All language subtitles for What.on.Earth.S05E08.1080p.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

That defy explanation.

[ beeping, distorted music ]

Seen from the heavens,

A portal to the underworld
And the fires of damnation.

Oh, my god.
This is absolutely phenomenal.

Nazis unleash hell
On the high seas.

Walters: they could have
Actually bombed manhattan,

And that's
A chilling thought.

Narrator: and good times
In the garden of eden.

This included acts
Of ritualistic sex

Between the king
And these sacred priestesses.

Narrator:
Baffling phenomena.

Mysteries from space.

What on earth are they?

**

**

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

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

August 22, 2013.

The landsat 8 satellite is
Orbiting over southeast asia.

As it passes over
The mountainous island of java,

It captures a strangely-colored
Circular area.

When you look at this area,
The thing that pops out

Is this amazingly
Turquoise-blue lake

That seems to be steaming.

Narrator: reports from locals
Around the weird gassy lake

In the image
Add to the mystery.

At night, you see a bright
Pillar of blue fire

Essentially coming out of
The side of the mountain.

It looks like something
You would see in a sci-fi film,

Not something that's happening
Right here on earth.

Narrator:
When scientist jess phoenix

Hears of the mysterious
Electric-blue volcano,

She embarks on
The 9,000-mile journey

From los angeles
To jakarta, indonesia,

And from there, eastward across
The island of java.

Phoenix: I've worked on
A lot of volcanos

Around the world,

But I have never been
On a volcano

That produces
Blue lava.

The locals are talking
About it,

So I really want to
Get out there,

And have a look, and see what
This blue lava is all about.

Narrator: for phoenix,

Penetrating the island's
Mountain ranges

To reach the site in the image
Won't be easy.

Phoenix: indonesia is one of
The most seismically

And volcanically active areas
In the world.

And just the last couple weeks
We've had several earthquakes

Over the magnitude 6
On the island of lombok,

Which killed
Over 450 people.

Narrator:
Phoenix has heard the strange
Blue fire only appears at night.

**

So, that evening,
She begins her journey

Towards the volcano,
Known locally as "Kawah ijen."

The terrain soon takes its toll
On her vehicle.

[ car sputtering ]

[ speaking foreign language ]

Phoenix: yeah, no,
You smell it?

The clutch
Has burned out.

Yeah. Yeah.

[ car starts ]

I'm still gonna try it
One more time.

It takes 40 minutes
To get back on the road.

It's not until midnight
That phoenix reaches

The lower slopes
Of the volcano.

Is that him?

A local guide
Has agreed to help phoenix

Find the site
In the satellite image.

Hi.
Are you ready...

-ready.
-...To go up?

All right.
Let's go. Yeah.

Guide: okay.

Phoenix and her guide must climb
To 9,000 feet above sea level.

**

**

At this altitude,
It's like someone has taken away

A quarter
Of all the oxygen.

And waves of noxious
Volcanic smog, called "Vog,"

Are spilling
Down the slopes.

This is some
Really dense vog.

The plume is kind of wafting
This direction right now,

But I can kind of make out
This really steep crater wall.

Phoenix and her guide
Reach the crater's edge,

But there is no sign
Of anything luminous and blue.

For that, they must descend
Into this live volcano.

This means climbing
500 feet down

Through the dark
Volcanic fumes.

**

Oh, my god.

That is amazing.

Rivers of blue cascading down
The side of the crater wall.

I've never seen
Anything like this.

This is absolutely
Phenomenal.

Blue gleaming liquid fire giving
Off powerful reeking fumes.

That is some nasty gas
Coming out of there,

So I really need to put
The gas mask on now.

**

As phoenix edges closer,
The wind changes direction.

Oof. The rotten-egg smell
Is just, like, right there.

It just hits you
Upside the head.

The odor gives her a clue
To what she's looking at.

That's actually sulfur that's
Burning, and it's burning blue.

It's not blue lava,
But it's definitely blue fire.

Sulfur is what the bible called
"Brimstone."

This is the fire
Of eternal damnation.

The book of isaiah
Likens it to the breath of god.

Phoenix believes that, as the
Superheated sulfuric gasses

Emerge from cracks
In the volcano,

They combust with
Oxygen in the air.

This gas that's
Blowing past here?

This is gonna be carbon dioxide,
Sulfur dioxide,

And hydrogen sulfide --

So, a mix of things
That are pretty nasty.

Some of the gasses
Cool and condense

Into burning
Liquid sulfur,

Which flows down the slopes
Like blue lava.

It is just absolutely
Spectacular.

I mean, this is,
Hands down,

One of the coolest things
I've ever seen.

This seems like nature
At its strangest,

And yet, as the clouds
Of vog clear,

Phoenix notices something
That is not natural.

There's actually pipes
Around the blue fire.

Some people
Have been here.

I want to
Find out why.

Coming up...

Code red in
The lone star state.

What we're really seeing is the
Collapse of the texan landscape

In real time.

Narrator: and jess phoenix
Enters the gates of hell.

The acid is so strong there, it
Will literally melt your teeth.

**

Narrator:
Scientist jess phoenix is on
The island of java, indonesia,

Where she's witnessed
Blue-lava-like liquid

Oozing from a volcano

And mysterious pipes
Emerging from the ground.

A vivid gassy lake captured by
Satellite sits nearby,

And she wonders whether
It could help shed some light.

I can see what drew me here
In the first place,

Which is the crazy
Turquoise color of the lake.

So, I'm gonna go down and
Investigate that a little bit.

Narrator: up close, the lake
Appears even more otherworldly

Than in the image.

Phoenix: oh, wow.

This beauty, however,
Conceals danger.

I'm suspicious
Of touching this,

Because I can see that you've
Got some steel barrels, there,

That are just
Eaten through.

Phoenix checks the ph levels
To gauge the water's acidity.

Phoenix: oh, my gosh.
That dropped instantly.

0.26.

That is extremely
Acidic water.

The lake is
Four times more acidic

Than the stuff
In your car battery.

It will reduce a human body
To bare bones in hours.

This is
The most acidic thing

That I personally have ever
Tested in nature.

This is the largest acid lake
On earth.

Nearby, phoenix finds a clue
That could help explain

These caustic waters.

Phoenix believes
The bubbles indicate

The lake sits on a sulfurous
Vent called a "Solfatara."

The sulfur gasses
From the magma chamber

Is gonna be coming up, and
Injecting itself into this lake,

And it's making the water
Really, really acidic.

The lake and volcano
Look placid...

Until phoenix
Rounds one corner.

It's a vision of hell.

**

And there appear
To be people

Working among
These infernal plumes.

**

What's your name?

Supeno. I'm jess.

Supeno tells phoenix that he and
The others are sulfur miners.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

So, the pipes make it
Easier to collect?

Supeno: yeah.

Phoenix learns that
These pipes,

Like the ones near
The liquid blue fire,

Channel sulfuric gasses
From volcanic vents.

As the gasses emerge, they
Condense into pure sulfur.

If changes from a deeper orange
Color, when it's liquid,

And it dries, and it changes
Into this lighter yellow color.

In ancient times,
Romans burned sulfur

To ward off evil spirits and
Protect the body from disease.

It is reputedly
A key ingredient

In the legendary weapon
"Greek fire."

Today, it is used to make
Products as varied as gunpowder,

Sugar,
And fertilizer.

But sulfur mining on this
Volcano is primitive and deadly.

Do you have any
Health problems?

Day after day,
Year after year,

Supeno and his colleagues
Toil in these acidic fumes,

Corroding their skin
And poisoning their lungs.

Denne: sulfur dioxide
Will burn your lungs,

And the acid
Is so strong there,

It will literally
Melt your teeth.

So, how long have
You been doing this?

Oh, my god.

Chamberlain:
The sulfur that's mined here is
Referred to as "Devil's gold,"

Really because it's like making
A deal with the devil.

Sure, you get the sulfur,
You get a way of life,

But you're trading it for
Your health, life, and limb.

To get paid, the miners
Must load up their baskets

And make the arduous trek back
To the base of the volcano.

How much weight
Do you carry?

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

So, that's like
160 pounds.

That's so heavy.
-very, very heavy.

Narrator: laden with more
Than their own body weight,

The miners ascend
The 528-foot-high crater wall.

**

They then face an hour's trek
Down the volcano's steep flanks.

**

At this station, they are paid
Before returning to the mine.

The average is
$5 per load.

This is a really
Difficult thing to see.

And to talk to supeno, and to
See he and his friends

Working, basically physically
Deform themselves.

He makes, like, 10 bucks,
15 bucks a day

For carrying two loads of 150,
160 pounds of sulfur,

At minimum, out.

Narrator: for phoenix,
The weird circular lake

Captured by satellite
Has been a portal

Into another realm --
One of liquid blue brimstone...

...Vivid waters that can
Dissolve a human...

And of infernal gateways
Into the underworld --

A place which feeds
Our industries,

But in doing so,
Exacts a terrible toll.

As a volcanologist, I often
Deal with volcanic hazards

That have to do with
Destruction of property

Or people's lives
Being lost.

But this
Particular volcano,

For all of its beauty,

And the wonder that
Its uniqueness carries,

It's also just --

It's devastating in
A league of its own.

**

Narrator: coming up...

Inside saddam's
Pleasure palaces.

You name it --
Saddam's palaces have them.

There are truly vulgar.

Narrator: and kgb pirates
Steal the space shuttle.

The russians
Were using dummy ships

To smuggle saboteurs and spies
Into america.

Narrator:
February 2, 2013.

50 miles off the u.S. Coast,
A satellite captures an object

On a reef in
The gulf of mexico.

At first glance, this is image
Looks pretty straightforward.

It's a shipwreck.

Morgan:
And it is big.

It's bigger than your average
Fishing trawler -- much bigger.

Narrator:
Yet martin morgan discovers
This is no ordinary wreck.

Morgan: this one
Really is a mystery

Because here you have
A big shipwreck on a reef,

And it's not marked
On nautical charts.

Narrator:
Nautical charts log 300,000
Sunken vessels around the world.

An unregistered wreck this size
Is highly unusual.

This really adds to the intrigue
Surrounding this site.

Narrator:
Analysts look for clues
In the surrounding seas.

Half a mile from this wreck
Is another wreck.

It's shaped a bit
Like a cigar,

And it looks suspiciously
Like a submarine.

Like the ship,
The sub-shaped vessel

Appears to be corroded through
And decades-old.

Analysts consider if both

Are casualties
Of the second world war.

Many people know about the
Different naval battles

All over the world
During world war ii,

But few people know
How widespread

These battles were
In the gulf of mexico.

**

Narrator:
In early 1942,

Hitler dispatches u-boats to the
East coast of the united states.

In less than seven months,
The u-boat wolf pack

Sinks over 200 ships,

And brings the war terrifyingly
Close to major american cities.

They were regularly landing
German agents on long island.

Many u-boat captains could see
The skyscrapers of manhattan

Through their periscopes.

They were that close.

Narrator:
To attack american cities,

The nazis developed
So-called "Rocket u-boats" --

Subs equipped with 2,200-pound
Warhead ballistic missiles.

In early 1945, the u.S. Navy
Intercepts and destroys

A group of what it believes
Are rocket u-boats

Heading for
The u.S. East coast.

They could have actually
Bombed manhattan,

And that's
A chilling thought.

During world war ii,
Hundreds of thousands of tons

Of vital supplies
Pass through the waters

Around the wrecks
In the image.

In just a few months,
The nazis destroy over 20%

Of the entire tanker fleet,
And kill 5,000 people.

Because of the way
The gulf of mexico is shaped,

And there's only really
One area to get in and out,

It's essentially like
The germans

Are shooting fish
In a barrel.

Walters: being a mariner
On a merchant ship --

This a truly terrifying way
To spend your war.

And it's as brave
To be a merchant seaman

As it is to be a soldier
On d-day.

Man: anti-submarine devices
Have improved and increased,

But so have submarines,

And the allies can never have
Too many escort ships

To hunt them
And destroy them.

Narrator: yet the u.S. Military
Records the locations

Of world war ii wrecks
In shallow waters such as these,

And none match the coordinates
Of the satellite image.

Ex-special forces operative
Klint janulis

Discovers another clue.

Local fishermen refer to
The unregistered wreck

As "El russo" --
"The russian."

Janulis: so, if this
Was a russian ship,

What would a russian ship

Be doing sunken off
The gulf of mexico

And not reported?

Narrator: declassified
U.S. Government documents

Reveal that the wreck's
Proximity to the port veracruz

Could explain its absence
From official records.

The russians were using ships
To smuggle saboteurs and spies

Into america
Via ports like veracruz.

And we know that mexico
Was a kgb haven.

They could act
With impunity there.

Narrator:
By the end of the 1970's,

The united states is on the cusp
Of the computer revolution.

The kgb uses mexico

To launch a tech espionage
Campaign against the u.S.

The russians
Wanted this emergent technology,

But it had to get shipped
Back to russia

For them to be able to analyze
It, and reverse-engineer it.

Narrator:
Using dummy ships and companies,

The kgb plants agents
In the u.S.,

So-called
"Techno-bandits,"

To steal american equipment
And expertise.

The newest, biggest,
Most technologically advanced

Versions of everything
You can think of,

Smuggling it back to the ship,
And back to russia.

Narrator: cloning consumer
Technology is just the start.

When the u.S. Develops
The space shuttle enterprise,

The soviets reportedly
Steal nasa blueprints

And build a replica,
Called "The buran."

Janulis:
The russians were constantly
Smuggling people and objects

And goods in and out
Of the united states

On a regular basis.

Morgan: so, maybe this wreck
Belongs to the cold war

Rather than
The second world war.

Narrator: the cia eventually
Thwart the tech spies,

Which some experts believe

Contributes to the fall
Of the soviet union.

Investigators speculate that
The wreck in the image

Was a casualty
Of this purge.

If this is a russian spy ship

On the bottom of
The gulf of mexico,

Then what happened
To it?

The cia might be able to tell
You, but I doubt they would.

Coming up,
Carnal worship in the desert.

She was very important
For ritualistic sex

Between the king
And the sacred priestesses.

And high above idaho...

Man: it's as if the gods
Designed this

So that they could play
This gigantic game of chess.

**

Narrator: january 4, 2017.

Astronauts on board
The international space station

Capture something strange
In northern idaho.

Morgan:
What they're seeing, curiously,

Is a perfectly laid-out
Checkerboard pattern.

It looks a chess board.

Narrator: some analysts suspect
It's no coincidence

That the grid
Can be seen from space.

Janulis: it kind of reminds me
Of a tri-bar pattern.

It was something the air force
And cia used in the '50s

When they were developing
The first spy satellites.

Narrator:
Following the shooting down
Of a u-2 spy plane

Piloted by gary powers in 1960,

The u.S.
Dramatically accelerates

Its spy satellite program.

Some weigh 30,000 pounds,

Are the size of a school bus,

And contain 5-foot-wide cameras.

To calibrate these spy birds
From space,

The military constructs
Tri-bar patterns,

Which still exist today.

Think of it like how
You'd go into an optometrist

And they have a bunch of letters
Of different sizes.

The smallest letter you can see
Is your resolution, your vision.

Well, this is basically
What happened

With the air force tri-bars.

It's the eyesight test
For spy satellites.

Narrator:
Yet others don't believe
This is a cold war relic.

In tri-bar patterns, the
Patterns are different sizes,

Making it possible
For you to calibrate

Regardless of the altitude
Of flight.

But these are all the same size.

Narrator: bronwyn agrios applies
Spectral analysis to the image.

I can see that the dark squares
Are dense, healthy vegetation.

And the light squares
Are much more sparse.

Narrator: agrios also discovers
The mystery pattern isn't alone.

Idaho is not the only place

Where I see
The giant chessboard.

Western oregon has a lot
Of the checkerboard,

As does northern california.

Narrator: each location
Has something in common.

Agrios: what I found is that

For every time the checkerboard
Pattern shows up,

That it's right next to
The railroad.

[ train whistle blows ]

Narrator: analysts investigate
The history of the rail network

For possible links.

[ train whistle blows ]

In 1860, railroads cover only
The eastern part of the u.S.,

Reaching no farther than iowa.

America had this vast expanse
Of land out west.

The problem was, we couldn't
Get people out there,

And we couldn't
Bring goods back.

Narrator: in 1862,
President abraham lincoln

Signs the pacific railway act
To connect east and west.

On january 8, 1863,
Construction starts

On the 2,000-mile
Transcontinental railroad

From iowa to san francisco.

Seven years later, work begins
On the north pacific railroad,

Linking the great lakes
To oregon.

The railroads were going to
Connect the country --

Connect the pacific
With the east --

And allow people to travel
Places they'd never been

And allow goods to
Go back and forth.

Narrator:
Working in brutal conditions,

Thousands
Of immigrant laborers --

Mostly chinese and irish --
Lay thousands of miles of track.

Hundreds die.

When completed in 1870,

The line slashed travel time
From new york to san francisco

From six months to six days.

The system opens up the
Resource-rich west to industry,

Transforming america
Into an economic powerhouse.

The railroad really created
The idea of america.

It took a disparate place
And pulled it together.

Narrator: these railroads cost
Tens of millions of dollars.

The government comes up with
A novel scheme to foot the bill,

Which creates
Checkerboard patterns

Across the western states.

The u.S. Government gives plots
Of land to the railroad company.

The companies, in turn, sell the
Plots of land off to make money.

Narrator: the government divides
The land along the railroad

Into numbered
One-square-mile plots.

It gives the odd-numbered plots
To the rail companies

And retains
The even-numbered ones.

As private sale
Purchased up plots,

The adjacent
Government-owned lots

Would therefore be elevated
In overall value.

This is how the railroad
Expansion was funded.

Narrator:
Yet, historian david krueger
Discovers a detail

That suggests this particular
Chessboard pattern

May have another origin.

The darker ones
Have trees on them.

The areas in white
Look like bare ground

That's covered in snow.

So, as the checkerboard
Is crossed,

You can see trees, no trees,
Trees, no trees all throughout.

But the question is,
Who would've done it and why?

Narrator: when investigators
Contact the owners,

They confirm that the chessboard
Is the legacy of pioneers

From a different age --
Present-day loggers.

Trees on one area are cut down,

But trees are preserved
In another area.

It's a way to prevent erosion.

It still allows loggers
To get in and harvest the wood.

We're actually seeing
Forestry management from space.

Narrator:
The chessboard patterns
Visible across america

Are the imprints of different
Fearless frontiersmen.

Loggers in snowy idaho

And railroaders
Over a century before them,

Separated by time but connected
By weird images from space.

This checkerboard patterning

Is actually really beautiful
And quite moving,

Because it's a reminder
Of the pioneer age of our nation

And the lives that were lost
To create it.

**

Narrator: coming up, texas sinks
Into the underworld...

What does this mean
For the safety

Of the places where we live?

Narrator:
...And weird structures
In the land of the bible.

Who on earth
Would build such features

Out in the middle of the desert
And why?

**

Narrator: july 2, 2008.

As the quickbird satellite
Passes high above southern iraq,

It captures a cluster
Of markings below.

This is a really
Strange-looking image.

It's in the middle
Of the desert,

And there are all these
Sort of weird shapes

That don't really conform
To any geometry whatsoever.

Who on earth
Would build such features

Out in the middle of the desert
And why?

Narrator:
Scale analysis reveals that
Some of the crumbling structures

Are hundreds of feet wide.

This gives archeologist
Katie paul a possible clue.

In ancient culture, we often see
These kind of scale structures

With regard to temples
Or places of worship.

Narrator:
For analysts, the location of
The structures is intriguing.

They sit near the tigris
And euphrates rivers,

The rumored location
Of the garden of eden,

And home to one of history's
Greatest civilizations --

Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia was the rival
To ancient egypt.

They were, at the same time,

Developing
A parallel civilization

Based upon the cities
And temples.

Narrator: mesopotamia flourishes
For around 4,500 years.

Its people invent the sailboat,
The free-spinning wheel,

And the first-known written
Language, known as cuneiform.

Mesopotamians
Honored dozens of deities,

Including enki,
God of wisdom and earth,

And the goddess of sex, love,
And war -- inanna.

She was very important
For fertility in particular,

So this included
Acts of ritualistic sex

That would have occurred
In her temples

Between, sometimes, the king
And these sacred priestesses.

Narrator: yet, when analysts
Check historical images

Of the structures,

They discover they date
From another era.

In early satellite photos
Between the '60s and '70s,

These structures aren't here.

They show up somewhere
Between 1979 and 1989

Under saddam hussein's reign.

Narrator: saddam, which means
"One who confronts" in arabic,

Rises to power in july 1979

Following a bloody purge
Of the ruling ba'ath party.

During his brutal reign,

He keeps a copy of the koran
Written in his own blood,

Yet also writes a romance novel.

While his own people starve,

Hussein spends $2 billion

Constructing more than
50 opulent palaces.

Saddam has a taste
For building palaces,

And he builds a lot of palaces.

Some of them take on
All sorts of strange shapes,

And they sprawl around
Over vast sites.

So it's perfectly possible
That what we see here

Could be some sort of palace.

Narrator: 1,000 building in all,
One palace has dolphin ponds,

Another,
Rooms adorned with erotic art.

The 62-room vanity mansion
Al-faw, or "The duck palace,"

Is exclusively used for
Presidential hunting parties.

You name it,
Saddam's palaces have them --

Gardens full of flamingos,
Massive swimming pools,

Half-a-million square footage,
Nuclear bunkers.

They are truly vulgar.

Narrator: in march 2003,

Special forces operative
Klint janulis

Takes part
In the u.S. Invasion of iraq.

It was a surreal thing to see
As a young soldier.

I stayed in 30 or 40 of
These things over a few months.

Narrator:
Invasion forces discover that

The "Victory over america"
Palace

Has been hit
By u.S. Air strikes.

Vengeful iraqis ransack
And tear down others,

A program of destruction

That could explain
The ruins in the image.

These are cheap, gaudy palaces.

And so, none of these things

Were going to last
Any more than a few years.

Narrator:
Yet, when investigators check

The precise location
Of these shapes,

They discover a problem
With the palace theory.

Walters: it's near basra,

Which is a key flash point
To the iran/iraq war.

So you're unlikely
To build a palace

In a place that your enemy has a
Chance of shelling or invading.

Narrator: the iran/iraq war
Begins on september 22, 1980,

When saddam orders his troops
To topple the iranian regime.

He picks this fight

Partly because the united states
Wants him to.

Iran was an american enemy.

Narrator:
An estimated 1.5 million people
Die in the war.

50,000 are killed
By saddam's chemical weapons.

Narrator:
The barbaric iranian leader
The ruhollah khomeini

Sends countless children
On suicide missions

To clear iraqi minefields.

Sickeningly, it's rumored

That he gives each one
A gold plastic key

So they can open the gates
Of paradise when they die.

It was a bloody,
Brutal conflict.

It was pointless,
It was fruitless,

It was expensive,
And it achieved nothing.

And neither side won.

Narrator:
Former intelligence officer
Trevor albertson

Reexamines the image
To investigate

The site's possible role
In the conflict.

The crescent shapes
Offer a clue.

They're all facing the same
Direction -- towards iran.

Narrator: albertson believes
The alignment means

They served
A key tactical function.

I think these are actually
Armor revetments,

Where you could either park
A piece of artillery or a tank

And allow it to fight
From a protected position.

Narrator: satellite images
Along the 900-mile border

Reveal other ghostly remnants
Of this futile conflict.

Albertson: these structures
Are a physical manifestation

Of the horror
Of the iran/iraq war

And all wars in general.

And these will be with us
For centuries as a reminder.

**

Narrator: coming up, into the
House-swallowing texas abyss.

The idea of the earth opening up

And swallowing you whole
While you sleep

Is absolutely terrifying.

**

Narrator: october 3, 2014.

A european space agency
Sentinel satellite

Surveys west texas and captures
An intriguing image.

There's a lake in the seam,
But there's a mystery

Because there's a road

That leads directly through
The middle of this lake.

Why would anyone
Build a road into a lake?

It doesn't make any sense.

Narrator:
Image analyst ken joyce

Turns to digitalglobe
Securewatch technology

To examine the site.

He discovers the body of water
Is nearly 1,800 feet long

And covers an area the size

Of approximately
30 football fields.

In a location where
There was previously a road,

To have a lake
That's a half a mile wide

Is a significant event.

Narrator:
Joyce studies historical images
Of the site for clues.

We can use the archive
Of satellite photography

To go back in time.

In 2007, it was
A quarter of a mile wide.

So the diameter of the lake
Has nearly doubled.

Sanford: the area is really dry,
So it just doesn't make sense.

What is going on?

Narrator:
Satellite images reveal

Two other
Unnatural bodies of water

To the northwest
Of the phantom lake.

These appear
To be changing shape.

I don't think these
Can be natural ponds,

Because rarely is a pond
Or a lake perfectly circular.

Almost like the ground caved in
And there was water below.

Narrator:
Satellite topographical data
Reveals an even bigger mystery.

The gaping holes
Sit in the midst

Of a vast 4,000-square-mile
Stretch of texas

Which is sinking,

In some parts,
By more than three feet.

What we're really seeing is the
Collapse of the texan landscape

In real time.

Narrator:
Geologists fear these holes
Are morphing into a giant void

Which could destroy
Entire neighborhoods.

The idea of the earth opening up

And swallowing you whole
While you sleep

Is absolutely terrifying.

Narrator:
The danger zone covers an area
Almost the size of connecticut.

You're talking about
The ground literally shifting

In a sizeable area.

What does that mean, and is it
Going to spread even further?

So, that is a real concern.

Narrator: investigators identify
One subterranean activity

That can dramatically undermine
The landscape.

We have seen this sort of
Ground instability before,

And it's been associated with
Underground weapons testing.

Narrator: analysts discover
That underground nuclear testing

Did take place in this region.

Morgan: in 1961, there's the
Introduction of project gnome,

The belowground nuclear test

That takes place
Near the texas border.

Narrator:
Declassified documents reveal

That project gnome is part
Of operation plowshare,

A research program
To test if nuclear bombs

Can be used
In civil engineering projects.

The u.S. Government
Began to investigate

Whether or not
Nuclear explosions

Could be used to create a lake
Or open up a mine shaft.

Narrator:
Plans include blasting out
A second panama canal...

...And blowing a gap in the
Bristol mountains in california

To build a new highway.

On july 6, 1962,
At the nevada test center,

The military assesses
The excavation potential

Of a 104-kiloton bomb
600 feet belowground.

Morgan:
The explosion threw 12 million
Tons of soil into the air.

It created a crater
That is so big,

If you laid the empire state
Building down its side,

It would fit inside that crater.

Narrator:
U.S. Military records confirm
Project gnome takes place

Just to the north of the lakes
In the satellite image.

Morgan: maybe the things
We're seeing in the photograph

Might be related
To project gnome

Or another test
Associated with it.

Narrator:
Investigators head to the lake.

They find no traces
Of radioactivity,

But they do find a white, crusty
Substance in the water -- salt.

This gives scientist
Jess phoenix a clue.

A lot of the mining activities
That go on in texas

Require injecting water and
Fluids down into the subsurface,

Which can dissolve the salts
That exist underground.

That leads to instability
In the underlying geology

And can produce sinkholes,
Just like what we see here.

Narrator: since the first gusher
Was discovered in texas in 1894,

Prospectors have drilled
An incalculable number

Of boreholes and wells
All over the state.

Hundreds of thousands
Lie abandoned.

Many are thousands of feet deep.

You can actually see that texas

Is just full of oil and gas
Extraction sites.

It dominates
A lot of the landscape.

Narrator: underground aquifers
Leak into these wells,

Destabilizing the ground

And creating
A geological time bomb

Across large parts of texas.

Sinkholes could appear
Almost anywhere, any time.

And analysts fear
This may be just the start

Of a terrifying
Seismic collapse.

If we're doing this near towns,

What does this mean
For the safety

Of the places where we live?