NARRATOR: High above the Giza Plateau
stands one of Egypt's most enigmatic ancient sites.
ANDREW COLLINS: There is a mystery here, a huge mystery
to unravel within the ruins of Abu Rawash.
NARRATOR: Some say these stone blocks once belonged
to one of the world's greatest architectural wonders.
SALIMA IKRAM: Abu Rawash would have been encased
in electrum or gold.
So, when the sun hit it,
it would really be quite a dramatic sight.
NARRATOR: And many believe
this lost pyramid was built more than 12,000 years ago.
GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS: This corresponds to a time
in ancient Egypt called Zep Tepi,
when the so-called gods were living amongst us mortals.
NARRATOR: Do the ruins of Abu Rawash
have a connection to extraterrestrials?
DAVID CHILDRESS: This mystery of the Abu Rawash pyramid
could indicate that the entire Giza Plateau was built
before the history of mankind.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: On the outskirts of this bustling metropolis,
rising from a plateau on the west bank of the Nile River
stand what many consider
to be the three most sophisticated
and mysterious monuments ever built.
They are the Pyramids of Giza.
There are so many ancient Egyptian pyramids in Egypt,
but some of them have always really puzzled us.
When you think of ancient Egypt today,
you think of the three Pyramids of Giza,
that iconic picture.
Every pyramid is a perfect mathematical equation.
Geometrically perfect,
physics-wise perfect.
Till today, we are so puzzled
by how they built the great Pyramids of Giza.
COLLINS: Egyptologists say
the Great Pyramid and the other pyramids on the plateau at Giza
were created around 2500 to 2600 BC
for the kings of the fourth dynasty.
This was Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure,
and it was their innovation
that built these incredible monuments
that remain to this day.
NARRATOR: The Giza Pyramids are slightly smaller today
due to erosion,
but when it was built, the smallest of the pyramids,
the Pyramid of Menkaure, measured 335 feet long,
343 feet wide
and stood 213 feet high.
In the middle of the complex,
the magnificent Pyramid of Khafre rose 448 feet
above the plateau, and is the only structure
to retain some of its original limestone casing.
And the Great Pyramid stood an astounding 480 feet tall
and covered 13 acres, or nearly ten football fields.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is, uh, a magnificent structure
that took about 30 years to be built
and is a marvel of architecture.
Every block was five tons,
and there is about one million of them
to create a perfect pyramid shape
that stood for over 4,000 years,
and we believe that
with all the technology we have today,
we still wouldn't be able to recreate it.
Inside the Great Pyramid are a number
of fascinating chambers and corridors,
like the Grand Gallery,
this towering stairway
that goes up into the so-called King's Chamber.
It is incredibly sophisticated in every respect.
NARRATOR: The three pyramids are part
of the sprawling 400-acre Giza Necropolis
that also includes the Great Sphinx,
a number of cemeteries and a workers' village.
While the Giza Necropolis is considered
by many to be the most spectacular
archaeological site in the world,
there are hundreds of incredible structures--
including more than 130 pyramids--
that were built during Egypt's 3,000-year civilization.
IKRAM: Egypt has an incredibly long and rich history.
I mean, even when, say by the time Cleopatra lived,
Egyptian history was already
3,000 years old.
Egypt has persisted in its popularity
through ancient times into the modern era
because they used stone to build.
The Mesopotamians generally just used mud brick,
even for their temples.
But Egyptian pyramids were made out of stone,
which was for eternity.
The ancient Egyptians knew exactly about their history.
And they documented it.
For example,
when King Tut showed up to look at the pyramids,
he was a tourist.
And the pyramids were standing already
for at least 1,000 years.
NARRATOR: According to mainstream historians,
ancient Egyptian civilization began over 5,000 years ago
and flourished until 30 BC,
when the forces of Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony
were defeated by the Roman military.
By the time European explorers arrived in Egypt
in the late 1700s,
many of its monuments had literally been overcome
by the sands of time.
WILLIAM HENRY: In 1798,
Napoléon Bonaparte, along with his army of savants,
documented the wonders of ancient Egypt.
They published a book called The Description of Egypt
that became massively popular and ignited interest in Egypt.
KATHLEEN McGOWAN: Napoléon had come into Egypt
and had publicized how spectacular it was.
And when we cut to the year 1850,
the world is going through a huge explosion
of obsession with Egypt.
French artists had come and drawn the monuments.
Engravings of Egypt were being sold all across Europe.
People were fascinated with what was happening in Egypt.
IKRAM: There were people increasingly interested
in the culture of the ancient Egyptians.
This was a time
when Egyptology really started to come into being.
And in fact, in about 1850, 1851,
that's when the word "Egyptology" was coined.
HENRY: Champollion had just translated the hieroglyphics
from the Rosetta stone just 30 years before.
And people have high expectations
that new discoveries are going to be made,
that reputations are gonna be made.
NARRATOR: Once Western archaeologists became aware
of the treasures waiting to be found in Egypt,
they descended upon the Giza Plateau.
It was soon declared
that the three pyramids were built more than 4,000 years ago,
as tombs for the pharaohs of Egypt's fourth dynasty.
And archaeologists concluded
that the ancient Egyptians built the enormous structures
by sheer manpower,
moving huge stones from a quarry,
and dragging and lifting them into place.
But ancient astronaut theorists contend
that this explanation seems highly unlikely,
and is contradicted by the Egyptians' own writings.
TSOUKALOS: According to
the great majority of mainstream archaeologists,
pyramids are not a mystery.
Because they say, "Oh, how hard is it
for people to stack rocks on top of each other?"
But there are more questions than answers,
because the pyramids are not just rocks
piled on top of each other.
They're highly sophisticated engineering feats
that, from an engineering standpoint,
our ancestors at that time
should have not been able to do that, yet they did.
The ancient Egyptians say
that the knowledge with which to build the pyramids
was given to them by our celestial teachers,
the so-called guardians of the sky.
NARRATOR: Could it be
that the Pyramids of Giza are physical evidence
of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth?
And if so, what purpose did they serve?
Perhaps clues can be found
by examining mysterious megalithic ruins
that stand on a hill just north of Giza
and mark the location of a pyramid
that may have been the most spectacular in all of Egypt.
NARRATOR: Just north of Giza, on a rocky outcrop
that rises almost 500 feet above the Nile River,
British archaeologist Flinders Petrie
comes upon an extraordinary ruin.
Carved into the bedrock of a hill are several strange pits
that are surrounded by a wall of limestone blocks.
It is the ancient site of Abu Rawash.
HUGH NEWMAN: Abu Rawash is a very intriguing site
thought to be an actual pyramid structure
because of its square base
and the angled stones that were found within it.
But the problem is, is that most of it's missing completely.
IKRAM: In the early 19th century when Egyptologists started
to look at this pyramid at Abu Rawash,
they thought it must not have been finished,
because it was in such a shambolic state.
However, since that time,
archaeological work has shown that, in fact,
the pyramid was probably completed.
NARRATOR: In the years since Petrie's discovery,
further structures at Abu Rawash have been discovered,
including a mortuary temple,
a boat pit
and a workshop.
At the center of the complex stands the main pyramid,
which was built out of massive limestone blocks
and encased in granite.
It spans 348 feet on each side,
and when completed, it is believed
to have stood over 220 feet tall.
IKRAM: Abu Rawash
probably looked very impressive
as a pyramid when it was finished.
The top might have been covered with a smaller pyramidion,
which would have been encased in electrum or gold.
So, when the sun hit it,
it would reflect off, shining very brightly,
and, because it was high on a hill,
it would gleam from a distance
and really be quite a dramatic sight.
AIDAN DODSON: The choice of this site,
on top of a mountain, seems very likely
to have been intended
to make the pyramid as visible as possible.
Indeed,
anywhere within, like, a ten-mile radius,
you could see this thing.
NARRATOR: Exactly what the lost pyramid
of Abu Rawash looked like is completely unknown,
but equally mysterious are the massive pathways
and chambers that remain at the site,
which have been hewn out of solid rock.
SCHOCH: Not only do we have the base
of the pyramid, but what we have is a substructure
that's carved into the bedrock.
It goes down 65 feet or so below the bedrock surface,
ends in this huge chamber, which is open to the sky.
NARRATOR: But if these mysterious chambers were part
of the base of a great pyramid, the questions remain:
who built it and when?
While the answers are uncertain,
the consensus among Egyptologists is
that the lost pyramid at Abu Rawash
was originally constructed in 2550 BC
by the pharaoh Djedefre.
COLLINS: Djedefre was
the son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.
And for some reason,
he decided to move away
from his father's pyramid at Giza
and build it five miles to the north.
SCHOCH: Egyptologists see it all as part of the same family.
Khufu built the Great Pyramid.
His son, Djedefre, built the pyramid at Abu Rawash.
And then, Khafre built the second pyramid.
And then, the third pyramid was built by Menkaure,
all part of the same dynasty,
all going back to the 26th, 25th centuries BCE.
NARRATOR: The dating of all four pyramids is based largely
on the notion that the Great Pyramid,
which is believed to be the oldest,
was built by the pharaoh Khufu.
The evidence for this was presented in 1837
by British explorer Richard Howard Vyse.
Vyse claimed to have found the name of Khufu
written in paint inside a chamber of the Great Pyramid.
But this discovery has been the source of much controversy.
TSOUKALOS: What was strange was
that the name Khufu inside the pyramid was misspelled.
And it was later discovered
that Vyse had the same spelling mistake inside his journal.
So, was it perhaps Vyse
who wrote the name of Khufu inside the Great Pyramid?
Because
there is not a single inscription
in the entire pyramid.
And then later, they find one,
and it's a spelling mistake?
NEWMAN: There's little evidence
that these pharaohs really did this.
And some dating has been challenged.
A lot of people believe it's older than 2500 or so BC.
NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut theorists
also challenge the mainstream theory
that people living roughly 4,500 years ago
could have built the Giza pyramids
without the help of any advanced technology.
TSOUKALOS: The entire Giza Plateau,
with its megalithic structures,
requires advanced engineering methods.
Our modern-day machinery would be very limited
in being able to recreate
what the ancient Egyptians achieved thousands of years ago.
So, you have to wonder
what type of technology did they have access to?
ERICH VON DÄNIKEN: Inside the Great Pyramid,
you have different rooms, you have different halls,
you have different passageways.
This is all a question of planning, engineering.
In old writing, especially in the Hitat,
which is a book from an Arabian writer, they say
the Great Pyramid was constructed
before the great flood,
by a pharaoh with the name of Saurid.
NARRATOR: In the 14th century AD,
prominent Egyptian historian Al-Maqrizi wrote
that in the far distant past,
a king named Saurid built the Giza pyramids
after he was visited by beings who descended from heaven.
According to Al-Maqrizi,
King Saurid and his men placed the giant blocks
on sheets covered with special writing
that somehow allowed them to move the stones with ease.
VON DÄNIKEN: Saurid was educated by the extraterrestrials.
So, the Great Pyramid, in my opinion,
was made by humans,
but under the guidance of extraterrestrials,
and under the planning of extraterrestrials,
and with some of the help, the tools,
the technology of extraterrestrials.
NARRATOR: Could it be
that the incredible ancient structures
that stand on the Giza Plateau
were built thousands of years before Egyptologists suggest,
and with the help of extraterrestrial visitors?
Perhaps further clues can be found
by more closely examining the lost pyramid of Abu Rawash
and how it ended up in ruins.
NARRATOR: The mysterious structure
at Abu Rawash, Egypt has baffled archaeologists
since its discovery in the mid-1800s.
It is believed
that the massive limestone blocks
at the site are all that remains
of an ancient pyramid that stood over 200 feet tall.
But much about the pyramid--
including what was behind its destruction--
remains shrouded in mystery.
CHILDRESS: Mainstream Egyptologists say that
the Abu Rawash pyramid was basically dismantled
to build other pyramids
and that the stones were then taken away
and put in some other structure.
We know that some of the stones were used
in other structures, but
to dismantle the entire pyramid
for that seems incredibly difficult.
Dismantling a pyramid is actually
much, much more difficult
and trickier than it seems.
They are four-to-five-ton blocks put perfectly together
to create a pyramid shape that lasted 4,000 years.
They're not easy to dismantle.
NARRATOR: The only recorded attempt
to deconstruct a pyramid took place in the 12th century,
when Egypt was part of the Islamic Empire.
Egyptian sultan Al-Aziz Uthman ordered the pyramids
to be destroyed,
because they were an affront to his religious beliefs.
He began with the smallest of the three pyramids,
but soon learned
that removing the stone blocks was far more difficult
than he had anticipated.
COLLINS: They could only remove about one, maybe two a day.
And as soon as they pry them off the side of the structure,
these huge blocks would just fall down into the sand
and be lost and be almost irretrievable.
So, after they'd been doing this for around eight months,
Al-Aziz said, "Look, enough is enough.
We're just gonna have to just stop this."
The result of this reckless work
that was done at this time has left this huge gash
on the northern side of the third pyramid,
which is visible to this day.
NARRATOR: While more than eight centuries have passed
since Sultan Al-Aziz abandoned his attempt
to destroy the pyramids,
experts suggest
that even today, using modern machinery,
it would take more than 23 years--
working around the clock--
to dismantle the Abu Rawash pyramid.
So, if the pyramid wasn't taken apart on purpose,
what happened to it?
Some researchers believe
the stone blocks themselves provide an important clue,
because, curiously, many of them are severely burned.
NEWMAN: What's really strange about it is
some of the limestone at the site
and some of the granite, in fact,
that have been...
kind of almost look like they've been superheated.
SCHOCH: We have what looks like charring of the rock.
There may have been vitrification
where the rock was hit by intense heat
and turned to glass,
and then basically fragmented away.
One speculation I have is that Abu Rawash
was hit by major solar flares
that happened around the time
of the end of the last ice age.
NARRATOR: A solar flare?
While it's a sensational notion,
many researchers believe a cataclysmic event,
like a solar flare,
triggered a global climate change 12,000 years ago.
And what's even more remarkable is
that geologist Robert Schoch claims
to have found evidence
that the pyramid of Abu Rawash
and structures on the Giza Plateau
were all standing before this event occurred.
SCHOCH: I've suggested that the structures
on the Giza Plateau actually have their origins much earlier.
I'm not denying
that the dynastic Egyptians were there,
but they reappropriated these structures.
This began with my work on the origins of the Sphinx.
When we look at the Great Sphinx of Giza,
what we find is that the core body
and the walls of the Sphinx enclosure were weathered
and eroded by rainfall,
by water runoff,
not by wind and sand,
as you get in a hyperarid desert Sahara condition.
What this indicates to me is that
the origins of the Sphinx go back to pre-Sahara times.
The Sahara Desert is about 5,000 years old,
and the level of erosion indicates
it goes back significantly earlier than 5,000 years ago.
Putting everything together indicates to me
that the origins of the Sphinx
and the three major pyramids on the Giza Plateau go back
to the end of the last ice age,
back about 12,000 years ago,
or about 10,000 BCE.
NARRATOR: The findings of Robert Schoch remain controversial.
Archaeologists maintain
that the Egyptian civilization didn't begin
until around 3000 BC.
So, who could have built the pyramids
7,000 years before the rise of the pharaohs?
For ancient astronaut theorists,
the findings of Robert Schoch lend support for the idea
that these towering monuments were built
with the help of extraterrestrial visitors.
They don't even have the wheel.
They're not even supposed to have really advanced language,
but somehow, somebody did this.
And the ultimate question is, who?
And it's just more support material
that there's an extraterrestrial component
to what is happening in Egypt.
NARRATOR: Could it be true
that the Pyramids of Giza were built
as much as 12,000 years ago
with the help of an advanced alien race?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest further clues
about what function they served can be found
by looking once again to the ruins of Abu Rawash
and examining the possibility
that this structure was not destroyed by a solar flare,
but by an explosion...
from within.
NARRATOR: For hundreds of years,
the destruction of the pyramid of Abu Rawash
has mystified researchers.
Was the massive stone structure simply taken apart,
block by block?
Might it have been destroyed by a solar flare?
Ancient astronaut theorists believe
there could be a more profound explanation,
and point to the research
of aerospace engineer Christopher Dunn.
In 1995, Dunn traveled to Giza
to conduct his own personal survey of the Great Pyramid.
While exploring deep within the structure,
he made a curious observation.
DUNN: Inside the Great Pyramid, you have all these
various shafts and, uh, passageways
and chambers
that are on various angles,
and some of them are so small
that a human being couldn't pass through them.
And when you look at it,
as a schematic, for me, it looks like a machine.
And so, then the question becomes,
well, if that's the case,
what did this machine do?
NARRATOR: After years of research,
Dunn came to the remarkable conclusion
that the Great Pyramid was designed
to generate massive amounts of energy.
In 1998, he published his theory
in his book, The Giza Power Plant.
NEWMAN: He proposes that the Great Pyramid
would actually harness energy from the earth,
and there would be chemicals
and other reactions taking place in it.
And this would actually produce energy.
NARRATOR: In his book,
Dunn proposed the Great Pyramid
was connected to other pyramids and obelisks
to create a massive power grid.
It produced a tremendous amount of energy
until a malfunction caused it to fail.
CHILDRESS: Christopher Dunn suggests that
at one point, there was an explosion
inside the Great Pyramid in the Grand Gallery,
and that disabled the Giza power plant.
NARRATOR: Could it be true, as experts like Chris Dunn suggest,
that the Pyramids of Giza were power plants?
While such a possibility may sound like science fiction,
some researchers believe
evidence of this can be found by examining the ruins
of the lost pyramid of Abu Rawash.
TAYLOR: This pyramid
appears to have actually blown up from the inside,
and there's only parts of the base left of it.
Now, is this evidence
that the pyramids were being used
for something very powerful, maybe as a power plant?
CHILDRESS: We have to wonder
if Abu Rawash wasn't also some kind of pyramid power plant
that destroyed itself in an explosion
in the inner core of the pyramid,
and then blew the blocks out and scattered them around the site.
NARRATOR: Aerospace engineer Dr. Travis Taylor believes
there is merit to Christopher Dunn's theory
that the Pyramids of Giza could have functioned as power plants.
But he proposes
that these massive structures generated electricity
in a different manner--
by harnessing the electromagnetic frequencies
naturally occurring in the Earth's atmosphere.
TAYLOR: To me,
more likely, is that the pyramids are much more like
Nikola Tesla's idea of wireless power transmission.
Now, the reason I say this is
because when Nikola Tesla was building Wardenclyffe Tower
to experiment with wireless power,
it was originally supposed to be the height of the Great Pyramid.
And I think he believed that the pyramids were being used
to gather electromagnetic energy from the earth,
and then wirelessly transmit it
to other places, maybe obelisks or other pyramids.
(zapping)
NARRATOR: According to Dr. Taylor,
a resonant frequency could be powerful enough
to cause a structure as massive as the pyramid
at Abu Rawash to explode.
This reminds me of a device known as the Jericho device
that was used in the Apollo era,
and they used this big sound wave generator
to shake the rocket.
And one day, they hit a resonant frequency of this
that ripped the entire first stage off of the test platform.
They hit the right resonant frequency.
It's just like when the opera singer hits
the right resonant frequency, and the glass shatters.
If this pyramid was being used
for acoustic energy collection or creation,
if they hit the wrong resonant frequency,
it could have been a crystal glass
shattering from the opera singer's song.
CHILDRESS: It has been suggested
that the pyramids at Giza were energy devices.
And this is very high-tech kind of stuff.
And so, to build that thousands of years ago
other than some advanced race?
Was it extraterrestrials?
NARRATOR: Could it be that the ruins
of the lost pyramid at Abu Rawash
are all that remains of a powerful technological device?
One that was designed by otherworldly beings?
Ancient astronaut theorists suggest
further clues may be found by examining Egyptian writings
about an age before the pharaohs,
when Earth was inhabited by the gods.
NARRATOR: Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass begins an excavation
of a subterranean chamber near the Sphinx.
To his astonishment, he uncovers a network of tunnels
that descends deep into the earth,
and finds artifacts within them connected to the god Osiris.
Dr. Hawass names the mysterious underground structure
the Osiris Shaft.
IKRAM: The Osiris Shaft consists of not one shaft,
but three shafts.
So you have a shaft, a chamber,
a shaft, another chamber complex,
and a third shaft that ends in one big chamber,
which is where you have a massive sarcophagus.
This has been called
the Osiris Shaft because a lot
of Osiris figurines were found here.
NARRATOR: Osiris was one of the ancient Egyptians'
most important deities, associated with fertility,
agriculture, death and resurrection.
And in addition to discovering Osiris figurines
within the tunnels, Dr. Hawass found
that the nine-foot-long sarcophagus,
surrounded by water and four pillars,
matches Osiris's tomb as described in ancient texts.
ROMANY: Why does a god need a tomb?
There's no other places in ancient Egypt where we have
a tomb for a god.
And as the scripture would say,
this is how Osiris transports between the underworld,
to this world we're in.
NARRATOR: Perhaps the most curious aspect
of the Osiris Shaft is the fact
that the giant sarcophagus that lies at the bottom
is far too large to fit through the narrow opening at the top,
or be maneuvered through the Osiris Shaft's
multiple tunnels and chambers.
ROMANY: There's a massive sarcophagus,
about 15 to 20 ton in weight,
made from one piece of stone,
too big to fit within the entrance of the shaft.
I've been down there before, and I was
struggling to get all the way down,
uh, to the lowest level, uh,
let alone try to take 20 tons with me
down four football fields under the ground.
How do you drag a nine-foot sarcophagus down a shaft
that's, you know, two feet wide?
There are more questions than answers about the Osiris Shaft.
NARRATOR: According to Egyptian writings,
Osiris and his wife Isis came to Egypt
from the belt stars of Orion.
And as far as ancient astronaut theorists are concerned,
this is not mythology,
but a historical account of extraterrestrial visitation.
Osiris is claimed to have been here on Earth with his wife.
Now how did he get here?
It's very possible that we're looking
at some type of misunderstood technology
with this Osiris Shaft and the sarcophagi.
Is it a type of stargate that actually brought them here?
And this could have been thousands of years
before civilizations like the Egyptian culture.
HENRY: When we look at the three Pyramids of Giza,
they are almost precise mirror images
of the three belt stars of Orion.
I say that it's almost precise,
because it really is a little bit off today,
due to what's called the precession of the equinoxes.
Through time, Earth gently starts to wobble
and puts us out of alignment with the stars,
but utilizing computer software,
researchers have discovered
that the three belt stars of Orion
and the three pyramids of Egypt precisely match
12,500 years ago.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that the Pyramids of Giza,
as well as the lost pyramid of Abu Rawash,
are more than 12,000 years old?
And could the builders of these massive structures
have been directed by extraterrestrial visitors
to position them so that they aligned
with the stars that they came from?
Ancient astronaut theorists say yes,
and suggest further evidence can be found
by examining a mysterious chapter
of Egyptian history known as Zep Tepi.
IKRAM: The Egyptians talk about Zep Tepi,
which is this golden era when the gods ruled the Earth.
And that was when, of course, everything was perfection.
NARRATOR: During this so-called golden age,
Egypt was ruled by the God-king Horus.
PAMELA SMITH: In Egyptian mythology,
Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris.
Horus was one of the gods who was seen often as a guardian
and also as a protector
to keep the evil gods from hurting humans.
One of the crucial parts of that mythology
is that Horus is the god of every pharaoh.
So, in a way, Osiris and Isis were the father and mother
of every pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
NARRATOR: Most historians suggest
that the era known as Zep Tepi is little more than a myth.
But ancient astronaut theorists believe
evidence it existed can be found
in an ancient document known as the Turin Kings List.
HENRY: It's an astounding list of pharaohs
who have extremely long reigns, thousands of years,
and it accounts for all of the kings,
all the way up into the time of Ramses II.
So, more and more, we have to look at this idea
that this golden age existed
and is actually their true history.
TSOUKALOS: What's so interesting about this idea
of Zep Tepi is that ancient Egypt is not the only place
that talks about a deeper antiquity
to humankind than what we're being told.
NARRATOR: The concept of a golden age
where the gods lived amongst humans can be found
in ancient mythologies across the globe.
It's even written about in the Hebrew Bible
where fallen angels, known as the Watchers,
existed alongside humans before the great flood.
HENRY: If these legends are, in fact, the actual history,
this might tell us that the great pyramids
are thousands of years older
than we've previously understood.
NARRATOR: Might Egypt's most extraordinary monuments--
including the pyramids of the Giza Plateau
and the lost pyramid of Abu Rawash--
be remnants from an era
when extraterrestrials coexisted with humankind
more than 12,000 years ago?
Ancient astronaut theorists believe
further clues may be found
by examining a recently discovered underground complex,
hidden beneath the Giza Plateau.
NARRATOR: Researchers from the University of Pisa in Italy
and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland
are surveying the Giza Plateau with a new technology
known as synthetic aperture radar.
This groundbreaking instrument sends successive pulses
of radio waves from a satellite
to create a 3D image
of what lies below the surface of the Earth.
In the course of their survey,
the research team finds something truly astonishing
hidden beneath the sands of the Giza Plateau.
CHILDRESS: Archaeologists discovered a network
of tunnels and passageways
and structures, including five structures
beneath the pyramids inside the Giza Plateau,
including cylindrical objects
that seem to be part of some mechanical device.
NARRATOR: Images taken by the synthetic aperture radar
show what appears to be eight massive cylindrical shafts
surrounded by spiral pathways,
reaching as deep as 2,000 feet beneath the Giza Plateau.
This has caused a sensation. It's gone viral.
Everyone's talking about it.
So they've recreated what it would have looked like,
and it is absolutely mind-blowing.
But really, we have to kind of get down there
and take a look now.
CHILDRESS: Egyptologists now are describing it
as a huge city beneath the pyramids.
How did it get there?
And how did they build this?
It would seem to be beyond the technology
that the dynastic Egyptians would have had.
NARRATOR: While there is much excitement
about what might lie hidden beneath the pyramids
of the Giza Plateau, it could be years
before archaeologists are able to excavate.
DODSON: Even now, after 200 years or so
of archaeological excavation,
only a tiny proportion of the sites
have actually been investigated.
ROMANY: It is estimated that
everything you see from ancient Egypt
that we have above the sand today--
all the pyramids, all the tombs, all the pharaohs' mummies,
all the gold, all the treasure--
is about one-third of ancient Egypt.
It is believed that nearly 70%
of ancient Egypt is still under the sand.
The sand of Egypt will carry many secrets
for the rest of our lifetime and our kids' lifetime
and our grandkids' lifetime.
We are now in the time
of uncovering the most amazing things.
For the very first time, we now have access
to military-grade technology
that is being used for archaeology.
I think with this new technology,
we will also uncover that our past
is way, way, way more ancient than we've ever even dreamed of.
CHILDRESS: If we can really solve this mystery
of the Abu Rawash pyramid,
this would go a long way to proving
that the civilization of Egypt is much older
than what mainstream Egyptologists are saying,
and goes back tens of thousands of years.
NARRATOR: More than 150 years after its discovery,
the lost pyramid of Abu Rawash remains one
of the ancient world's greatest mysteries.
Could it have been built thousands of years
before the rise of ancient Egypt?
Was it part of an advanced alien technology?
And might there be even more astounding revelations
buried beneath the desert sands?
Perhaps the answers lie hidden among the ruins of Abu Rawash,
and when they are found, they will reveal the truth
about our extraterrestrial past.
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