Of train-robbers, I guess.

And they were calling him
"The smiling bandit."

I'd put roy in the same category
As butch cassidy as a robber.

Narrator:
Gardner terrorized the railroads
And stagecoaches of the west

For more than a decade,
Amassing a vast fortune,

Much of it never recovered.

Trimble: they say he stole
About $350,000,

A whole lot more than that
In today's dollars,

Maybe ten times that
In today's money.

Maybe more.

Narrator: after one of
His biggest heists,

The secret of where roy stashed
His treasure leaked out.

Trimble: in the san diego
Mail truck robbery,

He stole a lot of money,
$80,000.

They caught him while he was
Trying to bury the treasure.

I would think he had
Several stashes,

So I would say some of them
Are still there.

And people are
Still looking for it.

Narrator: the circles cover
A six-mile stretch.

It would need thousands
Of treasure hunters

To create something
On this scale.

If they are man-made,
Somebody else created them.

For centuries, before this
Desert was cowboy country,

It was a native american
Hunting ground.

Porges:
There's several native american
Tribes based near here.

Could these be old traps?

Gough: many indian tribes
Used pits for hunting.

It's a great way
To catch large animals

Such as deer and bison.

Narrator:
But the dense concentration
Of the marks

And the sheer scale
Of the phenomenon

Makes the hunting pit
Theory unlikely.

So what else could cause
Vegetation to look like this?

Narrator:
Entomologist kirk anderson

Has seen this kind
Of devastation before.

He uses the coordinates
From the satellite image

To guide him to areas
Of disturbed ground.

Here you can see four
In a very regular pattern.

Two, three,
One right back here.

This pattern continues.

There are hundreds.

Narrator: anderson believes
The strange circles

Could be the work of deadly
Marauding ants.

man: here is a wild,
headlong flight into terror,

as the desert erupts with
a grim battle for survival.

[ screams ]

Narrator: there are no
B-movie monsters in arizona,

But while kirk's critters
Are smaller,

They're no less deadly.

This is one of the hottest
Places on earth.

It's also home to a very
Special inhabitant

Known as the pogonomyrmex
Harvester ant.

They make these very large
Discs around their nests.

Narrator: harvester ants
Pack a punch.

Their venom can cause vomiting,
Diarrhea, dizziness,

And even coma.

And when it comes to
Devouring plant life,

They're merciless.

Scouts will come out.

They will find
A good patch.

And then the rest of the ants
Will go out into the area

And then fan out
And collect seeds,

And eventually,
You'll create these discs

That we see all around us

And can be seen
From satellite images.

Narrator:
The round patches created by
The ants on the ground

Appear to match the patterns
Seen on the satellite image.

Nelson: harvester ants
Mow down the vegetation,

So when you look
At them from above,

You basically see
Bare patches of dirt

In a circular formation.

Narrator: the formation is
So unique to the harvester ant

That scientists are
Using satellite imagery

To locate their
Nesting colonies.

Anderson: since these pictures
Have been available,

Actually been using
Satellite images

To find some of the smallest
Things on earth.

It's a fantastic thing.

Narrator: passing high over
The middle east,

An imaging satellite
Spots something strange

Hidden away in the sand dunes
Of southern saudi arabia.

Kourounis:
That's extremely weird.

Why is there a runway
In the middle of the desert?

You look at the images
A year before,

And it's just a patch of desert.

There's no sign of an airport
Or buildings or anything,

And a year later, boom.

Narrator: january 26, 2014.

A commercial imaging satellite
Orbiting over saudi arabia

Captures an image
Of what appears to be

A brand-new airport
Hidden out in the desert.

If you look at an image
From a year before,

There's nothing there.

It's like an airport
That's come out of nowhere.

Narrator: stranger still,
If this an airport,

Where are all the aircraft?

The image
Comes to the attention

Of national security journalist
Sara carter.

Carter:
There were lots of rumors.

People started to investigate.

the washington post,
the new york times,

the london times.

I mean, people wanted to know,

What's going on
At this runway?

Narrator: the mysterious complex
Has appeared

In one of the most
Remote areas on the planet.

This desert is known as
The rub' al khali,

The empty quarter.

It's the largest
Sand sea in the world.

And I have been there,

And when you trek
Through this desert,

It is just nothing.

Narrator: a quarter of a million
Square miles of desert

Could hide anything.

But it's possible
The isolated airstrip

Could have
An innocent explanation.

The desert north of here
Contains some of

The most valuable oil and
Mineral deposits in the world.

Are we looking at
Some kind of mining

Or drilling operation?

If you're operating a big mine
Which is very, very remote,

And you need to get
Personnel in and out,

You might need to get
A specialist's kit in and out,

So it's not unusual
To have a small airstrip

Associated with a mine
In a desert.

Narrator: but the airstrip
In the image

Doesn't seem to be
Associated with anything.

Petford:
You'd expect to see drilling
Rigs and chemical plants

And all the other paraphernalia

Associated with
The petrochemicals industry,

And we don't see
Any of that whatsoever.

Narrator:
No government claims ownership
Of the mysterious facility.

Some suspect this site could be
A covert operating base.

For nasa.

Kourounis: there are
A few places worldwide

That are designated
As emergency landing places

For the space shuttle.

Is this one of them?

Narrator:
Kennedy space center was nasa's
Primary shuttle landing site,

But the agency
Also had a number of

Emergency runways
Around the globe.

Chiao:
In the case of an emergency,
Like for example

You have a major cabin leak
And you have to get down now,

Nasa not only identified
Runways worldwide

That could take the shuttle.

It also constructed some
Special landing sites

In different parts
That could be used

To receive the space shuttle.

Narrator: nasa records reveal
That it did have

A shuttle landing strip
In saudi arabia,

But at king khalid
Airport in riyadh,

Not out in the middle
Of the desert.

The proximity of the mysterious
Airstrip to the saudi border

With yemen might provide
A clue to its purpose.

This border in particular
Is significantly important...

Because yemen and saudi arabia

Have had conflict
For quite a long time.

Border patrol organizations
Use light aircraft,

And then they need
Somewhere to land.

Narrator:
An online mapping web site
Does identify the facility

As a border guards airport.

But something
Is not quite right.

Border control airports usually
Are even closer to the border.

They're much smaller.

This is big.

There's definitely more
To this airport

Than meets the eye.

Narrator: yemen is a focal point

In the international
War on terror.

The existence of a covert
Airstrip so close to the border

Points to one
Unavoidable conclusion.

This is the frontline in
The fight against al-qaeda.

Obviously this is some type
Of military installation.

We know for a fact
The u.S. Has undertaken

Many drone strikes
Against targets in yemen.

Where are you going to
Launch those from?

How about a base near
The border in saudi arabia?

Narrator: unmanned aircraft

Such as predator
And reaper drones

Are key weapons
In the war on terror.

Carter: drones are used for
Targeting enemies.

That means direct kills.

Narrator: buildings
Visible in the image

Support the theory the facility
Is a secret drone base.

In the satellite images,
You can see a trio of hangars

That look very similar
To known drone hangars

In other parts of the world.

It's very likely that at
Some point in the recent past,

The u.S. Has very quickly
And surreptitiously

Built this
Stealthy drone base.

Narrator: the u.S. Military
Does not officially admit

The existence of a drone base
At this location.

The c.I.A. Is never going to
Come out and say,

"Oh, this is our drone site."

I mean, no intelligence agency
Would say that.

It's ridiculous.

But we all know.

Narrator: new zealand,
December 2014.

Engineer pita witehira
Browses satellite images

Of oke bay on the coast
Of the north island.

Witehira:
I was looking for a platform
To build a house for my kids.

Narrator:
He sees traces of something
Vast moving in the water.

Witehira: as I was scanning
Across oke bay,

I could see this unusual wake.

Capps: this is an exceptionally
Long wake,

Big enough to see from space,

But there's no sign
Of what's making it here,

So what is that?

Narrator:
New zealand, december 2014.

Engineer pita witehira examines
Satellite photographs

Of oke bay on the coast
Of the north island.

Witehira:
I was looking for a platform
To build a house for my kids.

Narrator:
His eye is drawn to a bizarre
Rippling in the water.

Witehira:
I noticed an unusual wake
And black mark across the bay

Which had a sharp
Right turn in it.

There was also ripples

That were coming from
The underwater mark,

And these ripples
Had no white foam.

This is a big feature,
Visible from space,

But it's not clear
What caused it.

Narrator:
The satellite picture shows

A remarkably long trail
Through the water.

But there's no sign
Of whatever made it.

It looks just like a boat
Except I don't see a boat.

Whatever made this path
Through the water

Seems to be invisible.

Narrator:
Investigators consider
Whether the strange trail

Could be the traces of an
Unusually large sea creature.

Off new zealand, you have
A number of large animals.

You can have several
Types of sharks

From mako to thresher,

White, hammerheads.

Some of these grow to
10 feet or longer.

You can have marine mammals
Like whales or dolphins

That some of them can be
Pretty big also.

Here in the bay of islands,

This is probably the most
Popular sea area for whales.

It was the hub of the whaling
Industry in the 1800s.

Muller-karger: you get a sense
That this wake

Is probably several hundred
Feet long.

Narrator:
Even a large whale or shark

Is unlikely to produce
A wake this big,

But a rarely seen phenomenon
Could offer an explanation.

These animals
Are designed by nature

To leave as little
A wake as possible,

But if one of these organisms,
Like a shark or a whale,

Poops, you all of
A sudden have a wake.

Narrator: image analysis
Suggests the creature

Would still need to be
40 feet long to cause this wake.

But sea mammals
This size rarely venture

Into these shallow waters.

The likelihood
Of an animal,

A large animal like
A shark or a whale,

Leaving a wake that
You can see from space

Is almost zero.

If it's not a shark
And it's not a whale,

Then what is it?

Narrator:
The waters of this region

Are known to hold
Strange creatures.

Local maori legends
Tell of a huge

Reptile-like creature
Called the taniwha.

Osborn: the taniwha are known
In maori folklore

As being giant sea creatures.

We've got depictions of it
As being a scary sea serpent,

As a dragon, and it also has
Shape-shifting abilities.

Sometimes it can morph into
A shark or even a whale.

Capps: well, if it's some
Kind of sea monster,

I sure as heck don't want
To own a villa here,

Here, or here.

Witehira: initially,
I didn't think it was a taniwha,

But I had to consider that
Because of the locals.

If I had discussed it with them,

Some of them would have
Thought it was a taniwha.

[ camera shutter snapping ]

Narrator: in 2013,
A fearsome rotting corpse

Washed up on
The new zealand coast.

Believed by some to be
A sea monster,

Half its body was missing.

But it was estimated to be
At least 30 feet long.

Now, isn't it
A strange coincidence

That this is the same area
That's known for the taniwha?

Narrator: closer analysis
Of the image

Reveals a previously unseen
Object at the tip of the wake.

Could it be a jet ski
Or a small boat?

Boats create wakes.
Ships create wakes.

Even the wind creates wakes,

So a wake on the surface
Of the ocean

Is not an anomaly.

Witehira: the difference is
That there's also a dark line

Which is disturbing
The water deep down.

There's something underneath
That's powering this thing,

And it may be electrical.

Narrator:
Pita suspects the image
Could've captured traces

Of a hidden underwater vessel.

Witehira:
Could tell straight away
That the wake

Was quite
Distinctively different.

In fact, I even looked
In bays all around the world,

Some famous places
Up in the u.S.

And around europe and so on.

And there was always
A distinctive pattern

That is left by boats.

Narrator: a dark area
Visible in the image

Could support his suspicions,

This was something
That was powered,

It was deep underwater.

But it had a small amount
Protruding above the water.

So I then considered
This possibility

That it was a military craft.

Narrator:
The new zealand military

Is known to conduct exercises
In a nearby cove.

There's a mystery
In there still,

Because we still haven't gotten
To the bottom of it.

I'd like to know
Whether or not there was

Some involvement
Of the defense forces

And I'm interested to find out
Where this thing came from

And what it was doing
In this beautiful little bay.

Narrator:
Orbiting above south america,
The geoeye-1 satellite

Captures an image of
A bizarre row of spirals.

No one knows who created
The mysterious holes,

Or why.

These aren't natural shapes.

It creatures more questions
Than really answers for us.

I've never seen anything
Quite like this before.

Narrator: december 2013.

The geoeye-1 satellite
Captures an image

Of a series of
32 weird stone spirals

Cut into the desert floor.

I've never seen anything
Quite like this before.

There seems to be two
Intersecting lines of them.

They are really remarkable.

I wonder what they are.

Narrator:
The spirals are located
Close to the town of nazca,

In southern peru.

They appear too large

And too geometrically perfect
To be natural,

But when were they built
And why?

Satellite archaeologist
Mark altaweel

Analyzes the image.

Altaweel:
It looks quite ancient.

If you look at each spiral,

You can see that
They have been exposed

For many years to the elements.

Narrator: the spirals are close
To the famous nazca lines.

This fuels speculation
Of a connection

Between the spirals and the
Ancient nazca civilization.

They're very close to nazca,
Where we have lots of

Great geoglyphs constructed
To be seen from the air.

Narrator: the nazca
Were headhunters

Known to practice bloodthirsty
Rituals of human sacrifice.

Many believe they carved
The giant shapes

To commune with sky spirits.

The shape of the spirals
Supports the idea

They could serve
Some mystical purpose.

Archaeologists often get
Really excited about spirals

Because they're seen to have
Sort of a cultic significance.

Narrator: further image analysis
Provides another possible clue

To the spirals' purpose.

Satellite photographs
Reveal the presence

Of an ancient
Nazca necropolis

Located less than
20 miles away.

They call this village
Of the dead chauchilla.

Potentially, these features
Are somehow associated

With this ancient burial area.

Narrator: even today,
Many peruvians

Hold to the old beliefs
That the spirit

Stays with the body
After death.

The dead must be treated
With respect.

Narrator: in these dry
Desert conditions,

The bodies of the warriors
And witch doctors

Are preserved for centuries.

Not only does the body survive

And all the clothes
That he was wearing,

But all the other bits,
Like the hair.

I -- it's spooky.

Narrator: but if the dead
Once dwelled in these spirals,

They left no mark
Of their passing.

Narrator: there is speculation
That the strange spirals

Could be a gateway
To another realm.

Could be some way of going
Down to an underworld.

Narrator: ancient peoples
In this region

Believed in an underworld
Called uku pacha,

A world of demons

Who would emerge
To taunt the living.

Locals thought the way
To access this realm

Was through springs or caves.

Ground-level investigation
Reveals that

At the bottom of each spiral
Is a hidden water source.

The water is surely the key
As to what these things are.

Some archaeologists now believe
That the spirals

Could be part of a network
Of underground aqueducts

To irrigate
The surrounding land.

We're in a very dry
Part of the world,

The peruvian desert.

Water is at a premium.

So wherever
You can find water,

You need to hang onto it
Before you can use it.

Narrator: in one of the driest
Deserts in the world,

Moving water through
Underground channels

Would have been
Life-changing.

Some archaeologists theorize
The spiral shapes

Could be evidence of
Advanced ancient technology.

Narrator:
The latest theory suggests
The spiral shapes

Channel wind
Down from ground level

To the underground aqueduct.

As it circles round
The stone spiral,

It pressurizes the water below

To keep it moving
Through the aqueduct.

The series of spiral shapes
On the earth's surface

Are in fact
Effectively manholes.

They're vertical shafts
Allowing access

To the underground channel.

These are the most
Extraordinary pieces

Of prehistoric engineering.

Narrator: it's still unclear
How the ancient nazcans

Devised and built such a complex
System out in the desert,

But then, this is a civilization
With many secrets.

We don't know 100 percent,

More evidence needs
To be collected,

But I think,
Given their morphology,

Their shape, their location,

It's certainly a nice,
Plausible idea.

Narrator: to date, the spirals
Still divide expert opinion.

Their creation is
Shrouded in mystery,

Their unknown creators
Long dead.

Orbiting high over
The south pole,

The cryosat-2 satellite

Is mapping the surface
Of antarctica.

It discovers a gigantic
Hole in the ice.

It's as big as some
Substantial american towns

Or small cities.

Narrator:
Something unknown to science

Is happening to the surface
Of the antarctic ice sheet.

This hole is three times

The size of the island
Of manhattan,

So what is going on here?

Narrator: july 2013.

The european space agency
Cryosat-2 satellite

Uses radar technology to build
3-d maps of antarctica.

It discovers something
No one was expecting to see --

A giant hole in the ice.

It's absolutely vast.

Narrator: antarctica is
The least-understood continent

On earth.

Huge areas have still
Never been visited by humans.

Antarctica is the only place
With no indigenous people.

Humans are a alien species
On this continent.

Narrator: the extreme isolation
Has sparked many theories

About what lies
Beneath the ice.

The hole appears east of
The ross ice shelf.

It captures the attention
Of glaciologist kelly brunt.

Brunt: the depression
In the ice sheet's

About three times the size
Of the island of manhattan,

So it's a very big hole.

It's about 150 to 200 feet deep.

So we want to know,
What is going on here?

Narrator:
Scientists attempt to find
A natural explanation

For the disturbing phenomenon.

They first consider
That warm ocean currents

Could've created the hole
By melting the ice from below.

Bamber: antarctica is
The coldest place on earth.

But around the edges
Is the southern ocean,

And there is relatively
Warm water at depth

In parts of
The southern ocean.

It's enough to melt ice.

Brunt: so the concept of
A thermal ocean current

Is the ocean delivering
Warmer water

To the base
Of the ice sheets,

And that change could lead
To subsurface melt.

Narrator: but there's a problem
With this theory --

The giant hole is miles
From the ocean.

The curious thing
About this hole

That suddenly appeared

Is that it's actually on
The continent of antarctica.

It's well away from the ocean,

So we don't think
It could be anything to do

With any sort of ocean
Interaction at all.

It's on land, basically.

Narrator: vast holes
Have appeared without warning

In many other parts
Of the world,

Inflicting horrifying damage

When they strike
In populated areas.

Most of these sinkholes
Have been explained

As the result of
Geological activity.

Petford: sinkholes form
In limestone rock formations.

In antarctica,
There are some kind of rocks

That we've discovered there
That could be related

Or could have sinkholes in them.

Sinkholes do exist and we've
Seen lots around the world,

But they tend to be just
A few hundred feet in size.

This one is very much larger.

Narrator: the scale
Of the antarctic hole

Is way bigger than any sinkhole
Humanity has ever encountered.

Petford: it's getting on
For the size

Of some substantial
American towns or cities.

It's absolutely huge.

Highly unlikely
That it's a sinkhole.

Narrator: scientists now believe
There's something ancient

Lurking beneath the ice
That created the hole,

A relic of antarctica's
Mysterious past.

The appearance
Of the hole itself

Could be evidence of a world
Hidden deep beneath the surface.

Petford: in the geological past,

Antarctica actually
Had a different climate.

Perhaps 10 or 15
Million years ago,

There was an opportunity
For running water

To have existed on the surface.

That water has got
Trapped as lakes

A couple of miles sometimes
Down beneath the ice sheets,

And those lakes have
Been trapped there

For millions of years.

Narrator: these ancient
Subterranean bodies of water

Are known as ghost lakes.

Muller-karger:
We call these lakes ghost lakes

Because they are invisible
To us until

Something happens
And they reveal themselves.

Narrator: aerial scans
Using ice-penetrating radar

Reveal an anomaly almost a mile
And a half beneath the surface

Directly beneath the hole.

It looks exactly
Like a ghost lake.

The water's entirely at the base
Of the ice sheets.

Narrator:
Despite being thousands
Of feet beneath the ice,

The water in the lakes
Remains liquid

And it can move from
One ghost lake to another.

Brunt: these lakes are spread
Throughout the continent

And they're interconnected.

As one lake drains,

It could fill another
Lake downstream,

And as water in that system,

In a lake,
Moves from one place to another,

The ice sheet loses that
Pressure that's holding it up

And it tends to drop.

Narrator:
It appears that the movement
Of the underground water

Caused a slump
In the surface ice,

Creating the giant hole.

It is still unknown how far

The underground network
Of lakes and rivers extends.

There's even speculation
That unknown life forms

May be lurking

In these million-year-old
Subterranean seas,

But so far,
This is unconfirmed.