1 00:00:03.463 --> 00:00:05.673 [ Man Narrating ] Gateways to other dimensions. 2 00:00:06.257 --> 00:00:10.512 To the Mayans, this represented the passageway to another world. 3 00:00:10.595 --> 00:00:12.931 Hidden dwellings for strange beings. 4 00:00:14.766 --> 00:00:17.685 They were the first inhabitants of the planet Earth. 5 00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:21.105 Secret vaults of cosmic knowledge. 6 00:00:22.106 --> 00:00:24.859 [ Man ] it's almost as though they're opening a doorway... 7 00:00:24.943 --> 00:00:27.695 to communicate with these divine beings. 8 00:00:28.821 --> 00:00:30.865 [ Narrator] Since the dawn of man... 9 00:00:30.949 --> 00:00:33.535 caves have been a source of great mystery. 10 00:00:33.618 --> 00:00:35.203 [ Bats Screeching ] 11 00:00:35.286 --> 00:00:38.390 But could the darkest recesses of our planet... 12 00:00:38.122 --> 00:00:40.708 really be hiding some mysterious power? 13 00:00:42.377 --> 00:00:43.878 And within their depths... 14 00:00:43.962 --> 00:00:48.174 might we find evidence of extraterrestrial visitors? 15 00:00:48.258 --> 00:00:49.717 [ Man] In some ways... 16 00:00:49.801 --> 00:00:53.805 exploring the underground cavern world of planet Earth... 17 00:00:54.639 --> 00:00:56.266 is the final frontier. 18 00:00:57.308 --> 00:00:59.561 [ Narrator] Millions of people around the world... 19 00:00:59.644 --> 00:01:03.982 believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. 20 00:01:04.649 --> 00:01:06.442 What if it were true? 21 00:01:07.527 --> 00:01:11.614 Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? 22 00:01:12.699 --> 00:01:15.410 And if so, might there be a connection... 23 00:01:15.493 --> 00:01:20.810 between aliens and the earth's forbidden caves? 24 00:01:52.196 --> 00:01:53.781 Central India. 25 00:01:53.865 --> 00:01:57.118 July, 2014. 26 00:01:57.702 --> 00:02:01.372 While exploring caves in the region of Charama... 27 00:02:01.456 --> 00:02:03.958 which are known to contain prehistoric artwork... 28 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:07.211 dating as far back as 10,000 years... 29 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:13.510 an Indian archaeologist, J.R. Bhagat, makes a stunning discovery. 30 00:02:14.927 --> 00:02:19.474 The Indian government and Times of India had a major story... 31 00:02:19.557 --> 00:02:23.645 about rock paintings found recently in Central India... 32 00:02:23.728 --> 00:02:27.650 that seem to show these tall beings... 33 00:02:27.148 --> 00:02:29.984 and they do not seem to have a nose or a mouth... 34 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:33.738 and nearby is this three-legged disk. 35 00:02:36.574 --> 00:02:40.662 The Times of India actually proposed the idea- 36 00:02:40.745 --> 00:02:43.331 what if what we have depicted here... 37 00:02:43.414 --> 00:02:48.670 are some type of extraterrestrials or at least some type of flying craft? 38 00:02:48.753 --> 00:02:53.910 Because it's the basis for much of the Hindu pantheon of gods. 39 00:02:57.530 --> 00:02:58.721 [ Narrator] Ancient Hindu texts... 40 00:02:58.805 --> 00:03:00.973 like the Vedas and the Puranas... 41 00:03:01.570 --> 00:03:05.937 record stories about extraterrestrials existing on other planets... 42 00:03:07.230 --> 00:03:08.690 and the Mahabharata... 43 00:03:08.773 --> 00:03:11.943 one of ancient India's two major Sanskrit epics... 44 00:03:12.260 --> 00:03:16.948 contains stories about gods coming to Earth in flying machines. 45 00:03:19.200 --> 00:03:22.203 Even the legends specific to this region... 46 00:03:22.286 --> 00:03:25.873 tell of a mysterious race of beings known as the “rohela”... 47 00:03:27.417 --> 00:03:31.629 who descended from the sky and abducted local villagers. 48 00:03:33.631 --> 00:03:36.801 Could the newly unearthed cave an' be a visual record... 49 00:03:36.884 --> 00:03:40.263 that extraterrestrials really visited here? 50 00:03:42.640 --> 00:03:45.560 There was an obsession of ancient human beings... 51 00:03:45.643 --> 00:03:48.229 to depict things that they saw... 52 00:03:48.312 --> 00:03:51.733 and I think they did it with carvings on caves... 53 00:03:51.816 --> 00:03:54.360 because that's what they saw. 54 00:03:57.321 --> 00:04:01.367 [ Narrator] But what is it about caves that made them the ideal canvases... 55 00:04:01.451 --> 00:04:04.954 for ancient peoples to chronicle their experiences? 56 00:04:06.205 --> 00:04:10.668 Caves are hugely significant in ancient mythology and legends... 57 00:04:10.752 --> 00:04:13.400 especially about the gods. 58 00:04:13.870 --> 00:04:15.131 They seem to be kind of a luminal point... 59 00:04:15.214 --> 00:04:19.510 a boundary place where the gods and humans can meet. 60 00:04:21.596 --> 00:04:27.180 [CHILDRESS ] There is a whole hidden underground world of planet Earth... 61 00:04:27.101 --> 00:04:30.855 that we're only just now beginning to discover. 62 00:04:32.690 --> 00:04:34.358 We don't know what's there. 63 00:04:34.442 --> 00:04:38.362 We could be discovering all kinds of amazing things... 64 00:04:38.446 --> 00:04:40.310 and it's possible... 65 00:04:40.114 --> 00:04:44.619 that there are entire cities under the earth- 66 00:04:44.702 --> 00:04:48.206 whole cavern metropolises... 67 00:04:48.289 --> 00:04:51.420 that are talked about in legends. 68 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:56.297 [ Narrator] But while ancient cave art... 69 00:04:56.380 --> 00:05:00.510 often reveals the type of animals our earliest ancestors encountered... 70 00:05:00.593 --> 00:05:02.512 and their means for hunting them... 71 00:05:02.595 --> 00:05:07.183 there is a surprising number of depictions of strange-looking figures and objects... 72 00:05:07.266 --> 00:05:10.311 that defy any conventional explanation. 73 00:05:13.731 --> 00:05:18.569 In Australia, the Wandjina people, they painted images on their caves... 74 00:05:18.653 --> 00:05:24.408 which eerily looks like the so-called Greys of alien abduction lore today. 75 00:05:26.869 --> 00:05:29.372 You have the strange petroglyphs... 76 00:05:29.455 --> 00:05:33.376 in the Hoggar Mountains of Southern Algeria. 77 00:05:33.459 --> 00:05:37.505 Uh, you've got strange rock art too, in the American Southwest... 78 00:05:37.588 --> 00:05:40.758 and when you look at it, and even have the natives explain it to you... 79 00:05:40.842 --> 00:05:44.530 they say things like, “Oh, yes, he's Martian god,” or... 80 00:05:44.136 --> 00:05:46.848 “These are the star people coming from the sky.” 81 00:05:52.353 --> 00:05:55.690 [ Narrator] How do we explain so many different cultures... 82 00:05:55.773 --> 00:05:59.569 across thousands of years and thousands of miles... 83 00:05:59.652 --> 00:06:03.322 producing such consistent visual representations? 84 00:06:04.574 --> 00:06:09.453 The ones that were discovered in some of the African caves- 85 00:06:09.537 --> 00:06:12.373 it's too similar... 86 00:06:12.456 --> 00:06:15.334 to what has been discovered on every continent... 87 00:06:15.418 --> 00:06:17.670 for it to be complete coincidence. 88 00:06:17.753 --> 00:06:23.301 So, it's this whole idea of the spark of initial inspiration. 89 00:06:23.384 --> 00:06:25.386 What is it that they witnessed? 90 00:06:25.469 --> 00:06:30.474 And could it be that they witnessed extraterrestrials? 91 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.812 One of the more intriguing aspects... 92 00:06:34.896 --> 00:06:37.899 of the cave paintings that seem to show aliens... 93 00:06:37.982 --> 00:06:40.776 is why are they inside caves? 94 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:45.323 This has sort of given rise to the theory that maybe these aliens... 95 00:06:45.406 --> 00:06:49.660 perhaps have permanent bases on the planet underground. 96 00:06:49.744 --> 00:06:54.810 Maybe ancient man saw them coming out of some of these caves and caverns... 97 00:06:54.165 --> 00:06:59.253 and then realized there was a relationship between the aliens and the caves. 98 00:07:06.719 --> 00:07:10.348 [ Narrator] In ancient times, caves were places of shelter. 99 00:07:10.431 --> 00:07:14.185 But is it possible our ancestors were also using caves... 100 00:07:14.268 --> 00:07:16.812 to record and protect information... 101 00:07:16.896 --> 00:07:21.692 about extraterrestrial beings who played a role in our existence? 102 00:07:25.112 --> 00:07:26.906 Perhaps the answer can be found... 103 00:07:26.989 --> 00:07:31.410 halfway around the world, in the American Southwest. 104 00:07:35.748 --> 00:07:37.875 The Grand Canyon. 105 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:42.546 This epic, 277 mile-long, one mile-deep fissure... 106 00:07:42.630 --> 00:07:46.509 exposes millions of years of geologic strata. 107 00:07:48.386 --> 00:07:50.888 Imprinted onto this dramatic landscape... 108 00:07:50.972 --> 00:07:53.808 are petroglyphs that depict everyday life... 109 00:07:53.891 --> 00:07:57.561 as experienced by the first inhabitants of the region. 110 00:07:58.646 --> 00:08:01.649 But in one of the most remote corners of the canyon... 111 00:08:01.732 --> 00:08:05.987 is a small cave covered with artwork that mystifies experts. 112 00:08:07.697 --> 00:08:10.992 Some refer to it as the Shaman's Panel... 113 00:08:11.750 --> 00:08:15.413 because it appears to depict scenes of the supernatural. 114 00:08:18.207 --> 00:08:23.671 All around the Grand Canyon are unusual sites and sacred sites. 115 00:08:25.214 --> 00:08:29.260 And then you have the Shaman's Panel there in the Grand Canyon... 116 00:08:29.343 --> 00:08:34.682 which seems to show these long, tall extraterrestrial-type figures. 117 00:08:37.601 --> 00:08:42.230 Like the strange-looking beings found in the cave in Charama, India... 118 00:08:42.106 --> 00:08:44.692 the figures depicted on the Shaman's Panel... 119 00:08:44.775 --> 00:08:46.485 are oddly elongated... 120 00:08:46.569 --> 00:08:50.990 and are also thought to have been created as many as 10,000 years ago. 121 00:08:52.783 --> 00:08:54.660 And just as in Charama... 122 00:08:54.744 --> 00:08:58.205 the native Hopi people here also have detailed accounts... 123 00:08:58.289 --> 00:09:01.751 of extraterrestrials who came down to Earth. 124 00:09:05.171 --> 00:09:09.800 In the Southwest, the Pueblo Indians, such as the Zuni and the Hopi... 125 00:09:09.884 --> 00:09:14.472 believe that there is an entrance into an underground world... 126 00:09:14.555 --> 00:09:17.558 and it is located in the Grand Canyon. 127 00:09:17.641 --> 00:09:20.728 And it's this mythological underworld... 128 00:09:20.811 --> 00:09:25.858 uh, of caves and extraterrestrials, the ant people. 129 00:09:28.736 --> 00:09:31.280 The Hopi have this concept of the ant people. 130 00:09:33.324 --> 00:09:36.243 Uh, the ant people are very thin. 131 00:09:36.327 --> 00:09:38.496 They have elongated heads. 132 00:09:40.456 --> 00:09:42.750 And the ancestral Hopi people... 133 00:09:42.833 --> 00:09:48.500 did make pictures of these ant people which still survive today. 134 00:09:51.634 --> 00:09:53.928 [ Narrator] Is it possible the rock art found here... 135 00:09:54.110 --> 00:09:56.180 and elsewhere around the world... 136 00:09:56.263 --> 00:09:58.849 is evidence that the earth's first inhabitants... 137 00:09:58.933 --> 00:10:01.727 had contact with otherworldly beings? 138 00:10:02.436 --> 00:10:05.815 And if so, might there be some significance to the fact... 139 00:10:05.898 --> 00:10:10.945 that many of these strange petroglyphs are found in and around caves? 140 00:10:11.695 --> 00:10:14.406 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes... 141 00:10:14.490 --> 00:10:16.951 and suggest further evidence can be found... 142 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.703 by examining the ritualistic practices... 143 00:10:19.787 --> 00:10:24.708 that continue to be performed inside caves even to this day. 144 00:10:32.800 --> 00:10:36.387 The Himalayas, Northern India. 145 00:10:37.972 --> 00:10:40.150 - [ Chattering ] - [ Horse whinnying ] 146 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:43.978 Every summer, hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims... 147 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:46.105 brave an arduous journey. 148 00:10:48.357 --> 00:10:50.651 They cross many miles of deadly terrain... 149 00:10:52.111 --> 00:10:54.572 to reach the Amarnath Cave- 150 00:10:54.655 --> 00:10:58.159 a place of worship for thousands of years. 151 00:11:01.662 --> 00:11:06.333 12,756 feet above sea level in the Himalayas... 152 00:11:07.751 --> 00:11:10.629 is the most revered holy pilgrimage site... 153 00:11:11.255 --> 00:11:15.676 for all of the people who follow the Hindu faith. 154 00:11:17.761 --> 00:11:21.560 [ Man ] People die because of high-altitude sickness. 155 00:11:21.682 --> 00:11:24.185 Others simply fall off the cliff. 156 00:11:24.768 --> 00:11:26.353 And still, people go there... 157 00:11:26.437 --> 00:11:31.400 because it is considered to be the most holiest, uh, shrine. 158 00:11:33.444 --> 00:11:35.279 [ Narrator] According to local lore... 159 00:11:35.362 --> 00:11:38.157 this massive cave is where the god Shiva... 160 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:42.203 revealed the secrets of immortality and the creation of the universe... 161 00:11:42.286 --> 00:11:44.955 to his wife, Parvati. 162 00:11:45.390 --> 00:11:46.707 [Shouting In Foreign Language] 163 00:11:46.790 --> 00:11:52.129 To honor Shiva, worshipers pay their respects to a sacred relic inside... 164 00:11:53.547 --> 00:11:55.132 an ice lingam... 165 00:11:55.216 --> 00:12:00.950 which they believe is a physical manifestation of his generative power. 166 00:12:01.388 --> 00:12:04.892 To reveal the secret to transcending the flesh... 167 00:12:04.975 --> 00:12:07.610 the secret to true immortality... 168 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:13.275 makes that site of extreme importance to the people in the Hindu faith. 169 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:17.196 [Shouting ] 170 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:18.739 [ Narrator] To the Hindu faithful... 171 00:12:18.822 --> 00:12:21.659 who risk life and limb to reach the Amarnath Cave... 172 00:12:22.326 --> 00:12:26.789 this story is a real account of an otherworldly being. -. 173 00:12:26.872 --> 00:12:30.417 Who was at this exact location here on Earth. 174 00:12:31.710 --> 00:12:36.590 But why would Lord Shiva choose to divulge his divine secrets in a cave? 175 00:12:38.175 --> 00:12:40.636 Could caves really hold special properties... 176 00:12:40.719 --> 00:12:44.431 that have made them places of worship throughout history? 177 00:12:46.892 --> 00:12:49.353 Interestingly, the Amarnath Cave... 178 00:12:49.436 --> 00:12:52.606 is only one of hundreds of caves around the world... 179 00:12:52.690 --> 00:12:55.901 that have been, at one time, considered sacred. 180 00:12:56.986 --> 00:12:58.487 Archaeologists believe... 181 00:12:58.570 --> 00:13:03.284 a 20-foot long serpentine rock carving in Botswana's Rhino Cave... 182 00:13:03.367 --> 00:13:08.539 was the focus of religious ritual as far back as 70,000 years ago. 183 00:13:10.457 --> 00:13:13.711 And cave monasteries can be found in France... 184 00:13:14.295 --> 00:13:16.213 Russia... 185 00:13:16.297 --> 00:13:18.132 Thailand... 186 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:20.134 Ethiopia... 187 00:13:21.302 --> 00:13:22.636 and Hungary. .. 188 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.555 Just to name a few. 189 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:30.311 [ Man ] I don't think that this is a coincidence... 190 00:13:30.394 --> 00:13:34.315 that places of refuge, spiritual refuge, are inside caves. 191 00:13:34.398 --> 00:13:38.444 This is where one can contemplate... 192 00:13:38.527 --> 00:13:41.989 one can hear one's inner voice... 193 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.159 without the distractions of the day. 194 00:13:46.827 --> 00:13:50.331 One thing about caves is they're underground. They're unseen. 195 00:13:50.414 --> 00:13:53.542 Well, religion is about unseen things. 196 00:13:53.625 --> 00:13:56.920 Going into a cave is going into holy ground. 197 00:13:58.339 --> 00:14:00.674 [Chattering ] 198 00:14:00.758 --> 00:14:03.344 [ Narrator] Is the mysterious nature of caves... 199 00:14:03.427 --> 00:14:07.681 enough to explain why they have been revered as sacred places... 200 00:14:07.765 --> 00:14:12.311 by different cultures and religions all over the World? 201 00:14:12.394 --> 00:14:17.149 Ancient' astronaut theorists suggest there may be a more profound reason... 202 00:14:17.232 --> 00:14:22.196 which can be found by examining the stories behind our ancestors' rituals. 203 00:14:30.704 --> 00:14:33.582 Yucatan, Mexico, 2008. 204 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:40.214 Mexican archaeologists exploring just outside the capital of Merida... 205 00:14:40.881 --> 00:14:42.925 make an historic discovery- 206 00:14:43.800 --> 00:14:48.130 an aquatic underworld full of mysterious offerings to the Mayan gods... 207 00:14:48.970 --> 00:14:50.391 including human sacrifices. 208 00:14:53.143 --> 00:14:56.188 What they found was a system of 14 caves... 209 00:14:56.271 --> 00:14:59.358 and in them were stone temples... 210 00:14:59.441 --> 00:15:01.318 and they were all linked together. 211 00:15:01.402 --> 00:15:04.238 And it was thought that what they had discovered... 212 00:15:04.321 --> 00:15:08.330 was the Mayan underworld known as Xibalba. 213 00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:11.829 [Young ] Some of this work is underwater. 214 00:15:11.912 --> 00:15:14.152 Divers would have had to hold their breath and go down... 215 00:15:14.206 --> 00:15:16.583 and do carving underwater to make this possible. 216 00:15:16.667 --> 00:15:18.919 They were very devout, to be sure. 217 00:15:24.842 --> 00:15:28.950 [ Narrator] Central to the heavily Mayan ritualistic society... 218 00:15:28.178 --> 00:15:32.683 was the belief that in order for them to rejoin the gods in the next life... 219 00:15:32.766 --> 00:15:37.563 the dead must make their way through a dark and perilous journey. 220 00:15:37.646 --> 00:15:39.273 In the mythology of the Maya... 221 00:15:39.356 --> 00:15:42.568 we have these incredible references to Xibalba... 222 00:15:42.651 --> 00:15:45.863 which means “the underworld.” 223 00:15:47.364 --> 00:15:50.284 And we can read about it in the PopolVuh... 224 00:15:50.367 --> 00:15:53.370 which is the book of the Jaguar priests. 225 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:00.430 [ Narrator] Some historians believe... 226 00:16:00.127 --> 00:16:02.671 that the caves discovered in 2008... 227 00:16:02.754 --> 00:16:05.924 are indeed those caves that represented for the Maya... 228 00:16:06.800 --> 00:16:10.137 the passageway to Xibalba, the underworld. 229 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:12.556 But ancient astronaut theorists propose... 230 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:16.180 Xibalba has a more cosmic connection. 231 00:16:17.102 --> 00:16:21.640 One of the most famous code breakers- 232 00:16:21.148 --> 00:16:23.567 her name was Dr. Linda Schele. 233 00:16:26.111 --> 00:16:29.990 She dealt with the Maya language all her life. 234 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:33.577 She is actually one of the people who have suggested... 235 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:38.665 that there is another meaning for Xibalba... 236 00:16:38.749 --> 00:16:40.751 and that's “the Milky Way.” 237 00:16:42.753 --> 00:16:44.814 [ Man ] To the Mayans, who were very good astronomers... 238 00:16:44.838 --> 00:16:48.926 this represented the passageway to another world-Xibalba- 239 00:16:50.886 --> 00:16:53.305 the middle of the Milky Way. 240 00:16:56.183 --> 00:16:58.435 So when they refer to the underworld... 241 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:01.688 they're actually referring to the sky above. 242 00:17:03.899 --> 00:17:07.903 [WILCOCK ] This suggests that the cave could be a portal... 243 00:17:09.738 --> 00:17:14.701 in which extraterrestrials are actually able to come and go freely... 244 00:17:14.785 --> 00:17:17.788 from their plane of existence to our own. 245 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.462 [ Narrator] Is it possible that the Mayan stories of Xibalba... 246 00:17:25.546 --> 00:17:28.632 were not describing a passageway to the afterlife... 247 00:17:28.715 --> 00:17:31.969 but a portal to another part of the universe? 248 00:17:33.762 --> 00:17:36.560 Ancient astronaut theorists suggest... 249 00:17:36.139 --> 00:17:38.892 that caves have become places of ritual... 250 00:17:38.976 --> 00:17:42.980 because they have a direct connection to extraterrestrials... 251 00:17:43.630 --> 00:17:46.660 and claim that further proof can be found... 252 00:17:46.149 --> 00:17:50.487 by examining the mysterious Sky Caves of Nepal. 253 00:17:56.702 --> 00:17:59.788 Shikoku Island, Japan. 254 00:17:59.871 --> 00:18:01.873 The eighth century AD. 255 00:18:04.840 --> 00:18:06.336 A young monk named Saeki Mao... 256 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:09.381 was deep in the mountains doing his spiritual training... 257 00:18:09.464 --> 00:18:13.719 when he decided to enter a small cave called Mikurodo and meditate. 258 00:18:15.387 --> 00:18:17.431 While inside, he had an encounter... 259 00:18:17.514 --> 00:18:20.934 that he would later credit with bringing him enlightenment... 260 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:25.939 and he emerged from the cave as Kukai, a high priest- 261 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:30.193 who would become one of Japan's most important historical figures. 262 00:18:33.300 --> 00:18:37.284 Many Buddhists have reported enlightening experiences in caves. 263 00:18:37.367 --> 00:18:40.662 And one of the most famous stories involves the monk Kukai. 264 00:18:41.830 --> 00:18:45.375 He is the individual who brought esoteric Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism... 265 00:18:45.459 --> 00:18:47.377 to Japan from China. 266 00:18:47.461 --> 00:18:49.588 And according to his autobiography... 267 00:18:49.671 --> 00:18:52.841 he was meditating in a cave at Cape Muroto. 268 00:18:52.924 --> 00:18:55.802 And he had fixed his eyes on the morning star. 269 00:18:55.886 --> 00:18:58.889 The morning star flew towards him... 270 00:18:58.972 --> 00:19:01.160 entered his mouth... 271 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:05.854 and in front of him he saw an image of the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha. 272 00:19:05.937 --> 00:19:09.399 And Akasagarbha, in Japanese, is known as Kokuzo Bosatsu. 273 00:19:11.234 --> 00:19:15.322 So, we have this spiritual being surrounded by light- 274 00:19:15.405 --> 00:19:19.340 perhaps he even used the light to travel there. 275 00:19:24.247 --> 00:19:28.335 [ Narrator] After this encounter, Kukai suddenly had great wisdom... 276 00:19:28.418 --> 00:19:33.480 including the ability to comprehend 85,000 Buddhist texts. 277 00:19:34.910 --> 00:19:36.968 But what happened inside Mikurodo Cave... 278 00:19:37.520 --> 00:19:40.347 that allowed Kukai to enter this enlightened state? 279 00:19:40.847 --> 00:19:45.519 Kokuzo appeared to Kukai in the cave when he was in his trance... 280 00:19:45.602 --> 00:19:50.357 and basically, informed him that he was a conduit to the universe. 281 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:52.150 And it channeled through his body... 282 00:19:52.234 --> 00:19:54.945 and he could tell you anything about the stars, the planet. 283 00:19:55.280 --> 00:19:58.115 It was almost as if he were tapped into a database. 284 00:20:00.534 --> 00:20:03.662 Some even perceive that the cave is similar to a womb. 285 00:20:03.745 --> 00:20:06.289 So a human being enters as a normal mortal. 286 00:20:06.373 --> 00:20:10.544 They engage in ascetic or meditative discipline within the cave. 287 00:20:11.461 --> 00:20:14.715 And when they exit the cave, they're no longer a typical mortal... 288 00:20:14.798 --> 00:20:17.175 but they're more akin to a saint... 289 00:20:18.260 --> 00:20:19.928 or even a Buddha. 290 00:20:25.851 --> 00:20:29.354 [ Narrator] But could the enlightenment found inside caves... 291 00:20:29.438 --> 00:20:33.316 be coming from an extraterrestrial source inside the earth? 292 00:20:34.568 --> 00:20:37.571 Some ancient astronaut theorists say yes... 293 00:20:37.654 --> 00:20:39.823 and suggest evidence of this... 294 00:20:39.906 --> 00:20:43.744 might be found in the fabled nirvana known as Shambala... 295 00:20:43.827 --> 00:20:47.330 and the Sky Caves of Mustang in Nepal. 296 00:20:49.916 --> 00:20:52.753 Some say Shambala is a mythical city... 297 00:20:52.836 --> 00:20:55.589 that's located somewhere in the mountains in the Himalayas. 298 00:20:57.424 --> 00:21:00.677 Its inhabitants are supposed to be fully enlightened beings... 299 00:21:00.761 --> 00:21:03.889 who have access to a great amount of technology... 300 00:21:03.972 --> 00:21:06.683 which comes from the enlightenment itself. 301 00:21:08.852 --> 00:21:10.413 [ Mott] Buddhism has always seen caves... 302 00:21:10.437 --> 00:21:13.565 as more or less a conduit to altered states of consciousness... 303 00:21:15.358 --> 00:21:18.361 to other civilizations that may exist inside the earth. 304 00:21:21.907 --> 00:21:24.785 The Sky Caves in Mustang are interesting... 305 00:21:24.868 --> 00:21:28.872 because there are a hundred or so man-made caves... 306 00:21:28.955 --> 00:21:31.541 carved into the faces of cliffs. 307 00:21:31.625 --> 00:21:35.962 And are only accessible by these huge vertical shafts. 308 00:21:36.963 --> 00:21:41.718 And inside these caves, we have huge statues of Buddhas, bodhisattvas. 309 00:21:48.600 --> 00:21:51.603 [ Narrator] And Buddhists are not alone in this belief. 310 00:21:51.686 --> 00:21:57.359 Hindus also revere caves as places where monks can go to find wisdom. 311 00:21:58.568 --> 00:22:01.905 The Sadhu are Indian holy men who, basically... 312 00:22:01.988 --> 00:22:06.701 lead a life of depravation, self-imposed exile in caves... 313 00:22:06.785 --> 00:22:10.664 so that they can enter these altered states of consciousness. 314 00:22:10.747 --> 00:22:14.584 They definitely believe that caves are a conduit... 315 00:22:14.668 --> 00:22:17.963 to communicating with nonhuman entities. 316 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:22.300 It's almost as though they're opening a doorway into a spiritual consciousness... 317 00:22:22.384 --> 00:22:25.929 in which they are able to communicate with these divine beings... 318 00:22:26.120 --> 00:22:28.849 and hopefully become divine themselves. 319 00:22:34.187 --> 00:22:36.439 [ Narrator] Other important figures throughout history... 320 00:22:36.523 --> 00:22:39.150 also attribute their life-altering epiphanies... 321 00:22:39.234 --> 00:22:42.320 to mysterious encounters that happened in caves. 322 00:22:43.697 --> 00:22:47.909 In the life of the great artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci- 323 00:22:48.785 --> 00:22:53.248 he'd had some unusual but important experience at the mouth of a cave. 324 00:22:54.624 --> 00:22:56.793 Right after that, he disappeared for two years. 325 00:22:57.752 --> 00:22:59.546 And fight after that... 326 00:22:59.629 --> 00:23:03.174 he began this spurt of creativity that was awesome. 327 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:05.719 In art and in science... 328 00:23:05.802 --> 00:23:10.181 he invented the first self-propelled vehicle and imagined flying machines. 329 00:23:11.391 --> 00:23:14.603 [ Man ] Joseph Smith wrote that an angel appeared to him... 330 00:23:14.686 --> 00:23:18.356 with the name of Moroni in the year 1827- 331 00:23:19.608 --> 00:23:23.403 told to Joseph Smith- he should go to a certain little hill. 332 00:23:23.486 --> 00:23:26.720 He should pull the stone plate away... 333 00:23:26.156 --> 00:23:28.366 and inside, he would find a cave. 334 00:23:28.450 --> 00:23:31.703 And in the cave, he would find unknown writings. 335 00:23:32.746 --> 00:23:36.166 As all good Mormons know, he found the golden tablets... 336 00:23:36.249 --> 00:23:38.251 which contained a vast amount of data. 337 00:23:44.507 --> 00:23:46.718 [ Narrator] Why are there so many accounts of humans... 338 00:23:46.801 --> 00:23:50.180 having enlightening experiences inside caves? 339 00:23:51.723 --> 00:23:54.100 Is there something about caves themselves... 340 00:23:54.184 --> 00:23:57.312 that facilitate such extraordinary experiences? 341 00:23:58.772 --> 00:24:04.110 Could it be that these people are coming into contact with an extraterrestrial presence? 342 00:24:05.445 --> 00:24:07.572 Ancient astronaut theorists suggest... 343 00:24:07.656 --> 00:24:13.119 that cosmic knowledge may be stored in the very walls of these caves themselves... 344 00:24:13.203 --> 00:24:17.400 and that the proof can be found in Central America... 345 00:24:17.123 --> 00:24:20.430 1,000 feet underground. 346 00:24:30.637 --> 00:24:32.472 Chihuahua, Mexico. 347 00:24:32.555 --> 00:24:34.432 April, 2000. 348 00:24:36.142 --> 00:24:41.640 Miners excavating 1,000 feet below the mineral-rich town of Naica... 349 00:24:42.315 --> 00:24:46.403 drill through a cave wall and make a stunning discovery- 350 00:24:47.904 --> 00:24:53.368 a glittering cavern full of giant crystals that are half a million years old. 351 00:24:58.810 --> 00:24:59.791 The Cueva de los Cristales, 352 00:24:59.874 --> 00:25:03.420 or the Crystal Cave of Northern Mexico- is a very unique site. 353 00:25:04.587 --> 00:25:07.173 And we're talking crystals as big around as a car... 354 00:25:07.257 --> 00:25:10.802 that stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the cavern. 355 00:25:10.885 --> 00:25:13.540 It's a remarkable thing to see. 356 00:25:14.556 --> 00:25:17.517 The incredible Cave of the Crystals in Mexico... 357 00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:20.270 was just accidentally found... 358 00:25:21.563 --> 00:25:24.858 and the discoverers were completely astounded... 359 00:25:24.941 --> 00:25:27.944 with these giant gypsum crystals. 360 00:25:31.114 --> 00:25:33.116 It's fantastic... 361 00:25:33.199 --> 00:25:37.787 and it reminds a person of the Fortress of Solitude of Superman... 362 00:25:37.871 --> 00:25:42.208 where all this information is encoded into these giant crystals. 363 00:25:44.419 --> 00:25:46.129 [ Hawkes ] Now, the significance of this... 364 00:25:46.212 --> 00:25:49.966 is extremely important to the indigenous people of Northern Mexico... 365 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:52.177 in fact, all of Mesoamerica... 366 00:25:52.260 --> 00:25:56.181 in that the crystals themselves were considered sacred. 367 00:25:57.432 --> 00:25:58.975 They vibrated. 368 00:25:59.590 --> 00:26:02.395 And they believed there was also some properties involved in crystals... 369 00:26:02.479 --> 00:26:05.440 that would provide them a way to communicate with the gods. 370 00:26:07.984 --> 00:26:11.710 Many ancient myths tell us that there are magical apparatus... 371 00:26:11.154 --> 00:26:13.156 that are made out of rock or stone or crystal. 372 00:26:14.991 --> 00:26:17.831 [ Man ] if we look at the properties of many of the caverns and caves... 373 00:26:17.911 --> 00:26:22.499 we see that there's usually some type of lining of crystal or quartz... 374 00:26:22.582 --> 00:26:26.753 and we know that crystal has a vast ability to store information. 375 00:26:26.836 --> 00:26:30.600 Maybe some of these caves are actually storing information... 376 00:26:30.900 --> 00:26:34.803 and that ancient people who meditate in caverns are tapping into this knowledge. 377 00:26:38.431 --> 00:26:41.170 [ Narrator] Might caves that are rich in quartz or crystal... 378 00:26:41.101 --> 00:26:45.688 really possess some special power that' our ancestors were aware of? 379 00:26:46.564 --> 00:26:49.567 Ancient astronaut theorists point out... 380 00:26:49.651 --> 00:26:53.905 that the scientists today are discovering that crystals do, in fact... 381 00:26:53.988 --> 00:26:56.449 have very unique properties. 382 00:26:58.284 --> 00:27:00.995 [ Man ] Quartz and other crystalline structures... 383 00:27:01.790 --> 00:27:05.333 oscillate at incredibly well-defined frequencies when you hit them mechanically... 384 00:27:05.416 --> 00:27:08.336 and they can be activated electrically... 385 00:27:08.419 --> 00:27:11.470 through an effect known as the “piezoelectric effect.” 386 00:27:11.131 --> 00:27:13.133 So you can put quartz in a watch... 387 00:27:13.216 --> 00:27:17.220 and use it as a very accurate timekeeping device. 388 00:27:17.303 --> 00:27:21.391 So quartz could be used in conducting or communicating certain signals. 389 00:27:22.725 --> 00:27:25.353 [ Narrator] In the Silicon Valley of California... 390 00:27:25.436 --> 00:27:30.483 quartz is used to manufacture the small integrated circuits found in computers... 391 00:27:30.567 --> 00:27:33.903 because of its strong semiconducting properties. 392 00:27:34.946 --> 00:27:39.409 Computer chips are also made with a form of the mineral quartzite... 393 00:27:39.492 --> 00:27:41.870 which is a highly-condensed form of quartz. 394 00:27:43.790 --> 00:27:48.293 Today, computer engineers are working on how to physically manipulate crystals... 395 00:27:48.376 --> 00:27:52.880 so that digital data can be stored inside them forever. 396 00:27:53.173 --> 00:27:56.676 The media has dubbed these hard drives of the future- 397 00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:58.761 “Superman memory crystals.” 398 00:28:01.598 --> 00:28:05.590 So, Superman is one of our superheroes who came from outer space. 399 00:28:05.143 --> 00:28:06.728 He came from the planet Krypton. 400 00:28:06.811 --> 00:28:08.813 It was in the process of being destroyed... 401 00:28:08.897 --> 00:28:12.275 so his parents saved him and sent him in a spaceship to our planet. 402 00:28:12.358 --> 00:28:15.778 One of the interesting things in the Superman story... 403 00:28:15.862 --> 00:28:20.825 is that his father was able to program a crystal that traveled with him... 404 00:28:20.909 --> 00:28:24.204 that he was able to use to construct the Fortress of Solitude from. 405 00:28:24.287 --> 00:28:28.410 And it was basically a crystal structure, essentially a cave... 406 00:28:28.124 --> 00:28:30.501 where he could both get away from things... 407 00:28:30.585 --> 00:28:34.964 and he could use the crystals in there to get information. 408 00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:38.301 So one of the things that's interesting in the Fortress of Solitude... 409 00:28:38.384 --> 00:28:42.555 is the way that the quartz technology, or the crystal technology... 410 00:28:42.639 --> 00:28:44.891 seems to be underlying everything. 411 00:28:44.974 --> 00:28:48.686 And so a future that we're looking at is using light in computing. 412 00:28:48.770 --> 00:28:52.357 You have to figure out ways to trap light and to store it- 413 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:56.819 basically, to create bits on and off and have the light last long enough... 414 00:28:56.903 --> 00:28:59.155 that the signal stays there and the memory is stored. 415 00:29:04.744 --> 00:29:07.800 [ Narrator] Was the power of crystals... 416 00:29:07.163 --> 00:29:09.999 something the ancients not only knew about... 417 00:29:10.830 --> 00:29:14.921 but utilized by building structures that would harness and transmit it? 418 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:19.842 [ MARTELL ] A lot of the pyramids had either granite or some type of crystal-lined surface. 419 00:29:19.926 --> 00:29:22.720 For instance, Giza, those great pyramids were topped... 420 00:29:22.804 --> 00:29:26.182 with an obelisk made of shiny granite crystal. 421 00:29:27.809 --> 00:29:29.602 And when we look at an obelisk... 422 00:29:29.686 --> 00:29:33.220 it very much resembles some type of power rod, maybe a Tesla coil. 423 00:29:36.943 --> 00:29:39.862 Ancient times, the obelisk was always a symbol of power. 424 00:29:39.946 --> 00:29:42.865 Maybe this wasn't just emotional power... 425 00:29:42.949 --> 00:29:47.328 but actual physical power that was being harnessed by these objects. 426 00:29:49.956 --> 00:29:53.459 Crystals are transformers. They hold energy. 427 00:29:53.543 --> 00:29:57.880 And, indeed, caves are thought of as “hot spots”... 428 00:29:57.171 --> 00:29:59.882 where you have Earth energy emerging from the planet. 429 00:30:05.888 --> 00:30:07.348 [ Narrator] If scientists today... 430 00:30:07.432 --> 00:30:10.643 are looking into the technological uses for crystal... 431 00:30:10.727 --> 00:30:14.564 is it possible that there are extraterrestrial civilizations... 432 00:30:14.647 --> 00:30:17.233 that have already mastered this technology? 433 00:30:19.277 --> 00:30:22.113 Ancient astronaut theorists say yes... 434 00:30:22.196 --> 00:30:25.325 and that the mineral properties found inside caves... 435 00:30:25.408 --> 00:30:29.412 have enabled some of the world's most astounding miracles. 436 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:40.673 Bethlehem. 437 00:30:44.510 --> 00:30:46.262 The Church of the Nativity... 438 00:30:46.346 --> 00:30:51.351 built around 330 AD by the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine... 439 00:30:51.434 --> 00:30:55.605 is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world... 440 00:30:58.232 --> 00:31:03.738 having survived invasions, regime changes, fires and earthquakes. 441 00:31:06.157 --> 00:31:11.370 Many claim that the church is protected by a higher power... 442 00:31:11.120 --> 00:31:15.124 because it sits above a cave that some Bible scholars believe... 443 00:31:15.208 --> 00:31:18.544 to be the true birthplace of Jesus Christ. 444 00:31:21.297 --> 00:31:25.134 There are many books about the story of Christ's life, Jesus' life... 445 00:31:25.218 --> 00:31:27.345 which never made their way into the Bible... 446 00:31:27.428 --> 00:31:29.722 and one of them was called the “Protoevangelium of James.” 447 00:31:31.474 --> 00:31:34.394 And in that story, Joseph and Mary are approaching Bethlehem... 448 00:31:34.477 --> 00:31:36.521 and Mary says, “I'm going to give birth.” 449 00:31:36.604 --> 00:31:40.358 And he thinks for a minute. He said, “Ah, I know a cave near here.” 450 00:31:40.441 --> 00:31:44.278 And they're met at the entrance to the cave by a brilliant light. 451 00:31:44.362 --> 00:31:46.364 And when the light dissipates... 452 00:31:46.447 --> 00:31:50.827 there is Mary holding Christ in her arms. 453 00:31:50.910 --> 00:31:52.954 And if you look at Byzantine painting... 454 00:31:53.370 --> 00:31:56.874 the nativity is always represented in a cave. 455 00:31:58.376 --> 00:32:00.461 [ Narrator] According to the Gospel of Luke... 456 00:32:00.545 --> 00:32:04.590 Mary gave birth and places the baby Jesus in a manger... 457 00:32:04.674 --> 00:32:08.100 but no actual location for the nativity is given. 458 00:32:09.950 --> 00:32:10.805 It is known, however... 459 00:32:10.888 --> 00:32:15.685 that caves at the time were commonly used as shelter for livestock. 460 00:32:18.187 --> 00:32:19.981 Going back to the third century... 461 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:22.942 they started this idea that he was actually born in a cave. 462 00:32:24.694 --> 00:32:29.407 But then they also describe the tomb of resurrection as a cave... 463 00:32:29.490 --> 00:32:34.120 as a simple hollowed-out room that had this circular stone at the entranceway. 464 00:32:35.790 --> 00:32:38.458 [ Gervers ] The Bible does make a point that when Christ was taken from the cross... 465 00:32:38.541 --> 00:32:40.209 and he's buried in a rock-cut tomb. 466 00:32:41.711 --> 00:32:45.214 There does seem to be a mystical environment here- 467 00:32:45.298 --> 00:32:47.758 this idea of a cave being a place... 468 00:32:47.842 --> 00:32:52.930 where someone who is of divinity comes and someone who is of divinity leaves. 469 00:32:53.140 --> 00:32:56.225 So it's almost as if passages are happening in caves. 470 00:32:57.226 --> 00:33:01.481 Constantine's building program of churches in the Holy Land... 471 00:33:01.564 --> 00:33:04.650 began by building churches over caves... 472 00:33:04.734 --> 00:33:07.403 associated with key mysteries of the faith. 473 00:33:07.487 --> 00:33:11.824 He built a church over the site of Jesus' birth. 474 00:33:11.908 --> 00:33:15.912 He built a church over the site of Jesus' crucifixion... 475 00:33:15.995 --> 00:33:18.998 where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands today. 476 00:33:19.810 --> 00:33:21.709 And he built a church on the Mount of Olives... 477 00:33:21.792 --> 00:33:26.297 over a cave associated with the site of his ascension into heaven. 478 00:33:31.552 --> 00:33:33.804 [ Narrator] Is there some significance to the fact... 479 00:33:33.888 --> 00:33:36.849 that both Jesus' birthplace and resurrection... 480 00:33:36.933 --> 00:33:39.477 may have occurred inside caves? 481 00:33:40.478 --> 00:33:43.689 Some ancient astronaut theorists say yes... 482 00:33:43.773 --> 00:33:46.692 and claim there may even be physical evidence... 483 00:33:46.776 --> 00:33:48.903 that what happened within these caves... 484 00:33:48.986 --> 00:33:51.948 was something other than miraculous. 485 00:33:52.310 --> 00:33:56.285 The Shroud of Turin is certainly the most important relic of the resurrection- 486 00:33:56.369 --> 00:34:00.540 this extraordinary imprint of the crucified body on this cloth... 487 00:34:00.623 --> 00:34:04.544 that no one has ever been able to accurately explain or reproduce. 488 00:34:04.627 --> 00:34:06.295 [ Mott] When Jesus was in the tomb... 489 00:34:06.379 --> 00:34:09.215 and some believe there was an intense burst of energy... 490 00:34:09.298 --> 00:34:11.801 which created what we now call the Shroud of Turin... 491 00:34:12.927 --> 00:34:15.930 as some form of radiation which was very intense and powerful. 492 00:34:16.597 --> 00:34:19.580 [COPPENS] We know with 21st Century technology... 493 00:34:19.141 --> 00:34:22.562 that the Shroud of Turin is a first-century garment. 494 00:34:22.645 --> 00:34:24.730 And we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt... 495 00:34:24.814 --> 00:34:27.858 that it could not have been painted or in any way created. 496 00:34:27.942 --> 00:34:31.445 So the Shroud of Turin gives us this exceptional piece of evidence... 497 00:34:31.529 --> 00:34:34.991 that something powerful happened in that tomb. 498 00:34:35.741 --> 00:34:39.495 [ Mott] And when people came to see him the next day to view his body... 499 00:34:39.579 --> 00:34:41.581 he was gone. 500 00:34:41.664 --> 00:34:44.625 Two shining beings, nonhuman beings... 501 00:34:44.709 --> 00:34:47.169 met these two witnesses outside the tomb... 502 00:34:47.253 --> 00:34:50.965 and informed them that Christ had arisen and that he had departed. 503 00:34:52.341 --> 00:34:53.901 [ Henry] it's possible that that cave... 504 00:34:53.926 --> 00:34:56.929 was acting as a sort of a gateway or a portal... 505 00:34:57.130 --> 00:35:01.934 because in many of these stories, the caves link Earth and heaven. 506 00:35:10.318 --> 00:35:11.944 [ Narrator] Could the Shroud of Turin... 507 00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:15.489 really be evidence that something of a technological... 508 00:35:15.573 --> 00:35:17.867 as well as a spiritual nature... 509 00:35:17.950 --> 00:35:22.371 took place in the cave where many believe Jesus was resurrected? 510 00:35:26.626 --> 00:35:30.796 Reports of humans encountering the divine in or near caves... 511 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:35.259 come from all corners of the globe going back thousands of years. 512 00:35:37.303 --> 00:35:41.349 [ Carter ] We look at the prophet Muhammad at Mount Hira. 513 00:35:41.432 --> 00:35:45.144 He's in a mountain in a cave. He's praying and meditating. 514 00:35:45.227 --> 00:35:47.772 He hears the voice of Gabriel. 515 00:35:47.855 --> 00:35:51.734 "Iqra, Iqra." which means to "recite, recite." 516 00:35:51.817 --> 00:35:54.737 And so, he recites the Koran. 517 00:35:56.197 --> 00:35:58.282 According to the Hebrew tradition... 518 00:35:58.366 --> 00:36:03.412 the prophet Elijah, who existed around 9 BCE... 519 00:36:03.496 --> 00:36:05.665 lived in a cave. 520 00:36:09.669 --> 00:36:13.464 According to Greek mythology, Zeus was born in a cave. 521 00:36:13.547 --> 00:36:17.176 [ Thunderclap] 522 00:36:17.259 --> 00:36:21.970 And caves are often understood, in religious traditions... 523 00:36:21.180 --> 00:36:23.516 to be gateways to the underworld. 524 00:36:24.392 --> 00:36:29.105 So, caves are worshipped throughout the Mediterranean... 525 00:36:29.188 --> 00:36:32.400 usually because a god is associated with that cave. 526 00:36:32.483 --> 00:36:35.111 A god is worshipped in a cave or in a grotto. 527 00:36:38.906 --> 00:36:40.866 [ Thunderclap] 528 00:36:40.950 --> 00:36:45.371 [ Narrator] Could the stories of Zeus, Muhammad and even Jesus... 529 00:36:46.205 --> 00:36:49.500 be evidence that the world's subterranean caverns... 530 00:36:49.583 --> 00:36:53.379 might be portals that connect us to other realms... 531 00:36:53.462 --> 00:36:56.298 as ancient astronaut theorists suggest? 532 00:36:57.258 --> 00:36:59.635 Perhaps the answer will be found... 533 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:01.887 with new cutting-edge technology... 534 00:37:01.971 --> 00:37:05.474 designed to uncover secrets in cave walls... 535 00:37:05.558 --> 00:37:07.893 not visible to the naked eye. 536 00:37:15.609 --> 00:37:19.363 Santa Monica, California, 2014. 537 00:37:20.531 --> 00:37:22.700 Here at xRez Studio... 538 00:37:22.783 --> 00:37:26.495 visualization artists Greg Downing and Eric Hanson... 539 00:37:26.579 --> 00:37:31.834 are pioneering the use of photogrammetry and special-effects software... 540 00:37:31.917 --> 00:37:37.890 to assist archaeologists in the global effort to decipher ancient cave art. 541 00:37:40.676 --> 00:37:42.720 We use a combination of techniques... 542 00:37:42.803 --> 00:37:46.682 from the fields of computational photography and graphics... 543 00:37:46.766 --> 00:37:49.351 in order to help the archaeologists reveal information... 544 00:37:49.435 --> 00:37:52.813 difficult to see just with basic vision when you're there. 545 00:37:52.897 --> 00:37:56.192 [ Narrator] The team recently traveled to the Grand Canyon... 546 00:37:56.275 --> 00:38:00.613 to compile a massive, in-depth photographic compilation... 547 00:38:00.696 --> 00:38:05.117 of the collection of strange petroglyphs known as the Shaman's Panel. 548 00:38:05.201 --> 00:38:07.870 We were drawn to the panel for two primary aspects. 549 00:38:07.953 --> 00:38:11.874 One was the rich layering of the anthropomorphic figures... 550 00:38:11.957 --> 00:38:16.879 and two is the kind of evocative, surreal nature of their composition. 551 00:38:19.131 --> 00:38:22.301 [ Downing ] This cave is maybe, like, five- or six-feet deep. 552 00:38:22.384 --> 00:38:24.804 So, by using a photogrammetric technique... 553 00:38:24.887 --> 00:38:28.307 we're able to get the detail across the entire painting. 554 00:38:31.185 --> 00:38:33.312 [ Hanson ] The nice thing about this technique is... 555 00:38:33.395 --> 00:38:36.649 we can separate the different dyes and minerals that are used. 556 00:38:36.732 --> 00:38:40.486 And in this case, now we can kind of see the layering expressed- 557 00:38:40.569 --> 00:38:44.949 we can see figures that are simply lost by the naked eye. 558 00:38:48.494 --> 00:38:50.621 Yeah, that brings it out. 559 00:38:50.704 --> 00:38:52.873 Yeah, it's a complete difference. 560 00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:01.340 [ Narrator] Could modern techniques one day... 561 00:39:01.423 --> 00:39:05.761 uncover even more details about what ancient people really saw... 562 00:39:05.845 --> 00:39:08.722 and hoped to communicate with rock art? 563 00:39:09.807 --> 00:39:13.477 Some ancient astronaut theorists believe one compelling clue... 564 00:39:13.561 --> 00:39:16.772 that modern researchers might be on the right track... 565 00:39:16.856 --> 00:39:18.858 can be found, oddly enough... 566 00:39:18.941 --> 00:39:21.944 in contemporary America. 567 00:39:25.489 --> 00:39:28.617 March, 1945. 568 00:39:28.701 --> 00:39:32.663 Amazing Stories magazine publishes an article entitled... 569 00:39:32.746 --> 00:39:35.291 “I Remember Lemuria!” 570 00:39:35.374 --> 00:39:37.420 But according to the author... 571 00:39:37.126 --> 00:39:40.462 this is the first piece to appear in the science fiction magazine... 572 00:39:40.546 --> 00:39:42.965 that is not fiction at all... 573 00:39:43.924 --> 00:39:48.762 but an actual account of his own alien abduction. 574 00:39:50.556 --> 00:39:53.684 [ REDFERN ] Richard Shaver was a man who surfaced decades ago... 575 00:39:53.767 --> 00:39:57.187 with a story of underground entities... 576 00:39:57.271 --> 00:39:59.273 that were very hostile to the human race. 577 00:40:00.858 --> 00:40:04.987 Terrible creatures that would kidnap and kill members of the human the race. 578 00:40:06.322 --> 00:40:08.991 [ Man ] They were the first inhabitants of planet Earth. 579 00:40:09.740 --> 00:40:12.360 When the sun became radioactive... 580 00:40:12.119 --> 00:40:14.747 these people could no longer live on the surface. 581 00:40:15.998 --> 00:40:20.850 Some left in their spaceships. Others went underground. 582 00:40:26.342 --> 00:40:28.280 [ Narrator] Could Richard Shaver's account... 583 00:40:28.520 --> 00:40:32.723 of underground extraterrestrials abducting humans be true? 584 00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:38.200 Shaver proposed that the alien race that once populated the earth... 585 00:40:38.103 --> 00:40:40.731 had developed highly specialized equipment... 586 00:40:40.814 --> 00:40:45.694 that allowed them to embed multifaceted imagery into stones. 587 00:40:46.862 --> 00:40:49.698 [ Man ] Richard Shaver believed that he had made... 588 00:40:49.782 --> 00:40:52.785 the greatest discovery in the history of mankind... 589 00:40:52.868 --> 00:40:55.955 about the true nature of intelligent life on Earth. 590 00:41:01.377 --> 00:41:05.881 So this is an original Shaver photograph of a rock book. 591 00:41:06.799 --> 00:41:11.136 And this multidimensional way of making images in the rock books... 592 00:41:11.220 --> 00:41:14.560 was something that Shaver saw as a real sign... 593 00:41:14.139 --> 00:41:17.810 of the superior intelligence of the ancient races. 594 00:41:18.852 --> 00:41:23.107 And Shaver believed that these weren't mere rocks with random patterns... 595 00:41:23.190 --> 00:41:27.319 that these were actually deliberately manufactured artifacts... 596 00:41:27.403 --> 00:41:33.330 by the ancient races who had been here 30,000, a hundred thousand- 597 00:41:33.117 --> 00:41:35.202 who knows how many years ago. 598 00:41:36.620 --> 00:41:39.665 [ Narrator] Might Richard Shaver have actually discovered... 599 00:41:39.748 --> 00:41:45.129 real physical evidence that extraterrestrials have been here on planet Earth... 600 00:41:45.212 --> 00:41:47.506 and might still be here today? 601 00:41:49.910 --> 00:41:52.110 Whether or not Richard Shaver's stories are true... 602 00:41:52.940 --> 00:41:56.181 it does dovetail with legends across this planet... 603 00:41:56.265 --> 00:42:00.519 of a race of beings that either created humankind... 604 00:42:00.602 --> 00:42:03.772 or were, at least, our ancestors... 605 00:42:03.856 --> 00:42:07.260 that had a superior technology. 606 00:42:08.277 --> 00:42:10.821 [ REDFERN ] If we're looking for extraterrestrials... 607 00:42:10.904 --> 00:42:14.533 ironically, the heavens above might not be the best place to look. 608 00:42:14.616 --> 00:42:18.370 We should, perhaps, even be looking deep below our feet. 609 00:42:18.120 --> 00:42:19.747 [ CHILDRESS ] In some ways... 610 00:42:19.830 --> 00:42:23.208 exploring the underground cavern world of planet Earth... 611 00:42:23.292 --> 00:42:25.711 is the final frontier. 612 00:42:28.839 --> 00:42:30.340 [ Narrator] Is it possible... 613 00:42:30.424 --> 00:42:33.930 that some of the world's most mysterious caves... 614 00:42:33.177 --> 00:42:37.560 really are home to extraterrestrial beings? 615 00:42:38.150 --> 00:42:40.851 Could it be that the knowledge of the universe... 616 00:42:40.934 --> 00:42:44.646 has been left for us to discover right here on Earth... 617 00:42:44.730 --> 00:42:47.357 once we have the technology to unlock it? 618 00:42:47.441 --> 00:42:50.986 And might the crystals found within cave walls... 619 00:42:51.700 --> 00:42:53.614 not only tell us where we came from... 620 00:42:54.656 --> 00:42:56.658 but even provide the technology... 621 00:42:56.742 --> 00:43:00.790 to access the most distant corners of the universe? 622 00:43:00.788 --> 00:43:03.165 Perhaps one day we will find proof... 623 00:43:03.248 --> 00:43:05.542 that there is life beyond our planet... 624 00:43:06.335 --> 00:43:08.837 by searching deep within it.