Original subtitles

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.