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.

Bam. This sticks out Like a sore thumb.

What could do that?

Narrator: Tanks face off against

An unidentified object In the antarctic snow.

Four vehicles that are Pointing toward something

That fell out Of the sky.

L.A.'s largest reservoir Mysteriously changes color.

L.A. Is in trouble.

They're gonna have To start pumping water

From somewhere else.

Narrator: and an unseen force Tears through northern mexico.

Lorenz: if this wasn't just The quake,

What else could be causing the Earth to tear apart like this?

Narrator: baffling phenomena, Mysteries from space,

What on earth are they?

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Narrator: Six miles from the northern

Syrian village Of ghassaniyah stands

An oddly shaped Hill known as tell qarqur.

It looks like An ordinary hill,

Albeit in the middle of nowhere.

But it is so much more.

It's an absolute gold mine For archaeologists.

Tell qarqur is one of the most Important sites in syria.

It's actually not A natural mountain.

It's built up through time

And human occupation As the buildings

Are built one on top of another.

The mound contains The remains

Of 10,000 years Of human history.

There is nowhere else In the world like it.

Narrator: In 2011, a violent uprising

Against the syrian Government escalates

Into civil war.

Archaeologists on the site Are forced to evacuate.

Sadly, tell qarqur is no longer An archaeological site.

Uh, it's a battlefield.

Narrator: The only way the archaeologists

Can monitor the site Is by satellite.

When the pull up The satellite images,

What they see Is alarming.

What we were looking At is a series of tanks,

Um, standing guard.

Narrator: The images give no clue

To who owns the tanks

Or what they're looking for.

Who is actually Occupying the site?

Could it be assad's forces?

Could it be isis? We just don't know.

So you have to ask yourself, What are they doing there?

Narrator: the immediate fear Of archaeologists

Is that tell Qarqur is being looted.

One of the great tragedies Of this civil war

Is that it has provided

An unprecedented Opportunity for looters.

Narrator: this are is in the Grip of extremists

Who have turned looting Into an official business.

They grant permits to looters.

The monies received From the sale

Of these looted antiquities

Is going straight back To fund further atrocities

By these extremist groups.

Narrator: the presence of tanks In the image suggests

Whoever's looting the site

Isn't looking For a few trinkets.

So if they're looking For historical artifacts,

And they have tanks,

You've got to think that What they're looking

For must be pretty important.

Narrator: some believe that The strange activity

At tell qarqur could be related To a legend born

In the nearby city Of ancient antioch.

Tuttle: Antioch plays a major role In the development of myths

And legends and power

Throughout much Of western history.

Narrator: the people in the Tanks could be searching

For an archaeological Treasure believed by many

To have changed The course of history --

The fabled spear of destiny.

The spear of destiny, Sometimes referred to

As the holy lance, Was believed to be the spear

That pierced the side of jesus

When he was being Executed on the cross.

Because it touched The savior's blood,

It became imbued With the ability

To grant its possessor Unlimited power.

Narrator: the spear of destiny Vanished from sight

Until 1098, When the city of

Antioch was besieged By the saracens.

An army of crusaders

Trapped inside Was near to death.

Krueger: they had been there For several months.

And they were s-- Starving.

They were thirsty.

And they were really desperate.

Narrator: On the verge of defeat, One crusader,

A peasant by the name Of peter bartholomew

Received a vision From st. Andrew.

It told him that the spearhead

Of the holly lance Was buried nearby.

So the crusaders began To dig around.

And they created This big hole.

Peter bartholomew Comes up to the hole,

Reaches his hand in

And pulls out The holy lance.

Inspired by the spearhead,

Peter bartholomew Led the crusaders

Out of the city To break the siege.

Ever since then, The spear is rumored

To render invincible Whoever wields it.

Narrator: the spear of destiny Became one of christianity's

Most sacred And important holy relics.

But its whereabouts Are a mystery.

Since the time of the crusades,

Uh, holy relics have been

An essential Component of christianity.

Fragments of bones of saints, Whether it's a finger bone

Or a skull or fragments Of the original cross

Have literally Criss-crossed europe

And the middle east For the last 1,000 years.

Objects appear, they disappear, They move around,

They -- they crop up as --

As far away as persia.

And they move.

Narrator: Some believe the spear

Could still be hidden somewhere In the holy land,

Perhaps at a site Like tell qarqur.

There's been all sorts Of people looking for it,

Especially among Military leaders

And political leaders in The middle east and elsewhere.

Hitler himself became obsessed

With obtaining the spear.

And during the early years Of world war ii

Actually dispatched A team of scientists

To try and locate it In the holy land.

It's not impossible To think that, uh,

Military and religious fanatics

Might have a special interest In that place

In the hopes of finding

This legendary weapon Of invincibility.

Invincible jihadists --

Now, that Is the stuff of nightmares.

Narrator: No one knows if the forces

In the image are actually Looking for the spear.

The only thing that is certain

Is that the syrian conflict Is putting tell qarqur

And countless other Archaeological sites at risk.

Altaweel: it's devastating to me On many levels.

You're seeing the damage That's occurring.

And you know deep down That this is affecting

What we're gonna know About the ancient past.

Narrator: Satellite surveillance records A massive underground

Blast in north korea.

The rogue nation claims

It's detonated a hydrogen bomb.

[ foreign ]

If north korea has access To a hydrogen bomb,

That raises the stakes in Northeast asia exponentially.

At atom bomb can wipe out A couple of blocks.

A hydrogen bomb, We're talking about

Wiping out an entire city.

Narrator: november 3, 2015,

The pleiades Satellite photographs

Highly suspicious activity At a remote

Weapons test site In north korea.

Driscoll: This is one of the most Secure locations in north korea.

Could be equivalent To their area 51.

What happens here Has ramifications

Not just for east asia,

But for the rest of the world.

Narrator: On january 6, 2016,

Just weeks after the disturbing Satellite image was taken,

North korean state Tv broadcasts

A triumphant statement.

Hansen: In the initial press releases,

The north koreans claimed That it was a hydrogen bomb

That they tested.

Narrator: observers in the west Doubt that north korea

Has the know-how To make a hydrogen bomb.

Can satellite images

Of the test site help Establish the truth?

It looks like a big, Huge mountain

With a whole bunch Of tunnels going into it.

Narrator: the site, known as The punggye-ri complex,

Is hidden in the mountains In the north of the country,

33 miles from The sea of japan.

North korea claims To have conducted at least

Three atomic bomb Explosions here.

The photograph taken Just prior to the claimed

H-bomb test Shows evidence

That a new tunnel Is being built.

Image analyst melissa hanham Looks for signs

Of weapons of mass destruction.

One of the really Important things

We track are what Are called spoil piles.

Here's an example Right here.

The spoil piles Are essentially dirt

That's being pulled Out of the mountain.

And so whenever We see the dirt pile

Increasing and growing in size,

We know they're Building a new tunnel.

And we know that they're Potentially getting ready

For a new location to test.

Narrator: The scale of the activity Implies that the new tunnel

Is deeper than previous ones,

Suggesting preparation For a bigger bomb.

If you're going To all the trouble

To upgrade a test site,

Why would you be doing that If you weren't about

To test something new?

Narrator: If north korea has mastered The technology required

For a hydrogen bomb,

It represents a quantum leap

In the rogue nation's Destructive capabilities.

The most powerful H-bomb explosion

In history took place in 1961,

When the soviets tested The tsar bomba hydrogen bomb.

It was almost 4,000 Times more powerful

Than the hiroshima Nuclear blast.

An atomic bomb Is a kiloton weapon --

Thousands of pounds of tnt.

A hydrogen bomb Is megaton weapon,

Which is millions of pounds Of tnt equivalent, much,

Much more devastating.

Narrator: if north korea does Have h-bomb capability,

The terrifying prospect is that They might actually use it.

The country has A reputation

For unpredictable Demonstrations of power.

And its leader, kim jong-un,

Is as ruthless as he Is determined to join

The nuclear big league.

I'm very concerned. I'm concerned for our future.

I'm concerned because We have an unstable head

Of that north korean government

Who doesn't seem to have Much of a conscience.

Narrator: if the koreans had Exploded an h-bomb,

Observers would expect to see The telltale earth tremors

Caused by its shock waves.

So within minutes of the north Korean tv announcement,

Analysts check seismic data.

An underground nuclear test Is like an earthquake.

Seismic data tells You a lot.

Hansen: You can locate the center

Within a range Of a few kilometers

Where the test Actually took place.

Narrator: figures reveal a large Disturbance beneath punggye-ri,

Measuring 5.1 on The richter scale,

Strong enough to be felt As far away as china.

Moran: seismographs actually Detected massive tremors

Coming from north korea,

Which is consistent

With the testing Of nuclear weapons.

Narrator: Seeking more precise evidence,

Intelligence agencies send A satellite equipped

With state-of-the-art Sensor technology

To survey punggye-ri.

We can use what's called Synthetic aperture radar.

Uh, this radar Would take advantage

Of very minute Differences in the terrain.

Uh, and they've used it before

To find the epicenter Of earthquakes.

You'd expect the testing Of an h-bomb to leave

Some sort of visible mark

On the surface, even though It's happening underground.

Narrator: the satellite Makes its pass.

Analysts cannot see any Major damage in the pictures.

Moran: you'd think a bomb Of this power

Would lead to landslides Or rock falls.

But if we look at images

Just taken 40 minutes After the alleged test,

We see nothing of the kind.

Narrator: the combined evidence Suggests the explosion

Was not an h-bomb,

But rather an ordinary nuke With a small hydrogen booster.

One possible explanation Is the activity at punggye-ri

Could be an elaborate bluff To fool western observers.

It's not even about Nuclear ambition, per se.

It's threat level.

Their need is to create A credible threat.

If north korea tells Their state television

To run another image Of a big hydrogen bomb

Explosion, people in japan Notice that.

Narrator: Most observers dismiss

North korea's hydrogen Bomb claim.

But later inquiries reveal Worrying new information.

The test at punggye-ri

Was conducted more Than twice

As deep underground

As original assessments Indicated,

The right depth For an h-bomb.

A satellite takes An alarming picture

Of l.A.'s largest reservoir.

It's completely black. This is really bizarre.

Narrator: has the water somehow Been contaminated?

If that's what's happening here, Then l.A. Is in trouble.

Narrator: july 2015.

The worldview-2 surveillance Satellite passes

Almost 480 miles above Southern california.

From orbit, it captures

A startling image Of l.A.'s largest reservoir.

It's completely black. This is really bizarre.

It actually looks a little bit

Like it's being filled With black ink.

Black water's not desirable.

Wonder if something Bad is going on here.

Narrator: earlier images Of the reservoir show

That the water Turned black in 2015.

I mean, here, You're talking about

3.3 billion gallons of water Turning from blue to black.

What could do that?

Narrator: satellite analyst Amanda marchetti

Takes a look at the image.

As an image scientist,

I think this could Just be related to the angle

At which the satellite Took the picture.

So you might get a different Type of reflection bouncing

From the water Back to the satellite,

Just slight enough to make it Look visually different.

Narrator: but while a change In camera angle

could alter the color Of the water,

The change is not Usually so drastic.

Typically, if something Looks different,

It looks slightly different.

But what we're seeing Is a dramatic difference --

From blue to black.

Narrator: there are all kinds Of other reasons

Why water could turn black -- None of them good.

The most obvious Is contamination.

When you see black On top of water,

One of the questions That comes to mind

Is whether this is oil.

Was there an oil spill?

If you look at a satellite Image of an oil spill,

It's jet black.

Uh, so this is Very similar to that.

Maybe it's oil.

Narrator: it sounds crazy That oil could

Contaminate a reservoir Of drinking water

In such a public area.

But l.A.'s unique geology Poses very real dangers.

Just 18 miles from where The image was taken,

Black oil bubbles to the surface Of a dark turgid pool.

Muller-karger: los angeles has A very famous place

Called the la brea tar pits.

It's an area where oil bubbles Up to the surface naturally.

They're famous because A lot of prehistoric animals

Were trapped in them.

And so they're a rich source Of fossils and bones to study.

Narrator: this tar is actually Asphalt-rich oil,

Trapped in 15-million-year-old

Rock that stretches for miles

Beneath the city Of los angeles.

L.A.'s infamous earthquakes Cause these rocks to crack,

Pushing the asphalt To the surface,

Raising the disturbing Possibility

That something similar has Happened beneath the reservoir.

Mike: did an earthquake cause Some cracks below the surface

That allowed oil or tar

To flow from those pits

Into this reservoir?

Narrator: it's possible.

But there's an obvious Flaw in the theory.

Only problem with that is that if it was an oil spill

That contaminated 3.3 billion gallons

Of l.A.'s drinking water,

Everybody would know about it. It'd be top news.

It has to be something else.

Narrator: amanda marchetti Examines previous

Satellite images Searching for clues

To what might be Contaminating the reservoir.

She spots something Running along

The edge of the water That might provide an answer.

What we're looking At here is just

A blue california reservoir.

But if you look around The circumference,

You'll see a large amount Of algae starting to accumulate.

The later image Goes pitch black.

That might lend a say

That that algae grew expansively

To cover the full reservoir.

Narrator: Biologists have observed Algae transforming water

Color elsewhere.

Rob: in 2002, there was A giant body

Of water off the coast Of florida

That turned black.

Satellites tracked a mass Of black water

Over 60 miles wide In the gulf of mexico.

The dark stain Was a perfect storm

Of toxic algae mixing

With brown swamp water From the everglades

To create a killer combination.

Muller-karger: when the two met, You end up

With a mass of water That absorbs

Almost all the light That falls onto it.

And it looks black.

Satellite images charted The deadly black water

Spreading along The florida coast.

It killed millions of fish

And devastated the coral reefs.

If that's what's happening here, Then were in trouble.

L.A. Is in trouble.

You have harmful algal blooms.

They're gonna have To start pumping water

From somewhere else.

Narrator: but there's one Crucial difference

Between l.A.'s black pool

And florida's dark water.

Fortunately, these deadly Black-water-forming harmful

Algal blooms Occur in salt water.

And the reservoir is freshwater.

So it's highly unlikely That this perfect storm

Would be occurring here.

Narrator: it's not algae.

But no less alarming

Is the possibility That scientists

Could have turned the reservoir Black in the process

Of conducting A bizarre experience

With l.A.'s drinking water.

Scientists will use dye In a body of water

When they want to find out Which way the water flows

Or how water enters Into a system.

Narrator: so has black dye been

Added to the sylmar reservoir Intentionally?

Mike: dyes could be used to Detect leakage from a reservoir.

But black seems an unlikely Choice for that purpose.

A red dye would be Much more visible.

The amount of dye That you would need to color

An entire lake

That is just an enormous Amount of chemical

That you would have to dump Into a public water system.

Narrator: if dye was visible In the water system,

There would be a public outcry.

Mike: you can imagine if someone Turns on the kitchen faucet,

And black water comes out.

There would be a call to The water company immediately.

And in los angeles, there would Be thousands of calls.

I don't think this is dye In this water.

Narrator: meteorologists believe That what's happening

Is a man-made response

To an environmental crisis That is burning l.A.

Over the last 4 To 5 years in california,

They have experienced One of the most severe droughts

They've ever had on record.

This is something That has concerned

The populations of that area.

And one of The unfortunate things,

Of course, is that That population is growing.

If we can't make more rain,

We've got to be able To protect water

That is actually already there.

And so a lot of scientists Have come up with different ways

To try to protect the water.

Narrator: l.A.'s water authority Spent $34.5 million

To come up with A unique solution.

They dumped 96 million Black plastic balls

Into the reservoir,

Turning it from blue to black.

This is a 4-inch plastic ball

That we're actually using To protect the water

From the sunlight To stop evaporation

And protect the water Quality in the reservoir.

Narrator: The balls shade the water,

Reducing evaporation By 90%.

But a reservoir like We're out here

In the san fernando valley,

This reservoir on a hot Summer month can evaporate

16 inches of water in 1 month.

This virtually stops that.

So it'll save close To 300 million gallons

Of water a year.

Narrator: but why are The balls black?

Adams: The reason it's black is

Because black helps absorb The ultraviolet light.

And so it doesn't degrade In the sunlight

Like normal plastic would.

Rob: Ninety-six million black balls?

That's a lot of balls.

Narrator: cruising almost 480 miles above the south pole,

A satellite captures A chilling image

That causes A global controversy.

Moran: Four tanks in the antarctic?

There aren't supposed to be Any tanks down there.

There are all Kinds of theories

About what this image Is showing.

Narrator: 2015, a startling Image of an antarctic snowfield

Makes worldwide news.

Four perfectly rectangular Shapes all lined up

In the antarctic wilderness.

That's really strange.

It looks as if there are Four structures or four vehicles

That are pointing Towards something

That looks suspiciously Like it fell out of the sky.

So what is this object That they're pointing towards?

Narrator: Online speculation into what Might have crashed in antarctica

Goes into overdrive.

Social medias had A really fun time

Suggesting that maybe this is Some kind of a crash,

Maybe of a ufo.

Maybe this is, uh, An example of first contact.

Narrator: to dismiss rumors Of a ufo crash site,

Analysts have to identify What this really is.

To many, the possibility

That these shapes Could be tanks

Is more frightening Than any imagined ufo.

Well, it -- it looks like tanks,

Especially the one On the far right

And the one on the far left

'cause you think You see turrets.

Four tanks in the antarctic?

There aren't supposed to be Any tanks down there.

Narrator: tanks are banned From antarctica

By international treaty.

There's an antarctic treaty

Which states that All the countries

That send researchers And scientists to antarctica

Cannot bring military Equipment with them.

Narrator: some nations Do still maintain

A strong military presence In antarctica.

Pavelec: officially, the Military personnel on antarctica

Are only there to support The scientific teams

And make sure that They're taken care of.

Narrator: so if these are Modern battle tanks,

Something sinister Must be going on.

Pavelec: if you look closely,

They look like They could be

Potentially pointing Towards something.

Moran: The way they're positioned looks Almost threatening,

Almost as if they're lined up To attack something.

Narrator: The image arouses fears

The satellite has spied A covert military operation.

Moran: there's plenty worth Fighting for in antarctica.

The mineral deposits Could be worth billions.

Carlin: if I told you there Was 10 trillion gallons

Of oil underneath there,

And it's the next saudi arabia,

Nothing you do is going to stop Somebody from going in there

And trying to take that.

Narrator: the freezing cold war To secure polar riches

Has already begun.

In recent years, russia has Moved thousands of troops

And armored vehicles into The arctic circle,

Near the north pole.

The nightmare scenario is that The resurgent former superpower

Could be trying to stake a claim In antarctica, as well.

If russia is trying To put troops in antarctica,

There's not gonna be much Anyone can do to stop them.

No treaty is going To stand in the way.

It's a piece of paper. It's ice.

Who cares? No, it's oil.

Well, now, we -- we invade The whole middle east for oil.

Narrator: the lack of Any obvious explanation

For the image fuels Online speculation

Of cover-ups and ufos.

Could it be possible this thing

Really did crash From outer space?

Maybe we don't need Any crazy conspiracy theories.

We've got four vehicle, Or maybe four structures,

Facing something that looks Like it fell out of the sky.

So what could that be?

Antarctica is actually The best hunting ground

In the world for meteorites That are fallen to the earth.

Cerveny: if you suddenly see a Black rock sitting on white ice,

The odds are that rock might Have come from the sky.

So it's easier To find meteorites

In a place like antarctica.

Narrator: meteorite Hunters use snowmobiles

Spaced 100 feet apart

To scan the ice For extraterrestrial rocks.

In the image,

The vehicles are approximately 100 feet from each other.

Cerveny: if that trench is a Meteorite,

Maybe those are Four vehicles of scientists

That have come out To investigate a meteorite.

These objects, however, look as If they're covered with snow,

As if they've been there For a long time.

So if it's A meteorite-hunting party,

They would tend To move around a lot.

So it's probably Not that either.

Narrator: it's only when they Get a wider image

That investigators begin

To realize what they're Actually looking at.

Cerveny: if we expand out From this particular area,

What we're gonna find Is that this image was taken

Right next to the main

U.S. Base in antarctica, Mcmurdo station.

Narrator: mcmurdo station is On the southern

Tip of ross island In west antarctica.

During peak activity,

It's home to over 1,000 Scientists and support staff.

Brunt: mcmurdo's A really large place.

You can imagine that When you set up a base

In a really remote area, You need everything.

You need power, Water, food, lodging.

Narrator: Everything in mcmurdo gets flown

In via the base's Permanent ice runway.

Located more than 4 miles

From the base On a vast ice sheet,

It just so happens This location

Is exactly where The mystery image was taken.

You actually land planes Out on a frozen ice shelf.

This is probably Some equipment

That was associated With that airport.

Narrator: The tentative answer to the Mystery poses another question,

Why have these vehicles been Abandoned to the snow?

Cerveny: in a place like Mcmurdo, even a fairly minor

Blizzard can dump A few inches of snow.

And that's gonna be Enough to cover, uh,

Vehicles so that you would have To go a few days later

After the storm And dig them all out.

Narrator: The story of the tanks

Facing off against The crashed ufo

Is a stark reminder Of the dangers

Of taking such images At face value.

In a place as sensitive As antarctica,

A simple satellite photograph

Has the power To shake the world.

A mysterious crack tears

Across the land In northern mexico.

First thing you might Think of is an earthquake.

Narrator: but no earthquake Has been recorded here.

What else could be Causing the earth

To tear apart like this?

Narrator: August 16, 2014.

A drone capturing images In hermosillo, northwest mexico,

Reveals shocking footage Of a crack in the earth

That seems to have Appeared overnight.

The earth has literally Ripped itself apart.

Narrator: sixteen feet wide And 25 feet deep,

The gaping chasm has devastated Everything in its path,

Including farmland And a link road to highway 26,

A vital artery Which connects hermosillo

To the rest of mexico.

I think the crack Near hermosillo, mexico,

Is sort of shocking In its abruptness.

You've got the desert landscape.

And then all of a sudden, Very crisp clean walls

And a deep fissure into The earth. It's kind of weird.

A crack of that Magnitude indicates

That something is moving In the earth

On a rather large scale.

Narrator: this part of mexico Is one of the world's

Most seismically active areas.

First thing you might think Of is an earthquake.

This area of Northwest mexico is --

Is really earthquake country.

You have the north american Plate and the pacific plate,

Which are rubbing Past each other

In what we call A transform boundary.

Narrator: the tectonic plate Movement creates cracks

By displacing the earth.

In fact, an earthquake occurred

Nearby just a few days Before the crack appeared.

There was a magnitude 5.5 Earthquake in baja, california,

Which isn't that far From hermosillo.

Narrator: shocks in this region Have caused devastation,

Blocking roads, Destroying buildings

And leaving hundreds injured

And trapped under rubble.

But the amount of time that Passed between the earthquake

And the appearance of the crack

Makes it look like Some other unknown force

Is at work on the land.

Typically, When cracks are formed

By earthquakes, They're instantaneous.

As soon as The earthquake occurs,

The ground ruptures And breaks open.

After the crack was spotted, It continued to grow,

Which tells me That it was something

Going on locally Under the ground

That was controlling the size,

Shape and evolution Of this particular feature.

Narrator: The crack is still growing.

That suggests whatever Is causing the earth

To split open Is still happening.

Lorenz: something Special caused the crack.

If this wasn't just a quake,

What else could be Causing the earth

To tear apart like this?

Narrator: experts consider Whether mineral exploitation

Could be having a disastrous Impact on the landscape.

One possible explanation For the appearance of a crack

At the surface might be To do with fracking,

Which is a relatively Controversial way

Of extracting natural gas.

Narrator: fracking involves Injecting jets of water

At high pressure into the ground

To force open cracks Beneath the surface.

But fracking is not Intended to create

Such huge fissures in the rock.

The whole point of fracking

Is to increase The permeability of the rock

To have lots and lots

Of little microcracks, Microfractures.

The last thing you want Is a big honkin' crack.

Petford: damage of the earth's Surface

From something Which is taking place

2 or 3 miles below the earth Is not impossible,

But is incredibly unlikely.

Narrator: geologists At the nearby university

Of sonora theorize That the terrifying crack

Could have been created By vast quantities of water

Being sucked out of the ground,

Leaving the surface To crack apart.

One of the first things Geologists think

Of when they hear about, Uh, holes or cracks

Opening up, uh, is -- Is groundwater.

In the agricultural industry,

They rely on groundwater to -- To water their plants.

And essentially, What they do

Is they drill holes Into the ground.

And they suck The water out.

Narrator: In this arid landscape,

Farmers need a vast amount

Of water to irrigate All their crops.

They extract water from Below the earth's surface,

Which could inadvertently Lower the water table

And create cracks Where the land has dried out.

Could groundwater have dropped Or been removed?

The place where That water was collapses.

It leaves some kind of a void.

And that can very Frequently result in cracks.

Narrator: nasa scientists have Recently warned that the problem

Might not be confined to mexico.

Widespread Groundwater losses could create

A wave of similar collapses All over the world.

You don't need to completely Remove the groundwater

For the ground to subside.

And in fact, we saw, At the bottom of the crack,

That there was a stream Of water flowing.

You only need to remove Some of the groundwater

For subsidence to occur.

Narrator: if this monstrous Crack truly

Is caused by Extreme agriculture,

The disturbance won't Go away any time soon.

And the crack Is getting wider.

A remarkable Satellite photograph

Causes a frenzy Of online speculation.

It kind of looks Like a ghost.

That would actually have To be the ghost of a giant.

Narrator: An investigation uncovers

A disturbing truth Behind the hype.

Everybody in that Village had to leave.

They were forced Out of their homes.

It was a complete nightmare.

There's something Strange going on here.

Narrator: bristol, england.

Amateur historian fiona powell

Browses satellite images

Of the nearby filton airfield.

She's searching for signs Of a long-lost village,

Destroyed in the aftermath Of world war ii.

After looking at the outlines

Of the buildings That possibly were there.

And I zoom in.

And I can see a dark, Shadowy figure.

It looks like a man With a cap on.

It's, like, what is that?

Narrator: Curious to see what others Make of the ghostly figure,

Fiona shares the image On social media.

Everyone online is talking about The image that was posted.

Fletcher: It's picked up by major International news outlets.

And all of a sudden, we have This viral ghost story.

Blasina: if you post a photo of Something you think is a ghost,

And kim kardashian retweets you,

I mean, that's it.

It's over.

Narrator: the viral photograph Attracts the attention

Of satellite image Analyst amanda marchetti.

Marchetti: When I look at this image,

You can't help but notice

That it does look slightly Like a human form.

Right around here, I can see What might be a human head.

I can see what might Be shoulders.

And I can see What might be legs.

However, I think It's too tall of a shadow

To actually be a human.

I have to conclude this is most Likely related to shadowing.

Modern footage of Filton airfield

Should reveal whatever is Casting this man-shaped shadow.

The really strange thing is that When you look on the ground,

There isn't anything To produce a shadow.

That's really weird.

Fletcher: there's nothing we can See that looks like it

Could create this dark patch.

So then maybe there's Something we can't see.

Narrator: image analysts Consider other ideas

For what could be creating The phantom image.

This could just be an area That's just wet

And saturated on the ground

Because when the ground Gets wet,

It actually absorbs more light And gets a little darker.

So could this pattern be an area That's just wet and saturated?

Narrator: This area of southwest england

Has a history Of extreme flooding.

Whole communities can be Cut off by heavy rains.

But there's a problem With this idea.

Since I'm aware that this area Is an airfield,

This area is gonna be Kept very dry.

You don't want airplanes Landing in a swamp.

Runways always have Infrastructure for drainage.

So I think we can pretty Much rule that one out.

Narrator: the image could be The haunting legacy

Of another sad chapter In this area's history.

This airfield was the birthplace

Of one of the world's Largest airliners,

The bristol brabazon.

First call is at filton airport

At bristol for the christening Of the world's largest aircraft,

The 126-ton brabazon 1.

Narrator: The bristol brabazon was one of The first civilian aircraft

Designed to carry passengers Across the atlantic.

Fletcher: this plane was meant To be the future of aviation.

It was huge. It had a wingspan of 230 feet.

And it was gonna totally Change aviation.

Narrator: the brabazon could Carry 100 passengers

In unprecedented luxury.

Each had a private room About the size of a small car.

It was even supposed to contain A small movie theater,

Although the idea Was swiftly abandoned.

The giant brabazon was so huge,

That to take off And land safely,

The runway had to be extended By over a mile.

But in the way was the small Country village of charleton.

Robertshaw: Something has to go.

It's not the airfield. It's the village.

The village is Just simply emptied,

Compulsory purchased, Gone, bulldozed.

And then they Extend the runway.

Powell: everybody in that Village had to leave.

They were forced Out of their homes.

It was a complete nightmare.

Narrator: Local, oliver dearden, knows

The history of the village well.

Well, I stood here at the heart Of the old village.

And you can see there Is nothing here at all now.

It was quite a pretty Village actually.

It had a nice pub called The carpenter's arms.

And next to that was The village shop

And the post office.

It must have been Devastating, really,

Because they did live In a village community.

And the whole village Was destroyed.

And, uh, they were Moved into what was,

To them, Was a very strange world.

Narrator: To make matters worse,

The prototype brabazon flew

Just a handful of times Before being scrapped.

Robertshaw: it's a white Elephant. It's a turkey.

And you really would Have been a very,

Very unhappy person To see that happen

To your house And your village.

And there's one farmer, In particular,

As you could imagine,

That was not Very happy about it.

Narrator: records indicate that A farmhouse stood exactly

Where the ghostly figure appears In the satellite image.

I like the idea that it was A ghost coming back

To visit its house.

I really -- I think that's Lovely and kind of romantic.

I mean, if I had a house there,

And it got bulldozed, I'd be so angry

That I would probably Haunt this place

For the rest of eternity also.

Narrator: but for image Analyst marc d'antonio,

The ghostly explanation Just doesn't stand up.

I'm sorry to say to all those That are looking

For some type Of paranormal thing,

This is actually Just a shadow.

Narrator: d'antonio has tracked Down a drone image

Taken at the same time As the ghost image.

D'antonio: this is the photo That gives it away.

It's an oblique angle Taken from downrange.

And it shows this is actually Just a shadow of a tower.

And it shows the actual Tower itself very clearly.

Sorry.

Narrator: the explanation Appears conclusive

Except for one thing.

Sounds good until you Go to the site.

And there is No communications tower.

I mean, there's nothing there.

That is weird. It really is.

Narrator: It's only when investigators

Dig into the history Of the image fiona

Discovered that they realize What's going on.

When you finally do the analysis On something like this, you --

You realize that this image

Was taken some Number of years ago.

Narrator: the photo was Taken in 2003,

12 years before a group Of developers bought the site.

After that, the airfield Was demolished.

Narrator: the radio tower Was taken down.

But the ghost image Remained online for fiona

To find in 2013.

Took a little digging.

But I think I figured Out what's going on.