Original subtitles

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 -- Www.Vitac.Com

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.