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.

porges: that's crazy.

What is going on here?

Kourounis: whatever it is, It can't be good.

narrator: I weird pink mass threatens a beach in india.

Rob: it looks like some sort Of swarm.

narrator: unidentified shapes disturb the antarctic seas.

Robertshaw: whatever's causes Those ripples must be enormous.

narrator: radar detects a strange pulsing mass

in the skies over texas.

Steven: is this something that We need to worry about?

narrator: baffling phenomena, mysteries from space.

what on earth are they?

[ dramatic music ]

* *

the geoeye-1 satellite captures a disturbing image

in the sands of egypt,

hundreds of black holes amongst an ancient city of the dead.

hanson: this is very clearly an archaeological site.

And these holes are everywhere.

Marchetti: I see something That's digging deep

Within the earth's surface.

Altaweel: this is not the kind Of thing we notice

Typically in egypt.

Disturbing is the way I would Call it.

Marchetti: and you see little Divots

Littering the area of the image,

And so the question is,

What is causing that divot,

And why is it so dark?

narrator: the image was taken over dahshur

20 miles south of cairo.

this area is a vast necropolis comprising some of egypt's

most ancient tombs,

including the legendary black pyramid.

dodson: dahshur is a huge cemetery site

And was one of the number of Cemeteries which serviced

The ancient capsule of memphis

and features a number of pyramids, pharaohs,

along with tombs of their families and their officials.

narrator: the ancient tombs were packed with treasures

the kings and priests would take with them

into the afterlife, from jewelry and gold

to furniture and chariots.

as long ago as 2600 b.C.,

the riches made the tombs a prime target for grave robbers.

could the holes visible in the satellite image

be the work of ancient thieves?

narrator: ancient thieves carried out their crimes

ignoring hieroglyphics that warned of vengeance

from beyond the grave.

grave sites were often robbed by opportunist thieves,

including embalmers, guards, even priests.

most tombs were stripped of their treasures

and even the mummified body,

some within months of burial thousands of years ago.

but these holes do not appear to be ancient.

satellite analyst amanda marchetti examines the image

to assess when and why the holes were created.

marchetti: when I look at these features,

I see that they are very dark.

When things are very dark, that Means holes that are so deep

And so cavernous, the light Doesn't reflect.

It doesn't bounce off the bottom Of the cavern

And come back up to our Satellite.

narrator: egypt is a desert nation.

holes in the sand like the ones seen in the image

can sometimes be evidence of attempts to dig down to water.

marchetti: when things are very dark, it could be

A deep well of water

That's just absorbing all the Light.

narrator: some ancient civilizations dug large numbers

of holes as part of a desert water storage system

called qanats.

altaweel: ancient qanats are underground water features.

they essentially are canals that are built underground

to bring water.

think of aqueducts but running underground.

hanson: historically, qanats are in the middle east.

They're used often during the Islamic period

As a way to transport water Without having it evaporate,

because you have it covered, and it's underground.

altaweel: what we see are access holes

That allowed people to go Underground to excavate

These tunnels and also perhaps To maintain them.

narrator: archaeologists compare the image

of the strange holes at dahshur

with known qanats irrigation systems

from across the middle east.

but they don't match.

Altaweel: the pattern tends to Be much more systematic

When you're looking at qanats, One hole follows another,

Where in this case, we see a Large aggregation of holes

In one area but other areas no Holes.

hanson: the nile is only four miles away.

You don't have to do anything Elaborate to get water here.

[ light electronic music ]

narrator: marchetti considers if a clue may lie

in the sheer number of the holes.

Marchetti: the irregular pattern Is not consistent

To somebody that's drilling for Oil

Or somebody that's even looking For water.

This is somebody that has found Something of immense value,

And they are going back time and Time again to pull more

Of whatever this is out of the Earth.

[ mysterious music ]

narrator: experts look for clues

in older satellite imagery to help crack the mystery.

they reveal virtually no holes at all.

analysis of images going back more than a decade

shows that the appearance of the holes coincides directly

with a significant event in recent egyptian history.

Marchetti: we have a 15-year Archive,

And as I looked at this spot Throughout those years,

I can see the holes begin And then blow up

Right around 2013.

narrator: the dates tie in with the explosion

of he egyptian revolution and the arab spring.

the rebellion ousted a president

but also had repercussions for the country's ancient sites.

the breakdown in law and order sparked a plague

of modern-day looting.

Altaweel: authority was unknown Or unclear at various times.

It still is in some parts of Egypt.

so we see these desert sites less protected, perhaps,

less secured, and so looters, of course,

are targeting these areas.

Dodson: fundamentally, there Were three reasons why

The looting took place.

First of all, there was a Desire to get back

at the government, who sort of effectively owned this stuff.

there was the opportunity,

because the police were being withdrawn.

And finally, there was the Age-old lust for treasure.

hanson: it can happen throughout the world.

In the american southwest, it's Directly connected

To meth and the drug trade.

In other parts of the world, It's connected

To organized crime and the Mafia.

[ dramatic music ]

narrator: the widespread revival of tomb robbing

in egypt shocked archaeologists.

Dodson: tomb robbery is always a Tragedy.

one is just the human feeling of having a person's body

torn to pieces in search of treasure,

Often not found at all, But also for the loss

Of knowledge as well.

narrator: mohamed youssef ali witnessed firsthand

The surge in this desecration of Tombs.

Hanson: when looters come in, They rip that artifact out of

The rest of its story.

that's an object that has been divorced

from the entire archaeological record.

narrator: investigators may have solved the mystery

of the black holes in the satellite image,

but the promise of easy money still lures tomb robbers

to defy the curses of the ancient kings.

and modern egypt pays the price.

hanson: and these objects are being purchased

where there isn't enforcement against the sale

of stolen artifacts, and we see that in america,

we see that in the u.K.,

And we see that elsewhere in Europe as well.

Marchetti: I can see the Immense amount of theft

That's occurring on an Industrial scale

To culture heritage

That we might never be able to See again.

But then I also get really Excited,

Because what I'm seeing is Evidence of something

That satellite imagery can be Used to help stop.

[ dramatic music ]

* *

narrator: a weather radar in texas lights up with a strange,

unidentified pulsing object

moving ominously across its skies.

Rob: if this is a cloud, Then why is it pulsing

And rippling?

[ dramatic music ]

Capps: it looks like a--a brain Mri, not a weather pattern.

Steven: is this something Man-made?

Is this something that we need To worry about?

narrator: texas meteorologists spot a strange pulsing object

moving across their radar screens.

and the object isn't just moving.

it's getting bigger.

Schuld: within about an hour, You go from nothing to this

Huge, fanned-out look on your Radar.

narrator: the chilling image is captured in the skies

above san antonio, texas.

Capps: it looks like a--a brain Mri, not a weather pattern.

narrator: paul yura from the national weather service

office near san antonio is on the case.

Yura: we started seeing these Plumes right after sunset.

there's got to be something going on out there.

Capps: logically I'd start Looking to see,

What else shares this air space?

narrator: just 25 miles from where the radar detected

the anomaly is lackland air force base.

could a military training exercise offer an explanation?

Capps: it's got an f-16 Detachment.

And it also has the special Forces pararescue group.

[ dramatic music ]

these are the pjs, they're called.

they are the baddest of the bad.

Because they have to be able to Do every job

A special forces team can do.

they're the ones who you want parachuting in to save you.

combat air drops happen under the cover of darkness,

and so training exercises do as well.

radar bounces off of just about anything,

Not just boats and planes, Bounce off clouds,

Which is why we have weather Radar stations,

And also human parachutists.

narrator: a large-scale parachute exercise

could explain what appeared on the radar.

but some elements of the military theory don't fit.

Capps: the problem with the Theory of this being

A special forces parachute Exercise is,

They don't actually jump there.

they go to fort bragg to jump.

They go out to the yuma proving Grounds to do high-altitude,

Low-opening drops.

They train all over the world,

But they're doing paperwork in Lackland.

narrator: meteorologists come up with a new theory

for the strange radar image,

a rare and devastating natural phenomenon.

Cerveny: it's relatively new in Meteorology.

We call it a microburst, Nature's own air bomb.

it's a sudden downdraft of air that smashes into the ground,

And it spreads out in a Bomb-like dispersal pattern.

schuld: they can be very strong,

Up to 100 miles per hour.

And they can cause a lot of Damage.

narrator: if the microburst theory is right,

it could spell disaster.

Cerveny: the person that Discovered it, dr. Ted fujita,

Likened them to atomic bomb Blasts,

Like in hiroshima and nagasaki.

[ loud explosion ]

when this massive, very powerful cooled air sinks down

and smashes into the ground,

It spreads out in a bomb-like Blast pattern

That actually is very equivalent To the kind of destruction

That we would see with something Like an atomic bomb.

narrator: microbursts don't just cause devastation

at ground level.

they're also potentially deadly for aircraft.

Steven: microbursts can really Affect the airflow

Around an aircraft.

Aircraft need to be very wary of Microbursts

So that they can land safely.

narrator: but further analysis of weather data reveals

that at the time of the anomaly's appearance,

conditions were not right for microbursts.

cerveny: there are thunderstorms in the area

to the far northeast,

But right actually where this Event is taking place,

There's no storms.

And one of the critical things To have a microburst is,

you have to have a severe storm present.

and so if this circular formation isn't a microburst,

There is a really interesting Question as to what it

Could possibly be.

narrator: scientists consider that the source of the circular

mass might lie directly beneath it at ground level.

Schuld: for most weather people, You're gonna take a look at

The spatial area.

what is around that land?

narrator: they discover that the anomaly's point of origin

appears to be a weird hole in the earth.

Rob: if you line up this Radar image with a map,

It turns out it's really close To a cave,

And we all know what lives in Caves.

[ dramatic music ]

narrator: the occupants of the cave are historically

one of nature's most feared and misunderstood creatures.

Hutchins: bracken cave is the Home to the largest colony

Of bats in the world.

There are 20 million mexican Free-tailed bats

living in the cave now.

[ eerie music ]

These bats migrate into central Texas in march and here

All summer long to have and Raise their young.

* *

So that's really why this place Is so special.

* *

narrator: when dusk falls, the ravenous bats swarm out

in search of their prey.

* *

Rob: when you see 20 million Bats emerging from a cave,

It's like scene from a batman Movie.

* *

Hutchins: you're literally gonna See a vortex,

A tornado of bats in front of You

As they spiral out of the cave

Up to 8,000, 10,000 feet to feed.

narrator: the truth behind the strange anomaly is a wonder

of the natural world.

Yura: the weather radar is Picking up

These very small bats.

hutchins: what looks like a rain cloud is actually

A cloud of bats.

* *

narrator: a satellite orbiting the south atlantic ocean

captures an image of two vast, ghostly objects

that appear to be hurtling through the water.

art: they kind of look like ships,

But when you start looking at The scale of them,

You realize they're really much Larger than ships.

muller-karger: they also seem to have a wake of darker water.

I have no idea what we're Looking at.

narrator: nasa's terra satellite captures

two unidentified ghostly objects.

the white shapes leave a trail of huge ripples,

suggesting that whatever they are,

they're moving at great speed.

Steven: what are those two Structures in the water?

narrator: the image showing the objects was taken above

the south atlantic ocean 800 miles north of antarctica.

nasa officials at the goddard space flight center in maryland

contact glaciologist kelly brunt.

Brunt: nasa earth observatory Saw this image,

And they got really excited About the ripple pattern

In the image, and they asked me To investigate it.

narrator: the white shapes strongly resemble icebergs,

but icebergs don't move fast enough to leave visible wakes

in the water.

the image presents investigators with a puzzle.

Cerveny: when I'm looking at This, the question that comes

To mind is,

What else is causing these Strange ripple marks?

narrator: if these objects aren't icebergs,

then what are they?

a chilling possibility emerges.

the huge unidentified bodies are moving through the most

fiercely disputed territory in the south atlantic ocean.

could the ripples be evidence of covert military activity

in waters with a history of violent conflict?

[ loud explosion ]

more than 30 years ago, argentinean troops

invaded the falkland, sandwich, and south georgia islands.

the falklands war erupted.

Robertshaw: the area we're Talking about is the very sense

of that conflict between argentina and the u.K.

It's still very, very hotly Disputed

And very important to both Countries.

narrator: after a 74-day battle,

the invading forces surrender.

but to this day, relations between britain and argentina

remain tense.

Robertshaw: even though we're 1,000 miles from land,

There's still submarines, There's still patrol vessels,

Both sides actually pursuing Their claims

For actually dominance of the Area.

narrator: the huge wakes trailing the objects in the

image are compared to those of a nuclear-class submarine.

there's just one problem.

they're too big.

robertshaw: if a submarine's deer under water,

You won't see a trace.

If it comes onto the surface, You might,

but those ripples seem much bigger than those

made by a submarine.

Whatever's causing those ripples In the ocean

Must be enormous.

narrator: perhaps the strangest explanation put forward

for the large unidentified forms

is that they could be ships made from ice.

this insane idea has its origins in world war ii.

Robertshaw: during the second World war,

The british had an idea about Building aircraft carriers

out of ice.

basically, you've got to think of an iceberg with an engine.

narrator: the ice ship is not just some weird experiment

that never left the laboratory.

this bizarre piece of naval technology actually got built.

Robertshaw: ice ships were very Much supported by the

Prime minister winston Churchill.

The idea was to build out of ice And hemp

floating ships, aircraft carriers even.

these ice ships would have been deployed in polar regions,

And even though they move Slowly,

They would leave a clear wake.

narrator: a prototype was launched in 1943.

but the concept never went into full-scale production.

the top secret ice ship project was scrapped.

Robertshaw: the reason for the Original iceberg ship

Was a mid-atlantic stopping Point,

Refueling point for aircraft.

Modern aircraft don't need to do That.

They can make it from continent To continent without refueling.

It's very unlikely we're looking At a new version

Of the ice ship of the second World war.

narrator: no man-made vessel is responsible for the strange

ripples trailing the bodies.

something else must have created them.

closer image analysis offers up a new clue.

Muller-karger: not instantly Clear whether these wakes

Or waves are in the water.

It's almost as if these wakes Are in the clouds.

narrator: what appears to be ripples in the water

may actually be evidence of one of our planet's

weirdest natural phenomena, cloud wakes.

[ dramatic music ]

* *

brunt: a cloud wake is where clouds are moving

Relatively unobstructed, and Then they encounter

Some sort of obstruction.

and the clouds have to flow around that obstruction.

This is very similar to water

Moving around a rock in a Stream.

narrator: strange though it may seem, it's physically possible

for a large enough object to create a wake in the sky.

art: if the iceberg is big enough, it could basically

Block winds that leads to this Rippling effect in the clouds

That we see in this satellite Image.

narrator: detailed analysis confirms the unidentified

white objects are two of the largest icebergs ever seen

at this latitude.

their huge size makes them easily large enough

to create ripples in clouds.

Brunt: the icebergs in this Image are very big.

They're about 10 miles long and About 1,000 feet thick.

Steven: it's sort of like a Miniature island in itself.

if you imagine an iceberg maybe 30, 40 meters high

in a very low-level flow, well, what's going to happen?

it can either go around the iceberg,

or it might need to be forced above the iceberg.

And if it does get forced above The iceberg,

Then all of a sudden, now we're Into this pattern

Of a wave train behind the Iceberg.

narrator: what looked like waves in the water

was in optical illusion created by highly unusual weather

conditions caught on camera.

cerveny: the reason that we are seeing this ripples is that

These are almost fog-like cloud Formations

As opposed to a very high Cirrus.

and so they're able to give that impression of being

Very close to the ocean, because Really they are

Very close to the ocean.

narrator: a satellite captures bizarre circular shapes

carved into a remote mountainside in south america.

someone or something has transformed this landscape.

Horton: this is really weird, Isn't it?

It's just extraordinary.

porges: these rings just kind of rise from the ground.

it's incredible.

What could this be?

narrator: the worldview-2 satellite captures an image

of huge circles cut high in the mountains of the remote andes.

porges: who could possibly have carved these

Into the mountainside and why?

narrator: the strange image is photographed above cuzco region

of peru in south america.

the circles appear to be man-made

and date back hundreds of years.

they've baffled experts since their discovery in 1931.

Porges: this is no accident.

Somebody put a lot of effort

Into building these concentric Circles.

Horton: why are they so Elaborate?

Why are they clearly laid out in These two valleys

where considerable engineering has been undertaken?

narrator: archaeologists call this strange structure

the moray complex.

it sits at the epicenter of the feared incan empire.

Porges: the incas made some Interesting structures

All over the place, and many of Them

We still haven't figured out.

[ dramatic music ]

narrator: the inca were notorious for gruesome

public rituals.

catastrophes such as earthquakes were seen as

the wrath of the gods, and humans were sacrificed

to appease them.

in extreme cases, they would even resort to child sacrifice

called capcocha.

thousands of children were strangled or buried alive.

is it possible moray is a killing field

for ritual murder, an arena of death?

porges: the round-shaped and tiered sides.

What comes to mind is an ancient Greco-roman amphitheater.

you can just imagine some sort of gladiatorial game

being played to the cheers of bloodthirsty crowds.

narrator: murderous sport was also a reality further north

in central american civilizations.

stone carvings depict the aztecs and maya playing grisly

ball games that ended in adult human sacrifice.

but archaeological evidence suggests the grim tradition

never made it as far south as peru.

urton: of course, anything is possible, but we have no

Notice in spanish chronicles

That the incas had spectator Sports.

narrator: further image analysis leads some experts

to believe the complex could be some sort of elaborate

fertility symbol.

giljseghem: some people have seen in the physical layout

of the site of moray

A form of phallic symbol Associated with fertility.

horton: as we look it from the air,

it looks just like a male penis and a couple of testicles,

You know, so, you know, well, it Could be.

narrator: in ancient societies, fertility was a matter

of life and death, and it depended on the good will

of the gods.

horton: we do know that the incas--actually,

they keyed on fertility and fertility deities.

Their most famous, of course, Was pachamama,

and they certainly viewed worshipping fertility gods

As an important part of their General cosmological activity.

narrator: archaeologist carmen arrospide has been

investigating this site for years.

Arrospide: [speaking spanish ]

narrator: but some archaeologists aren't buying

the fertility theory.

Giljseghem: I'm really not sure That this is going on

In this case.

Urton: I don't think that the Shape of it had anything to do

With genitalia.

narrator: experts look for further clues in the shape

and structure of the complex.

ground-level exploration of moray

reveals a set of terraces,

each cut into the mountainside at regular intervals

six feet in height.

Giljseghem: they look like Agricultural terraces,

but agricultural terraces usually aren't built like that

Using concentric circles, so This is kind of an oddity.

horton: it suggests that they might actually have had

A rather special purpose.

narrator: the stepped terraces could be evidence

that this ancient civilization practiced advanced

experimental science previously thought to be

far beyond human capabilities at this time.

Giljseghem: there's the Hypothesis of it being

A agricultural laboratory That I kind of like.

narrator: archaeologists have put forward the theory

that the incas were experimenting with growing

crops at different microclimates.

horton: the temperature difference between the top

And the bottom is around 15 Degrees.

narrator: growing plants on different levels would have

allowed the incas to experiment and grow food

most suited to specific environmental conditions.

Porges: now, if you've got an Empire that spans hundreds

Of miles of mountain ranges, Knowing what you could grow

At different altitude in Different conditions

Kind of useful.

horton: what's remarkable about this is,

It shows that the incas Were scientists.

narrator: archaeologists are only now beginning to unravel

the secrets of moray.

how the inca came to learn their strange science

is a mystery yet to be solved.

the ikonos observation satellite

orbits above india.

tracking along a river, it reveals a disturbing image.

Rob: there's something Strange going on here.

It looks like some sort of Swarm.

Marchetti: what are earth is Going on

In this region right here?

narrator: the ikonos satellite captures an

extraordinary image over india,

a huge red mass clinging to a riverbank.

Porges: what is this? What could this possibly be?

narrator: the image was taken over the yamuna river

near the city of allahabad.

at more than 2 million square feet,

the seething red mass is nearly 40 times bigger

than a football field.

[ dramatic music ]

Marchetti: I see the pattern Starting here.

It moves along the shoreline, And it collects.

There's a large mass as it moves To here.

There would have to be a Scientific explanation.

narrator: is the blood-colored earth evidence

of a deadly event?

Rob: what could turn a Riverbank red?

narrator: investigators consider that the blood-colored

mass could be a huge group of living creatures.

Rob: lots of animals gather Together in large numbers,

Because it helps them to share Very valuable resources,

Protection from predators.

flamingos, for instance, are found in the tens of thousands

Gathering together in pink Masses looking for food.

narrator: vast colonies of up to a half a million flamingos

have been recorded in india,

more than enough to be captured by satellite.

Rob: you can see flamingos When they gather in large

Numbers from space.

narrator: but closer inspection of the image casts doubt

on the theory.

flamingos only gather in water.

Rob: problem is, most of the Color is on the land,

Not in the water, so it's not Gonna be flamingos.

narrator: investigators look to the surrounding area for clues

to what could be happening in the image.

the photograph was shot close to the city of allahabad,

which is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

the proximity arouses fears that the red stain could be

a garbage mountain.

rob: one common thing that we are finding on beaches

around the world right now is trash.

But if we're finding trash here, That is a large area.

We're talking about tons and Tons of trash.

Porges: could we be looking at a Massive garbage spill?

narrator: discarded trash is a massive problem

in india's waterways.

more than half of its 445 rivers are reported to be

polluted with litter and other toxic waste.

Muller-karger: debris can wash Up on beaches,

And sometimes it can be in such Concentrations that it can

Cover up the beach itself.

it can be anything from rubber duckies to tires

to entire refrigerators and kitchens.

rob: tons of trash and debris have been known

To wash up on beaches after a Typhoon or a tsunami.

could this be what we're looking at?

narrator: japan's notorious fukushima disaster

provides a grim example of how the forces of nature

can concentrate human waste.

muller-karger: the 2011 fukushima earthquake

led to a tsunami

That washed trash out into the Middle of the pacific.

there are rumors of a trash island in the middle

of the ocean.

narrator: in india, it would be possible for a storm

to sweep tons of trash along the yamuna river.

but the geographical location of the image casts doubt

on this theory.

muller-karger: this image was taken pretty much

in the middle of india,

so it's not likely that you have a typhoon.

There's no--no natural event That has caused a disaster

Of this scale.

narrator: on close examination of the photograph,

image analyst amanda marchetti recognizes something

she has seen before but rarely on this scale.

Marchetti: what I believe I'm Actually seeing is

A mass of people,

People coming together for some Reason and gathering

Around the shore.

narrator: marchetti believes the image shows

an extraordinary swarm of humanity,

a gathering unseen anywhere on earth.

the satellite has captured millions of pilgrims

coming together for a spiritual event that occurs once

every 12 years in this city.

naidu: this is called a kumbh mela

from the hindu religion.

It's a massive gathering of About 75 million or more people

At one time.

what is happening is, it's the meeting of the two rivers,

the ganges and the yamuna.

And there is another imaginary River that meets,

Which is named after the goddess Saraswati.

Saraswati is the goddess of Learning for hindus.

[ upbeat music ]

narrator: the number of hindu pilgrims gathering in this

one location is equal to twice the population

of the entire state of california.

they bathe in the sacred rivers to wash away their sins.

Rob: as far as religious Gatherings go,

This is one of the largest in The world.

narrator: but one question about the image still remains,

the strange red color of the mass on the shoreline.

Porges: it looks like somebody Spilled red ink onto the beach.

Naidu: so the color red is Coming from a lot of people

who wear red. red is considered a color

of energy, shakti, of force.

Marchetti: what fascinates me About this image

Is that one human standing alone Can do something.

But when a mass of humans come In together,

they can do powerful things

that we can see from outer space.

narrator: high above bolivia, a satellite reveals a dark streak

slashed across the andean plateau.

this is one of the most isolated and dangerous

places on earth.

Mike: my first reaction is, what Is going on here?

it's really puzzling.

narrator: the unidentified marking is two miles

from the remote, dusty city of uyuni, southwest bolivia.

Kourounis: what would create a Dark streak like that

Out in the desert?

narrator: the geoeye-1 satellite captures a strange

marking across the arid plains of bolivia.

Kourounis: what would create a Dark streak like that

Out in the desert?

Mike: there's no way to relate The darkened-in areas

to any phenomenon that I can think of.

It's a mystery.

narrator: meteorite hunter robert ward considers

the possibility that the mark could be evidence

of something from another world,

the impact of a meteorite.

Ward: it's a great place to hunt For meteorites,

So I'm familiar with the Terrain.

narrator: meteorites are a known hazard in this region.

on september 15, 2007,

one such meteorite struck the earth.

[ loud explosion ]

it caused a 40-foot wide impact crater

and scorched the surrounding area.

this happened near the village of carancas in peru.

just 300 miles north of the black mark.

but the shape of the mark in the satellite image

doesn't fit the profile for a meteorite strike.

ward: meteorites typically come in at a fairly high angle,

And when they hit, they're Gonna leave a round crater

Most of the time.

They have been known to leave Oblong craters

If it does come in at a very Shallow angle,

Though this is rare.

It's not gonna create a skid Mark like this,

So we know it's not a Meteorite.

narrator: the vast dark scar arouses fears

that the satellite has captured the scene

of a horrific accident.

Marchetti: the worst-case Scenario when I look at this

Image is that there's been some Sort of a massive fire,

and so if something were to have ignited,

my fear is that it burned in a pattern similar to

A wick down a stick of dynamite.

narrator: a small airport close to the black streak

offers a potential clue to how a major fire could start

in a patch of arid desert.

Porges: just two miles away, There's an airport.

Could this be the site of an Airplane

That didn't quite make it?

narrator: pilots flying to the city of uyuni

come in over the salar de uyuni salt flats.

they face nerve-shredding atmospheric conditions.

the 4,000-square-mile salt flats

are the largest on the planet.

the desert winds can whip up the salt crystals,

which can reduce visibility and blind incoming aircraft.

[ alarm blaring ]

computerized voice: pull up.

pull up.

narrator: but further analysis if the satellite image

grounds the air crash theory.

porges: when you look, you don't see any aircraft

Wreckages, no wings, no wheels, No nothing.

It has to be something else.

narrator: investigators cast the net wider.

they believe the answer may lie in the mining history

of mineral-rich bolivia and neighboring chile.

mike: the atacama desert is very dry,

Rocky area, almost no plant Growth, and very few animals.

there is, however, some industrial development there

because of the minerals that exist.

narrator: the region from the atacama desert to the bolivian

plains was once famous for its wealth of tin, copper,

silver, and nitrate reserves.

Mike: there is a long history of Mining in the atacama

Starting with exploitation of The nitrate deposits

In the early part of the 19th Century.

[ loud explosion ]

I understand that much of the gunpowder used by the british

and allied forces in world war I

Was manufactured with nitrate From the atacama.

[ horse whinnying ]

narrator: in the late 1800s, a vast network of railroads

was built to support the region's

booming mining industry.

[ bell dinging ]

but in the 1930s, disaster struck as the great depression

wiped out demand.

the trains were left to rot in the desert.

using image enhancement, the identity of the dark mark

visible from space is finally revealed.

Marchetti: what I am seeing is What I would call

A train graveyard.

It is hundreds of trains that Are just littering the earth

In this designated cemetery.

Porges: these are the trains That built

The bolivian wild west.

narrator: the locals also tell a story that one of these

trains might even have been robbed by the legendary

outlaws butch cassidy and the sundance kid.

today the trains stand as a rusting reminder of bolivia's

very own wild frontier.

Kourounis: as doomed as this Rail line was,

At least there's a remnant of it Left behind for us to enjoy.

Porges: ultimately, we're Dealing with a fantastic

Ghost train.

Captions paid for by Discovery communications