All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S03E02.1080p.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 phenomenon.

Some defy explanation.

Whatever it is,
Can't be good news.

It must be something
Very big or very bad.

Narrator:
A giant humanoid figure cut

Into the australian outback.

How did it get there?

Narrator:
A strange green glow lights up

The seas around thailand.

You don't expect to see
The ocean lighting up.

Narrator:
And disturbing developments

At iran's top secret weapons
Research facility.

Iran is a friend to few
And an enemy of many.

Narrator: baffling phenomenon,
Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

[ camera shutter clicks ]

**

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

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

Narrator: june 26, 1998.

Pilot trevor wright is
On a routine flight

Over the hot red desert
Of the australian outback.

He looks down to see a strange
Shape carved into the ground,

A huge outline
Of a humanoid figure.

It's over 2 1/2 miles in length.

That's gargantuan.

How did it get there?

There is also
The question of why.

Why would someone
Want to do this?

Narrator:
The strange bird-headed carving

Is located
Near the town of marree,

360 miles north of adelaide
In south australia.

The figure is
The largest depiction

Of a human ever created.

It's even visible from space.

But its origin is
Shrouded in mystery.

This is in
A very isolated place.

It would be a-a great --

A massive undertaking
To do this.

Narrator:
The strange bird-headed figure

Bears a striking resemblance

To depictions of the ancient
Egyptian deity horus,

God of war and hunting.

But the ancient egyptians

Obviously never made it
To australia.

So it's got to be
Something else.

Soon after its discovery,
People from across the country

Flock to see
The mysterious markings.

The locals name the symbol
"Marree man,"

After the nearby town.

The marree man image
Is clearly an image

Of an indigenous man.

There's markings on his chest.

His weaponry is a hunting stick,

Which is typical of the people
Of the lands there,

Of the arabana people.

Narrator:
The details of the carving

Lead investigators to suspect

That the man was created
By the local arabana tribe.

And they're believed
To have occupied this land

For over 40,000 years.

In the desert near
Blythe, california,

There are similar markings.

They held intense
Mystical significance

For their indigenous creators.

In ancient times, it's said that
They held ceremonial dances

Around these figures in honor
Of the creator god.

And it was a way
To bring together

People in community
And celebration

For these particular rituals.

Many of
The indigenous australian tribes

Used mystical symbols drawn
Or painted onto rocks.

But there's no record of them

Creating huge
Native american-style geoglyphs.

[ didgeridoo playing ]

Aboriginals placed a great deal
Of value on the land.

It's central to
Their spiritual belief system.

It's hard to imagine
The aboriginal people

Doing something like this.

They held the land sacred.

Narrator:
To the local arabana people,

The land is a living,
Magical realm.

Scarring it with something
The size of marree man

Could be considered
An act of desecration.

They even wanted
To take legal action

Against the unknown artist.

Marking the lands,
The traditional lands

Of the arabana people,

It was likened at the time
To graffiti and vandalism.

Narrator: seven months after
Marree man's discovery,

Local officials received
An anonymous fax.

There were a couple
Of different hints and clues

Or perhaps red herrings

That surrounded the, uh,

The discovery of marree man.

It started with
Anonymous press releases

That had a lot
Of americanisms in them.

You have to ask yourself
Who else was in the area.

I mean, is this just a-a prank?

Just on a massive scale?

Narrator: the cryptic fax
Directs investigators

To look for clues

Immediately around
The carving itself.

They find something
Buried in the ground.

But its discovery
Only poses more questions.

5 feet under the surface,

At a certain point near the nose
Of the marree man,

There was a container.

And, um, it contained
A small american flag.

Narrator: around that time,
American military personnel

Were stationed at...
[ camera shutter clicking ]

The australian space research
Institute at nearby woomera.

One theory is that
The marree man

Was carved as a parting gift.

There was some
American military types

That were leaving about the time
That marree man

Was thought to
Have been created.

I think it's perfectly feasible

That that was made by people

In a truck dragging
Something behind them,

Using a very sophisticated
G.P.S. System.

Narrator:
The american military personnel

Did have access
To the right equipment.

But no further evidence
Was found to support the theory

That the giant man
Had been carved by them.

If it wasn't the military,

Then who else
Can be responsible?

Narrator: for years,
The mystery remains unexplained.

But then rumors surface

Of an australian artist
Called bardius goldberg

Who had a crazy idea

To create an artwork
Visible from space.

Bardius goldberg was,
By all accounts,

Quite an eccentric man

Who had talked to people

About creating such a figure.

He was a person
Who strived to --

To create things
That got attention.

I understand that he wanted
To leave his mark on the earth.

Narrator: but a few years after
The discovery of marree man,

The artist died
In strange circumstances

At the age of 61.

Goldberg died in 2002
In as unusual circumstances

As I think he lived his life.

He got caught up in a bar fight

And, um,
Had a tooth knocked out.

And that led to septicemia.
And he -- he died.

Narrator:
Goldberg never publicly admitted

To any connection
To the desert carving.

If he had the solution
To the mystery

Of the marree man,
Bardius goldberg

Took that to his grave.

Narrator:
In august 2016, locals decided

To restore the marree man
To its full glory.

But to this day,
The original author

Of the work remains a mystery.

Narrator: orbiting high above
The earth's surface,

A fleet of research satellites
Constantly monitor our oceans.

In the fall of 2013,
A data download reveals

A vast and unidentified object

Just off the west coast
Of the united states.

It's huge. It occupies almost

A quarter of the entire
North pacific.

What's going on in the area

Just off
The western united states?

What on earth could
It possibly be?

Man: it had a circular shape,
So people called it the blob.

Narrator: october 2013.

Nasa's terra satellite
Orbits the earth,

Monitoring electromagnetic
Emissions from the sea surface.

Over the north pacific,

It picks up a vast object
Lurking in the ocean.

What on earth could
It possibly be?

Narrator: whatever it is,
It's emitting huge amounts

Of infrared radiation,

Which shows up
As red on the scans.

It had a circular shape,
So people called it the blob.

[ screaming ]

**

Narrator:
Just like the movie monster,

The ocean blob appears
To be growing out of control.

It's kinda like a mass that
Keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Announcer: it's indestructible.
It's indescribable.

Nothing can stop it.

Narrator:
The satellites pick up infrared

And microwave emissions
From the sea surface,

Revealing that the blob
Is a vast body of hot water,

Stretching over
A million square miles

And almost 300 feet deep.

The sudden dramatic temperature
Rise defies scientific attempts

To explain it.

We would expect to see
Cold water, very cold water.

To see red tells us
That something weird

Is going on in
The pacific ocean right there.

The blob is about
4 degrees warmer

Than normal temperatures.

This is
An insane amount of heat.

What is causing this?

Why is the water
So much warmer here?

Narrator: the rapid heat rise
Arouses fears

Of a volcanic apocalypse
Unfolding beneath the waves.

To create the blob would take
Thousands of volcanoes

Erupting at the same time,

Something that hasn't occurred

Since the dying days
Of the dinosaurs.

This part of the world

Is well-known
For its volcanic activity.

It's part of the ring of fire.

The aleutian islands
All the way through canada

And western u.S.,

They're known for their
Tremendous volcanoes.

And when they erupt, they do
Release quite a bit of heat,

Which can locally
Heat up the water.

Narrator:
A big enough eruption could

Unleash a global catastrophe.

But the data suggest
Something else is happening.

If the surface warming
Of the water

was caused
By volcanic activity,

You would expect the entire
Water column to be warm.

But in this case,
It's just the surface,

Which implies it's not
Due to volcanic activity.

Narrator: by march 2015,

The blob stretches
From mexico to alaska

And covers a staggering
3 1/2 million square miles,

Larger than the united states.

Something like this,
Humanity is not able to stop it.

This is simply too big.

Narrator: the water soars to
Six degrees fahrenheit

Hotter than it should be.

These above-normal
Temperatures

Will cause massive changes
To both the marine life

And to the weather
Of this particular area.

Narrator: as the blob festers
Off the west coast,

Sea life goes out of whack.

Humpback whales are spotted
Cruising up the columbia river.

And venomous yellow-bellied
Sea snakes from central america

Invade the holiday beaches
Of california.

When we're looking
At this kind of an image,

One possibility

Is that this is an example
Of global warming.

The atmosphere and the ocean
Exchange heat

Just because they're
Touching each other.

If the atmosphere warms up,

The surface of the ocean
Also warms up.

Narrator:
But the theory has a problem.

While with global warming,

We're gonna expect
Ocean temperatures

To increase a degree or two
Over the next few decades,

The blob's temperatures
Were above normal

Within just a space
Of a few months.

Climate change can lead
To a warming of the oceans.

But a six-degree change
In several months,

Something else
Is going on here.

Narrator: climatologists believe
That the blob might have been

Caused by a freak persistent
Ridge of high pressure.

Ridges are normally associated
With clear skies.

So when you have a big ridge
Over top of you,

You're getting all the sunshine
Day after day after day.

It allows for the air
To warm up.

But it also allows for
The ocean waters to warm up.

Narrator: the ridge
Of high pressure also reduced

The cooling effect
Of the wind over the ocean.

Normally, you would get, um,

Cooling of the ocean
By the winds blowing over it.

'cause the wind shut down,

The ocean warmed much more

Than it should have
At that time of year.

Narrator:
Invisible to the naked eye,

The blob remains
Off the west coast of the u.S.

For 2 1/2 years
Until in late 2015, it vanishes.

We don't really know
Why it suddenly disappeared.

Narrator: scientists
Analyzed satellite data

From all across
The pacific for clues

To what's happening.

Surging up from
The southern ocean,

They spot a new monster.

It's one of the most powerful

And devastating weather events
On record.

This so-called el niño event
Is the result

Of a natural warming
Of the central pacific ocean.

During the time of the blob, um,

An el niño was starting to form
In the tropical pacific.

And this one grew so big
By the latter part of 2015,

We called it
The godzilla el niño.

Announcer: surging up
From the depths of the sea

On a tidal wave of terror...

Narrator: when the two freak
Phenomena meet,

It becomes a battle
Of the giants.

The blob versus godzilla.

The godzilla el niño
Wreaks damage

On an unimaginable scale.

Freak snow storms,
Flash flooding,

And giant storms
Cause death and devastation.

Satellite records,
Ship records show

That this is one of the biggest
El niños on record.

Narrator:
As godzilla grows stronger,

The blob appears to weaken.

The ridge that lent --

Lent itself to the creation
Of the blob

Was destroyed by the storms

That were forced in
From el niño.

Narrator:
The blob came into being

Because of a persistent ridge
Of high pressure

Warming the ocean.

What created the ridge
And preserved it

For so long is still uncertain.

But in the end, it was
No match for the power

Unleashed by the godzilla
El niño.

It's kind of like
The blob met godzilla,

And godzilla won.

Announcer: the mightiest monster
Of them all, godzilla.

Always bet on godzilla.
Godzilla never loses.

Narrator: the worldview-3
Surveillance satellite

Targets
The islamic republic of iran.

It captures high-resolution
Photographs

Of a secret underground
Military research facility.

Iran has a history
Of biological/chemical warfare.

I would think they were
Trying to hide something.

Narrator: january 2016.

The worldview-3 surveillance
Satellite

Orbits high above
The islamic republic of iran.

This is iran.

It's subject to the most intense

Satellite surveillance
In the world.

Iran is a friend to few
And an enemy of many.

Narrator: it captures
High-resolution photographs

Of what is thought
To be a top-secret

Military research facility
Known as parchin.

If iran is expanding
The parchin facility,

Then we need
To know about it.

If it looks as if iran is
Developing a new weapon,

It almost invariably means

That they are
Developing a new weapon.

Narrator:
Parchin lies 20 miles southeast

Of the capital, tehran.

Analysts compare
The recent satellite images

With the same view
Taken six years earlier.

The comparison reveals
What appears to be

A new, heavily reinforced
Tunnel structure

Built into the mountainside.

I would think they were
Trying to hide something.

Narrator: the discovery
Of the tunnel fuels fears

That iran is trying to conceal
A deadly secret.

Many nations will choose
To go underground

So that they can hide secrets
From prying eyes of satellites.

We don't know what the network

Of tunnels look like
Underneath it

And how far they penetrate
Deep into the mountains.

Narrator: the nightmare scenario
Is that the satellite image

Has uncovered a new underground

Facility creating weapons
Of mass destruction.

The whole middle east
Would erupt into war

And boom, world war iii.

Narrator: some analysts suggest
The tunnel entrance

Could serve
A purely defensive function,

Such as a large-scale
Bomb shelter.

They're afraid of actually
Having somebody come in and --

And bomb this area.

So they wanna make sure
That they're protecting

Whatever is underneath there.

Narrator: the reinforced tunnel
Entrance at parchin

Does bear some resemblance

To other underground
Defensive bunkers.

In the u.S.,
The cheyenne mountain complex

Is buried 2,000 feet
Beneath the rocky mountains.

It can support over
1,000 personnel

And withstand a 30-megaton
Nuclear blast.

But the remote location
Of the parchin complex

Suggests it must
Be something else.

Why build a shelter miles
From the capital, tehran,

To protect
The country's leaders?

It makes absolutely no sense.

Narrator: the iranian government
Claims that parchin

Is nothing more than
A conventional military base,

Used as a test facility
For missile engines.

But the scale of
The construction visible

In the satellite imagery

Suggests the new tunnels
At parchin

Could lead to something
Far more sinister.

More likely, it's being
Used currently for building

Of some superweapon
Of some kind.

They're doing this because
This is an important, uh,

Research and development site
For them.

And they're doing it

To keep it out of sight
Of the west.

Narrator:
For years, iran's neighbors

Have feared the pariah state

Would plunge the region
Into chemical warfare.

The satellite image
Could be evidence

That this nightmare
Is about to come true.

Iran has a history
Of biological/chemical,

Uh, warfare development,

In part because of that long
Conflict they had with iraq.

We know for a fact,
That's not in dispute,

That chemical weapons
Were used during that conflict.

The iranians have created

Five new biological/chemical
Suits

As well as, um, countermeasures

For a chemical/biological
Attack.

Really, the only reason
That you do that is

Because you've come up
With something yourself.

Narrator: if parchin has become
A chemical weapons facility,

It would mean iran
Is in violation

Of major international treaties.

We have numerous examples
Of where they've, uh,

Broken past agreements related
To their weapons programs.

Do they have remnants
Of the chemical weapons program?

Yes.
Is parchin for that purpose?

Available intelligence doesn't
Seem to indicate that.

Narrator: in the west,
Most intelligence sources

Now suspect the parchin tunnels
Serve one primary purpose --

The development
Of nuclear weapons.

Iran has been trying to build
Nuclear weapons for decades.

Parchin is where we think
It's probably taking place.

Narrator:
Intelligence agencies believe

Iran could be hiding their
Nuclear program underground

To avoid satellite detection
And air attack.

The likelihood is,
From their perspective,

That we're gonna come in
With an air strike.

So going underground
Makes perfect sense

From their perspective.

Reinforced tunnels makes it
Very difficult

Even for the american

Bunker-busting bombs
To bust through this area

And really completely
Destroy it.

[ engine roaring ]

Narrator:
Across the middle east,

The most likely threat
To the parchin facility

Would come from israel.

Iranian leaders have said
A number of times

That they are going
To wipe israel

Off the face of the earth.

Iran has not
Abandoned its ambition

To destroy the state of israel.

If israel thinks iran is
Developing nuclear weapons,

They could feel threatened
Enough to attack them.

[ engine roaring ]

Narrator: inspectors from

The international atomic energy
Agency

Have attempted
To investigate the site.

But their inspections
So far failed

To uncover the secrets
Of the parchin tunnels.

U.N. Inspectors have
Never had the access

That they've requested.

Not just to the parchin site,
But really to any site.

It's always been limited.

It's always been
Under very strict controls.

They weren't allowed
Into the entire facility,

And the facility
Was completely empty,

So that looks pretty suspicious.

Narrator: if the presence
Of nuclear weapons

Is confirmed within
The parchin tunnels,

It could set
The middle east on fire.

Other countries are worried that
If iran gets nuclear weapons

That they're gonna use them
Or at least use the power

To be more aggressive,
Politically.

By way of comparison,

If mexico was a sworn enemy
Of the united states

And was calling repeatedly

For the destruction
Of the united states,

Well, then here in the u.S.,
We might be concerned

If the mexican government
Was busy

Developing nuclear
Weapons technology.

Narrator: six months before
The satellite took

The incriminating photograph
Of the tunnel,

Iran signed a treaty pledging

To give up
Nuclear weapons development.

[ indistinct conversations ]

The treaty makes me laugh.

No one actually believes
That the iranians sign

A piece of paper and that they
Actually mean it.

Narrator: to date,
Iran still denies claims

It is developing
Nuclear weaponry at parchin.

But attempts
At further inspection

Have been unsuccessful.

The site remains under
Intense satellite surveillance.

Have the iranians been
Saying one thing,

But doing something very,

Very different underground
At parchin?

We will never stop
Watching iran from space.

Narrator: orbiting the earth
At 17,000 miles per hour,

Nasa astronaut reid wiseman

Looks down on the gulf
Of thailand

From the international
Space station.

He spots a disturbing
Green glow in the ocean.

He tweets from space.

When you look down
From the space station,

You don't expect to see
The ocean lighting up.

This is a huge area.
And it's suddenly glowing green?

What could be happening here?

Narrator: august 18, 2014.

Nasa astronaut reid wiseman

Is onboard
The international space station

When he takes a photo of
Something he can't explain --

A strange green glow
Stretching across the ocean.

When you look down
From the space station,

You don't expect to see
The ocean lighting up.

Narrator:
The strange phenomenon appears

In the seas off
The coast of thailand.

Wiseman tweets...

You wonder, what can make
The ocean glow bright green?

I'm puzzled.
What actually are we seeing?

Narrator: investigators
Consider the possibility

That the image shows
A natural phenomenon

Happening in the skies
Above the ocean.

If you've ever looked
At the northern lights,

You will recognize this color.

It looks just like the aurora.

Narrator: the aurora occurs

When solar particles
Hurtling through space

At a million miles per hour

Smash into
The earth's upper atmosphere.

The sun puts out lots
Of charged particles.

And as those charged
Particles hit

Our earth's magnetic shield,

Some of them interact

With our atmosphere
To produce one

Of the most spectacular
Light shows

That you can possibly imagine.

Narrator: but there's a problem
With the aurora theory.

The celestial light show
Usually happens close

To the north or south poles.

The gulf of thailand
Is near the equator,

Thousands of miles
Away from both.

But there's a couple times
In history

When they've been recorded
At lower latitudes.

So back in the 1850s,

They were seen
In venezuela and in cuba.

So not that far
From the equator.

But it's a really
Rare occurrence,

Something that happens once

Every few hundred years
At the most.

And if it happened,
We would know it.

Narrator: the absence
Of any natural explanation

For the weird green lights
Raises the possibility

That it could be the result
Of human activity.

It's totally reasonable to think

Maybe there's, like,
A fireworks display.

[ crowd cheering ]

Narrator: in some parts
Of southeast asia,

The skies regularly
Light up with fireworks

And chinese lanterns.

Thailand and vietnam
Have lavish firework festivals.

They believe that the fireworks
Repel the evil spirits.

Narrator: every year, thailand
Hosts a huge event

Where thousands of fireworks
Are fired from barges

Moored out at sea.

The use of fireworks

In thai religious ceremonies
Dates back centuries.

And at the pattaya international
Fireworks festival,

Tens of thousands of people
Gather on the beach

And watch the fireworks explode
Over the gulf of thailand.

Narrator:
Detailed image analysis reveals

That the green glow covers
Around 30,000 square miles.

If this is a fireworks display,
It is big.

I'm talkin' huge.
Not only that,

But it's way too far off of land
For anybody to actually see.

It doesn't make sense.

Narrator:
If the green glow is not

Coming from above the ocean,

It must be coming
From the ocean itself.

Is there something
Lurking in the water

Emitting this unsettling
Green light?

The image makes
Some scientists suspect

A plague of algae could be
Contaminating the water.

The green kind of suggested
To me

Maybe a bioluminescent
Algae bloom

That suddenly
Got out of control.

Narrator: tiny microalgae,
Known as dinoflagellates,

Possess the power
To glow in the dark.

So dinoflagellates
Are single-cell algae.

Like a plant,
But only in one cell.

And some of them
Produce bioluminescence,

Which is visible light.

They're kinda like
The grass of the ocean.

So you have animals
That feed on these species.

One of the ways that
They will defend themselves

Is by bioluminescence.

Narrator:
When something disturbs

The microalgae in the ocean,
They give off an eerie light.

So this is a, uh, a culture
Of, uh, of dinoflagellates.

So every time
You swirl them, you --

You will trigger
Every single cell produce

A flash of light.

Narrator: algal blooms can cover
Thousands of square miles.

But they only light up in
Response to movement or contact.

Now maybe you'd expect
To see this sort of thing in --

In -- in small doses when a ship
Is going by, for example.

But not at this scale.

Narrator: to create a sea of
Green light visible from space,

Algae from right across
The gulf of thailand

Would need to glow
Simultaneously,

An event unknown
In human history.

Whatever is emitting this light

Is something big
And far more powerful

Than any microscopic
Sea creature.

The search for an answer
Turns back to human activity.

The only sort of large-scale
Activities that occurs

In this part of the sea
Is fishing.

So you have to ask yourself,

Is this related to
The fishing industry in any way?

Narrator: as night falls over
The gulf of thailand,

The answer to the mystery
Becomes apparent.

Every evening, huge fleets
Of fishing boats set out

To catch one of the country's
Favorite seafoods --

Squid.

Over 120,000 tons of squid
Are caught each year.

And they do it with a highly
Unusual technique.

They have lights that they put
On the sides of the boat.

What happens is that
The phytoplankton

Are attracted to light.
They come up to the surface,

And the squid
Are attracted to them.

Narrator:
The squid normally live

At depths down to 500 feet.

The bright green lights
On the fishing boats

Attract the squid's food
To the surface,

And the squid follow.

So you have these fleets

And lots of lights
Catchin' lots of squid.

The fluorescent lights
They use are so powerful,

On a clear night they're visible
In their thousands from space.

Hundreds of glowing
Green fishing boats

Lighting up the water,

So many, so big,

Such scale that you
Can see it from space.

It doesn't seem possible.
But there it is.

Narrator: orbiting high above
South america,

A satellite is scanning
The peruvian desert

When it picks up
A strange anomaly --

A giant spine lying along
A mountain ridge.

It's extraordinary.

But actually the really
Striking thing here

Are these square things.

Never really seen something
Like that before.

Narrator: january 2002.

The ikonos commercial
Satellite passes over peru.

It captures an image
Of a series of shapes,

Snaking like a monstrous spine,

Along the top
Of a mountain ridge

Out in the peruvian desert.

Is there actually some part
Of some ritualized landscape?

Narrator:
The huge segmented spine spans

40 feet wide and stretches
Over 600 feet long.

Closer inspection of
The satellite image

Reveals it's not
Of animal origin,

But 13 separate
Square structures.

They appear to be
Built of stone.

But what are they for?

And who built them?

The isolated site is located
In the casma river valley

And known locally as chankillo.

Using satellite coordinates,

Local archaeologist
Ivan ghezzi travels

250 miles out into the desert
To investigate.

[ speaking spanish ]

Narrator: ghezzi has dated
The site to 300 b.C.,

1,700 years before the incas.

It comes from a time
When a mysterious

And as-yet-unnamed ancient

Andean civilization
Ruled this land.

Little is known
About these people.

Ever since the discovery
Of this spine,

Archaeologists have been
Puzzling

Over the purpose
Of the structures.

What is the significance
Of having 13 of them

In this unusual arrangement?

I think the key
To understanding this site

Is not to just look
At these squares,

But to look at
The wider landscape.

Narrator: zooming out,
The satellite image reveals

Another large
Stone structure nearby.

Its purpose is unknown.

But it has all
The hallmarks of a fortress.

It has concentric walls.

Uh, it has baffled entryways,

Which we associate
With a military architecture.

Archaeological excavations have
Revealed ceramic warriors

With elaborate regalia,

Suggesting that they were part
Of an elite warrior caste.

Narrator:
The presence of the fortress

Raises the possibility
That the spine of 13 towers

Might also serve
A military purpose.

These might be watchtowers, um,

Because they're sitting there

On the top
Of this mountain ridge.

Narrator:
But the number and layout

Of the ridgetop towers poses

More questions
Than it answers.

Why would you have
13 towers in a line?

Surely one or two would be
More than sufficient

If these were watchtowers.

They've got to serve
Some purpose, right?

But if it's not defensive,
Then what is it?

Narrator: a new discovery
Deepens the mystery.

Archaeologists uncover
A second stone structure

Hidden within the walls
Of the nearby fortress.

The layout suggests it may have
Been a place of ritual worship.

Ghezzi believes this site is

A strange combination
Of fortress and temple,

Dedicated to the sun.

No record exists
Of the rituals

Performed
By the ancient andeans.

But the gruesome details
Of their successors,

The incas, are well-known.

They constructed vast temples

Where virgin girls served
The sun god, inti.

In times of trouble,

The virgins would be
Drugged with coca leaves

And ceremonially slaughtered

As human sacrifices
To placate the gods.

Despite its age,

The chankillo ruins
Still offer clues

To the sinister rituals
Which took place here.

Narrator: the temple is
Precisely constructed

So that shafts of sunlight shine
Directly into the building,

But only on one day each year.

Narrator: ghezzi suspects that
The spine of 13 towers

Was also part of the ancient
Andean's sun worship.

As the year progresses,

The sun rises between
Two different towers

Every 10 days,

Allowing the priests
To accurately

Track the movement of the sun.

These are a very rare example

In the ancient world

Of a very precise
Solar calendar.

Narrator: the ancient priests
May have used the calendar

To prepare
For the arrival of the sun

At the winter solstice,

A time of intense
Mystical significance.

Narrator:
The 13 towers are unlike

Anything seen
Anywhere in the world.

Narrator:
The details of the lives

Of the ancient andeans

Who built these mystic towers
Are lost to history.

This ghostly spine now stands

As a silent testament
To a once mighty people.

Narrator:
High in earth's orbit,

Nasa's landsat 8 passes
Over the state of utah.

It captures a bizarre image
Of two large,

Intensely blue shapes
On the ground.

It's an almost
Featureless desert,

And then bam. This sticks out
Like a sore thumb.

It doesn't look exactly natural.

What can this be?

Narrator: may 13, 2014.

Nasa's landsat 8 orbits above

The colorado river in utah.

It captures an image
Of two large blue shapes

Shining brightly in the desert.

You don't expect to see
Such a vibrant blue color

In the middle of a brown desert.

Narrator: the baffling image
Is taken 25 miles

West of the desert town of moab.

Closer analysis reveals patches
Of other bright colors

Within the expanse of blue.

The contrast between this,
Uh, ruddy brown desert landscape

And the vivid blue
Is really sharp.

Why, simply?

The patch of blue
Doesn't even look real.

It looks like
It's been painted on.

Narrator: painting the desert
May not sound

Like a sensible explanation.

But it has happened before.

In 1980, belgian artist
Jean verame painted

An area of egypt's
Sinai desert bright blue.

What seems like
Strange behavior

Actually served
A political purpose.

His artwork was to
Commemorate a peace treaty

Ending 30 years of war
Between israel and egypt.

The blue paint
Was the same blue

As used by the u.N.
Peacekeeping force.

But the location of the strange
Blue patches seen in

Utah rules out the idea

They could be
Some kind of wacky art.

This is an area
Of natural beauty.

I doubt any artist
Would be given permission

To paint the desert
Such a unnatural blue.

Narrator: some have suggested
The blue patch

Could be part of a weird
Desert leisure complex.

Is it some kind
Of gigantic swimming pool?

It's possible.

They could pipe the water in
From the nearby colorado river.

Narrator: using the satellite
Image to measure the scale

Of the blue patches reveals

They stretch two miles
In length.

At two miles long, that would be
One hell of a swimming pool.

Narrator: swimming pools can be
Bigger than you might think.

The largest in the world is at

The san alfonso del mar resort
In chile.

Its gigantic lagoon covers

20 acres and holds over
66 million gallons of water.

But analyzing the area
Around the blue patches in

Utah pours cold water
On the swimming pool theory.

Looking at the surrounding area,

There's no sign of
Buildings or a hotel.

This is not a water park.

If it's not a pool or paint,

Then what is it?

Narrator: the blue patches are
Too far out in the desert

To be anything intended for use
By the general public.

A more likely possibility

Is that it's some kind of
Industrial operation.

Are we looking at some kind
Of mining or drilling operation?

Narrator: geological records
Reveal this area

Contains large reserves

Of a chemical known as potash.

Potash is a salt that occurs
Beneath the earth's surface.

And it contains
A lot of potassium.

And we mine it
For use in fertilizer.

There are mines in this area.

And the mining method
That they are using involves

The construction of large pods.

Narrator:
In order to extract the potash,

The miners drill down
And pump water deep underground.

Then we drill
Another hole that --

To a deeper level.

And the water that's
Introduced to the potash

Will flow through there,
Dissolve some of the potash,

Be pumped up to the surface.

Narrator: but potash extraction
Doesn't explain

The vivid blue color visible
In the image.

Potash is usually red or white.

Why is this blue?

The startling colors
Are produced by

The addition of a dye
To the evaporation pods.

Deep blue color absorbs
The heat faster.

So it evaporates faster.

Narrator: adding blue dye to
An evaporation pond

Is a highly unusual method
For processing potash,

Not practiced anywhere else
In the world.

The ingenious technique creates
A truly distinctive spectacle

In the utah desert,
One visible from space.