All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S03E06.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator: they're watching you.

More than 4,000 satellites
Circle the earth.

Every day, they uncover new,
Mysterious phenomena.

Some defy explanation.

You certainly don't expect
To see that every day.

Whatever it is,
It can't be good.

Narrator:
A vast, menacing shadow
Appears over the earth.

It's moving across
The pacific ocean,

But it's not long
Before it will hit land.

Narrator:
An ancient buried monument
Threatens to rewrite history.

Could give us the answers

To the genesis
Of civilization itself.

Narrator: and radar scans
Detect something unknown

In the sky above new mexico.

There's something
Actually flying out there

That we just don't know about.

Narrator: baffling phenomena,
Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

-- captions by vitac --
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Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

November 2004,
440 miles above india,

Nasa's terra
Satellite photographs

A perfectly circular lake

In an otherwise flat,
Featureless plateau.

Visitors to the lake encounter
Strange magnetic forces

Interfering
With electrical equipment

And sending compasses haywire.

It's weird.
It's -- it's not normal water.

It can create
Magnetic disturbances.

Narrator: the image comes
From the buldhana district

In the state of maharashtra,
Western india.

The 4,000-foot-wide,
Perfectly circular lake

Poses a twin puzzle
For scientists.

Along with the weird
Electromagnetic anomaly,

The lake itself doesn't
Fit the local geology.

Lonar lake has higher magnetic
Readings

Than the surrounding area.

It's definitely unique
In this terrain.

It's -- it's kind of bizarre.

Narrator: the lake is known
Locally as lonar lake

And is sacred to hindus.

Pilgrims are drawn here
By an ancient legend

That tells of
The lake's creation.

Could these tales
Offer a clue

To solving the mystery?

According to hindu myth,

The lake was once the lair
Of a murderous, demonic giant,

A wicked creature who threatened
The gods themselves.

According to hindu mythology,

The story around this lake,

It is how vishnu encounters

A demon called lonasur.

And lonasur had this
As the opening

To his subterranean cave.

Narrator: vishnu tore the roof
From lonasur's cave

And killed the demon.

It's blood became
The waters of the lake,

And the remains of the demon
Were entombed beneath.

It's possible the ancient legend

Was inspired by
Geological events

That led to the lake's creation.

Investigators consider that
The magnetic anomaly

Could be the result
Of natural processes

That formed the lake.

Brand: so the first thing I
Wonder

When I see a circular pit
Such as this

Is whether or not
It might be volcanic.

Magma, as it's coming up
Through the subsurface,

Will interact with groundwater

And become violently explosive,

Blowing a big hole
In the ground.

These holes are
Typically circular.

They're surrounded
By a rim of rubble.

And because they're depressions,
They often fill up with a lake.

Narrator: the landscape
Surrounding the mysterious lake

Is part of an ancient
Volcanic area

Known as the deccan traps.

The deccan traps
Are a massive

Quantity of basaltic lava,

Ancient basaltic lava
That erupted across india

About 65 million years ago.

Narrator: the incredible
Outpouring of basalt lava rocks

Covers a staggering
200,000 square miles,

About the size of oregon
And washington states combined.

Lester: this massive outpouring
Of lava,

Which some have even linked

To the extinction
Of the dinosaurs,

I have to wonder,
Is this crater

In some way
Linked to that volcanism?

Is there a volcano
Inside of the deccan?

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

The volcanic terrain
Is very old.

It's 65 million-year-old
Lava flows.

Because the crater
Is still so circular,

And you still see a really
Nice rim around it,

It suggests to me that,
Geologically speaking,

It's still pretty young.

While there is
Certainly evidence

That volcanic activity
Was prevalent in the past,

There's no evidence that
Volcanic activity remains today.

Narrator: the lake's
Near-perfect

Circular shape
Arouses suspicions

It may not be an entirely
Natural phenomenon.

It bears
A remarkable resemblance

To the aftermath
Of known nuclear test sites.

This lake in india looks
A lot like the sedan crater

Where the americans tested
Nuclear weapons

In the nevada desert, just south
Of groom lake,

Also known as area 51.

Narrator: in july 1962,

The us detonated a 104-kiloton
Thermonuclear bomb

600 feet below
The nevada desert.

The explosion displaced
12 million tons of earth

And produced a crater
Almost 1,300 feet wide,

The largest of its kind
In the u.S.

We know india's
A nuclear nation.

They have to test
Their weapons somewhere.

It would have to be
One heck of a blast

Because you would get the
Subsidence of the ground

Under the test.

Narrator: records reveal india
Began its nuclear program

As far back 1944

And has stockpiled over
100 nuclear weapons.

But further analysis of
The satellite image

Makes the nuclear test
Theory unlikely.

Hansen: if this was
A nuclear test,

You would expect
To see fence lines

Around the place.

You would see sensor positions
Where devices would be used

To measure
Radiation from gases

If anything escaped.

It is highly unlikely

That this was caused
By a nuclear test

Because there are people
Living in small villages

All around the area.

And that's not a place
You do a test.

If it's not
A nuclear weapons test,

Is there a more
Natural explanation

For this phenomenon?

Narrator:
Geologists consider whether the
Lake's weird magnetic properties

Could be
Extraterrestrial in origin,

From the impact
Of a large meteorite.

Objects that come from space
Are generally more magnetic

Than materials that they strike
On the terrestrial earth.

It has the typical raised rim.

It's extremely round.

It looks like
A meteorite impact crater.

Narrator: if a meteor
Created the lake,

There should still be
Evidence of the impact.

We would expect to see
Ejecta blanket, stuff

That's been blown
Out of the hole.

You would expect to find
A mineral structure

Of the materials
Has drastically changed

By the high temperatures
Associated with that impact.

Narrator:
And that's exactly what
Local geologists have found.

Lester: surrounding the crater
Are all kinds of minerals

And rock fragments
That are produced

When high pressure,

High temperature
Metamorphism occurs.

So the impactor hits.

And rock is melted
And brought to high pressure.

And we see unusual
Minerals like maskelynite.

Narrator: maskelynite
Is a glassy-looking rock

Created by the kind of
High-pressure shock waves

You get
From meteorite impacts.

It looks like
A smoking gun.

Lester: not only do we find
An ejecta blanket

Around the lonar crater,

But also we find,
In the interior of the crater,

Ground-up rock,

Pulverized rock
That has been melted

And has collapsed back
Into the crater.

Narrator: attempts to date
The meteorite strike

Have been only
Partially successful.

But it could've been as recent
As 50,000 years ago.

If this happened now,

The devastation
Would be immense.

The death toll could be
In the tens of thousands,

If not millions, if it hit
A major metropolitan area.

Narrator:
It's possible ancient folk tales
Of the apocalyptic impact

Were handed down
Through generations,

Eventually becoming the legend
Of vishnu's battle against evil.

And the meteorite also appears

To have left its mark
On the lake's inhabitants.

Some scientists believe
It's responsible

For strange magnetic
Creatures found

Living in the waters.

Reeder:
The material, as it comes
From space, is more magnetic.

When it then becomes
Incorporated

Into the surface
Of the earth,

Certain things will
Happen through time.

Ward: so as I understand,

Lonar lake has this bacteria

That contains magnetite.

And it can create
Magnetic disturbances.

Just sounds absolutely
Fascinating.

And the fact that it
Could be connected

To a meteorite fall
In ancient times,

That's pretty incredible.

Narrator: the impact of an
Extraterrestrial object

Has literally transformed
The life-forms

Living in the water.

By consuming
Magnetic minerals,

The microorganisms have become

Magnetically charged themselves.

Their weird power
Is part of the mysterious

Magnetic anomaly of lonar lake,

Making it one of
The strangest places on earth.

A japanese weather satellite

Orbiting high above
The pacific ocean

Captures a gigantic dark shape
Moving across the earth.

It looks kind of like
The shadow of the spacecraft

From the
"Independence day" movie.

It's certainly not something
You'd see every day.

This, it's gargantuan.

Narrator: march 9th, 2016.

A japanese weather satellite

Orbiting high above
The pacific ocean

Captures a gigantic dark shape
Moving across the earth.

Looks kinda like
The spacecraft

From the
"Independence day" movie

Right before it
Obliterates the city.

This, it's gargantuan.

Narrator: the black shape is
Almost 3,000 miles wide.

The satellite tracks
It moving rapidly

Across the surface of the ocean.

There's this giant black area

Almost the size of australia.

You gotta wonder
What's causing that.

Narrator: the satellite tracks
The dark shape for 4 hours.

But then it
Mysteriously disappears.

Investigators
Consider the possibility

That the ominous
Black mass is alive.

Could the black mass be
A huge swarm of insects?

Narrator:
If it is a plague of insects,

Then this is on
A biblical scale.

The largest insect swarm
Ever recorded was in 1954,

When 75 square miles
Of kenya was covered

With an estimated
10 billion desert flies.

These swarms can travel
For thousands of miles.

Might this plague
Be the dark spot

That we're viewing from space?

Narrator:
Locusts form vast, deadly swarms
When they're searching for food.

But they usually
Do this over land.

The black shape
Is moving over the ocean.

These locust swarms
Come together

And start moving looking
For new places to feed.

Sometimes, they can actually get
Sucked up into weather systems

And go out over the ocean.

In fact, in the late '80s,

One swarm moved
Almost 3,000 miles

From africa all the way
To the caribbean.

Narrator: it's possible that
Freak weather conditions

Could've blown
A locust swarm out to sea.

But the dark shape
Is clocked moving at

Almost 2,000 miles per hour,

Way too fast
For an insect swarm.

Perhaps the most
Outlandish speculation

Surrounding the dark shape

Is that it could be
The shadow of a vast

Engineering project
In earth's orbit.

Could the shadow be
A deliberate attempt

To cool the earth?

Narrator: the idea sounds
Like pure fantasy.

But it's based on actual
Research programs.

In 2001, physicists

From the lawrence
Livermore national laboratory

Presented the white house
With a radical solution

To try to combat the planet's
Rising temperatures.

Man: three, two, one.

Narrator: their plan was to put
An 800-mile-wide mirror

In space, orbiting between
The earth and the sun,

To deflect just enough heat

To help stabilize
The earth's climate.

Gough: we know that
Volcanic eruptions

Can reflect sunlight
And cause global cooling.

Might this be an attempt
To replicate that with modern,

Cutting-edge technology?

Narrator: but according to
U.S. Government data,

The giant sun mirrors are still
At the theoretical stage.

Large artificial shadows
Like this are still

In the realm of science fiction
And not science fact

Because of the large price tag

And the risk
For unforeseen consequences.

Narrator: a clue to the mystery
Lies in the date

The image was captured.

The shadow occurred
During a rare

And awe-inspiring
Celestial event.

Could this be responsible

For the darkening
Over the pacific?

On march 9, 2016,
There was a solar eclipse.

This is when the moon comes in
Between the sun and the earth,

Kinda like my fist coming
Between me and the camera.

And a shadow then appears
On the earth.

Narrator:
The dark shape is nothing less
Than the shadow of the moon

As seen from space.

It occurred over the pacific
Ocean and over indonesia.

You could see the shadow moving
Across the surface of the earth.

Narrator: during
A total eclipse,

The moon casts a shadow
Around 3,000 miles across

That travels
At around 2,000 miles per hour

As it sweeps across
The surface of the earth.

During his time on the iss,

Astronaut leroy chiao
Was one of the few people

To film the spectacle
From space.

We were told by the ground
That there was gonna be

An eclipse event.

And so we were
Kinda ready for it.

And, as I looked out the window,

I saw this dark spot

Moving pretty rapidly
Across the earth.

It did feel a little eerie
Because, you know,

It's not very often
That you get to observe,

An eclipse
Event from space.

So you don't really appreciate

How big that shadow is that's
Moving across the earth.

It's amazing to see what an
Eclipse looks like from space.

Narrator: on a remote plateau
In southern turkey,

A kurdish shepherd discovers

An intricately
Carved piece of stone

Buried in the dirt.

Satellite
And aerial imagery reveals

That the mysterious stones

Are part of a vast
Ancient structure,

One that could
Rewrite human history.

It's not a city.

It's not even a village.

It's something else.
That excites me.

Something immense was obviously
Taking place here.

I think we need
To find out what.

It could give us the answers

To the genesis
Of civilization itself.

Narrator:
1994, in southern turkey.

A kurdish shepherd
Tending his sheep

Comes across
A strange piece of carved stone.

He reports the discovery
To the authorities.

The news of the find reaches
A german archaeology team.

Within a few months, they begin
To dig into the dirt.

It took a german archaeologist

By the name of
Professor klaus schmidt

To arrive there and realize the
Significance of this site.

Narrator:
The first archaeologists
To explore this site

Could not guess
The true significance

Of what they'd encountered.

Their excavations
Started to expose

More shaped stones.

It wasn't until
Two decades later

That satellite imagery revealed

The full scale
Of the vast buried structure.

Gilbert: satellite views
Helped enormously.

We could see
Ghostly images of buildings

That had not
Yet been excavated.

What's been discovered so far

Is maybe only 10 percent
Of what's there.

It must've been huge.

Narrator: the site is located
In the south of turkey,

Near the syrian border.

It is named gobekli tepe,
Meaning potbelly hill.

The mysterious t-shaped
Monoliths baffle archaeologists.

It's probably the most unique
Site that has come up

In recent history

In terms of
Archaeological discoveries.

Notroff: these are
Huge stone rings,

Rings made of t-shaped pillars,

With vaults,

Actual monuments,

But according to
Our interpretation,

Not for living purposes,
Not domestic settlement,

But strictly ritual structures.

Collins: who constructed it?

When was it constructed
And for what purpose?

We need to get inside
The heads of these people

To find out
What they were doing

And why they built
These structures.

Narrator: the stones cover
An area larger

Than the great pyramid of giza

But, astonishingly, lay
Undiscovered for millennia.

When archaeologists
Carbon-date organic material

Unearthed at the site,
The mystery deepens.

They estimate the date
Of its construction

At around 9,500 b.C.

This predates the invention
Of the wheel.

That makes it
The oldest monumental

Architecture anywhere
In the world.

Gilbert: this is 7,000 years
Before the pyramids,

When mankind was not even
Supposed to be raising crops,

Let alone building extraordinary
Architectural monuments.

They're not meant to have that
Level of skill at that time.

And yet there it is.

Truly, it's mind-blowing.

Narrator: closer inspection
Of the site yields clues

To what the stone structures
Might've been built for.

Collins: you have circles
Of these figures

Standing around two
Huge great monoliths.

These seem to represent almost,
Like, a gateway, a portal.

But a portal to where?

Narrator: investigators examine
The possibility the gateway

Is aligned with specific
Celestial bodies.

Hanson:
One theory for gobekli tepe
Is that it's a calendar.

And that theory's based
On it's alignment with stars

As they cross over.

Ancient peoples were concerned
About the sun,

The moon, the stars.

And they would orientate
Their buildings

With that in mind.

The only thing from stonehenge,
For example,

Which is orientated
Towards the sun -- sunrise.

Collins: one star
Which the builders

Seem to be
Absolutely focused upon

Is a bright star
In the constellation

Of cygnus,
The celestial swan.

This has always been seen
By ancient cultures

As a place of entrance and exit

Into what they would've
Perceived as a sky world.

Narrator: archaeologists
Have been unable to agree

On the astral calendar theory.

And evidence gathered to date
Has proved inconclusive.

The great mystery
Of gobekli tepe is its age.

If the dating tests are right,

It's older than
The oldest human cities.

The only possible conclusion

Is that its builders
Were primitive,

Nomadic hunter-gatherers,

Previously thought incapable
Of such feats of construction.

These were rather small bands of
25 to 50 people

Roaming the areas and following
The game they were hunting.

So, small groups,

But constructing these monuments
As visible here.

Hanson: it is a testament
Not just to their technology

And their skill set,

But also their
Organization of labor.

That they were able
To muscle that much human power

To build the site is remarkable.

Narrator: the available evidence
Seems to suggest

These ancient wanderers

Used the site to meet, drink,
Eat, and find a mate.

Notroff: the whole site actually
Already gives the impression

Of some kind of gathering.

They need to get in contact

With other groups of the area
To exchange information,

To exchange goods,
Marriage partners in particular.

Narrator: archaeological finds
From the site provide evidence

Of large-scale feasts.

Notroff: we find
A lot of animal bones,

And, in particular,
It's hunted animals.

It's aurochs and gazelle.

We also found large
Stone vessels.

These vessels may hint

At the production
Of early beer, actually.

So you need to attract people.

And nothing better
When offer beer

To attract people for breakfast.

Narrator: even if gobekli tepe
Was a stone-age feasting hole,

It would force us
To rewrite human history.

But a series of carvings found
Deep within the site indicates

It could be much
More than that.

New evidence suggests
This structure

Could be the gateway
To the garden of eden.

Narrator:
Archaeologists are using
Satellite and aerial imagery

Of a site in southern turkey

To investigate an
Ancient stone structure

That threatens
To rewrite history.

Known as gobekli tepe,

The site dates to 9500 b.C.,

Thousands of years
Before the first cities.

Somehow, ancient stone-age
People built this vast

And sophisticated structure.

Archaeologists
Studying the site have now

Uncovered ornate stone carvings,

Which has led some to consider
An incredible possibility,

That this could be
A physical gateway

To the biblical garden of eden.

Collins: the carvings
On the stones are beautiful,

Of every animal and creature
Of the natural world.

We have everything
From snakes to bulls,

To birds
Of different kinds.

Plus, the stones themselves

Seem to be representations
Of human forms.

It's a man and a woman,

Some kind of mythical
Ancestors, for example.

A pair, a couple.

Narrator:
The bible doesn't pinpoint
The exact location of eden

But suggests it was somewhere
Within a vast area

Encompassing modern-day turkey,

Syria and iraq.

Collins: the book of genesis
Tells us

Where the four rivers
Of paradise

Took their course.

Now we know that two
Of those rivers

Can be easily
Identified as the euphrates

And the tigris.

So, gobekli tepe is north.

And the tigris
And the euphrates,

They come together
At the point down by the gulf.

This would seem to have been

The historical location
Of the garden of eden.

Narrator: in a very real sense,

Gobekli tepe could be the place

Where mankind used the forbidden
Fruit of knowledge

To end our primitive coexistence
With nature

And create
The first human society.

Collins: it does seem
As if gobekli tepe was

Behind these stories of the
Foundation of humanity

Being given the rudiments
Of civilization

In this place called eden.

Hanson: all sorts of sites

Have been identified
As the garden of eden.

And it is really
Impossible to either identify

Any of these specifically
As the garden of eden

Or to argue against it.

Narrator: the truth behind
The eden myth

And gobekli tepe's role

Within it remains elusive.

But almost 12,000 years
After its construction,

This awesome site still
Tells its own story

Of mankind's evolution.

They could give us
The answers to who we are,

Where we came from

And exactly what was going on

To make us create civilization

In the first place.

Narrator: we can only guess
At the motives

Of the mysterious builders.

Exactly how groups of primitive
Nomadic hunter-gatherers

Accomplished this incredible
Feat of construction

Remains unclear.

It's impressive that
A group of people

That had not yet developed

The technology for pottery

Or probably the wheel were able
To move stones this size.

It changes our belief
And our knowledge of history.

Narrator: a weather radar
In new mexico

Detects a fast-moving object

That shows up
As a bolt of red light.

As a meteorologist,
I see many things

In this image
That make perfect sense.

But there's this one thing
That's just very strange.

You don't generally see a storm
That would have a line of rain

Going straight out
From the doppler site.

Narrator:
The disturbing anomaly sparks
A major investigation.

What is that
On the radar?

Was it maybe an unidentified
Flying object?

Or was it some other thing
That's actually flying out there

That we just don't know about?

Narrator: 4:54 a.M.

On july 4, 2014.

A national weather service radar

Detects an unknown object

Apparently flying
Over new mexico.

In a series of images,

It shows up
As a moving red streak.

Local meteorologists have
No idea what it is.

Was it maybe a unidentified
Flying object?

Or was it some other thing
That's actually flying out there

That we just
Don't know about?

Is this catching
A missile launch,

Maybe from some military base?

Is it something natural?

Is it something man-made?

Narrator: the moving flash is
Captured in the desert skies

Just west of el paso, texas.

Weather radar works
By transmitting microwaves

To detect developing
Weather systems.

These usually show up as
Colored shapes on the screens.

Radar bounces these microwaves
Off of an object.

And how many of those
Microwaves come back gives us

An image of what
That object is.

We call it a return, an echo.

It's sending out a beam.
And it's --

That beam is bouncing off
Of objects in the atmosphere.

And if it's something,
Like a lot of rain or hail,

You'll get a lot
Of reflection back.

So when you're
Looking at a radar,

Generally you see blobs.

But if you have something
That's very straight,

You start to consider
Other things

That the radar
Could be detecting.

Narrator:
The perfectly straight bolt-like
Streak arouses suspicions

Something could be interfering

With the radar's
Computer systems.

Such interference can be

The result of a burst
Of solar radiation.

So oftentimes,
When you look at radar,

You see batches of storms,
Greens and reds.

But sometimes you see
Unusual images on a radar.

And a sun spike
Would be one of them.

Narrator: sun spikes appear
When a radar receiver

Is aimed directly at the sun.

This can occur
At sunrise or sunset,

When the sun
Is low in the sky.

A powerful dose of solar energy
Hitting the radar square on

Can result in weird
Straight lines on the readout.

The radar itself is scanning

At a very low
Angle off the horizon.

And so when the sun
Rises off the horizon

At sunrise or sets
On the horizon at sunset,

That's when the radar can scan
Right into the solar disk

And get that energy
From the sun,

Creating a sun spike.

When you see a sun spike,
You see

A bright piece of material

All the way
From the center of the image,

Out some distance away.

Imagine looking through a straw

And all of a sudden,
You see the sunlight.

Along that path,
You get a very bright light.

Narrator: but the timing
And shape

Of the streak's
Appearance casts doubt

On the sun spike theory.

We know that this event

Happened a couple hours
Before sunrise.

And because sun spikes
Require the sun to be up,

This could not be a sun spike.

If it's not a sun spike,
I don't know what it could be.

It's certainly not
Something due to the sun.

Narrator: investigators consider
Whether the red streak

Could be a telltale sign
Of a violent intruder...

...From outer space,

A shooting star or meteor

Blasting through
Earth's atmosphere

In the skies
Above new mexico.

Miller: meteors
Strike earth every day.

And they come in all sizes,

From small specks of sand
All the way up to giants

That can destroy cities
Or civilizations.

A weather radar
Can pick up meteorites

As they fall through
The same process

That it would use
To detect rainfall.

If it happens to be there
In the atmosphere at the moment

The radar shot its energy,

Then it'll see it.

Narrator: meteorologists
Uncover evidence

That could support
The extraterrestrial theory.

There has been at least
One occurrence

Of a weather radar

Being able to detect meteorites
As they're falling.

It's a very rare
Kind of phenomenon.

You wouldn't expect
To see that all the time.

But it has happened.

Narrator: but the timing of
The bright streak's appearance

Doesn't coincide with any
Reported meteorite sightings.

It's very unlikely that
This is a meteor fall,

Based on the fact
That the feature

Is seen in multiple
Scans of the radar,

Which means
That it was present

For more than just
An instant in time.

Narrator: if the streak isn't
Something from space,

Then is the radar picking up
Something much closer to home?

A possible answer
To the mystery comes

When investigators discover
What's on the ground

At the location
Where the streak appeared.

But I'm looking at this,
And I see that there

Are no thunderstorms around.

I see that this object

Is not traveling along
A major interstate,

And I see that it's very early
In the morning

But when you kinda look over

And you look at the railroad
Tracks, guess what.

It's traveling right along
The railroad tracks.

Narrator:
When the radar image is lined up
With a map of the area,

The bright streak
Is found to lie

Directly over the railroad line

Heading out from el paso
Across new mexico.

Yura: I've seen a lot of
Interesting things on radar

In my long career
In the national weather service.

But this is obviously
Definitely a mystery

Until you kind of really look

At some of
The interesting aspects

Of where
The railroad tracks are

And what else
Is going around the area.

Narrator: but it's
Not quite case closed.

The railroad has been here
For over 100 years.

Even though trains run
On this line every day,

The red streak has
Never been seen before.

For it to appear now,

Something strange
Must be going on.

Meteorologists
Believe it came down

To a unique set
Of weather conditions.

So this is only gonna happen
When it's perfect clear skies,

When there's nothing else
That can possibly be mistaken,

Other than the objects

That the radar beam itself
Is hitting upon.

Weather radar could
Pick up trains

On certain types
Of weather days,

If you have some
Warmer air aloft

That can reflect or deflect
Some of those beams

And pick up some of
Those objects or,

In this instance, a train.

It looks pretty neat

When you can see
That on the screen.

Narrator: satellite
Archaeologists investigate

An ancient line of rocks snaking
For almost 100 miles

Across the barren
Deserts of jordan.

Lester: there's no trackways.

This was probably done by hand.

It's a lot of work.

Narrator: no one knows who built
The stone wall or why.

People don't create
Isolated walls

In the middle of a desert

Unless they're trying to protect
Or defend something.

Wow.
This is incredible.

This hand ax means
That this wall

Could have been constructed
In prehistoric times.

Narrator: 1948, war rages
Across the middle east

As the new nation
Of israel fights

For its very existence.

A british diplomat
On a survey flight

Over the conflict zone spots

Something unusual,

A line of rocks snaking
Across the barren landscape

Out in the middle of nowhere.

People don't create
Isolated walls

In the middle of the desert

Unless they're trying to protect
Or defend something.

Narrator: for half a century
After the discovery,

Archaeologists are unable
To offer any explanation

As to who built
The line and why.

The sighting comes from
The ard es sawwan desert

In what is today part of jordan.

In 1998,
The mysterious structure

Becomes the subject
Of a detailed

Aerial imaging survey.

But the imagery raises
More questions than answers.

I don't see any evidence
Of modern machinery.

There's no trackways.

This was probably done by hand.

It's a lot of work.

Narrator: modern satellite
Images reveal the line

Of stones is far larger
Than initial estimates.

It's very long.

It's a very substantial
Structure across 90 miles.

Lester: this might be hard
To recognize on the ground.

You'd have to be right on top
Of this line of stones.

And you'd probably also have
To be walking along it

To see that it has
This great extent to it.

Narrator: investigators look to
The surrounding area

For clues to the mysterious
Builders' identity.

Close to where
The image was taken

Is the legendary city of petra,

Capital of the ancient
Nabataean empire.

It's tempting to link it
To the city of petra,

Which is only 12 miles away

And was thriving
About 2,000 years ago.

Hanson: the nabataeans were
A local ruling empire

That built this
Phenomenal city in the desert

Because they were on
A trade network.

Narrator:
Petra and the nabataeans
Who built it remain an enigma.

But the few facts
Known about them

Could still shed light
On the mystery.

The nabataeans controlled
A vital desert trade route

Called the incense trail.

Some experts believe
It could be connected

With the line of stones.

The incense trail
Was a network

Of trading routes

That went all the way

From the eastern side
Of the arabian peninsula

As far as the mediterranean.

Hanson: in ancient times,

Incense was a very valuable
Commodity and something

That was used throughout
The ancient world.

Trading was vitally
Important to communities.

And it was a way for people

To display luxury
And wealth and power.

It's possible that the stones

Could mark an ancient road.

Narrator: local archaeologist
Fawzi abudanah heads out

To the desert to examine
The mysterious structure.

He looks for any clues
Among the stones

That could indicate
When it was built.

Abudanah: when we talk about the
Date of the lines,

We can see
Some dateable materials,

Especially pottery shards.

And this shard
Could be easily dated.

And I believe,
To judge it from the rim

Of what used to be
A roman pottery object,

I can say that this could be

1st, 2nd,
Or even 3rd century a.D.

Narrator: the discovery of roman
Pottery suggests the structure

Was being used
Up to 2,000 years ago.

The date is right
For the incense trail.

But whatever this thing is,

Close examination
Doesn't back up the idea

It's any kind of road.

Hanson: the stones are piled up
And not flat.

It doesn't necessarily
Look like something

That could be
Used as a road.

Narrator: at ground level,
It's clear the structure

Is more likely
Some kind of wall.

But it's purpose
Is still unclear.

So one starts to think,

Well, is it some
Sort of line of defense?

Is it a border of some kind?

This is the edge
Of our territory.

This is the edge of yours.

You stay your side.

We'll stay ours.

Hanson: it's difficult to tell
Based on satellite imagery,

But it's possible

That this was part of
A defensive structure

Against some sort of
Invading force.

Narrator:
Petra was rumored to contain
Vast hidden treasures.

It was a prime target
For marauding tribes

And armies of conquest
From the roman

And muslim arab empires.

But what remains
Of the wall today

Doesn't look like it
Would be much of an obstacle

To an invading army.

As we can see here,
The wall is not too big,

Is not wide,
Is not high enough.

So it's not really a
Fortification.

Even if we reconstruct this,

We would see basically a small,
Thin wall,

Perhaps not very tall at all,
Which tells you,

Again, it's really easily

Breached if it was meant
To be defensive.

So it wouldn't be
Very functional.

Narrator:
If the wall was not built
To defend the nabataean empire,

Then what was it for?

Perhaps the most
Compelling theory

For the line of stones

Is that it could have
Been used in farming.

This particular feature
Reminds me of boundary stones

That we have
Around the world.

So think of, say,

Divides between
Agricultural landscapes.

Food security would have
Been very important,

Especially in an area
Such as jordan,

Which is, of course, dry.

So the areas that one can
Irrigate would be very limited.

So therefore, demarcating
And separating land

Where you can do agriculture
Versus pastoral activities

Would be extremely important.

Narrator: a 90-mile long
Wall of rock

Just to separate crops

And livestock
Might sound incredible.

But longer
Agricultural boundaries

Do exist elsewhere on earth.

Altaweel: in australia,
There's a so-called dingo fence,

Which is basically
A 3,000-mile-long wall

To keep away dingoes
From agriculture areas.

Could this be an
Ancient version of that?

Narrator: the mystery
Deepens further

With the discovery
Of what abudanah believes

Is a series of ancient
Encampments.

Now these enclosures could
Have been used for animals,

As animal corrals.

Or they could have been used

As camps, seasonal camps

When people
Come to this area,

Either for agricultural
Activities or for, well, hunting

Because we know that

Some wild animals
Used to graze

In this area.

Narrator: a second discovery
Sends shock waves

Through the
Archaeological community.

It raises the prospect
That the stone wall

And the encampments
Are much older

Than anyone thought possible.

Wow.
This is incredible.

This is a hand axe!

Hand axes were used in
Prehistoric times,

Mainly in
The paleolithic period.

That's about
100,000 years ago.

This hand ax means
That this wall

Could have been constructed
In prehistoric times.

Narrator: the primitive humans
Who used such tools

Have never been known to build
Large, permanent structures.

It could force
Scientists to rethink

What early humans
Were capable of.

The wall raises
Exciting possibilities.

But it's extraordinary age
Means the identities

And motives
Of it's mysterious builders

Will likely remain unknown.

Who built the wall and why?

It's still a mystery.